LRAB Chapter 173: Restrictions and Shackles
Chapter 173: Restrictions and Shackles
Chapter 173: Restrictions and Shackles
Zhao Changhe bitterly went to wash his face, cursing himself for being too brainless and going too far with his teasing. Now, the perfect scene of having a beauty by his side as he did some work was just a pipe dream.
He had touched upon a topic that should have been avoided between the two of them. This was not something that could just be cooled off by meditation or cultivation.
It could be said that one of the major reasons that Tang Wanzhuang hoped Zhao Changhe would take on the identity of a prince was because he had clearly expressed his refusal to the marriage alliance, which aligned with what she wanted. A few flirtatious and teasing remarks could be brushed off, and a twenty-eight-year-old lady like her was not someone who could not handle some teasing; after all, she had even retorted with a few remarks of her own. However, that topic was off-limits.
After mulling it over, Zhao Changhe regretted it deeply. Not only had he lost an enjoyable moment, but he also feared that their future interactions would turn strictly serious again.
He finished washing his face, and he sighed as he went back to writing. Just as he sat down at the table, however, a fragrant breeze swept by as Tang Wanzhuang came in again.
Zhao Changhe: “?”
“Do you know how to paint?” Tang Wanzhuang asked with a straight face.
“...No.”
“The sword manual will surely need illustrations and examples, not just textual explanations. Since you can’t paint, how do you plan to handle that?”
“I’ve painted examples of the Vicious Blood Saber before. Although it looked quite rough, there should not have been any major deviations.”
“A small deviation can lead to a huge error. What do you mean by ‘should not?’ This is going to be exchanged with the Ancient Spirit Tribe for their gu arts, if there are any mistakes, it will be a huge deal. Are you confident that your painting won’t have any flaws?”
“Um...” In fact, Zhao Changhe felt that the Heavenly Tome would be able to detect any major flaws, but he was not entirely sure. Also, since he could not really just talk about the Heavenly Tome, he could only remain silent.
Tang Wanzhuang tossed him a sword and said, “Alright, you demonstrate it, I’ll paint it.”
Zhao Changhe sniffled and obediently got up to demonstrate.
If he had not gone too far just now, he might have been able to get her to teach him how to paint hand in hand, but now, that was out of the question.
Tang Wanzhuang sat at the table, and turned her head to watch Zhao Changhe demonstrate. At first, she tried to hide her surprise behind a casual expression, but gradually, her eyes could no longer conceal her admiration.
Since he was like a big bear when he tried playing the guqin, she had thought that he would do horribly demonstrating the sword poses and moves as well. She really had not expected him to move with such elegance. Aside from the fact that he seemed a bit unfamiliar with the sword, he appeared to have truly mastered the basic movements of the Sword Emperor’s beginner-level sword art.
It had to be said that even if this was just a beginner-level sword art, and even if someone had spoon-fed him every detail, to learn the sword to this extent in just a single night, for someone who had only practiced the saber beforehand, showcased truly remarkable talent.
Given enough resources and a proper stage, he could truly become the next Xia Longyuan, both in terms of martial prowess and position.
The beginner-level sword art did not have many techniques, and Zhao Changhe soon finished his demonstration. Tang Wanzhuang snapped out of her reverie, only to realize that she had not even done a single stroke.
Zhao Changhe glanced over.
Tang Wanzhuang casually covered it up and said calmly, “I can’t paint that fast. Why don’t you go through it again... Hmm, I think I need to see it another two times. I’ll paint in the meantime.”
Zhao Changhe looked at her suspiciously, and her face felt a little hot. She knew that this stinky bear was not easy to deceive—he had solved those cases, after all. Just because he wasn’t saying anything didn’t mean that he was clueless...
Fortunately, Zhao Changhe did not tease her this time. He obediently went back to demonstrating the movements.
Tang Wanzhuang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly started painting.
By the time Zhao Changhe finished his demonstration for the second time, Tang Wanzhuang just so happened to finish her work. The timing was as precise as a well-designed program.
Zhao Changhe had promised her, and she trusted that he would not deceive her.
