The Noble Woman’s Guide On How to Tease One’s Husband

The Noble Woman’s Guide On How to Tease One’s Husband – Chapter 44

Translated by: Oinkoink

Proofread by: Silkscreen

Chapter 44 – Assassins

This novel is only hosted on Foxaholic, copies found elsewhere are either stolen or plagiarized.

The journey afterwards was very smooth, so they got back into the carriage again. Although the landscape was different the further north they went, it would still be tedious to look at for a long time. Right at that moment,  Chu Jinglan and Pei Yuanshu were discussing Jingzhou’s Deng clan, so Ye Huaiyang pricked her ears up to listen.

As the proverb went, a powerful dragon could not crush a snake in its old haunt. As the king with a different surname who was conferred a land and inherited the title since the reign of the great ancestral emperor, the Deng clan already became the overlord of this region. Though the late emperor had relentlessly straightened them out several times during his reign, he failed to eradicate them. After Chu Sanghuai ascended the throne, he didn’t care about the situation in Jingzhou. Instead, he immersed himself in squandering the silvers wantonly and wallowing in sensual pursuits. Therefore, Deng clan’s unruly heart grew like weeds in the Spring.

[T/N: 强龙不压地头蛇 (Qiáng lóng bù yā dìtóushé) – means even a powerful man cannot crush a local tyrant (because they have an advantage of knowing the homeground better)]

Lingnan was close to Jingzhou and was a land of abundant resources. Thus, it was inevitably coveted by others. In addition to the incident with Bai Xingzhi—which resulted in the discord between the royal court and Lingnan’s garrison general—, Chang Xin, who secretly took refuge with the Deng clan under their repeated persuasion, pretended to be oblivious when the Deng clan staked claim and stationed troops in Lingnan. Thus,  there was naturally no resistance. 

This series of troublesome matters was something Chu Sanghuai hadn’t even thought of when he disposed of the Bai family. This was why he was so enraged, but in reality, someone had already anticipated all of this—namely, Yue Ting.

It was unknown what he had told Pei Yuanshu before, who  was very calm and collected the entire time. Taking all this in, Chu Jinglan seemingly asked casually, “I wonder what sound strategy Minister Pei has in regards to the matter in Jingzhou?” 

When it came to official matters, Pei Yuanshu would immediately be stimulated that there would be no stutter in his speech. Furthermore, there was no redundancy in his words; they were completely methodical.

“Reporting to Wangye, this lowly official thinks that since we are going under the name of investigating the officials, we might as well play along and see what hand the other party will play before we make our move.”

“Not bad.” Chu Jinglan slowly pushed the small cup forward, a touch of admiration flashing across his eyes. “Deng Tianguan knows our trump card; we, however, do not know his. In such a situation, the best strategy is to use static braking*.”

[T/N:  静制动 (Jìng zhì dòng) – It’s from “Sun Tzu’s Art of War: Military Stratagem” . If the enemy does not move, you do not move; if the enemy moves, you move. In other words, confronting a chaotic situation with a calm attitude.]

Pei Yuanshu bowed and received the cup of tea. He took a sip, “In addition to this, there is still another matter that this lowly official would like to consult you about.”

“What is it?”

“You probably know that this lowly official’s ancestral home is Lingnan, and that this lowly official has been in contact with officials of the same hometown since taking the official post in Wangdu. So this lowly official still somewhat has some connections in Lingnan. Hence, this lowly official wanted to take this opportunity to meet Chang Xin to see if she can be persuaded to realize her errors and mend her ways. This is tantamount to the Deng clan losing a major ally and will be beneficial to us both publicly and privately.”

The tea cup lid swirled continuously in Chu Jinglan’s hand as he raised his head and glanced at Pei Yuanshu. He languidly said, “The plan is good, but it’s a little dangerous. If Chang Xin and Deng Tianguan are well versed about this, we might not be able to get out of Jingzhou.”

“That’s why this lowly official wants to ask Wangye to make a decision. No matter what the result is, this lowly official is willing to lay my life down without any grudges.”

Pei Yuanshu bent down and kowtowed. Chu Jinglan extended his hand to gesture him up and said, “Minister Pei does not have to do this. Although this is a dangerous military move*, it only takes a small technique to greatly reduce the risk. There’s no need for you to risk your life.”

