CFB Chapter 137

Translator – Xiao He Lian

This is a translation hosted on KnoxT, copies found elsewhere are either stolen or plagiarized. Please support the translator by reading it at KnoxT.

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Chapter 137  Extra 10 

 

Thick smoke rolled in. Lu Yan watched as everyone in the Duke Zhen’s residence and Bai’an Hall was reduced to dust in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the scorching sun of Chang’an was replaced by the setting sun at the frontier.

The north wind blew hard, wild geese flew south. On the highlands covered in dry grass, mountain ranges loomed in the distance beneath floating clouds and mist. Nearby, corridors crisscrossed with painted beams and carved rafters.

This was the residence of the Marquis of Changping.

The Tujue had invaded, and the Marquis of Changping sent troops to fight. The battle lasted half a year, and by the time they returned, it was already late autumn.

The Marquis’s residence was adorned with red silk banners fluttering in the wind, celebrating the victory.

Su Heng pulled on the reins, dismounted, and returned home to greet his mother.

As soon as he stepped inside, Lady Qi was chatting with Lady Lu, the wife of the Deputy Protector. Seeing his travel-worn appearance, Lady Qi smiled and said, “You returned earlier than I expected.”

Su Heng tossed his sword to a guard and bowed. “Your son greets you, Mother.”

Lady Lu laughed. “The young Marquis achieved a great victory. I doubt the Tujue will be able to recover for years.”

Su Heng replied, “The Deputy Protector also contributed greatly.”

As they spoke, Su Heng kept glancing back.

Lady Qi paused and said softly, “Zhen’er caught a chill. The doctor just came and advised her not to be exposed to wind, so she didn’t come out to greet you.”

Su Heng stood up. “She’s sick? I’ll go check on her.”

Seeing that his heart had already flown away, Lady Qi waved him off. “Go ahead.”

Lady Lu chuckled and said to Lady Qi, “The young Marquis has finished mourning and returned triumphant. It’s time for him to marry. From the way he just acted, he seems like the caring type.”

Lady Qi smiled and nodded but didn’t say more.

Su Heng quickly made his way to Huanxi Courtyard and asked the maid in a low voice, “Where is the Third Young Miss?”

“She just took her medicine and went to rest,” the maid bowed. “Shall I announce your visit?”

“No need,” Su Heng said. “I’ll wait outside.”

As the sun dipped below the horizon, Shen Zhen opened her eyes. Qingxi said, “The Marquis has returned and is waiting outside for you.”

Shen Zhen immediately sat up. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Qingxi replied, “The Marquis gave special instructions…”

“Call him in now.”

A while later, Su Heng entered the room, sat beside Shen Zhen, and asked, “How did you catch a chill? Are you feeling better?”

“Much better.” Shen Zhen smiled. “Congratulations on your triumphant return, Marquis.”

Su Heng gazed at her, dazed. She seemed even thinner than before.

After a moment, he took out a letter from his sleeve. “This is from your eldest sister. She asked me to give it to you.”

Shen Zhen accepted the letter but didn’t open it in front of him. “Thank you, Marquis.”

Su Heng smiled. “Must you still thank me, given our relationship?”

After a long pause, Shen Zhen said, “Marquis, there’s something I want to talk to you about…”

Hearing this, Su Heng’s gaze abruptly shifted. “Zhen’er, I just got back. Let me rest, alright?”

“I’ll speak with you later, then,” she said, her tone unusually firm.

Su Heng nodded and left.

He had lost count of how many times Shen Zhen had said those words—“There’s something I want to talk to you about…”

Back in his study, Su Heng lit a lamp and took out the imperial decree bestowing their engagement. He stared at it for a long time.

He remembered what his mother had said six months ago: “You only wanted to protect her and take her away from Chang’an. If it was just a temporary measure back then, why force her now?”

“Ah Heng, I hope you marry someone who only has you in her heart. Her heart is not with you.”

“There are so many women in the world—why insist on this one?”

Su Heng gave a bitter laugh.

How could he not understand?

But the one he had longed for over the years was right before his eyes. How could he suppress his desire?

Just then, there was a rapid knock on the door. “Marquis, Guard Luo has urgent news.”

