Forbidden to Bully the Storybook’s Heroine – Chapter 30

In a Dream

Jiang Yao looked at her eyes. Inside them, a light like sparkling stars quietly hid a trace of expectation.

What was she expecting?

On the bustling Flower Street¹, one person stood like a fiery flame, the other elegant and otherworldly. Standing opposite each other, Jiang Yao inexplicably reached out and touched the corner of Song Muyun’s eye.

A strange emotion surged in her heart. After a long moment, she lowered her head, seemingly a bit embarrassed, and her voice softened by two degrees. “Yes, I do feel some heartache for you.”

With her head lowered, she did not see how happy Song Muyun was the moment she admitted it. Her eyes crinkled, and the corners of her lips unconsciously lifted high. A moment later, as if controlling herself, she reined it in and turned her head to look elsewhere. The lantern’s handle was long, and as she held it, her gaze happened to fall upon the exquisite and beautiful lantern. So, she spoke in a soft voice, “Thank you for the lantern you gave me. It’s very beautiful. I like it very much.” Her words carried a gentle smile.

The girl who had been unhappy and on the verge of tears just moments before was now inexplicably happy again, just because she had said her heart ached for her.

Jiang Yao guessed that it was probably because the Song family had met with disaster and she had suffered for so long without anyone to feel heartache for her, that she would react this way to a single sentence.

A faint heartache welled up in her own heart. Song Muyun held the lantern in one hand, while her other was held by Jiang Yao. It was as if the sound of her own drumming heartbeat was in her ears. The night wind blew past the woman’s temples, and two strands of black silk rose with the breeze, lightly brushing against the woman’s flawless face.

She suddenly pressed forward, wrapped her arms around Song Muyun’s waist, and nestled the other woman into her embrace. One hand rested against the soft, downy bun at the back of her head as she coaxed, “From now on, I will be here to cherish you. I will always be by your side.”

Until I choose a good husband for you, marry you off to him, until someone is there to protect you in my stead.

Jiang Yao silently completed the sentence in her heart.

Caught off guard by the embrace, Song Muyun’s heart throbbed unceasingly at these words, fast, so fast. No one had ever promised to always be by her side, and very few people had ever felt heartache for her.

The Song family’s customs were strict. Both her father and mother were a stern father and a stern mother; such words would naturally never come from their mouths.

“Thank you, for protecting me.”

The little fairy in the long white dress seemed to have a somewhat complicated emotion in her eyes.

Jiang Yao could not understand it, so she did not dwell on it. She pressed her cheek against Song Muyun’s still slightly damp one, rubbing away all the moisture. Although a beauty in tears was an extremely beautiful sight, if she could choose, she would rather Song Muyun be happy and not cry. For a person like a soul of snow and shattered jade, her crying was especially heart-wrenching. Just looking at her, Jiang Yao felt she could not bear it.

Jiang Yao took Song Muyun’s hand and started walking back, asking as she went, “Why did you suddenly start crying just now?”

Realizing it after the fact, Song Muyun’s cheeks flushed with shame. “I… I was crying?”

She buried her head deep, as if she did not want to admit it.

Jiang Yao didn’t understand, but stated with certainty, “You were. I even wiped your tears for you. You scared me to death!”

Song Muyun’s face grew redder, and her fingers twisted together. She was, after all, a young lady. It was the first time she had cried in front of someone else, and she was very embarrassed.

“I just felt that you are too good to me. No one has ever been this good to me before.”

Song Muyun lowered her head, the darkness of the night doing a good job of hiding the blush on her face and the shyness in her eyes.

Even though she intentionally hid herself, making her expression hard to see, Jiang Yao could hear a charm in that sentence that was different from her usual self.

The beauty who was usually so pure and cold, at this moment, seemed like melting ice and snow, leaving only a soft sweetness.

Jiang Yao’s heart softened. She squeezed Song Muyun’s hand a little tighter and said reassuringly, “Rest assured, in the future, besides me, there will be others who will treat you well.”

She would definitely find the best possible man for Song Muyun, one who would treat her well every day and coax her into happiness.

Hearing this, the smile at the corners of Song Muyun’s lips faded bit by bit, and she fell silent.

It was not until Jiang Yao had escorted her to the main gate of Yueshang House that she spoke in a soft tone, “Go back and rest well. I’ll come see you again tomorrow, hmm?”

Although Song Muyun felt an inexplicable displeasure in her heart because of Jiang Yao’s earlier words, she would not show her a sour face. She treated Jiang Yao differently. Jiang Yao was good to her, so she wished for nothing more than to give all her tenderness to Jiang Yao; she couldn’t bear to show her even a hint of a cold face.

Suppressing her unhappy feelings, Song Muyun nodded and said with concern, “Be careful on your way.”

Only after pushing the other woman inside did Jiang Yao turn to leave.

Song Muyun stood inside the gate, gazing at her departing back, her eyes filled with a tenderness even she herself was unaware of. She waited until the figure had walked further and further away and gradually disappeared from sight before she lowered her head, preparing to go back.

