Chapter 141: Side Story: The Note of Me Wanting to Marry a Liar (Gu Tingye’s Statement)
Translator: Iris
Maybe Minglan didn’t know how many strange characters she had.

I remember that feast in the Marquis Xiangyang’s mansion. She chatted with all the other ladies with her gentle, kind and tame look. There was a humming bee flying inside along the tree branch. All the girls screamed in fear and huddled up while waving their handkerchiefs. She observed them with great interest at first. Then she suddenly saw the girl beside her being panicky. So she also put on a scared look on her face right away while jumping to the girls. She shouted and showed a frightened look as if she really was terrified.

I squinted my eyes—— I knew she was pretending.

In fact, there were also some girls who wasn’t afraid of the bees. They stood composedly or hid behind others in silence. But Minglan, she was the only one who chose to pretend to be afraid. It seemed that she was afraid of being different and tried her best to be like others.

When the drama actors began to act in a play on the stage, I followed her secretly, wanting to ask her something in a secluded place. However, at the end, I got the chance to watch a better play. My cousin’s precious son, the gem of Duke Qi’s family, the dream lover of tons of girls in the capital, the second son of Duke Qi, was holding her hand and telling her how much he loved her.

A young Childe who was extremely handsome with adoration on his face and sweet words in his mouth was a fatal attraction to girls. Maybe most of the girls would confess their affections to him immediately. And only a few girls would pretend to be angry with a straight face.

However, Minglan was like none of the them. Her first and the only reaction was being afraid that Qi Heng would bring disaster to her. She threatened, she begged, she even forbade him from telling anyone his love to her. After that, Qi Heng could only leave there miserably.

She seemed to have scruples all the time like a vigilant squirrel which was on guard against the threats that might appear at any time.

Afterwards, I learned that she was the daughter of a concubine.

When I showed up abruptly and asked her about Manniang, she was stunned. Then she told the truth.

I should say that she behaved herself well. She answered my questions precisely with clear words, showing no timid look like other ladies. Also, she seemed like a completely different person from that selfish and cowardly herself when she had confronted Qi Heng. Not only did she smooth things over for the lady from Yu family, she also managed to cool me down.

She seemed… to be a courageous girl.

And that was the first time I sensed vaguely that Manniang was not that innocent as I thought.

It was in the garden of the Guangji Temple that I saw her again. At that time, she threw a mud to her sister. That was a nice and hard attack. I saw her resting her arms on her hip with imposing manner. I had to try very hard to prevent myself from making any sound. I was surprised and also amused by her. And all the gloomy mood due to Manniang and Yanhong’s fight disappeared instantly. However, she didn’t let me enjoy my moment even for a quarter. After that, I was irritated by her and left immediately.

This little girl really is a jinx. Later on, all the things that she had said came true.

Not long after, I left my hometown. After that, my father passed away, Yanhong died all of a sudden. And I was just tired of hearing Manniang’s explanation. So I chose to lead a wandering life alone. I’ve met a lot of people. Some of them were packmen, some were swordsmen and some were unlucky princes who were treated unfairly. Being assaulted and disdained was a common thing for me. I had seen the fickleness of human nature and of the world. Every time I fell onto the ground, I had to struggle to stand up again by myself.

I sent the money which was earned by myself for the first time to Manniang who was in the capital. I wanted to make up for the mistake that I had made.

I would try my best to let Manniang and my children live decent lives. But I didn’t want to see her anymore. After knowing about her dirty tricks, I only felt chill on my back. I knew she had been searching for me with our son, but that only terrified me.

I felt that I already got old and that young Childe just disappeared forever. However, as strange as it might sound, I could still have dreams of that little girl who threw mud to her sister.

The mutiny in the capital turned the city upside down. I helped the Eighth Prince to pry into news in the capital. Little did I know that I would run into Yuan Wenshao. He was a good man. My shabby outfit didn’t drive him away. Instead, he even invited me to the feast of his one-month baby.

Then something occurred to my mind. Wasn’t Yuan Wenshao’s wife the lady of Sheng family too?

I waited for a long time in the yard on the way to the feast on purpose. As I turned my head, I saw her. It had only been a few years, that little girl who had thrown mud now turned into a gorgeous lady. The yard was filled with the brightness of spring. But nothing was brighter than that girl who stood under the cherry-apple tree. It took me a while to stop looking at her. Then I walked to her and started to talk.

I had to admire Qi Heng’s foresight. He must have seen the sign of her beauty.

Unfortunately, she obviously didn’t want to spend too much time talking with me. So she just went along with everything I said.

When I spoke of my dead father, she showed a sad look and sincerely comforted me to restrain my grief. When I talked about my guilty to Cabinet Yu and my willingness to make up for him, she showed an understandable and admiring expression on her face. And when I told her that I could help her whenever she needed, she pretended to be totally grateful with distrust filling in her big eyes. I guessed she almost applauded for me at that time.

It really aggravated me.

At last, I lectured her as her elder. Then I left with steady and august step.

—— Qi Heng was right. She was a tricky little liar! I came to a conclusion directly… However, I still couldn’t help but turn my head to look at her secretly. Well, nowadays, all the liars had pretty faces.

And then later, this little liar ran into pirates.

When I got her out of the lake, she shivered with cold and breathed heavily while turning her head restlessly to look around. Finally she recognized me among all the people on the boat right away. Then, she smiled at me. And I suddenly felt some place in my heart turning soft.

Under the moonlight, on the lake, with the night’s cold breeze, her eyes were the only bright thing in the dark. At the moment, I thought maybe I would never see such a beautiful pair of eyes.

