[Translation] Fate Chooses You (佳偶天成) by Shi Si Lang (十四郎): Chapter 5: Days of Imprisonment

 

Dark forest, bleak sky. Xin Mei kept running along the muddy road, her heart about to leap out of her throat.

Suddenly a large hand grabbed her. That expressionless-faced man grinned wickedly as he pinched her chin.

“Heh heh heh heh! Such a pretty little girl. Come back to the stronghold with me and become my bandit wife!”

Xin Mei’s face paled in horror as she struggled helplessly in the wind.

“No! I won’t marry you! I—”

She rolled right off the bed with a loud thud, her head smacking against the floor.

…………

Uh, so it was just a dream.

Xin Mei lay on the floor for a long while, listlessly staring at the faded ceiling beams. A streak of sunlight rested on them, dust motes dancing in the light. Outside the window came the sound of flowing water and people talking. Hugging her blanket, she slowly sat up, thought for a moment, then flopped back down again.

Anyway, she couldn’t leave this room, so she might as well sleep.

Last evening Lu Qianqiao had brought her into the imperial mausoleum. Honestly, she had always imagined the mausoleum would be a place of desolate weeds, swarming ghosts and monsters, utterly ruined and eerie.

Yet after passing through the dense fog, she found a vast sea of cherry blossoms. The huge stone statues lining the sacred road were submerged in pale pink petals.

Green mountains, clear waters, white walls and green tiles—there was only peace and tranquility here.

But none of that had anything to do with her. The moment they entered the mausoleum, Lu Qianqiao had tossed her into this room.

“Si Lan, keep watch over her. Don’t let her leave this room.”

After giving the order, he left. She had sat on the bed in a daze for most of the night. At first she wanted to chat with the guard named Si Lan, but he was Expressionless-Face Number Two. No matter what she said, he acted deaf and mute. The instant she tried opening a door or window, he blocked it like an iron wall.

Filled with frustration, Xin Mei eventually just went to sleep.

“Brother Si Lan, I heard Brother Qianqiao brought a young lady back last night. A guest is a guest, so I made some food. Please help me give it to her. I hope it suits her taste.”

What a soft and lovely voice. What beautiful words…

Xin Mei climbed up and peeked out the window. She saw Si Lan taking a food box from a young woman in a pink dress. The woman glanced up at her. Truly… Xin Mei racked her brain for suitable words and finally could only sigh in admiration:

She really was breathtakingly beautiful!

“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Yinglian.”

So that Si Lan guy could speak after all, and quite politely too. Yinglian smiled gently at Xin Mei before turning and leaving.

“…Eat.”

The moment Si Lan turned back around, his expressionless face returned. He placed the food box on the windowsill.

Xin Mei was overjoyed. She hurriedly opened it to find two large wooden trays packed full of delicate pastries beneath crystal covers. She had been hungry all night and practically saw stars from starvation. She immediately stuffed a fragrant snow-lotus cake into her mouth.

Noticing Si Lan staring at her from the window with what looked like envy in his eyes, she thought for a moment and asked, “Do you want some?”

Si Lan ignored her with his wooden face.

She sighed. “Being expressionless is a disease. You should get treatment.”

He seemed to twitch twice before slamming the window shut with a bang.

Xin Mei picked up another pastry and had only taken one bite when the door suddenly opened. Lu Qianqiao, whom she hadn’t seen since the night before, stood in the doorway with the light behind him.

Xin Mei instantly tossed away the pastry, looked around nervously, and hid behind the wardrobe.

There were still crumbs stuck to her cheek, and after sleeping all night her hair was messy around her shoulders.

She still looked like a rabbit. A white, fluffy one.

Lu Qianqiao closed the door and walked in. She swallowed nervously. Scenes from plays flashed through her mind—sealed rooms, dim lighting, villains laughing wickedly as they reached for the heroine…

Right now she really wanted to crawl into the wardrobe.

“Come here. Sit down.”

He gestured toward the chair.

“…I’m not going over there.”

“…Come here.”

“…No.”

He took two steps toward her, and she immediately darted to the chair like lightning and sat down.

Lu Qianqiao rubbed the corner of his forehead.

“Why do you know how to break the Cloud Mist Formation? Who taught you?”

“I already told you, I don’t know any Cloud Mist Formation…”

“Tell the truth.”

“The truth is just that I have a really good sense of direction…”

He said nothing, merely looked at her quietly.

Deep-set features, jewel-like eyes. Though his face looked carved from jade, there was not a trace of jade’s warmth in him. He made no effort to hide his sharpness. He was like a famous blade constantly unsheathed.

And right now, that icy blade was pointed at her.

Xin Mei met his gaze without fear. To him, even her courage seemed soft and fluffy somehow. Then he noticed the pastry crumbs on her cheek, and his eyebrows twitched uncontrollably.

