Chapter 214 To Whom Did the Character "曌" Be Given?

Ouyang Rong turned around and looked at the courtyard gate.

It was a familiar wooden door and eaves.

It's definitely his yard; I didn't go to the wrong place.

That means she went the wrong way.

Intentional or unintentional.

Ouyang Rong closed his sleeves and nodded.

Step forward.

Push open the door and enter the house.

Passing by the study, he ignored it, went into the inner room to change out of his official robes, put on a scholar's robe hand-woven by Aqing, and came out of the inner room.

He washed all the teaware, brewed a pot of tea, and while waiting for the tea to steep, he rubbed his face, propped his chin up, and stared at the teapot lid that was constantly being pushed up by the steam.

His face was blank and he was in a daze.

In front of the bookshelf not far away.

It was unclear when, but Li Guo'er, dressed in a peach-colored ruqun, had turned around, holding an open book in her hands, her clear eyes fixed on Ouyang Rong.

I didn't go to read the book.

She took in everything that happened after the latter entered the house.

The last rays of the setting sun fell on the bookshelf, casting a long, long shadow of Li Guo'er, making even her slight tilt of her head appear extremely exaggerated.

Meanwhile, the young man returning home late at night sat silently at the tea table, scooping water and boiling tea.

The moon rises above the willow branches, and we meet after dusk.

This scene evokes a similar sentiment to the phrase.

"Aren't you going to pour me a cup of tea?"

Li Guo'er tilted her head and asked.

"If you accidentally go to the wrong place, you can actually stay silent, pretend nothing happened, and walk out."

Ouyang Rong lowered his head to brew tea, offering a gentle reminder.

Li Guo'er seemed not to hear, took out a red maple leaf bookmark, placed it between the open pages of the book in her hand, crossed her arms, hugged the book to her chest, and walked forward.

She sat down in front of Ouyang Rong, raised the teapot high with her slender hand, and performed a "Phoenix Three Nods" tea ceremony. The slender stream of water jumped three times in succession, brewing the tea leaves in Ouyang Rong's cup to seven-tenths full.

"Thanks to you for stepping forward and helping my father today."

She lowered her eyes, watching the teapot pour tea, and gave a self-deprecating smile. In the orange-yellow sunset, her pretty face appeared somewhat melancholic.

"Stranded in Longcheng, with no one to rely on, living in constant fear, anyone can come and trample on me."

"If you want to thank someone, thank my junior sister. I was just supporting her today. She had to go out, so I had to keep an eye on her," Ouyang Rong explained, shaking his head.

"Sister Xie couldn't be as thorough and considerate as you." She shook her head and whispered, "Besides, are you really only doing this for her?"

Ouyang Rong suddenly picked up his teacup, drank it all in one gulp, exhaled a long breath, and said abruptly:

"Why don't you just speak normally? Stop praising and flattering me. We're pretty familiar with each other now, and you're not some innocent little rabbit."

"A little white rabbit?" Li Guo'er asked curiously.

“She looks docile and weak, harmless to humans and animals.” Ouyang Rong glanced at her: “But in reality, she might be a wolf inside, a carnivore, who might suddenly attack and bite at any time.”

Li Guo'er stared at him for a while, as if pondering his words. After a moment, she smiled, her lips curving upwards.

"So this is how you see me? I finally managed to tell you the truth, and you don't believe me. Fine then."

"Truth or dare?"

Li Guo'er nodded, chin slightly raised, and said confidently, "Somewhat."

“If you only lie halfway, it’s not considered lying, right?” Ouyang Rong nodded.

“Lies don’t hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife.” Li Guo’er nodded leisurely, glancing at him sideways: “Besides, aren’t you the same way… Also, why do all the things you say sound so harsh and strange?”

Ouyang Rong shook his head and suddenly said:

"So how should I address you now? Su Xiaomei? Li Xiaoniangzi? Or Your Highness?"

"When there are no outsiders, you can call me Guo'er, just like my father and brother."

Ouyang Rong nodded. "Understood, Your Highness."

"..."

Li Guo'er glared at him, then crossed her hands elegantly in front of her abdomen. She straightened her chest, raised her head, and slightly wrinkled her delicate nose.

"First of all, I'm not young. Secondly, please don't call me Your Highness, it's not my style."

Ouyang Rong casually said, "But you're not much older than your junior sister."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong suddenly felt Li Guo'er's gaze fixed on his face, as if she were observing him.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little quiet.

The ability to instantly understand is contagious; gazes silently shifted in the air, some avoiding eye contact, others glancing.

“I was referring to age,” Ouyang Rong explained earnestly.

"Oh. What else?"

Li Guo'er turned her gaze away, her long, curled eyelashes trembling slightly.

The atmosphere between the two fell silent again, and an awkward silence fell.

Ouyang Rong turned his head and put down his teacup, glancing at it casually out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, I realized that Li Guo'er's fashion sense was excellent. The peach-colored ruqun was made of high-quality, soft fabric and was well-tailored. Her body was already slender and graceful, and her elegant upbringing made her always stand tall and straight. The fabric at her chest made her chest appear fuller, which made her chest appear even more prominent and high, like a blooming flower, curving into a perfect arc.