“Come in!”

Guard Luo entered, took a letter from his chest, and said, “Marquis, urgent news from Chang’an. Minister Lu has passed away.”

Su Heng frowned. “What did you say?”

Guard Luo presented the letter with both hands. “Minister Lu died from poison. The court is in chaos.”

Just then, they heard a crash outside the door.

Shen Zhen rushed in.

She faced Guard Luo and asked, word by word, “What did you just say?”

Guard Luo glanced at Su Heng and hesitated.

Shen Zhen’s voice trembled. “Are you talking about Lu Yan?”

He couldn’t hide it. Guard Luo nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Zhen stepped back and took a deep breath.

Su Heng motioned for Guard Luo to leave. The door shut quietly.

The room was silent except for the crackling of candlelight.

Both spoke at once:

—“Let’s get married.”

—“I want to return to Chang’an.”

Shen Zhen met his incredulous gaze and said slowly, “I know you don’t want to hear what I’m about to say…”

In an instant, Su Heng’s gentlemanly demeanor shattered. He slammed the table. “Then don’t say it!”

It was the first time he lost his temper in front of her.

“Marquis.”

Su Heng glared. “How many years have you known him? And how many years have you known me? Shen Zhen, how have I ever wronged you?”

Tears welled in Shen Zhen’s eyes. She clenched her fists. “It’s been three years since the Shen family’s downfall. In these three years, everyone has been kind to me—no one has wronged me. But some debts…I simply cannot repay.”

The gentle, composed, picture-perfect Shen Zhen was torn apart at that moment.

She said quietly:

“It’s my selfishness.”

“It’s my ingratitude.”

“I’m the one who wronged you.”

Su Heng clutched the imperial decree with trembling fingers and turned away to look out the window.

In the end, he couldn’t keep her…

In the winter of the twentieth year of Yuanqing, the monk Hongjing came from Yangzhou to spread the teachings. Shen Zhen sometimes went to listen and realized that beyond this world, there were many strange tales. Within the scriptures, there was indeed mention of the next life…

In the final scene of the dissipating fog, Shen Zhen was kneeling on a mat, palms pressed together.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter, the four seasons rotate for exactly thirty years.

“You don’t believe in the afterlife, so I’ll ask for one for you,” she whispered.

==

Lu Yan woke from the long dream and slowly opened his eyes. He turned to look at Shen Zhen lying in his arms, eyes slightly wet.

After a while, he grasped her hand and gently kissed the back of it.

In her sleep, Shen Zhen instinctively pulled her hand back.

Lu Yan tugged it back, kissed her palm, and then her pale, delicate wrist.

Shen Zhen frowned—it tickled. She waved her hand, smacking his chin.

It wasn’t hard, but it made a loud slap.

It was, without a doubt, the first slap Lu Yan had received in two lifetimes.

Lu Yan was stunned.

Then he chuckled softly.

“Shen Zhen, I want to see if a lifetime is enough to spoil you—so you’re selfish, willful, and free.”

—

At twenty-nine, Lu Yan became the Prime Minister of the Jin Dynasty.

His political achievements were stellar, and his support strong. His career path was so smooth that even envy seemed useless.

One snowy evening, just as Lu Yan entered the door, he saw Fu Man hurrying across the corridor with a wooden box toward Suning Hall.

Was she sick?

Lu Yan frowned and strode after her.

Shen Zhen was resting on the couch while Fu Man checked her pulse.

As Lu Yan opened the door, he heard Fu Man say, “Congratulations, madam. You’re pregnant.”

Shen Zhen murmured, “Pregnant?”

Fu Man smiled, “Your period hasn’t come, has it?”

Shen Zhen blinked and thought back. “It hasn’t.”

“Then it’s confirmed.”

Standing at the door, Lu Yan instinctively raised his brows.

She was pregnant again?

He remembered the day Lu Chang’an was born—how soul-wrenching that pain had been. He’d never forget it, even in his next life…

That night.

By the lamplight, he went to see Shen Zhen after her bath. Her jet-black hair draped behind her, her face as pale as ever. Having given birth, her body now held an indescribable allure.

