A Hundred of Beautiful Lives - Chapter 016

Among the three men, the eldest pulled two gold ingots from his sleeve and slammed them on the table. 

“If you shut your mouth right now, these two ingots are yours.”

Yu Sui’er furrowed her brows and glared, about to explode, but then she saw her mistress walk past her with light, cheerful steps, grabbing both gold ingots with one hand each.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go,” Ji Yang said to Yu Sui’er, tossing the gold ingots into the air. “Making money like this is too easy. Come on, let’s go to a different place to eat.”

The three men probably didn’t expect such a dramatic turn of events. Ji Yang and her group started heading downstairs. Though they had thrown the gold ingots down with great fanfare, it was merely a show of bravado. If Ji Yang took those two gold ingots, their travel expenses would be gone.

“Wait!” shouted the thin monkey-faced man among the three, “How could there be such a cheap deal under the heaven?”

Ji Yang turned back to the three with a teasing pout. 

“A real man keeps his word, doesn’t he? Didn’t you say that if my maid kept quiet, we could take the two gold ingots? What, you want to go back on your word? Shame on you, shame, shame.”

The monkey-faced man looked ready to explode, but the eldest among the three grabbed his wrist firmly. 

“Let it go.”

“Big brother,” the monkey-faced tried to break free, but the middle-aged man held him tightly.

“Third brother,” the middle-aged man shook his head at him. “Do you want to be laughed at by a young lady?”

“Big Brother is right. A man’s integrity is everything.” The second-oldest man, who was the least attractive of the three, stood up to support the eldest.

Only then did the youngest drop his hand, still grumbling, but then heard the second brother add, “You can’t judge a book by its cover, and measure the sea with a ladle. Who would have thought we three old hands of the jianghu would be tricked by such a skilled swindler today?”  

“Who are you calling a swindler?” Yu Sui’er shot back indignantly.

Her princess doesn’t care about such a petty amount of money… She’s never swindled anyone out of money!

Ji Yang tossed the gold ingots again, clicking her tongue. “Tsk tsk, I’m the one amazed here. You were the ones trying to go back on your word and then turned around to accuse us of being swindlers.”

Ji Yang walked back to them, stopped in front of the table, and slapped down the two gold ingots—along with the one Yu Sui’er had offered on the table as well. “But I, for one, keep my word. If you leave now, these three ingots are yours. Well?”

Lu Tieshan, who was called the Big Brother, was starting to feel a bit angry himself. Earlier, he had seen Ji Yang’s playful tone and realised that his side was indeed guilty of not keeping their word, which was why he had stopped Zhang Geng. But he didn’t expect the other party to take advantage of the situation—these three brothers were not ones to be easily trifled with.

“Don’t think I won’t hit a woman.” 

Zhang Geng threatened, baling his fists at her words.

Ji Yang did not so much as twitch an eyebrow at his threat. 

“Alright. If you don’t want to leave, neither do we. We’d also like to sit at this table. ‘An accidental encounter is better than a planned meeting.’ How about we share this table? Yes or no?”

“Miss…” 

Before the three brothers could object, Yu Sui’er spoke up first, “How can this be appropriate?!”

Ji Yang turned to Yu Sui’er. 

“Then can you make change tables?”

Yu Sui’er immediately fell silent, thinking to herself that next time they went out, she must bring guards to clear the area.

The three brothers hadn’t expected things to take such a strange turn and stared dumbfounded at the bold, unconventional young lady before them.

Judging by her elegant attire and beautiful maidservants, she must be from a distinguished family, yet how come her behaviour is like this?

Ji Yang didn’t care about any of that. She plopped down right on the stool previously occupied by the youngest brother and said to him, “Here, scoot over. That way, everyone can sit.”

The third brother, looking dazed, actually shuffled over to squeeze in with his second brother. The three men suddenly felt awkward.

Ji Yang, however, acted as if nothing had happened and said to Yu Sui’er, “Go call the waiter to clear the table and serve the food. Today’s my treat.”

Yu Sui’er only murmured, “Oh,” but didn’t move a muscle.

“What are you waiting for?” Ji Yang began to grow impatient.

“Miss, this isn’t appropriate. How can we sit at the same table with strangers, especially men?” Yu Sui’er protested.

Ji Yang replied, “Isn’t this a good thing? I was worried no one would accompany me to eat.” 

Since master and servant were of different status, Yu Sui’er and the others wouldn’t dare dine at the same table with Ji Yang. Whether in the palace or on the imperial street run by eunuchs, Ji Yang always ate alone, so she had been eagerly hoping that Shen Du would return to the Běi Yuàn to dine.

Yu Sui’er was about to voice another objection, but Ji Yang silenced her with a single cold glance. She dared not say another word—after all, the mistress’s orders were not to be disobeyed.

