Chapter 83: Time to Welcome the Celebrity

Some time later, Chen Rong feebly said, "I already hugged you anyway."

As soon as she said that, Chen Rong heard Wang Qi laugh.

His giggles made Chen Rong's underlying indignation all surface. With a stretch of her right hand, she pinched the inside of his arm and twisted it hard. Clenching her teeth, she scolded in a low voice, "How dare you say that. If it hadn't been for you calling me 'darling', why would things turn out this way?"

Her voice wavered.

With low sobs, Chen Rong exhaled, drawing the veil on her face open when she didn’t hear Wang Hong respond.

As soon as she looked up, she saw Wang Qilang looking at her helplessly, face warped with pain.

For the first time, Chen Rong saw the “immortal” Wang Qi showing such an expression. She couldn’t help feeling happy.

This joy made her angry and ashamed.

She slowly sat up straight and lowered her head, whispering, "Qilang, I really don't want to be a concubine." There was a sob in her voice.

Sobbing twice, she wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and murmured, "With your status, Wang Qilang… To tell the truth, Ah Rong is still a little short of being your concubine."

She bit her lip hard, making up her mind.

She raised her head decisively, stared at Wang Qilang's strange gaze, pinched him, twisting it again, and fiercely said, "Quick, think of a way for me to get down without anyone knowing."

Wang Qilang gasped with pain. There was still a smile on his face, but it was somewhat pained. "All right."

As soon as he said so, Chen Rong immediately let go. When she let go, she flushed up to her neck.

Wang Qilang tilted his head, smiling at her. He pointed at the back of the carriage and slowly said, "There is a maidservant's dress. After you change, put on a veil and find a chance to get out of the carriage."

Chen Rong assented, climbing to the back of the carriage and opening the partition. "To have a maidservant's dress with him in the carriage," she hatefully said. "Why does such a flirtatious person keep bothering me?"

Wang Hong looked at her with a smile and sighed when he heard her. "No wonder the world says that being a good person is the hardest thing to do. I prepared the dress for you, my dear."

Chen Rong was stunned.

She looked back blankly.

When she looked at Wang Hong, she glared and whispered, "Turn away, don't look at me."

Wang Hong heard her and, with a smile, he looked away.

Women’s robes were much more complicated than men's. Even if they were maidservants' they paid attention to elegance. While Chen Rong changed her clothes, she comforted herself: people like Wang Hong have seen many women, he won't turn to see me change.

But her hands were still a bit of a mess.

After a while, once Chen Rong finally got changed, she suddenly thought: it really fit, and he said it’s for me... Why did he prepare clothes for me?

She was angry, annoyed, and ashamed.

It took a long time for her to calm down. When that jerk called me “darling” at the gate of the city, he expected this to happen, so he put clothes in the carriage and waited for me to bite the hook.

At this thought, for some reason, she got even angrier.

After a while, Chen Rong, neatly dressed and with a gauze cap on her head, finally turned around. She glared at Wang Hong, who was slowly sipping a drink and quietly lifted the carriage’s curtain.

Seeing that there seemed to be fewer people outside, she bowed her head and jumped out of the carriage.

The carriage was moving. She rushed forward, charging out. Fortunately, she had a good balance and held steady.

Wang Qilang's carriage had never lost the public’s interest. Seeing someone jump out of it… whoosh, for a moment, all eyes turned to Chen Rong.

However, seeing a maidservant, the eyes withdrew — it was as common as eating or drinking for aristocrats to take maids with them, even when they were having fun with others. Therefore, even the girls only glanced at Chen Rong before ignoring her.

Chen Rong's heart loosened. She retreated and with a sudden big stride, rushed into the maids’ carriage.

The maidservants were surprised when they saw someone getting on the carriage. Seeing Chen Rong’s gauze hat, they looked up and down at her.

Chen Rong sat down in a corner and whispered, "It's me. Be quiet."

The maidservants suddenly realized.

These were the maidservants who served Wang Qilang and traveled north and south with him. In terms of appearance and temperament, none of them were defeated by ordinary scholars. They were all literate and courteous, and they respected Chen Rong, who braved death for the one she loved, from the bottom of their hearts. So as soon as she opened her mouth, the maidservants immediately quieted down, acting as if nothing had happened, and continued their previous activities.

