The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Yun Ran looked at Jiang Musheng with longing, her eyes reflecting the constantly changing lights of the dance floor, and the sparkle in her own gaze.

It was a look of hope, tinged with a little apprehension.

Yun Ran realized she was afraid.

She lowered her eyes to look at Jiang Musheng’s leg, and her fear became clear.

She was worried that her bold and somewhat unreasonable request would anger him.

Everyone knew Jiang Musheng had a problem with his leg.

She couldn’t pretend to be ignorant.

What was done was done.

In the noisy crowd and the dim corner, Jiang Musheng slowly raised his hand. As his face, concealed by the lion mask, came down towards her, Yun Ran subconsciously took a step back.

In that moment, she truly believed a dangerous lion was about to hunt her.

It was only when his hand, devoid of warmth, wrapped around her waist that she realized it was a human hand, without the furry texture of a lion.

“Aran, you seem to be very afraid of me.”

Through the mask, Jiang Musheng’s voice was low and resonant.

His other hand came to rest on Yun Ran’s shoulder blade.

The two of them naturally began to dance to the next beat of the music.

Yun Ran said, “I’m afraid there’s no one in Hong Kong who isn’t afraid of you.”

Jiang Musheng replied, “You clearly know how to dance.”

“I only watched others from a distance and memorized the movements. I practiced by myself, but this is the first time I’ve done it for real.”

“You really love dancing?”

“I’m very interested in any activity that signifies a positive step up into the upper class.”

“For example?”

“For example…” Yun Ran thought of the photos in the beautiful frames on the wall of Xueyu’s room. “Horseback riding, archery, and swimming.”

“I can teach you all of them, except for swimming.”

Yun Ran’s heart skipped a beat, a single, irregular beat.

When the dance ended, it was time to change partners.

Zheng Hangyi and Cecilia both sought them out.

Zheng Hangyi said, “So you two were hogging this quiet little corner all to yourselves.”

He then looked at Yun Ran. “Miss Yun, you’re really something. Musheng never used to dance. I was never sure if he even could.”

Yun Ran said, “Mr. Jiang dances very well. He taught me a lot.”

She said this kind of flattering thing quite naturally. She was never hesitant to say or do things that would benefit her.

But she also had her own principles.

Zheng Hangyi, wearing a monkey mask that only covered the middle third of his face, smiled as he replied, his white teeth gleaming in the light. “It’s a shame I’m not a woman. I can’t be Musheng’s partner and dance with him.”

“But Mr. Zheng can dance with Miss Yun,” Cecilia finally found a chance to interject.

“Perfect. Then I can dance with Musheng.”

Yun Ran looked at Jiang Musheng. His hands were still on her. Her own hands had fallen to her sides when the dance ended.

From her perspective, Jiang Musheng was using himself as a cage, trapping her.

She was in the enclosure he had built, looking up at him.

The mask covered so much of his face that she could only read his emotions from his eyes.

‘Will he agree to dance with Cecilia?’ she wondered.

‘He probably will. He just danced with me, and Cecilia is the Governor’s daughter, after all.’

Zheng Hangyi also looked at Jiang Musheng with a questioning gaze. He was very curious too.

Jiang Musheng finally let go of her and replied to Cecilia, “My leg won’t allow me to dance any further, I’m sorry.”

He then walked towards the sofas for resting, which were not far away.

Cecilia was caught between chasing after him and not.

Yun Ran was about to follow him, but Cecilia suddenly ran, passing her and heading more swiftly towards Jiang Musheng.

Yun Ran’s steps slowed and then stopped.

“Miss Yun, don’t worry. If Cecilia could win over Musheng, she would have done it a long time ago.”

“Put your worries aside and dance with me. I haven’t had a partner all night, and I haven’t danced a single dance.”

Yun Ran didn’t refuse. Zheng Hangyi led her to the center of the brightly lit dance floor, where many of the moving people noticed her.

Hidden by the fox mask, she fully enjoyed the attention, hoping that the song would end soon so she could leave like Cinderella before midnight and avoid revealing her true identity.

She was having a hard time distinguishing whether what she was experiencing at this moment was real or illusory.

Over on the sofa, Jiang Musheng had already sat down. He hadn’t removed his mask. He still wore it, using only his eyes to admire the most dazzling girl on the dance floor.

She was far more at ease dancing with Zheng Hangyi than with him.

“Musheng, your leg must be better today, right? You were able to dance a whole dance. My father has hired a new expert doctor from England. Let him take a look at you.”

“There’s no need.”

For the rest of the night, Jiang Musheng spent a long time watching Yun Ran dance. Yun Ran changed partners multiple times. One blue-eyed British officer stayed with her for the last two dances.

Cecilia racked her brain, trying to talk to him from the side, but he only gave her indifferent, perfunctory replies.

When the last dance ended and everyone was tired, dance partners unmasked each other. Some passionately embraced and kissed.

The British officer who had been dancing with Yun Ran tried to do the same, but Yun Ran cleverly slipped her hand out of his and ran out of the dance floor without looking back. She went back to the dressing room Cecilia had taken her to and changed back into the white dress with the wine stain.

Afraid that the British officer might come looking for her, she stayed in the dressing room for a while longer.

The so-called British gentleman was well-behaved while dancing, but once the mask came off, he was nothing more than a beast.

‘It’s about time,’ Yun Ran thought. She had to go back and find Jiang Musheng.

‘Dancing with other people shouldn’t count as causing trouble, right?’

Thinking this, Yun Ran opened the dressing room door and was caught off guard by a tall, imposing, dark silhouette.

That intense sense of oppression—who else could it be but Jiang Musheng?

Jiang Musheng heard the sound of the door opening, turned around, and shook out the coat in his hand before draping it back over her.

Yun Ran suddenly realized that she had been so lost in the dance on the dance floor that she had dropped Jiang Musheng’s coat.

“Mr. Jiang, I’m sorry.”

“Hmm?”

“I didn’t take proper care of your coat.”

Jiang Musheng raised his hand and pulled the coat tightly around her, covering everything from her neck down.

“It’s just a coat. You should be taking proper care of yourself.”

Yun Ran was a little dazed. She looked at Jiang Musheng, her face full of confusion.

“All those men on the dance floor had their eyes glued to you, treating you like a piece of meat.”

Yun Ran’s mind cleared.

On the dance floor, she had wondered why so many eyes were on her, despite the mask, and why that British officer had suddenly revealed his animalistic nature.

The reason was simple: she had dropped the coat.

She pulled the coat tightly around herself. She couldn’t help but ask, “Then what do you see me as, Mr. Jiang? A piece of meat too?”

‘A piece of meat you can eat whenever you want?’

Jiang Musheng didn’t answer. The two eyes revealed by the lion mask looked at her ominously.

Yun Ran immediately felt pressured and apologized, “Mr. Jiang, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you a question like that.”

Jiang Musheng’s gaze suddenly softened. He raised his hand, took off his own mask, then took off the one on her face. After seeing the worry and fear on her face, he casually tossed both masks aside.

“Let’s go home.”

Jiang Musheng’s low, husky voice overlapped with the crisp sound of the masks hitting the ground.

Yun Ran nodded, and then looked at the masks. They had fallen on top of each other.

The lion mask was perfectly on top of the fox mask.

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