Hidden Shadow – CH 111

Chapter One-Hundred-Eleven: Peach Blossoms in Full Bloom

A young man in fine robes leaned out of the carriage window, one hand resting on the railing, watching her with a half-smile.

From a distance of about ten feet, he called out loudly, “Hey, Fourteenth, have you decided to marry me?”

His intimate manner made it seem as if they were having an affair.

If he had not suddenly appeared, An Jiu would have almost forgotten he existed! What puzzled her most was that, dressed in men’s clothing, with a low-brimmed hat almost completely obscuring her face, she could not understand how this philanderer had recognized her. Could it be that the one following her was not Wei Yuzhi’s subordinate, but someone sent by Hua Rongjian?

Passersby, seeing it was Second Young Master Hua, stopped and looked in An Jiu’s direction, instantly forming a crowd.

Hua Rongjian alighted from the carriage and walked towards her under the watchful eyes of the crowd. He was a bit darker than a few months ago, wearing a dark blue brocade robe with subtle patterns over which was a black fox fur coat. The somber colors made him look more mature, but his universally disliked flamboyant manner had only intensified.

An Jiu, seeing this, gave him a good beating.

“Tsk tsk, what happened to you, looking so disheveled?” Hua Rongjian smiled broadly, a look of schadenfreude on his face. He paused, as if remembering something, and said regretfully, “I heard your family suffered a misfortune.”

“Yes, a misfortune!” An Jiu expressionlessly slammed an accusation onto him. “Could it be that your marriage proposal was rejected, and you are so angry that you are taking revenge in secret?”

Hua Rongjian had committed countless despicable acts; everyone who heard this was suspicious.

“Would I really bother with something like this? If I asked the Mei family for you, would they dare refuse?” He said, personally leading An Jiu’s horse, confidently assuring her, “I would never do anything to anger a beauty.”

“Is that so? Which bastard attacked me without warning?” An Jiu sneered.

However, An Jiu clearly underestimated Hua Rongjian’s shamelessness. He looked up, staring at her with surprise. He said indignantly, “Oh dear, what a scoundrel! Tell me quickly, and I will teach him a lesson.”

The news of Second Young Master Hua personally acting as a groom for a woman spread like wildfire throughout the street, and in no time, many onlookers had gathered.

An Jiu had never been the center of attention before. She tensed, suddenly losing sight of her pursuer.

“Get lost!” An Jiu pulled back the reins, quickened her pace, and left Hua Rongjian behind.

“Hey!” Hua Rongjian turned to his servant. “Untie the horses! Untie the horses!”

“My Lord, are we not going to Ruiyun Tower?” the servant asked.

Hua Rongjian retorted irritably, “Is that wild woman more important than my young lady? Do you not have any sense at all?”

Seeing his anger, the servant hurriedly ran over to untie the horses from the carriage. Hua Rongjian, without even saddling them, jumped on and rode after him.

An Jiu found an inn, paid the bill, and had the servant take the horses away. She went into her room and locked the door. She climbed out through the back window.

Hua Rongjian followed her to the inn, knocked on the door for a while, and, when no one answered, kicked it open.

The luggage was still inside. Hua Rongjian untied the bundle and rummaged through it haphazardly. “Is this kind of rubbish even worth carrying?”

An Jiu had only taken the token and silver given to her by Chu Dingjiang when she left, along with a dagger she always kept close to her body. These were the only three valuable things she had. Her other clothes, cloak, and straw hat were left at the inn. Hua Rongjian circled the room, finding all the windows closed except for one that was not bolted. “She escaped right under my nose!”

With that, he pushed open the window and climbed out.

The bright sunlight shone through, and Hua Rongjian swaggered across the rooftops, his movements punctuated by a series of thuds.

If a scion of a noble family took a fancy to a woman of equal social standing, he would surely act discreetly, secretly sending someone to arrange the marriage, only announcing it publicly once the outcome was decided. But Hua Rongjian was anything but discreet; he had the ability to create a city-wide sensation.

Two hours later, half of Bianjing knew that the second young master of the Hua family had finally decided to settle down, and rumors circulated that the woman he had his eye on was a shrew.

Upon hearing this, Madam Hua wept with joy.

The practice of frequenting prostitutes was rampant among scholars and literati, mostly considered romantic escapades and not shameful. Hua Rongjian’s fondness for brothels was a minor matter, but his keeping a male prostitute in a brothel had led to very scandalous rumors. In Bianjing, there had been instances of aristocratic scions falling in love with men, only to commit suicide together due to family opposition. Madam Hua had always been terrified by such matters, but now that her son had changed his mind, how could she not be excited? She would gladly welcome even the most shrewish woman into her home.

An Jiu, however, was completely unaware of all this.

She went to the yamen, holding Chu Dingjiang’s token, ready to enter, when she suddenly heard a series of thuds.

“Ha! There’s no one in all of Bianjing that I, Second Young Master Hua, cannot find!” Hua Rongjian shouted from afar. “Fourteenth Young Lady, do not run away! Let’s have a proper talk!” People on the street stopped at the sound.

Previously, An Jiu’s mental power could not sense Hua Rongjian’s inner strength, but now she could discern that he was only at the fourth level. In reality, this was already considered a high level of skill among the scions of noble families, but An Jiu, accustomed to seeing eighth and ninth-level cultivators and those at the Transcendent Realm, assumed he was indeed incompetent.

Hua Rongjian leaped down from the rooftop. “I have something to tell you.”

An Jiu was used to hiding in the shadows, used to being invisible, but Hua Rongjian, whether intentionally or unintentionally, always exposed her to the public eye, leaving her defenseless.

“Come with me,” Hua Rongjian said, unusually serious.

“Let’s go,” An Jiu readily agreed, tucking the token into her pocket.

An Jiu had initially planned to follow him to a secluded place to knock him unconscious, but after walking for a while, she realized her mistake. Following such a high-profile person, there was no seclusion to speak of, so she had no choice but to lower her hat to conceal her appearance.

Following Hua Rongjian into the carriage, An Jiu’s powerful mental energy still allowed her to sense countless gazes from all around.

Hua Rongjian poured her a glass of water and handed it to her, saying, “Calm down.”

An Jiu lowered her eyes. His long, clean hand held a Jun porcelain teacup. A sliver of light streaming through the carriage window fell on the back of his hand, swaying slightly with the carriage’s movement, reflecting a crystalline light in the tea.

An Jiu looked away, ignoring him.

“Still angry? I’ve thought about it carefully these past few days,” Hua Rongjian said sincerely. “I regret hitting you, and it hurts me deeply.” He was unusually familiar, acting like a friend he’d known for years, even though they’d only met a few times, making An Jiu extremely uncomfortable.

He sighed, tilted his head back, and downed his tea, confessing with boundless sorrow, “I, Hua Rongjian, am unparalleled in elegance and charm, yet I actually got into a fight with a woman! And most importantly, I did not even win!”

An Jiu’s lips trembled slightly. “If you do not want to get down to business, you’d better shut up. Do not force me to take action.”

Hua Rongjian’s sorrow vanished instantly, his eyes crinkling. “A gentleman uses words, not fists. Do not be so vulgar. Let’s use words…”

Two muffled thuds followed as An Jiu punched Hua Rongjian in the face, his head hitting the carriage wall.

“Fourteenth Young Lady! Do not hit someone in the face!” Hua Rongjian roared. What if he was not handsome and dashing anymore? “If I am disfigured, do you know how many girls will be heartbroken? Are you not afraid of divine retribution?!”

“Are you selling smiles or your body? You need a face to win people’s hearts,” An Jiu scoffed.