Chapter 76 Joy

Deathly stillness atmosphere filled the air, making the corners of this place seemed to be divided into two halves, one half was in full bloom of spring and full of sunshine; the other half was in depth of winter, the cold wind was blowing, and Hunnar curled up in the ice and snow cellar, like a wounded beast, alone, with no way out.

He was a soldier, walking, sitting, and lying with an air of valiant and uncommon spirit, but now he hang his head low, his shoulders slumped, and his back hunched, looking tired and pitiful. Looking at his appearance, Guan Suyi felt a dull pain in her heart for some reason, and she felt uneasy. The maternal love that could only be stimulated by facing Mu Mu came like a surging flood.

She wanted to open her mouth to comfort him, but the topic just now was also a taboo in her heart. The pain she thought had long forgotten was actually buried deep in her heart, just it had never been provoked. A wave of resentment collided, stirred, and boiled in her chest, but she couldn’t do anything to her former enemy, because now she not only had to take care of her own reputation, but also had to maintain the official reputation of her grandfather and father. How difficult it was for them to get to today, only she who had experienced the previous life could understand.

Have a clear conscience! These four words were so easy to says, but they were made with tears and blood! She put her hand on her forehead, her face full of forbearance and blankness, she could neither comfort herself nor others, but she couldn’t bear to leave this lone wolf here, after a moment of thought, she changed the subject and said, “Last time you wrote to ask for advice, I have given the answer, but this time I’m the one that have a question.”

Emperor Sheng Yuan was always willing to answer Madam’s question, and immediately broke free from the unbearable past, and said solemnly, “Madam, please tell me, naturally I will tell you anything I know.”

Guan Suyi thought for a while and said, “How did the red coral tree of the Ye family shattered? I have inquired about this repeatedly before, and I also asked my grandfather and father to ask the official in the Commandant of Justice, and asked a certain madam who was present at the scene to draw map and described the process in detail, but still could not find any flaws. More than 20 servants in their prime to keep guard, more than 40 pairs of eyes, stared without any gap, no one approached, and no one opened the box. And it’s huge and hard, but it was silently smashed into powder, which is so mysterious even ghosts cannot guess. I thought about it for many days, but  still have no solution.

She swiped back and forth on the stone table with her pinkish crystal fingertip, sketching out a map of the crime scene with just a few strokes, and sighed, “If I can’t get an answer, every time I think about it, I will toss and turn and have sleepless nights, and ask Hunnar to please save me.”

Emperor Sheng Yuan stared at Madam’s furrowed eyebrows and confused face, only then found out that there were also problems in the world that she couldn’t figure out. However, instead of detracting from her charm, it added a bit of cuteness. On second thought, she was only eighteen years old this year, just like that tender peach and plum’s branches that was flourishing in the spring, in one’s prime time. Originally she should have many insignificant worries, naughtily throwing tantrum and speak angrily, and not the kind of restraint and cautious attitude like she shown all the time.

She was the jewel in the palm of Emperor Teacher and Chief of Ceremonies. Although her family education was strict, she should never depressed to this point. Her changes were all honed by the Zhao and Ye families bit by bit, forced by her husband and stepchildren again and again. She should have left unsolved puzzles to others as she did now, and then wait in peace…

Emperor Sheng Yuan suddenly didn’t dare to look at her clear eyes, lest the mistakes and stupidity he had committed would be seen by her, he slowly took off the blood jade thumb ring he had worn all year round, and said in a warm voice, “It’s a coincidence, if Madam asks others, it will certainly incomprehensible, but if it asked to me it was the right question. Please ask Madam to find a box, regardless of the material.”

“Do you want to show me?” Guan Suyi waved at Jinzi, “Go find a box.”

Jinzi glanced at blood jade thumb ring, feeling her heart throbbing. It was the spoils of war that His Majesty took off from the Emperor of Persia’s finger after he killed him with his own hand. It was once a very precious treasure, when encountering difficult things, he always like to rub it to seek peace. How could he be willing to destroy it this time? His Majesty is too obsess!

Aware of the extraordinary nature of the blood jade thumb ring, Guan Suyi hurriedly stopped him, “If I’m not mistaken, later it will shatter into powder like the red coral? Such a bright and pure blood jade is bound to be priceless, you are willing, but I am not, so find something else to replace it.” Then she took off a jade pendant from her waist and handed it over, “Use this.”

“I’m even more reluctant to use Madam’s things.” Emperor Sheng Yuan pushed the jade pendant to the table, thought about it, and then picked up a stone, “Then use it. I thought this blood jade was the closest in color to red coral, and the texture was the same, so that the madam can see it more clearly.”

“It’s the same with anything, I just want to know the process.” Because of Hunnar’s frankness, Guan Suyi finally smiled.

The haze in Emperor Sheng Yuan’s heart also dissipated a lot, and there was a hint of tenderness in the black and blue eyes.

While talking, Jinzi came over with a food box and said politely, “Madam, this servant asked for some refreshments and conveniently got a food box. What do you think?”

“It’s okay, bring it here.” Emperor Sheng Yuan took the food box and threw the stone into it.

“Wait, I have to check it.” Guan Suyi smiled slyly, picked up the stone and looked at it, tried to break it, and knocked it lightly on the edge of the table, listening to the crisp sound of the hard object, she nodded with satisfaction, “Yes, it’s really a stone, not a fake made from dough.”

