Engagement
Feng Yi has a weak body, but a mouth that never stops. It’s as if all his strength is devoted to his unstoppable tongue, like a charlatan.
At this moment, he indeed paused for a moment, but as soon as he turned into another street, he started talking incessantly again: “A few months ago, you asked me to investigate his background, but after some time, the information suddenly stopped. This time when he returned to court, I saw it. Wow, he was exuding such a strong ghostly aura, and there was a curse between you two. I was puzzled for a long time, but just now, when I saw his reaction to catching you, I suddenly realized, it’s all because of being trapped by love.”
Feng Yi looked at the pedestrians on the street one after another. If she didn’t want to cause unnecessary panic, she would have made Feng Yi disappear from her sight immediately.
Why was the road back to the Master’s residence so long?
“Of course, it has nothing to do with me. I saw your calm demeanour just now, you must have refused him, so it has nothing to do with you either. I think he and the girl upstairs are very compatible. They probably fell in love at first sight. He will soon forget about you, this old woman over four hundred years old… experienced woman, and will be devoted to the embrace of the beautiful lady.”
Before Feng Yi finished speaking, his cane disappeared into thin air, he staggered, and then the cane was pressed against his neck.
He Simu held the cane and pointed it at him, smiling: “Say that again?”
Feng Yi obediently said, “Ancestor, you always want to hear the truth.”
“Where did you tell the truth?”
“Where did I lie? Aren’t you over four hundred years old?”
“They just met and are still unfamiliar with each other’s manners. You deliberately called me over to gossip. Who taught you to be such a gossiper?”
Feng Yi suddenly realized: “Oh, they are not in love at all. That’s the key point!”
“…”
Feng Yi snapped his fingers, and the cane returned to his hand. He supported himself on the cane and sighed, “Ancestor, how can you steal from a sick person?”
Feng Yi thought, maybe Feng Yi had been eaten by her soul fire in his past lives, and now he came to collect his debt.
She smiled faintly, “You’re really good at talking. It seems like you’ve taken care of the things I asked you to do? If you can’t catch the Lord of the Ghost Palace again, I will gather the ghost soldiers and go to the palace to search for him.”
Feng Yi immediately straightened up, leaned the umbrella towards her, and said, “You can’t do that. Our personal relationship is one thing, but after all, I am the state master who eats the emperor’s food and receives the people’s salary. If I let a bunch of evil spirits into Nandu, wouldn’t I be neglecting my duty as a state master? Rest assured, I already know where he is.”
“Now that you know, what are you waiting for?”
“Ancestor, this is Nandu, the heart of Daliang, where the relationships among mortals are most intricate. A slight move can have far-reaching consequences. It’s not like in the border cities or the Ghost Realm, where you can act recklessly. Ancestor, forgive me for saying this, but I often feel that you, as the Ghost King, are too straightforward. You don’t employ any political means or balance of power. It’s a wonder how you’ve managed to get through these three hundred years with your strong magic power alone.”
He paused for a moment, then chuckled and turned to her, saying, “Otherwise, why don’t you take over?”
Seeing the blue light emitted by the Ghost King lamp around her waist, Feng Yi smiled and said, “I am willing to serve you faithfully. Unfortunately, I am too magnanimous to deal with evil spirits. I can only do more while I am alive. Rest assured, I will make sure to pick an auspicious day to handle this matter.”
Feng Yi’s faults had truly grown over the years. He even needed to choose an auspicious day to catch ghosts now.
Seeing Simu’s impatient expression, Feng Yi immediately showed a weak expression. Frowning, he said, “For powerful evil spirits like the Lord of the Ghost Palace, the mages under my command are naturally not enough to handle them. I have to go and catch them myself. But Ancestor, you also know about my physical condition. Naturally, I have to choose a good day with the weakest ghost energy and the strongest spiritual energy to take action. Otherwise, if I damage my already limited lifespan or hurt my body, what should I do?”
Seeing Feng Yi pale-faced and eagerly speaking these words, He Simu thought, even as a charlatan, she felt sorry for him. Why didn’t he become a storyteller? Maybe he could have become the best storyteller in Daliang.
Finally, they arrived at the Master’s residence. They stepped under the eaves, and Ziji finally said her first words of the day, “Umbrella.”
Feng Yi turned back and handed her the folded umbrella. The quiet and graceful beauty took the umbrella and placed it neatly on the porch, arranging it meticulously.
Looking around, everything in the Master’s residence was extremely neat, with no trace of disorder. The furniture was arranged neatly, and if anything was moved even an inch, it would be discovered by Ziji and restored shortly afterward. Even if a plate was broken, Ziji would find a way to replace it with an identical one. Moreover, from Feng Yi’s recent observations, Ziji was not lacking in strength either.
The master and servant were like two extremes: one couldn’t stop talking, while the other hardly spoke; one was unkempt, while the other was tidy; one was weak, while the other was strong.
He Simu thought, Feng Yi had found a maid from somewhere who was truly his match.