Although it can't compare to the scale of my junior sister's, it's still quite impressive and has its own unique charm.

This woman was naturally beautiful, had a great sense of style, and possessed an excellent taste in clothing. Sometimes, this is how a noble air is cultivated subtly and gradually.

Ouyang Rong sighed softly to himself.

Sometimes when he appreciates a beautiful woman, he doesn't look at her appearance, but rather at her speech, clothing, manners, and upbringing—all of which come together to form something called "charm."

That is the true charm of a woman.

This is exactly what my junior sister is like; her excellent upbringing has given her an outstanding temperament.

As for appearance and figure, they become secondary.

At the dimly lit table, Li Guo'er's narrow eyes seemed to flicker, and her pretty face suddenly turned back:

"After you saw the palace servants off this afternoon, people from the Wei family came to my door and gave me a birthday gift."

"The Wei family has also come to Longcheng?" Ouyang Rong frowned, got up and lit a lamp, brightening the room. The two men looked at each other.

Li Guo'er nodded slightly: "That's right. I heard from Father that it seems to be a son of a concubine from the Prince of Wei's mansion who delivered the gift on behalf of the Wei family."

"I see. The Wei family reacted quite quickly. That King of Wei must have had a master guiding him."

Ouyang Rong narrowed his eyes slightly and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

"What do you mean by that? Could you explain in detail?" Li Guo'er leaned forward slightly, as if listening intently.

Ouyang Rong looked up at her bright, expectant eyes and said vaguely:

"It's nothing, I just think it was quite prescient of them to come and make friends with your family in advance."

"You mean someone from the Wei family figured out Grandmother's attitude, and that's why they took this action..."

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this anymore,” Ouyang Rong interrupted Li Guo’er.

Every time the topic of political trends came up, Li Guo'er's enthusiastic attitude gave him a headache.

Li Guo'er bit her lip and stared at him for a while, then lowered her head, rolled up her sleeves, poured tea, and said:

Why does the young master seem so impatient lately?

Ouyang Rong hesitated slightly for a moment, then said sparingly:

"Since the Wei family has taken the initiative to befriend them and extend an olive branch, you should follow suit and also cultivate good relations with them."

"Why is that?" Li Guo'er asked with a curious look. "Everyone in the world knows that the Wei family and our Li family are mortal enemies."

There is no reason why.

Ouyang Rong looked up at her:

"This is just my personal suggestion, for your reference only."

Li Guo'er lowered her eyes, raised her cup, covered her mouth with her sleeve, took a sip of tea, and said softly, "But I hate the Wei family."

"Whatever you say."

Li Guo'er was taken aback. She glanced at Ouyang Rong's expression, which seemed to say, "You'd better not listen; I can't be bothered with you anymore." She then burst out laughing:

"Actually, I think so too. Our family has been away from the court for more than ten years and is in a weak position. We have no influence in the court or the country. If we want to return to the capital safely, we should not offend anyone for the time being."

"Although I dislike the Wei family, it doesn't stop me from being polite to them. So this afternoon, I instructed my elder brother, who was receiving guests, to accept the birthday gift sent by the Wei family's illegitimate son and politely see him off at the door."

Ouyang Rong's expression softened somewhat, and he casually asked, "So, you just see them out after accepting the gift? They've traveled all the way to Longcheng to give a gift; shouldn't you invite them in for a meal, a family dinner, to build some rapport?"

Li Guo'er frowned:

"What else could we do? Why should we entertain him with a family banquet? This illegitimate son of the Wei family is just an outsider. I don't like to show myself in front of outsiders when it comes to family banquets. This afternoon, I painted in the street because I had no choice but to take off my veil."

Ouyang Rong asked curiously, puzzled, "Aren't I an outsider too?"

Li Guo'er, who wasn't wearing the purple veil, glanced at him, didn't answer, and continued in her clear voice:

"Besides, we have important people to entertain and thank at tonight's family dinner, which is much more important, so why invite outsiders to dinner?"

Ouyang Rong glanced at her sideways, then remained silent.

Li Guo'er looked at him with a half-smile, as if expecting him to continue.

It's a pity that someone is a genius at pretending to be confused, as certified by a certain wronged junior sister.

Li Guo'er seemed to have realized this as well, and had no choice but to speak up:

“Ouyang Lianghan, my mother is cooking tonight. My brother and I rarely get to eat this. Are you sure you don’t want to try it?”

"I don't have that kind of luck." Ouyang Rong shook his head and drank his tea. As if remembering something, he put down his teacup and asked softly:

"Since you also have the surname Li, you must know quite a bit about the affairs of imperial families. There's something I've always been curious about."

"What is it?"

"The current emperor's surname is Wei, so does she have a given name?"

Li Guo'er's eyes revealed a strange look as she sized up Ouyang Rong:

Why do you need to know this?

"Curious." He said calmly.

