Heavenly Star

“Dodon Ray? I really don’t know. I have only heard of his name. We servants cannot truly understand these kinds of people.” Ye Qi said.

“Okay, I understand. You may leave. Do not enter without my permission.” Ye Wuchen waved his hand.

“Yes!” Ye Qi withdrew respectfully.

Ye Wuchen’s hand summoned a thin layer of bright light, his palm reached for the spots on Ning Xue’s clothes that were still damp and steamed them dry in a flash. He stood up and said, “Xue-er, let’s do a jigsaw puzzle.”

Ye Wuchen sprinkled equal sized fragments of the invitation on top of the bed. The two of them lay on the bed, laughing as they played with the fragments, and quickly joining the pieces together into its original shape.

Ye Wuchen curved the corner of his mouth, concentrating in thought. He gathered his powers into his hands, his fingertips releasing faint colorless rays of light. Little by little he drew lines across the small cracks between each fragment. Running his finger through the spaces, the fragments quickly merged together all at once, joining perfectly and transforming back into its original shape.

In no time at all, the paper with “Ye Wuchen” printed on the back was left in his hand. It was flawless, with no trace of tears, and it was impossible to imagine it had been tampered with.

“Brother, you are very awesome. How did you do it?” Ning Xue clapped her hands asking excitedly.

“My powers can even heal wounds, this is quite easy.” Ye Wuchen said laughing, “Remember the time we went out hunting? My clothes had been torn over and over but after, you couldn’t find any marks. Your brother Da Niu even kept saying that there was something wrong with his eyesight.”

“Oh! Hee hee!”

“And now, let’s change the name back.”

He used his power to wipe off the word “Chen”, then used a brush to write down “Yun” from what he remembered. Pressing against the paper, the ink was dried completely with no evidence of having been written just recently.Soon after he bade Ning Xue to wait where she sat, while he climbed the roofs like a thief.

He placed the invitation under Ye Wuyun’s bed sheet, then quietly returned to the roof. Sneering to himself, ‘This is just a small game, since you were trying to trap me, let’s lay the perfect trap. I’ll make you unable to defend yourself, so you will feel that you are not being framed, since that is definitely not my style.

Halfway back to his room, he heard an unfamiliar clear and bright voice coming from the main hall. His heart stirred. A visitor?

He thought for a moment and then moved closer, bending an ear to listen.

“... General Ye, Madame Ye, actually I came here this time because of some concerns.”

“Oh? Superior Ji, there should be no harm in telling us.”

“I have heard that your son is still unmarried at his age, and my daughter has just turned sixteen this year, the exact time to choose a husband. Since she saw the elegant manner of your good son yesterday, and had hidden affections for him, so…. Ah, no, no, no. My daughter has absolutely no intention to fight with Princess Fei Huang over the position of the first wife, my daughter is willing to enter Ye family as his concubine… Ehem! Ehem! I mean, your good son and Princess Fei Huang’s marriage is still three years away, your son is after all, a man of valor. While there is still no lady to accompany him at his bedside, and my daughter is educated, well-balanced, clever, has an outstanding beauty……..”

Ye Wuchen went speechless upon hearing those words, willing to be a concubine just to be married to him!? Judging by his manner of speech, he must be some high government official. Have this old man and his daughter gone insane?

“This… we would need to ask Chen-er for his opinion regarding this matter.” Came Wang Wenshu’s voice, he could imagine her facial expression at this moment.

“Superior Shangguan has arrived!”

“Hahahaha! Long time no see General Ye, it’s my fault, my fault. Oh? Superior Ji, you are also here!” sounded the rough voice of a man.

After a series of courtesy words, the man, Superior Shangguan, yelled in a loud voice, “I, Shangguan, am a rough man. I don’t speak in a roundabout way. My daughter personally witnessed your son’s good manner. After which, she proclaimed that in this life she will not marry any other except your son. She’s afraid that some other may take the initiative before her, so here I am. Oh, my daughter had just turned fifteen, although her temperament… is not that good, her appearance is one in a hundred and well-known! The people who have come to propose to her have worn out our doorstep…”

“Superior Liu has arrived!”

“Oh General Ye, long time no see. To be quite honest, I came here to propose marriage on behalf of my daughter. My daughter just turned sixteen this year…”

“Superior Zhuge has arrived!”

“Hahahaha! Brother Ye, for our friendship’s sake, I’ll just get straight to the point. My daughter Meng-er requested that I bring this letter and an embroidered heart handkerchief for your good son.Judging from this, my daughter must have affections towards your son. Why don’t we become relatives by marriage, that will form a great bond between both our families….”

“Superior Cheng has arrived!”

……

“Superior Liu has arrived!”

……

“Superior Ou Yang has arrived!”

“Superior Lu has arrived!”

“Superior Huang has arrived!”

“Superior Wu has arrived!”

“Superior Xia has arrived!”

……………………

Ye Wuchen’s brows had beaded with sweat initially, but by this point he was sweating profusely, almost falling off the roof. When Wang Wenshu commanded a servant to go and call him, he hurriedly dashed straight in the direction of his own courtyard.

Back in his room, he picked up Ning Xue and was prepared to escape when coincidentally Xiao Lu happened to come in carrying their lunch, and said in a gentle voice, “Young Master, a moment ago I just happened to come across the Young Mistress and she asked that you head to her place if you have free time.”

As if hearing a voice from heaven, he wished he could hug and kiss Xiao Lu. He promptly carried Ning Xue and dashed out like the wind, but came dashing back with a serious face, “Xiao Lu, tell Ye Qi and Ye Ba or anyone looking for me that I’m not here. Tell them I went out for a walk and will be back by evening. Did you hear what I said? Tell the same to Madame and Master too!”

“Ah…. yes!”

Ye Wuchen resumed dashing out like wind, his speed stunning Xiao Lu.

Ye Shuiyao’s courtyard was just as peaceful as before. For Ye Wuchen, no other place was safer. Because no one in the Ye family would set foot in this courtyard unless they had business, no one will know that he was hiding here. Ye Wuchen walked to the study. Without knocking, he pushed the door open and headed inside.

A familiar, elegant fragrance hit him in the face. Ye Wuchen was enchanted as he breathed it in. The beautiful woman inside the room did not make a sound. Aside from Ye Wuchen, no one would enter without knocking.

“Receiving a summons from big sister, your brother was overwhelmed by such favor. Could it be possible that big sister missed me?”

Ye Shuiyao turned around to look at him, then turned back, her voice clear and cold. “Come here and teach me how to paint.”

Placing Ning Xue on a chair, he secretly made a hushing gesture and proceeded to quietly stand beside Ye Shuiyao. Ye Shuiyao’s body obviously went stiff from his approach, but immediately recovered, placing on a new sheet of painting paper.

“Teach me how to paint that Twin Lotus Flowers on One Stalk.”

Translated by: korezmi

Edited by: seriouspotato & Johnny Clune