A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 43

Chapter 43: There's a Beauty – Part 2

The person's voice was so familiar that he turned around and saw a senior with a face as white as jade. Ming ChangYan was both alarmed and surprised, after pondering for a bit he finally said, "Shifu is traveling a thousand miles again.*"

(TN: "千里不留行师父"; once again from one of Li Bai's poems. The original verse goes "Every ten steps they kill a person, in the thousands of miles they travel, no one dares to block them." Means someone with superb martial art skills.)

The person said, "I almost didn't recognize you from the dress you're wearing. What? After thinking for so long, you don't remember me?"

Ming ChangYan asked, "Why are you here?"

The person rubbed his nose and smiled, "Naturally, I have my reasons for being here, but I just can't seem to find a reason for why you're wearing a dress."

This person was Ming ChangYan's teacher, and also the current dynasty's ex-Prime Minister: Chang Xu.

During those days, Chang Xu was traveling around before he wandered to Tokhara. Because he was impoverished at that time, his life was very poor and he could only make up the status of a chivalrous hero that's been 'traveling a thousand miles.` Through swindling, he was able to cheat is way to food, drinks, and entrance into the palace of Tokhara and even became acquaintances with Princess HanZhu. He complied to the providence and stayed in Tokhara to teach Ming ChangYan martial arts.

Ming ChangYan has had been extremely talented since childhood. All of this person's careless debates that were spat in front of this little boy was enough to invent a brand new form of martial arts, and he really didn't need him as a teacher.

Although Chang Xu didn't worry, in Ming ChangYan's eyes, he was the reason that he went to the Central Plains.

When he was young, Chang Xu would tell him about all kinds of sceneries from the Central Plains which caused Ming ChangYan to yearn for a visit. He unintentionally established a layout of what he wanted to do in the ten years he stayed in the Central Plains martial circles.

Ming ChangYan said, "I really had no choice but to wear a dress."

Chang Xu laughed out loud, "Let's go, it's not convenient talking here. There's a pavilion up ahead, let's go take a seat there. After not seeing you for such a long time, how did you grow shorter?"

Ming ChangYan explained, "It's because of a medicine."

He didn't hold anything back from Chang Xu and explained the affairs that happened these past few years.

Chang Xu this person didn't stay at the Central Plains for years on end and enjoyed traveling all over the place. Without a fixed residence, many things occurred in the Central Plains these past few years so he's only been hearing the rumors.

Ming ChangYan said, "Shifu, I never expected you to run to the Central Plains to live it up while also becoming the Prime Minister. Your current outfit is way more expensive compared to the one that you wore in Tokhara."

Although he knew that Huai Yu had a teacher, he never thought that he would be familiar with Huai Yu's teacher. When he thought about how Huai Yu's little missy attitude was taught by Chang Xu, Ming ChangYan couldn't help but giving him a profound glance.

Chang Xu said, "It's a pity that there's no tea here or else I would've poured you a cup. After not seeing you these past few years, you're beginning to look more and more like an old friend of mine."

Ming ChangYan smiled, "This is the second time these past few days that I've heard those words, don't tell me that my face looks a lot like the masses?"

Chang Xu, "Your temperament, bearing, way of speech and even the natural disposition of your body, is exactly like that person. But when it comes to appearance, you two look nothing alike."

Ming ChangYan inquired, "Who's this person you're talking about?"

Chang Xu, "It's affairs from the previous dynasty and must not be mentioned again."

After a short period of silence, Chang Xu continued, "I've heard about the situation with Yi Yue, I'm sorry for bothering you."

Ming ChangYan closed his eyes before opening them again, "Regarding the situation with Yi Yue, there's a severely doubtful point to it but I will not be tolerant with them in any way. I'm going to dismember the body of whoever's behind it into ten thousand pieces."

Chang Xu, "Are you aware that these past few years, your father has been using Yi Yue's death as an excuse to continuously ask the Central Plains for various kinds of resources."

Ming ChangYan was rather astonished.

Chang Xu, "From your reaction, I could already tell that you didn't know about the relationship between the two. From your words, you lost consciousness for a bit and after you woke up, you didn't think at all about any of these things?"

