Black Belly Wife
Chapter 61

After leaving the Marquis' Residence, Murong Yunshu and the others did not immediately leave Jingbian City, but wandered on the street instead. No one said where to go, and no one asked where to go, as if everyone had already reached a tacit understanding, as they just walked on like this, and walked wherever they could go.

You can see small stalls been put up on the roadside and along the bridge roadsides.

Image Credit | China Online Museum - Chinese Art Galleries via Flickr

"I thought that people of jianghu[+]lit. rivers and lakes—people wandering from place to place and living by their wits, e.g. fortune-tellers, quack doctors, itinerant entertainers, etc. , considered as a social group like to use force to solve problems. Only merchants use money, their usual means, to solve their problems." Murong Yunshu said while looking at the stalls by the roadside.

Oh, I've just found something interesting in youtube. Some of the pictures from the same location as the above picture had been animated by China Online Museum during Shanghai Expo 2010 at China Pavilion. If I was there, I would stay there for a longggg time, looking at every details since I love animation so much.

Chu Changge responded, "You're a merchant. That's what you said."

Murong Yunshu's heart turned cold. Was he trying to say, since this was her business, so he used her mean?

After she pursed up her lips for a moment, Murong Yunshu added, "You left Wang Chao to Shan Shaoyu, then, who will restore my original appearance for me?"

Chu Changge tilted his and looked at her, then he raised an eyebrow with a smile. Afterwards, he continued walking forward.

What did that mean? Murong Yunshu thought in situ for a while, when she suddenly gave a start, and her face gave out a completely astounded look. She immediately walked next to him and asserted, "You know the art of disguise."

"Uh-huh." Chu Changge raised his jaw slightly with a smile on his lips. That expression seemed to be saying 'You should beg me. Beg me and I'll help you regain back your original look'.

Murong Yunshu felt both amused and annoyed at the same time. She smiled silently for a long time before she said, "In fact, I feel it's not bad to be a national grace and divine fragrance[+]Chinese idiom : stunningly beautiful beauty who can surpass all flowers. At least when I walk on the street, there will be more people looking at me. Who can tell, the next time I go to buy vegetables, the vegetable vendor will even give me a few more spring onions."

Chu Changge couldn't help laughing, as he asked her with a smile, "Have you ever bought vegetables?"

Was that what he put emphasis on? Murong Yunshu gave him a cold disdainful glance, and then she ran to the side to look at the things sold by the stalls. Suddenly, she saw someone selling hairpins in front of her. Chu Changge with his disheveled hair came to her mind, which struck her with a sudden impulse. She thought of going to see those hairpins. However, when she was about to take her first step, she immediately dismissed this idea again. Then she turned around, changing her direction as she walked to the opposite side to buy some rouge.

It was already wrong for her to not keep a distance from him, so how could she give him a hairpin at this moment and let her personal thoughts out…[+]T/N : What thoughts do you have?

She was absent-mindedly picking out various kinds of rouge when she suddenly heard Chu Changge speak in her ear, "Actually, you still look good without any face powder and eyebrow liner." [+]This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Murong Yunshu only felt her ears warmed up as she became flustered. She kept the bashful feeling in her chest under control and asked, "Which face are you referring to?"

"Of course..." Chu Changge deliberately paused before saying, "Your face."

When she heard what he said, Murong Yunshu's mouth slightly quirked up. Her head hung down and she pretended as if she hadn't heard him. She looked at the rogue for a moment longer before she walked away.

When his business was ruined, the hawker selling rouge glared at Chu Changge while feeling very depressed and muttered, "If you are not willing to buy rouge, you will praise the women for looking good without wearing any face powder and eyebrow liner. Young people nowadays ah, only have a slippery mouth and a smooth tongue[+]Chinese idiom : glib, don't even have the least bit of truth…"

Naturally, this complaint did not escape the sharp ears and keen eyes[+]Chinese idiom : perceptive of martial arts masters. Chu Changge only cracked a smile and merely acted as he didn't hear it.

When the Four Great Guardians saw that the Leader daren[+]title of respect toward superiors was actually being so 'forgiving', they all followed the hawker's strange example and said, "Only have a slippery mouth and a smooth tongue[+]Chinese idiom : glib, don't even have the least bit of truth…"

Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge strangely, "What did they say?"

Chu Changge said, "I've never been able to understand them when they speak in bird language."

The Four Great Guardians were hit with a big blow. However, there was a type of person who was born with the attitude where the more frustrated one felt, the more courageous one became. Once this type of person managed to grasp an opportunity, he would surely fight back. These four were exactly this kind of people.[+]T/N : They're going to cause trouble for Chu Changge again. Naughty Four Great Guardians!

East Guardian said,  "I remember that there is Huifeng Private Bank in this Jingbian City."

South Guardian suggested, "Madam, you haven't gone to the private bank to check on its account for a long time. Why don't you go and have a look?"

West Guardian supported, "Yeah, go check it out. Who knows, maybe you'll get to see something unexpected."

When it was North Guardian's turn, he had nothing to say. Without any better option, he just looked at Murong Yunshu and nodded his head with all his strength. Go, go, we won't cause you any trouble.

