The evening had already set in before Fei Li managed to escape his duties and return home. He had sighed heavily as he walked in through the gates, and even he himself didn’t know whether it was from relief to have finally made it home, or simply exhaustion and weariness.
He had been intending to stop by Lu Qinyi’s room to check on him, but he had been saved from the trip apparently. He bumped into him in the hallways, heading toward the direction Fei Li had just come from. And beside him was… a young woman? She was a small, slight girl, but surprisingly not that meek. She looked at Fei Li curiously with a friendly smile.
Fei Li could only assume this was the unexpected guest he was informed about by the guards at the entrance.
“Oh you’re home.” Lu Qinyi greeted Fei Li before he turned his head to the woman at his side. “Chyou, this is the owner of this place, General Fei Li.”
Chen Chyou’s eyes widened and she suddenly went pale. “Did you just say… this is…”
“General Fei Li.” Lu Qinyi repeated, seeming a bit perplexed as he gazed down at her.
“The-the- Gen… General,” She seemed to be struggling to get the words out, her voice pinching until it became a squeak, “Fei Li.”
“Well, yeah. There’s only one. The Northern General, Fei Li. Oh, but he’s not only the general of the North now. Maybe we should call him the new General of the South.” Lu Qinyi’s joke was in poor taste, even to Fei Li, but Chen Chyou was in no mood for it anyway.
She practically leaped to hide behind Lu Qinyi’s arm, pulling roughly at his sleeve until he bent his head so she could whisper accusingly. “You didn’t tell me you lived with General Fei Li, the General Fei Li!”
Chen Chyou was very bad at whispering. Fei Li could hear everything. He had only been observing in mild bewilderment but he frowned faintly at her words. The woman was very obviously afraid of him, but he couldn’t recall when he had ever slighted anyone of her appearance.
Lu Qinyi on the other hand simply arched a brow. “I don’t see why it matters. It’s not like he’s our enemy any more. Why do you seem so afraid of him? He isn’t going to bite you.”
“Of course it matters! This is General Fei Li! Why wouldn’t I be afraid?! Thanks to you, I had to spend years hearing about all the terrifying things he’s capable of! I used to get nightmares about it!!”
Lu Qinyi finally seemed to understand, scoffing in amusement. “You’re such a scaredy cat. Should I find a priest for you and burn some talismans?”
Amongst the glares and angry scoldings Chen Chyou was ‘whispering’, Fei Li couldn’t help but ask “What is she talking about?”
“Nothing, don’t mind her, she speaks nonsense.” Lu Qinyi tried to brush it off but Fei Li was unsatisfied, his gaze turning to Chen Chyou instead.
Chen Chyou ducked herself to hide behind Lu Qinyi, gripping tightly onto his sleeve, but she immediately answered. “A-Qin used to want to hear tales about Sir Fei Li all the time! He would always be waiting for the latest news to arrive in the South, he used to get excited about it and he would talk about you everyday!”
Lu Qinyi rolled his eyes but he didn’t deny it, only mildly grumbling, “You make it sound so much worse when you talk about it like that.”
“…What she says is really true?” Fei Li asked incredulously. His brows furrowed deeply as he wondered whether the sun had risen from the west today? No, he and Lu Qinyi had been travelling at the time the sun was rising, he had definitely seen it come up from the east.
Lu Qinyi shrugged nonchalantly as he looked over at Fei Li. “I have told you before, I once admired you very deeply. And just as I said back then, you did not believe me.”
“Admired?! You call that admiration? You were obsessed!” Chen Chyou butt in from behind Lu Qinyi.
“Obsessed?!” Lu Qinyi cried out in outrage, whipping his head around to glare down at her over his shoulder. “Who are you calling obsessed?”
Fei Li felt like he couldn’t even process what was happening right now, this day felt never ending. He raised a hand to press his fingertips into his temple. “Don’t fight.”
Chen Chyou was still hiding and so Fei Li couldn’t see the way she was sticking her tongue out at Lu Qinyi, he only saw the annoyed twitch of the other man’s lips. “Fine, whatever. We were just on our way out anyway.” His eyes narrowed with a promise to continue this argument with Chen Chyou as soon as they were out the door.
Chen Chyou had known him far too long to feel even slightly intimidated. Instead, she brightened at the thought of getting far, far away from Fei Li.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Out?” Fei Li questioned. The moon had already risen in the sky so where would he be going at this time?
“Tfjt, bea. P’w ublcu ab kjix Jtsbe yjmx ab tfg tbwf.”
“Rb.”
Ktf gfrqbcrf kjr rb lwwfvljaf atja Oe Hlcsl mbeivc’a tfiq tlr ibbx bo regqglrf. “Qts cba-” Oe Hlcsl revvfcis agjlifv boo jr tf jigfjvs xcfk kts cba. “…P’w pera kjixlcu tfg tbwf, kts atf oerr? P kbc’a yf ubcf atja ibcu. Pa’r cba ilxf rtf mjc ub jibcf.”
