After the Foolish Beauty Wore Women's Clothes and Married the Brutal General - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Impulse to Touch.

Hearing him say this, Nan Jianxue even smiled to cheer him on: “Your conditions are so good; you could pursue anyone you like.”

Liang Qifeng smiled back and said no more. He stood with Nan Jianxue for a while, and seeing Nan Jianxue pull at his cloak, he asked, “Cold?”

“A little,” Nan Jianxue said. “The night wind on the mountain is truly strong.”

Moreover, they were standing right at the edge of a cliff, making it even stronger.

Liang Qifeng nodded. “Then I’ll take you to the secret base.”

Nan Jianxue froze for a moment. “It’s not here?”

“Anyone can come here; how could it count as a secret base?” Liang Qifeng said. “However, that place is not easy to walk to.”

Nan Jianxue immediately flexed his elbow toward him, showing off his “sturdy” arm, and said, “I can walk! I practiced martial arts with a master for a few years in the past!”

Liang Qifeng glanced at that thin, slender arm, reached out to press it down, and laughed: “You can’t walk there.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out and picked the person up. Nan Jianxue took the opportunity to hit him, saying, “Who are you looking down on?”

Liang Qifeng didn’t explain; he held her, turned around, and walked away.

Xiao Hei was still waiting for them at the previous spot, currently bowing his head to chew on leaves. Seeing Liang Qifeng return, he immediately spat out the contents of his mouth and trotted over, rubbing his head against him and, incidentally, rubbing against Nan Jianxue as well.

But Liang Qifeng did not mount the horse, only saying, “Follow.”

After speaking, he continued walking. Xiao Hei followed immediately.

They were heading downward. On the path they came from, there was a small fork; going down from there and continuing straight would lead to the lakeside.

Nan Jianxue asked, “You aren’t planning to take me boating in the middle of the night, are you?”

“Where would a boat come from?” Liang Qifeng didn’t explain much, just walked briskly, but they didn’t go too deep; he stopped halfway.

Nan Jianxue immediately turned his head to scan the surroundings.

To the right was a cliff face, and to the left was the lake. The road was relatively spacious, with some grass growing on both sides, but otherwise, there seemed to be nothing else.

He asked curiously, “Why stop here?”

Liang Qifeng didn’t answer but asked her: “In the stories you read, what is the usual reason for me to bring you to a place like this?”

Hearing this, Nan Jianxue glanced to the left. Liang Qifeng hadn’t carried him down very far, so there was still a long distance between the two of them and the bottom.

“Generally, it’s to murder someone for their property,” Nan Jianxue said. “That’s how heartless men murder their original wives saying we’ll go look at the stars on the mountain together, but then I ‘accidentally’ fall off the cliff, and you, unable to bear the heartache, send troops to search everywhere for several days.”

Liang Qifeng laughed. “And then?”

“And then… there are many directions it could go,” Nan Jianxue thought for a bit. “For example, I didn’t die and came back with a different face to take revenge on you, or I died and my sister entered your mansion to seduce you and help me get revenge.”

Liang Qifeng: “…”

He put the person down and pointed to a spot on the cliff.

Nan Jianxue immediately craned his head to look over—there was a cave right there.

He understood instantly, and a look of horror appeared on his face: “You don’t mean to say the secret base is there, do you?”

Liang Qifeng raised an eyebrow. “Shall we go?”

Nan Jianxue: “…”

He looked at Liang Qifeng reproachfully. “You didn’t make that clear earlier.”

“You didn’t ask.” Liang Qifeng folded his arms. “Since it’s not needed, I won’t carry you anymore. Walk yourself.”

Nan Jianxue immediately put on a wronged expression.

Liang Qifeng remained unmoved.

Nan Jianxue pulled at his sleeve and softened his voice: “Qifeng Gege (Brother Qifeng).”

The voice was sweet, a tactic he had used before.

Liang Qifeng immediately smiled, turned around, and crouched down halfway in front of him, saying, “It’s not easy to get over there while carrying you in my arms. Get on my back.”

