Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 120: Gentle Waves Silent Under the Moon

In fact, Yue Hongling did not want to see Zhao Changhe make a fool of himself, but neither did she want to see how he would pursue her either.

What is there even to watch?

While she appeared to sit there in silence, she had actually been feeling quite anxious because she had no idea how to end the situation gracefully. She had a feeling that if she tried to stop him, he would only further lose face. After all, Zhao Changhe had garnered a rather chaotic reputation since the very get-go. He was either rebellious or bloodthirsty, either dumped or driven away. He never seemed to mind it much. However, as his friend and a renowned heroine, she genuinely did not want to see her friend constantly tarnish his own reputation without care, becoming the subject of gossip and a laughingstock for others.

Since they had already turned his so-called secret crush into an open pursuit, then why not just let it be? It’s natural to pursue someone of the opposite sex that you’re interested in. Yue Hongling, with her beauty and the long time she’d spent in the jianghu, had faced countless suitors, both overt and covert. So what if another suitor was added to the list? As long as she did not reject him in public, others would not have anything to laugh about.

So, she truly did “have no objections” to it. Besides, she did not think that he would seriously pursue her.

With that said, she did not know that he would actually be so shy when it came to such matters when he had always made himself out to be a mountain king.

Who knows, in three years, maybe he will actually enter the Ranking of Man. When that happens, he can proceed with the marriage arrangements with the Cui Clan, so our so-called romance won’t matter anymore.

They’re teasing him now and they’re making fun of him, waiting to see how he would pursue me, but he actually never intended to do anything of the sort. It’s all good fun for us. Isn’t that just fine?

However, under the pressure of the crowd, he had actually gone ahead and done it...

No matter how strong and independent a twenty-year-old woman might be, how could she possibly lack any thoughts about her future partner?

How could she have never entertained the thought of joining hands with someone, supporting one another, and facing the world together?

Unexpectedly, the words that were forced out of Zhao Changhe’s mouth hit her expectations right on the mark.

Yue Hongling was momentarily bewildered. She had no idea how to respond at all, and she could only stare at him with a vacant expression. It was not until she noticed that Zhao Changhe’s eyes were closed and his face was red that she suddenly realized what was happening. Looking around at the stunned expressions of everyone present, she realized that they were all holding their breaths waiting for her response, looking like a bunch of bewildered birds.

Yue Hongling suddenly burst into laughter and said, “That’s good. Maybe one day it could actually come true.”

What?!

Everyone was shocked and many nearly spilled their drinks.

Zhao Changhe was also shocked and he was practically rendered speechless.

But then, Yue Hongling calmly added, “I’m confident that I’ll make it onto the Ranking of Man in the near future. I doubt any of you question this.”

Everyone said, “Of course, Miss Yue, you already have strength comparable to those on the Ranking of Man.”

Yue Hongling shook her head and said, “To be honest, I still have much to improve... The reason Chi Li has yet to actually challenge anyone on the Ranking of Man is that he thinks he still has shortcomings to correct. Although he might be able to make it onto the ranking, that is not what he wants. He wants a resounding victory; he wants to make it onto the Ranking of Man in the most dazzling way possible. He aims for a placement higher than the bottom of the ranking...”

Tang Buqi asked in surprise, “How do you know that?”

Yue Hongling calmly replied, “Because I want the exact same thing.”

Tang Buqi: “...”

Wan Dongliu added, “But in a year or two, it won’t be a problem, right? Wait... You’re only twenty this year!”

“The goal I set for myself is two years,” said Yue Hongling. A hint of determination shone in her eyes as she spoke. Her goal was to match Xia Longyuan’s age and directly make it into the top seventy places on the Ranking of Man. She did not want to merely squeeze into the tail end of the rankings.

She did not have any thoughts of disrespecting the emperor, and she even held great respect for Xia Longyuan’s martial achievements. However, for that exact reason, she also hoped to surpass him.

Xuan Chong sighed and said, “In two years, you’ll only be twenty-two. What great ambition. I’m already twenty-two this year, yet I have not achieved much... Some might even say I’ve achieved nothing at all.”

Wan Dongliu gave him a sidelong glance and said, “I am twenty-three years old, and my ranking is much lower than yours. Are you making fun of me, brother Xuan?”

Xuan Chong raised his glass to apologize and said with a smile, “I misspoke. Also, we shouldn’t judge heroes based on mere rankings.”

“No...” Tang Buqi was puzzled. “Wasn’t the topic just now all about Miss Yue and Brother Zhao? How did it suddenly change to this?”

Zhao Changhe, who had been pretending to be silent all this time, thought to himself, I’ll remember this, dear nephew. I just managed to shift the awkwardness away, and now you’re trying to stir shit up again?

Yue Hongling simply smiled faintly and said, “This is still related to the previous topic. Although I mentioned that the partner I choose doesn’t necessarily need to have great strength... if we are going to roam the world together, he shouldn’t be much weaker than me, right? Otherwise, how are we going to move around together?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and said, “That makes sense.”

Yue Hongling continued, “If I really do manage to make it onto the Ranking of Man within two years...”

Zhao Changhe scratched his head and said, “Would there be a significant difference? I think I’ll be doing pretty well in two years, so the gap shouldn’t be too big...”

Yue Hongling tilted her head and glared at him as if to say “Are you serious?”

Zhao Changhe coughed dryly and obediently sat back down.