“A guard can take her. Or she could stay here the night.”
“No!” Lu Qinyi and Chen Chyou said in unison.
“I’m taking her home myself.” Lu Qinyi said firmly.
Fei Li gave him a flat look, one that said with what authority? Fei Li didn’t take Lu Qinyi’s freedom because he didn’t wish to, but even he had a bottom line and this was it. Lu Qinyi seemed to understand this as well as he yielded slightly. “I’ll take a guard with me then.”
Fei Li had just been about to refuse when Lu Qinyi sensed it wasn’t enough “Two.”
“Three.”
Fei Li ignored Lu Qinyi’s complaints as he turned to walk away.
He only just overheard the conversation of the two behind him.
“Oh, I suppose I should also tell you that I’m in lifelong service to the Fei family, which is why I live here now.”
“YOU DIDN’T THINK TO TELL ME THIS SOONER?!”
—
Fei Li had been meaning to inquire into the identity of Lu Qinyi’s companion. He hadn’t even gotten her name and yet she was visiting his manor daily. He should at least know who she was before permitting her to access his home so freely, but he had been busy lately. He didn’t feel at ease unless someone was with Lu Qinyi at all times, and so while ever she could accompany Lu Qinyi in his stead, she could visit as much and as long as she liked.
However, it wasn’t long before Fei Li began to wonder whether that was such a good idea.
The first time he questioned this decision, he had been returning home from the military grounds at around midday. Lu Qinyi had been standing a short way back from the edge of the walkway that surrounded each side of the central courtyard. It was odd since he seemed to simply be standing there, staring up at the tiled roof above it.
He noticed Fei Li the moment the other entered the otherside of the courtyard and hurriedly stepped away from his position. Even his greeting when Fei Li approached was just a bit… odd.
“…I wasn’t expecting you to return so soon.”
“I happened to get some more time today, but I will be going out again shortly.” Fei Li explained, casting a glance toward where Lu Qinyi had been standing. “Was there something to look at?”
“No, not really. Unless you consider a bird to be interesting.” Lu Qinyi replied rather convincingly but just then, with the most unfortunately perfect timing, there was a feminine voice.
“A-Qin!”
Fei Li looked towards the direction of the sound… the roof above their heads.
“A bird, huh?”
“…Heh.” Lu Qinyi rubbed at the tip of his nose with a guilty smile before he strolled back to his previous position. “I’m here.” He held out his arms and with a rustle of fabric, he caught Chen Chyou who jumped down from the roof.
“The view is only so-so and it’s very inconvenient up there-” She had begun chattering as Lu Qinyi helped her to stand on the ground. She brushed at her skirts and pushed the stray hairs from her face. When she finally raised her head, she came face to face with Fei Li.
She squeaked in terror and immediately leapt behind Lu Qinyi again. “A-Qin you said he wouldn’t be home, you liar!”
“How was I meant to know he would return early?” Lu Qinyi didn’t even look slightly sorry. Actually he looked pretty amused by the whole situation as he flashed another not-very-innocent smile at Fei Li that was entirely meant to make it difficult to be angry with him. Lu Qinyi was aware he had a charming face, and that it was particularly hard to scold him when he smiled like that.
Fei Li didn’t know whether he was more in disbelief or more confused. “What were you… just… why? If you want to leave, you can use the front door.”
“Who said we wanted to leave?” Lu Qinyi replied with Chen Chyou nervously pulling at his sleeve as she peeked out behind him.
“A-Qin is he mad? Will we be in trouble? A-Qin do something!”
“It’s fine, Chyou. He isn’t easy to anger, I’ve tested it before. Let’s go see if there are any snacks in the kitchen.” Lu Qinyi casually turned and took her hand to drag her stiff form towards the kitchen.
“…” Fei Li didn’t even know where to begin on this one, but he still hadn’t gotten any answers. “What point is there to climb on the roof then?”
Lu Qinyi shrugged as he kept walking, calling out over his shoulder. “Amusement.”
…What kind of amusement was there in doing something so ridiculous?!
—
The next time Fei Li wondered just what kind of trouble he had invited into his home was the time he had come back to his estate to collect some papers from his study. He had heard a strange splashing sound before he had rounded the corner to see… Lu Qinyi and Chen Chyou standing in the waters of the pond that stretched across the courtyard. The water only came to mid-shin in depth, and so the two of them had tied their clothes to be just out of the water’s reach to keep it from getting too wet. That might have been more acceptable for Lu Qinyi, he was a guy after all, but for Chen Chyou to have hiked her skirts up as well was certainly strange. But nothing wasn’t strange about the whole situation.
The two had their backs to him as he came over, chatting amongst themselves. Lu Qinyi was bent over and Fei Li wasn’t sure he liked the way he was eyeing the lazy koi that swam in the waters at their ankles.
