Translator – Xiao He Lian
This is a translation hosted on KnoxT, copies found elsewhere are either stolen or plagiarized. Please support the translator by reading it at KnoxT.
Chapter 5.2
***
He didn’t know if there was something wrong with the wine yesterday, or it maybe because he caught the wind on the way back, but when Lu Yan woke up, he had a splitting headache, his eyes turned blue and his voice became hoarse.
He raised his hand to pinch his Adam’s apple, and the dream he had during the night suddenly flashed through his mind.
Then he laughed angrily.
He actually replaced yesterday’s top card with hers. It was obviously the same dance but somehow, the taste suddenly changed.
It’s like a glass of plain water turned into a throat-burning liquor.
She really is a goddamn demon.
Today is a rest day. Lu Yan went to pay his respects to his grandmother, then sat alone in the study, coughing lightly from time to time.
Even his eyes were so swollen that he couldn’t even read the book in his hand.
Seeing this, Yang Zong hurriedly brought him a cup of hot tea.
Lu Yan took it, flipped the lid of the tea, and just took a sip when he heard Yang Zong say: “The eldest princess just bought this tea from the Mengjia Tea House in the West Market.”
Lu Yan was drinking well, but when he heard the word “West Market”, the tea went down his windpipe. He couldn’t catch his breath, coughed violently, and his eyes immediately turned red.
I have to say, sometimes thinking of a person is just like coughing.
It’s tolerable, but you can’t still help doing it.
After Lu Yan stopped holding his chest, he suddenly realized that he couldn’t go on like this.
He knocked the tea lid in his hand crisply on the rim of the cup and said hoarsely: “Get the carriage ready, I’m going to the West Market.”
***
The snow didn’t stop yesterday, the roads were icy and some shops closed early.
Arriving at Baixiang Pavilion, Lu Yan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Snowflakes fell one after another on the umbrella, making a rustling sound. Yang Zong looked up and couldn’t help being surprised.
Why are there people… blocking the door of Baixiang Pavilion?
Song Jian leaned against the door frame and said with a playful smile to Shen Zhen: “If Miss Shen is willing to kiss me, I will buy the box of rouge and gouache in front of you. You don’t have to pretend to be noble, I know you are short of money.” Song Jian is the only son of wealthy businessman Song Mo and one of the most famous playboys in the capital.
Qingxi stood in front of Shen Zhen, “Our lady don’t do business with people like you.”
Song Jian kept laughing, “What kind of person am I?” After saying that, he waved to Qingxi and said, “Get out of here, you have no right to speak.”
He pushed Qingxi away and forcefully took Shen Zhen into his arms, “Good sister, give brother a kiss and I will give you double the price. Who can you find to buy it for this price?”
Shen Zhen was already prepared. When he touched her, she immediately pulled out the hairpin from her head and stabbed him.
Song Jian blocked her, but she still stabbed the back of his hand.
Shen Zhen’s black hair was spread down and fluttering in the wind.
Against the backdrop of the white snow, she looked like a fairy who had strayed into the mortal world and lost all her spiritual power.
Those red and stubborn eyes instantly extinguished Song Jian’s anger.
He persuaded her kindly, “Shen Zhen, today is the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. I’m sorry for the beauty, but the people from Jin Family’s money shop may not feel the same. If you are so stubborn, when the tenth day of the Lunar New Year comes, both you and your brother will suffer. At that time, all you can do is cry. I am the only one who can afford the debts of your Shen family. Who else can you ask for besides me? “
After saying that, he curled up a strand of her hair.
Today’s last ray of sunshine was lost in the deep flowing clouds of the seventh quarter of the Shenshi 1(the period of the day from 3 pm to 5 pm). Lu Yan snatched the umbrella from Yang Zong’s hand and clenched it suddenly, his knuckles turning white.
He strode forward, grabbed the back of Song Jian’s neck and pulled hard. The ground was so slippery that Song Jian stumbled backwards and fell onto the snow outside.
This is a translation hosted on KnoxT, copies found elsewhere are either stolen or plagiarized. Please support the translator by reading it at KnoxT.
Before Song Jian could see clearly who had pulled him, he heard the door of Baixiang Pavilion slam shut.
He got up and cursed loudly while ordering his followers to break down the door and go in. But before he could finish shouting, Yang Zong blocked him.
***
Lu Yan closed the door and met Shen Zhen’s eyes.
He stared at her from top to bottom.
His eyes suddenly focused on the plain white sachet around her waist. On the sachet, the word “Zhen” was clearly embroidered.
The objects in the dream all appeared before his eyes one by one.
A smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth, a smile of resignation.
Maybe God was hinting to him that those weird dreams and the past lives mentioned by Taoist priests were all true.
He kept silent and just poured the money on the table with a clatter. He looked into Shen Zhen’s eyes and said hoarsely: “I want to buy a box with this money. Is it enough?”
Shen Zhen stood there, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
She has never been ashamed of buying or selling sympathy.
But today is different from the past. Her self-esteem as the legitimate daughter of the Marquis family is nothing compared with the money in front of her.
She couldn’t sign the contract of selling herself and neither could Shen Hong.
She lowered her head suddenly, bit her lip, and held back her tears. She kept fiddling with the money on the table with her thin white fingertips and said with a trembling voice: “My lord gave me too much. These are enough.”
As smart as Lu Yan, how could he not know what she was thinking?
“Last time I took a fan from you by mistake. If I’m not mistaken, the Jun’an waterside pavilion on the fan was painted by Lord Chun Zhi. His pen and ink are worth the money.” After saying that, he looked at Shen Zhen again and said : “Tomorrow, I will send someone to pick it up.”
Lu Yan turned around, and as soon as he put his hand on the door knocker, Shen Zhen chased him to the door and whispered, “Thank you, Lord Lu.”
His back stiffened and he said hoarsely: “No need to thank me.”
No need to thank me.
Shen Zhen, you really don’t need to thank me.
If I, Lu Yan, wanted you, I would be much more shameless than them.
