Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 171 Snow Sculpture
After receiving the secret letter from Zhu Wen's personal guards, Tian Jun hurriedly ran to the pine tree about a mile north of Quzhou City. There, she saw Zhu Wen already waiting in the pure white snow. In addition to his winter clothes, he was also wearing a pure black robe, which made him look handsome and mysterious in the cold wind.

"Zhu Lang, you finally remembered me? I thought you wouldn't take the initiative to ask someone out." Tian Jun pouted and said, but the passion in her eyes was undisguised.

She is usually bold and forthright, no less than a man. Only in matters of love can she reveal such a girlish side.

Zhu Wen smiled and unfolded his robe, walking over to wrap her in his arms: "Jun-mei, it's so cold, are you cold?"

Tian Jun, being so straightforward, was easy to coax. She immediately went from being angry to happy, and Zhu Wen held her tightly in his arms, letting her feel the warmth of his chest.

She also reached her hands out from under her robe and wrapped them tightly around Zhu Wen's back. The way she held him, as if trying to make him one with her, was like a little girl clutching a candy tightly and refusing to let go.

Even through several layers of clothing, Zhu Wen could feel the soft, smooth texture of Tian Jun's lower abdomen. He didn't move, but simply held her belly quietly.

A strange, indescribable thrill stirred within me.

There's a saying: "A wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a stolen affair." Zhu Wen had been seeing Tian Jun for nearly half a year, but he only told Lan Suting, keeping it a secret from the entire army. Opportunities for such secret meetings were rare.

Originally, Tian Jun was even more carefree than Duan Hongyan, so their outings together wouldn't have aroused suspicion. But once they became a couple, they couldn't help but feel uneasy, so they disguised the letters as military intelligence, sealed them with sealing wax, and had a messenger deliver them.

This feeling of unease, of fearing being discovered, actually gives people a unique and mysterious experience.

Even wrapped in robes and embracing each other in the cold wind, one cannot escape the chill.

"It's still freezing if we don't move," Zhu Wen said with a mischievous grin, blowing warm breath into Tian Jun's ear. "How about we do something to warm up?"

He drew out a long note like a theatrical performance, the ending sound like a hook, low and lingering like a magnet, seemingly containing some kind of bewitching and seductive charm.

They were simply embracing quietly in the open field, yet Tian Jun's heart fluttered. She felt as if she were in a warm, incense-filled room, her pretty face flushed, and she scolded in a coquettish voice, "You little lecher, what naughty ideas are you plotting now?"

"Oh, I just wanted to invite you to a snowball fight, what are you thinking?"

Tian Jun realized she had been tricked again, and angrily broke free from her robe, aiming her mouth at Zhu Wen's neck and biting down.

Zhu Wen reacted swiftly, grabbing her chin and lightly touching Tian Jun's forehead with his lips, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Tian Jun blushed so much that her lips turned even redder, but her anger subsided in an instant. She pouted and said helplessly, "Anyway, I'm a bit dim-witted, so I can only let you have me completely under your thumb."

Zhu Wen thought to himself, "You four-legged snake, it's only because you've run into me that you can be controlled. With such a fiery and unruly temperament, anyone else would be beaten to a pulp and have their neck covered in bite wounds."

Fortunately, Tian Jun's temper tantrums never lasted long; in fact, she seemed to become even more petulant the more tender the situation was, which was quite endearing. She quickly stopped arguing and started making snowballs in the vast sea of ​​snow, throwing them at Zhu Wen like children.

At first, the two tried to dodge with their agility, but later they were too lazy to dodge and started throwing snowballs at each other. Snow splashed all over their clothes, faces, and collars, but they were sweating. Their carefree play brought them a childlike joy.

Broken tree branches were scattered everywhere on the ground, all of them thrown down by the two of them with snowballs.

Tian Jun stopped, panting, and wiped the snow powder off her body: "Who won?"

"I don't know, we were having so much fun that we forgot to count," Zhu Wen said, exhaling a puff of white breath.

"It's not cold at all anymore," Tian Jun laughed like a silver bell. "I'm very happy today."

Zhu Wen also laughed.

This is how you should date a straightforward and cheerful girl like Tian Jun; it's much more enjoyable than any romantic evening stroll.

"Shall we build another snowman?"

As Tian Jun spoke, she went to the snow and started kneading snowballs, looking quite enthusiastic.

She worked for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and finally built a simple three-headed snowman. She used two black stones for eyes and stuck twigs for arms, making it look rustic and honest.

The snowman itself was unremarkable, but the smile on its mouth was particularly eye-catching.

Only a free-spirited girl like Tian Jun could unconsciously produce such a smile.

Zhu Wen sighed inwardly. By his own standards, he had already lost.

Tian Jun leaned closer and looked at the large, square, box-like block of snow in front of Zhu Wen. Suddenly, she clutched her stomach and burst into laughter, "You've been working on this for so long, and this is all you've made?"

She had been having so much fun in the snowball fight that she seemed to have forgotten that Zhu Wen was one of the most intelligent people in the world.

“I’m compacting the snow. If it’s not compacted properly, it will easily crumble,” Zhu Wen replied.

"You're kidding me, how could it break?" Tian Jun said dismissively.

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Zhu Wen take out a small knife from his person.

The icy blade danced like a sprite on the snow, and the flying snow dust resembled swirling sand.

Tian Jun's gaze was quickly drawn to it, and she fell silent.

She finally understood why Zhu Wen said it was essential to compact the material, otherwise it would break.

It was as if a masterpiece was hidden in the snow, and as Zhu Wen moved the knife in his hand, its outline gradually became clear and it jumped out from the snow.

