บท 46: Traveling in Xiang City
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
When it came to traveling during spring, it meant that Chu Yue would definitely go out to eat, drink, and be merry.
She found it a slight pity that the monk did not come out with her. Otherwise, it would be really good.
"But if you come here to be the coachman for us, who will protect the master?" Chu Yue asked Yingda before she got into the carriage.
"The master has other people," Yingda said.
He was one of the guards who could appear in the open. There were still plenty of hidden guards around.
Chu Yue nodded, but she started wondering about it in her heart. Did the monk keep so many guards around him because he knew that his position offered a lot of money and there were plenty of people vying for it?
If she were a girl born in this world, she would definitely be terrified, but there was truly no one else like Chu Yue in this world.
When it came to traveling in spring, the best place to go to was the suburbs of Xiang City.
There was a natural lake serving as a dam along with a huge meadow. Many of the locals in Xiang City came here for sight-seeing and admiring nature.
Chu Yue did not expect that she would return to Xiang City so soon. She wondered whether she could run into the young man who carved the Kun-peng again.
If she ran into him, she would offer an explanation to him. They could already be considered as friends, but she had left without saying goodbye to him, and that was not something friends did.
But she wasn't bound to run into him again. She did not know that he was currently being trained at the borders. He lived a hard life, and he really wanted to cry.
They left in the morning, so they reached Xiang City in the afternoon.
Xiang City was the closest city to the capital, so there was no doubt that it was prosperous. It was no wonder then why the restaurants there were expensive.
But Chu Yue did not mind it. The same as before, she brought Hupo to get them a room.
She wanted to get a room for Yingda, but he said that he did not need one because he had his own place, so Chu Yue did not care about it anymore.
"Milady, I didn't expect that we would come here again." Hupo covered her mouth and giggled.
Since it was spring now, the weather had turned warmer, so Hupo did not have any objections to Chu Yue wanting to come out to play. She just hoped that the heavy snow from last year would not reappear.
Besides, Hupo had a very good impression of Xiang City. After all, they had picked up a lot of money in it.
She wondered whether they would be able to find money again this time.
Chu Yue first made Hupo settle down.
The modes of transportation in this era were really tiring, and the roads were bad. Even though they traveled on government-made roads, which could be considered to be kept in good condition, they were still unpaved roads, so it was inevitable that there were bumps.
"Milady, I heard from the employees that there are plenty of people who went out sight-seeing. If we want to go, we will have to move out early the next morning, or else, we will not get any seats," Hupo said.
"Alright." Chu Yue agreed to it and allowed Hupo to make the arrangements.
Since they were here in Xiang City, her mind started working again. She would go and buy a set of old clothes later, because she wanted to go to the gambling houses again and get some money at night.
After all, she was already here.
Hence, Hupo went to rest in the afternoon while Chu Yue went off to buy clothes. Yingda was the one who carried them back.
Chu Yue bought roved hemp cloth, and the shopkeeper looked at her with a strange gaze. But she did not waste her breath with him. After she paid him, she left.
When evening came, Chu Yue had a luxurious dinner with Hupo. Naturally, she also gave food to Yingda, who stayed in the carriage.
Once they finished eating, they went out for a stroll before they went back to rest.
Of course, the only one who slept was Hupo. Chu Yue did not sleep. She changed her clothes and put on makeup before she came out to look for Yingda.
When he saw her getup, he was stunned for a moment. "Ma'am, what is this?"
"Come, we're going to the gambling house," Chu Yue said while getting on the carriage.
Yingda was speechless. He did not move but just said, "It's late. Ma'am, you should go and rest."
"Didn't the master tell you to listen to me before we came out? This is the first thing I'm asking you to do, and you're already not listening to me?" Chu Yue said coolly.
"Ma'am, you're going to sight-see tomorrow," Yingda reminded her.
"We're going out at seven tomorrow. I'll be back before two. That'll be plenty of time for me to sleep. Hurry up. If you don't go, I'll walk there myself," Chu Yue said.
What could Yingda say? He could only follow her.
Then, he made sure that no one could get close to Chu Yue while she was in the gambling house. He cleared whichever table she went to.
When the people saw Chu Yue's rich good-for-nothing boy's attitude, they thought that she was a rich good-for-nothing who had ran out of her house, because they could tell with just one glance that Yingda had exceptional skills. But they did not dare say anything about it.
Chu Yue gambled for more than two hours. Then, with great satisfaction, she flicked her empty wallet in front of the crowd before she brought Yingda back.
While in the carriage, Chu Yue started calculating the silver notes she had hid away. She had brought silver notes that were worth five hundred taels of silver, while she came out with silver notes that were worth nearly one thousand taels of silver. She had earned double the amount she brought.
She made sure that when she lost, she only lost half the amount of what she won. When she wanted to win, she opened up notes that were worth a lot of money, while when she wanted to lose, she opened up notes that were worth only a little. However, the banker just took her notes and did not look at them.
When she played games of big and small, she made sure she won a lot of money in a game or two before she lost a few games that only cost her a little money. That's why those who did not know would think that she went home empty-handed.
However, when Yingda sent a messenger pigeon to his master and told him what happened, he wrote, [The lady won a lot of money.]
When the monk received the letter, his expression turned dark, and he wanted to ask Yingda to stop her.
But Yingda also mentioned in the letter that he had tried to stop her to no success. If he did not send her there, the lady would walk to the gambling house herself.
This was all because Duke Heng's son had started it all!
The young man who carved the Kun-peng had been sleeping just fine at the borders, but suddenly, he shivered.
Chu Yue got up the next morning with Hupo. They ate breakfast and asked Yingda to drive them to a dessert shop so they could buy desserts. Then, they went sight-seeing in the suburbs of Xiang City.
Quite a number of people were already there.
Chu Yue styled her hair in the manner of married women. Hence, even if she was beautiful, the rich boys who came there to flirt could only get rid of those thoughts.
Hupo had deliberately styled her mistress' hair like this. It saved them a lot of trouble, so Chu Yue let her do it.
They brought out cushions, a small tea table, and a small bench. Hupo then found an incredibly good spot, and the master-servant duo then sat together while eating desserts and admired nature.
Chu Yue ate a dessert with sesame fillings and said, "This is the life…"
Hupo covered her mouth and smiled, but she felt a little displeased as well. "Milady, the people over there are not good people. Even though they know that you're married, they're still looking at you."
Yingda was sitting in the carriage. He cast a look at the rich boys on that side and narrowed his eyes.
Chu Yue waved her hand in dismissal. "Everyone likes admiring beauty. If they like looking at me, let them. This proves that both of us are really charming."
It would have been better if she had not said it, because once she did, Yingda drove the carriage over and blocked the rich boys' gazes.
This was his master's woman. How could he let those ordinary people look at her just because they wanted to?
When Chu Yue saw what Yingda did, she knew that he must have received orders from the monk, and Chu Yue's eyes lit up in amusement.
Her monk might be a monk, but he was rather domineering. It was no wonder then why he decided to become worldly again this year.
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