Yue Hongling said softly, “I do believe that brother Zhao will make rapid progress and may even be stronger than me in the future... But if, within two years, he isn’t far from making it onto the Ranking of Man, would he still choose to chase after me or would he instead put in more effort to get onto the ranking to chase after Cui Yuanyang?”

WTF?

Zhao Changhe was stupefied once again.

You went around such a circle waiting for an opportunity to say that?

Yue Hongling said expressionlessly, “So, brother Zhao, please do let me know after you give it some thought.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Are all women this naturally talented on the battlefield of love? She clearly just found a random excuse, but it was a perfect comeback. How the fuck can I say anything now?

Everyone had a look on their face as if they were trying to be polite and professional but they really couldn’t. They were all twitching from suppressing their laughter so much.

“Pfft...” Tang Buqi finally could not hold it in and burst out into laughter, pounding the table as he laughed wildly. “Hahahahaha...”

Zhao Changhe glared at him angrily.

Following Tang Buqi’s laughter, everyone, including even Wan Dongliu and Xuan Chong, similarly burst into laughter. Zhao Changhe’s desire to pummel his eldest nephew was suddenly thwarted, and his face turned the shade of a pig’s liver from all the laughter directed at him.

Yue Hongling looked at Zhao Changhe’s face and could not help but want to laugh as well, but then she realized that something was amiss. She had intended to save him from becoming a laughingstock, but the result of that was...

Did I make him into an even bigger laughingstock?

It can’t be... I implied that I really approve of Zhao Changhe as a potential partner in the future...

Thankfully, these people don’t seem to be the kind who distort the truth and spread rumors. If they were some unscrupulous people, there would probably be rumors tomorrow about me and Cui Yuanyang competing for the same husband!

Yue Hongling bit her lower lip lightly. Her face turned crimson, impeccably complementing her red dress. She did not know whether it was due to the alcohol or something else.

*

The banquet was lively, with everyone but one person enjoying themselves, and that one person had a face the shade of a pig’s liver.

In reality, aside from the entertainment of teasing Zhao Changhe, most people at the table did not have much of an appetite. The earlier incident with Chi Li still weighed heavily on all of their minds, causing them to be lost in their own thoughts. As such, the entire banquet turned out like more of a quick dinner, and it did not take long for it to come to an end.

However, everyone felt that the meal had been tasty and the drama absolutely delicious.

As they left Bright Moon Tower, the moon was shining brightly high up in the sky.

Not far ahead was the Twenty-Four Bridge that Zhao Changhe had been wanting to see for quite some time now. The water under the bridge flowed gently, its surface shimmering beautifully in the moonlight. All was silent under the silver glow of the moon.

Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling walked together naturally, strolling onto the bridge. Wan Dongliu and the others found it entirely normal and showed no signs of suspicion. They each conveniently went separate ways to attend to their own matters.

Isn’t this just another chance for her to see what kind of efforts he’s willing to make? Who would be stupid enough to be the third wheel?

The two of them stood on the bridge, leaning on the railing as they gazed at the moon’s reflection in the water, which rippled slightly with the gentle waves. For a long while, neither of them made a sound as they were each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

In the end, Yue Hongling was the one to break the silence, “It’s just the first step.”

Zhao Changhe responded with a simple “Mm-hm” to show his understanding.

Yue Hongling let out a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling much more relaxed. She raised her hand to massage her shoulder, and with a smile, she said, “Hm... your medicine is quite effective. It doesn’t seem like the injury will affect my movements now.”

Cui Yuanyang’s medicine... Zhao Changhe always felt that her words were still filled with all kinds of thorns.

All of her verbal jabs have been frighteningly accurate and painful.

Sadly for him, Yue Hongling was not even thinking about anything like that. After checking her shoulder injury one more time, she whispered, “I plan to search for Chi Li’s whereabouts a bit later, perhaps at the magistrate’s residence. What do you think?”

This was the right course of action. It seemed like Yue Hongling still had thoughts of killing Chi Li. Without relying on a group of people to confront him, the only person who could kill Chi Li was Yue Hongling herself. When Tang Buqi invited Zhao Changhe earlier, how could he possibly go with that fool? Considering Yue Hongling’s injuries, Chi Li’s injuries were likely no worse, and perhaps even lighter. There was no way he would send himself to his death like that...

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment, hesitating. “You surely don’t intend to confront him head-on, right? Are you planning on assassinating him when the opportunity presents itself? But my skills at sneaking around and concealing myself aren’t that great...”

This was why, if they intended to roam the world together hand-in-hand, it would make more sense if their strength did not differ too much, as Yue Hongling had said earlier.

Yue Hongling smiled. “You don’t have to force yourself. I usually lurk around and investigate on my own, but I always worry about having no backup if things go wrong. I often hesitate to act even when a good opportunity presents itself because I’m afraid there would be serious consequences if I fail. With you providing me support from the outside, I can act with greater confidence.”

Zhao Changhe turned to look at her profile.

Yue Hongling didn’t make eye contact with him. She lowered her head to gaze at the reflection of the moon below the bridge.

Is this considered an invitation to work together? I’m not sure.

Zhao Changhe suddenly said, “Seeing as you both were wary of my saber when I threw it, it seems like you guys aren’t too outrageously strong, right? I’ll go find a good bow. That way, I can probably do more than just serve as reinforcement in case things go wrong.”

Yue Hongling’s head seemed to tilt a little, and her voice was so soft that it sounded as if she were muttering to herself. “What does what you can do have to do with me?”