Chapter 30: Cherry Red and Lychee Fragrance (6)

Cangzhou was located in the south, a hub for frequent trade and commerce, rich in produce. Many seasonal fruits had already arrived in the market.

Like cherries and lychees.

But they were early-ripening varieties, not many sellers, which meant they weren’t cheap. After some hesitation, Li Ruoshui bought half a kilogram of small cherries.

Just as she was turning back with her little bamboo basket, she bumped straight into a woman in dark clothes carrying a saber.

“Sister Lu!”

Lu Feiyue, who had been walking hurriedly, looked at her, and her furrowed brows relaxed considerably. “Ruoshui, are you doing alright at the Zheng residence?”

“Pretty good.”

Li Ruoshui nodded. After all, Zheng Yanqing’s position within the Zheng household was truly unique. Apart from the maids delivering meals and the tutors, almost no one came to his courtyard.

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“Ebu?”

Li Ruoshui was genuinely confused. This wasn’t in the original plot. In the book, Lu Feiyue had caught the poisoner and stolen the documents.

Why stop now?

Lu Feiyue sighed softly, her long lashes lowering to shade her eyes. The usual determination in her gaze held a hint of bewilderment. “I don’t know.”

Li Ruoshui fell silent for a moment, then raised her basket in front of her. “Sister Lu, want to try some cherries? Have some, then we can keep investigating.”

Lu Feiyue looked at her, her eyes softening. She affectionately patted Li Ruoshui’s head. “Thank you… I’m going to find Jiang Nian now. Do you want to come?”

“Where is he?”

“At the teahouse in Yanliu Alley.”

Li Ruoshui’s steps faltered, her expression turning wary. “Yanliu Alley… isn’t that Cangzhou’s largest entertainment district?”

Lu Feiyue smiled and shook her head. “But the storytelling there is also the best in Cangzhou. I go often to listen. It’s nothing.”

Approaching it with a mindset of broadening her horizons, Li Ruoshui nodded and followed Lu Feiyue to the teahouse in Yanliu Alley.

---

“Young Master, it’s the ‘Romance Session’ today. Are you sure you want to go in?”

Lu Zhiyao was stopped by the attendant at the door. Somewhat puzzled, he took a step back, putting distance between himself and the man. “Why can’t I go in?”

Seeing he was blind and seemed new to this particular teahouse, the attendant explained tactfully, “Today’s storytelling session isn’t going to be ‘Swordfight on a Snowy Night.’ It’s about… relations between men and women.”

“Is that so?” Lu Zhiyao thought for a moment. “Is there a difference?”

The original book, to highlight the rationality of Lu Feiyue’s investigative work, had set the dynasty’s background as relatively open-minded.

Teahouses like this usually featured normal storytelling, but each month there were designated days for special programs—sometimes focusing solely on horror and supernatural tales, other times exclusively on sentimental or poignant love stories.

The storyteller at the Yanliu Alley teahouse was highly skilled, with fresh material, and had long been famous in Cangzhou, attracting many admirers. By the time Lu Zhiyao entered, many people were already seated inside.

Most of today’s audience were women, but there were quite a few men as well.

After paying for tea, he quietly sat in a corner, waiting to discover the cause of his heart palpitations.

A faint smile graced Lu Zhiyao’s lips, his demeanor gentle, yet he blended into this noisy, bustling scene with strangely harmonious ease.

“Brother Lu!”

Hearing the familiar voice, Lu Zhiyao ignored it, continuing to sit quietly.

Jiang Nian ran down from upstairs and plopped into the seat beside Lu Zhiyao, placing peanuts and melon seeds on the table in a comradely manner. “Fancy seeing you here! Is Li Ruoshui not with you?”

Lu Zhiyao smiled gently. “She isn’t always with me.”

“Right,” Jiang Nian said, picking up a peanut and tossing it into his mouth. “Even though it’s fake, she is technically married now. On the surface, she still has to stay with Young Master Zheng.”

Thinking of Li Ruoshui’s hurried tap-tap steps as she ran off to find Zheng Yanqing, Lu Zhiyao felt his way to pour a cup of tea, facing the stage. “Marriage doesn’t mean much.”

