Chapter 63: Fall Into the River
Translator: Kats Editor: Perriemix
Ye Jiayao’s alcohol tolerance was high and no one could keep up with her as she drank to her heart’s content.
After they had finished their meal, Wang Mingde, who was still sober, offered to take her home. Ye Jiayao looked down at the mess of a guy on the floor and waved her hand in dismissal.
She said, “That’s alright, I’m not drunk. You’d already have a hard time carrying these drunkards to the house with Old Guan. Oh, and make some sobering soup for them to drink, alright? Shopkeeper Li would go ballistic if no one would be able to work tomorrow.”
In truth, Ye Jiayao knew that she had drunk too much. She had only been forcing herself to act as if the alcohol didn’t affect her one bit. However, as soon as she left the restaurant, she gave up the pretense and allowed herself to stagger home, occasionally burping loudly.
In her drunken stupor, she thought of Little Jing. He didn’t come to the restaurant today, and perhaps, Ye Jiayao thought sadly, he wouldn’t come in the future either. Cute Little Jingjing, I don’t know what is wrong with your brother! Ah! Forget it. It’s better this way. You, Young Royal Highness, should be looking for something respectable to do. Hanging out all day in the restaurant will only make people think that you’re just a good-for-nothing royalty.
As for Dumb Donkey, it was good that he didn’t come again. She could not stand to see him staring at her so lovingly. What was up with that? Did he forget what he had done? Did he think that after ripping her heart in two, he could just apologize and everything would be a-okay again? Ha! I’m not that easy, you stupid donkey.
Ye Jiayao’s gaze was already a bit blurry so she didn’t notice the small stones on the road. On one particularly bad step, she slipped. She braced herself for the pain of falling, but just as her butt was about to hit the ground, a pair of arms caught her around the waist and pulled her up.
“Th…thank you!” Ye Jiayao exclaimed.
“Dead drunk at midnight. Are you really a woman?” an angry male voice retorted.
Xia Chunyu had come to the restaurant earlier and waited outside for Yaoyao. An hour passed before he saw her walk out of the establishment drunkenly.
She was really getting wilder and brasher these days. Did she think that dressing like a man automatically made her untouchable? She even dared to drink with a bunch of men! The mere thought of that made Xia Chunyu hate the nameless guys. It made him want to close the restaurant down and put all the people inside there in a big prison.
Ye Jiayao turned sideways to look at her savior. Was she really that drunk? She had to be hallucinating, because why else would Dumb Donkey be here?
Xia Chunyu swore under his breath, his grip on her tightening in fear that she might fall over. He was unbelievably angry but he couldn’t exactly unleash that on a drunk woman.
“You…are you Dumb Donkey?” Ye Jiayao, bleary-eyed, poked her tongue out and pointed it at his nose.
Xia Chunyu furrowed his brows. This woman.
“Chunyu,” he corrected her. “It’s actually remarkable that you can still recognize me since you can barely even walk .”
Oh. It’s really him.
Ye Jiayao immediately pushed his hands away from her, tottering a few steps back. “I already told you not to bother me. Why are you here?”
Xia Chunyu noticed that she was swaying dangerously close to the river.
“Yaoyao, come here. You’re going to fall into the river if you go further back,” Xia Chunyu told her, his eyes darting to her feet nervously. If he thought that she wouldn’t move away from him the second he goes near her, he’d go over to her pull her back right now.
Ye Jiayao waved away his concern impatiently. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”
“Okay, okay. Can you just explain to me why Helian Royal Highness came looking for me?” asked Xia Chunyu.
He had known that before Helian Xuan came to find him that night, he had gone to Heavenly Residence and apparently left there angry. Xia Chunyu went to ask Little Jing about it, but he, too, knew nothing because Helian Xuan had been keeping him close to his side these days. Helian Xuan claimed that he was teaching him how to manage general affairs, but it seemed to Xia Chunyu that it was just a ploy to keep Little Jing from leaving the palace.
With no one else that could answer his question, he could only come to Yaoyao.
Yes, that’s a very good excuse. Xia Chunyu told that sarcastic voice inside his head to shut up.
Ye Jiayao was slightly embarrassed, remembering how she used Chunyu’s name as a shield.
“Why would I know that? He is crazy!” Ye Jiayao exclaimed in exasperation, beyond tired of thinking about the rude Helian Royal Prince.
“How is he crazy?” Xia Chunyu squinted at her, his body tensed and prepared to rush over to her at any second if she falls.
“First, he offered me money to leave Jin Ling and to never contact his brother again. When I refused, he said he’d kill me. What kind of idiot does that? What, just because he’s a prince, that automatically gives him the right to bully people?” Ye Jiayao ranted angrily.
Xia Chunyu could feel his forehead crinkling in confusion. Why would Helian Xuan do that? What could possibly be his reason for wanting Yaoyao out of the city?
“He even said that I had made Little Jing bad – that I’m a bad influence. Me. I’m telling you, that prince is mental,” Ye Jiayao continued.
Xia Chunyu didn’t know what to make out of this.
