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“Wahh, my husband is so cool!”
“Hubby, you’re so cool—”
“Hubby, I worship you ah, come on! Muah—”
Su Biluo was starry-eyed clapping for all she was worth. Her calls were more direct than those girls at Dustwind Gardens.
Every face up on that slope was stunned. What the hell was Madame General saying? And, wasn’t she being a bit too rambunctious?
Even so, Liu Ruyan was the only one who was impassive. She was still in a trance, staring at Mo Zichen. Her abnormal adoration was in no way inferior to Su Biluo.
Except she was more quiet about it, not calling out or screaming.
Su Biluo bit her lip, suddenly realizing her indiscretion.
Even though there were many words of adoration from the spectators on the slope, and just about every girl from a respectable family would be more than willing to marry Mo Zichen as a concubine, still the only one who made Su Biluo uneasy was Liu Ruyan.
It had nothing to do with her city-toppling beauty but whatever lay behind her obsessed expression. There must be a reason why the famous courtesan that every man in the capital wanted to get his hands on would come out here in the cold wind to the training grounds, heedless of everything.
She suddenly felt beset by domestic strife and foreign aggression. At the estate there was Man Yuke, and outside the estate was Liu Ruyan.
How long had Liu Ruyan been prying? How long had she been leaning against the second story windowsill of Dustwind Gardens, longing for him?
Su Biluo settled herself down and sneered, reaching out and tugging on the corner of Liu Ruyan’s robe to snap her out of her reverie.
“Miss Liu, let me ask you, do you know my husband? Could it be that my husband was once a frequent guest at Dustwind Gardens?” The thought had just occurred to her.
“Oh, no,” Liu Ruyan said, shaking her head, seemingly anxious to explain on Mo Zichen’s behalf. The grand general is not that kind of person. Its precisely because he’s never come to Dustwind Gardens that I… that I wanted to come here and see him.”
Su Biluo’s heart thumped, her mouth drawing up in something that was not quite a smile. “So then, you knew him previously? You like him?”
“I—” Liu Ruyan almost blurted something out, but she clapped her hand over her mouth suddenly as if she just realized the one asking her this question was none other than the grand general’s wife.
Her face paled and she lowered her feathery eyelashes and sighed, brows knit. “Madame is joking. How could a lowly woman like this servant be worthy of liking the grand general?”
Su Biluo detected some hidden meaning there, so she had to ask, “Maybe you two really did know each other before?”
“No!” Liu Ruyan denied at once. “Madame thinks too much. How could I know Grand General Mo? I just admire his prestige, that’s all. After all, he’s the reason the people of Northern Mo can live in peace. My father died fighting Western Xia. Hence, I unfortunately fell into the life of the pleasure quarters. So naturally I revere someone like the grand general, who can protect and defend the nation. There’s nothing to it beyond that.”
“I see,” Su Biluo said, lost in thought. She really wanted to believe Liu Ruyan, but she invariably felt things were not so simple. No wonder there’s always a trace of sadness in the girl’s eyes!
Liu Ruyan stood and gently bowed, taking her leave. “Madame, Ruyan does not have the freedom to run about. I’m really lucky to have this opportunity to come see the general’s graceful bearing. I envy the love and affection Madame and the general share. Ruyan shall take her leave. The procuress only granted me an hour’s leave, I must be heading back.”
Su Biluo insisted on having a pageboy escort her back.
A ravishing beauty like her, if something should happen on her way back, wouldn’t that be awful?
As for Liu Ruyan, Su Biluo suddenly had the feeling that a lot of girls had their eye on her husband. She needed to hurry up and foster the relationship between her and her husband.
After the hour was up, she had Moonglow and Vivid see off the townspeople. She stayed behind by herself, waiting for Mo Zichen to “get off work”.
The Courtyard 