Jiang Nian was taken aback, covering his mouth to stifle a laugh, his voice muffled. “Yes, yes, I spoke out of turn.”

Whack!

The storyteller on the stage smacked the gavel, opened his fan with flair, and began. “Speaking of love between men and women, one must mention Liang Zhu—”

Boos rose from the audience, everyone saying it was too cliché, everyone had heard this story many times before.

“Liang Zhu is merely an introduction. Listen carefully as I elaborate.”

Though Liang Zhu was a story known to all, the storyteller’s vocal skills were excellent, his delivery humorous. Listening to it again was still rather entertaining.

Everyone in the audience was there for amusement, except for Lu Zhiyao, who was taking it seriously.

He had never heard this story before. He had never even listened to storytelling.

The storyteller’s vocal mimicry was superb, the voices realistic. Even without sight, one could feel immersed. Lu Zhiyao was drawn in.

Initially, he was somewhat interested, but as the story progressed, he gradually frowned. When he heard about the two turning into butterflies, he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

Jiang Nian had been observing his expression and was now curious. “What are you laughing at?”

“They fought for so long, only to watch them turn into butterflies and fly away in the end.” A smile touched the corners of Lu Zhiyao’s eyes as he genuinely sighed at Ma Wencai’s narrow mindset. “If it were me, I would definitely catch the butterflies, make sure they could never fly away again.”

Jiang Nian was silent for a long moment before speaking. “…So why are you relating to Ma Wencai?”

“Who else is in it?” Lu Zhiyao was puzzled. “Zhu Yingtai? Or her mother?”

Jiang Nian’s eyes widened, somewhat shocked. Some of the melon seeds in his hand fell. “Liang Shanbo! His name was mentioned so many times! You didn’t remember him?”

“Ah.” Lu Zhiyao searched his memory carefully and retrieved the name. “What about him?”

“Aren’t you moved by his love for Zhu Yingtai?”

Lu Zhiyao was silent for a moment. The smile on his lips faded, his beautiful brows slightly furrowed. “His feelings for Zhu Yingtai… that’s love?”

“If not, then what?” Jiang Nian cracked a melon seed, feeling the storyteller’s tale wasn’t as interesting as Lu Zhiyao’s responses.

“How strange.” Lu Zhiyao sighed softly, but beyond that, he had no other reaction.

The storyteller on stage smacked the gavel again, chuckling. “That was just the preamble. What comes next is the real story.”

“This story, like Liang Zhu, takes place in a school.

“Over a decade ago, our dynasty hadn’t yet undergone its changes. Women back then couldn’t attend school. In Linyi, there was a family by the surname Bai. They had a very precocious young lady who was clever from a young age, but also extremely playful. She disguised herself as a boy and entered the school…”

“From the moment of that first flutter, a fateful connection began. But as everyone knows, a person’s life isn’t bound by just one connection. Only a very small minority of overly paranoid individuals place extreme importance on it. Miss Bai happened to be one such person.”

The story began vividly. The storyteller spoke as if they had witnessed it firsthand, mimicking the demeanor of the young lady and gentleman perfectly, describing the atmosphere with crystal clear clarity.

Everyone could picture Miss Bai’s shyness and the gentleman’s graceful bearing. They could almost feel Linyi’s misty drizzle, and smell the heart-soothing fragrance of gardenia blossoms.

But the story only covered the beginning, the story of their meeting, before it abruptly stopped.

The storyteller closed his folding fan, waking the enthralled audience. “This story is brand new. Can’t say more today. To know what happens next, please wait until next time.”

A young lady in the audience, deeply immersed, couldn’t help but tease him and complain at the same time, “You storytellers always love leaving us hanging.”

The storyteller stroked his small beard, offering an ambiguous smile. “I’ve invested quite a bit for this story. Can’t finish it so easily.”

The young lady was straightforward, laughing as she asked, “How come no one else in the school realized Miss Bai was a woman?”

“Very well.” The storyteller put away the folding fan painted the color of green bamboo and took out a small firefly fan,¹A firefly fan is just like a normal fan except its dark in color and has bright spots on it, just like a firefly lighting up in the night. covering half his face with it. He seemed to suddenly exude an aura of coy femininity. “Today, let’s talk about how a woman can disguise herself as a man.”

