Chapter 197 - The Overbearing General’s Pretty Warlord (XVI)
Chapter 197: The Overbearing General’s Pretty Warlord (XVI)
The atmosphere was quite awkward for a while.
Lou Ying was the quickest to react, putting down his book and bowing gently and humbly: “Greetings to the Thirteenth Prince. I am sorry that I am too frail to pay my respects.”
…… Having said that, his fingers are still pressed against Chi Xiaochi’s hand.
Chi Xiaochi quietly jerked his hand back a little, hard.
He held back his strength, but halfway through, Lou Ying suddenly let go.
The footstool on which Chi Xiaochi was sitting nearly toppled over when he lost strength, and the other end buckled so high that he would have fallen over with it if Lou Ying hadn’t caught his arm from behind.
The foot of the stool hit the floor with a loud clang, and the sound was earth-shattering.
Chi Xiaochi turned his face sideways, gave Lou Ying a light glare, and without saying anything else, rose and straightened his clothes, and bowed respectfully, “Greetings to the Thirteenth Prince.”
This flirtatious gesture, which caught Yan Yuanheng’s eye, made his eyes sting like needles.
Yan Yuanheng suppressed the emotions that filled her belly: “…… Can I ask you to step outside for a moment.”
Shi Tingyun, opposite, was stunned for a moment, and moved to help Yu Fengmian up from his couch, as if to help him into a wheelchair and out the door.
Yan Yuanheng added: “Su Chang , I’m talking about you.”
Yan Yuanheng slowly calmed down after the sour breath that made his eyes glaze over.
He thought he hadn’t made any mistakes in his tone, except that the originally opened volume of military books had slightly changed shape in his hands: “I have recently read a lot of military books, and I have some insights. I have heard that Mr. Yu has the talent of Guan Bao, so I would like to ask Mr. Yu some questions, may I?”
Shi Tingyun locked eyes with the man on the couch, as if exchanging glances.
As their eyes met, the feeling of being pricked by a needle returned to Yan Yuanheng.
Fortunately, they did not have to stare at each other for long, and Shi Tingyun rose to retire, leaving the two alone in the tent.
Yan Yuanheng sat down in a circle chair far away from Yu Fengmian and exhaled a sigh of relief: “I have heard of you, but I have never met you before.”
The Yu Fengmian on the couch was unmoved: “The Thirteenth Prince is very kind.”
”When will the gentleman enter the house?”
”In the eleventh year of Jianping, I first entered Wangcheng.”
…… Jianping XI, when Shi Tingyun was fourteen years old.
Yan Yuanheng relaxed a little: “We studied together when I was six. We knew each other much earlier. He has always acted in an unconventional manner, so if he has been disrespectful in front of you, please understand.”
Yu Fengmian smiled brightly, “Don’t worry about the Thirteenth Prince, I like him like this.”
This straight shot caught Yan Yuanheng off guard and dazed him.
He opened his mouth and was just about to say something when Yu Fengmian cut him off: “Didn’t the Thirteenth Prince say that he had some questions to ask? I am sure I will say everything.”
Yan Yuanheng used all the questions he had prepared to discuss with Shi Tingyun in his exchange with Yu Fengmian.
Yu Fengmian is indeed a very good gentleman, who is able to explain an issue in depth and with good examples, so that even a person with a little knowledge of the military can understand it.
However, Yan Yuanheng is not at all happy.
These are the questions he would have liked to talk to Shi Tingyun about in private.
It was his good fortune to find out.
After explaining each of the issues that Yan Yuanheng had pointed out, Yu Fengmian stopped: “Thirteenth prince, has Yu understood?”
Yan Yuanheng closed the pages: “Quite understandable.”
”Yu is a lover of books, I wonder if I can overstep my bounds and remind you of this?” Yu Fengmian pointed to the creases in the book that he had pinched out raw, “…… also ask the Thirteenth Prince to love some of the pages.”
Yan Yuanheng pursed his lips, his face tightening up: “Yes.”
When the questions were finished, Yu Fengmian began to make polite small talk: “I’ve always heard you talk about the Thirteenth Prince as a gentleman, but when I saw him today, he was truly extraordinary.”
