Blooming Flowers, Silent Sorrow

Chapter 19

"Who was that person, and do you know why they were being chased?"

"I don't know who they are..." Xiaobao's face darkened, and he fell silent.

Su Yin glared at him fiercely. Beyond being mundane and incompetent, another flaw of Xiaobao's that forced Su Yin to disdain him was his lecherous nature.

From a young age, Xiaobao had been infatuated with chasing after beautiful women, displaying an eager, shameless demeanor that Su Yin found contemptible. Xiaobao would lose all sense of direction at the sight of beauty. His already pitiful judgment seemed to drop to zero when faced with allure, leading to the dire consequences of his reckless indulgence.

Hearing Xiaobao's words and recalling the rumors about the beauty of the person Xiaobao had brought back to Suzhou city, Su Yin's face grew long with frustration.

"Do you even value your life? You dare to keep such a mysterious woman by your side? I heard from Zhao Cai that she killed quite a few people the night you encountered her. Could she be anything but trouble? Have you grown a brain amid all that flesh at all?!!!" By the end of his rant, Su Yin was pinching Xiaobao's head in sheer exasperation. Xiaobao, feeling chastised and looking every bit the contrite grandson, couldn't muster a defense. Reflecting on his misfortune of losing both the woman and facing consequences, he felt he truly deserved it. Su Yin was right; his usually faint-heartedness had ballooned to recklessness under the spell of beauty, leading him into trouble, and it was all his own damn fault.

After venting his frustration for a while, Su Yin calmed down and inquired if Xiaobao knew who was after him.

Of course, Xiaobao had no clue, but from what he saw upon arriving at the scene, those confronting Huai En were clearly from the jianghu (martial world), leading him to assume it was a matter of jianghu enmity. He shared his analysis with Su Yin.

Su Yin, after carefully asking about the characteristics of those men and correlating it with the information he had gathered from Wuying Guai Molu about the corpses he had tracked and inspected along the way, felt his suspicions were being confirmed. Many previously disparate clues began to connect swiftly in his mind.

"You encountered King Shen after watching the play?"

"Ah, yes, that scared me to death. That old lecher took a fancy to my person."

Su Yin glared at him again, causing Xiaobao to uncomfortably avoid his gaze, realizing his boastful mistake.

"What did King Shen say at the time?"

"What could he say? He was dead set on luring Huai En to his residence."

It seemed King Shen wasn't ready to startle the snake by hitting the grass.

Su Yin nodded, changing the subject, "Describe this Huai En to me. What kind of person is she?"

Xiaobao, still lost in his grand delusion of competing with a royal for affection, was abruptly pulled back to reality by Su Yin's question. Hearing that name made him shiver, his face turning instantly pale, then flushed.

Su Yin didn't miss the swift change in Xiaobao's expression but couldn't quite understand the reason behind it.

"Uh... she's like that, very beautiful, with good martial arts skills..." Xiaobao was obviously evasive, his knowledge of Huai En was pretty much limited to those aspects, except for the gender part, which he found hard to voice. The thought of Su Yin finding out he had gone to great lengths chasing after a man was too embarrassing to bear.

"What's her surname?"

"She said her surname was Zheng." However, Xiaobao was now skeptical, knowing even in his naivety that there must be a lot more to Huai En's story.

"Zheng... Zheng..." Of course, Su Yin didn't believe it either.

"Zhao Cai mentioned you rescued one of her subordinates."

"Yes, that's right. Have they been sent back?"

"No, I've detained them."

"Su Yin?"

"Of course, I couldn't just let them go so easily. I need to thoroughly understand who this Zheng Huai En really is."

Xiaobao naively thought Su Yin was doing this for him and was also eager to find out the true identity of Huai En, so Su Yin's actions were exactly what he hoped for. He felt that the day he would reunite with Huai En wasn't far off, and started planning his grand counterattack.

Su Yin had easily dismissed the people from the Right Shadow faction who came to retrieve their comrade, using the excuse that Left Shadow was still unconscious with severe injuries and shouldn't be moved. A few days after their departure, Left Shadow woke up.

Su Yin, who spent sporadic periods of time at the Jin residence each year, was very familiar with the environment inside and out. The entire Jin household essentially treated him as another young master. With Xiaobao safely returned, the entire residence was enveloped in a joyful atmosphere. Back in his comfortable surroundings, Xiaobao quickly relaxed and opened up, so much so that he even went out with Su Yin to enjoy the pleasures of the city, reveling in their time together.

When Su Yin's people came to report, the two were enjoying a melody at Cui Xiang Pavilion. Xiao Bao was surrounded by stunning beauties, while Su Yin, half-reclining with his eyes half-closed, melded into a vividly dramatic portrait of beauty against the dark green of his robe and his ink-black hair. His slender fingers held a wine cup, in a pose that was both relaxed and enticing. It was a pity he rarely allowed anyone close; otherwise, the girls in the pavilion wouldn't have to just drool over him from a distance.

Although Xiao Bao had known him for over a decade and was immune to his charms more than most, he still found himself occasionally stunned by Su Yin's allure.

Listening to a subordinate whispering in his ear, Su Yin's lazy expression remained unchanged until his narrow, half-closed phoenix eyes slowly opened, glancing at Xiao Bao almost imperceptibly. Xiao Bao felt a jolt as if electrified when their eyes met, instinctively feeling it concerned him, and hurriedly gave Su Yin a questioning look.

"The Left Shadow has awakened."

"Oh, he's awake? Then let's hurry back and check on him," Xiao Bao said, quickly standing up.

"Yes, we should return. His brother has come to fetch him; they'll be entering the city within the hour."

"The Right Shadow? Is he alone?"

"Of course not..." Su Yin's voice trailed off deliberately, observing Xiao Bao's reaction. Xiao Bao swallowed nervously, "And some attendants, perhaps."

Xiao Bao's face fell instantly, his expression mixing relief with a hint of disappointment.

Su Yin couldn't help but want to laugh at this fool, who couldn't wait to wear his heart on his sleeve, making it a wonder how he had managed to grow up safely.

Ignoring the beauties' reluctant pleas to stay, Xiao Bao hurried back to his estate as fast as his horse could carry him. Upon arrival, he immediately ordered a bath to be prepared, followed by meticulous grooming and dressing, bustling about as if he were preparing for his own wedding, while Su Yin watched, amusedly raising an eyebrow.

Xiao Bao's mindset was something Su Yin could never fully grasp.

He thought like this: during their last encounter in Huai En's territory, he had made a fool of himself in front of his trusted aide, which was hardly conducive to maintaining a dignified image befitting a man of his stature. After all, once he had Huai En thoroughly subdued, the Left and Right Shadows would essentially be his men. It was crucial, then, to project an image of grandeur in their eyes.

Xiao Bao dressed up so finely, shining and polished, a preparation he reserved only for meetings with certain ladies. This time, he believed he was paying the Youying ample respect, yet clearly, the Right Shadow did not see it the same way.