Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 560 I can’t help myself
Huh? Shi Chun stopped in his tracks, stuck on the stairs, staring at the other person expectantly.

The woman in red, who had gone up to the fourth floor, turned around and beckoned to him with her finger.

Shi Chun immediately snapped out of his daze, nimbly scurried over, and approached with a beaming smile, asking, "What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly. Did you just say 'Empress Dowager'?"

The woman in red leaned against the railing, looking slightly languid, and asked in return, "Can't I say?"

"No, I just didn't hear you clearly." Shi Chun waved his hand, then asked, "Is your cousin a servant of the Demon Queen?"

Woman in red: "Is that not allowed?"

"No, no," Shi Chun waved his hand again, then asked curiously, "Then why did you come to Chaoyue Pavilion to work odd jobs?"

The woman in red, leaning against the railing, touched the red flower at her temple with one hand and played with the sandalwood flame in the other. "Do you think I wanted to come? Before, when Chaoyue Pavilion had an accident, the whole family was arrested by the city guards. It seems that the ancestors of the library had a relationship with the Demon Queen and left them a life-saving talisman. At the critical moment, the head of the library crushed the ancestral jade talisman, and then the Demon Queen sent my cousin. After my cousin got the whole family out, he said that Chaoyue Pavilion had a lot of books and that I didn't read enough, so he asked me to do odd jobs, saying that I needed to be more educated."

"Oh." Shi Chun suddenly realized, so that's how it was. No wonder Dong Liangyu said that his family was implicated and arrested.

At the same time, his eyes began to light up, and his gaze toward the woman in red revealed an undisguised admiration. He forced a smile and asked, "To be able to worry about your studies, it seems your uncle really treats you well."

The woman in red casually replied, "It's alright."

Shi Chun's smile became even more obsequious. "The Mr. Fu you just mentioned, is he the man in the blue robe?"

The woman in red nodded.

Shi Chun then asked, "Who is that person?"

The woman in red said casually, "The Sword Saint is not lacking."

"Ah!" Shi Chun was genuinely surprised this time. "He's the Sword Saint Fu Que?" Even though he saw the disdain in the other's gaze, he couldn't help but ask, "Why is he here?"

Woman in red: "I invited you to come and read books, is that not allowed?"

"..." Shi Chun was speechless. She could even summon the Sword Saint. It seemed that this woman had quite a lot of influence. If she was willing, wouldn't it be easy for the Sword Saint to help him escape? He immediately cupped his hands in greeting and said, "May I ask your name, young lady?"

"Ruojun..." The woman in red paused, her languid posture suddenly straightening up, and said irritably, "I'm the one who came to question you, how come you're the one questioning me?"

Shi Chun chuckled, finding the other person's cluelessness endearing. Cluelessness was good; clueless people were easy to befriend. She then adopted a earnest, persuasive tone, saying, "Ruojun, right? Ruojun, I truly am the Second Miss's friend, I…"

His words came to an abrupt halt, interrupted by his own frantic attempt to cover his beard.

Because the woman in red took action directly—who told him to get so close, his beard was practically handed over to her—she grabbed three strands of his beard and ripped them off before he could react. "Your makeup is ruined! Do you think I'm blind? Hiding and thieving like a thief! Tell me, who are you?"

Shi Chun, who was covering his mouth, watched helplessly as she threw the fake mustache away. He subconsciously took a step back, speechless.

The woman in red snorted, "You won't talk, huh? Fu Que should still be inside the building. I'm going to call for help."

She turned her head and opened her mouth to shout, but Shi Chun reacted quickly and stepped forward to cover her mouth.

The woman in red glanced at her coldly, her eyes filled with astonishment and surprise. She seemed not to have expected anyone to dare to lay a hand on her, especially to cover her mouth directly.

She managed to endure the force of the instantaneous counterattack.

She wanted to ask this guy if he was a bit of an idiot. He didn't even know her cultivation level, yet he dared to attack her. Was he that bold? Wasn't he afraid of getting beaten to death?
Shi Chun pointed to his lips and shushed, "Don't shout, I'll tell you, okay? If you keep shouting, the only one who will be embarrassed is the Second Miss."

*Slap!* The woman in red slapped his hand away, saying expressionlessly, "If you dare utter a single lie, I'll chop your hand off!"

Shi Chun was at a loss. Given the other party's attitude, he clearly couldn't let it go without giving an explanation. After thinking for a moment, he decided to test the waters first, asking, "If I tell you, you won't report me to the authorities, will you?"

"Sue the authorities?" The woman in red smiled enigmatically, which reassured him. "As long as you're not causing trouble at the academy, I have no interest in interfering. The authorities can't touch me anyway."

Okay, Shi Chun was straightforward. He covered his face with both hands and rubbed it, peeling off a layer of old skin. The dark spots and wrinkles on his face disappeared instantly, and when he looked up again, he had returned to his original appearance.

Once he revealed his true appearance, he suddenly became more confident and upright. He was quite confident in his looks in front of women, but then he put on a helpless expression and said, "My name is Wang Ping, and I used to work at the library."

He would observe the other person's reaction while speaking, and if there was any threat, he would immediately subdue them to prevent them from making any noise, and then try to escape.

