Chapter 54 A Soulmate's Tale: "So, do you want to annul the engagement?"

After three days of treatment by the imperial physicians, Xue Chan has improved considerably, at least physically.

It can breathe, eat, and walk.

They just don't like to move around and are too lazy to walk.

She didn't say anything, but sat by the window sorting through the tattered scrolls, reading them over and over again.

Cheng Huaizhu and Yun Sheng sat on the other side and watched her from morning till night.

In fact, it rained continuously for the three days I was in the palace. It would rain for a long time, then stop for a while, and then start raining again.

It was both damp and gloomy.

Yu Lang did come by once, and the group played pitch-pot in the Funing Palace when it wasn't raining.

Yu Lang was still resentful about losing to Cheng Huaizhu on his birthday last time, so he practiced every day in the mansion, hoping to turn the tables in one fell swoop.

She and Cheng Huaizhu were evenly matched, and it was impossible to tell who was better.

Xue Chan stood by the corridor and watched them throw arrows, which flew through the twilight and landed in the pot.

Yu Lang twirled the feathered arrow in his hand and walked to Xue Chan's side: "You look much better."

Xue Chan smiled faintly, "His Majesty has been kind to the imperial physicians, and he has improved considerably."

Yu Lang savored her calm tone, the arrow twirling idly.

“Baojia was confined by the Emperor for half a month and had to listen to lectures every day. This can be considered as compensation for the misfortune you suffered when you fell into the water that day.”

Xue Chan looked up at her and smiled: "I dare not ask for these things, this is already a blessing."

Her voice was soft, her eyes were slightly lowered, and she appeared very gentle and modest.

Yu Lang's smile faded as he quietly observed her.

Xue Chan raised her eyes, and the setting sun shone into them, making her pupils appear clear and without any impurities.

She smiled slightly: "Does Your Highness have any further advice?"

Yu Lang looked away and said, "Those paintings... are indeed a pity."

Xue Chan winked playfully, her tone becoming more relaxed: "Doesn't Your Highness always say I'm arrogant? Well, of course I have the ability to be arrogant. As long as I can still pick up a brush, why would I be afraid of not being able to paint something new?"

Yu Lang raised an eyebrow: "If that's really what you think, then that's for the best."

"Your Highness, it's your turn to vote." Cheng Huaizhu called out to her, and Yu Lang walked away from Xue Chan.

The two played the arrow-throwing game for a while, but still couldn't determine a winner.

Seeing that she was quiet, Consort Xue had someone call her into the palace. By the time she came out, the game of pitch-pot had already ended.

Cheng Huaizhu saw that she had furrowed her brows in worry and left Funing Palace alone.

She walked slowly along the palace path, and after passing the inner palace, someone silently followed her.

The setting sun shines on the flowers, and the cuckoo cries softly.

He followed her out of Qifeng Terrace and across Peach Blossom Embankment. Xue Chan looked up, her gaze passing over the palace wall beside the azalea-lined path and landing on Fangchun Pavilion behind it.

She quietly approached Fangchun Pavilion by walking along the flower path.

Inside the museum are several paintings selected by the emperor at the banquet. In the center is her "Springtime Picture", on one side is Li Wu's "Peony and Butterfly Picture", and on the other side is "Flock of Herons".

Xue Chan walked up to the painting "A Flock of Herons" and looked at it carefully.

The imagery is fresh and natural, with elegant colors.

On one side of the fragrant islet, lotus leaves stretch out, cattails sway gently, and a flock of egrets rests.

Her gaze moved slowly, finally settling on a white egret with its head raised among the flock.

Seeing that she had been staring at it for a long time, Yun Sheng gently asked, "Is there anything different about this bird?"

Xue Chan said, "Loneliness."

"It is lonely."

Chu Tao and Xue Qing blinked, looking at the egret again and again, but still felt that there was nothing particularly special about it.

Xue Chan left without offering any explanation.

Not long after they left, another person stepped into Fangchun Pavilion.

Xueqing, who was organizing her collection of paintings, immediately bowed to him upon seeing him: "Greetings, Prince Xiao."

Xiao Huaiting smiled faintly: "You go ahead with your work and take a look for yourself."

Xue Qing bowed her head and stepped back, while Xiao Huaiting stood before the painting "Springtime Scene" to examine it. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Was Miss Xue here just now?"

Xueqing looked up from the pile of paintings and calligraphy and said, "Yes, I looked at that painting, 'A Flock of Herons,' for a long time."

Xiao Huaiting clenched his fist in his sleeve, suppressing his emotions as he asked, "Did he say anything?"

