A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 30

Chapter 30: The Doubting Gentleman – Part 1

Translated by: Kestrel

Edited by: Ritpoppy

Huai Yu slammed the medicine he was carrying heavily onto the table, "Stop acting!"

Ming ChangYan refused to open his eyes, acting as if he hadn't heard.

Huai Yu was good at equestrian archery, and had incredibly sharp eyes; he'd only needed a single glance from a distance to see him standing out in the courtyard. Because Ming ChangYan had only just settled down a few days ago, he'd promised Huai Yu that he absolutely wouldn't go out and cause mischief. Now, having been caught red-handed, he felt incredibly guilty – which was exactly why he was playing dead.

"Get up and drink your medicine."

Ming ChangYan didn't move.

Huai Yu humphed, picking up the medicine and sitting at the side of the bed. If the enemy wouldn't move, he would. Although Ming ChangYan had his eyes closed, he could feel a prickling sensation at his back, the niggling feeling that something was off. Suddenly, he smelled the overwhelming stench of medicine.

Ming ChangYan immediately opened his eyes.

Huai Yu smiled, "I thought you were asleep."

Ming ChangYan startled up in fright, hurriedly retreating backwards, only to have Huai Yu promptly put down the bowl, lift both hands, and close them over both his wrists, pressing him against the bedhead.

Ming ChangYan saw he was in a bad spot, his long legs both kicking out – but Huai Yu was faster, flipping onto the bed and restraining him with his knees. Just as they were busy countering each other's moves, the door was suddenly pushed open.

The two on the bed both turned to see Liu Kuang with one foot in the door, staring right at them.

After a moment, Liu Kuang pulled back his foot and turned around to leave.

Ming ChangYan turned his head, breaking free from Huai Yu's grip; his cheeks had been pinched sore, but Ming ShaoXia was unyielding, calling out as soon as he was free, "Liu Kuang! Take him down for me!"

Liu Kuang calmly sat down, and let out a sigh, "My sympathies, but I cannot help you."

Huai Yu bullied him for a while, began feeling that there was no point to bullying a cripple, and climbed off of him, not in a particularly good mood. Ming ChangYan took note of the look on his face, and had no recourse but to obediently drink his medicine, talking for the sake of it, "Huai Yu, your medicine is so bitter, have you been secretly adding something into it every day?"

Huai Yu, "I haven't."

Ming ChangYan said, "You haven't? No way. I don't believe it, why don't you try a sip?"

Huai Yu gave him a skeptical look. The bowl really did have just a sip of medicine left in it.

Ming ChangYan said, "Other people's medicine is nowhere near as bitter as yours, are you teasing me, childish tricks like this are way too mean."

Huai Yu took the bowl, and with a quick tilt, downed that sip of medicine. To his surprise, something sweet entered his mouth, and after the medicinal liquid had entered his stomach, the only thing left on his tongue was a piece of honey; he turned his head to look at Ming ChangYan.

Ming ChangYan smiled mischievously, reaching a hand out to flick his forehead. Huai Yu blinked once, his lashes trembling with the motion, his appearance one that would certainly invoke tender feelings from anyone watching.

"It's sweet right, you're not mad anymore, are you? I've given you my last piece of honey now, hurry and stop being angry with me, you're giving me a headache."

Liu Kuang coughed, causing Ming ChangYan to impatiently turn his head and ask with concern, "Did you catch a cold?"

Liu Kuang sucked in a breath, then slowly breathed it out again, "No. Lord Ming, sometimes you really fail to understand people's intentions."

Ming ChangYan fell back onto the bed and stuck up his legs, feeling very pleased with himself: I've raised so many children, and for so many years, there's no child in the world I can't coax out of a temper. Just look at how huffy and spoiled he is, and yet this shaoxia still got him sorted out nice and proper.

He subconsciously felt at his chest: It was empty.

It was then that he remembered, he wasn't wearing women's clothes.

Liu Kuang had a cup of tea, "Watching you play with Yun Qing just now, I can see you're quite lively – I suppose your condition has improved by quite a lot."

Ming ChangYan, "I'm already totally recovered."

Liu Kuang nodded, "If you say so, I feel much more relieved. Lord Ming, I need to take you to meet someone."

Ming ChangYan sat up, "Who?"

Liu Kuang put down his teacup, "It's someone you definitely recognize. Since you've recovered, we shouldn't delay any longer – we'll set out right now."

