What a night this is

When Chen Yage saw Gu Gao’s look of utter distaste, she lowered her head and sniffed at her own sleeve, unable to help exclaiming, “How awful I smell!” At that moment, Li Bai suddenly chuckled. He reached into his sleeve, brought out a gleaming ingot of silver, and handed it to Chen Yage. “Take this and buy yourself some new clothes. You should have a good wash.”

Li Bai then turned to Gu Gao and said, “Old sir, I can see this young lady means no harm—perhaps she’s a victim herself. The brute has already been driven off by me, so let us not blame the young lady any further.”

What chivalry! If Li Bai had lived in the Song dynasty, Song Jiang would surely have trailed after him like an eager puppy, calling him ‘Brother Bai,’ and the leader’s seat on Liangshan would have belonged to none but Li Bai himself!

Chen Yage’s imagination ran wild, and she was so touched by Li Bai’s words that tears were nearly streaming down her face. Even she herself found her own stench unbearable, yet Li Bai stood beside her so calmly. “Li Bai, oh Li Bai, are you the Li Bai of my dreams?” she wondered.

Gu Gao, hearing Li Bai’s words, softened his tone and the anger faded from his face. He said respectfully to Li Bai, “Since you say so, benefactor, I will certainly do as you suggest.”

“May I ask what is going on? Are you filming a scene or something?” Chen Yage, having pondered for a long time, could no longer contain her curiosity.

The villain was gone, the show was over—surely it was time to ask for an explanation.

Li Bai froze for a moment, then smiled. “Life is but a play, and a play but life. I’m not sure what you’re referring to, young lady.”

Not filming? Could it be that I really died? Chen Yage thought, pinching her thigh as hard as she could, and cried out in pain, “Ouch!”

“Young lady, you...” Li Bai asked in confusion.

Ignoring him, Chen Yage hurriedly asked, “What dynasty is this?”

Li Bai smiled, “Have you forgotten even that? It is now the fourteenth year of the Kaiyuan era...”

“What?” Chen Yage shouted in astonishment.

Impossible! Have I really traveled through time, and to the Tang dynasty no less? Then he really is the Li Bai of my dreams? Heaven, you have truly favored me! Chen Yage muttered to herself.

Li Bai pulled out a bag of silver and handed it to Gu Gao. “Old sir, I have some silver here. Take it and leave this place with the young lady. That bully won’t give up so easily—he may return to trouble you. This silver should be enough to open a dumpling shop elsewhere.”

Gu Gao tried to return the silver with heartfelt gratitude. “No, benefactor! You have already saved my granddaughter; I am forever in your debt. How could I accept your silver? Please, benefactor, you must go at once—if that villain Wang Fugui comes back with his lackeys, he’ll cause you trouble!”

“Please, old sir, just take it. Leave this place—this wide world has many places to call home. I wander freely and can make my home wherever I am. I have dealt with bullies like him many times before—it’s nothing.”

Li Bai pressed the silver into Gu Gao’s hand and, not wanting to give him a chance to refuse, turned and strode away, decisive and unburdened, waving his sleeve as he left without taking a single cloud with him.

Clutching the silver, Gu Gao murmured over and over, “A good man, truly a good man will be rewarded with good fortune!”

Watching Li Bai’s figure grow smaller and smaller until he was swallowed by the crowd, Chen Yage, dazed, began to walk in the direction he had gone. The crowd thinned out and soon she found herself in a secluded alleyway where two paths branched, one left, one right. Which way should she go?

As she hesitated, uncertain, a commotion echoed from within the alley. Driven by curiosity, Chen Yage followed the sound.

Suddenly, five beggars leapt out and surrounded her, their greedy eyes closing in. Warily, Chen Yage asked, “Who are you people?”

But the beggars ignored her question. One of them, without warning, punched her in the face, sending her staggering back several steps.

“How dare you steal business on my turf! Do you have a death wish? Hand over your money!” barked the ringleader, a beggar named Tiger, with overbearing menace.

Rage flared in Chen Yage’s eyes. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and glared at the beggars with murderous intent. To think they would dare to rob her! Once, she was the champion of the underworld—did they take her for a helpless kitten just because she hadn’t shown her claws?

The beggars, cowed by the killing intent in her gaze, hesitated for a moment. But emboldened by their numbers, they quickly regained their nerve, their arrogance swelling even greater than before. Without another word, they all lunged at Chen Yage.

But there was not a trace of fear on her face. Instead, a wicked smile curved her lips. Finally, a chance to show her skills! Ever since winning the underworld championship, she’d found it hard to find a worthy opponent—truly, the loneliness of the master.

Her body bent back with the softness of cotton candy, a graceful ninety-degree arc as she dodged the first punch with ease. Her toes touched the ground, her long legs swept in a beautiful arc, and the beggars fell one after another, clutching themselves and crying out in pain.

Love in the Great Tang: Immortal Poet, Please Stay! 003_ Love in the Great Tang: Immortal Poet, Please Stay! Full text free to read_003 What Night Is This has been updated!