Chapter 18

Xie Tinglan is messing with me!

Ye Rui stormed out of Xie Tinglan’s courtyard in a huff. Nothing had happened last night at all; Xie Tinglan had only been bluffing her just now, and she’d actually fallen for the provocation!

She should never have tried to go head-to-head with Xie Tinglan. What was the point? She didn’t get any benefit out of it at all!

Just as she stepped out of the courtyard, Ri Xi came toward her from the front, carrying a long wooden box in her hands. “I was just looking for you.”

“What is it?”

Ye Rui’s gaze landed on the exquisite long box. Her first thought was that it must be worth a fortune; the surface had been polished smooth, and the carved python on it looked so lifelike that whatever was inside had to be even more extraordinary.

“This is the reward you won from the match.”

At that, Ye Rui finally remembered. Her ears warmed. Just now, because of Xie Tinglan’s words—“You could be a little bolder, little coward”—Ye Rui had fled in defeat and completely forgotten about the competition reward.

She took the long box from Ri Xi. It wasn’t heavy, and a faint scent of wood drifted up from it. Curious, she shot Xie Tinglan a look and asked, “Ri Xi, what’s in here?”

“Open it and you’ll know.”

Ye Rui set the long box on the courtyard table, unlocked the small latch, and opened it. Inside was a long bow, its entire body gleaming with a pale gold and blackwood sheen. The curves of the bow limbs were soft as a crescent moon, the bowstring thin as silver thread, humming faintly when drawn.

Ye Rui held the bow in her hands. The grip was a little narrow, suited to a woman’s slender hands, and the bow itself was light; in the hand, it seemed to weigh about three jin, making it easy to handle.

The moment Ye Rui saw it, she fell in love with it. The width of the grip was perfect, light and slender, as though it had been made to measure for her.

“This is the Flowing Shadow Longbow. The materials are all tough and resistant to moisture. For example, the limbs are built from the core of Yushan green bamboo, inlaid with silk-wrapped dragonhide; the string is made from gold crocodile tendon, resilient and not easy to snap.”

Ye Rui didn’t understand the materials Ri Xi listed, but they sounded incredibly impressive and must be very valuable. She tried drawing it; it did require some strength, but it was still within her ability.

“The draw strength is six shi. By force alone, it’s at the level of a superior military bow; you’ll need to train your strength more before you can draw it to full span.”

Looking at the Flowing Shadow Longbow in Ye Rui’s hands, Ri Xi seemed to think of something and smiled.

“You... you all prepared this bow a long time ago?”

A bold guess suddenly struck Ye Rui. If this bow had been prepared long ago, then that meant...

“It was finished and delivered to the residence this morning.”

Ri Xi told her truthfully, then added, “You may take some arrows from the storeroom for backup. Here is the token.”

Ri Xi placed a small golden token into Ye Rui’s hand. The character “Rui” was engraved on it, and Ye Rui recognized it; Xie Tinglan had taught her how to write her own name.

It was actually her own exclusive token.

“As long as you present the token, you may take any first-tier weapons from the storeroom at will.”

Ye Rui heard her out, but there was still one question she couldn’t shake from her mind. She caught Ri Xi and asked, “Ri Xi, Xie... she prepared this longbow a long time ago. Wasn’t she afraid I’d lose?”

Ri Xi was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “My lady never thought you would lose.”

“She’s more confident in me than I am?”

Ri Xi did not answer this time. She only gave Ye Rui a smile and said, “Don’t disappoint my lady.”

Ri Xi soon went back to work, and Ye Rui hurriedly carried the longbow back to her room. Stroking the bow’s body, she still felt a little unreal. Had Xie Tinglan even considered that if she lost, the bow could just be given to someone else and wouldn’t go to waste?

The thought had barely formed when Ye Rui noticed a character carved on the bow limb; it was her own name!

Good heavens, how could she be even more confident than I am? Does she even have a System too?!

Hu Tu: 【Nope! On this point, I can be sure!】

Ye Rui: 【Thanks so much.】

Hu Tu: 【You’re welcome!】

Ye Rui rolled her eyes, then picked up the Flowing Shadow Longbow again to play with it. After trying the string, she found that she really couldn’t draw it all the way; at most, she could manage a half-draw.

Hu Tu: 【I have a side quest here that increases strength by ten points. Do you want to do it?】

Ye Rui: 【What? Tell me!】

Ye Rui grew excited. If things kept going like this, she might really become some martial arts master one day. She hadn’t seen Silver Moon’s martial arts yet, but Huan Jing’s ghostlike footwork had already convinced Ye Rui that this world definitely had a “martial world.”

Hu Tu: 【Go to the small hunt with Xie Tinglan and win first place. If you fail, ten strength points will be deducted.】

Ye Rui agreed immediately after hearing that. Right now she was like someone with bloodshot eyes; even she was a little scared of how hard she was pushing herself.

Then Ye Rui asked Hu Tu to list all of her current stats. She wanted to see what her ability values looked like.

Strength: 30

Agility: 45

Endurance: 45

Archery: Advanced

Swordsmanship: -

Blade Arts: -

Spear Arts: -

Fist and Palm Techniques: -

After these numbers were laid out, Ye Rui felt that although life was being reduced to data, it wasn’t completely reducible to data. There were many abilities that couldn’t be quantified, such as her intelligence and comprehension.

Over the next few days, Ye Rui was still dragged into training by Silver Moon. Probably even Silver Moon hadn’t expected Ye Rui’s progress to be this fast; in just one short month after entering the residence, she had already solidified her fundamentals.

