Vol 1 Chapter 6 (2/2)
Lady Hua ting She then patted her on the shoulder, saying, “Hong, we’re like sisters, so you will help ht?”
“Eh?”
“It’s easy, I’ve already sent Mrs Hua to pass a letter onto the Duke of Zhen-Bei It says that Lady Hua is currently engaged and not a free wo to exert his authority and cancel s out in the future” Lady Hua looked pleased at herself, “This tie is cancelled, I’ll tell the Duke of Zhen-Bei the truth I’ll even give you a good wedding dress Oh yeah! You can havedress”
Pingting’s face clouded halfway through Lady Hua’s chattering “Are…are…you crazy? The Duke of Zhen-Bei is er, than your fa to him, the people of the Hua Residence will be in deep trouble” She was still very sick so she couldn’t emphasise how serious this was
Lady Hua took no notice, “He likes you I’m sure he won’t mind the fact that you borrowed my identity”
“It’s not like that!” Pingting grabbed her, “Tell Mrs Hua not to send the letter”
Lady Hua felt a little scared seeing Pingting so angry Her head drooped in shame, “But Mrs Hua just came back, she even told me the Duke of Zhen-Bei’s response”
“What did he say?”
“He said, toain”
“Tomorrow?”
Lady Hua saw Pingting’s strange expression and she pouted “I need to practice qin, talk to you tomorrow” Then she left
Pingting stared into space for a while, until she re-organised the events in her head
“No way, the Duke of Zhen-Bei, he really was the Duke of Zhen-Bei…” Pingting thought deeply for athat she’d made her final decision “I still haven’t found Master, I can’t be bound here for no reason As for Hua Residence…good luck”
She sos She felt rather heartless when she thought of how kind the people of Hua Residence had been to her NoLin, the enemy’s country, and if the Duke of Zhen-Bei ever found out her real identity, the Hua family would in even more trouble than before
She went through a rarely used back door and no one noticed Just like that, Pingting had left the Hua Residence behind
That night she stayed at a restaurant She was probably used to seeing Chu Beijie sit vigil as she could not fall asleep, leaving her thoughts to repeatedly torht
What was truly worrying however was the fact that her coughing was getting worse One cough after the other, no sign of it getting any better
The city was very quiet, the next day She was too sick to go outside so she asked one of the staff about the outside world, but apparently nothing notable had happened
She coughed another night away On thewater “Soht! The rich Hua fary that he has ordered all of them to be beheaded”
Pingting was suddenly alert but she tried hard not to look too interested “What? All of them are to be beheaded?”
“I don’t knohat has hed, “The Hua fa extre like this Our Duke of Zhen-Bei is actually very kind”
Pingting hadn’t heard the last two cory, but she hadn’t expected him to sentence so many people to death
Chu Beijie’s strong yet stubborn face crossed her mind and she closed her eyes Yes, she had always known that he could not be trusted He entleman, but when it ca had heard about the Duke of Zhen-Bei’s cruelty and the blood shed froh to flow a river
“Is he going to kill all of the people of Hua Residence?” Pingting stared at the table and chair in front of her, which was slowly blurring aith her tears She shook her head, “No way…”
Even if the Duke of Zhen-Bei destroyed ten big fa Lin wouldn’t protest at all
Sir Hua, Lady Hua, Mrs Hua, Mother Chen, You’er, Zi Hua…all of these people’s heads would be cut off, leaving a bloody htened, like she was about to vomit
“No, I can’t just sit and watch the herself up
The Zhen-Bei Ducal Residence was even uards stood outside Theon their tiptoe and if anyone had an itchy throat, they had to secretly go to a place far froh there
Even Chu Moran, as usually so cal inside his office
Chu Beijie looked up from his official papers, “You’re hot?”
“No”
“Wipe the sweat off your face then”
“Yes”
Chu Beijie wasn’t quite as flustered as Pingting had iined
Two days ago, he had dealt with Lady Hua’s fiancé’s household to undo the Lady’s engage for the Lady but when he visited her again, she had told him the truth He hadn’t rolled his eyes, hadn’t yelled at them and hadn’t lost his te’s room for a little while and then left
Back then, Lady Hua had thought the danger had already passed She had sht wasn’t I? The Duke of Zhen-Bei is a really kind person, Hong was really worried for no reason”
Back in the Residence, Chu Beijie had sat down and slowly sipped a cup of hot tea Chu Moran stood at one side, trying to keep his breathing quiet, for he knew that his Master was beyond cross He was extrery
As expected, after the cup of hot tea he quietly ordered, “Tomorrow, at sunset, execute the entire Hua family in front of this Residence”
Finally hearing Chu Beijie’s voice, Chu Moran sighed in relief “Yes”
“Don’t ,” Chu Beijie added
Now the sun was about to set All uillotine’s blade had been sharpened, as if waiting for the Duke of Zhen-Bei’s command to chop its victim’s sleek neck
“Duke,” Chu Moran looked at the sky, “It’s about time”
“It’s time?” Chu Beijie looked around, and it was unnaturally silent He looked at the sky, yet thefor had not occurred His face turned stone cold and an unusual bloodthirsty sneer appeared on his face “Execute them”
But before his words could be registered, they were replaced with soft music The luxurious sound bounced off the walls of the Ducal Residence, through the s and into Chu Beijie’s ears
“When there is trouble, there are heroes… when there are heroes there are beautiful wo the tur back then He couldn’t help s at the warm and pleasant tone…
“If there are soldiers, there will be fame; if there is fame, there will be fraud; soldiers know fraud, soldiers know fraud…”
The qin’s sound was very pleasant to hear At times it would be as delicate as a spider’s thread, other tih up into the clouds, but other tirassy plains below
The corners of Chu Beijie’s mouth lifted
Chu Moran was too a sound and had only just remembered to pass on his Master’s order But he suddenly heard Chu Beijie say, “Don’t kill the that qin into my Residence”
“Yes!”
Soon Chu Beijie’s eyes landed upon the jet-black iris he loved yet hated at the same time
This tirily, notjust watched him and humbly bowed “I am here, Duke”
Chu Beijie was surprised to hear the familiar voice from behind the blinds He pursed his lips
Narrowing his eyes at her, he said, “Today my perception of life seems to have widened You are the Lady and theelse you can do let me see it”
The Duke of Zhen-Bei’s voice was threatening, which was usually enough to ry nor afraid
Pingting sry?”
Chu Beijie harru you fully understand that ‘soldiers know fraud’ ; that while sometimes fraud leads to victory, fraud can also lead to disastrous defeat?”
“The victor will always decide the fate of the defeated” Pingting’s face turned serious and she sighed, “If so, then feel free to punish me, Duke” She bowed her head
Chu Beijie secretly srabbed the jade pendant on the table and slowly thumbed it “I knohat your point is, you don’t want the Hua faood conscience for a ive the Hua faht for a moment and coldly said “You must stay here”
“Stay in the Ducal Residence and serve Duke?”
Chu Beijie ?”
Without another word, she slowly bowed at him
Translation Notes
Black eyes: In some parts of China, it’s considered that the darker they are, the better one looks But usually it’s just a ‘very dark brown’ that is siant Destroyer (proofreader/assistant) supposes it’s rather like obsidian because it’s so dark it reflects tiny bits of colour
Marriage: In China, traditional clothes are usually red This includes most orient countries, such as India and Pakistan
Real entle