Chapter 240: Can’t Get Through
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ugh!
The steward almost retched.
I could wash it twice more and it'll be fine? F*ck you, I say!
Normally, if someone were to talk to him like this, he would have slapped him twice over, but now… he honestly did not dare do anything so rash.
Even if he had to retch his guts to death, he dared not jump off his feet.
The steward made his way through a total of three markets but did not manage to buy even a stalk of vegetable.
He returned with empty hands, but his trip home was not as relaxed as when he had first come out. He was stopped and checked every few steps, being searched everywhere and even in his most private of places. After being manhandled, he encountered another round just several steps away; it was the same, being patted down wholly without regard to his personal space.
It was to see if he brought back any messages… What if the search was not meticulous and there were to be a mistake?
Those private places were the highlights of the search.
When this steward finally returned to the Residence of Yang, it was already the fourth fragment of the night.
The searches and checks along his way home had taken about half of his life away; he was even checked in between his nail gaps, where else had they not touched?
It was rightful to say that he was bruised and battered!
…
In the internal yard of the Residence of Yang, Yang Botao looked calm and composed on the outside but he had long been feeling anxious and fidgety.
There were twenty people surrounding him right now, experts of the Four Seasons Tower who had slipped in using various identities. Although there were quite a number of people milling around, it was still quiet.
To these people, this matter was only a minor one; it was not worth mentioning whether it was a success or failure in the end.
In spite of this, the meaning such a case held was entirely different to Yang Botao!
Yang Botao, as a Yutang citizen, had grown up and built his career in Yutang. Having come a long way, it was not an easy feat as he remembered all the sweat and blood it took to get where he was.
It was only after a few days that Yang Botao experienced the sudden realization that what he had worked so hard to maintain, what he had fought so hard for his whole life, was about to be destroyed. The cause of it all had been a secret deed he had made, thinking that it was carefully hidden and unknown to anyone…
He could hardly describe what he was currently feeling.
He felt his anger rise when he watched the experts of the Four Seasons Tower being so indifferent. "Of course you all don’t care. The worst that can happen to you is leaving this place and going back to the martial arts world. Anywhere in the world is your home, you’ve gotten used to such a life anyway."
"But what about me?"
"Has anyone thought about me, for even the shortest moment?" Yang Botao muttered darkly under his breath.
A young pretty maid walked over timidly, and said, "Marshal, the mistress asks for you."
Yang Botao coughed and replied, "Has the mistress mentioned what it is for? This marshal still has urgent matters to attend to. If it’s nothing important, we’ll speak of it later!"
For some reason, Yang Botao felt unnerved and apprehensive to face his wife of ten years. He had no task at hand anymore and was bored out of his mind but he dared not speak the truth – dared not face her.
"Mistress seems to have something important to discuss with the marshal. Do make your way over quickly," the young maid said.
"Let the mistress know I’ll be there soon."
Yang Botao began to pace and mused for a while. Finally sighing, he said, "Do sit around for some time here, everyone. I’ll be back soon."
The leader, an elder in green clothes, replied with a smile, "Feel free to do as you please, marshal."
Yang Botao nodded and left with large strides.
…
"Mistress is looking for me?" Yang Botao stepped into the bedroom. This was the most private space in the entire Residence of Yang; it was usually only the spouses and a close maid who was in charge of cleaning who could enter this room.
Right now though, the small private space had a small table added in front of the bed. There were four side dishes, a pot of wine, two goblets, and two pairs of chopsticks laid out.
"I somehow suddenly have the mood to have a drink with you tonight."
Yang Botao’s mistress was a descendent of officials, a lady of a noble household. Despite being near her forties, she was still in good shape and beautiful like a blooming flower.
Married to such a wife, it was common knowledge that the people around Yang Botao were envious of him.
"I didn’t expect you to be in the mood. This marshal shall have a drink with the mistress!" Yang Botao chuckled easily, as if he was in the mood as well, and sat down, inhaling the aroma of the dishes and reveling in it. "Your culinary skills are getting better…"
"Have more if you think it’s good." Mistress Yang sat in front of him and raised her goblet, looking at Yang Botao with her liquid eyes. "My husband, after you."
"Mistress, after you."
Yang Botao chortled and emptied his goblet of wine.
He looked joyous and easygoing, lightheartedness added to the usual taut authority he held; that was his way of entirely concealing his negative emotions.
Mistress Yang’s sleeve covered her face as she slowly downed the goblet of wine in her hand. As she drank, her eyes never left Yang Botao’s face.
"Why are you looking at me like this?" Yang Botao chuckled. "Have I gotten old?"
Mistress Yang smiled softly. "My husband is in his prime, there’s nothing old about you. But for me… when I watched the moon last night, I was struck with the realization that it’s been twenty-seven years since I’ve been married to the Yang Family…"
Yang Botao sighed discreetly.
