Chapter 118 Stone Bowl Bibimbap (a)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
Hearing Xue Qingge’s name after so long produced all kinds of feelings in Shiyu. It had been such a long time since she even thought about this person.
But…
“She’s marrying His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? When did this happen? Why haven’t I heard about it?” Oh right, she had only been back a couple of days.
“You suddenly disappeared before it was announced, so you probably did not hear about it.” A rare flash of viciousness lit up Feng Luo’s eyes, “Before the Great Turbulence commenced, she incited other clans to ‘deal with’ our Feng Clan. Once the Turbulence was over, Grandpa wanted to have her killed and pay a blood debt to all the soldiers who died in the Turbulence thanks to their treachery. However, the Imperial Family interfered, claiming that the Crown Prince was about to take her as his Imperial Concubine. Grandpa had no choice but the let her go. For now.”
Shiyu was rendered speechless by this.
In fact, one could say that this Xue Qingge is quite amazing. To be able to preserve her life and latched onto such an amazing backer after committing a major blunder had to take some kind of talent. It’s a pity that they were both on the opposite sides.
“When will Grandpa Feng arrive?” she asked instead.
“A day later.”
Just one more day, ah? Shiyu nodded and went off to get their breakfast ready. After that, she spent some time practising her knife work.
Later, however, she went and searched out Lin Fan.
She found him sitting on the roof as usual. The ivy vines here were particularly lush and Lin Fan was seated right in the middle like a stone Buddha. There was a layer of frost on his person, which reinforced the image. When he heard movement, however, his eyes opened.
“Aih,” Shiyu plopped herself next to him. She patted the frost off his shoulder and said, “Have you been here since last night?”
“En,” Lin Fan said simply. “You’re looking for me?”
“Ah, yes… there’s something I want to talk to you about.” Shiyu paused to sort through her thoughts before saying. “You know about Xue Qingge’s marriage to the Crown Prince? I mean, if I hadn’t gone with you to her birthday party, none of the other things would have happened. Your relationship would have been much different and maybe… the one marrying her one day would be… you.”
Lin Fan’s eyes did not even flutter. “What about it? Even if such a thing were to happen in the future, that woman only likes the powerful future me. She approached me for my potential. While a generous person may excuse my ignorance for a short time, I cannot be stupid for a lifetime.
Even if everything happened to date was due to unexpected circumstances, the one thing that a person could not change is their character. She may be talented and beautiful, but so what? Am I supposed to like her for that alone? No, that is not good enough for me.”
At this, Shiyu suddenly had an epiphany.
Lin Fan also has his own pride. How could he, as a major Male Lead, admire someone with such a low character?
That’s right, though circumstances might change, the base character would not.
Therefore, there’s no need for her to worry over this matter anymore. Especially since the Male Lead doesn’t seem to care.
“Alright, I understand.” The faint feeling of guilt evaporating, Shiyu’s whole body felt much lighter.
After all, there was no need to worry about things that are ‘supposed to happen’. If things that were ‘supposed to happen’ did not come into being, perhaps it was really not meant to be? If things that were ‘supposed to happen’ did not happen, surely there’s no need to talk about it?
After all, who could say that the original ending was the best?
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The next day, a guest appeared at the Villa.
No, it was not Grandpa Feng as expected by everyone but someone else.
[1] “Third Brother! Third Brother! You must help me!” A tragic voice wailed across the Bamboo Villa. “That old fart found out about my sweetheart and insisted on playing matchmaker, you must rescue me!”
The wailing person burst in through the door. His face was similar to Feng Luo, but gave off a scholarly, slightly more scatterbrain impression. This was especially evident when he spun around the room desperately in search of his Third Brother.
Shiyu, who had heard the commotion from the backyard came in to tease him, “What’s there to worry about? Isn’t it a good thing that Grandpa Feng wants to mediate for you? In the past, when your brother, umf!”
Feng Luo had ambushed her and covered her mouth with his hand.
