Chapter 134 – A young maiden’s heart

(TL’s note: Hi guys, I know things are running late this week…. I’ll make up for the lack of releases this week in the coming days. Meanwhile, here’s Wednesday’s chapter.)

“Oh, he he, we’re in the same place again Miss Dugu; I guess we were destined to meet each other again.” Jun Mo Xie smiled as he said the words, while his face was carrying a ‘pleasantly surprised’ look.

The young master Jun hadn’t never expected that even though he had greeted Dugu Xiao Yi in the same manner as always, these words were now being interpreted by her in a very different context.

He said destined? And I’m very fortunate that I met you ah! Hey, this really could be destiny! Would we be able to see each other daily? Would our families oppose this?

Jun Mo Xie’s words had filled her heart with joy, and her initial resentment had already gone up in smoke: Thanks to Little White’s mischief, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see you today…..

Dugu Xiao Yi wasn’t involved in political conspiracies that clogged the dark side of the world; even though she was the same age as Jun Mo Xie, she behaved like a normal sixteen year old girl.

Given her age and background, she couldn’t understand the complexly subtle emotions like love etc. She had often heard of Jun Mo Xie’s unbearable arrogance in the past, and had always felt disgusted by it. She had always felt that the man needed to be disciplined; very strictly.

But after her previous few encounters with the young master Jun, she had realized that the so-called hedonistic and flippant son of rich parents was actually a very organized, and of very appropriate character, due to which she had started seeing Jun Mo Xie in a very general light.

But these encounters aroused a lot of curiosity in Dugu Xiao Yi’s heart; Jun Mo Xie is a tiger in a pig’s shell, and he pretends to be such in order to deal with the outside world. Until this time, she had always felt disgusted in his presence, and had always looked down upon him, but she had finally started to realize something at this point: I’ve been misunderstanding Jun Mo Xie all this time.

Even though Dugu Xiao Yi’s attitude towards Jun Mo Xie was beginning to change, she still couldn’t help thinking: I have misunderstood Jun Mo Xie for several years, and I’ve bullied him for so many years without giving him any reason to explain his actions. He suffered it all these years without making any complains, which was justifiable for a man with low intelligence…. But it’s obvious that he’s very clever. Could I be misunderstanding him again?

Such thoughts had ignited mixed feelings in her heart since she also knew that Jun Mo Xie had tricked her into defrauding the metallic ore from her hands, which had left her feeling very displeased. But then again, maybe he did that because that metallic ore was very important for him…. Is his resourcefulness his true face? Why is it so difficult to see the real face of people? Why do we have to deliberately hide ourselves from the world outside?!

Even with these thoughts in the back of her mind, she still saw him as a bully for cheating the metallic ore away from her, but realized that she had missed it out at the time since she was too proud and arrogant, and couldn’t see that he was a tiger disguised as a pig, which made her a bit upset; then thinking again, I’ve known him so many years, and I’ve bullied him so much in past, but he had never seemingly bothered about it….. As these thoughts sprouted in her head, she suddenly felt as if something was amiss. She cried after she returned home that day.

She wept since she was beginning to recall their encounters over these past years…. She recalled all the suffering that the Jun Family had been through, and began imagining that it must have been very hard on Jun Mo Xie, which instilled an indistinct sense of pain in her heart. On top of that, she had made her father bully Jun Mo Xie several times in the past since she had felt that he had wronged her, owing to which she had wished to get even with him.

After she started to understand the unsaid aspects of Jun Mo Xie’s life, she felt as if someone had struck her heart with a hammer – so many years of misunderstanding him, will I ever be able to compensate for it? As these thoughts came into her head, she had started to blame herself. Once a young heart develops such feelings, they often find it difficult to conceal their emotions; naturally she had been unable to eat her meals properly for days. After pondering over these issues for several days, the young master Jun’s reputation started to change very drastically in her psyche, and in due course of time, she started seeing in a very high-light.

For this reason, she ventured into her grandfather’s study one day, with the intention of inquiring more about Jun Mo Xie, and after learning more about the Jun Family’s situation, she finally found an explanation for his behavior: the previously declining Jun Family has now once again become very dangerous and powerful. He has managed to turn his family’s fortunes around at the cost of creating a very dirty public reputation for himself, and after suffering so much humiliation. His life has been so difficult…. Even though he’s just my age, he has suffered so much for so many years….. No wonder there is such a great contrast between him and the others; this man is instilled with a sense of responsibility and is willing to make sacrifices for his family…..

Jun Mo Xie had actually tried to save the princess which had almost injured him to the point of death – such a chivalrous man!

So Jun Mo Xie had suddenly gone from a debauchee to a responsible and noble young man in Dugu Xiao Yi’s mind…… this had completely twisted her life upside down.