Huai Yu said, "Are you in that much of a hurry?"

Liu Kuang said, "I'd originally planned to bring this person to see Lord Ming the day we first met. I never expected him to have lost his memories along the way, and to suffer such a shock; because of this we've been delayed for quite a few days."

Ming ChangYan said, "Alright then, I'll go with you right now."

Liu Kuang nodded, when Huai Yu suddenly stopped him, "I'm going too."

He pulled a piece of clothing off the bed, draping it over Ming ChangYan's shoulders, "Let's go."

They headed down the mountain from Egret Academy, then crossed a brook, walking in a northerly direction, until they reached the public road past the main gate. Following this road a little ways, the scenery on either side slowly began to add a good number of peddlers. Some were barefoot, some carried wooden frames – the frames were disorderly, built in such a way that they were leaning unsteadily from side to side, and hanging from them were a variety of spice pouches, fans, bags, and other things.

When they reached the market, they came across a scholar selling newspapers outside a bamboo pavilion. Ming ChangYan grabbed a copy of the National Daily News, then picked a few brushes to shove in his pocket; Huai Yu paid the money, and the two continued on after Liu Kuang.

Ming ChangYan spun a brush between his fingers, talking incessantly, "Little Huai Yu, the first time I met you, you were only this tall."

He very exaggeratedly gestured to around waist-height. Huai Yu replied, "Do you want to die?"

Ming ChangYan promptly begged for mercy, "Alright fine, you were this tall."

This time, he gestured at his current height—Ming ChangYan currently only reached his shoulders.

Huai Yu gave him a cold glare, and Ming ChangYan shamefacedly drew back his hand, "You sure are mean."

The third time, Ming ChangYan was nice and honest, standing on tiptoes as he made another gesture, "This tall, this tall should be okay, right! Unless you want me to start jumping."

Huai Yu was satisfied by this, and therefore willing to listen to him, "Why are you bringing this up?"

"I'm saying you've got money. When you shop you can throw out golden beads like it's nothing. When'd you learn to start carrying spare silver around?"

Ming ChangYan was walking as he talked when suddenly he paused in his step.

Huai Yu turned his head, only to see he'd already jumped over to a booth by the wayside.

Liu Kuang laughed, "He was incapacitated from serious injury for near two years, and he's been trapped in the imperial palace ever since he recovered—it's inevitable he'd be excited going out today."

Huai Yu gave him a cold glance, "Is that any of your business?"

Liu Kuang stared blankly, rendered mute, then smiled, "I shouldn't have spoken."

Ming ChangYan lifted a string of wind bells, shaking it as it dangled from his hand. These wind bells were of unusual make – there was a colored glass globe tied in the center, the greater part of which was filled with water, with a half-inch-long little fish peacefully swimming around inside. Ming ChangYan shook it again, making the little fish move excitedly around, while the little piece of cloth hanging from the bottom of the globe swayed back and forth in the wind.

"Ai, how much are your wind bells?"

After asking the price, and having Huai Yu pay the money, Ming ChangYan smiled happily, "It's for you."

Huai Yu said, "Giving me something bought with my own money, you sure are great at doing business."

Ming ChangYan shamelessly replied, "So I'll owe you for now, write me an IOU. It really is for you, see this little fish inside, doesn't it look like you?"

Huai Yu held it up to his eyes, carefully examined it for a moment, then immediately put out his verdict, "Nonsense."

Ming ChangYan mumbled to himself, "Isn't it though?"

He reached out and tapped the glass; the fish promptly turned its back to him, fuming.

Ming ChangYan let out a heartfelt sigh, thinking: They're clearly exactly alike!

A quarter of an hour later, Liu Kuang brought the two to TongWen Inn. A waiter came up to welcome them, Liu Kuang gave his name, and the three were all led to the central building.

Liu Kuang spoke as they walked, "I only know this person is a mutual acquaintance of yours, but she refuses to tell me anything more detailed than that; perhaps if she meets you, she'll be willing to speak."

Once they reached the entrance and dismissed the waiter, Liu Kuang knocked on the door, and a woman's voice arose from inside.

She was clearly not fluent in central plains speech, as she asked, "Who?"

Liu Kuang said, "It's me."

After a good while, the door was slowly opened.

