Legend of Fu Yao

Yun Hen smiled lightly. He could still leave now. If he were to continue to stay, perhaps, they could not even be friends.

He spun the wine cup on his fingertip as he hid the fragrance of osmanthus from the three autumns and the winter plum deep in his heart. Yun Hen smiled and finished his wine in a gulp.

“Take care.”

Meng Fuyao smiled. “You take care too.” She paused as she tried to find her words. “When you return, if there’s anything… anything special, don’t forget to inform me. I love excitement.”

Yun Hen looked at her with his bright nether eyes. He knew what she meant—his ranking for this True Martial Arts Meet was dissatisfactory and there was a possibility for the conflict he had with the Yan Family to be exposed. She was afraid that he might run into trouble.

With a faint smile, Yun Hen replied, “Prince Meng, of course, when you are crowned the prince. A friend with such a strong backing, how can I bear to not borrow your strength?”

With this rare joke of his, Meng Fuyao grinned from ear to ear and said innocently, “As an official, I have the duty to exploit the court and bring glory to my friends…”

Lord Yuan Bao on her shoulder had also opened its mouth, thinking, ‘I’m sick of my golden toilet, I guess I’ll let Prince Meng customize a black pearl toilet for me.’

Yun Hen smiled and waved goodbye to Ya Lanzhu who came to send him off. He took big strides and got onto the carriage. His guards were staying in another part of the city but were now waiting for him by the carriage.

Meng Fuyao watched as his carriage disappeared into the horizon and sighed. “To wave a last adieu we sought, voiced for us by each whinnying steed…” [1. Farewell: Poem by Li Bai, an acclaimed Chinese poet in his own day].

“Aiya, Meng Fuyao, you can actually recite a poem!” exclaimed Ya Lanzhu.

“I know plenty!” Meng Fuyao wriggled her eyebrows as she shuffled towards Ya Lanzhu. “Let me recite a better one for you. Bright moonlight before my bed, two pairs of shoes on the ground, a pair of adulterers, HAVE, NOTHING, ON…”

“Hm, what does the last sentence mean?” asked the pure Princess Ya innocently.

Meng Fuyao smiled slyly, considering if she should taint the innocent little princess’ mind. Suddenly, someone from the back commented, “It probably means not wearing any clothes.”

“Could it be that you also time-traveled here…” Meng Fuyao stopped her sentence halfway and slowly turned back. Ya Lanzhu that was originally beside her had already sprinted over.

“Zhan Beiye Zhan Beiye-”

Under the cypress tree stood a man in black with his black horse. The jade green shade and the pale trunk made him seem darker than he was. His pupils were crow black and somehow had a mysterious strengthen in them. It made one remember of an extremely straight and upright ironwood tree, high and mighty, rustling as the wind blew.

Meng Fuyao looked at him as she thought, ‘Why did his disposition suddenly improve after a few days of not seeing him? Being an emperor is such a good occupation, definitely a necessity when it comes to improving one’s disposition.’

Zhan Beiye’s gaze brushed past Ya Lanzhu and subconsciously landed on Meng Fuyao. His gaze was then forced back to Ya Lanzhu by Meng Fuyao’s “If you dare to ignore her I’ll make you regard your whole life” gaze. He faked a smile and said, “Princess Ya, it’s been a long time.”

“Yes! It’s been such a long time.” Ya Lanzhu looked up with her hand on her forehead and smiled brightly towards Zhan Beiye that bathed in the glimmering sunlight. “230 days and 10 hours.”

Zhan Beiye held his breath and glanced at her. After a moment of contemplation, he replied thoughtfully, “Why do I remember it being 197 days and 6 hours?”

Meng Fuyao’s face turned black. ‘What the f*ck do you mean? Aren’t you counting the days that we separated? Even if you were to count, why must you tell Ya Lanzhu?’

Her face warped into a hideous expression. Ya Lanzhu turned to glance at her and Meng Fuyao kept her ugly expression and tried to muster up a smile instead. By that time, Ya Lanzhu had already turned back as though nothing happened and giggled. “Is that so? Then I must have remembered wrongly.”

Zhan Beiye stared at her, now with a more gentle gaze, and asked in a rigid manner, “Your birthday was the day before, right? My bad didn’t manage to congratulate you in time.”

Meng Fuyao wanted to bash him so badly. ‘This damn Zhan Beiye! If you were to apologize like this, can’t you show at least a bit of sincerity? You got the hours we were apart right, but you can’t even get her birthday, right? It was four days ago, four days ago!’

“It’s alright!” Ya Lanzhu did not seem to have noticed this mistake and laughed happily. “You’ve never remembered it in the past before.”

Zhan Beiye remained silent and passed her a box. “Birthday gift.”

Ya Lanzhu received the present, pleasantly surprised. Meng Fuyao smiled slightly to show encouragement.

Zhan Beiye’s face turned even blacker, and with a low voice, he muttered, “The eunuch in charge picked this, I don’t know what it is.”

Meng Fuyao’s smile immediately slid off her face…’This damn Zhan Beiye, can’t you finish something good for once?’

But Zhan Beiye made it as though he had already taken such a big step back, suffered such injustice and had been so apologetic. He turned to look at Meng Fuyao with a burning gaze. “I still don’t know when your birthday is.”

Meng Fuyao yelled to the sky, “I jumped out from a stone, you can go and ask the stone.”

