Chapter 2024: Accident
Murong Qinghe’s legs were kicking in the air, and her heart was beating really quickly.
...
While she was rolling back and forth on her bed in disappointment, Zu An was between laughter and tears as he looked at the jade strip in his hands.
Even so, he couldn't really explain any further. After all, a young lady still had her pride to worry about. As such, the two of them just tacitly agreed to end the awkward conversation.
Just then, another portrait flickered, and a message appeared, reading, “Big brother Zu, are you there?”
The picture was of Sang Qien carrying her daughter Sisi. The baby was adorable, and the woman was dignified and beautiful. Her face conveyed the warm and enchanting air of a young married woman. Her name was also very simple: Little Qien.
“Little Qien, why haven’t you slept yet?”
“I just fed Sisi. I’m already in bed.”
A scene suddenly appeared in Zu An’s mind. There had been one night when he play-fought over his daughter’s food... That was really a wonderful memory.
“It’s really hard on you, raising the child all alone.”
“It’s not hard. Many people are helping me, especially Dandan.”
When he sensed that she was clearly being a bit reserved, Zu An took the initiative to reply, “Have you been missing me since then?”
Within the small courtyard in the academy’s rear mountain, Sang Qien’s face immediately turned red when she saw the message. She wrote a lot, but she deleted everything in the end. In the end, she only wrote ‘yeah’.
“Then how about you let me hear you call me 'husband' once?” came the reply.
Sang Qien’s cheeks became bright red. She secretly looked behind her, then quickly wrote, ‘yes my husband!’.
After writing that, she pressed the jade strip against her chest for fear that someone would see.
“That’s my sweet and wonderful wife," came another message.
Sang Qien’s heart practically shot up into her throat.
And yet, when she thought about how he usually acted, she didn’t think it was too much, since he had always been pretty daring to begin with. She had always been the one to end up embarrassed because of him.
...
Meanwhile, another profile picture lit up on Zu An’s jade strip. It was the charming Zheng Dan this time. She seemed to have taken the picture from above, so Zu An could vaguely make out her bewitching cleavage.
When he saw the name ‘Little Dirty Girl’, Zu An immediately cursed inwardly.
“Big brother Zu, what are you doing?”
When he saw her confident smile, Zu An couldn't help but feel warm inside. He replied, “I miss you.”
“Tsk, you’re probably flirting with other women.”
“What do you mean? I’m chatting with you right now.”
“I’m currently in the same bed as Little Qien, you know?”
Zu An was speechless. Even someone as thick-skinned as him was a bit embarrassed.
“Qienqien thinks I don't know, and she has her back to me, but she keeps sneaking guilty looks at me. Hmph, and she has no idea that the blinking light of the jade strip completely sold her out.”
Zu An sighed when he saw that message. Thank goodness these two hadn’t sent a message at the same time, or else he would really have committed social suicide without even knowing what happened. He asked, “Why are the two of you sleeping together?”
“Whose fault is it that you’re not here? She’s all cold and lonely, so only her sister-in-law can come to console her.”
The image of two young ladies huddled up together under the covers immediately appeared in Zu An’s mind. Imagining those two young and wonderful bodies hugging each other immediately made his heart rate speed up a bit.
“Are you thinking about something dirty now?” Zheng Dan sent.
“Of course not. I’m an upstanding and upright person, so how could I possibly be thinking about such things?”
“Oh. I was thinking of finding a chance to convince sister-in-law to do it together. Since you’re so upstanding and upright, then forget it.”
“Ahem, I admit that I spoke a bit too hastily just now.”
Just then, ‘Little Dirty Girl’ was changed to ‘North’. Zu An was completely confused.
“Big brother Zu, you should change your name to 'Thousand'.”
“Why?” Zu An replied. He was really sweating now. Why did these women all want to have matching names? That was a one way ticket to death! He absolutely couldn't mess with such things.
“Big brother Zu, I'll be 'North' and you'll be 'Thousand'. That way, when the two of us are together, we'll become 'Obedient'.”[1]
Blood almost shot out of Zu An’s nose.
