Chapter 119 "Sorry" at the Streetlights...

"Bang"

When the gate was pushed open, Jiang Ce saw an empty, deserted courtyard.

He ran around for several days before finally returning at dusk, but not only was Xue Chan gone, but Chu Tao, Yun Sheng, and Ying Yue were also nowhere to be found.

Jiang Ce frantically searched the courtyard twice, but there was no one there. He even dug up the stones to check, feeling dizzy. But still nothing, so he immediately went back inside.

The moment he opened the door, a familiar scent wafted out, and Jiang Ce made up his mind instantly.

She's there, she's there.

But now I don't know where they've gone; maybe they've gone off to play.

He lifted his foot and slowly stepped in.

This is the house where he lived during his childhood and adolescence.

There were some books for early childhood education on the original antique shelf. His mother had read poems, books, and stories to little Yuelang.

Now many more things have been added: several ceramic and jade pieces, an incense burner, and a small ceramic vase with withered lotus pods. Besides these, there are stacks of books.

Next to the shelf was a large vat, which was filled with many scrolls of books and paintings.

Jiang Ce walked to the desk, where there was an unfinished small drawing. Looking up, he saw that there used to be several wooden swords made by his father on the wall, but they had all been taken away.

Separated by a screen, a zither sat beneath a small window.

"I didn't expect these things to still be here..."

That was when he was five years old, just beginning his musical studies, and it was a birthday gift from Madam Yu. Aunt Lanxi said that this zither was a gift from her mother when she was a child.

Later, he stopped playing the zither, and when he left Chaoxi, no one knew where Yu Niangzi had put it. Now, Xue Chan found it and put it here.

Xue Chan wasn't there, so Jiang Ce slowly wandered around the room that was filled with her presence.

He reached out and touched it, then brought it closer to his nose and smelled it; it was still the familiar scent.

"Where did everyone go...?"

"My lord?"

Jiang Ce raised his head.

Through the window, he bumped into Chunniang as she entered. His eyes lit up, and he immediately went out, grabbed her, and asked, "Chunniang! Do you know where they all went?"

Chunniang was overjoyed to see him return, but Jiang Ce rushed up to her and kept asking her questions.

She said, "My lady and the girls have all gone out to celebrate the festival. Didn't anyone tell you?"

Jiang Ce was taken aback. When he first entered, it seemed like a group of people were chasing after him, trying to talk to him. But he didn't have time to listen to them, and he ran away quickly.

Before Chunniang could finish asking him what he wanted to eat, Jiang Ce had already jumped over the wall and run away.

He rode Green Eyebrow through the streets and alleys.

The autumn harvest festival in Chaoxi is always very lively, and the customs are more liberal than those in the Central Plains. Many men and women go out, and there are even crowds dancing around lanterns along the streets.

Jiang Ce rode his horse across the bridge, but after a while, he had to lead Green Eyebrows down the bridge.

There were just too many people.

He walked slowly, searching for Xue Chan by the light of the lanterns in the street as the night grew darker.

Cross the bridge from south to north and walk along another street. At the end of the street is the Nuwa Temple, where a lively gathering is taking place, with many stalls set up along the street.

Jiang Ce wandered around the temple twice, inside and outside. There were many people, but Xue Chan and her group were nowhere to be seen.

He lingered for a while, then walked out of the temple, passing through a procession of stilt walkers and performers wearing red makeup.

The performers breathed fire, instantly illuminating the black tiles of the Nuwa Temple. As the sparks fell, Xue Chan, Yun Sheng, and the others slowly entered the temple.

They paid homage to Nuwa, offered incense, and then strolled around the small temple.

The temple is connected to several intersecting streets, with numerous stalls selling performing arts, acrobatics, novelties, and food.

Xue Chan also bought a lot of things for the maids, and they happily followed her as they wandered around aimlessly.

She didn't buy anything for herself.

Yun Sheng, carrying the crane lantern, asked her, "Miss, are you really not going to buy anything you like?"

Xue Chan shook her head and chuckled, "There's nothing I want to buy, I just want to browse."

As they prepared to cross the bridge, Xue Chan suddenly stopped. Yun Sheng tilted his head and followed her gaze; at the bridgehead, a woman was cutting and selling paper flowers.

Once the autumn harvest is over, the New Year is just around the corner. At the rare gatherings, many people will buy decorative paper to paste on their doors and windows to bring good luck.

The woman sat in front of her small stall, slowly cutting red paper with a pair of scissors.

When someone asked, she would smile and show them the paper flowers.

After the customers finished buying, she sat back down and continued cutting, transforming the stack of red paper into exquisite crafts in her hands.

