Our Binding Love: My Gentle Tyrant

The first part of the riddle and the second part of the riddle didn’t match at all! Was this truly a riddle? The Silent Master believed that the lantern seller had intentionally set up the riddle to deceive people. How can there be an answer to that riddle?

Seeing that the Silent Master refused to leave unless the riddle was answered, Ye Mu became speechless at his childishness. She pondered for a moment before she asked in a loud voice, “Do you really want this lantern?”

A monk cannot have any desire or longing, so the Silent Master will definitely pretend that he didn’t want it. Even so, his gaze was still fixed on the lantern. He pondered over the riddle in his mind over and over again.

Ye Mu sighed like an adult.

“Since you want it that badly, then I’ll solve it for you.”

The Silent Master looked at her in surprise, “Do you know the answer to the riddle?”

“Of course!” Ye Mu replied confidently.

The Silent Master frowned, “You are still young, how do you know the answer to a love riddle like this?”

Ye Mu froze for a moment and quickly said, “Don’t fret over these minor details!”

With that said, she slammed the table and said to the busy shopkeeper, “Shopkeeper, we have solved the riddle for the lantern!”

The shopkeeper dropped what he was doing and walked over. He said with a smile, “Little girl, have you guessed the answer to the old riddle?”

He glanced at the riddle:

A pair of mandarin ducks played in the water while the butterflies longed for flowers.

The monarch had many wives, but who will manage to end up as his one true love?

The red bean roots yearned to grow, but in its previous life, it was planted in a concubine’s heart.

They will wait for the day they will finally meet, so they can enjoy spring, summer, autumn, and winter together.

Then he chuckled and said, “Why don’t you tell me the answer and I’ll check if it’s correct?”

Ye Mu tugged the Silent Master’s sleeve, and when he bent down, she whispered in his ear, “The answer to the riddle is: To find and fall in love with each other so that their love will last forever!”

The Silent Master turned red at once, “How is that possible?”

Ye Mu put her hands on her hips and said, “Why is it impossible? Tell the shopkeeper the answer and you’ll know whether or not I’m correct.”

The Silent Master braced himself and answered the riddle. Unexpectedly, the old shopkeeper clapped his hands and said, “You guessed correctly! Here, the lantern is now yours!”

With that said, he handed the lantern to the Silent Master.

The Silent Master took the lantern from the shopkeeper. He was unable to disguise how much he liked the lantern, but in the next moment, he handed the lantern to Ye Mu.

“Here, you can have it since you’re the one who guessed the riddle.”

Ye Mu didn’t take the lantern from him, instead, she laughed and said, “Let’s go. I wouldn’t have bothered guessing the riddle if you didn’t like it. You can keep it, consider it as a gift!”

The men and women around them looked at the Silent Master enviously when they heard Ye Mu’s words. Some men even made some exaggerated noises with ill intention while others loudly gossip about how blessed the Silent Master was to have such a clever and pretty girlfriend!

The Silent Master’s face turned red once again, but he held onto the lantern tightly as Ye Mu dragged him away from the crowd.

He looked at the lantern in his arms as his heart pounded rapidly against his chest. This was the first gift he received in many years.

They strolled around the fair and Ye Mu bought a lot of things. They walked by the lake as the crowd started to disperse. The Silent Master held the lantern up; the light from the lantern reflected on his handsome and charming face. He looked like a celestial fairy.

Ye Mu suddenly asked him, “Are you happy being a monk?”

The smile on the Silent Master’s face faded a little, “It’s my nature to be a monk.”

Ye Mu smiled and asked, “What if you have another chance to choose again? If you can turn back time, would you still choose to be a monk?”

The Silent Master fell silent and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Just when Ye Mu believed that he would not answer her question, he quietly responded, “If I can turn back time, then I think I might strangle myself to death.”