Chapter Eighteen: The Story of Ye Wangchu

  In the country of Zixuan, every month has its own festivals, and each festival is named after a type of flower. At the end of January and beginning of February, it's the Plum Blossom Festival, when plum blossoms fall, and people make plum blossom cakes, plum blossom candies, and plum blossom wine...

  In the wine house, the storyteller's gestures and movements brought the story to life, occasionally striking a small gong, people were tense about the next plot, all staring at the storyteller, while downstairs was a large hall where ordinary people chatted and talked.

  Li Yu, who had been kneeling in the temple for several days as punishment, was pardoned by General Li. Feeling irritable and frustrated from the gloomy atmosphere of the temple over the past few days, Li Yu decided to go out for a walk to dispel the resentment that had been pent up in his heart recently.

  On the road, one can occasionally see a man with a light gauze covering his face, slender and elegant in figure, truly a beautiful sight. As she walked past the wine building, her keen sense of hearing was piqued by the storyteller's tale at that moment, and she turned around and entered the wine building.

  "Sir, would you like to listen to a story or have dinner?" The waiter saw the guest arrive and immediately began to enthusiastically entertain him. This guest looked truly noble, maybe he'll give a generous tip later.

  Li Yuhuan glanced around the wine house, the second floor was the most lively place. "Listen to stories, take me somewhere, what story is being told today?" She casually threw out ten taels of silver, she had been following her mother into battle since she was sixteen, but didn't know when such a place appeared in the capital where people could listen to stories.

  "Hey! Sir, you look like someone who enjoys listening to grand stories, but today there isn't such a story......" The waitress replied cautiously, thinking that this guest must be fond of historical tales, but indeed there wasn't one today.

  "What's the story about today?" Li Yu's face showed confusion, but the storyteller's voice had already fallen into her ears without a single word being missed. As expected, Xiao Er rubbed his hands together and smiled somewhat awkwardly.

  "Today we're going to talk about the story of Ye Wangye..."

  "Alright, take me there then." There were actually people in the streets talking about that useless Prince's story, which piqued her interest. She thought back to that day's competition and Li Yu coldly snorted in her heart, fearing that Zi Ruoye had spent her own silver to hire storytellers to speak of false things. She wanted to listen and see what kind of nonsense Zi Ruoye could spout.

  "Then, sir, please follow me." Seeing that Li Yuer was eager to listen, she couldn't refuse and led Li Yu upstairs, wiped the table clean, poured tea, "Now, sir, you can listen."

  On the second floor, a storyteller stood on a makeshift platform, holding a paper fan in his hand, waving it back and forth as he spoke, occasionally slapping it open with a loud "slap!" before continuing to tell his tale.

  It's probably because of Li Yu's arrival, that the conversation suddenly shifted from discussing the story of Zi Ruoye Ye Yeshu and the expensive purchase of the top plaque at Penglai Pavilion, to a sigh of regret, "I suppose all of you gentlemen are aware that next month on the third day is when Prince Wang will win over Liu Chengxiang's youngest son?"

  "Of course I know! It's been all the rage lately!" One of the guests smiled and replied, this is something everyone knows, what's the point of the storyteller saying it now.

  "You only know one side, but don't know the other!"

  "Stop teasing! Speak up!" The person sitting below, who couldn't stand the storyteller's suspenseful tone, urged him to continue.

  "Now, listen carefully! The daughter of my second uncle's aunt is serving in the palace. It is said that Liu Cheng did indeed ask for her hand in marriage to the current emperor, but before one could bat an eye, the wedding was finalized and this person had changed!" The storyteller widened his eyes, lowered his voice, and spoke with a sense of gravity.

  "What do you mean by 'the marriage is made, but the person has changed'? You storyteller, how can your words be so unreasonable?" Li Yu also looked at the storyteller with a curious expression. After returning to Beijing, she had heard about this marriage, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

  "Don't be impatient, don't be impatient, let me tell you slowly." But instead of continuing, the storyteller turned around to drink tea, which made everyone even more anxious.

  "Do you know that the young master of the Liu family is now twenty years old, yet still unmarried? But why?" The storyteller seemed tired and sat down on the ground, fanning himself with a folding fan.

  "It's definitely too ugly!" The tactless guest said with a laugh, and the others who heard it also burst out laughing loudly. At twenty, she was already considered an old maid, unable to get married - what else could it be but ugliness?

