Ten Thousand Books, But Only One You

16 Fall Like a Thunderbolt

Chapter 16: Fall Like a Thunderbolt[1]

The horse carriage was very luxurious and spacious but with three of us sitting in it, it felt slightly cramped. After Fu Wanxi's ambush earlier, Gao Zhanpeng quickly explained the situation to the princess, who graciously invited us to join in the celebration later as her guests. As I cautiously climbed into the carriage, I noticed that the maidservant who was supporting us was Li Yan. She gave me a wink before keeping the carriage steps and hopping on beside the coachman. Letting down the curtain hanging over the door, she ordered the coachman to start driving. While I was elated to see her again, I felt slightly guilty that she had to perch herself outside the carriage while we were seated comfortably inside. But when I thought about how Ruijie had to travel on foot alongside us, such thoughts of self-reproach quickly disappeared.

The lantern affixed to the roof of the moving carriage trembled overhead. Under the orange glow, Liu Mengjie gazed at us sideways with her large apricot eyes as her thin cherry lips curved upwards in a genteel smile. As she silently watched us with an enigmatic interest, Fu Wanxi was busy examining the interior of the carriage in oblivion.

Even though both Liu Mengjie and Fu Wanxi may be considered jade-like beauties, they had different personalities. From the book's characterisation of them, Liu Mengjie was more like a shengmu—an extremely virtuous and good-hearted 'saint', who would sacrifice herself for others; while Fu Wanxi could be described as a bailian hua—a "white lotus" who is silly, innocent and sweet. As the story progresses, however, Fu Wanxi would occasionally show traits of becoming a "black lotus" due to the circumstances that she was placed in.

Of course, these terms were Chinese internet slang that would not have crossed the mind of Lin Jiahe when he wrote this wuxia novel during his time. More importantly, emphasis was placed on the character development of the two male protagonists and less on the supporting female characters. Regardless, at this junction in the book, Liu Mengjie and Fu Wanxi would become bosom friends as both recognised the other to be friendly, good-natured and as having the same moral values.

"I didn't know that Imperial Guard Gao still had living relatives," Liu Mengjie was first to break the awkward silence. Her unfathomable eyes were like the surface of a calm lake in the dead of night. "To think that his younger cousin travelled all the way to the capital alone to look for him."

Seeing that Liu Mengjie was speaking to her, Fu Wanxi instantly stilled and turned her attention to the former but made no answer. Even though Fu Wanxi was able to mask her emotions, I was certain that she was flustered. Of course Gao Zhanpeng and Fu Wanxi were not biologically related. It must have been baffling when he had introduced her as such after the minor disturbance outside Prince Jing's Mansion earlier. Right now, she was likely to be contemplating about whether he had done so in order to further his disguise and hide his identity.

"So Fu-guniang and Imperial Guard Gao are really related by your maternal bloodline? Why did Fu-guniang suddenly come to the capital?"

"Junzhu, you don't have to be so formal with me. Please just call me Wanxi," Fu Wanxi replied; but before anyone could think that she was slithering out of answering the princess's questions, she turned a cryptic smile on Liu Mengjie and added: "I know that Zhanpeng-ge is not just an ordinary imperial guard, but is actually junzhu's trusted aide. In that case, surely junzhu would not doubt that Zhanpeng-ge would be lying to you? But do not worry, I only see him as an older brother figure and I'm sure he thinks of me as only a younger sister. I'm not looking for him to force him to enter into an arranged marriage with me. So my sudden appearance won't affect the dynamics of your relationship."

I watched with bated breath at the exchange before me, wishing that I could just disappear deeper and deeper into the shadow of the night. But the bright lights, the bustling streets and the cheers of celebration on the outside was a constant reminder that Fu Wanxi and I were currently in a tiger's den and a single wrong move may cause our demise.