Hidden Shadow – CH 265

Chapter Two-Hundred-Sixty-Five: Falling into the Water

An Jiu avoided his gaze. “It’s rare to be confused.”

Thinking about it now, she suddenly understood the helplessness contained in those words; perhaps only someone who had lived clearly could say such a thing.

Night fell, and occasionally boats passed by on the water, their lights reflected in the water like starlight.

Seeing him half-drunk, An Jiu asked, “If the truth is as you suspect, what do you plan to do?”

Hua Rongjian lay on the altar. “I just want to know why, yet I am afraid to know.”

“Perhaps… Prime Minister Hua had you with another woman, and the real Hua Rongjian unfortunately died young, so he took you back to raise,” An Jiu said. “The things being hidden might not be that serious.”

Hua Rongjian looked up at An Jiu’s profile. She wore a human skin mask; her features were delicate, her eyes were lowered, and her long eyelashes cast shadows beneath them.

“What you said… is possible.” Hua Rongjian sighed and smiled. “Perhaps I am overthinking it.”

Lu Danzhi told him because he was afraid he was living in a daze. As a friend, it was natural to worry about his safety. If Lu Danzhi had not died, he might never have revealed this.

Thinking of Lu Danzhi, Hua Rongjian sighed, “The Cui family line was completely extinguished because of a woman!”

“Yelu Huangwu?” An Jiu asked.

Hua Rongjian nodded. “If Cui Yichen had not known Yelu Huangwu, she would not have known about the Cui family, the Cui family would not have fallen, Cui Yichen would not have gone mad, and Danzhi would not have died… This woman, she really has some impressive methods.”

An Jiu said, “Not only the Cui family, but the Mei and Lou families were also destroyed in an instant, were they not?”

“Khitan men are jackals, and women are venomous snakes,” Hua Rongjian said. “How could the Song Dynasty, with its abundance of Confucian scholars, possibly defeat such enemies?”

“It seems you are not content to be a fool.” An Jiu looked at him with newfound respect.

Hua Rongjian glared at her. “This young master has never been a fool!”

“I used the wrong words,” An Jiu thought carefully for a moment. “Was it a pretty face but no substance?”

Hua Rongjian reached out to flick her, and An Jiu instinctively blocked him with her hand.

He was holding a wine jar in one hand, his center of gravity swaying, his body staggering. “Quick, Fourteenth Young Lady, grab me!”

Splash!

An Jiu watched helplessly as he fell into the water, the wine jar still in his hand. At first, the empty jar floated on the water for a couple of breaths, but after being filled with water, it quickly sank.

Hua Rongjian thrashed to the riverbank. Grabbing onto the grass on the bank, he leaped out of the water, creating a splash like a torrential downpour.

An Jiu, still holding the wine jar in one hand, quickly pulled an oilcloth umbrella from behind her with the other, opened it, and looked back at Hua Rongjian, who had fallen not far behind her.

Hua Rongjian, with his cool and arrogant demeanor, noticed the water splashing against her umbrella. An Jiu’s calm gaze swept over his body through the cascading water.

He looked down and saw his silk robes, soaked and clinging to his skin, revealing his figure. Even his nipples and the bulge in his crotch were clearly visible.

Even fine clothing had its drawbacks!

“Why are you carrying an umbrella on such a sunny day?” Hua Rongjian exclaimed, annoyed and embarrassed.

“When you are out and about, you always have to be prepared.” An Jiu used to not carry an umbrella; the umbrella in her hand was actually a weapon, its edges inlaid with sharp blades. The ribs were also detachable weapons, and pressing a mechanism on the handle could even fire poison needles.

This was Lou Xiaowu’s prized creation among her hidden weapons. Originally an ordinary oilcloth umbrella, inspired by An Jiu, Lou Xiaowu modified it into a folding umbrella, folding it to only a foot long. Lou Xiaowu was overjoyed. She gave it to her as a thank-you gift.

An Jiu quite liked it; it was a good self-defense tool when it was not convenient to carry the Dragon-Subduing Bow. She just had not expected to use it for the first time under these circumstances.

She carried many weapons, which would easily be exposed if her clothes got wet; she would not use this unless absolutely necessary.

“Talking to you all day has only made me feel worse!” Hua Rongjian took off his outer robe and wrung it out.

An Jiu closed the umbrella and put it in the bag behind her.

Hua Rongjian’s attention was drawn to the umbrella. “Huh, you have one of these umbrellas, too.”

“You’ve seen it before?” An Jiu asked curiously; there should only be one in the entire Song Dynasty!

“Yes, I have twenty or thirty at home.” Hua Rongjian wrung out his clothes as he sat down on the grass beside her. “Recently, a shop opened in the capital that specializes in selling these strange and unusual things, and these folding umbrellas are the most popular.”

If they were selling so well, Lou Xiaowu, as an expert in this area, should not be unaware of them. “When did they start selling these umbrellas in the capital?”

“About ten days ago,” Hua Rongjian said with a smile. “That shop also takes on various private jobs, mainly custom-made cheat codes for students preparing for the imperial examinations, such as hiding questions in the umbrella handle—small creations that only cost two taels of silver.”

“The shopkeeper’s surname is not Lou, is it?” An Jiu thought Lou Xiaowu did not seem like the type to have this kind of mind.

“No,” Hua Rongjian said, “His surname is Zhu.”

Zhu Pianxian?

The name flashed through An Jiu’s mind.

Seeing her apparent interest, Hua Rongjian said, “She’s a very interesting young widow.”

An Jiu glared. “You do not even spare young widows?”

Sheng Changying’s face would turn bright red every time he saw Zhu Pianxian; anyone with eyes could see he was interested in her. An Jiu had a good impression of Sheng Changying, always thinking it extremely difficult for someone as rigid as him to be moved by love.

Before Hua Rongjian could answer, An Jiu earnestly advised, “You are a womanizer who does not discriminate between men and women, young and old; you can leave this one for someone else to mess with!”

“No wonder I’ve never been able to mess with you,” Hua Rongjian laughed. “Physician Mo said there are four kinds of people in this world: men, women, eunuchs, and Fourteenth Young Lady. It is true.”

An Jiu snorted. “He never says anything nice.”

“Your words sound like a thief crying, ‘Stop thief!'” Hua Rongjian said.

“You saw through me.” An Jiu stood up, looking down at him. “A fool’s world must be simple, right? You only have trouble because you suddenly became a little more intelligent. Keep being a fool; do not try to become more intelligent.”

She shoved the wine jar into his arms and turned to leave.

Hua Rongjian did not chase after her. He watched her walk about ten paces away, then called out, “Fourteenth Young Lady! You bastard!”

An Jiu stopped and turned back, looking at him expressionlessly. “Great! You did not realize this was comforting, which means you are still a happy fool. I am happy for you!”

“Pshaw! Who said I did not realize it? But this gentleman is not happy about it!” Hua Rongjian roared.

“Is that so? That’s because you have not found the right way to be happy.” An Jiu tossed out a sentence and vanished into the night.

Hua Rongjian looked at the vast night and suddenly laughed, tilting his head back and gulping down a mouthful of wine.

A servant from the Hua family rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing his clothes soaked to the bone, he quickly unfolded his cloak. “Young Master, you’ve fallen into the water?”

“Yes, how refreshing!” Hua Rongjian smiled.

The servant’s eyes welled with tears. “Young Master has not smiled like this in so long.”