Zhou Yunxi’s gaze instantly chilled people to the bone.
“You were at h.e.l.l’s gate for three days and three nights and the first sentence that you speak after waking up is to actually ask about that woman?”
Lu Qingluo, it’s Lu Qingluo again!
Previously, this girl was injured for Lu Qingluo. This time, she almost died and her first sentence after waking up was to ask about Lu Qingluo.
Why is his personal bodyguard always showing such interest in others. Moreover it’s towards a woman, so he can’t even let his thoughts run wild!
But Baoyi really had no choice.
“Shizi, the reason I’m doing this, isn’t it so that Lu Qingluo and the Third Prince will get together? The greater their affections for each other, the more beneficial it is to you. If Lu Qingluo doesn’t bear any weight in the Third Prince’s heart, what’s the significance of this chess piece[1]?”
Didn’t she already discuss these things with Zhou Yunxi?
She didn’t have the guts to openly confront Zhou Yunxi about the female lead. She’d already thought of a fair and reasonable reason. Regardless, they’d first tested the Third Prince to see what lengths he’d go to for Lu Qingluo. Now, it seems like the harvest is quite plentiful.
The female lead was impressive this time round!
With this development, HE (Happy Ending) is just around the corner!
“I’ve changed my mind.” Zhou Yunxi’s expression darkened. To Baoyi’s surprise, Zhou Yunxi suddenly drew closer, till he was practically against the tip of Baoyi’s nose and gritted his teeth. “Don’t forget, you are ben Shizi’s[2] survival charm. Time and again, you have put your live on the line for others. Then where do I, the master, stand? If I face danger someday, how are you going to protect me?”
She is now weak like an ant……if she continued to guard by his side, she would really be ignoring Zhou Yunxi’s safety!
Baoyi could see that her serious injury seemed to have provoked this bad tempered Shizi.
It’s simply like a kid who had been robbed of candy.
Bao Yi’s heart softened and she finally nodded, saying with a smile: “Got it, Thirteen is Shizi’s survival charm. In the future, unless if it’s Shizi who’s in danger, even if someone else dies in front of me, I, this charm, will never take another look. Just let whoever it is die.”
These words were extremely ruthless but they were pleasing to Zhou Shizi’s ear and his gloomy face finally eased a little.
He looked at Baoyi’s pale and lifeless lips. Even if she tried to put on a lively appearance, it was difficult to hide her exhausted state.
“Old Man Dao said that you’re seriously injured. Take a proper break for the next few days. I have my own plans for Lu Qingluo, you don’t need to bother with it.”
“Yes.” Baoyi felt that this side of Zhou Yunxi was also very interesting: “I’ll follow Shizi’s instructions.”
It was undoubtedly a sentence that he’d heard countless times but Zhou Yunxi felt that when his shadow guard spoke in that tone, there was a bit of teasing meaning. However, he could not find a mistake with it so he only “hmph!” with his nose before turning and leaving.
It’s really a textbook-like arrogance.
This exposure of the Second Prince’s plan brought the hidden snake to Zhou Shizi and the Third Prince’s notice much earlier, greatly preventing the probability of the two idiots killing each other in the future. This unexpectedly gave Baoyi a helping hand from the side.
As for the female lead Lu Qingluo, Zhou Shizi seemed determine to forbid Baoyi from getting involved anymore.
Yes, he did not allow, but can’t she “catch a glimpse”?
Most of all, Lu Qingluo had taken the initiative to approach her. How could she miss such a good opportunity?
With Baoyi seriously injured, Lu Qingluo had already wanted to visit her, just that Baoyi was in the medicine hut for the past few days and Lu Qingluo went to her room only to find it empty[3]. Seeing that she’d returned, she had long kept watch outside but Zhou Shizi simply didn’t come out for a long time. She was forced to return and wait till evening before coming again.
Upon seeing Baoyi, both of Lu Qingluo’s eyes turned red.
“Baoyi Meimei……”
“Stop.” Baoyi couldn’t stay in bed any longer as she currently had a searing pain on her back. She simply lay on her stomach, cupped her face and looked smilingly at Lu Qingluo. “What are you crying about, you came at the right time. I have things to discuss with you.”
Lu Qingluo looked at Baoyi’s pale lips and with the thought that Baoyi had gotten hurt being on the lookout for her, she couldn’t help but to blame herself, “This time it’s all my fault. What can I do, don’t hesitate to speak.”
“Such a big manner of speaking? You’re not afraid that I’ll make things difficult for you?”
Lu Qingluo couldn’t help but to laugh: “You won’t.”
