Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Panting for breath, those handmaids didn’t know how many screens they had moved here, but their master was still discontent.
With a frown on her face, Luo Ningcha peered at one of those screens. “This one’s not suitable. Who chose this one? Who do you think the guests will be looking at when they come? Me or the woman on this screen?”
The painting on the screen was of a beautiful woman on a spring outing. Afraid of being ordered to carry another screen, a handmaid, who had been serving the master for many years, ventured to say, “All the women in the world are overshadowed in front of you, My Lady, not to mention a painting-”
Luo Ningcha casually threw a teacup at the handmaid, and due to her many years of practice, the teacup hit her full in the forehead and smashed into pieces, the blood mixing with hot water and tea leaves as it flowed down.
“Please have mercy on me, My Lady.” The handmaid hurriedly knelt down. She knew that she probably wouldn’t be killed, but kneeling down was a standard procedure as well as the only way to appease her mistress.
Luo Ningcha had already forgotten about the handmaid. Staring at the screen again, she said, “Um… Go and get another one immediately. It must be silken and translucent so that people on the other side can see my figure. However, the view they have can’t be too clear. It has to be vague. And there mustn’t be any women on the screen. Do you hear me?”
Luo Ningcha’s tone became severe. The handmaids hastily answered, “Yes,” carried the screen out of the tent, handed it to the Iron-Mountain soldiers waiting outside, and then went to some nearby tents to pick out a suitable screen.
Finally, the lady was satisfied with the new screen. There was only one defect: the screen was made of four segments. She was worried that too many frames might have an adverse effect on her beautiful figure, so she ordered a handmaid to stand behind the screen and walk step by step. Finally, she figured out which position was the best. “Here it is. Do you have any idea how great a sacrifice I have to make because of you people?”
“We’ll never forget your great kindness, My Lady,” all handmaids said in unison out of force of habit, hoping that this farce would end as soon as possible.
Sitting on a couch with her body slightly tilted, Luo Ningcha pictured her guests’ possible reactions and felt that everything was perfect. Suddenly, she sighed, which startled the handmaids standing at her sides. Fortunately, the lady had just been carried away by her melancholy, and had no intention of changing any of the screens. “Why did he only decide to see me after such a long time? Was it because the Iron Mountain and I are not famous enough? Or is it because some base guy stopped him from coming?”
The handmaid, whose forehead was wounded, was the mistress’ favorite servant. Her companions kept signaling her, so she had no choice but to resignedly say, “I guess-”
“Who allowed you to speak?” Luo Ningcha reprimanded and tried to grab something but failed to find anything suitable to throw, so she let it go. She contemplated her situation for a while, but her mind kept wandering. She clenched her teeth and uttered two words in a low voice. “Ungrateful guy.” Her handmaids hung their heads even lower. They all knew that this “guy” was the Dragon King. The lady blamed him every time she couldn’t get her way.
Luo Ningcha was not good at thinking, so she snappily said, “Little Xin, if you want to say something, then say it. You holding your words back makes me uncomfortable.”
The handmaid named Little Xin had been serving Luo Ningcha for many years. She had become Luo Ningcha’s handmaid when Luo Ningcha had still been a teenager. The names of her four handmaids: “Chen,” “Xin,” “Ru,” and “Yi” had stayed unchanged, but the girls who bore these four names had been replaced again and again. Little Xin was the only one who had never been replaced. Throughout all these years, she had witnessed many of her fellow colleagues be killed or injured, and had developed an unperturbed and numb attitude, which was more than enough to handle her mistress’ unpredictable and violent temper.
“I think… it is said that Governor Pang is Prince Xiao’s friend. There are many rules and courtesies in the Central Plains. Governor Pang was probably too embarrassed to come here to meet you because of your relationship with Prince Xiao.”
Luo Ningcha felt that this explanation was very reasonable, so she involuntarily nodded along. “Then why did he decide to meet me here today? And he’s coming here himself too.”
This was all Little Xin could think of with her limited intelligence. The more opinions the people around the lady expressed to her, the more of a punishment they received. So, she was unwilling to try to figure this out. “Maybe… Maybe it is because you’re too famous, so Governor Pang couldn’t help himself from coming here.”