A breeze lifted her hair, and he gently tucked the strands behind her ear, then, as if bewitched, pinched her earlobe.

The gentle rubbing made Shen Zhen blink.

They were old and familiar—one glance was enough to know each other’s thoughts.

Shen Zhen leaned away and softly asked, “Should we sleep in separate rooms?”

Lu Yan’s expression darkened. “Are you trying to kick me out?”

“Don’t say that. I’m just… not convenient.” She glanced at her belly.

Lu Yan looked at her dainty fingers and said without changing expression, “You’re convenient enough.”

She clutched her little hands.

News of Shen Zhen’s pregnancy spread quickly. Some congratulated Lu Yan, while others schemed.

Everyone in Chang’an knew that Prime MInister Lu never took concubines.

If someone could sneak a girl into Duke Zhen’s mansion now, her future would be limitless. Just look at the Shen family: barely a year after Shen Wenqi resigned, the plaque of Marquis Yunyang was hanging again.

To restore a lost title—that was unheard of.

Many tried to “gift” women to Lu Yan, especially during springtime—when everything bloomed and even cats were in heat.

One day, Lu Yan drank with colleagues.

After a few rounds, Vice Minister Wang Shinian signaled a steward, and soon, a young woman entered.

Lu Yan looked up and froze.

He recognized her. In his past life, she’d been brought to him by Sui Yu and Chu Xun—she resembled Shen Zhen by sixty percent.

The girl met his eyes. Seeing no rejection, she cautiously sat beside him.

Lu Yan asked, “Your name?”

She nervously replied, “My lord, my name is Zhen’er.”

Lu Yan asked, “Which Zhen?”

“Zhen as in ‘pearl.’”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

Lu Yan couldn’t help but smile. Apart from being two years older, she was exactly like the one in his dream.

But Wang Shinian misread his expression, thinking he had guessed right.

Zhen’er poured him wine and gently offered it, “My lord, please drink.”

In the next moment, Lu Yan stood up.

Wang Shinian fawned, “My lord, where are you going?”

Lu Yan looked at Zhen’er and said coldly, “Change her name.”

Wang Shinian froze, trembling, “My lord…”

When Lu Yan returned, he saw Lu Chang’an holding Shen Zhen’s belly, murmuring, “Little sister.”

Shen Zhen smiled, “Really? A girl?”

Mo Yue said, “Madam, the young master is still so small… don’t take his words seriously.”

Tang Yue added, “Not necessarily! My mom told me children have sharp eyes.”

Lu Yan picked up Lu Chang’an and tossed him to the nanny. “Send him to the Princess.”

The child cried, reaching out, calling “Mama.”

Lu Yan turned back and looked at him coldly, as if to say: You can’t be compared to your mother, crying is useless.

Everyone loved Lu Chang’an, especially the Princess, but he alone feared Lu Yan.

At that glance, his cries stopped immediately.

After the child was taken away, only Shen Zhen and Lu Yan remained.

She sniffed, “Where did you go?”

“Had some drinks.”

She walked to him and sniffed his robes—it was the scent of makeup. A woman’s fragrance.

Lu Yan saw her little nose twitching and couldn’t help but chuckle. Shen Zhen glared at him.

“With whom?”

He smiled more deeply, undid his belt, stripped off his robe, and embraced her bare-chested.

Shen Zhen pushed him and covered her eyes.

Lu Yan cornered her against the bed, kissed her lips, and whispered, “Want to?”

She bit his lip and looked up at him.

Those clear, bright eyes—utterly enchanting. He thought.

—

It had to be said, there were quite a few people eager to “pimp” women to Lu Yan.

When one was sent away, another came.

Early the next morning, Shen Zhen’s third aunt arrived at the gates of the Guogong Mansion with a face full of smiles. She had brought a number of toys for children and said to Shen Zhen, “Zhen’er, these were all handmade by your third uncle.”

Shen Zhen nodded slightly and replied coolly, “Thank third uncle for me.”

Over the past two years, the relationship between the third branch of the Shen family and the main family had somewhat improved. First, because Shen Wenqi still had genuine feelings for his full-blooded brothers; second, because they didn’t want outsiders to witness family drama; and third, because the Yunyang Marquis Mansion was now thriving—so the second and third branches had learned to hide their uglier sides.

