When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 157

Volume Seven: The Years I Was a General

Love Doesn’t Stop

After all, it was a pure and quiet place of the Buddhist gate¹, and the precepts and pure rules had to be observed a bit. A small indulgence was acceptable, but it really couldn’t be too excessive, as Qinglong Temple was about to prepare for the meal.

Wen Nuan was still in men’s attire. Standing together with Xiao Chuyu, they actually had a bit of the air of being made by heaven and set by earth, a talented man and a beautiful woman.

While having the evening meal, Wen Nuan could often feel the little masters of Qinglong Temple secretly looking at Xiao Chuyu and her. Even though Qinglong Temple’s vegetarian meal was delicious to the point of making one’s hair stand on end, Wen Nuan could still perceive every little master’s small gaze, filled with curiosity and surprise.

She could understand that they were curious about Xiao Chuyu. After all, for Xiao Chuyu to become the supreme Son of Heaven² with the identity of a woman, it was only natural that she would receive some curiosity and inquiry.

But what was there to be curious about her for?

“What are you thinking about?” Wen Nuan looked at the green vegetables in her bowl that Xiao Chuyu had just picked up for her.

She suddenly realized that just now she had been extremely hungry, only focused on lowering her head to eat, and hadn’t noticed that the food in her bowl seemed to have never been empty. Every time she finished the food in her bowl, someone would again help her pick up more, so she ate without interruption and without stopping.

“Just now… was it Your Majesty who was continuously helping this guilty subject pick up food?” Although Wen Nuan was somewhat certain in her heart, she still opened her mouth to ask.

Xiao Chuyu stopped her chopsticks. “Otherwise?”

Her expression turned cold. “If you don’t want Zhen to pick up food for you, who else do you want to pick it up for you?”

“….” Wen Nuan looked at Xiao Chuyu eating inexplicable vinegar³, unable to cry or laugh. “Doesn’t Your Majesty feel that this doesn’t conform to the rules?”

“Rules?” Xiao Chuyu’s brow wrinkled. “What rules?”

Wen Nuan looked around; just now she had discovered a few more little masters secretly peeking. “For Your Majesty to pick up food for this guilty subject, a person of unclear identity, is to condescend your noble status and a loss of decorum, ah.”

“Since when would you care about this?”

“This guilty subject does not care, but this guilty subject worries it will damage Your Majesty’s reputation.”

“Zhen has no good reputation in this world,” Xiao Chuyu again picked up a piece of vegetarian chicken⁴ for Wen Nuan. “You don’t need to worry, so just eat your meal properly.”

How the people of this world judged her, how they viewed her, Xiao Chuyu naturally knew it crystal clear. They were completely dissatisfied with her, a woman, proclaiming herself emperor, their hearts criticizing and the alleys discussing⁵. All kinds of noisy words, ugly sentences, and filthy words and foul language she had heard so much that her ears were about to grow calluses. So, to speak of her reputation, it had probably long since left a stink for ten thousand years⁶ and was spat upon and rejected by ten thousand people.

Xiao Chuyu looked at Gu Wen Nuan, and laughed lightly. “If we’re talking about reputation, Zhen’s is probably not as good as that of the young and famous, illustrious in battle achievements, Gu Wen Nuan.”

“Has Your Majesty forgotten?”

“What?”

“In this world, there is no young and famous, illustrious in battle achievements Gu Wen Nuan, only the colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, committing insubordination by a subordinate against a superior, Gu Wen Nuan.”

Xiao Chuyu’s hand that was picking up food paused. In a low voice, she said, “….You are blaming Zhen, aren’t you?”

Ye Mingxiu had asked her, did Gu Wen Nuan, in the end, collude with the enemy and betray the country or not?

She did not directly answer Ye Mingxiu’s questioning, because she knew clearly in her heart that Gu Wen Nuan had not colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. All the criminal evidence was fabricated by her; it was she who demanded the hundred officials to collude with outsiders to frame Gu Wen Nuan; it was she who deliberately turned Gu Wen Nuan from the God of War General with illustrious military achievements into a traitor covered in criminal charges and spat upon and rejected by everyone.

Gu Wen Nuan indeed should blame her, and should even kill her.

“Doesn’t Your Majesty think we are very well-matched?”

Xiao Chuyu’s feathery eyelashes trembled lightly. She looked at Wen Nuan in confusion, “What?”

Wen Nuan picked up a piece of sweet lotus root⁷ for Xiao Chuyu. “Your Majesty’s reputation is in tatters, this guilty subject’s bad name is spread far and wide, and now we are like a lotus root that has broken but its fibers are still connected⁸. Mutually indebted to each other, it can actually be considered a match made in heaven, a fine marriage of gold and jade⁹.”