Ming ChangYan paused for a bit, "I've thought about them. Yi Yue doesn't know cultivation, but let's not talk about how she made the long and difficult trek to the Central Plains yet, it would've already been difficult for her to escape the palace under the watch of my father. If not for…."

"If not for your father allowing her, then how would she have been able to get out."

Ming ChangYan's hands faintly curled into a fist.

Chang Xu said, "This matter involves national affairs. The wife and child of the monarch are nothing more than expendable toys for the purposes of politics, you should already be aware of this. Your mother…"

"My mother was married off to Tokhara and powerless under the previous dynasty's emperor."

Chang Xu was interrupted by him, sighing he asked, "After you fell into the Yanbo River, did you know where Yi Yue's body was? Even if Tokhara is a distance away from the Central Plains, your death caused a huge disturbance. How could no one in TianQing not know the true identity of you and your sister if it weren't for someone keeping this matter under control, is there any other way of saying this?"

Ming ChangYan, "I know that there's someone stirring things behind my back. But this person is hiding too deep, it's not something that I can find out about in just a few days. Granted that even if the emperor wanted to eliminate me, it's because Yi Yue died in the Central Plains that allowed my father to take advantage of the situation, this certainly isn't something that he must've wished for. But now that I think about it, there were way too many people back then who wanted to eliminate me, I really can't think of who'd it be."

"Since this person is able to conceal this from the Central Plains martial circles, their position must be rather high. You might as well think about it too after you died, who would benefit most from it?"

After they discussed to this point, Ming ChangYan unexpectedly laughed, "Of course it'd Xiu LingLong. That damned girl used me to fill her pockets full with money."

Chang Xu smiled, "But there's still too many people who'd benefit from your death. In these past years, have you ever went back to Tokhara."

Ming ChangYan nodded his head, "This year's tides are strong and the farmable land in Tokhara are becoming less and less. I really can't understand his way of handling things. But to exploit Yi Yue's death makes me feel bitterly disappointed."

Yet Chang Xu said, "You're a prince who abandoned his people. You're living happy and free, so how come you won't let your father feel bitterly disappointed as well."

Ming ChangYan sneered, "Him? Would a lunatic like him allow a child who possesses blood from the Central Plains to inherit the throne?"

Chang Xu rubbed his nose and sighed, "You're right. Let's stop talking about this. After meeting you after so long, from your current condition, it seems that you're living your life with an embarrassing illness!"

Ming ChangYan, "Shifu, stop making fun of me. Oh right, Yun Luo also came to the Central Plains."

Yun Luo was Hua YunChang's birth name.

Chang Xu thought for a moment, saying, "Oh…how's she doing right now? I remember this child was born with great innate skills, good fortune nowadays can't be overlooked."

Ming ChangYan, "When I first left the Central Plains, I met Yun Luo at the capital. Unfortunately, when I saw her, she seemed to not be able to practice martial arts anymore. Nowadays, even holding a bowl to eat requires tremendous effort."

"Is there a reason?"

"She refused to say."

Chang Xu was speechless, "The affairs of life are not something humans can control."

The sound of the wind and rippling of water came from within the bamboo forest, Chang Xu recalled, "I still remember, you two would constantly fight…."

Tokhara floated by the shore of Fu Yue sea, with mountains on one side and water on the other which caused many nobles from various countries to visit. One day, an envoy from Northern Rou brought over a youngster who requested to compete against Tokhara's little prince.

Back then Ming Changyan was proud, arrogant and also possessed extraordinary innate skill. No child his age could match him, and after seeing that someone had dropped by to purposely provoke him, he couldn't help but glance at this person a few more times. The person who stood next to Northern Rou's envoy was a young girl dressed in a red horse-riding outfit. There were arrows tucked in her boot and her hair was tied into a high ponytail accompanied by a black headband that was about two fingers wide. The headband had a red inlay that was decorated with coral pearls. Her skin was a snowy white just like snowfall and overall a very charming-looking girl.

This person was Yun Luo.

The monarch gladly accepted the request and the two started off with archery while on horse then a sword duel. Ming ChangYan had always been lacking in those two skills.

Yun Luo burst out into loud laughter after the competition came to an end, she'd pressed Ming ChangYan under her while she twisted his hand behind his body, "So it turns out the warriors of Tokhara isn't as good as I thought they were!"