“Nonsense.” Luo Ningcha’s voice was severe, but she didn’t search for anything to throw, which indicated that she wasn’t really angry. After sitting there and pondering it over for a while, she said, “Prince Xiao is also ungrateful. He left me here and didn’t come back. There wasn’t even a letter from him. Who does he think I am? Does he really think that I’m going to wait in Jade City for the rest of my life, waiting for him? Humph. You can’t blame me. You’re all from the Central Plains anyway. Everyone who has troops and power are the same to me. Pang Jing is younger than you and also more handsome than you… ”
Luo Ningcha was talking to Prince Xiao who was thousands of miles away. The more she talked, the angrier and more determined she became.
A small figure ran into the tent, interrupting Luo Ningcha’s angry and self-defensive soliloquy.
“Mother,” Shangguan Cheng called excitedly.
“Eek! Cheng’er? Why did you come?” Luo Ningcha was rather surprised.
Shangguan Cheng walked around the screens, raised his head, and looked at his mother before saying, “Wasn’t it you who requested that I come to the Iron Mountain Camp and spend a day accompanying you every ten days?”
Luo Ningcha suddenly recalled it. She had left her son in the Dragon Army’s camp, but after a few days, she found that she missed him very much. However, she had no interest in rearing a child. So, she had requested Shangguan Cheng to come to her every ten days, so that she could have some fun playing with him and then send him back to the Dragon King before she got bored.
“Oh, has it already been ten days? How time flies. How’s your life in the Dragon King’s place?” Luo Ningcha asked in a tender voice.
Every time he came to the Iron Mountain Camp, his mother would always ask him this question at the beginning of their conversation. Shangguan Cheng climbed onto the couch with the help of a handmaid, pouted, and said, “I miss you. I also miss the stone castle.”
Shangguan Cheng had evaded his mother’s question. It was his childish opinion that the Dragon King was still an enemy. Besides, they seldom met. But every time he showed hatred towards the Dragon King, his mother would become angry, so he had already learned how to dissimulate his thoughts.
“Soon,” Luo Ningcha said excitedly, regarding her young son as an adult. “When the kung fu competition is over, we’ll go back to the stone castle. That’s your home. You’ll be in charge of everything, but you’ll have to follow my orders.”
Things like being “in charge of everything” didn’t interest Shangguan Cheng. He was more concerned with the kung fu competition. “Father is invincible. He will surely defeat all my enemies and take me back.”
“Sure… Um? Which father were you talking about?”
Kneeling on the couch, Shangguan Cheng watched his mother, eyes wide with confusion. He could vaguely feel that his mother’s question was terrifying.
Luo Ningcha laughed. “You little moron. Why do I feel that you kind of look like Shangguan Nu? That’s impossible. Never mind. Anyways, I’m telling you, the Unique King is not invincible. There are a lot of other people who are better than him. And it will not be him but the Dragon King who’s going to send you back to the stone castle. Understand?”
“That’s not true! The Unique King is the toughest!” Shangguan Cheng stood up and was even taller than his mother who was sitting. Due to his momentary excitement, he had also called his father the Unique King. “He’ll kill a lot of people. The Dragon King is no match for father even if he has the giant roc.”
Luo Ningcha felt that her mood for playing with her son was gone. “What do you know about it? He’s not necessarily your… ” Luo Ningcha shut up in time. Nobody could secure themselves against all risks and dangers. Currently, the Dragon King was at an advantage, but who knew whether the balance of power would change or not in the future? It did her no harm to have an extra backup plan. Luo Ningcha believed that she was very smart. “Okay, okay. Play here for a while and then leave. Mother has something to deal with today. You can’t stay here.”
“What is it? Do you want me to help?” Shangguan Cheng asked happily. Still young, he always blurted out whatever was on his mind. He pounced on his mother, planning to jump into her arms.
Luo Ningcha’s face went pale. As if a dirty dog or cat was trying to pounce on her, she yelled in horror, “Don’t touch me! I just changed my clothes. They stain very easily.”