Nan Jianxue immediately broke into a smile. While climbing onto his back, he said, “You clearly said before that you like men, and this trick wouldn’t work on you.”

“I just like him,” Liang Qifeng explained. “He is a man, so therefore I like men.”

Nan Jianxue understood. “You mean if he were a woman, you would like women?”

Liang Qifeng gave an “Mm” and, without waiting for Nan Jianxue to say more, leaped up, clutching onto the cliff face.

Nan Jianxue was so scared he suddenly tightened his grip, nearly cutting off Liang Qifeng’s breathing for a moment, forcing him to speed up.

It was Nan Jianxue’s first time being carried while scaling such a cliff; he could only clutch Liang Qifeng’s neck tightly, not even daring to open his eyes. His heart was filled with both fear and excitement.

He was afraid of falling, yet felt that doing something like this was very impressive and cool.

This thought gradually magnified after the two of them landed steadily, enveloping Liang Qifeng entirely: Liang Qifeng was very impressive and very cool.

“Get down.” Liang Qifeng’s breathing was slightly unstable when he said this.

Hearing this, Nan Jianxue hurriedly opened his eyes and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Liang Qifeng raised his hand to pull his arms away. Only then did Nan Jianxue react; he hurriedly withdrew his hands and climbed off his back sheepishly, saying, “You could have told me.”

“It was faster to just run before being strangled to death by you.” Liang Qifeng said, pointing toward the mouth of the cave.

Nan Jianxue looked in the direction of his finger and saw the scenery framed by the circular cave entrance.

The world seemed to be split in half—half trees, half lake. The sky had vanished, yet it appeared in the lake.

Nan Jianxue’s eyes immediately curved into a smile.

Liang Qifeng said, “Back up slowly. I’ll watch from the side.”

Nan Jianxue did as told immediately.

The cave sloped downwards. As Nan Jianxue backed up, the world seemed to rise bit by bit. The sparkling lake disappeared gradually, and the true canopy of the sky descended, slowly covering the trees until finally, only a framed view of the star-filled sky remained.

Nan Jianxue said in surprise, “It’s really beautiful.”

Liang Qifeng smiled, took Nan Jianxue’s hand, and walked further into the cave, saying as they went, “Watch your step.”

It was very dark inside the cave, and the air was damp and cold. When the two of them weren’t speaking, Nan Jianxue could hear the sound of water dripping. it was a bit frightening. Ordinarily, he would never come to a place like this, but with Liang Qifeng beside him now, he could only speak to Liang Qifeng to dispel the terror: “How did you find this place?”

“We happened to see it while hunting previously. Quite a few people know about it, but not many come,” Liang Qifeng explained. “In the past, when I was in a bad mood, I would come here. Especially A-Yuan; if you can’t find him, there’s an eighty percent chance you’ll find him here.”

Nan Jianxue gave an “Oh.” Just as he was about to speak again, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly glimpsed a faint, ghostly green light. He let out a “Ah!” in fright and immediately hid behind Liang Qifeng.

Liang Qifeng paused. “What is it?”

“There… there’s something!” Nan Jianxue pointed at the glowing spot with a trembling voice.

Liang Qifeng looked over and smiled. “Look again?”

Hearing this, Nan Jianxue poked his head out and looked carefully, realizing it was the shape of a mushroom. He froze for a moment.

“There are more ahead.” Liang Qifeng led him further in.

Then, Nan Jianxue saw even more tiny, glowing mushrooms. Although the light was very faint, when clustered together one by one, they formed a field that looked like a river of light. It was extremely beautiful.

Nan Jianxue was so stunned he couldn’t even turn his head.

Liang Qifeng felt her footsteps falter and laughed softly, whispering, “Look at the other side?”

Nan Jianxue thought it would be more mushrooms and immediately turned his head, only to face a tree. It was clearly a very dark place, yet Nan Jianxue could still clearly see the direction of the branches.

That tree was also emitting a faint light.

He immediately let out a “Wow” and took a few steps toward it.

Liang Qifeng couldn’t see her expression, but he could hear the delight in that sound, so he smiled: “Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Nan Jianxue didn’t hesitate for a second, saying excitedly, “Can this be planted in the mansion?”