The girls looked around and gathered together to watch the acrobatic performance.

Xue Chan stood at the bridgehead, watching the woman cutting paper flowers.

The paper flowers she cut were so beautiful that Xue Chan considered buying a few. But they were so beautiful that once the stack of paper flowers was finished, they were all sold out.

Xue Chan watched the young woman pack up her stall and leave, sighing inwardly.

Indeed, she shouldn't have hesitated. But she really liked one of the paper flowers depicting a lotus and a fish reunited; it would definitely look beautiful pasted on the window.

"well......"

Chu Tao leaned closer to her, her round face beaming with a smile: "Isn't the temple fair fun? Why are you sighing, young lady?"

Xue Chan smiled faintly: "I should have gone down to buy paper flowers earlier, but I can't buy any now."

"I can cut it!" Chu Tao said, holding the lamp and smiling sweetly. "I can cut whatever the girl wants."

Xue Chan nodded: "Okay, let's cut paper snowflakes and play when we get back tonight."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

This scene is similar to the Lantern Festival parade in the capital, yet there are also significant differences. Dragon and lion dancers lead the way, followed by many people carrying lanterns. The gongs and drums in the hands of the attendants are brighter and more energetic, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of an autumn plain.

Several loud bangs followed, and fireworks burst on the bridge, instantly illuminating it as bright as day.

Xue Chan smiled as she watched the stars gradually slide down the bridge and into the water from the sky.

She met the eyes of the people on the bridge.

Jiang Ce found her and was overjoyed. He immediately pushed through the crowd to get off the bridge, but Xue Chan turned and left.

She left without even waiting, disappearing into the crowd.

He immediately started searching, but as he searched, he couldn't quite figure it out.

Why did Xue Chan leave when she saw him?

Shouldn't we be overjoyed to see each other again after such a long separation?

Just like him.

Jiang Ce was overjoyed to see her and wished he could fly out and hug her, but Xue Chan's reaction confused him.

He immediately pushed through the crowd to chase after her, but every time he found her, she would disappear again not far from him.

When all hope seems lost, Xue Chan will appear in a place that is visible but untouchable.

The two of them just kept circling around, searching and searching.

It's like we're teasing him.

We circled back to the bridge.

Jiang Ce watched as Xue Chan bought a water lantern at the lantern shop on the opposite bank. She picked up a pen and wrote something with great seriousness. After finishing, she put the pen back, walked down the stone steps, and pushed the water lantern out.

There were many people on the bridge, so he simply stepped on the weeping willows along the bank and leaped across the river.

This time, he finally caught up. He walked towards her, slightly out of breath.

However, Xue Chan retreated repeatedly, and without hesitation, led her people away, disappeared into the crowd, and boarded the carriage.

Jiang Ce caught up with them at a moderate distance, until he brought them back to the Jiang residence.

He loosened the reins, jumped off his horse, and let Green Eyebrows return on her own, while he galloped away. He even found walking too slow, so he simply climbed walls and eaves, and soon returned to the courtyard.

Yun Sheng was lighting a lamp in the corridor. Seeing him, she seemed to want to say something, but only opened her mouth, glanced at the house one last time, closed her mouth, and left with the maids.

Jiang Ce, panting, calmed down slightly as he looked at the bright window. He strode up the stone steps and reached out to push open the door.

Just as he was about to push hard, he suddenly hesitated.

Jiang Ce's hand, which had been resting on the door, curled into a fist, and he moved slightly away from it. He had been in a great hurry the whole way, searching for Xue Chan with such urgency.

In the end, the mere thought of being so close to the goal made him hesitant.

He looked up to the side and saw a row of lamps lit under the eaves, softly illuminating the ground.

The door creaked open.

Jiang Ce strode in, but didn't rush forward. He just stood there, watching Xue Chan cut things with her head down through the screen.

Chu Tao got up, quietly left the room, and closed the door.

Xue Chan remained seated under the lamp, not looking up, but intently cutting flowers with scissors.

The lamplight is dim, the shadows are indistinct. Behind several layers of screens, one can still see that the person is thin.

This distance, so close yet so far, suddenly brought tears to his eyes. At that moment, he felt the same emotions as Xue Chan.

Feeling timid.

It's been two years; they haven't seen each other for two years.

Over countless days and nights, he accumulated a lot of things to say and thought many times about what to say and do when they met.

Before they met, he had already decided that he would rush up to her, hug her, hold her hand, touch her face, lie in her arms, and talk to her a lot.

He wanted to complain to her about how painful it was when he was shot by an arrow, and he wanted to tell her about his time in the Changping Mountains.

He wanted her to touch his face, smile at him, and comfort him.

