Changying The Lady

Outside the foggy place, it was becoming clear in sight suddenly. The drizzle did not hide anything, but made the valley greener.

Not far from the valley floor, there was a row of newly built wooden huts. The smell of wood that was recently cut down did not disappear yet.

Outside the wooden huts, there was a rainshed roofed with green-and-yellow gra.s.s. Under it, four or five men as strong as bears around the bonfire were roasting pheasants and wild rabbits. They talked and behaved in a rude way. A man among them perhaps felt so hot beside the bonfire that he took off his coat. His breast was filled with hair. After seeing strangers from outside the valley, these men casually glanced at them. The man with bare arms even did not intend to put on his coat. He continued to roast the rabbit on the fire and loudly asked, “Hu Nu, who are these two strangers? Why did you bring them here?”

“They are honored guests whom young master has waited for several days.” Hu Nu carelessly answered. He was a 13-year-old boy wearing coa.r.s.e clothes. It was he that ushered guests into the valley. He was good-looking with visible dimples on his face. Hu Nu turned around to explain to two guests who respectively wore a bamboo hat, “These men used to be bandits in the mountain. Young master feared that they would hurt local folk, so he recruited them as low-grade servants. They are new here and do not know how to behave politely. Do not mind them please.”

The guest walking ahead looked n.o.bler. He was a little taller than Hu Nu. He slightly nodded to show that he did not mind it. Another guest behind him asked Hu Nu, “Where is your young master? Why did he invite us?”

Hu Nu bowed with a smile. He pointed at the wooden room furthest the bonfire, welcomed guests and said, “Young master is waiting you in the room. This way, please.”

There were merely a few pieces of furniture processed in haste in this almost empty hut. It was divided into two rooms, the inner one and the outer one.

Hu Nu led guests onto their seat. He made tea and said, “Perhaps young master is too concentrated on books. Do you mind if I go to report him about your arrival?”

The guests took a sip of tea and then put their teacup on the table, expressing their permission.

Hu Nu rushed to the inner room. After a short while, a voice sounded from inside, “Sorry, I did not welcome my honored guests in time.”

Just then, a man in snow-white appeared.

After hearing the voice, two guests sitting straight were all surprised. They became shocked as they saw the man. The guest who once asked Hu Nu blurted out, “Are you Young Master Xin?”

The man in white was rather handsome, with elegant manner. He was the common people who once promised to be loyal to Wei Changfeng in the Little Bamboo Hill. At that time, he called himself Xin Yong.

“It is me.” said Xin Yong. His smile made people feel comfortable. He sat on the throne. Hu Nu immediately put down his hands and stood behind his young mater. The sitting man was wearing white clothes in the style of the common people while the standing one coa.r.s.e clothes. However they did not look uneasy at all like the common.

Wei Qing speculated that his own face must be horrible under his bamboo hat.

Xin Yong paid little attention to Wei Qing. Instead he stared at his another guest and said with a smile, “It was a tiring journey for Fifth young master. You did not return home for a long time so I expect your family must be anxious. Let"s start directly. The aim to invite you to come here is to….”

He did not finish his words. The so called Wei Changfeng pounced on him.

Xin Yong and Hu Nu did not react in time. Xin"s throat had been caught and he was pulled down from the throne.

“If you shout, I will cut his ear at once,” a cold voice came from the bamboo hat.

Hu Nu raged. He was so worried about Xin Yong that he had to shut his open mouth. He shouted in a low voice, “My young master did not harbor any bad intentions to you. What is more, without his help, you all would be killed by a.s.sa.s.sinators. How ungrateful you are!”

Hu Nu was nervous about his mater"s safety. He urgently said something for Xin Yong, without carefully thinking about the key detail. On the contrary, Xin Yong noticed it. Both in shock and in anger, with his pupils contracted, he asked, “You are not Wei Changfeng. Who are you?”

The wet bamboo hat was taken off and thrown onto the table nearby. It was a young lady. She was tired but still beautiful, with black eyes. She coldly glared at Xin Yong and caught his throat more tightly. She asked, “Come on! Who is your boss? What is the link between you and those killers?”

“I got it.” Although threatened, Xin Yong was still calm. He was surprised that the woman had pretended herself as Wei Changfeng, but he just thought it for few seconds. Xin Yong"s throat was caught by the woman, but he said hoa.r.s.ely and calmly, “Are you Wei Changying, the sister of Wei Changfeng and the First Miss of the Wei Family? I have heard that you practiced material arts as a child in order to please your fiancé who is the son of the Shen Family in Western Liang. Therefore, you merely acquired some superficial poses to have the same topic to chat with Shen Cangfeng. Unexpectedly, your material arts is so great. It seems that the rumor is not true. Your aim to learn them is not so simple, otherwise….”

Wei Changying slapped Xin Yong on his face to stop his words. Xin"s fair-skinned face immediately became red and swollen. Handsome as he was, Xin Yong was as physically weak as Wei Changfeng. Hu Nu became increasingly angry, tightly clenching his fists, and said, “Miss Wei, why did you do something violent to my young master, a weak scholar? Don"t you remember that you could not have escaped in time without his help?”

“The fact that you have prevented those killers from murdering us shows that you must know that earlier. If so, why did not you inform us before action? You forced Changfeng to see you only with Wei Qing. Do you promise that you did not have any plots?” questioned Wei Changying with a sneer. She ignored what Hu Nu said. Looking straight at Xin Yong, she continued, “Tell me! What is your real purpose? Who is your boss? How dare you harm me and Changfeng?”

