Chapter 21 Part2 (1/2)

I honestly can say that Yun Zhong Ge is a difficult read. The characters are so multifaceted that its hard to take sides without also feeling something tugging from the other end. In essence, we are all Yun Ge, stuck between a perfect guy and a compelling guy. I confess that one of my gripes about the novel is that I think Tong Hua is a leading writer (as I think she did in Da Mo Yao as well), which is she does direct the resolution of emotional knots in a way that skews towards her preferences. I would say that its realistic for Yun Ge to be unable to open herself up to Ling gege right away, because she was genuinely madly in love with Meng Jue. Nor is Meng Jue an easy guy to get over. But I enjoy watching Yun Ge and Ling gege reconnect in ways beyond the romantic, as they really are lonely kindred spirits who bonded so quickly as children not just for the sake of the story, but in a way that felt so touching and extraordinary. To see the extent of which they just “get” each other makes me believe in all those plat.i.tudes about meant to be.

Chapter 21: One Year Promise (part II):

Yun Ge’s health gradually returned and she regained her strength. But because the sword stab was so severe, even with the best doctors and medicine, it still left an uncurable cough rooted in her.

Liu Fu Ling was upset by this and secretly ordered all the physicians in the Palace to go research the best cure and treatment for coughing. Anyone who succeeded would be greatly rewarded.

Yun Ge herself didn’t care much “My life was saved and that is already a great miracle. Having an occasional cough is no big deal.”

In the mountains, the sun, the moon, and the time all pa.s.sed like water flowing. When Yun Ge was injured, it was already late Summer. By the time she was fully recovered, it was early Winter.

She tried her best not to think of that person. During the day it was easier, she found things to do to occupy herself. But at night when she was alone, it was impossible for her not to be sad.

She thought that he must together with Ms. Huo by now. She told herself it didn’t matter to her anymore, but then she remembered how he held her in the wind that day and grabbed her hair and said “Hair knotted, Heart knotted.” Yet now he must be helping Ms. Huo put a hair pin in her hair.

The only happy development was that her anger towards him had lessened. Hate and anger was like the legendary poison of Xi Yu, it can spread and eat away at one’s insides, creating the most excruciating of pain.

Yun Ge didn’t like to hate anyone. He wasn’t true to her, yet conversely she wasn’t true to Ling gege.

All those promises of forever rang in her ears, but those promises could not withstand the temptations and struggles of life. She couldn’t withstand his temptation. He couldn’t withstand the temptation of seeking power. So now she didn’t hate him anymore. If she wanted to hate, then she ought to hate herself first. She ought to hate herself for not having the insight to see what kind of person he was. She ought to hate herself for being so clueless and so self-absorbed.

She saw Liu Fu Ling walk in and she quickly stood up from where she had been staring at a burning stalk of incense in a daze. Liu Fu Ling’s eyes briefly darkened and Yun Ge knew that her attempts to cover it up only made it more obvious. Plus it was impossible for her to conceal anything she was feeling from him. She decided to not put on a pretend happy face and quietly stood there, staring at him.

Liu Fu Ling walked up to her and returned her stare for awhile, finally sighing softly. He pulled her into his embrace “What needs to be done to make you smile like before? It might be easier if I can just give you the world to entertain you.”

Yun Ge wanted to push him away, but when she heard him say that in such a low voice, it pressed down on her so much her heart ached. She suddenly felt weak and let her head rest on his shoulder, feeling the urge to cry.

If certain things didn’t happen, how happy would the two of them be right now?

Liu Fu Ling quietly embraced her for some time before suddenly saying “Did you say that you are convalescing for so long you might get sick from being cooped up? How about I accompany down the mountain for a stroll? Do you want to go?”

Yun Ge thought about it, and then nodded.

Yu An heard the Emperor wanted to go down the mountain and quickly ordered servants readied but the Emperor wouldn’t allow it. Yu An had no choice but to have the guards go undercover and secretly follow behind them. Yun Ge still didn’t know where she was and on the way down the mountain she realized how remote it was. It took some time to even get to a main road, and looking back she could see the residence discreetly hidden.

“Where are we?” Liu Fu Ling was silent for a moment “Lu Mountain.” Because Yun Ge was not familiar with the Emperor’s many residences, she didn’t connect this together. She only silently sighed knowing that she was still so close to Chang An.

They so happened to arrive on market day so the streets were crowded with people and was extra boisterous. There was a good harvest this year, and with the lowered taxes, the price of goods appeared to have gone down so the shoppers were extra happy. In addition to buying household essentials, people were once again buying frivolous items and gifts, so the sellers were happy and there was much conversation and laughter all around.

Yun Ge smiled “Compared to when I first arrived in the Han dynasty, the mood is greatly different. This Emperor is a good Emperor, and Huo Guang is also good.”

This was the first time Liu Fu Ling had been to a market place outside of Chang An. He saw all the people coming to and from and how full of energy it was, so different than his life in the Palace. Despite the noisy chatter, he actually liked this rowdy environment.

Because this was normal, so it felt warm to him. The two of them were constantly jostled by people and Liu Fu Ling was afraid of losing Yun Ge so he grabbed her hand. He held her hand and allowed her to lead him wherever she wanted on the street.

The two of them were just wandering for fun, which made it difficult for Yu An, who needed to keep an eye on all directions at once. But when he saw Liu Fu Ling’s eyes were filled with warmth, Yu An felt this was all worth it.

