Chapter Seventy-Five: Journey to the Northern Border

  Liu Qingqiang let out a soft sigh: "Yes, we probably just have fate but no destiny." As she spoke, she became sorrowful. Liu Feiyang consoled her: "Sister, don't be heartbroken, difficulties will pass, you two are as strong as iron and your love is stronger than gold, others can't separate you."

  "What is more unyielding than gold? Now, your sister, I have become a discarded wife. Someone wants to marry the princess of the Hanhai Kingdom. Where does he still remember me, this worthless wife? The other day, he came to the Hu Mansion and told me with a sorrowful expression that his father ordered him to welcome Princess Duanmu. We will not have a good ending." Liu Qingqing sighed endlessly.

  Liu Feiyang exclaimed in surprise, "Have you two met before?" She had been staying in her brother Liu Qingyang's reception hall and didn't know that the people from the lake had already arranged for Yue Qianshan to meet Little Liu.

  Liu Qingqing nodded: "Right, that day, I had just returned to the inner chamber to rest when someone from the lake came to tell me that Yue Qianshan had arrived. I hurried out to see him. He hugged me and cried, saying words of longing, but ruthlessly told me that his father had already decided to agree to the king of Hanhai's proposal and was preparing to marry the princess of Hanhai after you two got married. Because Duanmu Lan is about to arrive in Tianchao, your good husband, Hu Shao, has obtained a laissez-passer from the emperor for them, so they can move freely in Tianchao and even settle here."

  Liu Feiyang said, "You're quite fast, aren't you? You want to get married, did you ask me about it? Don't think that just because you have the title of Huakui, you can control me. Although I'm not like Chunhong who is promiscuous, I won't be bound by your feudal rules either."

  "Is he really going to marry me?"

  Liu Qingqing said: "That's natural. She brought Yue Qianshan here so quickly, just to draw a clear line with me and also calm down Yue Qianshan's heart."

  Liu Feiyang said: "Then what about you? Don't you want to draw a clear line between yourself and Hu Shao, and be connected with Yue Qianshan?"

  Liu Qingqing said: "I'm afraid that at this point, I think marrying Yue Qianshan is not so easy. Firstly, his father wants him to marry the princess of Hanhai country, and as a princess, she is naturally more noble than me, I am not worthy of the wealthy and aristocratic Yue family. Secondly, Yue Qianshan's mother has been bedridden with illness, suffering from the same 'foolish longing' disease that you had in the past."

  Liu Feiyang furrowed his brow in thought, then suddenly smiled and said, "So, sister's love is that deep."

  Liu Qing's face turned red with shame, and she said sorrowfully: "The deeper the love, the deeper the hurt. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to marry into the Yue family and become Qian Shan's wife."

  Liu Feiyang found it strange, "Why? Someone said that Yue Ye was unwilling to marry for the sake of his son and was worried sick. How could he oppose you two instead? He should be happy instead! How could there not be an opportunity?"

  It turned out that Liu Fengchun and Yue Ye were sworn enemies.

  And so Liu Qingqing took her luggage and traveled along the official road, day and night, on the way, she was hungry and thirsty, the hardships of the journey need not be said, this day finally arrived at the Mongolian yurt of the Yuke family in Beiting.

  The sky is vast and wide, the fields are endless, the wind blows and the grass is bent, revealing cows and sheep.

  The green willows stretch far and wide, and I suddenly feel a sense of expansiveness and joy. The beautiful scenery of this northern grassland is truly breathtaking.

  It turns out that Yue Qianshan's hometown is so beautiful. As soon as I saw this place, I couldn't bear to leave. Before, I only heard Yue Qianshan say how beautiful the grassland was and how brave the people were. Now, seeing women and children able to ride horses and herd sheep, I truly believe that there is a paradise in the world. Liu Qingqing looked at everything on the grassland with a sense of vitality and inexplicably liked it.