“No,” Liang Qifeng said helplessly. “A-Yuan previously thought about planting them in the palace. The trees grew, but they wouldn’t glow. Later we researched it and guessed it’s a problem with this place—perhaps the soil, or something else. When spring and summer come and the flowers bloom on the ground, it will be even more beautiful.”

Nan Jianxue let out a disappointed “Oh,” but this disappointment came and went quickly. Within a few breaths, she said again, “Then I want to come back in spring and summer!”

Liang Qifeng smiled. “With me?”

“Who else?” Nan Jianxue asked, puzzled. “I can’t get in here by myself.”

“Shuying can bring you too,” Liang Qifeng said. “She has a background as a secret guard; her qinggong (lightness skill) is not inferior to mine.”

Nan Jianxue thought to himself: I’m a grown man; asking Shuying to carry me on her back while flying seems a bit too demanding. Even if she could do it, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

But he couldn’t say that, so he asked, “You saying that means you aren’t willing?”

Liang Qifeng laughed. “What do you think?”

“How should I know?” Nan Jianxue said. “Maybe you just want to annoy me.”

So Liang Qifeng laughed again. “Do you think we will still be husband and wife by then?”

Nan Jianxue thought for a moment and nodded. “I suppose so. Spring isn’t that far away.”

His words seemed to carry vitality, as if saying there would be more of a future between them.

Consequently, Liang Qifeng couldn’t help but chuckle lowly.

Nan Jianxue didn’t understand what was so funny. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing.” Liang Qifeng reached out, his hand accurately finding the back of his head. “I’ll bring you here when the time comes.”

Nan Jianxue was instantly happy and asked again, “Can I take a branch back?”

“Why even ask that?” Liang Qifeng paused, then found it amusing. “Afraid it’s poisonous?”

Nan Jianxue gave an “Mm.” “It’s called learning from one’s mistakes.”

Liang Qifeng dropped a “Wait here,” leaped into the tree, fumbled around, and broke off a branch for Nan Jianxue.

The branch continued to glow after being broken off, faintly reflected in Nan Jianxue’s eyes, and was quickly eclipsed by her curving smile.

Liang Qifeng looked at her for a few moments before saying, “It’s about time to leave.”

Nan Jianxue knew he had to take his medicine and didn’t insist, agreeing immediately: “Let’s go.”

As she spoke, she started to walk out, but was once again picked up by Liang Qifeng.

Perhaps “once is strange, twice is familiar” was true; this time her heart only skipped a beat from the surprise, but she didn’t cry out.

“Can you tell me beforehand next time?” Nan Jianxue said with a frown. “It’s always terrifying like this.”

Liang Qifeng gave an “Mm.”

Nan Jianxue asked him again, “How can you pick me up so accurately? I can’t see clearly at all.”

“There’s light,” Liang Qifeng said.

Although it was only a very faint light, it was enough for him.

Nan Jianxue immediately made an envious sound: “I want such good martial arts too.”

Liang Qifeng smiled, carried him out, and didn’t put him down until they reached the entrance, placing him back onto his back.

By the time they returned to the small path, Xiao Hei was gone.

Nan Jianxue was suddenly worried. “He didn’t fall down, did he?”

“Xiao Hei is very smart.” Liang Qifeng said, placing his fingers in his mouth and blowing a sharp whistle.

The sound echoed through the valley, startling a flock of birds into flight. When the bird calls faded, the rhythmic sound of horse hooves rang out, coming from far to near, quickly arriving before them.

Liang Qifeng placed Nan Jianxue on the horse’s back, but he did not mount himself. Instead, he led Xiao Hei up the path and didn’t flip onto the horse until they had passed that dangerous section of the mountain road.

“Can we switch?” Seeing him about to start, Nan Jianxue hurriedly said, “You run too fast; the wind in front is making my face go numb.”

Liang Qifeng was helpless. “If you’re in the back, I’m afraid you’ll fall off.”

“I won’t,” Nan Jianxue said. “I’ll hold on tight!”