The sound of footsteps came from behind her, and Tang Wanzhuang sat directly beside her and handed her a booklet. “He’s quite efficient. He has already completed the first volume for the beginner-level sword arts. I’m giving it to you first so that you can take a look at it. He should be working on the more advanced sword arts at the moment. Within three days, I believe that we’ll have one complete system. Will that be enough?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see it for myself first...” Sisi took the booklet, opened it, and quickly scanned through it. Her expression soon turned strange.
Why does the illustration look exactly like Zhao Changhe?!
“What are you trying to do?” Sisi said expressionlessly. “Are you trying to humiliate me? We just broke off our friendship, and now you bring me this so that I get reminded of it again and again?”
Tang Wanzhuang smiled. “The one demonstrating the moves looks like him because it is him. When I was illustrating it, I ended up subconsciously drawing his likeness. If it makes you uncomfortable, then just erase his face.”
“...” Sisi fell silent for a moment, then directly put the booklet away before continuing to hug her knees and turning silent.
Tang Wanzhuang also remained silent, as if she had nothing else to do but sit with her.
Sisi looked at her strangely, then another, and after a while, she could not resist asking, “Why... Why didn’t you impose any restrictions on me?”
Tang Wanzhuang said, “Because we’re actually the same kind of people. I’m all good anyway. When I get angry, I calm down soon enough. What’s the point of staying angry?”
Huh? That doesn’t explain why she didn’t impose any restrictions on me? Isn’t she afraid that I’ll really cause some trouble? Sisi kept looking at her interlocutor strangely, but aside from finding her beautiful, she could not discern anything else.
“Why do you say that we’re similar types of people? What makes us similar?”
“For the goal of the Great Xia, I won’t care about the life or death of foreigners. To you, aren’t we foreigners as well? What fundamental difference is there between you and me? It’s just that I’ve had a few more years of experience and I wouldn’t act as recklessly as you did,” Tang Wanzhuang said softly. “From this perspective, even if you really tried to seduce and deceive Changhe, it would actually be quite normal. But you didn’t, so it’s hard for me to dislike you.”
Sisi pursed her lips.
She knew that they weren’t quite the same. Their perspectives on life were, in fact, fundamentally different... But Tang Wanzhuang’s willingness to see things that way still made her feel better. Only a fool would argue against it.
“I asked about your past actions. You’re clearly an extremely shrewd person. But this time, you acted recklessly, without considering the consequences, from beginning to end. You even missed something as obvious as people being stationed outside and you thought that mere terracotta warriors could isolate us. Well, I get that it was because you felt guilty about betraying Changhe’s trust. Your mind was in turmoil, and you were just eager to explain.” Tang Wanzhuang gently patted her shoulder. “In the end, you’re just a young girl.”
Sisi pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, but she knew very well that Tang Wanzhuang was right this time. Her mind had really been in turmoil back then, and that had caused her to act recklessly. Looking back, she felt like a complete fool.
Why had Tang Wanzhuang not imposed any restrictions on her? It seemed that there was no need to dwell on it any further.
Such actions would only arouse someone’s resentment and rebellion, which would make them try everything to break free. Even if they couldn’t break free, they would want to bite back, making it especially easy for them to go astray.
Why bother imposing a restriction when there already was a much stronger one in place?
Love was a restriction, and the heart was a shackle.
Sisi was smart. She understood very well what Tang Wanzhuang was doing, but she felt speechless to find that although she thought Tang Wanzhuang was overthinking things, she still could not muster any resistance.
After all, not imposing a restriction on her was ultimately an act of kindness. Being misunderstood as having a crush was much better than forcibly being placed under control.
Sisi could only angrily retort, “I don’t like him! If I really liked him, I wouldn’t have put him in danger! I just treated him as a friend. We, the Ancient Spirit Tribe, value loyalty, so I was in turmoil. We’re not like you people of the divine land, heartless and without loyalty!”
Tang Wanzhuang chuckled wryly. “Oh, I see.”
Sisi glanced at her, “Although you’re twenty-eight, you’ve never even been with a man. Why pretend to be such an experienced older sister? I bet you don’t even understand them as much as I do! I even dared to kiss him, would you do that?”
Tang Wanzhuang’s smile froze on her face.