Yan Yuanheng unconsciously lifts his chin slightly.
He didn’t even know how childish he looked to outsiders: “I’ve never heard him talk about you, but I’ve always heard the Sixth Brother mention you. When I met him today, I realized that you are a man of great talent.”
Yu Fengmian did not mind: “I am not well and I come from a poor background, so I am not allowed to see anyone. Thanks to the approval of the General and the patronage of your son, I am truly ashamed to have received such generous love.”
”Thick-skinned?” Yan Yuanheng gave a dry laugh, “He befriends anyone like that.”
Yu Fengmian seemed to not understand the meaning of his words, or simply was too lazy to care: “Does the Thirteenth Prince have anything else to ask for advice?”
Yan Yuanheng got up: “Excuse me.”
He exited the tent and passed Shi Tingyun, who was talking to Chu Ziling outside, and walked on without stopping for a moment.
Shi Tingyun called after him once or twice, but when he didn’t listen, he followed him.
Yan Yuanheng’s taut mouth finally relaxed a little when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.
He intentionally pressed his pace.
Sure enough, Shi Tingyun caught up with him a few moments later: “Yuan Heng! What’s wrong? Did you have a fight with your husband?”
Yan Yuanheng whipped his head around, “…… you think I’m like that?”
Shi Tingyun looks relieved and pats him on the shoulder, looking surprisingly intent on getting back to his tent.
…… Does he really think he’s in the clear?!
Yan Yuanheng’s heart sank and he blurted out, “Stop!”
Shi Tingyun turned back in curiosity.
Yan Yuanheng walked forward with a stern face, “Come to my tent, I have something to ask you.”
Shi Tingyun raises one eyebrow and follows.
Yan Yuanheng returned to the tent with a cold, solemn look on his face and sat down on the main seat on the couch.
Shi Tingyun did not recognize him at all, and took a seat beside him, and offered to take the teapot and pour two cups of tea, sipping them as he handed them over with one hand, “Hmm.”
Yan Yuanheng took the cup of tea and said in a cold, hard tone, “Thank you.”
Shi Tingyun asks, “What’s wrong with you?”
…… Good question.
Yan Yuanheng has been thinking about the same thing since Fang just now.
…… What’s happening to me?
There was nothing wrong with Yu Fengmian, so why did he have to be so sour to the person he was meeting for the first time?
Yan Yuanheng holds his cup of tea to his lips, trying to suppress an unknown sourness that has risen to the back of his throat.
With a twinkle in his eye, he caught Shi Tingyun’s right hand resting on the edge of the small tabletop, his index finger clicking against it.
Shi Tingyun has had this problem since he was a child, and when he has nothing to do, he likes to tap on his desk.
Yan Yuanheng has corrected him many times, saying that this is not a good habit.
And this time, Shi Tingyun’s little gesture provoked his displeasure dozens of times higher than usual.
He stood up abruptly: “Ren Qing!”
The guard outside the door answered, “What is your command, Thirteenth Prince?”
Yan Yuanheng put down his cup of tea: “Get a basin of hot water for Young General Shi.”
The guards did not ask the reason, but replied in the affirmative and withdrew.
Soon a pot of hot water of the right temperature was brought into the tent and placed in front of Shi Tingyun as Yan Yuanheng had requested.
Shi Tingyun raised one eyebrow and dutifully dipped his hand into the hot water, then took a towel soaked in hot water and wiped his hands as he said, “Yuan Heng, what is this? My hands are clean, I’m just pouring tea, you don’t have to dislike me like this.”
Yan Yuanheng naturally knows this.
But only by watching the towel wipe over his hands could his heart feel slightly more comfortable.
Ren Qing retires again.
When only two people were left in the tent, Yan Yuanheng finally asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time: “Is the person you told me about at the beginning Yu Fengmian?”
He wanted to hear a negative answer from Shi Tingyun.
However, Shi Tingyun seemed intent on infuriating him as he took a sip of tea and said slowly, “What if I said yes?”
Despite Yan Yuanheng’s suspicions, the words fell on his ears with a thunderous sound that made his ears go numb and his heart tossed in lava, a fire that burned as if it were hot.