"Miss Xue said that there was a lonely egret in the painting."

He stood there, his gentle, calm face devoid of joy or sorrow. His gaze, however, passed over the painting, over the large, straight-edged window in the museum.

Weary birds flew out from the palace walls and eaves, and rested briefly among the tall willows by the Fuguang Pond.

Xue Chan, sitting on a rock by the water, was lost in thought. Jiang Ce, who had been following her, was about to step over when Cheng Huaizhu sat down next to her.

He immediately hid behind a tree and listened to the two talking.

"What did Her Majesty just say to you?"

Xue Chan omitted the part about Consort Xue's angry remark that she was too stubborn.

"She asked me if, after seeing so many young men at the Qujiang Banquet, I had found someone I truly loved. If so, she asked if I wanted to annul the engagement. If I no longer wished to accept the marriage, she would find a way to persuade His Majesty to rescind the decree and cancel the engagement."

Cheng Huaizhu: "Can this engagement be called off?"

Xue Chan: "Her Majesty said that the wedding date and the betrothal gifts are not yet set. As long as I want it, she can make it happen."

Cheng Huaizhu asked her, "So, do you want to call off the engagement?"

Jiang Ce listened quietly behind the tree, but there was no echo from the water for a long time. Only the chirping of weary birds returning to the forest and the soft rustling of hibernating insects could be heard.

"Oh no! My pendant is gone."

"What do you mean by 'pei'?"

"The birthday gift my brother gave me is still here."

"I'll go with you to look for it."

The two, accompanied by their maids, left to find Pei. Once they were far away, Jiang Ce emerged from behind the willow curtain and stood by the water.

Actually, he didn't hear a bad answer, nor did he hear a good answer.

Because Xue Chan neither answered nor denied it.

She remained silent, in a long silence.

It was getting late, and dusk was falling.

As the azaleas absorbed the last rays of the orange-red sunset, each intertwined flower released an even richer, more austere red.

Xue Chan was here, carefully searching for Cheng Huaizhu's jade pendant.

She walked around a cluster of flowers and suddenly stopped.

A few steps away, a rhododendron tree was in full bloom, its blossoms seemingly about to fall. A person stood beneath the flowers, staring intently at her.

Xue Chan immediately turned around and walked back, but Jiang Ce strode after her and grabbed her arm.

Xue Chan frowned and said, "Let go!"

He didn't let go; instead, he pulled closer: "Why did you run away when you saw me?"

Xue Chan had no interest in arguing with him and began to try to pull her hand away, but Jiang Ce held on very tightly and she couldn't pull it away at all; instead, it started to hurt.

The more she struggled, the more annoyed Jiang Ce became.

"Are you so reluctant to be with me because you feel guilty?"

Xue Chan coldly replied, "Why would I feel guilty?"

Jiang Ce smiled and said softly, "You seem guilty and have ulterior motives."

Xue Chan ignored him, painfully pulled her arm back, and turned to leave.

Jiang Ce took a big step and blocked her way. Xue Chan took two steps back, and Yun Sheng and Chu Tao tried to stop him.

"Step back!"

He snapped at him.

Xue Chan immediately pulled Yun Sheng and Chu Tao aside, then strode forward, shielding them behind her, and coldly met Jiang Ce's angry gaze.

Jiang Ce felt a surge of anger and utterly disappointed: "You're actually afraid I'll hurt them?"

Xue Chan said, "Second Young Master, you should calm down."

"You are indeed very calm," Jiang Ce sneered.

Xue Chan had no intention of saying anything to him or arguing.

Jiang Ce blocked her path, staring at her and saying, "What's wrong? At the Qujiang Banquet, you've seen all the young men. Miss Xue, are you feeling the stirrings of first love?"

He bent down, leaned closer to her, and smiled: "What, you want to call off the engagement?"

Xue Chan closed her eyes, took a breath, then opened them again, her tone indifferent: "If that's the case, isn't that good? Anyway, the Second Young Master has always had objections to this marriage, hasn't he? Let's just call it off and go our separate ways, isn't that better? Isn't that what you wanted?"

Her words were practically blasted into Jiang Ce's ears.

"break off an engagement?"

Jiang Ce gritted his teeth: "You wish! Even if we're going to back down, it'll be me."

Xue Chan's gaze slid down to the sash at his waist. She reached out her hand and said, "In that case, please return the sash to me, Second Young Master."

Jiang Ce was shocked that she actually wanted to break off the engagement, and felt a rush of anger to his head.

He lowered his head, gripped the sash, and then gritted his teeth and yanked it.