“If there was someone in the school even more beautiful, but unquestionably male, then for another who is slightly less striking, would you still doubt her gender?”

Someone in the audience didn’t believe it. “You’re saying that gentleman was more beautiful than her!?”

“Who knows?” The storyteller closed his fan, smiling at the crowd. “Five days from now, come early.”

The opening of this story was different from the usual fare. Even Jiang Nian, a seasoned traveler and shrewd man, found it refreshingly addictive and couldn’t resist asking, “After hearing the beginning of the story, it’s clear that Miss Bai didn’t like him. Why compare them to Liang Zhu?”

“Don’t speak carelessly. This Miss Bai is no Zhu Yingtai.” The storyteller narrowed his eyes, tapping Jiang Nian with his fan. “Besides, who says she didn’t like him?”

Li Ruoshui, holding her bamboo basket, studied the storyteller on stage. “He doesn’t seem much like a man.”

“She’s a woman. Surname Yao.” Lu Feiyue stood ramrod straight, admiration in her eyes. “When I came to Cangzhou years ago, she was already storytelling here. She rarely repeats stories. Every time I come, I always hear many new stories.”

The storyteller tidied the table, continuing their post-storytelling tradition of chatting with the guests. “When it comes to ‘love,’ the mouth may lie, but the body never does. If she didn’t like him, why would she kiss that gentleman?”

The audience erupted all of a sudden as everyone started talking at the same time. Their desire to gossip was ignited as they all urged her to say more.

The storyteller pretended to be startled, half-covering her mouth. “Oops, I spoke too much. Come back in five days, let me earn back a bit of my investment.”

The surrounding area buzzed with excitement, everyone discussing the story’s possibilities and the characters’ inner thoughts. Only Lu Zhiyao seemed to have gained some enlightenment.

So, when Li Ruoshui kissed him that night… Is it because she liked him?

“Jiang Nian.”

After bringing Li Ruoshui here, Lu Feiyue began discussing matters with him.

Li Ruoshui, holding the bamboo basket in one hand, reached out with the other to pat Lu Zhiyao’s shoulder to get his attention. But he turned his body and dodged her hand.

Li Ruoshui: ??

“What’s wrong with you?”

Li Ruoshui bent down to look at him, wondering if she had done something wrong again.

That peculiar scent suddenly penetrated his nostrils again. He had been perfectly composed but suddenly found his breath catching. His hand instinctively went to the prayer beads on his left wrist. Their coolness calmed him somewhat.

He curved his lips into his usual smile, tightening his grip on his wrist, and thought for a moment. “I was thinking about how to teach you sword techniques.”

Painful memories flooded back. Li Ruoshui curled up the corner of her mouth. She moved the basket behind her back, silently miming that she would hit him with it.

He played with her body until she was bruised all over, the joints he manipulated still ached. She couldn’t believe she had actually considered giving him cherries! Eat sht!

“Oh.”

Li Ruoshui responded flatly.

Just thinking about having to take him swimming later to farm reputation points with him filled her with a mix of anger and annoyance.

I wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to give him a good beating.

“This secret order is problematic. It’s impossible for them to suddenly stop their investigation in such a short time.”

Lu Feiyue held her saber, brows tightly furrowed, contemplating a solution.

“There were letters in the Zheng residence’s hidden room.” Lu Zhiyao said this casually, not minding the sudden shock on the faces of the other three.

Li Ruoshui was the first to ask, “When did you go in?”

“Last night. Went to get the Fire Blaze Grass.”

Li Ruoshui, who had just been thinking of beating him up, choked. A fragment of memory flashed in her mind. “It wasn’t… that red-stemmed, green-leaved herb from this morning, was it…?”

If it was… hadn’t she committed a major taboo in her strategy? No wonder he seemed off today.

Lu Zhiyao smiled warmly, the prayer beads on his wrist tinkling softly. “Yes. But you didn’t seem to like it much.”

Help!

So, because of her ill-timed shyness, she had missed a golden opportunity to ‘farm reputation’ and save herself?!