Lu Qingluo this person, although she’s weak and like the Holy Mother[4], but she’s not stupid. After this incident, she already knew that Baoyi didn’t have any bad intentions. Moreover, if it wasn’t for Baoyi’s help, she couldn’t have mustered the courage to ask the Third Prince for help.
Although she doesn’t expect the Third Prince to oppose Zhou Shizi for her sake, now that she had his promise, her days felt more hopeful. Now that she had a pillar, she didn’t have to muddle through life like in the past.
Seeing Lu Qingluo’s expression, Baoyi knew that the Third Prince and her had made progress. She was delighted that her planning had been worthwhile. However, in order to prevent the subsequent plotline, this was still insufficient.
“Don’t celebrate too early.” Baoyi advised patiently, “The resentment between Shizi and the Third Prince isn’t something that can be resolved in a day or two. This time, because of the matter with the Second Prince as well as my having sustained an injury, he was caught off guard but it doesn’t mean that he’s willing to let you off.”
Hearing this, Lu Qingluo started to feel anxious again.
“Meimei, you mean, Shizi, he……”
“I know Shizi’s temperament. Regardless of whether he’s interested in you or not, you’re Duan w.a.n.gfu’s person. The most unacceptable thing in his eyes is betrayal. With that temper of his, he’ll be capable of anything once he’s angered.”
With a serious expression, she asked cautiously, “Qingluo, I just want to ask you, are you really not interested in Zhou Shizi? Even if he changes for the better in the future, dotes on you, loves you, listens to and obeys you?”
Zhou Shizi’s love was too intense. At the end of the story before the female lead’s death, she did not explicitly reject Zhou Shizi. Was it due to her timidity or was it because, even if it was just slightly, she’d been moved by Zhou Yunxi?
She had once heard from her colleagues that these romance novel female leads felt extremely deeply. One sentence ought not cause them to fall for somebody else. If the female lead was moved by Zhou Yunxi while she played as a matchmaker to the female lead and the Third Prince, who should she reason things to?
Unexpectedly, Lu Qingluo shook her head resolutely: “Meimei, to tell you the truth, from the beginning to the end, the one my heart adores has always been Third Dianxia[5].”
(This translation is brought to you by Iluska & Maelani Translations. If you’re reading this on any other site, consider dropping by for a visit? ^^ If you’re already here, love ya!)
During the olden days in Zezhou, a meeting at the covered bridge, with one look and it was a lifetime mistake. It’s just that she was young then and had always thought that there’d be opportunities in the future. Unexpectedly, they’re now as far apart as the clouds and mud[6]. If Zhou Shizi had forced her before that day, she might have resigned herself to it but her current frame of mind is completely different. The feelings that she’d repressed in her heart for a long time gushed out. Seeing him again, guarding his promise, keeping this hope. Even if she were to die right now, she’d be perfectly happy. How could she fit anyone else in her heart?
Even if Zhou Shizi really changed for the better and she might grow soft-hearted and take pity on him, but that’s completely different from the adoration she had for the Third Prince.
Baoyi was taken by surprise. She didn’t expect that the female lead already had such deep feelings for the Third Prince. A trace of sadness inevitably surged in her heart. If Lu Qingluo’s words were true, then wouldn’t Zhou Yunxi’s enthusiasm in the original book be completely in vain?
That is really……sad.
“Actually……my Shizi[7] isn’t that bad. If he places a person in his heart, he’ll treat her very well.” As if she were annoyed, Baoyi muttered in a low voice, “……definitely better than your Third Prince.”
She doesn’t want the female lead to fall for Zhou Yunxi as it’ll cause trouble for herself. Yet she doesn’t want to hear her say that Zhou Yunxi isn’t good. This is such a contradiction.
At least Zhou Yunxi had practically stayed away from women[8] for all these years. The Third Prince has several concubines at his household! Baoyi let out a cold ‘humph’ of disapproval.
Lu Qingluo couldn’t help but to laugh: “It can’t be compared like this. Baoyi, if you really have a person in your heart, it wouldn’t matter how well someone else treats you. The place in your heart was meant for that person, even a strand of hair can’t be wrong. It can only be him.”
Ze[9]!
This line is pretty good. Why hadn’t she seen it in the book before? Looks like it isn’t just the plot that’s wrong in this mission, even the protagonist’s character has changed.
Baoyi blinked her eyes, feigning innocence: “Is that so? I don’t really understand.”
Aiyou[10], what love? She’s still a baby[11].
Lu Qingluo smiled and said: “I see that Shizi is good to you. When you were injured, he was so anxious. I’ve never seen Shizi like that before. Baoyi, I think Shizi has you in his heart.”
Baoyi zoned out momentarily, not even noticing when Lu Qingluo had left.
Zhou Yunxi has her in his heart?
