"Wife, I want to eat meat” 《娘子，我要吃肉》Chapter 21

Xia Ling Mei knew that Zhuang Sheng was unusually noisy, before when she was lonely she felt there was crested myna who didn’t need training by her side who she could pass the time with, but when something happens, she would feel somewhat irritated when the crested myna still was being rowdy by her side.

The Zhuang Sheng crested myna on horseback was unsettled no matter what, now he sat on the saddle, now he was hanging from the saddle, now he was standing on the horse looking into the distance, still lamenting: “Why do people have to escape on horseback?”

Hei Zi: “You can let the horse ride you.”

Everyone trembled: “So cold.”

Not a moment later, Zhuang Sheng was lying on the horse half dead already unable to stand the rain, wringing his outer clothing dry, again wringing his trousers, finally he even took of his shoes using all his strength to wring it, he couldn’t help but complain: “When we’re not running away in a rush, can we throw away rubbish? For example, money.

Ying Shi held her hand out: “I don’t mind carrying money on your behalf.”

Everyone nodded, beaming: “We also don’t mind.”

Zhuang Sheng thought about it, taking his wallet off, hanging it on the horse’s neck: “It’s fine I have a precious horse, if the money gets any heavier I don’t have to carry it. Hahaha, Xiao Sheng me am to clever.”

Everyone -_-||||

After another hour, Chenzhou became a painting at their back, Zhuang Sheng lying on the horse: “We’ve already reached the mountains, why have we still not run into a brigand?”

The mountain road branched off, a scarred man screamed as he rushed out: “I opened this road, these trees were planted by me…”

Everyone’s tears flowed, speaking in their minds: that inauspicious mouth of yours, it’s too annoying.

Xia Ling Mei went into a violent rage, brandishing her long whip: “Get lost!”

Taking the lead riding her horse and trampling past, everyone kept in pace with her, Zhuang Sheng turned his head to regret: “You are not kind at all, you need to understand brigands also needs to be respected, they also need to eat, they need to provide for their fierce wives, naughty, smelly sons, and elders and folks back home who feel resentful towards them for failing to meet their expectations…”

Everyone raised their feet kicking him hatefully: “Get lost and become a brigand!”

Everyone kicked his left foot, right foot, the top of his feet, bottom of his feet, it started off as a jest, glancing at Xia Ling Mei from the corner of their eyes, seeing her indifferent expression only then did it gradually reach their hearts, anger starting to secretly rise.

Hei Zi who occasionally swept past also only pretended not to see, everyone did not speak what was on their minds, actually they all knew in their hearts. When running for their lives, there were two people of the Jianghu who didn’t know what was going on keeping close to them, no one could relax.

These days, the much time spent establishing relationships through wine and food with Zhuang Sheng and the drunkard could not make up for more than ten lives, at a crucial moment, they would only give their backs to their trusted colleagues.

In comparison to the always habitually silent and only knows how to drink drunkard, it was easier to have less faith in Zhuang Sheng this constantly jabbering crescent myna.

“Are you not thinking, who am I really?” Zhuang Sheng, hanging upside the horse’s belly, laughing asked Xia Ling Mei.

Xia Ling Mei did not speak, many times she had practiced using silence to cover up her own true feelings. She was a profound schemer like her younger cousin the Imperial Consort Xia Ling Shu, she was not like the Zhao Princess, appearing stupid even though greatly intelligent, she was to the point, a sharp precious blade, if unsheathed she will injure someone. Admittedly this sort of temper was refreshing, but in the secretive palace or the debt of gratitude coupled with duty to avenge Jianghu, it was easy to injure someone and injure yourself.

“You’ve been always guessing how much I’ve said is true, whether my feelings for you are pure, what do I want to exploit you for, will I harm those people beside you. Of course, these are all secondary,” He nimbly turned himself over to sit on the horse, eyes brightly fixed on her: “the most important is, will I harm you?”