But all those thoughts that had been on his mind for many days vanished upon seeing Xue Chan.

What attitude should we adopt to be worthy of this long separation?

Even though the screen and curtains made it difficult to see clearly, she still looked much thinner and exhausted.

A lump formed in my throat, I couldn't breathe, and it ached terribly.

She must have suffered a lot along the way.

He shouldn't have thought of complaining to her; he should have apologized to her.

Jiang Ce gripped the edge of the screen tightly, took two heavy breaths to suppress the soreness rising in his throat, and slowly walked towards her.

The tiny pieces of red paper were cut off with a "snip, snip" sound, falling to the ground and landing on the hem of the robe.

She remained silent, head bowed, quietly cutting paper flowers.

Jiang Ce knelt down on the ground and quietly rested his head on her knees.

"Feel sorry"

A perfectly good paper flower was cut in half with a snip of the scissors and floated down onto her temple.

She gripped the scissors tightly, her whole body trembling slightly. In this warm and brightly lit room, only the crisp sound of the beaded curtains clattering could be heard, interspersed with rapid breathing.

Jiang Ce looked up, hurriedly trying to pat her back to calm her down.

"Don't do this! Don't do this!"

Xue Chan pushed him away, clutched her chest, staggered over the screen, and leaned against a flower stand, panting heavily.

Jiang Ce practically crawled over on his knees, grabbed her sleeve, and pulled her into his arms.

"Don't do this...don't do this..."

In the struggle, the two fell to the ground. The porcelain vase on the flower stand shattered into pieces, and the water inside seeped out, soaking their robes.

Xue Chan sat with her back turned to the ground, her head buried deep in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. She couldn't even cry out loud; she just curled up into a ball, trembling, her shoulders shaking.

She clenched her fists tightly, tilted her head back, and cried.

Jiang Ce wrapped his arms around Xue Chan's waist, tears streaming down his face as he leaned on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

He hated himself for being unable to say anything and only able to apologize.

The two sat on the ground and embraced.

Jiang Ce turned around, knelt down in front of her, cupped her face, and gently wiped away her tears.

Xue Chan choked up, struggling to breathe, and opened and closed her lips several times before managing to utter a word with difficulty.

You know...

You know...

She spoke haltingly, pinching Jiang Ce's arm as if to accuse and complain.

Xue Chan raised her eyes, choked up for a moment, and tears welled up on her face.

Her eyes widened, her gaze sparkling.

Xue Chan tremblingly raised her hand and touched the scar that ran from under her eye to her cheekbone. All the accusations were on the tip of her tongue, but she remained silent.

Several tears fell in quick succession onto Jiang Ce's hand.

He smiled and gently comforted her, "It's alright, it's all healed, it's just a shallow scar."

She didn't say anything, but simply closed her eyes, stroked her face, and sat quietly on the ground.

After an unknown amount of time, Xue Chan raised her hand and wiped away her tears haphazardly, her voice hoarse.

"It's so ugly."

Jiang Ce pursed his lips, looking a little aggrieved, and said in a low voice, "I didn't want to either, do you really dislike me like this?"

Xue Chan sniffed, then suddenly stood up and walked behind the screen.

Jiang Ce followed closely behind her.

She seemed to catch her breath, then suddenly turned around and pushed Jiang Ce towards the door.

"You're right, I just think you're ugly. You're so ugly that I don't even want to see you right now."

Xue Chan chased him out and slammed the door shut.

Jiang Ce stared at the tightly closed door, neither pushing it open nor attempting to force his way in.

He lowered his head and let out a long breath. He sat on the stone steps in front of the door and looked up at the moon.

Today is the fifteenth, the moon hangs high in the sky, the moonlight is as bright as silk and the sky is as clear as water.

Jiang Ce missed Xue Chan terribly, wanted to see her, wanted to be with her. He could have easily opened the door, rammed it, or forced it open.

But he didn't.

Jiang Ce buried his head and scratched his hair.

But I really can't think of any solution.

After a while, Yun Sheng and Chu Tao came with pillows and blankets, and said softly, "Miss is not fully recovered yet. Staying together might cause you to catch the illness and disturb your husband's work. Please make do in the west room for tonight."

"good"

Jiang Ce stood up and followed them. After taking two steps, all the lights in the room went out in an instant.

The room was quiet and secluded.

Xue Chan sat on the edge of the bed, without moving.

She just sat there quietly.

Moonlight streamed in through the small window, falling on the floor and casting a quiet shadow. After a short while, Xue Chan took off her shoes, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep facing the wall.

Today is the fifteenth, the moon is full but people are not.

Autumn grasses wither and die, crows cry under the moon.