It was the first time that Emperor Sheng Yuan was questioned to his face. Not only did he not feel angry, instead he was delighted like his heart had been tickled. Madam was also has some naughty moment, this kind of her, afraid even Zhao Luli have not seen it, right?

“Do you want to check the food box too, Madam?” His voice was full of smiles.

“Of course I will.” Guan Suyi had already pulled the food box in front of her, and kept tapping with her fingers to see if there was an inner-layer to cheat people, and explained kindly, “Have you ever seen a wandering entertainer’s magic trick? The first time I saw them when I was eight, I was really amazed that I spent several months researching their mechanisms, and finally cracked them one by one. If you are trying to fool me, there must be an inner layer in this food box, and the trigger is on the handle, turning it left and right to display different layers, one layer fill with the stone, the other layer is with crushed stones. You can let me see which layer you want to show, so you can crush the stone and restore it, which is an amazing ghostly trick. The red coral of the Ye family, I guess it should not be broken, but was replaced by someone, am I right?”

As she spoke, she checked, and after a while said in amazement, “How can there be no inner layer mechanism?”

Seeing Madam’s frustrated expression, Emperor Sheng Yuan was finally completely happy, laughing loudly while pulling the box, “Turns out Madam can also guessed wrong, this situation is really rare.”

Guan Suyi still didn’t give up. After checking the box, she bent down to check the stone table, pounding it up and down, left and right. Her bright white cheeks were flushed, and there were even beads of sweat on the tip of her nose, which shone brightly under the sunlight, showing a little bit of childishness and loveliness. Looking like this, she finally revealed her peach and plum’s age, truly adorable.

Emperor Sheng Yuan’s eyes lingered for a long time, and when sat down and frowned, with great difficulty he moved his gaze, and properly collected the desire and admiration in his eyes.

“Is there really no mechanism? You didn’t dig a secret passage in the ground where the coral was placed?” Guan Suyi was puzzled, and even more curious about the truth.

Facing her bright star-like eyes, Emperor Sheng Yuan’s ears slowly turned red, and said softly, “There is no mechanism, there is no smokescreen, and there is no secret passage. Madam, if you want to know the truth, just watch what I do.” He threw the stone into the box, closed the lid, pressed down slightly with his palm, then in a flash he said, “Alright, Madam, open the box and take a look.”

Guan Suyi hurriedly opened the box, only to see that the rock, which was still extremely hard just now, had turned into a pile of powder, and what the mystery hidden inside, even if she watched a thousand times it would be useless, she couldn’t help but stunned.

“How could it be? How did you do it?” Not caring about the difference between men and women, she pulled over Hunnar’s palm to check it over and over again.

Madam’s fingertips were thin and white, her nails were round and beautiful, and the inside was crystal clear, although she had developed a few thin calluses due to practicing calligraphy, it could cause bursts of itching when scratching the skin, which made people feel even more unbearable. Not only did Emperor Sheng Yuan have hot ears, but even his bronze-colored face was a little flushed, his black and blue eyes stared at the top of Madam’s hair without blinking, as if he had become stupid. Only need a slight grip and a gentle pull, he could hug this person in his arms and hold her firmly, but he couldn’t take a step beyond the thunder pool*dare not go one step beyond the prescribed limit, because he knew what kind of person could be despised, and what kind of person even the slightest grievance could not bear to give.

Madam was the latter. He couldn’t stand letting her suffer a little grievance, and he couldn’t stand her frowned brows. But he couldn’t stand it, but others showed no pity, not only she suffer humiliation, but she also frowned all day long. How painful and distressed he was now, how remorseful and self-blame, but all to no avail…

Seeing Madam raised her head, he immediately covered his gloomy expression and forced a smile.

Guan Suyi was eager to know the answer, so did not notice his abnormality, and asked, “How did you do it? Tell me now!”

“Madam only studies learning and doesn’t know anything about the methods of warriors. Otherwise, you would have solved the riddle by yourself. There is a martial art in the world called Yinzhang (seal palm), it’s interpreted as fighting cattle across the mountain*legendary chinese martial arts, it is said that this kung fu can be used to strike people with fists and palms at a distance and knock them down, just with deep internal strength one can make the outer layer undamaged but injured the internal organs, or skip over the former to injured the latter, to catch enemy off guard with surprise attack. The red coral was shattered with this trick. When it revealed like this it’s really not worth mentioning.

Guan Suyi suddenly realized, stood up and walked around Hunnar, sighing, “How can you say it’s not worth mentioning? I’ve never heard of such method, it’s really eye-opening today! According to you, you are also a master of this inner martial art? How do you compare to the one who broke the red coral?”

Jinzi proudly raised her chest and said in her heart: Although the red coral was broken by leader, but leader’s martial arts are still far worse than His Majesty!

On the other side, Emperor Sheng Yuan also raised his chest and said proudly, “Compared with me, his skills are far behind. If Madam has an errand  in the future, just order, I will try my best to do it for you. Although I’m a rough person, hasn’t drink a lot ink, but when it come to force, I can sweep the world. As long as Madam open your mouth, there is absolutely nothing that I can’t do.”

Guan Suyi pressed her index finger to her lips, and smiled, “There is nothing in the world that you can’t do, so where do you put this place here? Shh, just say this to me, don’t let outsiders hear it. I know that you are unruly and bold, but when you’re on errands around the powerful, you should be careful.”

Emperor Sheng Yuan’s heart felt warm, and after he had received the earnest advice from madam, and shared this little secret with her, those unbearable memories finally stopped looming, but were replaced by infinite joy.

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