[T/N: 兵行险着 (Bīng xíng xiǎnzhe) – If there is a strong strength to make the opponent succumb, that kind of risky trick is unnecessary /  Confounding the enemy with dangerous military moves can be taken as a basic strategy for victory]

“This lowly official is willing to hear…”

  

In the midst of their conversation, the steed raised its hooves and neighed as the carriage braked to a halt in the middle of the road. Meanwhile, the teacups were upended and tea splashed everywhere. When their figures lurched forward, Chu Jinglan promptly reached out to pull Ye Huaiyang back into his arms before turning his gaze outside the curtain immediately.

“Qingfeng, what’s the matter?”

Tang Qingfeng’s voice was unusually low, “Master, something is wrong.”

No sooner than he spoke did more than a dozen black shadows suddenly leap out from either side of the woods, surrounding the carriage at an extremely fast speed. Their steps were as lithe as the swallow and almost inaudible, but the friction of the unsheathed sharp swords splitting across the frost and slicing through the wind were exceptionally clear to everyone’s ears, instantly causing their facial expressions to stiffen.

“It seems like I’ve really become so intimately connected to assassins in this life that I will meet them wherever I go.” Ye Huaiyang smiled coldly and immediately issued an order, “Ci Yuan, be sure to keep one alive for me. I’d like to see who’s up to no good again!”

“Yes, Young Miss.” Ci Yuan responded in a deep voice. Sword in hand, he jumped off the carriage with Tang Qianfeng closely following behind him into battle like two different colored lightning bolts. 

In the quiet forest, the shadows of the trees swayed yet the remotely tranquil autumn scene was interrupted by the glints and clashes of the swords. Birds were startled and flew away in confusion while small animals fled in all directions by the incessant clashing of weapons. The splattered bloodstains were even redder than the maple leaves over the mountains and plains. When the foul fishy smell drifted into the carriage, Yue’ya couldn’t help but lean over with nausea.

Although Pei Yuanshu has never experienced such a spectacle, he was a man after all. Moreover, he had long understood that this journey will not be without a hitch, hence he was prepared. Seeing Yue’ya like this, he immediately handed her a handkerchief and turned back to look at Ye Huaiyang again, whose face was devoid of any fear. He instantly admired her spunkiness.

Looking at the other end again, the black-clad men used every possible move to bypass the highly-skilled martial artists, Ci Yuan and Tang Qingfeng, and reach the carriage. It was as if they were very certain that their target was inside. As they warded off the vigorous attacks, the two men often had to return to block those who rushed past their defensive line that in the course of time, they were both driven back to the side of the carriage where their range of actions became extremely narrow.

“Sit tight here and don’t probe out.” Chu Jinglan exhorted Ye Huaiyang as he turned around and got out of the carriage.

Tang Qingfeng was startled by his appearance and asked, “Master, why are you down here?”

Chu Jinglan scanned the surroundings. Having a rough idea of what to do, he soon instructed, “Resolve this as quickly as possible. No need to keep any alive.”

Ye Huaiyang arched her eyebrows at those words and immediately got out of the carriage.

Before she was able to speak, she saw a cluster of cold glints flash from the forest in front of her. Without thinking, she threw herself in front of Chu Jinglan. Just as she did so, a sharp arrow penetrated through the dense branches and leaves as it broke amidst the air bearing along the clamoring shrill of the gale-like noise towards her chest!

Everyone’s face changed drastically, especially Ci Yuan, whose breathing stopped on the spot.

As a martial artist, he could see very clearly the swift and violet momentum of the flying arrow which contained a thousand pounds of force that once it made contact, it would simply splinter any parts of the five internal organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys) of the body, not to mention that this was aiming for the heart…

In a flash of lightning, Chu Jinglan speedily reached out his hand to sweep Ye Huaiyang aside while his other hand grabbed the arrow feather so precisely that his entire body was flung back several steps by the force. Once he came to a stop, his palm was already dripping with blood.

“Jinglan!” Ye Huaiyang immediately ran over and held his hand with eyes filled with fear, “How are you? Are you badly hurt? Let me see!”

Chu Jinglan turned his hand over and pushed her towards the carriage as he said, “Go back and sit down.”