So much so that every time Silver Moon watched Ye Rui holding a horse stance, she couldn’t help admiring Xie Tinglan’s judgment. This person’s aptitude really was far better than many others’.

Of course, Silver Moon would never know how many times Ye Rui had privately cursed her as a devil of a trainer.

Later, Silver Moon began teaching Ye Rui some basic fist techniques for self-defense. If used in actual combat, they were still far from enough.

Ye Rui did not neglect reading and writing either. Every day at noon, she would go to Xie Tinglan’s study to practice calligraphy. Today, she finally heard the guards talking about the small hunt. It would be held at a hunting ground on Yushan; it was a summer hunt, an event for noble families and aristocrats, and she heard that the Empress, Helian Shaohua, would be going as well.

Ye Rui sneakily glanced several times at Xie Tinglan, who was reading memorials and reviewing official documents. To be honest, it was only after coming to the study that she truly felt Xie Tinglan was the Prime Minister.

Piles of official papers filled half the desk. Just looking at the workload made Ye Rui want to faint; she had no idea how this person managed to read through them one by one. Most of the time, Xie Tinglan read in silence, occasionally furrowing her brow or sighing, though Ye Rui had also heard her mutter a low “trash” once. It seemed that wage slaves were the same no matter the era or dynasty; there was no such thing as emotional stability at all.

“Today you’ve looked at me several times. Why is that?”

Xie Tinglan slowly set down the wolf-hair brush in her hand and turned to look at Ye Rui, who had been sneaking around like a thief. Caught red-handed, Ye Rui didn’t panic. She just gave a dry laugh. “I heard you’re going to the summer hunt?”

“Mm.”

The moment Xie Tinglan heard that, she knew what Ye Rui wanted. Still, her expression didn’t change, and she patiently waited for Ye Rui to continue.

“Can I go too?”

At the end of the day, Ye Rui was a hunter. How could she not be included in something like a summer hunt?

Xie Tinglan was not surprised, but she still raised a brow, as though she hadn’t expected Ye Rui to say that. “You can. Beg me.”

Ye Rui: “...”

Xie Tinglan rested her head on one hand and looked at Ye Rui leisurely, her eyes curved with a foxlike smile. Today she wore a moon-white robe, her black hair threaded with silver strands loosely tied back. With her head tilted and that smile, loose strands of hair draped down carelessly; the allure was almost effortless.

Ye Rui’s heartstrings were tugged by that smile, but if she looked away, she’d only feel even more guilty. So she held back the rapid beating of her heart and kept staring at Xie Tinglan. “I...”

Ye Rui didn’t want to beg anyone, but those ten strength points were just too important.

“Mm-hm?”

Xie Tinglan gave a lazy hum through her nose. Ye Rui nearly broke out in goosebumps all over; it was tingling and numb, like a current had run through her body. She had feelings for Xie Tinglan; Xie Tinglan kept teasing her like this, and Ye Rui really found it hard to hold herself back. Yet she had to.

She didn’t know what Xie Tinglan was thinking; she couldn’t rush headlong into an ambiguous flirtation with no clear meaning.

“How do you want me to beg you?”

Ye Rui had been born with a rebellious streak and a stubborn spine; she really had never begged anyone aloud. No matter how much she longed for something, she had never spoken up. It was as if the moment she opened her mouth, all her pride would be shattered to pieces, and then her mother would sneer at her desires again.

Yes, she still remembered that memory. She had once asked her mother whether she could spend just one birthday with her.

To that person, it seemed like the biggest joke in the world; even that sarcastic laugh had become the gray stain in Ye Rui’s otherwise hope-filled world.

Xie Tinglan beckoned Ye Rui over. Her slender fingers moved through the air, seeming to carry a trace of ink fragrance. Ye Rui leaned in, and Xie Tinglan’s hand covered her face. Her cool fingertips gently stroked Ye Rui’s cheek, as though petting a piece of fine jade.

Xie Tinglan thought to herself that this person had already had fair skin to begin with; after being raised in the Xie residence for a month, her complexion had somehow become even fairer. Her gaze lingered on Ye Rui’s face until Ye Rui finally blurted out, “Have you had enough?”

After hearing that, Xie Tinglan not only failed to withdraw her gaze, she looked at Ye Rui with even less innocent intent. “Last time, I don’t know who it was that kissed my cheek.”

At the mention of that matter, Ye Rui immediately shrank back, avoiding Xie Tinglan’s touch as she said righteously, “You clearly tricked me!”

“It was you who wanted to do that in the first place.”

“I didn’t!”

“Making excuses.”

Seeing Ye Rui’s face turn red, Xie Tinglan couldn’t help laughing from the heart. The more she laughed, the redder Ye Rui’s face became. Only after a while did she finally rein in her smile. “Ye Rui, is it really that hard for you to soften a little?”

“Hard.”

Ye Rui answered without hesitation. Seeing the helplessness on Xie Tinglan’s face, she added, “But this time I really do want to go.”

“When you have to ask someone for something, you should know how to be both hard and soft in measure. Not everyone is as easy to talk to as I am.”

You? Easy to talk to?!

“This is something you have to learn.”

After saying that, Xie Tinglan considered it for a moment, then smiled. “Call me sister, and I’ll take you.”

Ye Rui: “...”

Hu Tu: 【Say it!! Otherwise, ten strength points get deducted!】

Ye Rui clenched her teeth, almost biting through her back molars before she finally made up her mind. She lifted her eyes and met the sly light in Xie Tinglan’s beautiful gaze. Her red lips parted...

“Sister...”

Author’s Note:

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Here I am~ There’ll be more tomorrow too~ [dog head][dog head]