  "No, no!" The storyteller shook his head in disapproval, his eyes looking down at the audience with disdain. "You should know that the current Empress is as elegant and refined as a clear moon, while this young master of the Liu family can't even compare to her? She's like a jade orchid, someone who is beyond the reach of common people. Although I haven't seen her myself, I can imagine it. Others say that this young master of the Liu family has only three parts of the Empress's beauty! The number of people coming to propose marriage at the Prime Minister's residence is countless, and I'm afraid the threshold of the Prime Minister's residence has already been trampled flat!"

  "What's that?" was surprisingly not ugly, and suddenly a bright idea flashed, slapping his thigh and shouting, "I'm afraid it's because the young master of the Liu family is ill!"

  "No! This young master of the Liu family has not married yet, because he has someone in his heart!" The storyteller looked at the shouting customer with a look that was beyond teaching, "But unexpectedly, this infatuated heart is likely to be lost in vain!"

  What! Does the young master of Liu Chengxiang have someone in his heart? Who is that person? Suddenly, everyone's mind was filled with guesses about this mysterious person who could make Liu Qingyou devote his whole heart.

  "But you should know that Ye Wangye brought the famous courtesan into the palace the day before the imperial edict arrived, and he even carried her all the way to the palace. It's clear how much he values her, and isn't it also a veiled message to everyone that this Liu Xiaogongzi is not worthy of...” The storyteller paused, but didn't continue, probably because everyone already knew what she was going to say next. After all, a storyteller should maintain some elegance.

  "Poor little willow gentleman, body not yet married to a good man, heart has already turned to ashes!"

  "Storyteller! You haven't said who that person is yet?" Finally, someone asked the key point, and everyone in their hearts thanked that voice. This was huge news! The person about to join the Wang estate had a heart that wasn't on the prince!

  "This... I also just heard it from others" The storyteller's face was filled with difficulty, but in the end he gritted his teeth and made a big decision, "You shouldn't be unfamiliar with General Li who returned triumphantly!"

  Everyone who heard the storyteller mention General Li widened their eyes in shock, could it be that Young Master Liu's beloved was actually General Li!? How...how is this possible?!

  "Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Following General Li's return, Vice General Li, also known as General Li Jiang in the folk, is probably also aware of this. When young Master Liu was young, he saw Vice General Li's majestic appearance on horseback and his heart fell for him. But now, he has to marry the prince."

  Li Yu's heart skipped a beat, did Liu Qingyu like her? She didn't know this person, women all liked men with good looks, so the books said, but Li Yu suddenly had a desire to see this Liu Qingyu.

  "They say, a person like this marrying the prince, isn't it a waste?" The storyteller sighed again and glanced at Li Yu, who had already left. His mouth slightly curved up, and he changed the subject once more, returning to how Zi Ruoye was wasting state affairs, indulging in pleasure every day and night.

  Li Yu walked out of the wine house, thinking about what the storyteller had said. The stories told by this storyteller were all fabricated and absurd, but the story she told was even more bizarre. It's just that when she talked about the absurd things that Zi Ruoye did, it seemed to have a 30% credibility, and it sounded like something she would do.

  But then heard the street ahead seemed very noisy, walked over in doubt, but his face turned ugly.

  How did I suddenly run into her!

  Frowning, turned around and wanted to leave, but unfortunately, the hearing of the ears was too good, walked a few steps and impatiently stepped back!

  That day, as expected, her hand was still light, and she should have broken her ribs! Li Yu pursed his lips and coldly looked at Zi Ruoye with her left arm around Yun Cong's waist, but she was flirting with another man in the street, and that man almost cried, but the crowd couldn't stop her.

  "This little beauty, you just bumped into me, and I'm in a lot of pain." A light and airy voice laughed out.

  "Sorry......" The person looked at the one he accidentally bumped into and saw that it was Zi Ruoye, his face turned pale with fright.

  "No need to apologize, how much money do you have? Accompany me for one night and I'll let bygones be bygones. How about it?" The man's gaze brazenly swept up and down, then he smiled again, "Little beauty, what do you say? It's not that easy to get away with bumping into me, is it?" As he spoke, his other hand, which was wrapped around Yun Cong's, began to caress her waist with ill intentions.

  Onlookers watched the young master with sympathetic eyes, it's really a sign of the times, not only did he bring prostitutes out in public, but also openly harassed the innocent young master, that young master was clearly innocent, yet this shameless prince refused to let go!

  Just as Zi Ruoye's hand was about to touch his face, the person who had already turned pale with fright closed his eyes tightly. He didn't want to look. Father, mother, come and save your child quickly.

  Digression

  The bitter days of various drinking have finally come to an end...

  As soon as I came back, I saw the big diamond sent by kkaammee! My heart is bursting with joy! Drooling! Thank you ~=3333333=