Xia Ling Mei took a deep breath: “Alas, I feel you and Lord Wang are very similar.”

He shook his reins: “You are both very stubborn, very frail.”

Xia Ling Mei tightly gripped the long whip in her hand.

Zhuang Sheng again cried out loudly: “Why can’t you try to trust me once? I promise, the thing I hate to do the most is to fail to live up to your expectations.”

Xia Ling Mei looked at him in distain: “You know my expectations?”

“Of course.” Zhuang Sheng couldn’t help but straighten his back, looking rather pleased with himself: “Yours, going as far as your Xia family’s expectations of you, isn’t it for you to be perfectly happy ---- marry someone?”

“`Pfff…`”

“`Snort`---“

“`Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough`.”

“`Choke`, could it be it’s not?” Zhuang Sheng scratched his head, looking at everyone surrounding him restraining themselves from laughing: “Don’t tell me the Xia family doesn’t want to marry of their daughter, rather they want a proud son-in-law?”

These sort of words, even the candid, not bothered about trifle matters Xia Ling Mei couldn’t help turning red, it wasn’t sure whether the wisps of red in the corner of her eyes was from embarrassment or anger, for no reason making that pale face brightly gorgeous.

Zhuang Sheng still questioned: “Are the requirements for the ideal son-in-law in your family high? Although I’m not extremely wealthy, I can look after myself, easy-going temper, is cultured and skilled in martial arts, flexible, and don’t have body odours. Oh right, my posture is very sturdy, even if I get thrashed by my wife, for a little while I absolutely would not die… hey, young heroes, in any case you should give a little bit of opinion! Right, right,” 

Zhuang Sheng hurried rushed to Xia Ling Mei’s side, stretching his neck and whispering: “To this day I’m still chaste, you won’t be unlucky if you marry me.”

Xia Ling Mei only felt the sound of `boom` inside her head, as if a volcano was erupting, burning up her entire body: “You, what nonsense are you saying!”

Needless to say, on this journey to escape, no one was lonely.

That night, in the third quarter of nine to eleven pm, the rain still hadn’t stopped, the continuous undulating mountains was like a dark black curtain, no matter where you went it was dark, unable to find the way home.

Wang Yun Feng half-way on his journey accidentally encountered a woman in red, that ruby colour dispersed like a bloody mist in the dark, like when Xia Ling Mei flew into a rage, her skirt blossoming.

He subconsciously chased after, Bai Yan followed all the way with a secret guard, travelling back and forth without end in the depths of the forest.

At last chasing up to her, Wang Yun Feng’s muscles were almost weary and exhausted, his brain was mush, he couldn’t think about anything.

He felt horrible, alarm bells wouldn’t stop ringing in his head, warning him, the other woman wasn’t Xia Ling Mei, there was a trap!

But his body stubbornly wanted to chase after that blur of red, he couldn’t give up on a silhouette that could have any chance it was Xia Ling Mei’s, heart pounding like thunder, he felt he was nearly crazy.

“Lord Wang!”

“Ling... Zhao Princess?”

The other person breathed out: “It’s me.”

Wang Yun Feng almost fell off his horse, eyes subconsciously searching for that blur of red. 

He saw the face he had once etched into his heart, it was the Zhao Princess Xia Ling Wo, that girl in red was standing right behind her, always in a protective stance.

Wang Yun Feng pointed at that woman in red: “Who is she?”

The woman in red stood on a sleek big boulder flexibly like she had no bones, letting the rain hit her body, exposing her exquisite figure.

She lazily casted a glance at Wang Yun Feng: “A person of the Jianghu nothing more.”

Wang Yun Feng knew she was a subordinate of the Zhao Princess, a long time ago the 

Zhao Prince had spared the life of a martial arts expert.

He turned to the Zhao Princess: “Are you injured?”

