Yun Mufeng's original name was Liu Yan. He was from Yiyang. He and his first wife, Han Ling, were childhood friends. Han Ling's father was a scholar. He failed many times, so he opened a private school to teach and educate people. Because Han Ling's mother died early, he raised his daughter alone.
When Han Ling was five years old, the neighbors moved, and a pair of master and disciple moved in. They called themselves the Jianghu. The little disciple was Liu Yan. He was only three years older than Han Ling. The master and disciple made a living by selling fortunes on Wanxiang Street.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten years passed. Liu Yan and Han Ling grew up together. Gradually, they developed an extraordinary friendship. However, Liu Yan's master's whereabouts were uncertain. He often traveled outside for a year and a half. Han Ling's father originally looked down on Liu Yan, who had no parents. However, because he was ill in his later years, he was afraid that one day he would pass away and no one would take care of his beloved daughter. Seeing that Liu Yan sincerely wanted to marry him, he entrusted Han Ling to him and arranged the marriage for the two.
In the eleventh year of Baotai, in the seventh month, Liu Yan and Han Ling got married. In the autumn of the same year, Liu Yan went to the capital to attend the Dayan Examination. He changed his name to Changzhou's Yun Mufeng.
After he left, Han Ling found out that she was pregnant. She happily asked someone to send a letter to the capital to share this good news with her husband. However, she didn't know that there was no Liu Yan in Anling City. There was only Yun Hua, who was appointed as the princess's husband by the emperor.
"… You must have heard what happened next."
After they met, Yun Hua insisted on using his hoarse and deep voice to personally narrate to Xue Rui the story of how he and Madame Han got to know each other twenty years ago.
He didn't describe the deep relationship he had with Madam Han in detail, nor did he repent of his mistakes in front of Xue Rui. But from the perspective of a bystander, Yu Shu was able to sense his reminiscence and guilt towards Madam Han. It wasn't only because he'd let her down, but most importantly, it was because he'd truly and deeply loved this wife of his who'd been close friends with him since they were young, so he revealed his true feelings.
Yu Shu looked at Xue Rui. Xue Rui was listening to Yun Hua attentively from the beginning to the end. He paid attention to every single word that Xue Rui said, and he did not pretend to be indifferent because of his prejudice against Yun Hua.
After a short moment of being absent-minded, Xue Rui recovered his initial calm, and he stared fixedly at Yun Hua as he said,
"After returning to the capital from An Xian, Shu told me about the agreement between you and her. At that time, I guessed my identity. Later, I sent people to Yiyang County to investigate and finally confirmed that I was the person you wanted her to find. Now that she brought me to you, shouldn't you fulfill the agreement and take out the Book of Mystic Fairy's Six Rens?"
There was a hint of sadness in Yun Hua's eyes. When he heard this, his expression did not change. Instead, he turned to look at Yu Shu and said slowly, "I should thank you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to see me."
It was obviously words of gratitude, but Yu Shu felt a little awkward when she heard it. She always felt that Yun Hua was a little pitiful. She tried to speak for a long time, but she still could not divert Xue Rui's attention. What followed was not a plot of a father and son reuniting and crying, but a transaction with a clear price tag.
Objectively speaking, Yun Hua was indeed a bastard who abandoned his wife and son, but no one knew better than Yu Shu that his original intention was to complete his master's order, but because of it, he lost the second half of his life. He caused the death of two women who loved him deeply. He was more distressed than anyone else when he lost his own flesh and blood.
Zhao Xiaozhu could not help but interrupt, "Second brother, don't blame foster father for not looking for you all these years. He knew that you have become the young master of the prime minister's residence, so he did not dare to meet you. The imperial court has been sending people to hunt him down. We can't stay anywhere for long. If it weren't for eldest brother coming out of isolated cultivation last year and achieving great mastery in martial arts, we would still be in hiding."
Xue Rui was unmoved. He said, "Let's talk about these things later. What we need now is the Book of Fantasy Women's Six Rens."
Yu Shu knew that she could not betray her teammate at this critical juncture. No matter how much she sympathized with Yun Hua, she could not forget the important matter at hand. So, she quickly echoed, "Yes, we need to take a look at the Book of Fantasy Women's Six Rens first."
Zhao Xiaozhu's expression became anxious. He wanted to say something, but he was stopped by Yun Hua. Yun Hua extended his hand and handed it to him. Zhao Xiaozhu gloomily helped him sit down on the low couch. Then, he turned around and went into the house.
Yu Shu originally thought that he had gone to get the Book of Fantasy Women's Six Rens, but she did not expect him to slam the door from the inside and not come out again. She looked strangely at the tightly shut door and turned around to ask Yun Hua.
"What is he doing inside?"
Without waiting for Yun Hua to answer, Zhao Xiaozhu's voice came from the house, "Didn't you guys want to see that annoying Heavenly Book? My eldest brother and I have sworn that we will never take a look at that damned thing in our lifetime. If you guys want to see it, go ahead and see it yourselves. Hmph."
When Yu Shu heard him shouting, she was surprised at first. Then, she was afraid that his voice was too loud and would attract people over. She quickly moved closer to the door and said, "Shh, don't shout. What if someone hears you?"
"Hear what? My eldest brother is squatting on the roof. Whoever dares to eavesdrop on us will be courting death."
Only then did Yu Shu feel relieved. She walked back to Xue Rui's side and said to Yun Hua, "So, the Book of Fantasy Women's Six Rens is with you?"
Yun Hua nodded and gestured for Xue Rui to come forward. He then said to Yu Shu, "Little girl, turn around first. Wait for me to call you before you turn around."
This time, Yu Shu was clever. She immediately guessed that Yun Hua kept the Book of Fantasy Women's Six Rens close to his body. It was inevitable that he would have to undress to retrieve it. So, she obediently turned around and did not look at it.
Just after she turned around, Yun Hua took off his warm fur coat and untied his belt. After the layers of his clothes were unbuttoned, a circle of bright red bamboo slips could be seen wrapped around his waist. The color was as if it was dyed with blood, and it made people's hearts palpitate. However, what shocked Xue Rui even more were the scars on Yun Hua's body that looked like alopecia areata. The ugly brownish-red scars occupied his entire chest.
"This is … How did you do this?"
Yun Hua turned around and asked Xue Rui to untie the nylon rope that bound the bamboo slips from his back. He said casually, "In order to steal it, I set a fire in the Celestial Commissioner's office. When I escaped, I protected it on my chest."
When Xue Rui's hand touched the circle of "bamboo slips," he was surprised to find that it was not made of bamboo, but of hard iron bars. It was conceivable that Yun Hua had hidden it on his chest, but he was severely burned by it.
Once again, he felt shocked, and his fingers trembled slightly. When he was in the Supreme Court, he had seen a lot of torture. He knew that the punishment of being burned could make a person feel worse than death. Even a seven-foot-tall man with bronze muscles and bones of iron would kneel and beg. In order to obtain the Book of Fantasy Women's Six Rens, Yun Hua could even endure the pain of being burned.
How precious was this legendary head of the Six Artifacts that founded the nation?
Xue Rui silently helped him take down the heavy iron book. He held it and stood to the side. He watched Yun Hua slowly put on his clothes. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a circle of cotton cloth wrapped around Yun Hua's waist. Yun Hua's pale skin was exposed at the corner. He could not help but ask,
"Have you always been carrying it on you?"
Yun Hua lowered his head and fastened his belt. When he heard this, he said, "I take it off when I take a bath." He paused and suddenly realized something. He raised his head and happened to see Xue Rui's worried gaze. He instantly smiled and said to him,
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