  Riding on the herdsman's ox cart, Liu Qingqing finally arrived at the Yue Manor. Unlike the Mongolian yurts scattered around, this place was built in imitation of the Han people's castle, with four gateways open and no one guarding them.

  Liu Qingqing reported her own name, and the hospitable villagers of the Yue family led her into the Yue family fortress. Here, Liu Qingqing saw Yue Qianshan's old father, Yue Ye. He was tall and majestic, with a rough face, a mouthful of whiskers, a long beard swaying in front of his chest, his hair hanging down to his shoulders, tied tightly with a yellow silk ribbon, wearing tight-fitting clothes, and long leather boots on his feet, sitting upright in a taishi chair, with a serious expression.

  He hastily bowed down: "Greetings elder sir, I am Liu Qingqing, a friend of Yue Qianshan."

  Yue Ye scowled and grunted, without even saying a word of apology, and left Liu Qingqing standing there.

  If it were in the past, Mr. Lao would have been passionate like fire when he saw Liu Qingqing, why is he now cold as ice?

  I remember that at first, Yue Ye was eager for Qingqing to be his daughter-in-law, just like waiting for a sweet rain. Because after his son traveled with him to Jiangnan ten years ago and returned home, he introduced many beautiful women to him, but he refused every time, which made Yue Ye's hair turn white with worry. Later on, it was discovered that he had set his heart on the chef of the Welcome Pavilion, Liu Qingqing, and would not marry anyone else but her.

  Yue Lao Ye was anxious. He thought to himself, how could a chef be worthy of his family's precious daughter? However, after inquiring about it, he understood that the chef was actually Liu Fang Chun's adopted daughter and Imperial Chef Lei Huan's biological child. He hastily went to Liu Family Village to propose marriage, but unexpectedly, he was one step too late. Liu Lao Ye had already married his daughter off to Hu Zhong Ren.

  Yueye returned home and told his son to give up, she's already married.

  Unexpectedly, his son fell ill and did not recover.

  Mr. Yue looked at his son's dispirited appearance and was furious. He blamed all his resentment on Liu Qingqing. If he saw Liu Qingqing in the future, he would definitely humiliate her and avenge his son's unrequited love.

  Today is the day I've been waiting for. My son just happens to be out of the house. It's the perfect opportunity for revenge.

  Liu Qingqing knelt on the ground, unable to get up, feeling very embarrassed. Get up, didn't hear what Yue Ye said, don't get up, who do you think you are? Is this punishment already?

  Just as Liu Qing was hesitating, reinforcements arrived. Who is it? Madame Yue.

  Mrs. Yue heard that her son's lover had arrived and hurried out to greet her, just in time to catch this scene.

  Madam Yue hastily helped up Liu Qingqing, whose knee was aching vaguely. Tears fell down involuntarily.

  She had traveled thousands of miles to the Yue's residence, only to be unable to see her loved one, and was already feeling downhearted. Receiving such a cold reception made her feel even more distressed. She too was a strong-willed person, so she calmed herself down, lifted her head and asked: "May I ask, Uncle Yue, Qingqing has traveled thousands of miles to come to Sai Bei, if you didn't want to let Yuetian see me, that's fine, but why must you treat Qingqing with such a cold attitude?"

  Yue Ye's face turned cold as she sneered, "Don't you know the reason? Since you've already married into the Hu family, don't come and disturb my son again. But you're completely shameless, having married another man yet still trying to seduce my son?"

  Liu Qingqing said: "If you want to add crime, what's the worry about no words? You didn't ask me about my situation when I was ill, and you assumed that I was a woman who didn't follow the proper path. How dare you be the master of one side!"

  A few words made Yueye's face turn red and white in turns, finally becoming angry and humiliated.

  "You're just a little kid, yet you're so sharp-tongued. Am I wrong to distrust you? I simply won't agree to your marriage with my son, what can you do about it?"

  Liu Qingqing was also a stubborn person, and she said indignantly: "You don't distinguish between right and wrong, you ask people for their crimes, what kind of parent are you? I wouldn't deign to marry your son with a parent like you."