Though she was wearing central plains clothing, the woman behind the door had amber-colored eyes, and she was slightly darker-skinned than the women of the central plains.

The moment she saw Ming ChangYan her whole body shook, both legs went soft, and she kneeled there at the entrance; immediately following that, what she blurted out was a string of Tokharan language.

Ming ChangYan froze in shock, "Little Bell!"

Huai Yu said, "What did she shout?"

Liu Kuang replied, "I only know a little bit of the Tokharan language, but what she said should mean little prince."

Ming ChangYan helped up Little Bell; the woman was on the verge of tears; like someone lost at sea, she grabbed onto Ming ChangYan's arm the way one might a piece of floating wood, an action full of desperation.

Once she'd cried enough, Little Bell suddenly knelt back down on the ground, knocking her head against the wooden floor; judging by her appearance it seemed she planned to kneel there for a good while.

As the two's conversation was entirely in Tokharan, which Huai Yu couldn't understand, he turned a stare to Liu Kuang.

Liu Kuang could feel his back go numb under the brat's stare, and had no choice but to force himself to attempt the task of an interpreter.

"It looks like this Little Bell is Lord Ming's sister's maid."

Huai Yu asked, "What else?"

"She appears to be apologizing."

Little Bell, kneeling on the floor, was indeed apologizing.

Ming ChangYan asked: "How did Yi Yue get to the central plains, didn't I tell her I'd bring her over in another year, did you just allow her temper to get her into trouble!?"

Little Bell cried, "Our ruler was terrifying those days, sentencing people to beheading or lingchi at the slightest provocation, not showing kindness even to the princess – he even wanted to present her to the fourth prince of Southern Liang, Lu HangGeng. The princess was frightened, she really couldn't wait for you any longer, so she packed her things and ran in the middle of the night, thinking to find you herself. Once we arrived in the central plains, we stopped at an inn to rest—the princess could speak a little of the central plains language, while I couldn't speak any, and was afraid to go anywhere at all. At the time we'd already reached GuangLing, and would soon arrive at Lin'an; a few days later, a man appeared carrying your silver bracelets, and saying he was your friend."

Ming ChangYan thought to himself: My friend? What friend do I have who'd know I had a sister!

He stood up, raising his voice, "And you just let Yi Yue walk away with him?"

Little Bell was crying so hard she could barely breathe, stammering out, "I…I was sent away at the time, the princess wanted me to pack our bags and prepare to leave—I didn't think she'd be gone when I came back! It was my fault, I didn't watch the princess properly…"

Ming ChangYan softened at that, and helped her up, "I'm not blaming you. Let me ask, do you remember what that man looked like?"

Little Bell violently scrubbed at her face, "I, I only caught a glimpse, so I can't describe him properly, but…if I saw him, I'm sure I'd recognize him…"

"That's right! I remember the man was wearing an unusual jade ornament too, the design on it was…"

Ming ChangYan's expression shifted, frozen with disbelief.

Huai Yu asked, "What did she say?"

Liu Kuang hesitated a moment before replying, "A jade ornament? She said the man who took Lord Ming's sister had a jade ornament hanging from his waist."

Huai Yu said, "Was it sheep-fat white jade, with an image of a qilin on clouds?"

Liu Kuang said, "How did you know?"

Huai Yu stepped forward, supporting Ming ChangYan's shoulder.

Ming ChangYan sucked in a deep breath, before slowly opening his mouth, "That jade ornament, is something Yi Yue had seen before. I once wore it at my waist; it's because it's something she'd seen before, plus the silver bracelets, that she trusted this person like she did."

Huai Yu pondered over this, then asked, "Ming Yue?"

There was a moment's silence before Ming ChangYan replied, "Yes."

Huai Yu said, "That night at the window, when you told me about your sister, he heard it too."

Ming ChangYan said, "But how would he know that Yi Yue came to the central plain? And why would he take her away?"

Huai Yu squeezed his shoulder, "There are some things you need to go ask yourself. Rather than making pointless guesses, it's better to have him personally confess." He paused, then amended, "If he was the culprit, what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know." He sat down on a stool, his whole body stripped of energy, then added, "I don't understand."

Ming ChangYan sat a while before standing up again, "We're going. Little Bell, you go rest in bed. Liu Kuang, have the shopkeep make her some good soup, her body can't handle crying this long."