“Um…” Xin Mei stared at his trembling brows and kindly suggested, “Being expressionless really is a disease. There’s a doctor in Greenwater Town with excellent acupuncture…”

Expressionless, he reached a hand toward her. Her face immediately filled with terror as she frantically searched for somewhere to hide.

He still grabbed her arm. Xin Mei panicked, wondering whether she should scream and faint or defend her chastity to the death. But instead he dragged her to the window and pushed it open.

The beautiful spring scenery rushed in. Pear blossoms bloomed outside, white as snow. Tiny flower spirits played among the branches. Distant mountains gleamed green like jade, with faint traces of villages nestled within.

“Three hundred and sixty-two demons,” Lu Qianqiao said softly. “The imperial mausoleum is their home. I won’t let them go outside to harm people, nor will I let outsiders come in and hurt them.”

After all, the mausoleum belonged to the imperial family. A few ghost stories were harmless enough. But if the emperor discovered a whole group of demons occupying the place and living peacefully, immortal cultivation sects would probably arrive the next day to exterminate them.

Xin Mei scratched her head. “Oh.”

“I don’t care what method you used to break the Cloud Mist Formation. Since you pose a threat to me, I won’t let you leave until the matter is resolved.”

He released her arm.

Xin Mei was horrified. “You… you’re unreasonable…”

He actually seemed to smile a little.

“I’ve never been a reasonable person.”

Xin Mei felt she should firmly state her position.

“Even if you lock me up forever, I still won’t marry you and become your bandit wife!”

He looked down at his own hand. He really wanted to yank off that wildly imaginative head of hers and kick it around like a ball…

He turned and swept out the door.

“Watch her,” he instructed Si Lan outside. “Other than water, don’t give her anything else to eat. Don’t let anyone approach her.”

Si Lan respectfully clasped his fists. “Understood, General.”

General? What kind of bullshit general was a demon?!

Xin Mei was furious. She searched her mind for insults to shout after him, but after thinking forever she still couldn’t come up with anything sharp enough, so she ended up kicking pillows by herself.

“Brother Qianqiao…”

A childish voice called from outside the window. Turning around, she saw a plump little bird demon hovering in the air. He was much smaller than the one she’d met before in the mausoleum, only three or four years old. Wobbling through the air, he looked less like a bird and more like a fat duck.

Lu Qianqiao reached out and picked him up. In that instant, sunlight fell across his face, and his normally expressionless features became unexpectedly gentle.

“My brother says he’s ready already. He’s asking when you’ll give him the inner core.”

The little bird demon asked in a babyish voice.

“I’m going now.”

Lu Qianqiao awkwardly patted his tiny head.

After Si Lan took away the food box, Xin Mei sat by the window clutching her empty stomach in a daze. Somehow she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of devouring a giant braised pork knuckle, drool soaking through her sleeve.

By nightfall, Si Lan finally couldn’t bear watching her silly, hungry appearance anymore.

“If you’d just tell the truth, you wouldn’t have to starve.”

Xin Mei proudly turned her head away and huffed.

“Anyone who opposes the General never ends well.”

“He’s a demon, so what kind of general is he supposed to be?” Xin Mei said disdainfully.

Si Lan exploded.

“Who told you he’s a demon?! He is the glorious Cavalry General of Qiong Kingdom! He’s earned countless military achievements since he was fifteen!”

“…A prostitute-visiting general?” she asked blankly.

“Cavalry General!” Si Lan nearly lost his mind.

“If he’s such a general, why isn’t he out fighting wars? Why’s he hiding in the imperial mausoleum?”

Si Lan’s expression darkened.

“The emperor was blind and listened to slanderous rumors. That’s why the General was demoted to guard the mausoleum…”

Xin Mei suddenly understood.

“So he’s a general who kept losing battles, and the emperor got angry and exiled him here!”

Si Lan furiously slammed the window shut again.

Deep into the night, no sound came from inside the room. Si Lan grew a little worried. She was just an ordinary young girl, and aside from two pieces of pastry she hadn’t eaten anything all day. She might actually fall ill from hunger.

He looked at the food box beside him, hesitating over whether to secretly slip her something to eat.

Suddenly loud rummaging noises came from inside the room. Si Lan hurriedly opened the window—

Only for a powerful gust to slam straight into him. Completely unprepared, he was sent flying backward and knocked unconscious.

Xin Mei sat astride Autumn Moon, patting her head approvingly.

“Good girl!”

Luckily she still had Autumn Moon as her trump card. She hadn’t used her the first night precisely so she could wait for this moment when he let his guard down.

“Autumn Moon, hurry and fly away quietly.”

She wrapped her arms tightly around Autumn Moon’s neck and gave the order.