Dream took the lead

Lin Kuo's cough was so loud that Wu Qi next door laughed and her eyes crinkled when she heard it. She pretended to be surprised and said, "Yi Shen's cough sounds so much like Brother Lian Shi's! How can it sound so much like Brother Lian Shi? It's as if Brother Lian Shi is right next door."

Wu Qi and Song Yinxing lay on the same bed, as if they had returned to their childhood, or to the days when Song Yinxing was just beginning to fall in love. Fortunately, Lin Kuo also had feelings for Song Yinxing.

Otherwise, Wu Qi wouldn't even dare to imagine how difficult it must have been for Song Yinxing.

But Song Yinxing at this moment was no longer the Song Yinxing who needed to think about Lin Kuo every night to fall asleep. She turned to look at Wu Qi and said, "Lin Kuo wanted to get engaged to me, but I refused."

When Uncle Su came to find her, she was arguing with Lin Kuo about this matter.

Song Yinxing was a month older than Wu Qi, but she fell in love much earlier than Wu Qi. She had clearly been in love with Lin Kuo for so long, but when Lin Kuo proposed to get engaged to her, she blurted out, "I don't want to."

Lin Kuo probably didn't expect her to refuse, or rather, he didn't expect her to refuse so decisively. He stood there stunned for a long time before asking in a hoarse voice, "Why?"

Song Yinxing felt sad when she recalled Lin Kuo's heartbroken expression that day.

She said to Wu Qi, "I don't know why I rejected him, even though I've liked him for so long... At the time, I felt like there was something I hadn't done before we had to rush into marriage."

“Perhaps the people are suffering, perhaps enemy countries are eyeing us covetously, perhaps treacherous officials are in power, or perhaps the flowers you love haven’t bloomed, or the person you cherish is injured… These could all be reasons for you to refuse to marry Brother Lian Shi,” Wu Qi said. “As long as you are unwilling, anything and everything can be a reason.”

“But I think you’re only refusing to get engaged to Brother Lian Shi because you haven’t finished what you want to do yet.”

Song Yinxing remained silent for a moment. What Wu Qi said was exactly what she had been thinking. She had thought it was just her own predicament, but she hadn't expected that Wu Qi was also caught in the tug-of-war between love and ambition.

Wu Qi is a month younger than Song Yinxing. Sometimes he calls her Sister Zhiyun, sometimes he calls her Zhiyun, and sometimes he calls her Yinxing, like he does now.

“Yinxing, I understand you so well,” she said. “Because I feel the same way.”

She clearly loved Yi Shen, but could only tell him, "I'll marry you later."

Because there are still things I want to do but haven't done yet, I don't want to get married.

Marriage is not as simple as a man bringing a woman into his home. It involves far more than that. Most importantly, both men and women are living, breathing human beings with ambitions and ideals, things they strive to accomplish in their lifetime, and regrets they may never be able to make up for.

This kind of unseen and intangible illusion is the hardest to resonate with.

When two flesh-and-blood people live under the same roof, there will inevitably be adjustments and compromises. In conventional marriages, it is usually the woman who gives up some illusory things and abandons her own desires to help the man gain prestige and honor the family.

Gradually, she will forget what she was supposed to do.

This applies to commoners, aristocratic families, and officials alike.

“Yinxing, if you don’t want to get married yet, then don’t go through with it against your will. Wait a while, and you’ll know what you need to do,” Wu Qi said. “Trust Lian Shi, and trust yourself.”

"Hmm." Song Yinxing suddenly thought of something and opened her eyes wide to ask Wu Qi, "Wait a minute, you and Brother Weichong have only been away from the capital for a few days, and you've already progressed to the point of discussing marriage? Wu Qi, tell me the truth, have you two kissed?"

Wu Qi replied matter-of-factly, "We kissed!"

"Whose is it?" Song Yinxing pressed.

Wu Qi was afraid of missing anything, so he counted carefully on his fingers: "I kissed his shoulder, and also his left and right cheeks!"

Even though there was clothing between us when I kissed his shoulder, it was still a kiss!

"Huh?" Song Yinxing was somewhat incredulous. "That's it? Brother Weichong just lets you play around like this?"

"What do you mean by 'playing around'?" Wu Qi retorted. "Then where did you and Brother Lian Shi kiss?"

Song Yinxing said with a sigh, "Xiao Qi, haven't you noticed that my lips have been cracked several times?"

Wh...what?

Yinxing's lips were chapped several times because Lin Kuo kissed her.

"Of course I found out! How could I not know! I already knew, I was just asking randomly." Wu Qi's ability to talk nonsense was getting better and better, and he could even make up stories without batting an eye.

How could Song Yinxing, who grew up with Wu Qi, believe her?

Ignoring Song Yinxing's suspicious gaze, Wu Qi waved his hand, yawned, and said, "I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep!"

She was still thinking about Yi Shen, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep and dreamed about him.

In the dream, Yi Shen didn't do anything excessive; he just kissed her on the lips.

However, the next day, Wu Qi felt something was off when she looked at Yi Shen, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Yi Shen noticed and reached out to grab her, asking, "Why are you avoiding me?"

Wu Qi honestly replied, "I dreamt about you last night!"

"Isn't dreaming about me a good thing?" Yi Shen pulled her closer to him and tucked the newly bought flowers into her hair. "What did you dream about?"

"I dreamt that you kissed me! You kissed me on the lips!" Wu Qi nudged Yi Shen's arm and looked up, saying, "Yi Shen in my dream actually got there first. What does our Third Young Master Yi think about that?"

“You shouldn’t ask me about this; you should ask Wu Qi in your dream,” Yi Shen said.

