Love from the Male Protagonist’s Harem

Chapter 93-Wenxian Bell

Translated by Snowfall77

After eating dinner, Chang Nian went to find his older brother Chang Lan.  Chang Lan was a workaholic at the best of times.  Therefore, after the surprise attack of giant bats, he’d definitely still be awake.

Chang Nian, arriving at the Hall of Council, saw Chang Lan bent over a desk, just as expected.

“Brother.”

Chang Lan was suffering from a burgeoning headache.  Chu Yao had just come and told him that she was the one who’d shot the killing arrow.  And when Chang Lan had asked why she hadn’t been there to confirm it immediately at the scene——

Chu Yao: “I was feeling hungry, so I went and ate.”

Chang Lan: “……”

Such a timely and reasonable justification was enough to render a person speechless.

Still, Chu Yao’s actions did make sense.  She was the alternate senior disciple of Jianfeng, and had the right to act in an emergency as she saw fit.  What she’d done was understandable enough.

Chang Lan asked a few more questions before sending ‘Buddha’ Chu Yao off.  Having gotten rid of one person, he’d barely had a minute to himself before raising his head to see another.

His headache intensifying, Chang Lan asked Chang Nian: “Why are you here?”

Chang Nian: “Why?  Can’t I come here?”

Chang Lan: “Father is dying of anger because of you.  You know what you did……after all, he asked me to punish you to face the wall for three months.”

“So what if I spent some money?” Chang Nian muttered under his breath, “It’s not like our Chang family can’t afford some spirit stones.”

Chang Lan: “……”

It wasn’t a question of money.  It was a question of stupidity.

Chang Nian: “Go ahead and punish me, Brother.  Jianfeng is too boring.  I’d rather stare a wall for three months than practice swords.”

Chang Lan sighed: “……anyway, though I don’t know whether the Yimei you bought at the black market was genuine or a fake, with people talking about the Zhen Hun……it doesn’t matter it’s baseless or not, the least you should’ve done was given the family time to prepare.”

Finished with that subject, Chang Lan paused, then asked: “……I also heard that you stole Father’s Wenxian bell?”

Gaze shifty, Chang Nian retorted: “I didn’t steal it.”

Chang Lan massaged his forehead: “Just give it back.  Father is absolutely furious.”

Chang Nian: “I won’t give it back!  He’s just afraid of people finding out about his ‘good deeds!’  He doesn’t want Mother to know!”

Chang Lan was silent for a moment before responding: “Mother already knows.”

That left Chang Nian struck dumb.

“Give it back,” Chang Lan continued, “It’s best that that thing be left with Father.  It’s not good for anyone else to have it.”

Chang Nain spoke bluntly: “Brother, are you disgusted as well?”

Chang Lan did not answer.

Taking out a beautiful silver bell, Chang Nan stared at it as it shook but made no sound, whispering: “But Brother……I want to find her.”

Chang Lan’s eyes turned cold: “Little Nain, don’t be too impudent.”

Chang Nian tore his gaze from the bell to look at Chang Lan: “No matter what, she belongs to the Chang family……”

“What does it have to do with the Chang family?”  Chang Lan’s regard grew even icier.  “You’re talking about the dregs of the Demon Sect.”

Chang Nian: “Brother!”

Chang Lan: “Don’t say anything further.  If you want to take the Wenxian bell, take it.  But don’t come to see me again before your next visit home.  I’m not going to punish you, so go work hard on your swordsmanship.”

Chang Nian was unresigned: “Brother……”

Chang Lan: “You want to go find her, do it by yourself.  Even if you somehow succeed, I’ll have nothing to do with it.”

With Chang Lan leaving no leeway, the conversation ended on a sour note.

Walking out of the Hall of Council, Chang Nian saw a girl dressed in blue with silver butterflies on her sleeves not far off.

She stood amongst the flowers outside the hall, captivating butterflies twining around her.  Eyes closed, her whole body draped in dim moonlight, her graceful, ethereal figure was like something out of a painting.

Chang Nian gaped at her a long time: “……Chu Yi?”

The girl stretched out a hand, a silver butterfly landing on it and then dissolving into tiny specks of light.  As if the girl had awakened, the hazy sense of illusion around her faded somewhat.  Chu Yi opened her eyes and caught sight of Chang Nian, smiling slightly.