He looked up at Yan Yuanheng: “Are you going to tell my father?”
Yan Yuanheng’s lips trembled with anger, and he slammed his teacup on the table, his cheeks flushed plum-colored red with rage: “I am not such a snitch! What does it matter to me, Yan Yuanheng, if you, Shi Tingyun, are willing to trash your reputation and do such …… unpleasant things?”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Yan Yuanheng realised that the word ‘unpleasant’ was too much.
Yan Yuanheng is too gentlemanly and well-bred to actively pick on the flaws of others.
He could read Nanjiang Wen, he knew what the tattoos in the corners of Yu Fengmian’s eyes meant, he knew Yu Fengmian’s disabilities, and he could clearly cite them all to prove how incompatible he was with Shi Tingyun.
But even though he was still angry, he immediately apologised for his poor choice of words: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to denigrate Yu Fengmian. I just wanted to ……”
He stammered for a long time, but did not say exactly what he was “thinking” about.
Shi Tingyun’s face changed subtly and he also put down his tea: “Yes. What does it have to do with the Thirteenth Prince.”
Yan Yuanheng 语塞：”I ……”
”The Thirteenth Prince’s tea is good, and the water for washing hands is quite hot.” Shi Tingyun stood up, “The last general has enjoyed enough, it’s time to go on tour of the barracks. Farewell.”
” Su Chang , etc. ……”
Shi Tingyun didn’t even look back, exactly as he had just done.
Shi Tingyun said he would leave, his tea still smoking hot.
Yan Yuanheng sits somewhat decrepitly on the main seat, his heart still sour, chewing over Shi Tingyun’s words upside down, sentence by sentence.
”What if I say yes?”
That means it’s possible that it’s not?
The stop cloud is probably testing the waters, wondering how his best friend would treat his beloved, who wants to rebuke himself and call him “unbearable” …… is really too much.
Yan Yuanheng took his cup of tea, which he had only taken a sip from, and absentmindedly took a sip from it.
After drinking both cups of tea and quieting his mind, Yan Yuanheng took a pen and paper and wrote on his own.
When Chi Xiaochi returned to the tent, Lou Ying was already reading a book.
He sat back on the footstool and looked up at Lou Ying reclining on the couch.
Lou Ying asked him, “Is it taken care of?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Hmm.”
Chi Xiaochi added, “You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?”
”Yes.” Lou Ying admitted painfully, “He’s always looking at you.”
Chi Xiaochi leans over the bed and looks at him with raised eyebrows.
”Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous.” Lou Ying flipped a page of her book and said, “Children are jealous. I just want to solve the problem.”
Lou Ying is also right.
These days, spending time with Yan Yuanheng day and night, Chi Xiaochi could sense that Yan Yuanheng’s feelings for Shi Tingyun were growing stronger even when he did nothing.
This feeling, which perhaps even Yan Yuanheng himself did not realise, has reached a point where it has to be confronted.
Otherwise, Chi Xiaochi wouldn’t know how to handle Shi Tingyun’s relationship if it were to explode one day.
Lou Ying asked him, “Declined?”
Chi Xiaochi says, “Sort of. It leaves a bit of leeway, however he interprets it.”
”There are many decisions I can make on Shi Tingyun’s behalf, but they are limited,” says Chi Xiaochi. Chi Xiaochi says, “Not including deciding who he’s going to be with in the future. I’m not a maternal uncle.”
Lou Ying bursts out laughing.
As the two men spoke, a window in the tent was quietly opened from the outside and a letter fell from the sky to the floor.
Chi Xiaochi rolls up and walks to the window, opening it first to check that there is no one outside.
He dusted off the fine dust on the letter and made sure that the ink on it belonged to Yan Yuanheng before he opened it.
It was a letter of apology, but not in his usual dignified and calm style.
Only the words “I’m sorry” are written in ink, squarely in the middle of a page, like the little note a high school student gives to his crush after scratching his head in anger.
Chi Xiaochi lost his smile.
Lou Ying asks from far away in bed, “What is it?”
Chi Xiaochi folded this teenage thought into his arms and replied in a raised voice, “Nothing.”