RWWAI 33

Chapter 33: You Only Got Promoted Because of Me!

As mentioned earlier, whatever Luo Fan got up to during that hunting trip remained a mystery to me, but he definitely grew increasingly buddy-buddy with the Minister of Revenue and that whole crew.

A month later, some official in the capital got promoted, triggering a cascading chain reaction where everyone below him moved up a rung, one after another in a classic "dog ascending to heaven" style.

An opening for a Commandant of the Imperial Guards conveniently popped up as a result.

Given that the Minister of Revenue and the Supervising Imperial Censor were both central officials stationed directly in the capital, watching their good buddy Luo Fan still stuck out in Yangshan naturally meant they pulled every single political string within their reach to yank him right back into the capital.

While a regional commandant and an imperial guardsman shared roughly equivalent official ranks, whether a man was posted out in the provinces or strutting around right under the Emperor's nose represented a fundamentally different trajectory for his future career development.

To use a modern analogy, it was the difference between working as a manager at a remote branch office versus the corporate headquarters.

This behind-the-scenes maneuvering apparently even pulled the Middle General into the mix.

All in all, while the official imperial decree hadn't actually arrived yet, Luo Fan's promotion to Imperial Guardsman was essentially locked in stone.

Naturally, those dogs and chickens waiting to ascend to heaven the second the decree dropped couldn't sit still anymore.

They immediately booked a luxury painted river barge, determined to throw an all-night celebration.

Of course, with an appointment not yet publicly announced, they needed to keep things reasonably low-key to avoid drawing malicious gossip.

So on the surface, everyone was merely gathering to celebrate a "harmonious full moon and clear night".

When the invitation card arrived at the study, I was sitting right on Luo Fan's lap, playfully running my hands all over him.

Chuckling softly, he murmured:

"Wife, we're moving to the capital."

Tossing my head back with triumphant pride, I retorted:

"Isn't it just getting transferred to the capital? Why are you trying to act all mysterious? I've known for ages!"

Princess Yong'an had already written a letter to clue me in, after all.

Throwing my arms around his neck, I demanded my credit like a pet cat wanting a treat:

"You only got promoted because of me! If Lady Lin hadn't invited our whole family out to a banquet the day the Minister of Revenue took in his concubine, would you have ever met the Supervising Imperial Censor? Would the Middle General even know who you are?"

He didn't say a word, simply pulling me tightly into his embrace.

Burying my face deep into the crook of his neck, I lowered my voice and asked:

"Since this banquet isn't bringing any female family members along, does that mean I can't go?"

Luo Fan chuckled, trotting out that familiar line:

"Go, go, go! If you want to go, you're going!"

Tilting my head back to look up at him, I teased:

"If absolutely nobody else brings their wives, but you're the only one dragging yours along, won't your crew of drinking buddies laugh your head off?"

Luo Fan raised an eyebrow playfully and replied:

"A dignified commandant attending a banquet, what's wrong with bringing along an adjutant?"

A wife was allowed to come, but his dignity apparently still had to be checked at the door.

"So you're making me dress up in men's clothing?" I asked with a smile.

Luo Fan gave a matter-of-fact nod, then leaned down to plant an affectionate kiss on my cheek.

Ever since the night I shattered his innocence up on that pagoda, our days had continued in this fashion—sickeningly sweet to a teeth-rotting degree.

Even though both of us were acutely aware that in less than two months, Qin Miaomiao's baby would be born.

And after that, whether Luo Fan would even still exist in this world was anyone's guess.

Thus, with tacit mutual understanding, we both threw ourselves into fiercely cherishing what might well be our final window of time together.

I had occasionally wondered: what if after he vanished, I managed to clear my mission too and got spat back out into the modern real world?

Even if the completion timelines differed, what if popping back through didn't involve any time-zone lag at all?

Because of that lingering thought, I once asked him directly where he lived in the real world.

At the time, he just offered a faint, fleeting smile and brushed it off with a supremely evasive "We'll talk about it later," though I could clearly sense that he didn't want me tracking him down.

Even though he'd previously claimed he had neither a wife nor a girlfriend, I couldn't help privately suspecting that the real-world Luo Fan was probably already married.

Otherwise, I truly couldn't fathom why he'd be so dead-set against me finding him.

On the night of the "Full Moon Banquet," I dressed up in full military adjutant gear, mounted a horse, and rode right alongside him down to the ferry landing where the painted barge was moored.

Yes—a full month after the hunting trip, I had finally mastered the art of horseback riding.

Designed to pack dozens of revellers inside for a night of partying, this barge was leagues more luxurious than the open-air cabin I'd spent the night shivering in earlier.

Honestly, calling it a multi-story floating restaurant anchored on the lake wouldn't even be an exaggeration.

Naturally, tonight's crowd was strictly aiming to drink and make merry without plans for an overnight stay.

Even so, the barge still featured private guest cabins on the upper deck—essentially mirroring the private VIP rooms of an upscale tavern.

To prevent anyone from discovering he was smuggling his wife onto the vessel, Luo Fan stashed me away inside a quiet, secluded cabin tucked away on the top floor.

Before turning to leave, he cupped my face in his hands and instructed:

"I'm going down to make an appearance and greet the guys, I'll slip back up to keep you company the second I get a free moment."

Right as he spun on his heel to exit, I reached out and caught his hand.

"Luo Fan..." I locked eyes with him.

"...why won't you tell me where you live in the real world?"

My sudden, unprompted interrogation clearly threw his mental rhythm completely off balance.

His eyelashes fluttered nervously, but he offered no answer.

Clutching his hand tighter to keep him from escaping, I pressed on:

"If you don't want me to go looking for you, I won't go. I just want to know why."

After a prolonged silence, he finally spoke:

"Because I'll be the one coming to find you."

I loosened my grip on his hand.

"Given how this plotline is developing," he looked straight at me, his gaze entirely steady without a trace of avoidance, "I'll probably head back before you do. So if anyone's doing any looking, it'll be me."

Ironically enough, that statement turned out to be the closest thing to a solemn, star-crossed oath to ever pass between the two of us.

"Will you actually come find me?" I asked, my eyes stinging with hot tears.

"I will." he answered.

"Then why," I pressed further, "did you never bother to ask where I live? What my phone number is? Where my office is?"

A faint smile touched his lips as he replied:

"I have a pretty good idea of where to find you."

Though I knew full well the time for our parting hadn't actually arrived yet, watching him turn his back to walk away filled my chest with a sudden, suffocating panic.

So I blurted out regardless:

"What do you mean by 'pretty good idea'? What if you can't track me down? Don't you know how utterly useless you are? I live at..."

I vomited out every single piece of personal data I possessed in one frantic breath—from my home address all the way to my mother's full name—abandoning any hope of whether his drunken brain could retain a single syllable.

Without turning back, he simply rested his forearm against the edge of the doorframe, waiting patiently until I finished rattling off the entire list before speaking in a low, measured tone:

"Zhang Yue, I promise I will find you. But if you don't end up waiting for me... I won't blame you either."

Back then, I had no earthly clue what those words were supposed to mean.

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