“Oh, Chang Nian.”

Chu Yi then took note of Chang Nian’s expression: “You don’t look very happy.  Why?”

Just the right time.

She’d sent Brother Ye off at just the right time.

The sweet, faded light of the moon gave the impression of gentle dreaminess, and the pitch-black abyss of Chu Yi’s slippery eyes was disguised by the night.

While Chang Nian, thinking of how Chang Lan had treated him, was indeed gloomy.  About to speak, he instead heard Chu Yi say: “That bell is very pretty.”

Chang Nian belatedly realized that, thanks to his depressed mood, he was still holding the Wenxian bell in his hand.

Feeling suffocated and with nowhere urgent to go, Chang Nian gave in to the urge to vent, saying spitefully: “It’s my younger sister’s bell.”

Chu Yi was disbelieving: “Younger sister?  You have a younger sister?”

Chang Nian: “……sort of.”

Weighing Chang Nian’s words and attitude, Chu Yi eventually laughed lightly: “Well, if there’s something you’re unhappy about, you can always talk to me about it.”

Stumped by Chu Yi’s words, Chang Nian narrowed his eyes: “……why should I tell you?”

Chu Yi blinked innocently: “Because we’re very alike, you and I.”

Chang Nian: “How are we alike?”

“No one else understands us,” Chu Yi’s voice was soft, her eyes hazy and lustrous, “And no one is truly our friend.”

Chang Nian was quiet.

It was……true.

As the youngest child of the Chang family, most everyone was exceptionally deferential to him.  Yet his father was particularly strict with him, while his older brother was always busy with important affairs.  Considered a lucky and privileged person, he was treated with fear and trepidation.  But that didn’t change the fact that no one actually cared whether he’d eaten well or not.  So as long as the tasks assigned by his father were completed……who would concern themselves with Chang Nian’s inner thoughts?

“There are times where I feel very lonely.”  Moving closer, Chu Yi reached out a hand and gently touched Chang Nian’s face, the moon reflected in her eyes.  “I hide so many, many things in my heart, and it gets tiring.”

""

“I think you might be like me,” Chu Yi’s eyes glowed seductively, “Hiding your feelings at the bottom of your heart.”

Chang Nian: “You think too much, I don’t……”

Chu Yi interrupted serenely: “Why not admit it?”

“We’re the same, you and I.”

“If I was……your sister, I wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

Chang Nian’s body stiffened.

He closed his eyes for a long moment, before opening them again and saying: “……I don’t have a sister.”

Chu Yi’s pupils imperceptibly shrank: “But you just said you did.”

Chang Nian: “It doesn’t matter what I said.  No one in my family acknowledges it, and I’ve never even seen her.”

“Only you are very fond of her, and……” Chu Yi sighed, “You really want to find her.”

“I do really want to……find her.”  Chang Nian bowed his head.  “But even if I do find her, what happens then?”

Chu Yi stared up at the moon, her expression unreadable despite the tiny smile on her lips: “If you could find her, you might be able to free yourself from your obsession.”

“Why care about what others think?” Chu Yi asked, “It’s not wrong to follow your own judgement.”

Considering Chu Yi’s words for a long time, Chang Nian finally responded: “……perhaps you’re right.”

He wanted to find his sister.  He didn’t want her to have no one to rely on, he didn’t want her to be a homeless wanderer.

These thoughts had always been at the back of his mind.

After all, she was kin.

“……she doesn’t have anything,” Chang Nian muttered to himself, “I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

“Sounds like she is your……biological sister?” Chu Yi’s tone was vaguely enticing, “Why doesn’t your family acknowledge her?”

“She’s my half-sister.” Feeling oddly confused, Chang Nian whispered: “My family doesn’t acknowledge her because……her mother was Qin Yue.”

Qin Yue?

More than a little surprised, Chu Yi took care to not let it show on her face: “The former leader of the Demon Sect?”

“Mmm,” Chang Nian stared dispiritedly at the bell in his hand, “Qin Yue was caught a few years ago, and she’s still in prison, but……”

“Prison?  Where?”

Chang Nian saw no reason not to tell: “Jianfeng’s mountain prison.”

Chu Yi’s eyes narrowed for a second: “Pitiful.”

Chang Nian: “At that time, my sister was still very young……”

Melancholy overwhelming him, Chang Nian kept foolishly gawking at the bell.