Was that possible?
She could more or less feel that Zhou Yunxi was different from how the novel had described him but she’d always thought that it was just dependence that came from being practically family and childhood friends. After all, it was eight years of interdependence. Unless if he was wood, there’d be some feelings.
But could it be that kind of feeling?
Since when?
Was it before or after she came?
In the original novel, did Zhou Yunxi have feelings for Thirteen?
When shadow guard Thirteen died, the author only took a few strokes to go over it. This loyal and devoted young lady died to save Zhou Yunxi but his mood at that time was not described in the book. Baoyi only remembers that shortly after Thirteen’s death, there was a new “Thirteen” around Zhou Yunxi, who was also a habitually silent girl. Unfortunately, this girl was the Second Prince’s man and betrayed him in the final battle. Zhou Yunxi cut off her head personally.
“You don’t deserve to be called thirteen.”
At that time, he seemed to have said this.
That night, Baoyi suddenly got a high fever.
She’s suffering from internal injuries so a wound infection is out of the question. The high fever is most probably caused by her injured internal organs. Because it was nighttime, by the time the two servant girls discovered Baoyi’s situation, she was already unconscious. Chunhong and Chunxi who were in charge of waiting on her ran helter-skelter to the main residence to report but were stopped by the steward.
After Zhou Shizi had gone to bed, he was not to be disturbed even if it was a huge matter. This was the residence’s rule which if broken, everyone would have to suffer.
The steward wasn’t wrong but Chunhong and Chunxi had personally seen Zhou Shizi’s att.i.tude towards Thirteen Guniang. They knew in their hearts that if anything happened to Thirteen Guniang, they need not live anymore. Therefore, one immediately blocked the steward while the other rushed into the courtyard, risking her life as she screamed.
Awakened by the noise, Zhou Shizi looked with bloodshot eyes at all the people who were kneeling inside and outside the house. His first sentence being “All of you, go and receive caning”, As for the ones outside, no questions were needed. They would certainly be dragged away immediately, no discussion about their life or death required. The guards accepted their orders but Zhou Shizi heard a shout of “Thirteen Guniang” from outside and called for the steward to enter with a wave of his hand.
“Who’s outside?” Zhou Shizi had a grave expression.
“It’s Chunhong who’s responsible for attending to Thirteen Guniang.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Replying to Shizi, Chunhong Guniang said that Thirteen Guniang isn’t doing very well……”
“Scoundrel[12]!” Zhou Shizi kicked the steward and didn’t even have time to put on his coat before pushing the door open and rushing out.
Seeing Zhou Shizi, the servant girl hurriedly gave an account of the day’s happenings, adding that Dao Shifu had already gone over.
Upon rushing to Baoyi’s room, Zhou Shizi saw that she was lying on the bed with a bright red face and pale lips, her forehead reaching alarming temperatures.
Dao Shifu’s brows were tightly knitted: “If this continues, her life will be in danger.”
Hearing this, Zhou Shizi felt like he’d been dropped into an icy cave.
“What’s going on? Didn’t you say that she’s already well!” He heard the sound of his own teeth grinding.
Dao Shifu glanced at Shizi and uncharacteristically of him, didn’t speak a word.
What could he say? Shadow guards undergo harsh training since childhood, their bodies suffering enormous damage. This girl suddenly lost the internal strength that was protecting her body, reducing her physique to the extent that it was inferior to that of an ordinary person.
But could he say all this?
“Shizi, please step outside for a moment, I’m now going to carry out acupuncture and bloodletting on her to lower her temperature.” Dao Shifu said.
“Do it, I’ll watch from here.”
Dao Shifu was stunned: “Shizi, I’m afraid that it’s inconvenient for you to be here, this……I’ll have to undress her.”
He’s a doctor. Besides, this girl Thirteen was young enough to be his daughter. It’s obviously not a problem for him. However, it’s different for Shizi. Even though he’s the master, Zhou Yunxi is also a man, it might not be appropriate.
Yet Zhou Shizi said coldly: “Since she’s my shadow guard, then she’s also my person. Is there anything I can’t see? Do you think she could still marry someone else in this lifetime?”
Insert a bookmark
The author has something to say:
Does Shizi have a good domineering air》《
Shangguan’s other writing《The Expert Transmigrator is here》is completed! 500,000 words of text, I devoted and threw myself into it like a dog! But it’s finished~So you must believe in Shangguan’s products.
I will concentrate on this next. At the moment, I’ve already drafted quite a bit, so……
Please bookmark and flood me with comments, don’t pity me just because I’m a delicate flower! (enough
This translation is brought to you by:
Iluska & Maelani Translations
Translator: Iluska
Editor: Sugakookie