The Zhao Princess shook her head, from not far away Liu Ling Mo had already stepped forward, in his arms the sleeping little princess: “the most serious attack was on the front guards. It was too chaotic back then, on the interceptors bodies also had the token you had found last time, we were worried you would meet with a sneak attack at the residence, that’s why we sent a message.”

Wang Yun Feng was shocked, muttering: “But I was worried about your safety, I brought the majority of men with me…Ling Mei she alone stayed at the residence.” His entire body swayed, in a flash everything in his brain passed through: “Lure the enemy away from his territory!”

The Zhao Princess’ complexion completely changed: “I’ll make Xiao Zhuang go help older cousin.”

The woman in red behind her took a step forward.

“No.” Wang Yun Feng already started getting back up on the horse, “You return to Wanyang city as quickly as possible, I’ll go and find Ling Mei.”He already couldn’t bear saying out loud that the Wang residence had been ambushed, it had been raised to the ground. Just thinking about it, his whole body started violently shaking, blood boiling over.

“She is my older cousin!” The Zhao Princess impatiently retorted: “You have no right to stop me from sending someone to help her.”

Wang Yun Feng promptly became cold, as if he was a fiend: “She hasn’t been part of the Xia family for a long time, she is my official wife, she is my responsibility. I won’t let you interfere with any of our business.”

This sort of alienating and dedicated speech, was the first time the Zhao Princess heard it.

In her memory, brother Wang Yun Feng was still as cultured and refined as when he was young, brother Wang acting according to convention and willing to help others. He spoke gently and warmly to anyone, he treated anyone with meticulous care, not discriminating between people. He was a rare gentle person amongst the influential families’ men, the fathers appreciated him, the mothers praised him, the honourable young ladies adored him, his peers were even more willing to make friends with him, he would never argue with anyone, never become enemies with people, as if he was the noble and unsullied gentlemen, making people unable to bear to drag him into the sufferings of the mundane world.

Ten years, she clearly knew he had changed very much, but until now Zhao Wang Fei did not fully understand: Wang Yun Feng, has changed.

He was no longer the coward trapped in his residence, the fatigued juvenile passively resisting the arranged matchmaking by his parents; he was also no longer the prisoner struggling free of his newly wed cage, the selfish youth who wanted to elope with his beloved woman; even more he was no longer the person who after marrying Xia Ling Mei, a distressed man still obsessed with his childhood sweetheart.

Merely these words, it adequately made clear his dedication, his assumption, his responsibilities.

“Wang, Yun, Feng!”

“Return to your Zhao Prince’s side, don’t provoke me into a quarrel our of loyalty”

“You!” The Zhao Princess stomped her foot, Zhu Xiao Zhuang by her side again lazily laid on the boulder, speaking with no concern: “Husbands and wives quarrel at the headboard and make peace at the end of the bed, why argue, it’s strenuous and unrewarding.”

The Zhao Princess was so angry she almost cried: “You don’t know, in a truly life or death moment older cousin will only protect that scoundrel Wang Yun Feng!”

Zhu Xiao Zhuang flipped her body as if she was boneless, letting the rain water hit her skin, crying out `ah, ah` twice: “Acting out of personal considerations and so on, is too troublesome.”

But Wang Yun Feng hadn’t thought of acting out of personal considerations, when he faced the utterly destroyed Wang residence, he wouldn’t be able to take a step across into that ruins, his rationality already returned to him from rushing madly the entire way, he remembered the quick-witted Xia Ling Mei, Xia Ling Mei’s outstanding martial arts, also her tenacious and unyielding temper to never back down.

She who is like this, how can she be so easily destroyed by someone.

She must have definitely escaped.

Wang Yun Feng wiped his face, determined to retreat a few zhang[1] in distance. At any time strangers could be hidden inside the ruins, if he got too close, a slight mistake and he would easily be attacked by someone.

He still needed to find Xia Ling Mei, he had to protect her, he could not easily be easily defeated.

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[1] Measure of length, ten Chinese feet (3.3m)