Liang Qifeng hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed. However, he really didn’t trust Nan Jianxue, so he tore a strip of cloth from her cloak and gave it to her, saying, “Tie us together.”

Nan Jianxue followed instructions obediently.

With Liang Qifeng helping to block the wind, Nan Jianxue’s journey back was much more comfortable. When they returned to the Princess’s Mansion, the excitement hadn’t worn off. Seeing Qingqian, he immediately showed her the branch in his hand: “Look what this is!”

Qingqian cooperated very well and looked, but the branch was no longer glowing. It was just a bare stick in Nan Jianxue’s hand; she couldn’t see what was so special about it. She stared for a few breaths, really couldn’t see anything, and could only look innocently at Nan Jianxue.

Nan Jianxue immediately pulled her into a pitch-black corner.

In the dark, the branch began to glow again. However, perhaps because it had left the cave, the already faint light was even dimmer than before; one really couldn’t see it without looking closely.

“It’s really beautiful!” Qingqian’s eyes lit up. “Where did you get this?”

“On the mountain,” Nan Jianxue said, turning to look at Liang Qifeng. “Can I take Qingqian and the others there?”

Liang Qifeng nodded. “It was never a restricted area anyway.”

It was just that not many people went to the royal hunting ground, and even fewer would specifically go inside there.

Nan Jianxue then said to Qingqian, “I’ll take you and Shuying with me next time!”

Qingqian nodded happily. “Okay, but the Princess must go back and take her medicine first.”

Hearing this, Nan Jianxue’s brow immediately furrowed. He didn’t say he wouldn’t take it, only said: “It’s bitter.”

“I’ll have them add more sugar,” Qingqian said. “The kitchen made many flavors of sugar candy tonight; you can eat them tomorrow.”

Nan Jianxue’s face improved slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded: “Alright then.” After speaking, he looked at Liang Qifeng, “I’m going back.”

Liang Qifeng shook his head. “I’ll settle Xiao Hei first.”

“It’s not like there are no people in the mansion,” Nan Jianxue said. “Are you afraid they’ll bully Xiao Hei?”

Liang Qifeng laughed. “I’m afraid he won’t know his new quarters have changed; he might attack people.”

Nan Jianxue understood. “Then go ahead. I’m off to take my medicine.”

He finished speaking and left with Qingqian, while Liang Qifeng led Xiao Hei to the stables.

Few people in the Princess’s Mansion rode horses, and Nan Jianxue didn’t have a hobby of collecting them. Thus, aside from carriage horses, there weren’t many horses in the stables; several stalls were empty. The mansion’s stables were naturally spacious and clean. As soon as Xiao Hei approached, he paced around for a tour and finally picked a spot he liked and ran straight in.

Liang Qifeng watched him turn around a few times, looking to be in a good mood. He gave a few instructions to the groom and then returned to the main courtyard.

Entering the room, he saw many servants inside, all holding vases. Nan Jianxue held a bowl of medicine in his hand, directing people to set the vases down while he drank, looking very busy.

“What are you doing?” Liang Qifeng asked.

“I want to put that branch in a vase.” Nan Jianxue said, then tilted his head back to take a large gulp of medicine. His expression distorted from the bitterness, and he hurriedly picked up a piece of preserved fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, saying indistinctly, “I want to pick a nicer vase.”

After the bitter taste in his mouth subsided, he took another large gulp and soon finished the medicine.

Liang Qifeng watched him stuff honeyed fruit into his mouth with a wrinkled face and said amusingly, “If it’s bitter, why drink such large gulps?”

Nan Jianxue swallowed the honeyed fruit and then said, “You don’t understand. Drinking it sip by sip is more of a torture. A large gulp means only a few bitter swallows.”

Liang Qifeng nodded. “True. Are you choosing a vase now?”

Nan Jianxue nodded and began to carefully examine the vases in the room. These were items from the storehouse—some were rewards from the palace, some she bought herself, and some were gifts; all were very exquisite. After looking for a while, she picked one painted with mountains and a bright moon.