However, just as she reached the rear courtyard, a pair of silver-white boots appeared before her.

Song Muyun stood still, her expression showing no surprise.

“Muyun pays respects to the Seventh Prince.”

A venomous snake like the Seventh Prince, whom you couldn’t shake off once you ran into him—she would not be surprised to see him appear at any time.

“Did you ask Jiang Yao to come save you? Who would have thought, Song Muyun, that even after falling this far, you could still latch onto someone else!”

His words were steeped in utter iciness.

Song Muyun saluted but did not speak. Unlike the gentle and sweet demeanor she had around Jiang Yao, in front of Murong Qing, she was always cold and indifferent.

Murong Qing circled Song Muyun twice, sizing her up and down with an unsettling gaze. The venomous resentment in his eyes deepened, and he suddenly sneered, “You don’t truly believe Jiang Yao likes you, do you? Her nature is to delight in the new and detest the old. Right now, she’s only protecting you because she finds you novel. When she tires of you one day, she will cast you aside like an old piece of clothing. When that time comes, what do you think you’ll do?”

Murong Qing leaned close to Song Muyun’s ear to speak, the corners of his mouth hooking into a wicked, wanton arc.

Song Muyun found him nauseating. Her expression grew colder still, and she was unwilling to even spare Murong Qing a glance. “That is a matter between myself and Jiang Yao. I shall not trouble the Seventh Prince to worry about it.”

“Jiang Yao? You say her name with such intimacy. Has she touched you?”

Having grown up in the imperial family, Murong Qing had seen too many dark and private affairs. He was inclined to think the worst of everything. If she hadn’t touched Song Muyun, why would she protect her, even to the point of opposing him? She must have been ‘served’ very well!

The more he speculated, the more his anger blazed, and he wished he could immediately kill Jiang Yao for daring to touch his property!

Song Muyun’s heart trembled, but she still had no desire to pay him any mind. “It has nothing to do with you, Seventh Prince.”

No denial…

Her every action expressed her closeness to Jiang Yao and her distant strangeness toward him! Raging flames burned in Murong Qing’s eyes, and he wished he could unleash them with a whip right then and there!

“Song Muyun, I will make you regret your choice.”

His eyes were filled with gloom and viciousness. The more pained his heart felt, the more ruthless the words that came from his mouth became.

Murong Qing prided himself on his status, and he was a man; following Jiang Yao, Song Muyun couldn’t even have a proper status. He thought he was the best choice for the Song Muyun who had now fallen into the mire, but he never expected that she would rather be gentle and sweet to Jiang Yao while refusing to give him so much as a pleasant look!

He did not know where things had gone wrong. He could only think that once he became Crown Prince, once the Jiang family fell, Song Muyun would know just how laughable her choice had been.

She would come back and beg him. He would make her come back and beg him.

Song Muyun completely ignored his secret madness. She simply bent her body in a salute and said, “If the Seventh Prince has no other business, Muyun will take her leave.”

With that, Song Muyun straightened up and, step by step, resolutely walked away from him, without even a single glance back.

She could feel the dark gaze behind her, following her like a shadow. So, the moment she returned to her room, she quickly bolted the doors and windows, lest Murong Qing break in.

As for the things Murong Qing said… she didn’t believe a single word of it!

Jiang Yao was not that kind of person. What did Murong Qing know? He had never even spent any time with Jiang Yao. Jiang Yao hated him, so he tried to use words to slander her. Truly the acts of a petty man!

Shameless and disgusting!

Song Muyun cursed Murong Qing thoroughly. Feeling a bit tired, she returned to her bed. Without even bathing, she removed her outer robe, covered herself with the quilt, and fell into a deep sleep.

Night enveloped the rear courtyard of Yueshang House. The girls and young men² who were not receiving guests had long since gone to rest. All around was silent and still.

“Murong Qing! You deceived me, you hurt me, you lied to me! In this lifetime, I will never forgive you—”

In a pitch-black dungeon, a woman was tied to a stake, her body covered in whip marks. The voice that she roared was filled with despair.

She raised her head. On a face of city-toppling, nation-ruining beauty was an intense hatred never seen before. That was… me?

The corner of a bright yellow hem appeared in her line of sight. Looking up, she saw it was Murong Qing, dressed in a dragon robe³. His expression was even more ruthless, and his eerie, sinister voice sounded, “Bring the whip.”

Song Muyun awoke with a start from the dream, her heart pounding violently, her eyes unconsciously wide.

The dripping dungeon from the dream, dark, damp, and oppressive, left her unable to breathe.

The despair from the dream enveloped her heart, making her feel a baseless sense of despair as well.

But clearly… she had never been in a dungeon, and it was even more impossible for Murong Qing to be wearing a dragon robe!

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The author has something to say:

Yaoyao really doesn’t know how to talk, sooner or later she’ll get beaten up by her wife!

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