As the saying goes, one doesn’t hit a smiling face. On the surface, things were passable.

But just barely.

In Shen Zhen’s view, her third aunt was someone who wouldn’t come unless there was something to gain. Bringing all these “thoughtful” items today clearly meant she had another agenda.

Feigning a yawn, Shen Zhen was about to say she was tired when Madam Zou suddenly blurted out, “Zhen’er, your cousin has arrived in the capital.”

“Cousin?”

“She’s from the Zhao family in Xinyang, the fourth daughter, Zhao Xu. She visited the capital a few years ago—you two met. Back then she followed you around calling you ‘big sister.’”

Looking directly into her aunt’s eyes, Shen Zhen asked plainly, “What’s she doing in the capital?”

Madam Zou shifted her tone, glancing meaningfully at Shen Zhen’s belly, and said, “Xu’er’s father passed away early. She’s here to seek refuge with us. She’s sixteen, still unmarried, and a very proper girl.”

Shen Zhen felt a surge of frustration. “Is Third Aunt asking me to agree to bring Zhao Fourth Miss into the Duke Mansion?”

Madam Zou steeled herself and spoke directly, “Zhen’er, we’re all family. You’re with a child—there are many inconveniences. Rather than letting some outsider take advantage, why not…”

Before she could finish, Shen Zhen cut her off. “Qingxi, send Third Aunt away.”

Madam Zou’s face changed. “Zhen’er, I’m doing this for your sake. If you let her into the mansion, everyone would praise your virtue!”

Shen Zhen rose and returned to her inner chambers without a word.

When Lu Yan heard about it, he said nothing.

But half a year later, Shen Lu was pregnant, and Lu Yan had a drink with her husband, Tai Feng, the Minister of Rites. Tai Feng, flattered and honored, brought a woman home without a second thought.

Shen Lu, heavily pregnant, cried and threw a fit, nearly suffering a miscarriage. Madam Zou was speechless, her eyes wide in shock.

Tai Feng accepted the woman as a concubine and praised Shen Lu as virtuous.

Time slips by without notice. The seasons change, and another year passes.

Shen Zhen’s waist—had slimmed again.

Undeniably, Lu Jingzhu received much better treatment than Lu Chang’an had. The first time Lu Jingzhu called him “father,” Lord Lu’s eyes turned red.

The moment she spoke, Lu Yan had already figured out how high he should build the courtyard wall.

By the Lantern Festival four years later, Lu Yan finally had a day off. He brought his wife and children out to the streets.

Watching Governor of Jingzhao Sun Xu scolding and yelling in the middle of the Street, Lu Yan couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.

Meng Wei was still the deputy magistrate, but the “acting” prefix had been removed, and his salary had doubled.

The streets were noisy. One constable reported to Sun Xu, “My Lord, the eldest son of the Marquis of Huaixi has lost his maid in the crowd—currently missing.”

Sun Xu took a deep breath.

Before he could exhale, another constable ran up, “My Lord! The stage in the Western Market collapsed, and several people were trapped inside.”

…

Shen Zhen held Lu Chang’an’s hand as they walked ahead. She stopped at a stall and picked a peace lantern.

Lu Yan held Lu Jingzhu with one arm. The little girl hugged his neck and said, “I want one too.”

Lu Yan replied, “Alright.”

At that moment, fireworks bloomed overhead. Shen Zhen turned back to look at him, cheeks flushed, and said, “I dropped my coin pouch—come quickly.”

Lu Yan stood at a distance, smiling at her.

Thinking he hadn’t heard, she waved her hand at him.

Suddenly, the wind rose, and her voice echoed in his ears:

“One night, I dreamt of another life. A world like no other. You were a wise minister at a young age. We had children—Chang’an, Jing Shu.”

Their laughter still echoes in my ears.

If there is another life, may you smile as you did in that dream, and may everything go your way.

Lu Yan walked over.

In this life—his wish was fulfilled.

(The End)

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T/N 0 Awww…soo cute. My heart is full😭❤️