As it turned out, Feng Yi’s joke had not come true. After being rained on, Duan Xu was still full of life. After resting for a few days, he changed into a set of new navy blue clothes and brought many gifts to visit Wang Su Yi, looking very spirited.
Wang Su Yi was very surprised to see him bring such generous gifts. She said there was no need to be so polite; her mother had already told her that day Duan Xu went to chase bandits, which was more important than anything else.
But Duan Xu shook his head. He said, “That day, I wasn’t chasing bandits. I saw the girl I admire.”
Wang Su Yi was stunned when she heard this. She thought that Duan Xu already had someone in his heart. Was he bringing these generous gifts to reject their Wang family? Normally, this should be something his father should handle, not him.
She could only nod in response to Duan Xu’s straightforward words.
Duan Xu smiled and continued, “Miss Wang, how about marrying me?”
Wang Su Yi looked at Duan Xu with disbelief and confusion.
Under the bright summer sunlight, the smile on the young man’s face was warm, and his expression was sincere, but it seemed like an opaque wall, difficult to discern.
“Let’s talk about it,” he said.
Before this, Wang Su Yi’s understanding of Duan Xu was limited to being the famous Third Young Master of the Duan family, handsome, talented, and skilled in both literature and martial arts. According to her incompetent brother, Duan Xu had a great temperament and was always cheerful. Her brother had never seen such a cheerful person. But after spending a day with him, it felt the same, and after a year, it felt the same—tedious.
Perhaps her brother had not realized that it wasn’t tediousness, but rather that he had never been able to understand Duan Xu, and neither could she.
The news of the betrothal between the Duan family and the Wang family quickly spread and became the talk of the official families in Nandu. Duan Xu, the young general of Nandu, was originally the most admired young man in Nandu’s noble families, causing countless girls to sigh with regret. Wang Su Yi was also a well-known beauty in Nandu. In the eyes of others, in terms of background, talent, appearance, and so on, there was no mismatch between these two.
Of course, this news also spread to the Imperial Tutor’s residence. Feng Yi was being massaged by his disciples, enjoying a bowl of red date and white fungus soup. It was a scene of leisure and relaxation. He ate and said, “Ancestor, remember what I said that day? It seems like they really are in love, right?”
He Simu was standing by the desk, rolling up her sleeves and painting. She had just finished a painting of roses and plantains, relying on her intuition to mix the colours on the canvas, as she couldn’t see them herself. When Feng Yi’s words fell, she had just finished her painting and ignored him.
Seeing that He Simu was ignoring him again, Feng Yi waved his hand to let his disciples step back and swayed over to He Simu’s side. He looked at the painting and exclaimed, “Ancestor, I often feel that you are more human than I am. Ziji, come and take a look. Does the colour of these roses and plantains look like something a ghost who cant see colours would paint?”
Ziji, who was grinding ink, glanced at the painting and said, “It looks good.”
He Simu put down the brush, sneering, “That’s probably because you are particularly lazy, don’t distinguish between grains, and don’t put in effort. You can’t even do things properly.”
Imperial Tutor Feng Yi knew she was referring to when she taught him painting as a child. He always made excuses and refused to practice. Nowadays, even drawing a talisman would be criticized by her as ugly.
Feng Yi laughed heartily and immediately changed the subject, “But honestly, whether the feelings between us poor General Duan matter or not, he can only marry according to the wishes of his family and faction.”
He Simu glanced at him, chuckled lightly, and remained silent. Feng Yi could sense some disagreement from her glance, so he asked with a pretending-to-listen attitude, “So, does the venerable ancestor not think so?”
“You don’t understand Duan Xu.”
“If you understand him, how would you think about this matter?”
He Simu waved her hand to fan the wind on the scroll, letting the ink dry quickly, and said lightly, “He is best at pretending to be obedient, but no one can make him do what he doesn’t want to. He won’t marry someone he doesn’t like. That girl must have something that touches his heart or the ability to help him fulfil his wishes. He won’t compromise himself.”
Imperial Tutor Feng Yi saw her calm demeanour and usual tone, rare for her to be serious, and asked, “Venerable ancestor, he is going to marry, and you will lose him. Won’t you be sad?”
He knew that He Simu had many lovers before, but he hadn’t met any of them. They were all dead by the time he was born.
In his years of experience, he had never seen He Simu have such patience and understanding towards other mortals. Understanding mortals for a ghost was difficult, like a person who sees colours easily understanding painting. His venerable ancestor was the guardian of the mortal world, but she didn’t have the leisure to understand every tree or every leaf.
“He matters to me a lot,” He Simu fell silent for a moment, then smiled lightly, “Perhaps there will be some sorrow, but it will be brief, even shorter than his fleeting life.”
Feng Yi fell silent for a moment, thinking that his venerable ancestor’s feelings were indeed complex. He sighed and lay back on his chair, revealing his thin arms. After a dizzying calculation between his fingers, he said, “It’s a pity I see that Duan Xu is having bad luck lately, and there are changes in the court. This marriage will be full of twists and turns. The auspicious day I chose, he won’t make it in time. Venerable ancestor, are you really not considering snatching a kiss?”
He Simu replied warmly, “Get lost.”