A Hundred of Beautiful Lives - Chapter 019

Last night at the inn, Ji Yang had eagerly rummaged through her new purchases, prompting Shen Du to frown deeply. 

“What are you buying all this cloth for?”

Ji Yang replied, “These are all fabrics dyed by common people at home. I felt sorry for the auntie who was calling out for buyers, so I bought them all. Besides, the colours are actually dyed quite nicely. Take a look?” 

Ji Yang held the fabrics up to Shen Du’s face.

“I’m asking you what you’re going to do with them?” Shen Du said, eyeing the indigo floral print and continued, “You don’t use these, so are you just going to throw them away?”

Ji Yang widened her eyes and said, “How could I? I might never have the chance to come here again. Buying them as a keepsake is nice, too. Just looking at them will remind me of this trip. This is our first time travelling together.” 

Ji Yang smiled sweetly.

What more could Shen Du say? He could only frown and say, “These rice cakes won’t last for long. Did you buy so many just to keep as a memento?”

Ji Yang said sheepishly, “That’s not it. It’s just that the rice cake vendor looked so pitiful. He had shouted himself hoarse but barely made a sale, so I bought them all for him. You should have seen the smile on his face.” 

Ji Yang couldn’t help but smile at the memory.

Since Ji Yang had acted out of kindness, Shen Du couldn’t bring himself to scold her. 

However, being a spendthrift wouldn’t necessarily make people like her more. Shen Du once again regretted his hasty decision to bring Princess Anle along, as it was tantamount to bringing a lot of trouble along. So when Ji Yang said she wanted to go to the Eastern Sea next time, there was no way Shen Du would agree.

Thus, no matter how Ji Yang fluttered her beautiful eyes at him, Shen Du remained unmoved. Of course, he couldn’t outright refuse Princess Anle, so he left her with a vague answer, “It depends on how you behave.”

What Shen Du meant by ‘behave’ was that Ji Yang should stop spending money like water, or clinging to him endlessly.

However, Ji Yang’s jade-like face flushed pink at Shen Du’s words. It wasn’t because she was overthinking it; it was simply because the playful smile at the corner of Shen Du’s lips was easy to misinterpret.

Ji Yang lowered her eyelids slightly and murmured, “Didn’t I behave well last night?” 

Her voice was soft and full of grievance.

Last night, Ji Yang found the inn’s bed unclean and didn’t like it, but she didn’t want to spoil Shen Du’s mood, so she had to let him do that on the table instead. Moreover, Shen Du seemed even more pleased doing it when they weren’t in bed.

The inn had no soundproofing, and there were guest rooms on every side. Ji Yang dared not even cry and beg for mercy. Her legs had gone weak, but still, he hadn’t spared her at all.

Shen Du nearly choked at her remark. She was quite the thinker—

‘Does she really think he was a lecherous hedonist?’

True, last night’s scene had been all heated jade and flushed cheeks, powdery blush and soft cries, nectar flowing and warblers chirping—it had nearly undone his self-restraint. Just the memory was enough to make him feel like he’d lost face.  

Composing himself, he sternly said, “The wind is strong outside here. You should go back to the carriage.”

Watching him ride off, Ji Yang finally realised Shen Du’s so-called ‘behave’ did not refer to the bedchamber. Her face burned red. It took several moments of cold wind on her cheeks before she could recover.

In the evening, Shen Du and his party set up camp by the Dàlù Zé. Except for sleeping at night, Shen Du would not enter Ji Yang’s tent unless it was necessary.

Ji Yang also knew better than to disturb Shen Du, but she couldn’t sit idle. When she saw fishermen returning from fishing on the lake, she sent Yu Sui’er to strike up a conversation and bought the bamboo raft, along with the two cormorants tied to its tail.

However, they had fishing nets but no fishing rods. The fisherman was a clever man. Seeing that the master and servant were generous spenders, he immediately ran back to the nearby village to find them two fishing rods and sold them at a good price.