Qingqian had the servants take the rest back, found a place to put the one Nan Jianxue selected, and said, “We’ll set it up when it’s light out.”

Nan Jianxue nodded and went to take a bath and sleep happily.

She slept, and Liang Qifeng slept too, but he was a bit restless. Many thoughts flashed through his mind, all related to Nan Jianxue. He felt like talking to someone, but thinking of his group of “fair-weather friends,” he felt it was better not to talk.

Nan Zhanyuan was reliable, but he was Nan Jianxue’s brother and the one who facilitated this marriage. To this day, he didn’t understand why Nan Zhanyuan had bestowed the marriage between him and Nan Jianxue.

These messy thoughts disturbed him, and he didn’t fall asleep until dawn was breaking. Naturally, he woke up late.

When he woke, Nan Jianxue was already up, holding an outfit in front of the mirror. Hearing his movement, she turned and asked him, “Does this look good?”

Liang Qifeng glanced at it. It was an orange dress embroidered with flowers and leaves—exquisite and elegant yet playful. It truly suited Nan Jianxue. He nodded.

Nan Jianxue smiled, handed the clothes to Qingqian, and went to pick out something else. Again, she held it up in front of the mirror and asked Liang Qifeng if it looked good.

“It looks good,” Liang Qifeng said. “With your looks, you’d look good even in a burlap sack.”

Nan Jianxue was delighted. “You should get up and try on your clothes too. If they don’t fit, they can still be altered.”

Liang Qifeng frowned, asking in confusion, “What clothes?”

“The clothes for the palace banquet the day after tomorrow,” Nan Jianxue said. “Or do you not want to go to the palace?”

Liang Qifeng thought for a moment before realizing the day after tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

“I forgot,” he said.

Nan Jianxue said curiously, “How can you forget such an important festival?”

“I haven’t celebrated this festival for many years.” Liang Qifeng got out of bed to wash up. Hearing Nan Jianxue ask why he didn’t celebrate it, he gave a vague answer: “The house was too noisy; I didn’t want to.”

“You could celebrate it yourself,” Nan Jianxue said. “Or with the soldiers.”

“It’s enough if they remember.” Liang Qifeng finished washing his face and saw Nan Jianxue had gone behind the screen. Hearing the sounds, she was changing clothes, so he went to the table to pour a cup of water.

Nan Jianxue soon came out in new clothes and said to Qingqian, “It fits.”

Hearing this, Qingqian walked over to help her tidy the clothes. When she got to the waist, her brow furrowed, her tone full of heartache: “You’ve clearly gotten thinner. The Princess has suffered so much from that poison these past two days.”

Nan Jianxue didn’t feel like he had gotten thinner anywhere, nor did he think he had suffered much.

“When the poison isn’t acting up, it’s actually alright,” Nan Jianxue said. “Just a bit of discomfort occasionally, it’s nothing.”

Although it was really hard to bear when the poison flared up, as long as he took his medicine on time, it was fine.

Qingqian stopped talking about such miserable things and only said, “I’ll have them alter the clothes a bit more.”

“You decide.” Nan Jianxue looked at Liang Qifeng again. “Aren’t you going to try on your new clothes?”

“They were sent from the palace; there shouldn’t be much of a problem,” Liang Qifeng said. “There’s no need for such trouble.”

“But it’s more comfortable if it fits well, and we can see if it looks good.” Nan Jianxue paused, her gaze scanning Liang Qifeng’s face. “But you’re good-looking; you’d look good in anything. It’s fine if you don’t try them.”

Liang Qifeng raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m good-looking?”

“Good-looking, yes.” Nan Jianxue said, returning behind the screen to change clothes while talking to him. “Do you know how many girls in the capital admire you?”

Although Liang Qifeng’s status and position were part of the reason, his face also contributed a great deal. Although Liang Qifeng gave off a fierce and menacing impression, that was due to his temperament. Strictly speaking, he had a pair of affectionate peach-blossom eyes, a high bridge to his nose, and thin lips it was a very elegant and handsome face.

It was just that his bone structure was square and tough, his profile deep, and a scar at the end of his eyebrow added a bit of ferocity, so he looked a bit fierce when not smiling.