Murong Yunshu knew in her mind that the way they had been so energetic in suggesting her to go to her private bank, seemed like there was something fishy about it. When she further looked at Chu Changge, his expression seemed a little unnatural, so this confirmed her guess as she said, "Then let's go. But you must first restore my original look." If she went to the private bank with her current appearance, no one could recognise her, and her visit would only be in vain.

Chu Changge also liked to see Murong Yunshu's original appearance, so without saying anything further[+]Chinese idiom : not raising any objection, he ordered the four people  South, East, North and West to go buy some medicinal materials, while he returned to the inn with her.

People who were proficient in the art of disguise would naturally be able to do the task of 'washing face'. After Chu Changge prepared the potion, he quickly washed the medicine off Murong Yunshu's face and restored her original appearance.

Murong Yunshu quietly looked at herself in the bronze mirror, as if it were a lifetime ago. Sure enough, only your own things were the best.

"Let's go to the bank." Urged the most impatient North Guardian.

Murong Yunshu was suspicious. What was it that had made them being so anxious till they couldn't wait any longer…

*

As soon as Murong Yunshu entered the gate of the private bank, she saw the manager act like he had seen a living Bodhisattva as he burst into tears of joy. "Young Miss, you finally came. This old servant had hired someone with a swift horse to send a letter to Jinling yesterday. I was looking forward to your early arrival, but I didn't expect you to come in a blink of an eye."

Murong Yunshu was unable to make head or tail of[+]Chinese idiom : baffled what she heard. "What happened to the bank?"

With a sigh, the manager nodded heavily and reported, "Last night, eight boxes of silver in the silver warehouse disappeared without a trace." [+]This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Disappeared without a trace? Murong Yunshu was flabbergasted for a few seconds. She suddenly remembered the expressions of the four people South, East, North and East, when they suggested for her to come to the private bank. She then recalled that a certain person had used silvers to 'redeem' her...could it be...could it be that........

Murong Yunshu looked at South, East, North and West, and saw the four people were also looking at her, with tacit mutual understanding smiles on their faces.

Murong Yunshu immediately figured out that the full meaning of a certain person's phrase 'money is only our worldly possessions'——your money was our worldly possessions…

Murong Yunshu couldn't help laughing and suddenly looked at Chu Changge's direction once again, with an inexplicable smile on her face, and the smile was filled with jeer towards him. Although not a word was spoken, but Chu Changge clearly received the meaning conveyed from that smile——she was waiting for him to feel guilty, embarrassed and have no place to hide himself[+]Chinese idiom : feel too ashamed to show one's face.

It was a pity that people like Chu Changge didn't naturally know what guilty conscience, embarrassment, and had no place to hide himself[+]Chinese idiom : feel too ashamed to show one's face were. In his dictionary, there were only three words sutras like 'I am happy, I am pleased'. Those who thought that they could see him making a joke of himself, were truly the ones who made a joke on themselves.

Chu Changge smiled at her with incomparable calmness and said, "Yes, I took the silver, but it was no more than the wool comes from the sheep's back[+]Chinese idiom : Nothing comes for free, and I used it to redeem you."

"I know. But..." Murong Yunshu looked at him for a few seconds in silence and then calmly said, "Don't forget to pay for the lock."

Without waiting for Chu Changge to open his mouth, the manager said miserably, "The lock isn't broken, but the door is."

In an instant, Murong Yunshu only felt that the blue veins on her forehead began to jump around, and the manager's words 'the lock isn't broken, but the door is' were circulating endlessly in her head…

For a long while, Murong Yunshu suddenly felt that she should be glad that Chu Changge only demolished the door, rather than the silver warehouse.

Chu Changge seemed to think that she had not received enough blows, so he said with a smile, "The money for changing the door, I've already left them on the floor."

He really had acted with far-seeing understanding[+]Chinese idiom : foresight! Murong Yunshu was sure that when she was rescued, she was also being played at the same time. She really couldn’t figure out why someone liked to complicate simple things and still highly enjoyed it…

Just as Murong Yunshu was struggling with how to fight back, Shan Shaoyu appeared with a dozen soldiers and dozens of jianghu[+]lit. rivers and lakes—people wandering from place to place and living by their wits, e.g. fortune-tellers, quack doctors, itinerant entertainers, etc. , considered as a social group people, including Wang Chao and Zhang Yu, who had their faces restored to their original. However, it was another person who attracted Murong Yunshu's attention.

As Murong Yunshu looked at the proud and menacing old acquaintance in the crowd, she frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Why is he here?"

The manager thought the 'he' she was referring to was Shan Shaoyu, so he answered, "This old servant just sent someone to report the case to the Lord Marquis. General Shan should be here to investigate the missing silvers."

Chu Changge sighed, "Truly the wrongs of both Yin and Yang[+]Chinese idiom : mistake or error due to a strange combination of circumstances."

Murong Yunshu took a cold glance at him and corrected, "This is called the evil one brought on oneself was the hardest to bear[+]Chinese saying : what goes around, comes around." Obviously there were countless simple ways to save her, but he preferred to go in such a big circle. So who should be blamed?