Of course, Ji Yang had no idea how to row a boat. She was simply doing it for fun and refused to let Yu Sui’er and the guards board the boat. She cautiously pushed off with the oar, moving a few feet away from the shore. But soon it spun uncontrollably in place. Ji Yang laughed as she kept trying to figure it out.

She might have found it hilarious, but poor Yu Sui’er on the shore was scared out of her wits, heart pounding in her throat, terrified the Princess might accidentally fall into the lake at any moment.

After much effort, Ji Yang finally manoeuvred the raft about ten zhang from the shore. She called out proudly, “Look at me! Look at me!” hoping Yu Sui’er would admire her newfound rafting skill.

But joy turned to disaster. 

As Ji Yang jumped up to wave at Yu Sui’er, she lost her balance. The bamboo raft was covered with a thin layer of moss and was very slippery, so Ji Yang fell off the raft, just as Yu Sui’er had feared.

Yu Sui’er let out a shrill scream that pierced the sky, and this time, Shen Du couldn’t pretend he hadn’t heard.

In truth, Shen Du had already heard the laughter from the lake. As long as Ji Yang was having fun and not bothering him, he was happy to leave her be.

After hearing Yu Sui’er’s scream, Shen Du lifted the curtain and rushed out of his tent. He saw more than a dozen guards swimming vigorously toward the empty bamboo raft in the lake.

Shen Du immediately guessed what had happened. With a light tap of his toe, he leapt, his body swaying as he landed on the bamboo raft. He strained his eyes to look, but saw no trace of Ji Yang in the lake.

Yu Sui’er was sobbing and calling out, “Princess! Princess!…” 

She seemed ready to follow her mistress into the water, but suddenly saw Ji Yang’s head emerge from under the bamboo raft. Yu Sui’er halted mid-sob and broke into uncontrollable hiccups.

Shen Du leaned over and glared at the dripping Ji Yang and said, “You think this is fun?”

Ji Yang had been having fun underwater and didn’t want to surface, but she felt a sudden pressure on her head, and the water pressure nearly suffocated her, forcing her to come up for air.

Ji Yang had played this trick many times before. There was a hot spring pool in the imperial palace, and she had learned to swim there. After that, she enjoyed scaring the palace maids who served her. 

For some reason, Ji Yang could hold her breath underwater for half a cup of tea’s worth of time, which was several times longer than an ordinary person. The palace maids and eunuchs simply assumed that the Emperor, Empress, and Princess were all divine beings, so they didn’t question why Ji Yang could hold her breath for so long.

Ji Yang propped herself up on the bamboo raft with both hands, looked up at Shen Du, and stuck out her tongue playfully. Her hair was dripping wet. It was already mid-autumn, and the lake water was freezing. Her face was pale as a ghost, yet she possessed a haunting beauty—fragile and mesmerising. As the saying goes, no level of dishevelment can dim a beauty’s radiance. But Shen Du was in no mood to appreciate it.

Upon returning to the tent, Shen Du exploded in anger, “Is this how you think one should play?”

Yu Sui’er stood outside at the entrance of the tent holding ginger soup, too afraid to enter. She only hoped that the Fùmǎ would scold her princess enough to wake her up. How could she play like that? It was genuinely terrifying. Her princess was wonderful in every way, except she was far too playful.

Ji Yang sneezed loudly, rubbed her nose, and said with a pout, “You’ve been ignoring me. So I just wanted to see if Langjun would save me.” 

Of course, she knew he would save her, but in truth, Ji Yang just wanted to see Shen Du worry about her. 

Although Ji Yang was delighted that Shen Du took her on the inspection tour, he hardly spent any time with her. When she asked him to sit with her in the carriage for a while, he refused. Ji Yang had no choice but to ride her horse alongside him—and even that seemed to annoy him.

Once a woman feels neglected, it’s only a matter of time before she does something foolish.

Shen Du walked over and sat down in front of Ji Yang and looked her squarely in the face.

“If I were to save you, it would only be because you are a Princess. If it had been any other woman acting so stupid, I’d have let her drown.”