Chen Rong, looking at them, could not help thinking: his handmaids alone outperform me… As soon she thought that, all her raised expectations vanished. In her previous life, for the sake of a husband that did not belong to her, she suffered through contempt and exhausted her reputation. In this life, she really didn’t want to work so hard anymore.

There was a tumult outside.

She could hear more and more delighted screams. Chen Rong was a little curious, so she quietly lifted a corner of the carriage’s curtain.

There was a sea of people on both sides of the street. Moreover, with the arrival of major clans, Wang Hong's fleet had to stop and greet them one by one.

It was Huan Jiulang, Yu Zhi, and other big names that agitated the women. They were driving horse-drawn carriages in the middle of the road.

After the Wang family’s way was blocked, the middle-aged scholar Chen Rong met was the first to jump out of the carriage. A maidservant placed a flute on his hand as soon as he turned it. He put the flute to the side of his lips and played it.

When the flute sounded, Huan Jiulang jumped down with a zither in his arms. The sound of Huan Jiulang's zither fluttered, and Yu Zhi also got out of the carriage. With a wave of his right hand, twenty beautiful geisha got out of the carriage and waved their waists, they danced in the middle of the street in full view of the public.

… It was a really sensual dance. The geisha were thinly dressed, with their dance, Chen Rong could see their breasts quiver. There was a girl with a mole on her navel, clear at a glance…

As the geisha danced, Huan Jiulang, who was playing the zither, stilled his hands. He turned his head sideways and glared at Yu Zhi, "What do you mean by this, Yu Zicheng? All of a sudden, summoning dancers and ruining the mood for no reason."

Yu Zhi reached out and stroked his short beard, sighed, and said, "Originally, I wanted to offer a tune to comfort Qilang, who narrowly escaped death. Unexpectedly, Wang Qilang cut his sleeves. I felt sorry for this. I was so sad that I had to call in dancers for him. Ah, I just hope their dance can bring back Wang Qilang’s manly ambitions."

Venomous. He was obviously making a jab at Wang Hong, “the cut-sleeve”, who “slept with a man”.

For a moment, there was a resurgence of consternation, laughter, and discussion.

With a sigh, Wang Hong drew the carriage’s curtain.

As he opened the curtain, the crowd whizzed, turned their heads, opened their eyes wide, and looked into his carriage.

There was nothing in his carriage, of course.

What's more, they could see that Wang Hong’s clothes were orderly and his hair was neat. He didn’t look like he’d indulged in love at all.

Meeting the eyes of everyone, Wang Hong smiled. Squinting, he stared at the striding Yu Zhi, and shouted, "Yu Zicheng, damn you."

Yu Zhi burst out laughing.

In two or three steps, he rushed to Wang Hong's carriage. He reached out, opening the curtain completely, and looked inside. After looking around, he exclaimed, "Ah, how come instead of a “jade’s”, there is a woman’s scent? Say, Qilang, is that darling of yours a woman in disguise?"

Chen Rong was surprised when she heard Luo Zhi. What a clever nose this man has.

After taking a few whiffs, Yu Zhi nodded hard, turned to the crowd, and said, "Nobody is in the carriage. It seems the rumors are false."

Sighing loudly, he waved his right hand to stop the dancers, who were twirling their waists and their legs, catching all the men’s eyes. "Go back."

As soon as the girls stopped, a strong man in the crowd shouted, "Yu Zicheng, going by your divine sense of smell, is that your final judgment? There really isn’t a ‘hubby’ in the carriage?"

The strong man was tall and loud, with a stubby beard and yellow eyes. He was the picture of vulgarity that people hated at that time.

But he didn’t treat him contemptuously. Instead, he was happy and said with a smug smile, "Divine nose? Good one, good one." When he said this, Huan Jiulang smiled coldly on the side, "My dog, Ah Nong, also has a divine nose."

Laughter came in all directions.

However, he was not annoyed. His face was as usual, and he said with a smile, "There is no husband, there is no husband. Haha, for the sake of Wang Qilang's return, my divine nose can prove that there is no husband in the carriage, only a 'female' husband."

That was worse than not saying anything. Wang Hong could not help rolling his eyes, while Huan Jiulang giggled. The middle-aged scholar sighed, put away his flute, turned, and walked away. "Let's go, let's go. The party was all spoiled by Zicheng."

As soon as these words came out, the crowd sighed in lament, and he loudly laughed.