Chapter 11#

Hua Jinian shook his head gently, his long eyebrows slightly furrowed, his eyes like condensed waves. All who saw him were captivated—whenever he was in front of people, he would return to this appearance of a worldly noble young master. He sighed and changed the subject: “Tell me, what should be done in the future? He is too lazy to see me, and I dare not see him. Maybe this is the only way to live in peace, otherwise, everything will be chaotic.”

Tianxiang shook her head, the pearls and emeralds on her head tinkling softly, but she didn’t say much in the end.

Hua Jinian followed Tianxiang back to Chaohua Pavilion. Sure enough, there were several girls with pleasant looks waiting in the pavilion. He glanced at them faintly, looked at those slightly childish faces, frowned, and planned to let them disperse. Just at this moment, the only girl sitting on a chair suddenly rushed over and slapped Hua Jinian. The boy was stunned, his steps staggered, barely avoiding the slap, but the sharp nails still left faint blood marks on his skin.

This slap shocked everyone present. Hua Jinian reached out and grabbed the girl’s wrist, blaming softly: “Do you want to die?” The girl cried loudly: “I don’t want to serve you!”

The boy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry for a moment. He exchanged a glance with Tianxiang before comforting softly: “Don’t be afraid. I will ask Tianxiang to send you away later.” The girl cried even more miserably. As soon as she cried, Hua Jinian felt that many troubles were coming one after another. Seeing Tianxiang reaching out to pull the girl, his heart suddenly moved. He winked to let them go out for the time being, and then turned back to comfort the girl: “What are you crying about? Did you suffer any grievance in the fortress?”

The girl pulled Hua Jinian’s sleeve and wailed loudly. After a long time, she calmed down, but kept sobbing: “Father is dead, Mother is also dead. I don’t like you, but if I don’t follow you, I have to serve the servants in the fortress…”

Hua Jinian smiled faintly and advised softly: “How about I send you out of the fortress?”

The girl looked at him in astonishment, tears still on her face, and hesitated: “Are you really willing to help me?” Hua Jinian nodded and sighed: “Do you really think I have the power to choose the person I like? Did you see that woman just now? No matter who I choose, she doesn’t care on the surface, but secretly she will always be unfavorable to you. You are still so young, how can I bear… to see you die innocently.”

The girl gasped and said in surprise: “She, why does she—then why do you still keep such a person by your side?” Hua Jinian chuckled: “She has accompanied me for fourteen years. She has spent all her youth with me. Even if I don’t like her, I can’t bear…”

Hua Jinian looked at the girl, his eyes clear, and sighed悵然: “I have been here since I was born. I am used to all the ugliness in the fortress. But you are different. How can I watch helplessly as you waste your youth in this dye vat and sink deep into the quagmire. You don’t want to stay here, so even if I am insignificant in the fortress, I am still willing to do my meager part. Are you willing to believe me?”

The girl stared at Hua Jinian silently for a while and said almost inaudibly: “I didn’t expect there would be someone like you in Futu Fortress.” Hearing her words, Hua Jinian lowered his eyes slightly. In the shadow against the light, a contemptuous smile curved at the corner of his mouth, but his voice remained low and gentle: “If you are willing to trust me, I will definitely send you out safely.” As he spoke, he reached out and took the girl’s hand, leading her all the way to the side door of Futu Fortress.

Hua Jinian smiled and greeted the guards at the side door. The dozen or so guards immediately opened the heavy iron gates. The boy pushed the girl lightly and said: “Go quickly, otherwise she will chase after you again.” The girl looked at Hua Jinian quietly, not knowing what she was thinking. Suddenly she reached out, tore off a small piece of jade hanging from her neck, and hung it on Hua Jinian’s neck. Her eyes turned red, and she said in a low voice: “In the future… maybe I will come to find you again.”

Hua Jinian seemed stunned for a moment, then smiled softly: “Okay.” He watched the girl walk quickly out of the fortress and suddenly said: “In the future… don’t sneak in again. It’s too dangerous for you.”

The girl shook all over, looked back at Hua Jinian in disbelief. Hua Jinian smiled at her as if nothing had happened and waved his hand. The girl’s face was pale. She fled out of the fortress gate quickly and went far away in the blink of an eye.

Hua Jinian looked at the girl’s back, not knowing what he was thinking, a smile pursed at the corner of his lips. Just heard a voice full of anger behind him: “Tianxiang finally understands that in the Little Young Master’s heart, she actually has this kind of status!”

Hua Jinian looked at her in astonishment and smiled: “Tianxiang, you misunderstood.” Unknown when, the boy had already called this woman who was a decade older than him by her name, but this address seemed more intimate: “I was just tricking that little girl.”

Hua Jinian smiled and reached out to pull out the silver flute from Tianxiang’s waist: “Lend it to me. Today… I can finally take revenge.”

The girl ran wildly all the way, winding and rushing in the dense forest halfway up the mountain. After repeatedly confirming that no one was following, she found her way down from the small path. On the mountain road, a young man in a emerald green robe stood leaning against a tree. After seeing the girl, he showed a gentle smile. His voice was low and gentle like the spring breeze: “Qiuyi, you are back.”

The girl panted, took out an ancient book from her bosom, and forced a smile: “This trip was fairly smooth. Plus the sword technique obtained last time, Young Master’s sword control manual is complete.”

The green-robed boy smiled: “I really asked the right person this time.”

Qiuyi’s pretty face blushed slightly: “Young Master Ruan is really good to Young Master Pinzhen.”

The green-robed boy smiled again, then asked: “After sneaking in, did any trouble occur?”

Qiuyi seemed to remember something and said somewhat hurriedly: “I originally got the mental cultivation method, but missed the time. The guards there were strict, and I almost couldn’t get out. Thanks to a young master, he looked good and had good character, really unlike people from Futu Fortress. I lied to him and begged him to send me out, but the bad thing is… he, he seemed to recognize that I sneaked in…”

The green-robed boy’s face changed suddenly and he exclaimed: “How can there be any good people in Futu Fortress! He must have followed you secretly.”

Qiuyi shook her head in disbelief: “Impossible, I looked back repeatedly to check. If he was bad, why did he let me out? Besides… even if he really intended to follow, why did he point it out to me, making me wary?”

The green-robed boy looked anxious: “If he didn’t point it out, you might still go do other things. If he pointed it out early, you would naturally run straight to see me. Not good, he has arrived.”

As soon as the voice fell, a burst of emerald green broken leaves was rolled up by the breeze. A boy dressed in white satin luxurious clothes, with a silver flute inserted diagonally at his back waist, used graceful qinggong, as if blown by this gust of wind. With a smile on his water-red lips, he jumped lightly from the treetop and landed about a zhang in front of the two.

The green-robed boy looked at him for a long time before saying: “It’s actually you.”

Hua Jinian smiled at the corner of his lips and bowed to the ground: “Since parting at Mid-Autumn, I have been thinking about you day and night. Meeting again today, how fortunate I am.”