She refused to leave. Instead, she took out her handkerchief and cautiously binded his hand. However, the skin and flesh had already opened up and the bleeding couldn’t be stopped at all. She was so anxious that her eyes reddened.

After this unforeseen incident, Tang Qingfeng and Ci Yuan unexpectedly developed a tacit understanding. One wielded his great sword and attack the black clad men with a sword force of ten-thousand-pound, inflicting severe bone-deep cuts as fine as bull’s hair,  while the other charged straight into the woods once the black clad men were forced into retreat that not too long later, a corpse was tossed forward.

Witnessing the death of their companion, the black clad men instantly fought back with wrath, but unexpectedly the combined forces of both Ci Yuan and Tang Qingfeng’s swordsmanship were unstoppable that the slashing and slaying routed them out one by one. The fight concluded in merely half a cup of tea’s time with more than a dozen corpses lying askew on the ground, unable to make another noise again.

“Yue’ya, hurry up and  bring out the incised wound medication!” 

Ye Huaiyang was still in the midst of a fiery torment when Chu Jinglan had already pulled his hand back into the sleeve as he dragged her into the carriage with him. He simply ordered, “Qingfeng, speed up. Be sure to reach Jingzhou before dark.”

“This subordinate will do as ordered.”

The carriage raced along the official road and arrived at the small town on the southern part of Jingzhou earlier than planned. They first went to the medical hall to have Chu Jinglan’s injuries treated before settling down in an inn. After tossing and turning for hours, Ye Huaiyang fell asleep under the dual exhaustion of physical and mental torment. 

Chu Jinglan was still talking to Tang Qingfeng in the outer room.

“Master, although the circumstances were urgent at that moment, there was still no problem to leave a man alive. Why did you…”

“There is no need.” Chu Jinglan turned the celadon medicinal bottle in his hand with a super faint certainty between his eyebrows, “The assassins appeared neither earlier or later, but right when we almost arrived in Jingzhou. Such an obvious attempt to frame Deng Tianguan, do we need to guess who it is?”

Suddenly seeing the light, Tang Qingfeng said, “No wonder you told me to hastily rush to Jingzhou. Once we have arrived, it will not be easy for those assassins to take action. According to that person’s personality, he will definitely not be willing to act rashly at the risk of being discovered by Deng Tianguan.”

“I don’t rule out that Deng Tianguan might also have the same idea. Transfer those dozens of shadow guards back for the time being. There’s no need to make advance arrangements at Jingguan City. Just wait till we get there.”

“Yes.” Tang Qingfeng cupped his hands in salute and left the room.

It was the dead of the night as the moon set on the horizon. Chu Jinglan sat at the round table, kneading his brows wearily. Just when he was about to get up to rest, a scream suddenly came from inside. His eyes throbbed as he strode hurriedly into the inner room to find Ye Huaiyang sitting on the bed as if her soul was lost. Her face was pallid and she was soaked in sweat.

“What’s wrong?”

Chu Jinglan sat down on the edge of the bed when his bandaged hand instantly came into Ye Huaiyang’s line of sight. She stared at it blankly before she buried her head in his arms and hugged his waist tightly, refusing to let go.

“I had a nightmare.”

Ye Huaiyang didn’t say what the dream was about and Chu Jinglan didn’t ask. He merely whispered, “It’s fine, go to sleep.”

“Stay with me.” She begged in a muffled voice.

Silently removing his boots, Chu Jinglan got on the bed and slept calmly beside Ye Huaiyang like a wall which made her pounding heart return to its place.

He was fine and the dream  was just a false alarm.

Her sweat gradually reduced as she lay down in her clothes. She couldn’t help but remember the time when the Bai family attacked her. Even though she had been injured, the feeling of fear and trepidation then was merely a fraction of what she felt today. She couldn’t even imagine the state that she would be in if that arrow had pierced into Chu Jinglan. Perhaps she would already be out of her mind. Fortunately, he was skilled in martial arts and resolved this calamity.

In the dark, Chu Jinglan’s deep and gentle voice rang in her ears, “Don’t do that again.”

She didn’t hear the faint hint of tenderness hidden within his words. Instead, she merely pursed her cherry lips tightly as she made up her mind not to open her mouth, because she knew she would still do it next time.

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