While the two of them were flirting and teasing each other, Song Yinxing and Lin Kuo had a big fight not long ago and hadn't made up yet.

Two different atmospheres filled the room. Song Yinxing remained calm, but Lin Kuo couldn't stand it anymore. He got up, pulled Yi Shen away, and stood between the two of them to complain to Wu Qi: "Xiao Qi, Wei Chong actually made me sleep on the ground yesterday."

There was such a big bed, but Yi Shen wouldn't let him sleep on it. No matter how much he pleaded, threatened, or played the victim, it was no use! He had no choice but to sleep on the floor for the night.

Wu Qi glanced at Yi Shen, then at Lin Kuo, and asked with a sense of fairness and justice, "Did he give you bedding?"

Lin Kuo said, "That's what I gave them."

Wu Qi then asked, "Did you thank them?"

No, not at all...

Lin Kuo didn't have time to thank them at that time. Seeing that there was no hope of going to bed, he simply spread out his bedding on the ground and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. If he hadn't been thinking about buying breakfast for Song Yinxing, he would have slept until noon.

“Look, Brother Lian Shi, this is where you went wrong!” Wu Qi said. “Yi Shen doesn’t let you sleep in the bed because he doesn’t like sleeping with others. Although he didn’t let you sleep in the bed, he did give you blankets. The good and bad cancel each other out, so he can be praised!”

She circled around Lin Kuo, shook her head and sighed, "On the other hand, Brother Lian Shi, knowing that Yi Shen doesn't like sleeping with others, still insisted on sleeping in the bed. After receiving the bedding, he didn't even say thank you."

Lin Kuo was somewhat confused after hearing this.

Wasn't he here to complain?

Why does Wu Qi's statement seem to make sense?

Lin Kuo looked around and saw Yi Shen nodding, Song Yinxing eating a steamed bun, and Wu Qi winking at him with a smile.

"Well, Xiao Qi, since you and Weichong got engaged, you've been siding with outsiders way way too much!" Lin Kuo pointed at Yi Shen and continued to complain to Wu Qi, "Last night when we were laying out the bedding on the floor, I said I was going to tell you, and then he said..."

He cleared his throat and, mimicking Yi Shen, said, "Whatever you say."

Yi Shen really said that last night, which sounded rather arrogant, as if he knew in his heart that Wu Qi would not blame him for this.

“I also mentioned Yi Shen, oh dear, Brother Lian Shi, calm down.” Wu Qi pushed Lin Kuo and pressed him down to the seat next to Song Yinxing, handing him a pair of chopsticks, “Eat, eat.”

Lin Kuo sat calmly next to Song Yinxing, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.

Song Yinxing frowned as she stared at the half-eaten bun; it contained celery. She had never liked celery since she was a child, finding it to have a strange taste. But she had only taken one bite of the bun; she couldn't throw it away, yet she didn't want to eat it.

Just as she was hesitating, the steamed bun was suddenly taken away by the person next to her.

Lin Kuo took the bun from her hand and took a bite with a calm expression. He stared intently at Wu Qi and Yi Shen, and said righteously, "I will absolutely not sleep on the ground tonight."

"No, no, I'm not going to sleep," Wu Qi laughed. "Eat quickly, and after we finish eating, we'll go out for a stroll. It's not easy to come to Pingwu City."

The investigation into the Peach Blossom Forest corpse case has reached a point where they can no longer proceed. Investigating General Wei would not benefit their aristocratic family. With Lord Li Xi in charge and witnesses and physical evidence readily available, Wu Qi is relatively at ease. Moreover, the Golden Armor Army is also present.

Although only a few dozen soldiers from the Golden Armor Army arrived, they represented the Emperor's will.

The Emperor has made it clear that he intends to thoroughly investigate this case.

After finishing their meal, the four of them strolled around the streets. Wu Qi and Song Yinxing would stop to look at anything new and interesting they saw, and if they really liked it, they would buy it.

However, the two of them don't have to pay anything.

Yi Shen and Lin Kuo, who were following behind, had already prepared money bags. Before the two of them could even take out their money bags, they had already given them the money.

Wu Qi, holding Song Yinxing's hand, told her about his experiences in Pingwu City, including why the women of Pingwu City wore veils, why they drew lines indicating many children and blessings, and about the human skin women.

Song Yinxing would occasionally frown and respond with a couplet.

Wu Qi said, "The situation on the street is much better now."

People came and went on the street. Many women had taken off their veils and no longer painted the lines for many children and blessings on their faces. However, some women still wore veils, and when the wind blew the veils up, the lines for many children and blessings on their faces could still be seen.

They need some time, wearing veils.

The women who removed their veils could patiently wait for the veiled ones while running; they were not all enemies.

The two women walked ahead, talking as they went, with Yi Shen and Lin Kuo following behind them.

Lin Kuo said, "Zhiyun and I had a fight."

Yi Shen said, "I know, that's why you bought celery buns."

“There’s no other way. I have to let her know that I care about her.” Lin Kuo smiled, staring at Song Yinxing’s back, his eyes filled with melancholy. “Zhiyun doesn’t want to get engaged to me.”

“Zhiyun doesn’t not want to get engaged to you,” Yi Shen said. “She just wants to postpone the engagement.”

Lin Kuo asked, somewhat confused, "What do you mean?"

Yi Shen said, “It would be a good thing for both of us to get married at this time. In terms of worldly matters, we can still establish a career after getting married, and the respect we receive will not be diminished in the slightest.”

"But for them, once they get married, all that's left is getting married; it's extremely difficult to start a career again."

"You and I have ambitions, and so do they."