They came to a plaza where a crowd of people were gathered in a circle around something. Yun Ge immediately pulled Liu Fu Ling and tried to squeeze in. She could heard people in front laughing and making sounds of amazement.

“So cute!”

“Look at this imp!”

“They are brothers, right?”

“Based on looks, they might be twins?”

“Where are their parents? How did they come here to play by themselves? Have they eaten yet?”

Yun Ge made a circle and still couldn’t squeeze it. She turned to Yu An and had an idea “Yu An, do you want to go see what’s inside?”

Under Liu Fu Ling’s stare, how could Yu An say no? He smiled and said yes. Yun Ge smiled back “I have an idea. Just shout “that’s my nephews in there!” and people will let you in.”

Yu An relaxed thinking this wasn’t a big deal, so he took a deep breath and yelled “Move way, move way, it’s my nephews in there!”

The people on the outside didn’t know anything so they made way, the people on the inside were shocked and also quickly made way. Yu An was yelling the same thing again when he finally saw what was inside and his words got stuck in his mouth.

It was dead silence all around. Everyone stared at Yu An with expressions of shock and awe.

Inside were two identical little monkeys playing with each other. When everyone got quiet, they looked up and stared with their bright eyes and tails twitching.

Yun Ge m.u.f.fled her laughter and quickly pulled Liu Fu Ling aside a few steps and said in a small voice “We don’t know this guy” as she pointed to Yu An.

A few seconds later, everyone burst out laughing. The two monkeys got excited and started hooting and doing flips and scratching their b.u.t.ts. A person said with a laugh “We were worried that these two monkeys somehow got there and might starved to death during the Winter if no one took care of them. Now the monkey’s Uncle is here, that’s great! Will Uncle please take your nephews home now.”

Yu An’s face was flas.h.i.+ng crimson and white, while Yun Ge was laughing so hard she was doubled over.

Liu Fu Ling was afraid she would start coughing so he quickly patted her back and said to Yu An “Big brother Yu, let’s take them home. We can release them in the wild shortly, and this will be a good deed big brother will earn.”

Yu An stared in shock at Liu Fu Ling, and it was the first time in many years that Yu An dared to meet Liu Fu Ling’s direct stare.

Liu Fu Ling was supporting the green-robed girl by his side and his face had no expression, but his eyes were twinkling with mirth. At this moment, he was not the man higher than everyone else all alone on top. He was no longer without the emotions of happiness and anger. Right now he was just a normal man who was coddling the woman beside him.

Yu An felt his eyes turn misty and he quickly lowered his head and said yes. Yu An accepted the monkeys but kept his poker face on. When Yun Ge spoke with him, he just answered yes or no, on the surface polite, but not really talking to her.

Yun Ge turned to Liu Fu Ling for help, but Liu Fu Ling just fed the monkeys with the food in his hand. “You caused this mess, you fix it.”

Yun Ge ran next to Yu An and kept apologizing “Big brother Yu, I didn’t know it was two monkeys inside. I thought it was some lost kids. Big brother Yu, its not a bad thing to be the uncle to monkeys! Look how cute these two monkeys are!”

Yu An muttered “That cute, how come you didn’t tell the world you are the Aunt.” Yun Ge laughed “Forget about being my nephews, they can be my sons if they wanted! My mom was raised by wolves, so I guess my grandmother must be a wolf then. I don’t mind having monkeys for my sons……”

Yu An’s anger turned to laughter in Yun Ge’s teasing “You’re not even married, how can you say son constantly. Aren’t you embarra.s.sed? Who’s your sons’ daddy then?”

The moment Yu An said that, he remembered that Yun Ge was the mother, he was the Uncle, and the Emperor just called him big brother, which would make the Emperor the two monkeys’……

He wanted to burst out laughing but he didn’t dare, but it was so painful to keep it in. Yun Ge knew she said the wrong thing as well so she snuck a peek at Liu Fu Ling. Turned out Liu Fu Ling was also looking at her so the two of them met each other’s eyes directly. He looked amused while Yun Ge’s face turned bright red.

She stomped her foot and turned around to leave “You two ganged up to mock me!”

Liu Fu Ling ordered Yu An to handle the monkeys and went to chase after Yun Ge. Who knew she was suddenly running back with her face all white. She grabbed Liu Fu Ling’s arm and he asked “What’s going on?”

Yun Ge didn’t answer him, just dragging him into the closest store. The store sold ceramics and in the courtyard was ceramic urns of various sizes. Some were huge for storing water, some medium sized for storing rice, and some smaller for storing pickled vegetables. Yun Ge looked around and saw there was no place to hide. She heard sound coming from outside and in her haste, she pulled Liu Fu Ling with her as they both jumped into a huge water urn.

The water urn was quite large but with two people inside it was barely large enough to contain them. Yun Ge and Liu Fu Ling sat facing each other, so tightly pressed together it was like they were in an intimate embrace. Yun Ge softly said “I’m so addled-brained. They don’t know you, and I didn’t need to drag you in here to hide with me.”

Liu Fu Ling didn’t show any emotion, but his sadness was hard to hide in his eyes.

When Liu Bing Yi heard from his followers that a girl resembling Yun Ge was spotted at the marketplace. he immediately got Meng Jue and they rushed over. They did see someone like her, but before they could get close, the girl disappeared into the crowd.