Yi Yue nervously shouted, "Brother!"

Ming ChangYan's ambition back then was extremely high, his face flushed red as he yelled, "Again."

Yun Luo rubbed her nose, "I won't fight with you! You're not as strong as me, if we continue, you're going to start crying."

The Northern Rou's envoy said, "Yun Luo, you can't be unreasonable until the competition point is reached."

Yun Luo's grip loosened as she stood up, sharing a remote look with Ming ChangYan. Both his hands were grasping his chest, he jumped on a boulder and sat down. One of his feet rested on his knee while it dangled down, he wore a smiling expression.

The monarch coldly glanced at Ming ChangYan before he left with a brush of his sleeves. Yi Yue quickly rushed forwards, the little bells on her echoing as she ran. She helped Ming ChangYan up while tears formed at the corners of her eyes, like the person who'd been injured was herself. Yi Yue quietly said, "Brother, I'll blow on it for you, it'll lessen the pain."

Ming ChangYan said, "I was never hurt in the first place." Following which he wiped the tears in Yi Yue's eyes.

"Stop crying, I'm not in pain."

His mother was worried to death, holding the medicine, she rushed forward and applied it on Ming ChangYan. She plaintively shouted, "My Zhao Zhao, aiya!"

For a moment, Yun Luo had a strange look on her, tilting her head, her hair faintly fell down as she asked, "Wow, how is your skin so soft, it broke from just a punch. I heard your mom call you Zhao Zhao just now, is Zhao Zhao your name? Don't tell me that you're actually a girl!"

Ming ChangYan looked at her and asked, "Where did you learn your martial arts?"

Yun Luo replied, "Me? I learned it myself! What, even if you have Shifu's to teach you, those trash moves, I can learn them by just looking!"

Ming ChangYan said, "Fine, after I study for a few more days, I want to duel with you again!"

Yun Luo played with the small braid in her fingertips, openly agreeing, "Ok! I'm not afraid of you."

Ming ChangYan took two steps but felt an unbearable pain on his right foot. Yu Luo commented, "After I beat you up like this and since we're friends now, I'll carry you on my back."

"I don't need anyone to carry me. Have you ever heard of the proverb male and female are unequal? Even if you look like that, I still can't consider you like a normal girl. In short, I don't need you to carry me, it's too embarrassing!"

Yun Luo retorted, "Weird, so what I'm a girl? In the future, who underneath this sky would be able to defeat me?"

Ming ChangYan, "The world's big, Tokhara isn't the only region around, there are also experts in the Central Plains. You're way too arrogant!"

Yun Luo laughed, "So what they're experts, just wait, when I visit the Central Plains in a few years, I'm going to beat them all to the ground!"

When Ming ChangYan heard those words, he merely thought that this person was excessively arrogant. Even though he had a high innate skill, he didn't dare to speak such conceited nonsense. But Yun Luo this person was interesting, brazen and lively, weird with a bunch of bad points. After Ming ChangYan mingled with her for two days, the two had already become a gang of scoundrels. They immediately hit it off and with arms around each other's shoulders, they did 'bad things' to the extreme, to the point where surrounding animals couldn't even have their peace and quiet.

One day, Yun Luo had had enough fun with previous tricks and proposed to go hit a Tibetan mastiff. When Ming ChangYan heard this, he said, "Don't even think about it, I had another friend before trying to hit a Tibetan mastiff, but was bitten. I told him not to panic and use some water to clean the wound, afterwards…."

Yun Luo supported her head as she lied down on the stone, "Afterwards what?"

"Afterwards, the grass growing on his grave is already three meters long!"

Yun Luo said, "Those are the other people, I haven't done it yet. I've heard that wild Tibetan mastiffs are extremely hard to hit, if I hit one, everyone's going to have a whole new level of respect for me."

Ming ChangYan stated, "I'm not going with you nor do I approve of you going."

Yun Luo laughed at him, "Ey, does this mean that you're going to go dancing, hahaha!"

Ming ChangYan corrected her, "No, that's offering sacrifices to the gods, not dancing."

Yet Yun Luo continued to laugh, "Zhao Zhao, how were you born so much like a girl, so overly sensitive. Forget it, if you're not going, then I'm going!"

