Miss Truth
Chapter 100 - 62: Rage Burns Across the Field_2

Chapter 100: Chapter 62: Rage Burns Across the Field_2

The crowd outside seemed to have snapped out of their trance caused by Qi Liuniang’s beauty and started to urge Ran Yan to keep her promise.

"Red?" Ran Yan frowned slightly; the garment she was holding was indeed stunning, but she often dissected human bodies, and the red she saw most was that of human blood, so she never wore red on herself.

"Ah Yan...don’t you like red?" Ran Yunsheng was a bit disappointed, for he truly thought the dress suited her well.

Ran Yan shook her head, "I just rarely wear such bright colors."

The urging from outside grew more pressing, and Ran Yan, not wanting to let Ran Yunsheng’s enthusiasm go to waste, stood up and walked to the inner cabin to change. After all, she didn’t like the light yellow she was wearing either, so changing wouldn’t make much difference.

"The reeds are lush, and the white dew turns to frost; the one I miss, stands on the other side of the water..."

Seeing that Ran Yan hadn’t appeared yet, people outside randomly started to recite the Classic of Poetry.

This time, Ran Yunsheng didn’t grow angry; he himself was born too conspicuously attractive, which led to constant murmurs from others. But Ran Yan was different; she was born extremely beautiful, possessing the beauty that a woman should have. If those people wanted to look, Ran Yunsheng wanted them to gaze upon his sister with the same reverence they had for Qi Liuniang, not like now—composing poetry and songs for Qi Liuniang, yet reciting the Classic of Poetry in such a disorganized manner for her, even with a somewhat frivolous intention.

Outside, people grew so impatient that they began to hit the railing with their paddles, and even started clamoring, their attitude nowhere as respectful as it was towards Qi Liuniang. Although they had heard that Ran Shiqi’s beauty was on par with Qi Liuniang’s, very few had actually seen her, and no matter how beautifully she was described, it couldn’t compete with the many years Qi Liuniang held the title of "Suzhou’s Number One Beauty."

Someone, slightly annoyed, said, "Hey! If you don’t come out soon, we’ll have to barge in to see for ourselves!"

"Tsch, is it not that Ran Shilang has hidden some lady here and is deceiving us all? Come on, let’s go and see for ourselves!" said a person on the same boat as Zhang Fei, who actually jumped onto the boat, causing it to rock unsteadily.

The crowd encouraged him to hurry up and take a look. As the man approached the entrance to the cabin, the bamboo curtain was lifted from inside.

Just a step away, the woman in the red dress used her folding fan to block his forward momentum and said coldly, "Please leave my boat immediately!"

All was silent over the lake, as breaths were held and eyes fixed on the woman before them, as radiant as a fiery red lotus. Her black hair trailed behind her, secured with a long black ribbon; her delicate features made one doubt if Heaven itself had shown too much favor in her creation, meticulously carving until she was ready to grace the mortal world.

However, the fiery color of her dress didn’t bring warmth when worn on her; instead, it took on a chill. She stood there quietly, pointing the fan at the unwelcome guest, her gaze icy—a flame that burned in the nine layers of hell, or a red spider lily blossoming on the banks of the River of Forgetfulness.

Ran Yan was uncomfortable all over. According to her original plan, if Qi Liuniang had indeed come out, then being the center of attention with everyone else was still better than having a group of men gawking at her alone. She might have just shown her face and been done with it, but now, she was wearing a color like blood, and her hair was a mess from changing clothes, too rushed to comb it properly. It was all casual and hasty—amidst the chaos, one man even dared to enter her boat without permission, which truly infuriated her.

Things had turned out this way through no fault of her own, nor could she blame Ran Yunsheng, who’d only had good intentions after all.

The heavy anger, like a prairie fire, spread across the entire river surface; everyone felt the icy coldness of it, making Qi Liuniang, who stood proudly on the high deck competing with the moon for brilliance, seem somewhat frail and insubstantial.

The man who had rushed onto the deck retreated a few steps in fright and hurriedly turned to jump onto the adjacent boat.

"I have come out as agreed, if there is nothing else, please allow me to take my leave," Ran Yan said, even as she had already retreated back into the cabin.

Ran Yan tossed the folding fan she held to Ran Yunsheng, and uncomfortably shifted her body, "Shilang, keep an eye on the door for me; I’m going to change my clothes."

Without waiting for Ran Yunsheng’s response, she quickly turned and went into the inner cabin, selecting a treasure-blue ice silk dress from her chest and deftly changed out of her clothes.

As if wiping off the bloodstains from her body, Ran Yan sighed with relief, finally feeling much more comfortable in her heart.

"Are you angry?" Ran Yunsheng’s eyes filled with some regret, "It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have let you compare yourself with Qi Liuniang."

Ran Yan managed to calm her emotions and honestly said, "It’s not that I blame you; there are many advantages to surpassing Qi Liuniang, and I know you are doing it for my sake as well."

After all, if she were to insist on disagreeing, Ran Yunsheng would still coerce her, so what Ran Yan was saying was absolutely the truth.

Ran Yan sat relaxed on the mat and noticed Ran Yunsheng still looking at her anxiously, only then did she feel that her reaction might have indeed been too much; after all, Yunsheng was not a timid creature, constantly startling at every little thing. She desperately softened her tone, "Shilang, I truly don’t blame you, I only blame those spoiled young masters for going too far."

After pondering for a long time, Ran Yan came to this conclusion, which indeed was the main reason for her anger.

With Ran Yan speaking like this, Ran Yunsheng finally relaxed slightly, sat cross-legged across from her, and sighed, "Ah! Your blazing anger..."

The men of Suzhou City were probably all scared by her, and he wondered if anyone would be willing to marry her in the future. With such a terrifying aura, hopefully, there would be a man who could handle her! Ran Yunsheng didn’t dwell on this any further, instead, he asked, "Do you dislike the color red?"

"I thought it was just ordinary at first, but once I actually wore it on my body, I realized that I do dislike it," Ran Yan replied honestly so that Ran Yunsheng would not ask her to wear red clothes again in the future; it wasn’t just a dislike, but a discomfort throughout her body.

Ran Yunsheng breathed a sigh of relief and a smile once again spread across his face, "Yan, would you like to go back or continue to stroll around?"

Before Ran Yan could answer, a man’s voice came from outside the boat, "Miss Ran Shiqi has a beauty that upsets the city, we all thought you could be named alongside Qi Liuniang as the twin jewels of Jiangnan. But Qi Liuniang excels in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting; we know Miss Shiqi’s medical skills are extraordinary, do you have any other talents allowing us a glimpse?"

The implication being that if she was proficient in music and poetry, she could match Qi Liuniang and be named one of the Twin Jewels of Jiangnan.

This greatly surprised Ran Yunsheng; he had thought Ran Yan’s fiery anger would scare people away, but it seemed not to be the case, which also made him happy.

Ran Yan furrowed her brows; these people were really pushing it. Talent? She had some, if dissecting corpses could be considered a talent. The mother of this body had passed away early, and she had only learned to read and write for a few years. Under Xing Niang’s supervision, she had become quite proficient in embroidery... As for the rest, she only had a superficial understanding, hardly qualifying as talent.

What Twin Jewels of Jiangnan, Ran Yan didn’t care, but right now she was stuck in this situation and couldn’t advance or retreat. If she didn’t think of a way to make these people uncomfortable, it would be difficult for her to stay calm. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, your support is my greatest motivation.)