“Well, in that case, I agree that he is very detestable. Do you want me to help you vent?” asked Xia Chunyu with a smile.
“No need. I am not scared of him. If he comes at me again, I will just let loose another stream of curses at him.” Ye Jiayao ruthlessly snapped off a willow branch. When she went to toss it into the river, she almost came with it.
Xia Chunyu slapped a hand to his forehead. It was no wonder that Helian Xuan got so mad at her. She actually cursed at him! Xia Chunyu could hardly imagine what that scene must’ve looked like.
“Yaoyao, you shouldn’t go against him like that again. It’s not good to mess with that guy,” Xia Chunyu advised well-meaningly, finally understanding what had happened.
Helian Xuan did not know that Yaoyao was the person who brought Little Jing back to Jin Ling. He must have heard that Little Jing was close to a chef and thought that he was turning into Zhao Qixuan. That must be why, even with the immensity of his anger, Helian Xuan couldn’t explain what was going on. It was a good thing that Yaoyao mentioned his name, otherwise, Helian Xuan would’ve truly destroyed Yaoyao in a fit of his temper.
Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes at him and mumbled, “You guys are terrible.”
“How did I get dragged into this? I wasn’t asking for trouble when you almost maimed me,” Xia Chunyu said innocently.
That one well-placed kick put him in bed for two days. He wasn’t even sure if he could still function well.
Ye Jiayao stared at him in disbelief for a moment before shouting furiously, “I haven’t even started with you yet! You broke your promise! Even when I was knocked out and locked in a small dark room, I thought about your safety! I was afraid that you got hurt by the army so I searched everywhere for you. I shouldn’t have. If I had just left you all alone, I wouldn’t have had to listen to what you really think of me. I trusted you and you lied to me. You’re a liar Chunyu. A goddamn liar!”
Her tears fell from her eyes involuntarily, her chest tightening with anger, hurt, and betrayal. She felt so wronged.
“Everyone said that Second-in-charge was cruel, and yet when he was facing death, he protected me. He shielded me from all the arrows and gave me time to get away. Where were you then? Huh? You were with your troop, weren’t you? Because that’s what you only cared about – your achievement.”
Xia Chunyu felt her words cut through him like a knife. He could only imagine how terrified and helpless she had been as she looked for him. He could picture how heartbroken and desperate she was when she heard him denounce their connection. She was right. When she was facing death, all his thoughts were on catching the leader of the bandits. All his efforts were focused on adding to his achievements.
“Xia Chunyu, I hate you. You know why I didn’t hate my stepmother and sister when they sold me? It’s because I never loved them. They’re my blood but they’re not my family. You – I really believed in you. You promised me that you won’t leave me alone and I believed you.”
Maybe it was because she was drunk, or maybe it was because she had had enough, but Ye Jiayao just exploded. She was so mad, so hurt, so… tired.
Xia Chunyu took a few steps toward her, his heart aching. He wanted to wipe her tears, unable to bear seeing her so broken.
Ye Jiayao slapped his hands away that was reaching for her. “You f*cking prick! Why now? Why are you still bothering me? Go live your royal life! I don’t want to see you anymore!”
“Yaoyao, Yaoyao…” Xia Chunyu wanted to hold her against him.
Ye Jiayao pushed him away angrily. “Stop calling that! You don’t get to call me by that name.”
In her need to get away from him, and also her drunkenness, she fell back into the river.
“Yaoyao!” Xia Chunyu cried out and tried to pull her back only to end up falling in with her.
There was a reason that people don’t go swimming drunk. Ye Jiayao was an excellent swimmer, but the alcohol had numbed her hands and feet. She tried to paddle up the water but she had no strength.
Fortunately, Xia Chunyu got his bearings together quickly and was able to pull Ye Jiayao up from the water. It was hard to swim to the dock with a heavy weight on him, but Xia Chunyu managed to get them both to dry land.
The water was cold, Ye Jiayao thought giddily as she floated about. Her head lolled around, sleep claiming her.
Xia Chunyu panicked when he saw her eyes closed. He slapped her face but she didn’t even so much as flinch.
He put his fingers in front of her nose, relieved when he felt her breathing. He then made her lie down on his legs and shook her a few times until she spat some water out.
Ye Jiayao mumbled, “I feel terrible.”
He murmured softly, “Don’t worry, you will be fine soon.”
Xia Chunyu didn’t take anyone out with him today because he didn’t want anyone to see him get berated like a naughty child, so he had no help. He decided to just bring her back to Laifu Motel since it was closer than his mansion. She needed to get dry and rest as soon as possible or she would get sick.
Little Yang sat in front of the motel, waiting for Little Brother Li. It was already so late and he was wondering why Little Brother Li hasn’t come back yet.
Suddenly, a man carrying another guy, drenched from head to toe, came rushing over to him. “This is Li Yao, he fell into the river.”
Little Yang was horrified.
“Hurry, take him to the room. I will call the manager.” Little Yang let them in.
“No need to call the manager, just bring clean towels and cook some ginger soup. Which one is his room?
Little Yang pointed at the corridor and said, “On the left of earth room, the innermost room.”