After a moment of silence, Li Guo'er's expression turned serious, and she nodded, saying:

“A woman’s nickname should only be known by close friends and family, let alone the current emperor. Such a private matter should not be spread around.”

"I know...wait, what's this...?"

Ouyang Rong was about to reply when he stopped, because Li Guo'er had already gotten up without saying a word, walked to the pear wood desk, picked up a pen, and wrote a small character on a piece of white paper.

Ouyang Rong walked over and took a look.

Li Guo'er put down her pen again and carefully crossed out the character, leaving only a blot of ink on the Xuan paper.

Ouyang Rong was not surprised by her actions. He turned to look out the window and frowned slightly.

"The character 'Zhao'... It's indeed different from what I guessed. It seems there are still some differences between the two worlds."

He murmured to himself, his voice barely audible.

"What's the difference?" Li Guo'er pricked up her ears, only catching a few snippets of conversation.

"nothing."

Having cleared up his doubts, Ouyang Rong's expression turned dull, and he casually made up a story: "I just felt that the characters were a bit too delicate, which didn't quite fit my impression of a founding empress with an iron fist."

"Refined?" Li Guo'er shook her head, speechless, and pouted: "Then what kind of character isn't refined, yet fits your impression?"

Ouyang Rong took the still-ink-saturated pen from her hand and casually wrote a single character on the paper.

"What is this character? I've never seen it before." Li Guo'er frowned slightly, looked down at it, her eyes scanning the area with curiosity: "Top bright, bottom empty... how is it pronounced? Does this character really exist?"

Ouyang Rong smiled and softly murmured, "Zhao."

It is pronounced the same as "昭".

Li Guo'er frowned and pondered deeply, but still didn't recognize it. She shook her head slightly and said, "Never heard of it."

Ouyang Rong joked, "Look at this character, the sun and moon are in the sky, just like the Empress's grace and light shining on all the people under heaven. Isn't it a perfect match? It's even better than 'Zhao'."

Li Guo'er was taken aback. She looked at Ouyang Rong, then looked down at the ink writing on the paper.

After a long silence, she suddenly looked up and asked seriously, "Where does this character come from? From which ancient text does it originate?"

Ouyang Rong said half-jokingly, "Couldn't I have made it?"

Li Guo'er's eyes held a complex expression as she stared at his face for a long while.

Treating it as a minor incident, Ouyang Rong glanced at the deep night outside the window, turned his head to fill Li Guo'er's teacup, and gestured for the guest to leave.

Li Guo'er got up, folded the Xuan paper with the character "曌" written on it several times, and silently stuffed it into her sleeve, her pretty face calm.

Ouyang Rong didn't mind and saw the guest out.

At the gate, Li Guo'er suddenly stopped and turned around, the lantern in her hand illuminating Ouyang Rong's face:

“Ouyang Lianghan, you’ve been indifferent to many things lately, and even a little impatient... Do you want to resign and go into seclusion?”

Ouyang Rong glanced at her serious expression, then chuckled and shook his head.

"What are you guessing? That's all for now, no need to see me off any further."

Li Guo'er glanced at his relaxed expression and narrowed her eyes slightly: "I will keep it a secret for you and won't tell Sister Xie and the others. Actually, you don't need to hide it from me."

Ouyang Rong glanced at her sideways, giving her an expression that said, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

Li Guo'er nodded, not pursuing the matter further: "That's fine, it's good that there isn't any, but..."

She paused, then asked in a seemingly casual tone, "Do you have some gift you're planning to give me?"

Ouyang Rong: ...

Li Guo'er hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Someone said sternly, "Hey, that's going too far. You're born into royalty and are wealthy, yet you keep asking me, a poor scholar, for gifts? I'm sorry, I'm poor and have nothing to offer."

Li Guo'er blinked, then said in a light tone, "Just kidding. But I really like the poem 'Returning Home' that you gave me."

Ouyang Rong took it as just polite talk, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and saw off the pretty young lady in plum blossom makeup, whose face still showed some reluctance.

At the door, he turned around, rubbed his stiff cheeks hard, and muttered:

"This woman seems to be getting weirder and weirder..."

Back at Plum Shadow Studio, after dismissing the clingy maids like Caishou, Li Guo'er looked up at the "bright moon" she had been longing for in the sky by the window. She reached into her sleeve and took out his calligraphy, standing in the moonlight, gazing down at it, lost in thought:

"He even has the talent to create characters... Sun and moon in the sky, is that '曌'? I like it very much, and Grandmother should like it too..."

After a moment of contemplation, she took out a luxurious short sword from the cabinet, a gift from the Wei family.

With a casual wave of her hand, Li Guo'er severed a corner of the heavy rosewood tabletop, causing it to fall to the ground.

On a nearby windowsill, a lame white cat named Xian Die Nu lay sprawled on the ground, its fur standing on end, too afraid to move. The sword wound on its leg, once so unruly, was now clearly visible.

"The sword's edge is still usable, but I wonder if it's effective at killing."

The young woman rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the moon and whispering.

Before outlining the details, let's lay some groundwork for a transition... *cough*

(End of this chapter)