After Becoming the Hero's Ex-fiancée

Trigger Warning: attempted sexual assault

Bloodstone (1)

In the light of the lake and the snow, the delicate girl swayed like a willow in the wind. But this ‘willow’, had the bones of dignified pine and a snow’s core. Even the plum blossom huadian between her brows seemed to be sparkling, dazzling the group of notorious dandies.

“How dare you?”

Zheng Wan’s tone was stern. “Keep in mind that my father has not yet been dismissed. Even if he has been dismissed, it won’t be difficult to implicate the Duke of Liang and drag you down along with us.”

“Oh no, I’m afraid, I’m afraid to death!”

With three bowls of huangjiu1 in his belly, the second son of the Duke of Jin had long forgotten who his parents were. He held his belly and guffawed loudly, turned his head, and asked the people around him, “Brothers, are you afraid?”

“Oh, I’m so afraid… as if!”

The people who fraternised with the incorrigible second son of the Duke of Liang were all impudently audacious and outrageously frivolous. “As the saying goes, ‘to be able to die for a peony flower, one would die as a happy and willing ghost’. After we get to taste such a stunning beauty, even if we were to die instantly, there’ll be no regrets.”

“The law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender. I don’t believe that His Royal Majesty will put us all in jail for a mere minister that he despises. Come on brothers! Let’s all do it together!”

The second son of the Duke of Jin laughed and pounced towards her, his hand outstretched. His fingers grazed the soft and thin feathered cloak; he tore it off, held it to his nose and sniffed.

“Warmer than jade, fragrant like orchids; wonderful, wonderful!”

The odious dandies encircled her and lurched forward with excitement.

Trapped like a bird in a cage, Zheng Wan raised her head in a panic, and saw that the treetops were empty. Still and empty, there was only the heavy snow above her.

It was as empty as it could be.

But Zheng Wan didn’t believe it.

She’d come here on a gamble; how could she allow herself to cower now?

Zheng Wan leapt into the lake——

“Woosh——”

A gust of wind came from nowhere, encircled her skirts and cloak, and swept her back to the shore.

Zheng Wan staggered and supported herself against the tree as she stood. Then, she saw the wind suddenly grow violent, sweeping up all the branches and vines on the ground, and forcefully pelted them down on the brazen and shameless dandies.

They were sent scurrying with their tails between their legs.

“Ghosts, there are ghosts!”

In a short while, she was the only one left in the secluded place.

The wind was still, and the clouds unmoving.

Zheng Wan smiled faintly.

She smiled, but her hands were still trembling as she struggled to tie on her feathered cloak. Her long raven hair was scattered loosely down her back. In the chaos, the bloodstone tortoiseshell zan had fallen out.

Zheng Wan used her fingers to comb her long, smooth hair, and tied it up with a handkerchief, trying to make herself look more presentable.

In the process, the disturbance caused by the wind was also smoothed out.

She had plotted to get the odious dandies drunk, lured them here, and painstakingly set the stage for this heroic rescue. The beauty has been rescued, but the hero has not shown himself. How should this scene continue?

Since the protagonist of the play wasn’t responding, then she, as the supporting character, was going to have to carry on by herself.

“Since the master is unwilling to meet, Wan’niang will have to thank you here.”

Zheng Wan faced the lake and kowtowed. The dark green cloud brocade that cost one tael of gold per foot spread on the ground like a flower in full bloom.

Cui Wang’s consciousness fell upon this delicate body for a long while, then moved away again.

The lake was quiet and the wind calm; the only movement was the relentless snowfall. In a few moments, her head was covered with snowflakes.

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Zheng Wan bowed once, twice, thrice2; as she got up, she stumbled, and had to hold on to the crooked-neck tree to steady herself.

Cui Wang only felt a shaking movement beneath him; when he looked down, he was met with a pair of eyes.

Footnotes:

1 huangjiu: 黄酒; Translated as “yellow wine”, it is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world. It’s brewed directly from grains such as rice, millet, or wheat, and its unique combination of ingredients contains a dozen of the amino acids required by the human body. Its taste is mellow and sweet.

2 bowing three times: Bowing three times is a sign of great respect to the one you bow to. Confucius believed there was a natural harmony between the body and mind and therefore, whatever actions were expressed through the body would be transferred over to the mind. Because the body is placed in a low position in the kowtow, the idea is that one will naturally convert to his or her mind a feeling of respect. What one does to oneself influences the mind. Confucian philosophy held that respect was important for a society, making bowing an important ritual.