Xiao Chuyu was startled, then immediately laughed out loud, attracting the attention of the people around.

She did not care about the gazes and inquiries of others, interlocking her ten fingers tightly with Wen Nuan’s. “You don’t hate me?”

“I hate you, ah.”

Xiao Chuyu’s heart tightened. She said, as if lost in thought and disappointment, “…It should be so.”

They should have loved and killed each other, with love and hate difficult to distinguish.

Wen Nuan reversed her grip to hold Xiao Chuyu’s hand tightly, pulled her closer, and leaned close to her ear, giving a slyly mischievous smile. “I hate that I can’t be with you amidst red candles and warm curtains¹⁰, lingering together day and night without end, not knowing what night tonight is¹¹.”

Xiao Chuyu’s face flushed red with a whoosh, tender and beautiful to the point of dripping¹², like a ripe spring peach waiting for someone to pick and savor carefully.

Wen Nuan’s eyes were deep. She glanced upwards, looking at the golden body of the Buddha¹³ on the high platform, and silently recited in her heart: Calm heart! Calm heart!

The System complained: 【Aiyo, you still know to calm your heart, huh? Wasn’t it you who was being all lovey-dovey with the female lead by the spring just now?】

“….” Wen Nuan gave an awkward smile. “One has to give the Buddha some face, you know.”

The System tsked at her once, threw out the sentence “Blackening value decreased,” and then left in an aojiao manner¹⁴.

Xiao Chuyu’s cheeks were still rosy, but her expression was too calm. Although the crowd did not understand the mystery within it, no one dared to verify anything. They could only shift their line of sight to the “man” in front of the Female Emperor.

He with the Female Emperor was intimate in his conduct, not like a subject, not like a palace attendant.

The “man’s” mouth held a smile, his eyes were like stars. His appearance was handsome and extraordinary, his figure lean and well-defined, his temperament outstanding. He naturally possessed a clear and bright air, making people, with just a single glance, find it hard to forget this person’s voice, appearance, and smile.

Could it be the Female Emperor’s newly taken Junfei¹⁵?!

It had long been heard that Her Majesty the Female Emperor was going to open the palace gates to take Junfei. One would think a man of such excellent appearance and temperament would definitely enter Her Majesty the Female Emperor’s discerning eye and be deeply favored.

The little masters, one by one, had a tacit understanding; it was self-evident. They had clearly come to regard Gu Wen Nuan as Xiao Chuyu’s favored Junfei. After all, in the past, Emperor Chongming would also bring his favored concubines to Qinglong Temple to worship the Buddha and offer incense, and to respectfully kowtow to all Buddhas.

After the evening meal was finished, Xiao Chuyu and Ye Mingxiu went to discuss Buddhist teachings with Master Shanle to seek learning and ask about the Way. Originally, Xiao Chuyu wanted to bring Wen Nuan along, but Wen Nuan was afraid her own sins were deep and heavy and would cause impurity before the Buddha’s eyes, so she didn’t go.

Shanle heard this and said with a faint smile, “Shizhu¹⁶ has spoken too seriously. Shizhu is a person of great merit and virtue; the Buddha knows this naturally.”

Wen Nuan’s interest was piqued. She had never met Shanle, but his words seemed to have a deep meaning, ah.

“Master, you know me?”

Shanle nodded. “The young God of War, famous throughout the world, unknown to none.”

Xiao Chuyu and Ye Mingxiu exchanged a glance, their gazes reserved.

Wen Nuan smiled. “Master is unexpectedly also a person who follows their heart. This junior has been taught.”

The people of the world now probably no longer know the young God of War Gu Wen Nuan; they only know the rebellious traitor Gu Wen Nuan.

“Your Majesty and Chancellor Ye should go cultivate Buddhism with Master Shanle… yes? This guilty subject will not go over.” Wen Nuan admitted to herself that she did not have a Buddhist heart; there was no need to go looking for some sense of presence.

Xiao Chuyu grabbed Wen Nuan’s hand. “Where are you going? Zhen will have Yuan Qi accompany you.”

Shanle glanced at their clasped hands, lowered his eyes, and smiled faintly.

Ye Mingxiu looked strangely at their tightly held hands. From when they were having the vegetarian meal just now, he had felt their relationship was overly intimate. Moreover, Xiao Chuyu had actually been incessantly picking up food for Gu Wen Nuan, that gentle expression as if it were the Xiao Chuyu from three years ago. And Xiao Chuyu’s inexplicable blush also made him feel it was novel, as well as Gu Wen Nuan’s mischievous smile at the corner of her mouth when she saw Xiao Chuyu blush. Everything everywhere seemed off.

