Chapter 633: Chance encounter, long farewells (2/2)
Aunt Ru’s face was full of disbelief. Tang Zijin was far calmer and shut her up with a single look. “Feiye, these matters pertain to the safety of the Tang Clan. Cang Qiuzi is perfectly capable of killing his way to the clan for standing up on the marriage agreement. If you see Tang Li, please bring him back. Consider this your uncle asking you for a favor!”
“Alright!” Long Feiye agreed easily.
Tang Zijin patted Long Feiye on the shoulder, his actions filled with faith. He asked after his wellbeing next before finally taking his leave. Aunt Ru’s discontent was written all over her face. She even shot Han Yunxi a look before she left as well. Han Yunxi simply met her gaze, causing the woman to immediately avert her eyes. It wasn’t clear whether she was feeling guilt or simply contrite.
When the two left, both Han Yunxi and Chu Xifeng pounced with the questions.
“What do we do? Should we figure it out with Tang Li?” “Your Highness, Young Master Tang’s wedding affairs…it’s truly not good to delay them.”
Long Feiye couldn’t think of a solution immediately, but he was certain about one thing: he would never let Tang Li become Cang Qiuzi’s son-in-law!
“It looks like we’ll have to apply pressure to Empress Xue’s matters,” he remarked. This would delay the pressuring problem on their hands. If Duanmu Yao could use Celestial Mountain’s name to investigate the Chu Clan barracks, then Cang Qiuzi must be backing her up. The only way to distract him from the postponed wedding was to interfere with the current affairs.
“This subordinate understands and will follow up accordingly,” Chu Xifeng immediately withdrew.
Han Yunxi wanted to seek out Tang Li, but as it turned out, he’d stopped hiding in the courtyard and actually ran away. He really wanted to hide, but he understood Tang Zijin and Aunt Ru even better than Long Feiye. They would definitely search the entire courtyard fist, then find ways to surround it on all sides by 100 li until they ferreted him out. Before that happened, he had to escape beyond those boundaries to be truly safe.
Currently, he’d just evaded some scouts from the Tang Clan and was escaping along the grass by the side of the road. He hadn’t dared to take a horse. Since it was only springtime, the grass wasn’t very thick and had no way of covering his body. Before him was nothing but a stretch of flat ground without a single place to hide. His only choice was to run until he found a hiding spot. He had no idea when his pursuers would catch up, but only hoped that they wouldn’t follow him this way. Using his lightness techniques, Tang Li fled across the plains until he saw a carriage suddenly heading his way.
“I’m saved!” Tang Li exclaimed before flipping towards the ride and landing in front of the horses.
The carriage braked to a stop in front of the ethereal looking Tang Li in his snow-white robes. He didn’t look anything like the typical highway brigand!
“Who are you? What do you want?” the driver demanded.
“Elder brother, this one is a disciple of the Shuangqing Mountains and came down to do some official business. Unfortunately, my horse died en route. As my journey is still long, and there’s no villages or inns in sight, this one would ask for assistance in gaining a ride. I apologize for any possible offense or startling. Shuangqing Mountain is just half a day’s travel ahead. This one is willing to pay for the carriage fare if this elder brother will do me a convenience.”
For once, Tang Li’s words actually matched his first impression on others! Dressed in white with a jade headpiece adorning his hair, his polite manners and elegant air combined with his divinely handsome looks made him seem almost immortal. He happened to raise his head at the same time the occupant of the carriage looked out. She was a woman dressed as a man, her hair bound up in a bun. Her features were fine, her figure slim, and her gender obvious despite her manly dress. That was because she wasn’t disguising her looks, but simply preferred men’s clothing to the complicated robes of feminine dress.
She was a young woman, but held a quiet serenity in her gaze. Her whole person gave off an experienced, steady air, but her stare upon Tang Li was almost hazy with the rare hint of a young maiden’s fancy. She was stronger than most men, but had always favored good-looking, ethereal men. However, she hated those who spoke too much and too often over vulgar topics. Soon enough, the girlish look in her eyes disappeared as she demanded, “What’s your name?”
Tang Li hated tomboy women, so he’d never understood how Long Feiye had fallen for Han Yunxi in the end. In his eyes, only declicate slips of a girl qualified as real women. But for the sake of hiding himself, he kept up his act and said politely, “This one’s surname is Chang, given name Li.”
“Chang Li? Chang Li, Chang Li…like ‘to stay long without ever parting…’”2 the woman mumbled to herself before giving her final verdict. “This isn’t a good name, it’s too sentimental.”
Tang Li smiled lightly, the sight dazzling yet modest, a dashing and mesmerizing sight. The woman grew dazed again before she asked, “What are you smiling about?”
“All meetings hope to be long without ever parting. We only met by chance today in pasing. There’s no telling if we’ll meet again in this lifetime, much stay long without ever parting. Miss, I shall take my leave now.” As Tang Li finished, he pretended to bid his farewells with clasped hands like a free and unrestrained wanderer.
But the woman called him back after only a few steps. “Wait, didn’t you need to borrow a ride? Climb on! I’ll take you for a trip so we won’t have to part!”
1. Cang Xiaoying (苍晓盈) – Cang is a surname meaning “dark green/blue, grey, ashen,” Xiao is “dawn, daybreak,” Ying is “be full of, be filled with.”
2. Chang Li (长离) – Chang is a surname meaning “long,” it can also be pronounced Zhang which means “to grow.” Tang Li has used the first option here, which rhymes with his original name. Li is “to part” and the same character in Tang Li. To stay long without ever parting comes from the phrase chang bie lie (长别离).