Once a young girl develops a favorable impression about a man, anything the man does seems justifiable and noble to the young woman. After she found out that the young master Jun had been seriously injured while saving the princess, she started to fear for his well-being and even started to fantasize about helping him in his rehabilitation…..

Then later, when she suddenly heard Jun Moe Xie’s voice in the Magnificent Jewel Hall, her heart soared with an unexplainable sense of joy, and she felt as if she had just recovered a long-lost treasure. Then her pet suddenly took a liking to Jun Mo Xie, which made the young maiden even more happy since Little White had never shown any affection to anyone apart from her. She started seeing this as an indication of something special in Jun Mo Xie.

At that time, she was still unable to understand whether Jun Mo Xie was an evil man or a good one, but then as an after effect of the trouble that her father and brothers sprouted at the Jun residence, she started asking herself: So I really fancy bad men? Do I really like him? What is this feeling?

This feeling…. Is really, really wonderful……

In the following days, even though she was afraid since her father and brothers started interfering in these matters, her heart still carried a sense of apprehension. Even though she didn’t meet him again for a long while, just the thought of him was enough to make her a little shy, and she started thinking that she fancied him. With these thoughts in her mind, her heart leapt and her face would blush since she would long for their next encounter….

The mind of a young maiden can be very elusive, almost like a poetic dream, full of endless fantasies…. Although Dugu Xiao Yi was a high-borne, she wasn’t as arrogant and haughty as some of the other powerful women of the kingdom; her heart was that of a delicate young maiden’s, and wasn’t very different from that of an ordinary farmer’s daughter.

All the interventions and pressure that followed in the succeeding days abruptly forced out these feeling, and made them stronger.

If it hadn’t been for the wild speculations of Princess Ling Meng….

If it hadn’t been for the naughty interventions of the Dugu Family, then these emotions would have gradually diluted…..

Then, Jun Mo Xie would have only remained a very interesting character in her life… an interesting man and a very reliable person; that’s all! Believing that he is just another very interesting man, with passing age and increasing distance, he would’ve become a transient passerby in her life, who she’d only recall as a faint memory in time to come!

But due to the blend of circumstances, Dugu Xiao Yi suddenly started gripping harder to the thought that Jun Mo Xie was a rare exception, and started becoming so convinced about it, that she slowly built a cocoon around herself….

At the moment when she heard his voice today, her heart suddenly started pounding so hard, that it almost skipped a few beats, and she didn’t know how to react since she didn’t know how he felt about her. Her face had suddenly started burning and she had even contemplated the idea of running away….

Do I….. him… really…. Destined to be together?! Oops….. people will think shameful things! Dugu Xiao Yi’s good-looking face was suddenly red.

“Thief Jun, this night has been a real eye-opener for me. Don’t even think of doing anything to Miss Dugu!” Ye Gu Han looked at him coldly. I don’t know what means Jun Mo Xie used in order to attract Miss Dugu’s high level Xuan beast cub towards himself… but it’s undeniable that he only did so to trouble Miss Dugu Xiao Yi.

Dugu Xiao Yi’s pet’s affection for this man is quite obvious: and now that the cub is so attached to Jun Mo Xie, it will undoubtedly make things very uncomfortable for her, in fact it might even put her in harms’ way in the future since her pet might seek him again, which is a very dangerous thing!

In addition to their masters, high-end Xuan Beasts rarely ever develop any kind of attraction towards strangers. Although Ye Gu Han couldn’t explain this mystery, and even felt that it was quite incredible, but he was still convinced that the young master Jun must have used some very shameful methods to attract the young cub. What other explanation could there be for this?

“What? Thief? Don’t call me a thief!” Jun Mo Xie was somewhat depressed. Did I bother anyone? Why would he act so blindly, and be so hostile towards me? This isn’t fair, ah, I simply didn’t do anything. This animal simply jumped into my palanquin and slept off in my arms. I’m a handsome and suave guy, that’s a rare thing…. Makes me stand apart!

I’m the real victim here…. This isn’t fair!

“Thief Jun, are you refusing to hand over Little White to Miss Dugu?” Ye Gu Han was feeling very fortunate that he was escorting the Young Miss personally, otherwise it would have been hard for her to escape Jun Mo Xie’s trap. And if anything untoward happened to the young Miss Dugu, then it would have sprouted a big dispute in the capital. As far as he was concerned, he absolutely needed to stop this thief’s conspiracies!

“Ye Gu Han, right? Why would you be so narrow-minded? Anyway, you are the Princess’s guard, why would you even intervene in this matter? Who do you think you are, this matter is between me and the young Miss…. Why are you sticking your foot into it?” Jun Mo Xie returned Little White to Dugu Xiao Yi, as he replied to Ye Gu Han, feeling wronged by the man’s accusations.