Chu Yi softly giggled: “You’ll find her.”

Chang Nian didn’t share Chu Yi’s confidence: “I hope so.”

Looking up at the starlit sky, Chu Yi’s smile deepened.

So it turned out……that was the person held in Jianfeng’s mountain prison.

Although she hadn’t expected that the Chang family’s ‘upright and outspoken’ patriarch had hidden such a scandal.

Committing adultery with the Demon Sect’s leader, and even having an illegitimate daughter as well.

Chu Yi’s smile turned mocking.

The secret actions of prestigious families were indeed dirty.

How revolting.

= =

The attack of the giant bats was thoroughly investigated, but nothing of consequence was found.  Xia Ge, figuring it’d had nothing to do with her personally, paid it no more attention.

Besides, lately she had other matters……keeping her busy.

The barely risen sun shone on the flowers brightly blooming around Gu Peijiu’s door, as a squinting Xia Ge sat in the Wutong tree in her own small courtyard, enjoying the first rays of morning.

The green curtain in the other’s window was pulled open.

Up on a branch, Xia Ge kept on looking, but didn’t yet see who she was hoping for.  Instead, after a long while, {heavenly punishment} unhurriedly spread itself out on the window sill like a crimson snake, soaking in the sunshine.

Sprinkled with sunlight, the silky ayara didn’t lose to the flowers in beauty.

Xia Ge: “……”  So this is how you’re going to greet me?

A couple of moments later there came the soft creak of Gu Peijiu’s door opening.

Assuming a pleasant expression, Xia Ge called from the Wutong tree: “Good morning, Senior Sister.”

Gu Peijiu, immaculately dressed in red and white, lingered by the colorful flowers on her threshold.  In the early light of dawn, her face was serene and her skin pale like snow.  Although, upon spying Xia Ge up in the tree, her brow slightly furrowed: “What are you doing up there?”

Xia Ge maintained her positive attitude: “Greetings to Senior Sister!”

Gu Peijiu: “Unnecessary.”

Pretending not to hear, Xia Ge glanced at the flowers surrounding Gu Peijiu and noted: “Senior Sister, the flowers by your door are really beautiful.”

So many flowers had been planted in Gu Peijiu’s courtyard, and now they clustered together, blooming brilliantly.  Having nothing better to say, Xia Ge asked: “Senior Sister, what’s the name of those flowers?”

The minutes stretched on, but Xia Ge didn’t receive a response.

Xia Ge looked back at Gu Peijiu again and felt a bit dazed.

The slender young lady stood in the morning sunlight, her soft black hair shining like an artist’s ink.  Her penetrating pitch-black eyes, full of infinite silence, were raised to gaze at Xia Ge.

It seemed that a long, long time passed.

It was as if, by the act of beholding her, Xia Ge had brought a celestial out of a painting and into the human world.

Finally Gu Peijiu said lowly: “Hydrangea.”

Blinking, Xia Ge regained her wits: “……are they like the embroidered ball you throw to the person you like?”

Gu Peijiu denied: “No……”

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Something round being suddenly thrown to her, Gu Peijiu caught it in one hand.  It was slightly cold to the touch, but before she could look to see what it was, Gu Peijiu heard the girl’s deadpan, yet somehow teasing voice: “Now then……I’ve thrown you my embroidered ball.  Will Senior Sister marry me?”

As Gu Peijiu stood amongst the magnificent flowers in the faint light of morning, the girl’s clear voice hit her like an unforeseen thunderbolt, making her heart skip a beat.

Staring up blankly at the girl with the smiling eyes and the sun-dyed hair, for a moment it was if Gu Peijiu had passed through the howling of countless demons, endless blood, the angry weeping of evil spirits, through the heaven’s punishing thunder, through lifetimes of waiting, through years of deep, bloodstained longing……only for this moment.

Why did just meeting feel like ten thousand years?

Xia Ge: “Senior Sister, why are you looking at me like that?  I’m joking, I’m joking.  I went to Shoufeng and picked apples before dawn.  You didn’t want the persimmons from Jianfeng, so I thought maybe you’d like the apples from Shoufeng?  I already washed it for you.”

“Really……”  Gu Peijiu lowered her eyes, unconsciously taking a bite of the apple in her hand, its sweet crispiness melting in her mouth, “Talking nonsense again.”

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