Ming ChangYan said, "Then go, next year on this day, I'll go to the burial mounds and light three incense sticks for you!"

Yun Luo disputed, "As if I'll die! Even if I die, I don't need you to burn incense for me!"

After she said this, she just turned around, mounted her horse and sauntered her way to the valley.

When he recalled to here, Chang Xu couldn't help but sigh in sorrow, "That child, really never admits defeat."

Ming ChangYan said, "When has she ever admitted defeat, she's always been unright like this. The things that other people couldn't do, she'd insist on doing."

Chang Xu questioned, "What happened next? Did she get injured?"

Ming ChangYan chuckled, "Yup! How could she have not? How old do you think she was, when I found her, her entire body was covered in blood and she was lying on the ground with the corpse of the Tibetan mastiff in her hands. I really wanted to choke her to death!"

Chang Xu, "Did you choke her?"

"The great are generous, naturally I carried her back."

Just as his voice fell, from outside the bamboo forest a person asked, "Who did you carry back?"

Immediately, Chang Xu opened his mouth, "Your friend's here. I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

Ming ChangYan smelled a muddled fragrance, even without turning around he had already determined who had arrived.

"Weren't you super busy, how did you have the time to come find me?"

Huai Yu, "If I want to come, then I'm going to come."

He'd already changed out of his immortal attire from the blessings ceremony and put on clothes that he usually wore during the day, the blue mark between his forehead already wiped off. Ming ChangYan took a closer look and noticed the pair of red pearl earrings that'd been threaded with silk was taken off as well.

After Huai Yu was gazed at with an unfathomable look, he asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Ming ChangYan told it as it was, "Because you look pretty."

Huai Yu humphed before continuing, "Your body's not fully recovered yet, don't run all over the place. Have you felt any spiritual energy recently?"

Ming ChangYan played around and bowed towards him in courtesy, "Indeed, it's gotten better. It's all thanks to the kindness of you, the Young Prime Minister, you have my undying gratitude."

Huai Yu noticed that he was still in the mood to be grinning cheekily; In these few months, the two had only met briefly before they had a long separation, but the other wasn't saddened by it at all and seemed to only recall past events just now. Thinking of this, his heart couldn't help but feel stuffy and dejected. Huai Yu suddenly changed the subject and interrogated him, "Why did you cover up my portrait the other day."

When Ming ChangYan heard this, he immediately burst out into a cold sweat, thinking: Why's this brat suddenly mentioning an old grudge!

"That, that's, of course there's a reason…"

Huai Yu inquired, "A reason?"

Ming ChangYan was just thinking of a reason to deceive him when a gust of wind came from the bamboo forest and blew some sand into his eyes. He reached up and began to viciously rub at them, when Huai Yu saw this he began, "Stop rubbing, it'll get into your eyes."

Just as he said, it didn't seem to get any better after rubbing them, instead, tears began forming. He said, "Huai Yu, your mouth is an abomination!"

Huai Yu clicked his tongue, "Let go."

Ming ChangYan loosened his hands, Huai Yu lowered his head and lightly blew into his eyes.

Ming ChangYan said, "Wait wait, wait, wait wait wait! It's not out yet, blow a bit harder!"

Huai Yu restrained his shoulders and pressed him down onto a stool, "Stop moving around!"

He lightly blew two more times when the bamboo forest welcomed three more people.

Jun let out a curt shriek, Huai Yu turned around just in time to look at her face to face.

Besides her, behind her, there were several women all holding their breath, not daring to make a single unnecessary movement. Jun took a step back, just as she was about to break into a run, she shouted:

"I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING!!"

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work I'm pouring sand into your eyes.

Oh no, they've been discovered… ｜ｏ゜）

I'll post chapters as soon as they're out so it'll just depend on the workload I get. Anyway, thoughts on this chapter? I liked it. It sets up great misunderstandings about the two in the future.

The next chapter will come quicker than this one cause I'm going to really enjoy translating it. And when I enjoy translating, I don't stop till I'm finished.

If you see any grammatical/translation errors, please tell me! Constructive criticism is always welcomed as well.

Have a good night's sleep~~~

Chapter end