“No talking about Meng Li,” he hissed. That was a dark history with him. Err, perhaps it would be better not to talk about it?
In fact, Shiyu and Feng Ye had already met at Feng City and hit off quite well. It was a testament to their friendship that Feng Ye was willing to wail shamelessly in front of Shiyu, “Third Brother, ah. You must help us. I don’t want to be shamed in front of her, ah! This old brother of yours have liked her so long, she’s on the verge of promising herself to me. I really don’t want grandfather to ruin things, ah. Who else can I appeal to but you ah?”
Sweat popped up on Shiyu’s forehead. “Wait, wait, what am I not understanding, here?”
Feng Luo eyed her for a moment before sighing the sigh of the long-suffering. “Family shame should not be broadcasted. I really don’t know how to speak about this matter…”
“Then don’t talk about it,” Shiyu abruptly turned and made to march out of the room.
“Aiya! Don’t, ah! I’ll just talk, alright?” Feng Luo quickly dragged her back and leaned down conspiratorially. “See, it’s like this…”
It turned out that Grand Elder Feng has two hobbies. Aside from his love for food, he loves playing matchmaker for the younger generation. At first, this was deemed to be a harmless, even excellent hobby for the old man. After all, elders were knowledgeable and better informed. They should, theoretically, be more objective and help make better partnership choices for the younger people.
However, as time went by, everyone began to notice something. This Grand Elder Feng was rather… unreliable, ah! Any pairing that he attempted to match would be cursed. Take Feng Luo’s younger uncle for example. At first, marriage talks between him and his future wife were on the verge of being completed when the woman accidentally fell off a cliff. She was rescued by a dashing young man and they fell madly in love with each other. Needless to say, the marriage talks fell through.
Though one might say that this was just a series of unfortunate events for the uncle… well, another person who suffered was Feng Luo’s cousin. More specifically, his many cousins, all of the marriage deals brokered by Grandpa Feng had ended up… broken instead…
After hearing this, Shiyu had some understanding of the situation. To think that Grandpa Feng has this kind of weird attribute! How cute, ah?!
In the end, there was nothing she could do but pat Eldest Brother Feng on the shoulder before going back to her own work.
That afternoon, Eldest Feng stayed for lunch at the villa. Everyone chattered together, trying to come up with ways to help him avoid Grandpa Feng’s claws. The idle talk eventually moved to Xue Qingge and her future husband, the Crown Prince.
After listening to the talk for a while, Shiyu frowned. She felt as though there was something missing somewhere…
Suddenly, it hit her. She waved her hand at the table of chatting people, “Stop, stop for a bit. What is the name of that Crown Prince guy, ah?”
Lin Fan thought for a moment, then shook his head.
Wen Xian only looked confused.
Foreigners Qing Chen and Xuan Yin gave them a superior look that said: We are judging you for not knowing such basic information.
Eldest Feng scratched his head, “Hmm, I only know that his surname is Dong-Fang.”
Feng Luo gave his brother a contemptuous look, “That’s because the entire royal family is surname Dong-Fang,” ‘you idiot’ was implied. There was a contemplative look on his face before he continued, “I believe the Crown Prince is called Dong-Fang Zhen.”
Dong-Fang Zhen…
Shiyu pondered over the name for a moment and nearly took a bite out of her bowl.
Wei, wei, wei! There were over 200 crown princes and scores of princes in the Ninth Realm, but why is this one by that woman’s side, ah?! As someone who rarely left the Imperial Capital, Xue Qingge should never have the opportunity to meet this powder keg.
Why did it have to be him of all people, ah?
Tsk, tsk, who knows just what kind of battlefield they would all end up in soon…
[Gumihou: Err, this does not sound good…]
[1] Added Detail for Dramatic Purpose: It’s Feng Ye’s first appearance after all. Rather than letting the narrator introduce him through a passive sentence, made his entrance more dramatic.
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