… And then, she asked me to save her maids. Then I sighed and closed my eyes.

I knew she wouldn’t treat me so nicely without any reason. Those sweet words she said to me must come with some requests. Though I gave her a stern look, I still couldn’t help but hang up the corner of my mouth. I must have caught some kind of disease. How could I be so joyful being ordered about?

Finally I managed to save all the maids of her. Before I could report my achievement to her, I heard her speaking ill of me through the door. What? She said that it was excusable that the people from Peng family had fooled me! And then, she suggested that I should just marry Manniang?! When I said firmly that I would never be with Manniang again, she even sneered at me by rolling her eyes to me!

And that was not enough. Afterwards, she judged me happily as ‘a very traditional person’! Of course I was a traditional person, I hadn’t even touched her hair until then! Let alone that I had never been on intimate terms with any women after I knew what Manniang had done.

I should just strangle her!

But her neck looked so pretty like the sugar lotus root from Jiangnan region which I had eaten in my childhood. It’s moist and sweet. Suddenly I felt my lips a bit dry… So I dropped the idea of strangling her.

As I was absent-minded, this little liar even guessed out that there was something hiding behind Yanhong’s death. All right, nowadays liars tended to be super clever. Though her guess wasn’t completely accurate, but it was very near the truth.

‘Fine, Gu Tingye, you were like a young boy in front of her!’ I thought of that and spoke something harsh. Then I went off in a huff.

After that, she went south toward Jinling while I went north toward the capital.

I arrived at a rural private house in the southern suburbs of the capital. That was my home. After I washed myself and unloaded all the tiredness I had over half a year. When I lay on my bed, Chang Momo who was even older than before held a warmer to warm my beddings. Hearing her humming about the irrelevant affairs with the southern accent and her endless loving care to me, I felt like I just came back to my childhood when my mother hadn’t been dead.

“… master, look how tired you are. Doing business outside is so hard. Don’t leave home after. I still have some savings. You can use my money to buy some lands and live a stable life.” She said that with pitiful look on her face. She always thought that I was doing business all the time.

Then I replied, “After I finished the business this time, I should be able to be settled.” If I wasn’t dead in the war, I thought.

Chang Momo showed an angry expression on her wrinkled face, “It’s all because of those heartless bastards! You are the grandson of Bai family in Haining city! How can you wind up earning money by yourself! I remembered all the mountains of gold and silver in our family, now…”

She had to recall the good fortune Bai family had possessed every time. But as a matter of fact, I was already numb about that. So I only said softly, “Doesn’t matter. I can earn all the money back. I will take everything that belonged to me.”

Chang Momo looked at me in a daze, then she sighed, “You are just like the first lady. You two are so stubborn and rough. Never have I heard of you two complaining about your sufferings because you only swallow all of the pains. If she could endure a little more, she wouldn’t…”

“Momo, just stop there.” I interrupted her gravely.

Then Chang Momo sighed gently and said in a low voice, “After you settled down here, you should get married as soon as possible. You can have more children by then and I can tell the good news to the first lady when I go to the temple to pray.”

I said with a smile, “I already had two kids.”

Hearing me saying that, Chang Momo straightened her face immediately, “So what? You have to marry a decent woman. That woman doesn’t count.”

I suddenly sat up and asked her doubtfully, “Momo, you never really liked Manniang. Why?”

At that time, Manniang always showed a pitiful look and hadn’t done anything wrong. Moreover, she was always polite to Chang Momo. Most of the time, Manniang’s eyes had filled with tears before she started to talk. However, Chang Momo disliked Manniang from the beginning. After I left home, she even moved in order to avoid Manniang’s constant visits.

Chang Momo said with a sullen face, “That woman is a disaster. She has a fox spirit! If you are stuck by her, your life would be over! Luckily you have already known what kind of a woman she is! It’s not too late!”

Then I questioned her closely, “You’ve got to have a reason.”

Having remained angry for a while, Chang Momo said, “I don’t know any great truth. And I always give clumsy speeches. But I do have clear eyes! If she is a good woman, she won’t incite you to do those absurd things. Look at yourself, look what you have been through after you get involved with that woman! It’s all her fault that you left the marquis mansion and have wandered outside for so long!”

I fell into silence. Although Chang Momo never read so many books, she did have sharp eyes for discovering a person’s nature.

Then she said again, “Master, after you married a woman, you cannot let that Manniang mess things up. She is an actress who’s good at pretending. You cannot let your future wife misunderstand you because of that woman! I’ll tell you how shrewd that woman is. She left young lady Rong in the mansion right after you left. Then she brought young master Chang with her to look for you everywhere! See how cruelhearted and determined she is? Normal women cannot defeat her!”

I said in a stern look, “I won’t let her act absurdly anymore!”

Hearing my words, Chang Momo stood up with joy and folded my clothes on the table. After a while, she finally perceived something. Then she turned around and said tentatively, “Master, have you… already fallen in love with someone?”

I turned around and pretended to have fallen asleep. So she had no choice but leave my room.

I lay on the bed silently. Though I still felt exhausted, my brain still worked fast. I started to count her defects: ‘First, she is a liar who is duplicity and good at pretending. Second, she dared to challenge the pirates on the river, which means that she’s a foolhardy girl. At last, she is an illegal daughter of her father. And I have always wanted to marry a legal daughter from a decent family.

The most important thing was that she was a girl with no taste in man. How dare she turned her nose up at me…

Alas——But how could I manage to marry her? I should have a perfect plan.

As I started to think about that, I didn’t realize that my mind was already off-track.