After being cut, the snow blocks gradually formed the shape of a double-eaved palace.

The Wudian (庑殿) is the highest architectural form, often used in royal buildings such as palaces and temples. Its roof has four slopes; the front and rear slopes intersect to form a main ridge, while the gable roofs intersect with the front and rear slopes to form four hip ridges, hence it is also called the Four-Slope Hall or Five-Ridge Hall. Seeing Tian Jun's dumbfounded expression, Zhu Wen thought to himself: You have no idea that when I was less than ten years old, I could build Emperor Xuanzong's Huaqing Palace out of sand.

However, Tian Jun still felt something was strange.

The unfinished roof ridge seems too wide, more like a platform.

She didn't say much, quietly watching Zhu Wen's next move.

The reason this work is different from ordinary palace halls is that another sculpture is carved on it.

A majestic dragon, its head held high and spitting out pearls, its horns pointing to the sky, is lifelike and imposing.

Seeing that even the scales of the azure dragon were clearly visible, Tian Jun was secretly delighted and was about to say a few words of praise to Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen suddenly swung his sword and chopped off the dragon's pair of horns, then clapped his hands triumphantly: "Mission accomplished!"

Tian Jun suddenly raised an eyebrow and slammed her fist heavily into Zhu Wen's chest: "You...you're deliberately trying to anger me, aren't you?"

A dragon has horns, while a snake has no horns. Zhu Wen clearly said she was a four-legged snake, so he chopped off her horns.

Zhu Wen did not dodge this time, but calmly took several punches. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if his ribs were about to break, and he couldn't help but gasp.

"I'm going to hit you, so please be careful not to hit me too hard, okay? You're trying to murder your husband!"

Tian Jun was a little embarrassed and lowered her head, saying, "Sorry, I'll be more careful next time."

He then asked, "Where did you learn it?"

A hint of melancholy appeared in Zhu Wen's eyes.

"I learned to be a carpenter when I was a child."

"I see," Tian Jun said. "Someone like you would never be content to live as a carpenter for the rest of your life."

“Wrong,” Zhu Wen said. “If I could continue doing this and become a top-notch craftsman who could serve the royal family, I probably wouldn’t want to rebel.”

Tian Jun wasn't surprised by Zhu Wen's confident words. If Zhu Wen continued down this path, it wouldn't be surprising if he became a top-tier artist or painter. Becoming a top-tier craftsman or painter was much easier than becoming one in the fields of literature or martial arts.

"Then why didn't you do it?" Tian Jun asked, looking puzzled.

“I built palaces out of sand when I was very young. After only a month of learning carpentry, I was better than my master, so he accused me of stealing his things.”

“I did a lot of naughty things when I was young, but I never stole anything.”

Tian Jun suddenly fell silent.

“I’ve been ostracized more than once or twice. But this incident really made me angry, and I’m still angry now. After I learned martial arts, I wanted to slit his throat to get revenge, but that bastard died of illness early on.”

"Since he's dead, there's nothing to fuss about, right?" Tian Jun asked.

Tian Jun didn't think there was anything wrong with Zhu Wen wanting to kill her. She had once been so angry because the children in the slums didn't know how to be grateful for the money that Tian Xiang had earned by exchanging her body that she had killed more than ten children with a spear. She only took a few children with her and went to seek refuge with Kou Qianzhi after they learned of Tian Xiang's death and shed tears.

“That’s where you and I are different,” Zhu Wen said. “I’m a petty person. Call me pretentious if you will, or say I only think about myself.”

"Of course I know what happened to me. Compared to Yang Xingmi, who killed his father, and the people whose families were ravaged by the marauding soldiers, it's not a big deal. But I just can't get over it."

“Those fellow disciples who used to be very kind to me suddenly started cursing at me and even throwing stones at me, which made me very sad.”

“Sometimes, when I think about this, I feel like I could kill all those people.”

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Zhu Wen's eyes.

Tian Jun didn't know what to say for a moment.

She leaned in and hugged Zhu Wen, kissing him on the cheek with her soft lips.

Zhu Wen felt a warmth in his heart and was deeply moved.

As his lover, Tian Jun was already trying her best to care for him. Unfortunately, she was not Xingxiang, and could not be a witty and understanding flower that could touch the depths of his soul.

In a world where human life was cheap, Zhu Wen's childhood was relatively fortunate. His hometown had never suffered from floods or droughts, and even after his grandfather's death, Liu Chong, the wealthy man who took in the Zhu family as hired laborers, was a kind man. Although Zhu Wen was unruly, Liu Chong never let him go hungry.

Zhu Wen was certainly clear about gratitude and resentment. If he achieved great success, he would definitely repay Liu Chong and the kind old lady Liu who had favored him. As for being punished by Liu Chong for being naughty, it was insignificant compared to the kindness Liu Chong had shown to the Zhu family.

But being too clever and attracting jealousy is a luxury many might consider a luxury. For Zhu Wen in his youth, this pain was equally real, even piercing to the bone.

Everyone has their own suffering, and this suffering cannot be measured in terms of quantity. One should never say that others suffer much more than one's own suffering.

Many things that happened in his youth made Zhu Wen not easily trusting of others. He knew that human nature was both good and evil, and when he saw the evil in the common people of his own background, he still felt an uncontrollable hatred. On the contrary, a girl like Lan Suting, who was like a pure white lotus in a turbid world, could bring him peace of mind.

Even if Zhu Wen himself was not a good person at all.

This awkwardness, while not affecting Zhu Wen's decisiveness in doing things, sometimes made him dislike himself.

(End of this chapter)