That struck Ji Yang like a dagger. Her eyes welled with tears. She sneezed again, and snot came out, so she quickly turned away so Shen Du wouldn’t see, then grabbed a handkerchief and wiped her nose vigorously.

A silence fell between them. Just as Shen Du thought Ji Yang was about to explode or burst into tears, she turned her red-rimmed eyes toward him and said softly, “This time I was wrong. I won’t play like this again, okay?”

Ji Yang tugged at Shen Du’s sleeve and gave a self-deprecating smile. “It was indeed a bit stupid. Not only did it annoy you, but I made myself cold and miserable too.” 

Ji Yang’s nose itched again, so she raised her hand to rub it.

“You admit your mistake quickly.” Her willingness to admit her mistake left Shen Du with no footing for anger, especially since Princess Anle, before him, was only a fifteen-year-old girl.

Ji Yang grinned and said, “To acknowledge one’s mistakes and correct them is the greatest virtue.” 

She snuggled up to Shen Du and hugged his waist, saying, “Lang Jun, please forgive me… just this once.”

Shen Du didn’t reply. He only let out a cold “Hmph.”

But Ji Yang was a natural at pushing her luck. Seeing that Shen Du’s expression was no longer so serious, she said, “It’s still a bit cold. Will you hold me?”

“I still have official duties to attend to.” Shen Du moved Ji Yang’s hand away. 

“Take your medicine and get some rest.”

Ji Yang nodded dejectedly. The look in her eyes made Shen Du feel as though he were the one who should feel guilty.

That night, Shen Du did not return to Ji Yang’s tent. On one hand, he indeed had numerous official matters to attend to, and on the other, he wanted to give Ji Yang some space. He was beginning to understand Ji Yang’s clingy, shameless persistence.

But while Shen Du thought he was giving Ji Yang the cold shoulder, the next morning, just as he began his morning martial routine, he heard the sound of a jade flute drifting across the lake.

The melody was light and cheerful, like a skiff gliding through clouds, or orioles weaving colourful ribbons. It conjured the image of southern maidens gathering lotuses on the eastern and western sides of the lake, her laughter echoing and her fragrance wafting through the air, making one long to part the sound and catch a glimpse of such a maiden.

When Shen Du reached the lakeside, he saw Ji Yang standing on a bamboo raft playing the flute. Behind her was the old fisherman who had sold her the bamboo raft the previous day, skillfully steering the raft through the Dàlù Zé with a bamboo pole.

Despite it being mid-autumn, with frost and heavy dew in the air, Ji Yang wore a sky-blue layered silk skirt. The hem of her skirt fluttered in the wind, giving her an ethereal presence reminiscent of a goddess from Mount Wu. She appeared as radiant as a lotus in full bloom, kissed by the morning clouds. 

Those drawn by the flute’s melody from across the shore were left spellbound, marvelling at her beauty, which resembled that of a fairy who had descended from the Celestial Pool of the Immortals into the mortal world.

As the melody came to an end, the bamboo raft glided toward the shore. Ji Yang leapt lightly from the raft, her movements as graceful as feathers, and drifted into her tent.

When Shen Du entered the tent, he found Ji Yang rubbing her hands together, jumping up and down, exclaiming, “So cold, so cold! Quick, bring me the handwarmer and a cloak!”

Shen Du couldn’t help but laugh. 

“If you knew it was cold, why did you dress so lightly?”

Cradling the hand warmer, Ji Yang pouted at him. 

“This looks better because an autumn dress, even with the skirt fluttering in the wind, appears more elegant this way.”

‘Well, that was blunt.’ 

Shen Du couldn’t help but rub his forehead. Ji Yang had completely overturned his impression of women. The women around Shen Du, whether young or old, were all well-educated, gentle, and elegant ladies—none like this wild thing before him. 

“You fell into the water last night, and today you’re so concerned with looking beautiful that you don’t even care about your health?”

[T/N: ten zhang (~33 meters)]