Had it been twenty-seven years?
It had been so long…
Beauties shared the same fate as notable generals since the coming of times – the world shall never see their grays. Be it beauties or notable generals, time was their biggest enemy that they were powerless against!
"The case this time…" Mistress Yang’s eyes were directed to the outside of the window as she spoke slowly, "Seems… rather hard to go by?"
Yang Botao was slightly startled, hesitating before replying, "Don’t worry. This is only a misunderstanding. When things are sorted out, everything will be made clear and go back to normal. Those who are innocent shall remain so, there’s nothing to be concerned about."
Mistress Yang turned her head back slowly and cast her gentle gaze on Yang Botao’s face, catching his gaze. Yang Botao’s stare had only met hers briefly before he avoided her eyes, lowering his own gaze and raising the goblet for the second time.
"I know it’s true." Mistress Yang said, "We’ve been husband and wife, sharing the same bed for so many years. I know your habits. Once you have a guilty conscience, you'll avoid a long gaze – especially when you’re facing me!"
Yang Botao kept quiet, not replying for a long time.
"Since the year before last, your temperament has turned bleak, your temper gotten shorter, and you’d go out for walks draped with a robe in the middle of the night…"
"Since then, I knew that you have something on your mind," Mistress Yang said.
"Last year, when Nine Supremes Lords were ambushed, you’ve grown more and more strange. I’ve initially thought that you were worried as a marshal due to the Nine Supremes Lords’ doom and the damage it brought to Yutang’s national state. However, after you killed the old dog you’ve taken care of for dozens of years, I could vaguely tell that things aren’t as simple as that…"
"Later, you kept waking up with a start in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat. All the more it tells of your strangeness."
Mistress Yang said quietly, "I know that something is troubling you, but since you’re not talking about it, I didn’t ask. Men… you all need your own space too. What you could’ve told me, I believe you won’t hide."
"I even thought, naive as it was, that you’d get over it yourself, that you must be able to adjust back quickly…" Mistress Yang chuckled sadly and said, "So I’ve been waiting – waiting for when you’ve gotten over whatever it was and tell me about your experiences and feelings."
"But I’ve never expected that the wait would come to an end this day and what I’ve waited for is such terrifying news. Is my world collapsing?"
Mistress Yang shook her head and sighed. "My husband, why is this? Tell me, I must know!"
Yang Botao sat like a statue, frozen and silent for a long, long time.
Since Mistress Yang began speaking, he had not moved an inch; the only thing that changed was his expression that had gotten worse, pale as a sheet of paper.
When he heard the word 'why', Yang Botao could not help but tremble.
"You’re born in Yutang, it’s Yutang’s blood that is flowing within you. Since you’ve enlisted in the military, you’ve gone through so many wars; up to now, you have only one over you and millions under you. It’s the peak of being a minister. You’re even a marshal in the battlefield – a command that has hundreds of thousands of soldiers flirting with death without remorse or fear…"
Mistress Yang’s voice was calm. "I know you’ve been hurt and suffered a lot for the Empire of Yutang. There’s a total of a hundred and thirty-five scars on your body! You’ve never been behind anyone in at the front line of the battlefield, protecting the nation and it's families. My husband is a great man, he’s a patriotic man of men! He is a loyal minister of Yutang! I have no doubt about it."
"But it’s also because of this that I’m so confused. Since my husband is such a hero whose reputation could leave an eternal legacy, why would he do such a thing?!"
There was no agitation in Mistress Yang’s voice. It was when she finished her last word that she slowly raised her head up and stared at Yang Botao with a clear gaze and spoke unhurriedly, "Why would you have conspired against the Nine Supremes? Tell me!"
When she got to the last words, Mistress Yang’s flat narrative tone turned high.
Yang Botao’s forehead was dotted with sweat.
"Tell me. Each time you spoke about military affairs two years and a half ago, you’d clearly speak of the Nine Supremes and what they did. From calling them the rascals in the beginning to the Nine Supremes Lords afterward, it showed your absolute acknowledgment about the nine lords."
"Speaking of Nine Supremes, you’d always have a lot to say then, especially when you’d been ambushed that one time and Nine Supremes appeared to save you and the army that was close to being defeated. You’ve made an oath that any time in your life is a time that you’d requite their help."
Mistress Yang continued, "But somehow, you no longer talk about the Nine Supremes anymore. You don’t speak much at the dining table. It’s been two years since I’ve heard the words’ Nine Supremes’ from your lips."
The muscle on Yang Botao’s face was twitching while sweat streamed as his face paled almost unhealthily.
"Since Supreme Wind has made his appearance personally in this incident and called you out directly, even when His Majesty has yet to order your detainment, I guess you can’t get through this time."