Little Bell said, "Your Highness, I want to go with you!"

Ming ChangYan comforted her, "I'm not longer any highness, Little Bell, if you go with me, how will that work? I won't lie to you, these days I've pretty much lost all my martial abilities, I can't even protect myself—if I bring you along, there's a good chance we'll all end up dying here on the central plain. Don't worry, Liu Kuang can take care of you; just wait until I've got everything finished, and I'll take you back to XiYue Mountain to live."

Little Bell couldn't be older than twenty, her appearance the kind that tugged at one's heart-strings, wide-eyed and trembling.

Ming ChangYan had no choice but to bend down and gently muss her hair, "Listen to me, I'm not going to trick you."

Once Little Bell was settled down, the three left TongWen Inn. Liu Kuang still had other business to attend to, and so took his leave from the other two.

Ming ChangYan sighed and went to find a shady spot to sit. Not long afterwards, it began to rain.

After the start of fall, the weather was continuously rainy and grey, dragging along unceasingly.

The fine rain was like needles, stabbing into his body. Huai Yu opened an umbrella, and Ming ChangYan let out a laugh, "Thanks."

He asked, "There's a lot of work to be done in the palace, and you've got a high position, too—isn't there anything important you should be doing? I appreciate your kind intentions, but there's no need for you to waste time with me."

This past half-month, Huai Yu had come to Egret Academy pretty much daily to watch him take his medicine. Based on what Zhao XiaoLan and the others had said, the Eldest Prince's death and the chaos brought about by a plague in GuangLing had left the imperial palace in a complete mess. As a Prime Minister whose purpose was to dispel disaster and pray for blessings, there was no way he could just take a break during all this, and run out of the palace every day. Egret Academy and the imperial palace weren't particularly close to each other, generally taking about two hours for the average person to walk from one to the other; even if he took a horse and carriage back, it would still be quite a hassle.

Or maybe he was just acting according to his temper—rushing into things without any forethought.

Huai Yu said, "It's fine, Chang Xu came back."

Ming ChangYan thought: Chang Xu? The Prime Minister Chang that Fu Ling mentioned? Is that Huai Yu's master? If he managed to teach a student this spoiled, wouldn't that make him even more…

Ming ChangYan pinched at the ends of his hair, fiddling with it for a while, "So you're going to keep wasting time together with me?"

Huai Yu humphed and proceeded to ignore him.

Ming ChangYan said, "If you really think of me as a friend, and want to help me, then find the Immortal Grass."

After a moment, Huai Yu said, "You want to recover your martial abilities?"

Ming ChangYan: "Of course I do, or else how could I investigate the truth of things? Do you have any ideas?"

Huai Yu smiled slightly, "I know a method that can recover three parts of your martial power."

Ming ChangYan immediately stood up, "Why just three parts? Can't you completely restore it?"

Huai Yu scowled and turned his head away, "If you don't want it then fine."

At that, Ming ChangYan hurriedly spun to follow the movement of Huai Yu's head, "I want it, I do, I really do!"

Huai Yu lowered his eyes, looking at him. Ming ChangYan grinned, politely taking the umbrella: "I'll hold this for you. Here you are, Lord Prime Minister, you go ahead."

He wasn't tall enough for this, and so had to stand on tiptoes, raising the umbrella up in his hands; at the same time, the gaze with which he looked at Huai Yu was an incredibly lively one.

Huai Yu felt pleased with himself, and so relented, "Four parts."

Getting what he wanted so easily only led Ming ChangYan to continue acting contrary, "Five parts, come on!"

Huai Yu callously said, "Two parts."

"Alright alright, three parts, three parts!!!!"

Huai Yu humphed, took back the umbrella and walked away. Ming ChangYan let out an affectatious scream, lamenting incessantly, "I'm a cripple! Ai, you, you little brat! Gege! Huai Yu! Do you have an umbrellstealing habit or what!"

The rain came down harder than before.

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen. If you steal our work I'm going to force bitter medicine down your throat.

Whoa what, a new chapter this early. That's impossible.

I hope you enjoyed it~ ᕦ(✧ᗜ✧)ᕥ

What do you think about all this tension with Ming Yue and that jade ornament? I want to see how close you guys can get with your theories.

If you see any grammatical/translation error, please notify me! My email will always be at the very top of the website.

Remember that you're gorgeous, love you guys!

Chapter end