“Of course.” Fang Ziyan chuckled coldly. “Tears fall like pearls into my open hand, but Yingying will not regret. Who is so cruel as to make you cry? You sound like you are infatuated.”
“Who is infatuated? I heard other people sing this song and learned it from them. There is no other reason behind the song.” Lu Yingying did not seem to sense the murderous aura from Fang Ziyan. “How do you know my father? Are you part of the troops he brought?”
“You can say that. Your father is the one who taught me to become who I am today.” Fang Ziyan sat down near Lu Yingying as he took a dagger out from behind him.
“Sit further away.” Lu Yingying stuck out her chin. “Don’t you know that man and woman must keep their distance?”
Fang Ziyan laughed. “Okay.” He shifted to the side and suddenly fell off.
“Ah!” Lu Yingying was startled as she immediately peered at the water surface. “Hey, hey! I didn’t do it on purpose!” The waves crashed against the shore and there was no one in sight.
“He won’t drown, right?” Lu Yingying was nervous.
“Yo.” Fang Ziyan’s voice came from behind Lu Yingying. Lu Yingying turned around in surprise and almost called out loud. Fang Ziyan, however, was quick to react as he took a step forward and covered her mouth. They locked gazes and felt each other’s breath. They were extremely close.
Fang Ziyan handed a huge oyster over to Lu Yingying. “For you, it happened to float ashore.”
Lu Yingying ignored her racing heart. “Eh?”
Taking out a sharp dagger, Fang Ziyan pried open the oyster shell and retrieved a pearl from within. Lu Yingying was extremely delighted. “Wow, it is beautiful.” She held the pearl under the sun and did not realise that Fang Ziyan had lifted his dagger up into the air behind her.
“Guards! There’s an assassin!” Lu Qi was getting impatient and came over to rush his sister. As he saw the back view of Fang Ziyan and his dagger, he immediately drew out his sword and dashed towards the reef. Fang Ziyan placed the dagger between his lips as he disappeared into the ocean.
Lu Yingying stared at the bubbles that rose to the surface in a daze. Lu Yunji ran over with some men. “Brother, what are you doing?” Lu Yingying asked in oblivion.
“What are you doing? He was holding a dagger in his hand. If I were to arrive a second later, it would have been a disaster!” Lu Qi blasted.
“Although he was holding onto a dagger, he was not going to hurt me. He was using it to open the oyster shell to give me a pearl.” Lu Yingying held it out proudly for her brother and father to see.
“We have silk dresses, jewellery and exquisite cuisines at home. What kind of pearl have you not seen before? You were so easily bought over by a pearl. I really want to punch you!” She is so stupid!
Lu Yunji rushed over and heard what had happened. He did not blame his daughter and instead asked her if he knew the man’s name. Lu Yingying expressed that she did not get to find out but promised her father that she would paint a picture of him when they arrive to Chang’an. Lu Yunji was satisfied with her reply. Little did he know that Lu Yingying had only said that to appease him.
To Lu Yingying, that pearl was invaluable.
Chapter 9.1: Chang’an
After a long journey, the entire Fu family had finally reached Chang’an.
Their horse carriage had just passed Mingde Gate when human voices filled the air. Hearing the bustle, Fu Rou curiously opened the window of her carriage and peered out. On the wide and straight road ahead of them, there were carriages and humans moving continuously. Both sides of the street were symmetrical and filled with tall and imposing buildings.
“Rou’er, what do you think of Chang’an?” Sheng Chumu stuck out his chest as he felt like he had returned to his own territory.
“It really seems like heaven on earth.” When Fu Rou read about Chang’an, she could not imagine what it looked like. Only now when she was physically in Chang’an did she understand.
“That is the West City.” Sheng Chumu pointed. “When you have settled in, I will bring you there to have a look. You will definitely like it.”
Fu Rou looked over as her eyes widened slightly. Shops lined the street. There were many foreign looking stores and shophouses and she could see foreigners wherever she looked. She had thought that the number of foreign merchants in Guangzhou was high but it was incomparable to Chang’an. There were various foreign races coming from the shipping route as well as the Silk Road. She only glanced over them but the shopfronts and shop names of various shops selling spice, flowers, jewellery and food were all imprinted in her memory.
It was not that she might like Chang’an, she already liked Chang’an.
Sheng Chumu sent Fu Rou to her second uncle’s home before rushing back to his own home.
He had already decided that he would tell his parents about Fu Rou as soon as possible and marry her. What Sheng Chumu did not know was that his parents had already heard about his ‘Brave Achievement’ and how he activated the South Navy to deal with pirates. They also knew that he had done it for a girl.
Madam Sheng had always been protective of her sons. When she heard about this, she immediately sent people to investigate who the girl was. She found out that Fu Rou had a childhood engagement before and had recently gotten married. However, on the day of her wedding, she was forced to go through an examination to check if she was still a virgin from her potential mother-in-law. She then returned home, causing her potential mother-in-law to faint from anger. All these incidents made Madam Sheng anxious. She was desperate to ask her son to stay away from this “vixen”. Little did she know that when her son came back, he also brought the girl along with him.
Therefore, Sheng Chumu only managed to mention that she was from a merchant family. He did not even have the chance to bring up Fu Rou’s name before Madam Sheng immediately objected. She even threatened him to make a choice between her and Fu Rou.
Madam Sheng had been extremely certain that her son would choose her. After all, she had always doted on him and could never bear to scold or hit him. She had always stood up for him in front of Sheng Xiaojing. She did not expect that Sheng Chumu would resolve to marry Fu Rou and even pushed the choice back to her. She had to either permit Sheng Chumu to marry Fu Rou or he would not acknowledge her as his mother.
Pushed to her wit’s end, she went to find her daughter, Consort Han, to cry to.
Consort Han naturally sided with her mother, believing that Sheng Chumu was acting wilfully but was ultimately still a filial child. She gave her mother the idea of pretending to be sick to distract Sheng Chumu while she dealt with Fu Rou.
Sheng Chumu naturally fell for it and stopped forcing his mother to choose. He accompanied her and even personally brewed medicine for her.
Fu Rou did not manage to meet Sheng Chumu but was instead confronted by Consort Han’s servants. Everyone knew that Consort Han was Sheng Xiaojing’s daughter. However, Fu Rou could sense that Consort Han’s intentions were not good and wanted to ignore her. Unfortunately, Fu Rou’s second uncle did not allow her to ignore Consort Han. It was then that she realised that her second uncle was working in Huanglaishun Pawn Shop. The Huanglaishun Pawn Shop was owned by the Han Mansion. Because of this, Fu Rou could not reject her invitation. After all, her second uncle took their entire family in out of the goodness of his heart. She could not cause him to lose his job.