Ye Chu looked at Tan Miaotong. Her face was full of shy charm, her long lashes trembling slightly, bright and captivating, exuding a soft allure.
Noticing Ye Chu’s gaze resting on her, Tan Miaotong gathered a little courage and looked back at him. Her stunning eyes shimmered with ripples of light, traces of moisture visible within them. Paired with her tender, rosy cheeks, she radiated an effortless enchantment that left Ye Chu momentarily stunned.
Seeing how shy and enticing Tan Miaotong appeared, Ye Chu worried that staring too long might make her uncomfortable. He subtly shifted his gaze away. “This must be your first time in Yao City, Miaotong. Though Yao is only a small kingdom, Cold Lake counts as one of its greatest scenic wonders. If Sister Miaotong stays here a bit longer, you’ll get to see the breathtaking sight of ‘endless lotus leaves reaching the sky in boundless green, sunlit lotus flowers glowing with unique red.’”
“But how long would that take? If I stay here for half a year or more, I might only see the lotuses next year.” Tan Miaotong giggled softly. Her laughter rang clear and ethereal, cleansing the soul like a gentle wash. As she spoke, she could not help glancing outside. She truly loved this place. Its beauty and quiet brought her great peace. Perhaps because the topic interested her, Tan Miaotong no longer avoided Ye Chu’s eyes. She sighed lightly. “What a pity. I came at the wrong time, or I could have seen the beautiful scene you described.”
Ye Chu nearly wanted to snap his fingers in quiet triumph. He had noticed earlier how Tan Miaotong kept glancing towards Cold Lake from time to time. He knew she liked it here. Winning a woman’s favour was simple: just cater to her interests. Talking about topics she cared about was the easiest way to enter her heart.
“No need to sigh!” Ye Chu smiled at Tan Miaotong. “The beauty of Cold Lake isn’t limited to just ‘endless lotus leaves reaching the sky.’”
“Hm?” Tan Miaotong turned her beautiful eyes towards Ye Chu. They sparkled brightly, clear and luminous.
“Sister Miaotong, you’ve come at exactly the right moment. Look at the overcast sky today. It won’t be long before it rains. The true shock comes after the rain clears. The sight of ‘rippling water shimmering under clear skies so lovely, mountain colours hazy in the rain yet marvellous’ can make one’s soul feel utterly free and transcendent.” Ye Chu smiled. “If Miaotong is interested, I can take you to the very best spot to view Cold Lake after the rain.”
Tan Miaotong felt a flicker of temptation, but before she could reply, Qing Wenting walked over and wrapped an arm around her. “Miaotong, don’t agree to him so easily. He’s got quite a few tricks for deceiving girls. Back then he had a whole group of noble ladies completely wrapped around his finger.” Qing Wenting laughed. “With your gentle nature, he could sell you off and you wouldn’t even know it.”
“You’re the one who’d get sold without realising!” Tan Miaotong giggled and stole a quick glance at Ye Chu. She could not help finding it amusing. Was Ye Chu really that formidable?
“Fine! Now I finally understand why my reputation is so terrible. It turns out you lot have been ruining my name behind my back all along.” Ye Chu shrugged helplessly. “Qing Wenting, how do you still have the face to say that? Who was it that wrote ‘Ye Chu starts with seduction and ends in abandonment, abandons wife and child’ on the old city wall in the imperial capital? It made my name mud in the old district. I still don’t dare set foot there, afraid someone will throw rotten eggs at me.”
“Giggle…” Qing Wenting thought of the large characters still clearly visible on the wall even now and burst into giggles. Back then, while hanging around the imperial capital with Pang Shao, Ye Chu, and the others, she had seen Ye Chu thriving among a crowd of noble ladies like a fish in water. Unable to resist, she had decided to tarnish his image in their eyes.
So she carved that line on the old city wall and arranged for a few courtesans to weep and wail below, accusing Ye Chu of every kind of villainy. For a time, the people of the old district were outraged, cursing Ye Chu as a scoundrel. As a result, though Ye Chu moved freely in the noble ladies’ circles of the capital, he no longer dared to take Pang Shao into the old district to chase skirts. His reputation there was thoroughly ruined.