Watching Yu Sui’er go to find the waiter, Ji Yang finally withdrew her gaze with satisfaction. As her beautiful eyes turned to the Lu brothers, she saw the eldest brother, Lu Tieshan, stand up and say, “We have finished eating. Please take your time, Miss.”

“But Big Brother, I haven’t—” 

The youngest brother, Zhang Geng, hadn’t finished eating and was still hungry.

But Lu Tieshan didn’t care. He grabbed Zhang Geng and pulled him toward the door.

Outside the De Sheng tavern, Zhang Geng shook off Lu Tieshan’s hand and said, “Big brother, what’s wrong with you? It’s rare to have a good meal, and I haven’t had a proper meal in days.”

Lu Tieshan said, “She’s a young lady. How can you eat at the same table with her?”

Zhang Geng was a rough man. 

“Why should I be embarrassed? She sat down on her own. I didn’t pull her over. Why should I be embarrassed to eat?”

The second brother, He Jingren, patted Zhang Geng on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go. Let’s find another place to eat. Big Brother is right. That girl’s background is probably not ordinary. She may be a bit off in the head, but her family certainly doesn’t. It’s better to avoid trouble.”

Zhāng Gěng objected, “How can you tell her background is not ordinary? She doesn’t seem that special to me. If she were from a noble family, would she shamelessly snatch our table?” 

He Jingren replied, “Did you notice her shoes?”

Zhang Geng gave him an incredulous look.

“Why would I look at her shoes?”

He Jingren felt a bit embarrassed. He had a peculiar quirk—he especially liked women’s feet. So whenever he saw a woman, his eyes naturally drifted downward.

“The tips of her shoes were adorned with pearls the size of longan fruit—perfectly matched, gleaming with a pinkish lustre. Just that pair alone would be worth a fortune, and you couldn’t even buy them with money. That Demon Empress adored pearls—nearly every pearl in the realm is in Luoyang Palace now. And yet this young lady had two on her shoes. Her background must be extraordinary. Perhaps she’s the daughter of a noble household of the Marquis of Xinyang.”

He Jingren’s observation wasn’t far off. While his guess was slightly off the mark, it wasn’t by much.

Zhang Geng fell silent upon hearing she could be the daughter of the Marquis of Xinyang’s household. After all, the three of them had come all this way, hoping to gain an audience with the Marquis of Ji.

However, Zhang Geng suddenly exclaimed, “Eh? Second brother, didn’t we come to the Desheng Restaurant to see if we could find a way to get in touch with the Marquis of Ji? If that young lady from the Marquis of Xinyang’s household, then, isn’t this the perfect opportunity to ask her for information?”  

He Jingren teased, “You can’t bear to part with her, huh? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her? You haven’t even seen her face, yet her voice alone has left you charmed?”

“What are you talking about?” Zhang Geng erupted in anger as if someone had stepped on his tail.

Lu Tieshan and He Jingren both burst into laughter. The former said, “It seems that after we brothers have achieved great deeds and built a career, the first thing we need to do is arrange the marriage of our third brother.”

Zhang Geng blushed with embarrassment. 

“What’s wrong with you two? I was being serious.”

He Jingren laughed for a while before saying, “Never mind whether she, as a woman, would understand such matters. If we rely on a woman to make introductions, what kind of future could we brothers possibly have? Besides, in my opinion, that young lady must have sneaked out. Otherwise, in times like these, how could a beautiful girl go out without even a servant to escort her? Even if you ask her, she wouldn’t dare tell you the truth. Moreover, I was only guessing that she’s from the Marquis of Xinyang’s household. There are so many noble families in Xinyang—just because we had one meal doesn’t mean we were lucky enough to bump into a Marquis’s daughter.”

Zhang Geng scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.  

“Second Brother, how do you know she’s beautiful?”

“Are you still denying you’re not interested in her, eh?” He Jingren teased again, “Even though we couldn’t see her face, her maidservants are all so beautiful. As their mistress, there’s no way she would be anything less.”

Zhang Geng nodded, a bit embarrassed.

“I think her eyes are bright, even brighter than lake water.”

Zhang Geng was indeed captivated by Ji Yang’s large, clear eyes. At that moment, he wanted to hit someone, but the moment he saw her eyes, he couldn’t raise his clenched fist, and his hands went limp for some reason.

Despite appearing older, Zhang Geng was only eighteen years old and had never been with a woman, unlike Lu Tieshan and He Jingren, who had once been married but lost their wives and children in disasters before embarking on a new future alone.

But while these three bachelors were already thinking about women after a single meal, Ji Yang was proudly inside De Sheng tavern, utterly pleased with herself.

[T/N: lǎo jiānghú [old hands of the jianghu (martial world or seasoned wanderers)]