Nan Jianxue had been scared when he first met him, but he wasn’t afraid anymore.

After changing clothes, he came out and sat opposite Liang Qifeng, telling him about the rumors in the capital concerning him. Most were terrifying, but there was something else mixed in with the terror.

Finally, Nan Jianxue summarized: “Although everyone thinks you’re terrifying and not suitable for marriage, they all think you’re handsome. If you were willing to wear fine clothes and ride a horse through the streets, you’d still receive quite a few handkerchiefs.”

Liang Qifeng: “…”

“You certainly investigate thoroughly,” Liang Qifeng said.

“The servants in the mansion heard it,” Nan Jianxue said. “But I do love listening to it.”

He loved any fun gossip. Before marrying Liang Qifeng, he also enjoyed hearing gossip about him, but after marriage, that gossip changed flavor; it felt like every bit of it was pointed at him.

“Then you should train some better secret guards,” Liang Qifeng said. “Some things don’t just leak out for you to gossip about; you have to hang from the rafters to hear clearly.”

Hearing this, Nan Jianxue’s feelings were a bit complex: “Training people just to hear gossip… there’s no need for that. It sounds silly.”

Liang Qifeng thought to himself: Then the silliest person in all of Great Lie might be Nan Zhanyuan. After all, he really did have a team of secret guards responsible for intelligence. Their duty was said to be monitoring officials, but in reality, there weren’t that many treacherous and corrupt officials; in the end, wasn’t everything delivered to him just scandalous gossip from various families?

“It is quite silly,” Liang Qifeng said. “Have you had breakfast?”

“I have. Tell the kitchen to make some for you,” Nan Jianxue said. “The soup dumplings today were very delicious; you should try them.”

Liang Qifeng then had the kitchen bring soup dumplings. There were only soup dumplings; although delicious, for someone like Nan Jianxue who required several dishes for breakfast, it felt a bit like a makeshift meal.

But that was Liang Qifeng’s business; he didn’t say much, only asking, “The kitchen made sugar pastries; do you want some?”

Liang Qifeng shook his head.

Nan Jianxue then had someone get some sugar cakes.

But with Liang Qifeng sitting opposite, the scent of the soup dumplings drifted right toward him. At first, he didn’t think much of it, but as he smelled it, he started to crave it.

Thinking about it, she put down the sugar cake in her hand and said, “I want to eat too.”

Liang Qifeng: ? He froze for a moment before realizing Nan Jianxue meant the soup dumplings. He smiled and picked one up with his chopsticks, holding it in front of her.

Now it was Nan Jianxue’s turn to be stunned. Her intention was actually to get another pair of chopsticks, not to have Liang Qifeng feed her.

But Liang Qifeng was already feeding her.

Wasn’t something about the two of them doing this a bit strange?

After hesitating, Nan Jianxue was defeated by the aroma. He leaned over and took a bite. Then, he was caught off guard and burned by the soup inside.

He immediately hissed and sucked in a breath of cold air.

Liang Qifeng was also startled and hurriedly poured him a cup of water. Nan Jianxue took it immediately and drank it, then “hissed” and sucked in several more breaths of cold air before recovering. Just as he was about to finish the dumpling, he heard Liang Qifeng ask, “Are you alright? Does it still hurt?”

Nan Jianxue shook his head and stuck out his tongue toward him, saying indistinctly, “It’s fine now.”

It was only for a split second, and he quickly pulled it back, but Liang Qifeng was still stunned by that flash of a pink little tongue. A thought flashed through his mind, but before he could catch it, it vanished, leaving only the word “cute.”

And a tiny bit of an impulse to touch it.

Liang Qifeng felt like something might be wrong with his head.

Nan Jianxue saw him suddenly frown with a look of chagrin, and tilting his head, he looked at him curiously while chewing the dumpling: “What’s wrong wif you?”

The gaze was pure and clear, and the tone carried a hint of concern, instantly making Liang Qifeng feel a bit lewd.

“Nothing.” Liang Qifeng looked away and cursed himself for being despicable.