Seeing Qing Wenting laugh so happily, Tan Miaotong could not resist asking what had happened. When she learned the full story, both she and Ye Jingyun burst into laughter.
They had both seen that line of text before. At the time, they had wondered inwardly what kind of heinous crime a man named Ye Chu must have committed to make a woman so furious that she carved such an infamous accusation on the city wall for all eternity. They had never imagined the culprit was the very Ye Chu standing before them.
Ye Jingyun had even muttered back then whether everyone named Ye Chu was so repulsive. She had not expected it to be the same person. And it had all been Qing Wenting’s handiwork.
“Laughed enough yet?” Ye Chu shrugged helplessly. “Next time you ruin my name, could you please not hire a few nauseating-looking courtesans? At least find some pretty ones, alright? Even if I had no taste at all, I still wouldn’t touch women like that, let alone seduce and abandon them.”
“Giggle…” The three women could not help laughing again. Tan Miaotong looked at Ye Chu. Though he wore a helpless expression, he showed no real anger. She thought to herself that this young man was actually quite fun.
If it had been any other man slandered like this, he would probably hate the culprit to the bone. Yet here he was, chatting and laughing with Qing Wenting as though nothing had happened.
Ye Jingyun watched Ye Chu curiously. The man before her was completely different from the image she had built in her mind. Especially earlier, when she had warned Qing Wenting to be careful not to be deceived by Ye Chu, Qing Wenting had merely laughed it off. When Ye Jingyun had tried to explain just how much of a scoundrel Ye Chu was, Qing Wenting had interrupted her, pulled her aside, and said with a smile, “It’s just one piece of Extreme Intent Jade. No big deal. If he wants to deceive, let him. It’s not like I haven’t been deceived by him before.”
Those words had left Ye Jingyun stunned. Only then did she realise that Ye Chu and Qing Wenting’s relationship was far closer than she had imagined.
“You even went to the imperial capital and mingled among all those noble beauties without me knowing. Hehe. I never saw you show your face in the Ye family. Don’t tell me you really don’t dare go back to the Ye family now?” Ye Jingyun smiled at Ye Chu.
“I was expelled from the Ye family. If I went back, I’m afraid you’d all sweep me out with brooms.” Ye Chu shook his head.
“Giggle…” Ye Jingyun laughed. She thought to herself that if he really went back, it would not be a broom sweeping him out, but a broom beating him to death. “I never expected you weren’t entirely useless after all. It seems the rumours painted you worse than you really are.”
Tan Miaotong found Ye Jingyun’s words rather odd. She thought to herself that the two lines of poetry Ye Chu had just recited carried profound artistic conception. A person like that could hardly be called useless, even if he was not some great scholar.
Ye Chu shrugged and ignored Ye Jingyun’s remark. He turned to Qing Wenting. “You didn’t come all this way just to see Cold Lake, did you?”
“That’s only incidental. The main reason is that the General’s Tomb has been robbed. A number of those people have hidden themselves in Yao City. Wenting and I came to take a look.” Qing Wenting explained. Back then, the General’s Tomb had nearly cost them their lives. She was very curious how those people had managed to get inside.
Moreover, Qing Wenting was deeply interested in the secrets within. Ye Jingyun felt the same. She wanted to prove herself further, and entering the General’s Tomb would undoubtedly be the best way to do so.
“Another group drawn by the General’s Tomb.” Ye Chu could not help thinking of White Leopard. No wonder White Leopard had said so many people were eyeing it. That made sense. The General’s Tomb was one of the empire’s prized sites. Who would not turn their attention here?
“Interested in coming along with me?” Qing Wenting asked.
“No interest!” Ye Chu stood up and smiled at Tan Miaotong. “If you want to see the most beautiful Cold Lake after the rain, you can come find me. I’ll take you there. Consider it my way of making amends!”
To leave a deep impression on a woman, you had to treat her differently from others, subtly yet noticeably. That was the most effective approach.
Ye Chu glanced once more at the charming Tan Miaotong, who was again avoiding his gaze with a shy flicker. He smiled and left. He needed to intercept Pang Shao and make sure the man did not mention anything about White Leopard. Ye Chu did not want Bai Xuan’s peaceful life disturbed.