Xue Chan reached out to take it, but Jiang Ce handed it out and then pulled it back, saying, "What, do you want to give it to someone else? Miss Xue, how can you be so rude? Once something is given away, there's no reason to take it back."

Xue Chan thought he was sick, for no reason at all.

He smiled broadly, his eyes crinkling: "Since it's been given to me, it's naturally up to me to decide what to do with it."

Jiang Ce raised his hand and threw the sash directly into the Fuguang Pool.

Xue Chan felt a surge of anger rising within her, and became even more silent, walking straight past him and leaving.

Jiang Ce clenched his fists. She was so indifferent and didn't care at all.

Xue Chan took a few steps, then turned back and stood in front of him.

Jiang Ce said calmly, "What, you regret it now? If you beg me, I can choose not to annul the engagement."

Xue Chan smiled, raised her fingertips and placed them on his lapel, then slowly slid them down to his heart.

Do you know what you need most? It's a mirror.

He didn't quite understand, but Xue Chan had already left, disappearing into the twilight amidst the red flowers.

With a "whoosh," something flew over and hit him hard on the forehead, and a line of blood flowed down his cheek from his forehead.

Jiang Ce squatted down and carefully picked up the bluebird hairpin, placing it in his palm.

But the hairpin was already broken.

The evening breeze blows and the azaleas fall.

The deep red flowers were swirled and rolled by the wind, covering the entire path.

A servant led Xiao Huaiting through the flower-lined path with a lantern, the lantern illuminating the path in shades of red.

"Splash!"

Xiao Huaiting stopped and looked at Jiang Ce, who had climbed out of Fuguang Pond, with some surprise.

He was soaking wet and was holding a long, unidentified object in his hand.

"Bo Zhou, what's wrong with you...?"

Jiang Ce looked up and smiled slightly at him: "Huai Ting, don't forget to come to the cherry blossom banquet at Ningcui Tower tomorrow."

Xiao Huaiting swallowed the words of offering to see him off with a lantern, and simply said, "Alright."

Jiang Ce left, soaking wet.

Xiao Huaiting continued walking up the Peach Blossom Embankment. The servants behind him said nothing, only quietly holding lamps for him.

He had only gone halfway when he suddenly stopped. Standing by the stone railing, he took something out of his clothes.

It was a slightly flat stone, and the light shone on it, revealing a line of poetry carved on it.

"Few understand my music; who will listen when the strings break?"

Those were words he secretly carved on the ground after his elder brother was granted the title of heir apparent following his death, also on a spring day like this.

Xiao Huaiting stroked it for a moment, then flipped it over, revealing two more lines of small characters engraved on the back.

"One should strive for success on one's own; why seek a kindred spirit?"

The handwriting was simple and vigorous, just like the inscription on the painting "Zanggu Temple" at the same time.

Xiao Huaiting held the stone, looked at the twilight-covered water, and suddenly laughed.

It started with a short laugh, which grew longer and louder. She even bent over laughing, her hands bracing against the peach blossom embankment as she slowly slid down.

He saw his servants bowing and trembling behind him, seemingly at a loss.

This was the first time in the seven or eight years he had served his young master that he had seen him so out of control. He was usually humble and gentle, and had never made a mistake.

Because of this, he was always rewarded whenever he went to see the Earl and his wife.

He was still thinking of staying by the young master's side for the rest of his life.

But Xiao Huaiting's current state made him hesitant to move.

Could it be that you're too tired from preparing for the exam?

The servant stood there dumbfounded, swallowed hard, and then whispered, "Your Highness, we should leave the palace now. The Lord and Madam are still waiting for you to return."

Xiao Huaiting stiffened, then slowly stood up. He turned his face, revealing half of his slightly smiling, downcast face illuminated by the lamplight.

"good"

The servant breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Huaiting straightened his somewhat disheveled robes, gathered his sleeves, and straightened his body, his usual warm smile returning.

Born into a prominent family, he is highly regarded and has a bright future ahead of him.

In the capital, there will never be a more humble young nobleman than him.

A servant led him down the peach blossom embankment with a lantern.

From a distance, his posture remained as upright and meticulous as ever.

However, the wind was too unruly, causing his neatly arranged robes to flutter wildly.

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The author says: "Few understand my music; when the strings break, who will listen?" --- Yue Fei, Song Dynasty, "Little Chongshan: Last Night the Crickets Chirped Incessantly"

"One's ambitions will naturally rise; why seek a kindred spirit?" — Li Bai, Tang Dynasty, "Winter Night, Drunk at Longmen, Awakening and Expressing My Aspirations"