Chapter 10#

After an unknown amount of time, Hua Jinian heard footsteps behind him. He turned around abruptly and saw a woman in palace attire standing gracefully behind him. Her hair was styled in a flowing cloud bun, full of pearl hairpins, with a gorgeous peony inserted obliquely on one side of her temples. Hua Jinian quickly wiped away the water stains at the corners of his eyes, and his expression returned to his previous calm and composed appearance. “Sister Tianxiang,” he said.

The woman looked at him worriedly and asked softly: “I heard other sisters say that the Fortress Master taught you martial arts personally today. What is the Little Young Master sad about? Did you suffer any grievance?”

Hua Jinian shook his head and forced a smile as if nothing had happened: “I’m fine.” Looking at Tianxiang’s obviously disbelieving gaze, he sighed and finally answered: “I just, just don’t understand. Should I rejoice that I am his son, or should I… because I can only be his son…”

He looked at Tianxiang, his eyes even retaining some confusion because he couldn’t comprehend it. His eyes looked clear and bewildered, bewildered almost to the point of innocence. Tianxiang asked in a low voice: “Did I hear wrong? You rejoice that you are his son?”

Hua Jinian laughed self-deprecatingly: “Can’t Sister see? If I weren’t his son, he wouldn’t even look at me. I am disappointing. You won that bet.”

Tianxiang asked in a low voice: “Why?”

Hua Jinian looked at her and smiled: “I admire the strong. That’s why.”

Tianxiang laughed angrily: “Only this one reason? Do you think I will believe it?”

Hua Jinian laughed low: “Because we are father and son, not enemies.”

Tianxiang sneered: “Don’t say these hypocritical things. When have you ever been a kind father and a filial son?”

Hua Jinian was still smiling: “Maybe it’s all destined in a previous life…”

Tianxiang shouted sternly: “I want to hear your real reason!”

The two looked at each other in silence for a long time before the boy said faintly: “Only in front of him can I be like a child…”

Tianxiang was stunned there. After a long time, she sighed leisurely: “So it is like this.”

Hua Jinian tilted his head and smiled, reaching out to straighten his jade crown. In front of people, he always had this appearance that tolerated no mistakes. Others always said he was a precious tree of the Xie family, a Kong Rong who gave up pears. How could they compare to his grace and elegance?

Tianxiang said悵然: “But Tianxiang has persuaded the Little Young Master repeatedly, wanting the Little Young Master to look like a child. Why don’t you… truly let down your guard and open your heart to me?”

Hua Jinian laughed low and said: “Because in the entire Futu Fortress, the one who puts pressure on me and has the greatest expectations for me is actually not Master, but Sister Tianxiang.”

He shook his head: “But that person is different. In his eyes, he doesn’t think I have anything worth boasting about at all. He looks at me like looking at an Adou who can’t be helped up, good for nothing, but he can’t ignore me. So, in front of him, no matter how ugly I look, it is the most normal thing. For the first time, I knew that I was not some amazing person, and there was someone who could look at me with such eyes. Although I feel sad in my heart, thinking that there will always be a chance in the future to make him praise me a few words, I feel relieved.”

Tianxiang couldn’t say a word. She was silent for a long time before saying gloomily: “Little Young Master only has admiration for the Fortress Master, right?”

Hua Jinian’s face turned red quickly, and he answered hurriedly in embarrassment and distress: “Of course!”

Tianxiang smiled: “That’s good. Hall Master Wu was telling the sisters a few days ago that the Little Young Master has reached the age where he should know about matters between men and women. Several new girls have come to the fortress, all beautiful.”

Hua Jinian obviously didn’t expect her to mention this matter. But the trend of sexual indulgence between men and women in the fortress was extremely prevalent, and most of Futu Fortress’s notoriety in Jianghu was due to this. For a moment, he didn’t know how to decline. He had always been good at observing people’s hearts. After thinking for a moment, he hesitated and said: “Sister Tianxiang, I originally thought that you treated me…”

Tianxiang smiled. The makeup on her face was like all women who looked charming. Even the fine lines of her smile at the corners of her eyes were enough to cover up: “What?”

Hua Jinian looked at her seriously, still unable to distinguish the real age under that beautiful face. He chuckled for a while, turned around, and said with a low laugh: “After that, you seemed to have alienated me a little. Is it really… that disgusting?”

Tianxiang’s face changed color. She immediately knelt on the ground trembling and cried in a low voice: “Little Young Master, Tianxiang didn’t…”

Hua Jinian looked at her and smiled. After a long time, he reached out to help her up: “I didn’t say anything. Since I can remember, Sister Tianxiang has been here. If I really have a girl I like, it should be love growing over time. If you really want to persuade me to have fun with women…” He paused and looked at the woman.

Tianxiang felt dizzy watching the smile slowly blooming at the corner of the boy’s lips. She didn’t know if he was angry or just joking casually at this moment, so she could only murmur: “Little Young Master.”

Hua Jinian reached out to straighten the hairpin flower on her temple and chuckled: “These fourteen years of never leaving or abandoning, in my heart, are deeper than blood relations.”

Tianxiang was overjoyed, then frowned and looked at the boy. Seeing his face calm as autumn water, she really didn’t know how much of his words were true and how much were false. Finally, she could only force a few smiles: “But the Little Young Master changes his mind constantly. Maybe… in a few days, you will tell Tianxiang again…”