The woman in red seemed to have seen it all before, and didn't react at all. She said, "Oh, so you're the one who did odd jobs at the library before. No wonder. You should have said so earlier. What's the point of hiding it? It's boring to beat around the bush like this."

Seeing her nonchalant attitude, Shi Chun was surprised instead. "The Second Miss's family was implicated because of me before. Aren't you afraid that my return will implicate them again?"

The woman in red removed the red flower from her temple, held it to her nose and sniffed it lightly, replying simply, "I'm here, I won't be a burden. Even the Second Miss herself doesn't think there's anything wrong with you, so I don't need to worry about it." She casually placed the sandalwood flame she had been playing with on the railing.

Seeing her graceful figure and the beauty that rivaled the flowers, Shi Chun blinked and asked, "Don't you want to know why I returned to the library?"

The woman in red glanced sideways, said "Oh," and asked, "Why did you return?"

Shi Chun gazed intently and said, "I came for you."

"For me?" The woman in red was taken aback. The flowers swaying in front of her nose stopped swaying. She turned her head to stare at him, her eyes slightly suspicious. Did this guy recognize who she was?
Previously, it would have been unlikely that we would have had the opportunity to meet.

If they really knew each other, then covering her mouth earlier wouldn't be an excuse for ignorance; they would have to settle accounts.

A look of affection appeared in Shi Chun's eyes as he said, "I've passed by the library before, and the moment I saw you, I was deeply attracted to you. I said I came to read books, but actually I couldn't help but want to see you, Ruojun..."

His thinking was simple: it didn't matter whether it worked or not; he'd just try his luck and know that praising someone wouldn't offend them.

As for shame, what is that? He doesn't have a normal moral compass, nor does he have a normal sense of shame; he only cares about whether it's useful or not.

The woman in red was visibly stunned. This was something she had never dreamed of. She hadn't expected the other party to be so straightforward and honest, confessing his feelings on their very first official meeting.

The fact that someone would confess their love to her was astonishing; her expression became somewhat erratic, a mix of elation and bewilderment.

Of course, she didn't find this hard to understand. After that, she had more people to come into contact with, and many scholars expressed their admiration for her. She could understand all of this; after all, they were men. She was also quite confident in her own looks.

But those scholars all want to display their supposed strengths like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, in order to solidify their confidence.

This guy, I don't know if he's so confident he's bursting with confidence, is really direct, simple and crude.

Without any foreplay, while she was trying to figure out whether his confession was genuine or not, she stuck out a finger and poked Shi Chun's chest, warning him, "What's wrong with you, getting so close while we're talking?"

"You're so beautiful, I couldn't help myself, I couldn't help myself..." Shi Chun chuckled dryly, repeatedly looking for forgiveness.

Seeing his simple and straightforward words, the woman in red, who had opened her mouth, was speechless for a moment. Remembering his background, she felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Her direct revelation that her cousin was a trusted subordinate of the Empress Dowager was a pretext to pressure him into doing her work.

Unexpectedly, this person acted unconventionally. Not only was he not intimidated by her background, but he even confessed his feelings to her. It seems he was after her background.

Okay, since the other person is so shameless, she'll play along and ask, "You mean you've fallen for me?"

Shi Chun nodded repeatedly, clutching his chest. "Just one glance, and I've been longing for you day and night. Otherwise, I wouldn't have risked coming here knowing that the city guards of Dazhi City wanted to arrest me. They say even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman, and I've truly experienced that now."

Unable to bear watching any longer, the woman in red lowered her eyes and blew a breath at the red flower. "Anyone can say nice things. The scholars who come to the library every day are much more eloquent and speak much better than you. How can you prove that you truly like me?"

Hey, there seems to be a chance in these words. They didn't directly refuse, so it means we can continue. Shi Chun's spirits lifted.

For him, unless he is completely denied access, any opening he makes will provide an opportunity to exploit.

As long as things can continue, as long as the relationship continues, as long as he is willing to lower his own emotions to accommodate the other person's emotions, even if a romantic relationship doesn't develop, a friendship can still be maintained.

Based solely on the background of Miao Dingyi and his wife, he was able to spend so much time working on Miao Yilan. This woman's cousin was a confidant of the Demon Queen and could even summon the Sword Saint Fuque. One can imagine his reaction next.

Almost immediately, she puffed out her chest and replied, "Do I need to prove anything? How do you want to prove it?"

The woman in red said, "At the dinner table just now, the eldest young lady and the third young lady mentioned something they hoped I could help them with. If you really like me, you probably wouldn't want to see me working so hard, would you?"

"..." Shi Chun's expression froze. He knew that the task that this person with connections and background would handle was not something he could take on, but he still tried to ask, "What did they ask you to do?"

The woman in red swept her sleeve, picked up the sandalwood flame from the railing, and gestured downstairs with her lip, "Go ask the second young lady yourself."

I left the railing and turned to leave.

"Ruojun." Shi Chun, who had come to her senses, hurriedly called out to her, quickly took out a mother-and-child talisman, broke it in two, and handed one to her, "I will get back to you after I ask the Second Miss."

The woman in red raised her hand to tuck a flower behind her ear, then casually took the mother-and-child talisman and left.

Shi Chun couldn't help but praise her for wearing the flower, saying affectionately, "So beautiful."

(End of this chapter)