“…Are you harassing my fish?” He asked, causing Chen Chyou to shriek in fright.
The fish scattered at the sound.
“No.” Lu Qinyi replied nonchalantly before striking out to scoop up a fish. “Aha! See Chyou, I told you they had lucky patterns, look at its scales-”
“Drop my fish!” Fei Li called out angrily as he watched Lu Qinyi hold onto the squirming fish that had accompanied him through many sleepless nights. He immediately tossed the small book he had been carrying, hitting Lu Qinyi in the back of the head with deadly precision.
“Ah!” Not only did the hit startle Lu Qinyi into releasing the fish, it had led him to instinctively take an ill-placed step on the slippery stones. With a gigantic splash, Lu Qinyi found himself sitting completely soaked, the koi swimming about him as if to taunt his misfortune.
After drying and changing, both Lu Qinyi and Chen Chyou found themselves sitting in Fei Li’s study, writing out scriptures as punishment for the rest of the day.
What finally drew Fei Li to want to know Chen Chyou’s identity was the day a maid had knocked at the door to his study. Fei Li was half buried in the paperwork that had built up while he had been gone, even with Xi Ming’s efforts to manage them on his behalf.
“Master Fei, the maiden from before is asking to see Mister Lu again.”
This wasn’t something that needed to be reported to Fei Li since he had already said she was free to come and go without his explicit permission. Lu Qinyi’s permission only was enough to allow it. This maid was particularly bright, so why had she brought this to him?
“And Lu?”
“Mister Lu has requested we turn her away.”
Fei Li put down the brush in his hand. She had been coming frequently, despite how she was absolutely terrified of Fei Li, and he had always seemed quite welcoming of her company. Why the sudden change?
Fei Li considered it before asking “Lu, have you seen him today?”
The maid bowed her head. “This servant has not seen Mister Lu leave his room today, and he declined breakfast this morning.”
Ah. There it was. Something was definitely wrong. It was well into the day now, and Lu Qinyi had neither left his room nor eaten anything… “Bring the woman in and show her to Lu Qinyi’s room.”
The maid gladly acknowledged her orders and left.
A short while later, Fei Li walked past Lu Qinyi’s room, intending just to glance to see how things had gone. He found Lu Qinyi, sitting up at the table in his room, dressed and hair lazily done. Chen Chyou shoved a spoonful of congee into his mouth.
“You’re already too thin, if you become skin and bones, you’ll only be good for dog food so eat properly A-Qin!” She scolded while Lu Qinyi took the spoon from his mouth, now empty.
“Yeah, yeah. I already told you, I’m not hungry. I just wanted to sleep and yet you dragged me out of bed and now this?”
She snatched the spoon from him and shoved another spoonful into his mouth, which he obediently accepted despite how unamused he looked.
“Why is a man of your age and vigour sleeping the day away? It’s a perfectly good day today!”
“It’s cloudy.”
“And you’re moody. Stop talking and finish your food.”
Fei Li quietly left after seeing that Lu Qinyi was in good hands. But he had to wonder how the two seemed so familiar with one another.
He was still wondering about it later that evening. Zhao Mei and Yang Xun had not long returned from their travels, and Fei Li happened to cross paths with Zhao Mei as she was walking to her room after taking a bath. So, he simply asked her.
It would have been better if he had been able to ask Yang Xun who was much more familiar with Maiden Chen. But that wasn’t possible as Yang Xun had wanted to be the one to walk the maiden home tonight. Zhao Mei had to think about it for a few moments, but when she finally answered, it was without any doubt.
“Miss Chen Chyou is Lu Qinyi’s betrothed.”
Author’s Note:
I’m back! Sorry for being gone so long, I was on holidays with my family. I actually uploaded the previous chapter from our airbnb in the morning before my family was awake, but I didn’t get any more rest days to write with after that. I did get to see snow though! I’m obsessed with snow since very few places have snow here in Australia.
Congrats to Sigh for guessing correctly! Lu Qinyi’s fiancee had entered the picture. Stay tuned for Fei Li’s reaction next chapter, which I’m starting on right now because I’ve got the writing bug real bad right now.
Big thanks to editor Rae for indulging my writing bug, I finished the chapter this morning and she had it proof-read by this evening so I could edit and upload, she’s amazing!
I hope everyone is having a good start to the year!
Thanks for such a cute chapter! Hope you enjoyed the holidays in Australia 😁🥰
You’re very welcome Miyori!
Oh sorry, my words were confusing. I live in Australia, I was holidaying in France! It was really lovely!
Stayed up all night catching up but now I’m sad I have no more chapters to read💔 thanks for the chapter
Oh my gosh! I hope you got enough sleep.
It’s your lucky day, I have two more chapters releasing in the next few hours~
You’re very welcome, thank you for coming back!