Arms open, Shangguan Cheng slightly blushed in awkwardness.
This was her natural son after all. Luo Ningcha did feel that his look was a little painful to watch. “Little Xin, come here and hug Cheng’er. Cheng’er, don’t look at her face. She’s just like mother.”
Shangguan Cheng enjoyed the embrace of a “substitute mother,” and with that, he was sent out of the tent. Too young to experience depression, he just felt a little upset. Then he saw Han Fen in the distance. Surprisingly, he felt that this bizarre woman seemed very cordial.
Han Fen was wrestling with a soldier of the Iron Mountain Army. The soldiers who were looking on watched with fixed eyes and yelled all at once, “You lost. Get out. Next!”
Han Fen, who had won again, said with a big smile, “Do you know how to wrestle? You should hold your opponent’s waist. Why were you aiming at my chest? Besides, your body was too limp.”
“I was so close… ” The soldier was even more disappointed than Shangguan Cheng. The touch that he wanted so much had slipped away at the last moment.
Upon seeing a handmaid carry Shangguan Cheng in the distance, Han Fen ignored those soldiers’ trying to persuade her to stay, elbowed her way through the crowd, and took Shangguan Cheng into her arms. “Kid, you came out so soon today.”
“Um.” Shangguan Cheng leaned tightly against Han Fen, finding that this was the most comfortable embrace.
Han Fen mounted her horse, put Shangguan Cheng before her, rode out of the camp, and headed for the Dragon Army’s camp under the escort of dozens of guards. Along the way, Shangguan Cheng remained silent. He just leaned against Han Fen’s chest and let the horse toss him up and down as he listened to the weird tune that the eccentric woman was humming.
“Han Fen,” Shangguan Cheng called out in a low voice. He had once tried other forms of address, but the bizarre woman either ignored him or directly refused to be called by other names, as her name was purely Han Fen.
“What’s wrong, kid?” Han Fen stopped humming. All of the soldiers around her were relieved. When other women sang songs about “hearts” or something like that, they usually blushed and their hearts fluttered. But when Han Fen did it, they were horrified. This little kid was very lucky that he couldn’t understand the lyrics that were full of cruelty.
“Is the Dragon King… my father?”
Han Fen was very surprised. “Isn’t your father the Unique King? Um. I can understand. If I were you, I would also want the Dragon King to be my father. He’s young, handsome, and amiable. His kung fu is good, and he also knows how to tell jokes… ”
Shangguan Cheng’s voice was low, but Han Fen was talking in a normal voice. The guards closest to her stared at her speechless one after another upon hearing her appraisal of the Dragon King.
Shangguan Cheng hurriedly said, “No. My mother… I don’t know either… Actually I wanted to ask you why the Dragon King wants to fight for somebody else instead of competing for the position of the Lord of Jade City himself.”
The Dragon King was going to participate in the kung fu competition under the name of the Big Snow Mountain, but the candidate for Lord of Jade City that he had designated was Long Fanyun. This news had caused a huge sensation in Jade City and aroused numerous speculations and arguments. Even the young Shangguan Cheng had heard of it.
“Um… ” Han Fen raised her head and thought for a while. “I think that when one person likes another one a lot, he will send gifts to that person. The Dragon King likes Long Fanyun, so he is sending him the position of the Lord of Jade City. The Master Commander likes the Dragon King, so she has to send him something as well. This is the reason.”
A guard couldn’t help but say aloud, “No, no. The Dragon King doesn’t want to compete for the position of Lord of Jade City because he is the king of the Big Snow Mountain. Of course he wouldn’t degrade himself.”
“That might be true as well,” Han Fen said with a smile, having no intention of arguing with him at all.
But Shangguan Cheng was a little confused. If that was the case, then didn’t it mean that the Unique King’s status was lower than that of the Dragon King?
If he turned his head around, he would see that another team was entering the Iron Mountain Camp. The Centra Plains man was even confused than he was, and was hoping to find a way to solve his questions in Luo Ningcha.
Both Pang Jing and Luo Ningcha were full of confidence.