  Dizzy with anger, Liu Qingqing forgot the hardships of his journey and how urgent he was to see Yue Qianshan, loudly rebuking Yue Ye.

  Yue Ye burst into a rage, "Come on, throw this shrew out onto the street and see if she's still so sharp-tongued!"

  Liu Qingqing said angrily: "Don't worry about losing me, I'll leave your house immediately and never look for your son again. With you around, I won't marry your son Yue Qianshan either."

  Liu Qingqing strode out of the Yue family's gate with big steps, thinking to herself that with her exceptional culinary skills, she was not afraid to travel all over the country!

  Madam Yue stood by, watching her husband laugh. "Yue Ye, my husband, are you a three-year-old child? If you refuse to let your daughter-in-law in, what will you do when your precious son comes back? Don't you know why your son went to Jiangnan? Does he care that Qing is a married woman?"

  A few words, and Yueshan's head also calmed down, he himself had a bit of regret, but still stubbornly said, "Can't I be the master of my own son?"

  Madam Yue watched him stubbornly sticking to his mistake, knowing he was regretful in his heart. She ordered a family member: "Yue Ming, hurry up and go invite Miss Liu back."

  Yue Ming responded with a "yes" and left. Not long after, he returned. Yue Ye looked at him, and Madame Yue asked: "Is he back?"

  "Master and mistress, Liu Niang has gone missing, I've already sent people to look for her. Considering she's a weak woman, she can't have gone far, we'll definitely find her. Why don't you both take a rest in the back hall? Once there's news, I'll come in to report it to you."

  Yue Ye and his wife thought it was reasonable, so they went back to the rear hall to wait for news. However, as the sky turned dark, there was still no sign of Yue Ming coming to explain the situation.

  Liu Qingqing is gone. Madame Yue was unhappy about it.

  "You old scoundrel, my good daughter-in-law was fine, and you let her run away. If anything happens to Qian Shan because of this, I'll never forgive you."

  Yue Ye was a henpecked husband, as soon as he saw his wife get angry, he immediately became flustered and ordered the servants to search for someone to blame.

  So, where did Liu Qingqing go? She, after going out, happened to meet a few mule-drawn carts, and she took advantage of everyone's inattention to slip into the middle of the goods, and quietly left the grassland for the home of a young couple in Linwan County, where she became their cook until she met Hu Zhongren and his group, and finally returned to Kyoto with them.

  Liu Feiyang listened and stuck out his thumb "Courage is commendable, admirable." He thought to himself that this sister of his was really different from him. If it were him, he would definitely endure humiliation and wait for Yue Qianshan to return. A gentleman takes revenge ten years later, why bother being constrained by the present?

  "But now, you've met Yue Qianshan again, it should be a grand reunion, why did you refuse his request again?"

  Liu Feiyang knew with his toes that it must be this little Liu girl who had refused Yue Qianshan, for the sake of her so-called welcoming the princess of Hanhai country.

  This matter is just like the event of a modern society's big wife meeting her husband's mistress, where the mistress is stupid and proactive, determined to replace the big wife, while the big wife still has to give way to her, truly foolish to the extreme.

  "You, since you love Yue Qianshan so much, should think of ways to win over Yue Ye, grasp Yue Qianshan's heart. You obviously like her, and are even willing to risk coming here to find the Biyu Buddha for Yue Qianshan's mother's illness. What kind of nonsense is this? I'm starting to suspect that you're my sister with high IQ."

  "But what can I do now that it's all been done?" Liu Qingqing sighed, unable to bear the sight of Yue Qianshan's weak demeanor. Can't he stand up straight for once?

  Liu Feiyan looked at her with a mixture of hatred and love, comforted her by saying: "Sister don't worry, I can definitely help you tame Yue Ye, squeeze out Duan Mulan, let you happily become a bride, but we have to wait until we rescue Zhenzhen and get the Biyu Buddha first. Now, let's go to sleep!"