Extra 3

CQ Extra (3): Flower Thief

On the night of the capital. The boat is rustling and drums are singing. On top of the colorful boat, there was laughter and hubbub, everyone was carrying noble family members in small groups, singing softly with little care, a very lively place.

However, the voices preached outside like a boiling scene. Ningxiang, the first noble lady in the colorful boat, is sitting alone in the empty boudoir.

In the boudoir, the incense was weak and the silk curtains dropped. The faint light passed through the gauze curtain especially flirtatious.

A breeze of wind passed, shaking the thin bead curtain in front of Lady Ningxiang. Pearl and jade touched each other, crisp and tinkling.

“I’ve heard of Lady Ningxiang’s famous name. It’s a great honor for me to be able to get close today.”

With a slight footsteps coming, Lady Ningxiang smiled and didn’t answer.

“Lady Ningxiang don’t blame me for being rude. It’s the lady’s name that spreads far and wide, making the next heart with unbearable itchiness. Please forgive me if I offend you.”

The man grinned and raised his hand to open the heavy bead curtain and went straight into the inner room.

Lady Ningxiang remained silent but looked at him tenderly.

Men are amazing. Blush like drunk, eyes flow in between like a beautiful jade health halo. What a beauty!

The man’s heart fluttered, “The lady doesn’t talk. Can it be explained that the lady is waiting?”

“Yes.” Lady Ningxiang finally said. “I’ve been waiting here for so long. Just to wait for the famous flower picker in the capital named ‘Ye Miao Gu’. I didn’t expect you would come late. Is it really difficult?”

Lady Ningxiang’s voice is crisp and clear but it’s not a young woman’s voice. It sounds like a teenager’s timbre.

‘Ye Miao Gu’ was taken aback. “You...you are not Lady Ningxiang...”

‘Lady Ningxiang’ smiled, “Yes! So the fan you just got doesn’t work for me.”

After Ye Miao Gu’s shocked, he calmed down then laugh, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a lady or a childe. It’s a beauty anyway. I will not refuse you. Ha ha. Tonight is the night for you to serve this young master.”

‘Lady Ningxiang’ frowned and sighed repeatedly, “I came across another miscellaneous eater. Recently, gambling has been really bad, I hit the iron plate every time.”

Hearing this, a hearty laughter came from the shadows.

Ye Miao Gu only felt the flowers at the moment.

A handsome and upright man stood in front of him and swish open the gold-tracing folding fan and smiled triumphantly at ‘Lady Ningxiang’ and said, “Qing-er, you lost again.”

Lady Ningxiang is Murong Fangqing, a well-known ‘Holy Consort’. He curled his lip and said, “I always give you blind cats to meet dead mice.”[1]

“Hehe...” The man seemed to be in a very good mood and did not mind Murong Fangqing’s discontented tone. He just smiled, “Qing-er, you have to fulfill your promise and say that I will be on it tonight.”

“Hmph!” Murong Fangqing snorted heavily, quite unconvinced, “Don’t be complacent, your luck won’t always be so good.”

The man, the Emperor of Yu Han said, “Qing-er, why do you always refuse to admit it? I rely on strength, not luck.”

After that, he didn’t even cast a glance on Miao Gu. He folded the fan and snapped it to his face.

“What about this man?”

That look, like someone is about to meat on the chopping board.

Ye Miao Gu was shocked, knowing that he was meeting real masters. And from their words, the two men are the two masters of the high and powerful Yu Han.

It seems that he’s dead this time. At the thought of this, Ye Miao Gu clenched his teeth, lifted up his whole body’s Qi(energy flow) and swept away.

Who knows he haven’t arrived at the window, a wave of rage spread out. He suddenly felt a suffocation in his chest, his whole body’s veins rattled.

When he tried to exert himself, a mouthful of blood surged out and his body was thrown to the ground.

“You’re really in trouble.” Murong Fangqing shook his head. Looking at the Emperor, “What should we do? At this rate, we’ve captured all the thieves in the capital. Aren’t all your men going to lose their jobs?”

The Emperor pondered, “That’s true. Why don’t we change the gambling method?”

It turns out that since Murong Fangqing began to practice martial arts, his skills advanced by leaps and bounds. He was originally cleaver that’s for sure. In addition, his family’s martial arts were profound, plus with the Emperor’s advice, so within a few days he had become one of the top masters.

But since then, the Emperor’s troubles began again. Because Murong Fangqing, after enjoying the benefits of martial arts, is no longer willing to be in a disadvantageous position between the beds.

Therefore, he suggested that if the Emperor wants to overwhelm him, he must win the gambling game he set before he can make love with him.

However, whoever loses must give the winner at last.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor of course could not resist it.

Fangqing didn’t care and said coolly, “You can come to me whenever you think about it.”

The poor Emperor’s temperament was just in front of him. His beloved was so close to him yet he couldn’t touch. His heart was itching.

In the end, after a few days of cold war, the Emperor first raised the white flag and agreed to Fangqing’s unequal treaty. After his busy affairs on court, he made a bet with him. He became addicted to playing after winning every time. As soon as he was free, he pestered Fangqing to travel incognito and looked for some boundless things to gamble.

And this time it was after they came to the colorful boat that they gambled on whether the flower thief would be interested in the other party.

The Emperor obviously won.

Fangqing was quite unconvinced. He took all his Qi out on the flower thief, Ye Miao Gu. He hit him seriously with a heavy hand and threw him to the ground.

“Where are your eyes? This childe is so beautiful yes, but you should just turn your head and walk away. You dare to come forward and be frivolous. You deserve an injury.”

The Emperor laughed loudly and said, “What kind of fallacies are you doing? Qing-er, unless you throw yourself at me!”

Fangqing flattened his mouth, “You think it’s really beautiful.”

As he said this, he took advantage of the Emperor’s inattention, his figure suddenly flashed and swept away like swallows.

The Emperor laughed again, “This is always the case. Where are you going again?” After that, he used his lightness skill and followed him as fast as a meteor.

It was the twinkling stars that caused the colorful boat floating in the water waves flashes across two figures. Before people could see clearly, they had disappeared into the boundless darkness.

The next day, the flower thief Ye Miao Gu was hoisted at the capital’s gate with a red stack on his half-body.

The people who passed by were no longer surprised but shook their heads one after another. “Another one. The world is difficult. It’s not easy to be a flower thief now!”

Footnote

a metaphor meaning ‘success obtained through dumb luck’ or just ‘plainly coincidence’ (^з^)