Suddenly, a profile with the name ‘Ling’er’ flickered. The picture was of her sitting upright in front of a desk drawing runes. Her back was perfectly straight, giving her a scholarly air.
“Big brother Zu, are you there?”
Zu An couldn't help but smile. These women were still a bit too underripe in their messaging skills. They were just like those young men who didn’t text often, and would always ask women they liked if they were there. That way, it became really hard for them to start a proper conversation.
“Little sister Ling’er, your picture is quite pretty. Who helped you take it?”
Xie Daoyun, who was reading a book in front of a table, immediately felt her cheeks heat up when she heard his praise. She answered, “I had Xie Xiu help me. He wasn’t willing at first, but when he saw this jade strip, he said he absolutely wanted one. I told him that it was really expensive and that it was hard to make another one, so he finally gave up on the thought.”
If Xie Xiu were there, he would definitely start cursing on the spot. In order to take a satisfactory picture, his older sister had made him take a total of 1,827 pictures. Most of them were already quite perfect, but his big sister just hadn't been satisfied. There were even some pictures that clearly weren't very different at all, but his sister had just said that there was something wrong. He had really been about to break down that day.
“We’re a bit short on the material right now, but I’ll give him one once we do have enough,” Zu An said. He had to admit that this picture of Xie Daoyun was really pretty. It was as if those sweet-tempered court ladies from books had really appeared in real life.
“Then I’ll thank big brother Zu in his place. By the way, did everything go smoothly this time?”
“It went alright overal,” Zu An said, although he felt a bit sad. If not for what happened with Honglei, everything would have been even better.
Xie Daoyun keenly sensed his dejected mood and asked considerately, “Big brother Zu, what happened? Is there anything that I can help with?”
At first, Zu An didn’t want to talk about it, but when he sensed her gentle and considerate tone, he unwittingly began to say, “I did something that made Honglei upset. She decided to leave home, and I couldn't find her no matter what I did.”
“Big brother Zu, Miss Qiu loves you so much. She'll come back after her anger subsides for sure."
“It’s different this time. She might never be able to let this go for the rest of her life.”
Xie Daoyun was stunned. She thought about asking him just what it was that was so serious, but in the end, she felt it would be considerate to ask and instead replied, “Time will heal everything.” She added,
“Miss Qiu’s cultivation is so high, too. Even if she's alone, nothing bad will happen to her.”
...
When Zu An saw the messages come in slowly, he felt warm inside. His mood improved a bit too. He replied, “Thank you!”
Meanwhile, Xie Daoyun was a bit absentminded. She gently stroked the glass lamp on the table. This was a gift that big brother Zu had given her, something she liked a lot.
She suddenly sighed deeply. She had really wanted to ask about the kiss that happened last time in the secret dungeon, so why had she ended up helping him chase after another woman?
...
Just then, another profile flickered on Zu An’s jade strip: 'Please Call Me Queen'. Zu An was speechless.
The profile picture seemed to be a selfie Liu Ning had taken in the hot spring. The spring water made her skin look incredibly smooth. Only a single shoulder of hers was exposed, and yet it was still so tempting.
Zu An planned to tease her a bit, but when he saw the message, his expression changed.
“Ah Zu, are you there? Something happened in the Fiend races' territory.”
“What happened?” Zu An replied, shivering.
“It’s great that you’re there.” Liu Ning’s messages quickly appeared again. “Remember how I proposed for our countries’ Empress Dowagers to meet and discuss the details of a collaboration? Some officials followed up on that, but then they received news that the Second Empress left the King Court in a hurry, and she seemed to have brought the King Court’s most elite Golden Crow Guards with her.”
“According to the intelligence we received, the sealed land seems to have experienced an accident, and she rushed over there with reinforcements.”
“What?!” Zu An’s eyes immediately narrowed.
. This is a reference to how the character 乖 (obedient) is a combination of 北 (north) and 千 (thousand). It's likely a dirty play on words, since the 'thousand' is between the 'north'. ?