Some things really cannot be pondered over in detail, because the more you ponder, the more inexplicable you will find it.

Ye Mingxiu looked at the two of them, appearing reluctant to part. His brow was deeply furrowed, and a heavy doubt and confusion appeared in his eyes. Until Gu Wen Nuan left, Xiao Chuyu was still looking at Gu Wen Nuan’s back, unwilling to retract her gaze for a long, long time.

“Your Majesty and Little General Gu’s relationship seems… very good?”

Ye Mingxiu did not know what words to use to describe the strange state of interaction between these two people.

Xiao Chuyu smiled faintly. “Zhen and her relationship has always been very good.”

“….”

If Ye Mingxiu didn’t still remember that Xiao Chuyu was going to execute Gu Wen Nuan after autumn, and still remember learning from Xiao Chuyu’s own mouth the fact that Gu Wen Nuan had murdered the former Empress, he almost would have believed this ghost talk.

His voice rose. “Is Your Majesty joking with this humble subject?”

Xiao Chuyu naturally understood Ye Mingxiu’s suspicion. She developed a bit of a wicked sense of humor. Looking at Ye Mingxiu’s completely bewildered appearance, she wanted to tease him, and deliberately said, “Do you know why Zhen released Gu Wen Nuan from the zhaoyu (imperial prison) and confined her in Zhongming Hall?”

Ye Mingxiu had also thought about the twists and turns within this. According to his speculation, “Your Majesty wants to personally guard Gu Wen Nuan, to prevent her from being broken out of prison and escaping again?”

In the capital city, there were still many people who had once received Gu Wen Nuan’s care, and moreover, Gu Wen Nuan’s martial arts were formidable. If someone were to coordinate with her from the inside and outside¹⁷, the zhaoyu would probably not be able to hold her.

“What you said is also correct, but you haven’t gotten to the main point.”

“The main point?” Ye Mingxiu said doubtfully, “What main point?”

Could it be that Xiao Chuyu confining Gu Wen Nuan in Zhongming Hall still had another purpose?

“Does Chancellor Ye know of hiding Jiao in a golden house¹⁸?”

Ye Mingxiu paused. “….Uh, what does this have to do with Your Majesty guarding Gu Wen Nuan…..”

He looked at Xiao Chuyu’s pleased and contented expression and realized in horror a very serious and very real idea.

Xiao Chuyu saw Ye Mingxiu’s frightened expression as if he’d been struck by lightning, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Chancellor Ye, what is this expression? It’s as if you’ve been frightened.”

“Your… Your Majesty, you and… Gu… Gu Wen Nuan…”

A single sentence was spoken stutteringly by Ye Mingxiu.

From this, it could be seen that this sentence of hers had made the Chancellor Ye, who was originally steady as Mount Tai and unperturbed in the face of change, become flustered and at a loss.

His mind was now very chaotic, and the words he spoke were also very chaotic. “You and Gu Wen Nuan aren’t… Didn’t Gu Wen Nuan kill… What on earth is with you and her…..”

A few days ago, Xiao Chuyu had even told him that Gu Wen Nuan had killed Empress Xianren, so how could she suddenly be ‘hiding Jiao in a golden house’ today?

When on earth did these two people confide their feelings to each other?

Why hadn’t he noticed at all that the relationship between the two had changed?

Ye Mingxiu was now trapped in a vortex of self-doubt. He was truly frightened by the matter of Xiao Chuyu and Gu Wen Nuan being together.

“Chancellor Ye,” Xiao Chuyu naturally knew what Ye Mingxiu wanted to say. She was also clear about what Ye Mingxiu was worried about and what he was puzzled by.

She smiled calmly, her smile revealing a sense of relief. “Zhen will kill her, but… I also love her.”

The one who wants to kill Gu Wen Nuan is the Female Emperor of Ming’an Country, the daughter of Empress Xianren. But the one who loves her to the point of madness, loves her to the point of being unable to extricate herself, is Xiao Chuyu.

For years, it was unknown from where the love began. Now it is discovered, the love has long since penetrated deep into the bone marrow.

A gust of mountain wind blew over, messing up the flower petals on the branches, and also messing up the hearts of people.

Xiao Chuyu followed Master Shanle into the Buddhist cultivation hall, leaving only Ye Mingxiu alone, disheveled in the wind¹⁹. She felt like she was a naughty child who had done something bad and was still pleased with herself.

She hooked the corners of her mouth into a smile, took the osmanthus petal that had been blown onto her shoulder and held it in her palm. The gentle breeze was not dry, yet it also blew the petal far away. She thought to herself, I wonder if this flower can be blown to Wen Nuan’s side, to say for her… I love you.

The wind has not stopped, love does not stop.

The wind stops, it also does not stop.

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