When asking three questions, she could not help tightening her grip on Xin Yong"s throat. Suddenly Xin coughed violently. After a few seconds, Wei loosened her grip a little. Nevertheless, Xin laughed and said, “If I had planned something bad, I would not have arranged people to rescue you at all. Let alone you could enter my room to see me safely. It does not matter if you did not come today. After all, Mr. Wei Qing is very brave. As you see, the men outside the wooden hut were all coa.r.s.e desperadoes. Each of them does not match with you in material arts alone, but it is not a piece of cake for you and Mr. Wei if all of them come to attack you. If I was excessively alert to you, why did I order them to stay outside in this rainy day rather than inside?”

Apparently, Wei Changying frowned. She could not believe Xin"s words. Actually, she put her hand behind and showed an unnoticeable sign to Wei Qing. Wei got it. He stepped forward and said, “First Miss, he is right. Why not let him off and ask him in detail?”

“Well, since cousin has interceded with you, I believe what you said temporarily.” said Wei Changying. After pretending to hesitate for a while, she got Xin Yong free. She continued, “You and your servant had better act properly. If you made noise to signal to people outside, I would not let you off any more.”

“The wooden room is narrow. We are just a few steps in distance. What is more, you are two people with great material arts, so my servant and I are in fact under your control. I asked the men to stay outside. It shows that I do not plan something bad.” said Xin Yong, with a smile. He got to his feet, coughing. Hu Nu strode toward Xin and gave him a wet handkerchief to wipe bruise on his neck. He nervously asked, “My young master, is it serious?”

Xin Yong took the handkerchief and pressed it on his neck, waving his another hand. Hu Nu had to step backward. Xin Yong hoa.r.s.ely said, “I intended to talk with Wei Changfeng. However First Miss, you care your brother so much that you took his place to come here in disguise. I cannot stay in this place for long time, so I have to talk with you directly.”

When Xin said, he took a glance at Wei Qing to imply that he should avoid the conversation. Wei Changying sneered and said, “Cousin is close to me. He need not shun it.”

Wei Qing dared not to allow Wei Changying, a n.o.ble lady, to converse with Xin Yong and his servant alone. Therefore, he must stay in the room, too.

Xin Yong sneered and asked, “Miss Wei, do you know who is responsible for this killing?”

“No matter who is he, he must be dead for his intended murder on descendants of Wei Family in Fengzhou.” said Wei Changying arrogantly.

Xin Yong noticed that she would not be discouraged. He grinned and said, “People in the world knew that Duke Changshan was sophisticated. Last time in the Little Bamboo Hill, I had a conversation with Fifth young master. Child as he is, he is pretty smart, with great demeanor. Today, it seems that First Miss is also unusual….”

After hearing this, Wei Changying frowned. Xin Yong continued, “It seemed that you were arrogant as you hit me after entering the room. However, it was a part of your plot. For one thing, you considered whether there was someone behind the curtain and whether he would attack you. If he rushed to you, I would be a hostage or a human shield. For another thing, you would be glad that such behavior would force me to confess everything I knew. On the contrary, if your speculation was wrong and you honestly recognized it, on the basis of your female ident.i.ty, I would gently forgive you.”

He continued, squinting and smiling, “If you merely wanted to treat me as a hostage and to slap me on my face, Mr. Wei Qing could achieve them. It was not necessary for you, n.o.ble First Miss, to do so, and you even touched me.”

Wei Changying became angry when she heard his words. She wanted to retort him, but Xin Yong did not stop saying, “The reason why you did it personally is that you could take advantage of your female ident.i.ty to avoid taking responsibility for serious results. Mr. Wei Qing is a male guard. If he beat me, I would try my best to hara.s.s him. For the safety of you, First Miss, he must give in, despite you were reluctant to do so. Obviously, regardless of your suspicion of my malicious intention, you failed to judge which side I am in. You are n.o.ble First Miss. At this time, you were forced to come here because of my invitation, but not grasping my purpose yet. You did not want to be at a disadvantage so you employed this method to test something and try to be in active position.”

He continued, “Although I figure out your plots, I am too generous to care about it for the sake of your gender and ident.i.ty. If Mr. Wei attacked me just now, I would be serious about it.”

“It is a great thing for Duke Changshan to have such a smart granddaughter.” said Xin Yong, chuckling and shaking his head.

Wei Changying thought for a while, suddenly sneered and said, “You have explained what I did in the room. Furthermore, you stressed that I had touched you as I caught you by the neck. You were anxious to prevent me from pondering your words by distracting me. However, there are unusual traps on the way to the valley. My cousin and I would not safely leave the valley at all without Hu Nu. If I killed you, we would not survive either. Therefore, it is you that are in active position in this place. It is a pity that your action revealed that actually you were not confident enough to convince me. So, you diverted my attention to make yourself at an advantage. Your plan was not carried out as expected. Why did not you give in?”

After hearing these words, Xin Yong grinned and said, “First Miss, you also wanted to distract me, didn"t you?” With a fading smile, he coldly said, “Impressive. It seems that it is a good thing that Duke Changshan has lineal grandchildren like you and Wei Changfeng. It is likely that Ruiyu Hall would support you as usual. If so, I would consider maintaining cooperation with Duke Changshan.”

After hearing this, Wei Changying and Wei Qing both changed their face. Changying took a deep breath and asked, “Who are you? I never heard Xin Family among well-known families. You have tricked my brother that you had called yourself as common people in the Little Bamboo Hill. Now, are you going to do it again?”

She stared at the man in white before her and repeated her question, “Who are you on earth?”

With a fake smile, Xin Yong said word by word, “My surname is Wei.”