Zhan Beiye held back his anger and tried to change the topic. “Shall we go look at your new house? I’ve already sent people to Changhan to build your residence. Which county do you like? The Jiao county is near the water and has a magnificent view while the Gan county has the most resources…”

“Say, Your Majesty, are you very free?” Meng Fuyao held Ya Lanzhu’s hand. “You even came late sending Yun Hen off but yet you have the time to ask me which county I would like my residence to be in?”

Anger rushed up Zhan Beiye’s head, but somehow he managed to tolerate once again. He paused and said, “Fuyao, I know you are angry with me over what happened that day…”

“Ah, Zhuzhu, I remember there is a winehouse in the city that serves really fragrant alcohol. Shall we go and drink?” Meng Fuyao spoke loudly, covering Zhan Beiye’s voice as she grabbed the curious Ya Lanzhu that was trying to listen in. “I’ll treat, you’ll pay…”

She escaped with her tail between her legs, vanishing from Zhan Beiye’s vision. Zhan Beiye laughed bitterly.

Little Seven, who was being him, loudly commented, “Your Majesty, bash her up!”

Zhan Beiye turned back and glared at him.

Little Seven continued on loudly without fear. “The women we had in our hometown, there were some who didn’t listen either. Easy, lock her up in the woodshed, beat her up and from then on, they will definitely serve their husbands obediently!”

Zhan Beiye did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He could not help but scold, ‘Idiot!”

“Your Majesty, women are beaten to be good. Listen to me, it’s definitely right!” Little Seven insisted.

With a stomach full of frustration, he thought about Meng Fuyao and the big pile of papers waiting for him to pass in the imperial study. Who would have the energy to seriously reply this idiot’s ramblings. Annoyed, he got on the horse and headed back to the palace as he replied, “If you have the ability, you go and lock her up. You go and bash her!”

With troubles weighing down on his heart, he waved the whip, and the black horse dashed off, leaving a trail of smoke.

Little Seven was a little slower. This impulsive idiot sat on the horse with a hand on his chin as he very seriously considered the last “decree”…

Alas, even the words of the unlucky resulted in trouble.

Misunderstandings were created when words clashed…

“I am a pervert from the north-”

“Two tigers two tigers run quickly-”

“Chichichichichi-”

As the night fell, the two humans and one guinea pig hugged each other as they sang in public. They held onto each for support as they stumbled along. The guards followed behind, though they didn’t dare to get close to these two crazy drunkards—one would hug people while sobbing and the other would catch a person to beat up. No one could or would get close to them.

They finally made it back to the residence. Zhangsun Wuji and Tie Cheng came out to welcome them. Tie Cheng carried Ya Lanzhu while Zhangsun Wuji held a drunkard in one hand and a drunk guinea pig in another, sending the two back to their room.

This drunkard took a peek and sent out a punch. Halfway, she stopped short. ‘Punch the heavens, punch the floor or even the emperor. But not this Crown Prince, he’s too poisonous.’

The other time she caused him to be a little bit injured. Look, how long did she have to be the chef, the nurse aid, and even the masseur…’But that being said, the Crown Prince had such good body… So smooth, so pleasant for the eyes… Perfect for viewing pleasure…’

A certain someone giggled as a few drops of saliva dripped out…

Zhangsun Wuji personally helped her clean up and covered her with a blanket. He sat down beside her, looking at her as he commented, “You incorrigible drunk. Your position is higher and higher, and the people who can keep you in check get lesser and lesser. If I’m not around, who’s going to keep you in check?”

Meng Fuyao giggled as she reached out to grab the beautiful face in front of her. She held his head in place as she seductively whispered, “I, a beauty… a prince… can keep a dynasty in check, can’t I keep… myself… in check?”

Zhangsun Wuji laughed as he took her hands off his face and squeezed them between his palm. He slowly placed his fingertip on her fingertip as he looked up slightly, as though he wanted to read her inner heart by putting their fingers together.

His face bathed in the serene moonlight. In the silence, there was a sense of passion, yet between those brows, it was the markings of the troubles of worldly affairs.

After a moment of silence, he said, “You have your troubles, struggling half your life. Your journey is to move forward, yet your heart remains ashore. You… are never willing to stop for anyone.”

Meng Fuyao hugged his palm as she slept comfortably and inelegantly, with saliva dripping from her mouth.

Zhangsun Wuji slowly pulled back and looked towards afar. “Fuyao, I’ve received a message from my teacher, I’ve to return.”

Meng Fuyao flipped over and replied with an ‘En’.

“I might not be able to receive information about you for a while.” Zhangsun Wuji frowned and gently patted her back. “You must be careful.”

Meng Fuyao hiccupped and grabbed Lord Yuan Bao over, shaking him left and right.

“I’ll leave Yuan Bao with you.” Zhangsun Wuji hesitated. “But you have to protect yourself and don’t rely on its abilities too much.”

Meng Fuyao scoffed. ‘I need a rat to save me? Forget it.’

Zhangsun Wuji no longer spoke as he pulled her in his embrace. Meng Fuyao laid comfortably on his thighs, too lazy to move. She was surrounded by his unique scent as she drifted in and out of her dreamland. In her dream, it was a beautiful landscape as countless of snow white flowers fluttered down to the ground, covering all the 2,000 jade steps. Purple clouds scattered in the sky gently floated. A man turned back and smiled; a handsome beauty with looks that charmed those in his way.