Chapter 319 An Indispensable Marriage Sign

At the entrance of the boudoir.

The hazy glow of the two lanterns fell on the young woman below, who was holding up a red umbrella and looking down.

Time slipped away little by little.

For some reason, the person with the umbrella remained motionless for a long time.

"Miss, are you back? Why aren't the lights on in the room?"

From outside the courtyard wall came Cai Shou's tentative shouts, along with the footsteps of several maids.

Li Guo'er was startled and almost dropped the red umbrella in her hand.

She looked around, her eyes darting about, like a little fox peeking out of its den, slightly flustered and wary.

Li Guo'er responded, "I'm back!"

She turned to go inside, but the oil-paper umbrella she was holding was too big to fit through the door, and she almost bumped into the door frame on either side.

Li Guo'er quickly braked and folded up the red umbrella.

But just as she stepped into the building with the red umbrella, she suddenly turned back and gracefully leaped back to the doorway.

She put the "mysterious" love letter—no… the red umbrella—given by this "mysterious" person back in its place.

As if she hadn't moved at all, the young woman with plum blossom makeup tilted her chin up, put her hands behind her back, and hurriedly returned to her boudoir upstairs...

Cai Shou, accompanied by four maids carrying a platter of pastries, entered an elegant boudoir.

Li Guo'er was sitting in front of the dressing table, her back to the person who came, solemnly removing her makeup.

She removed the gold, silver, and jade ornaments that adorned her hair with her delicate hands. The bronze mirror reflected her beautiful face, which was decorated with plum blossom makeup, and her complexion remained unchanged.

Cai Shou handed the plate in her hand to the other maids and glanced at her mistress.

She walked to the dressing table, picked up a wooden comb, and began to comb her long, flowing hair.

Cai Shou glanced at the bronze mirror, then looked down at her mistress with a curious expression:

"Why is Miss's face so red?"

Li Guo'er said calmly, "I drank a few too many cups during the meal."

Cai Shou nodded: "Hmm, the wine that Miss drank tonight has quite a strong aftereffect. Miss rarely blushes."

She lowered her eyes slightly: "This wine is strange."

Cai Shou suddenly asked, "By the way, Miss, why is there a red umbrella leaning against the door downstairs? Is it yours?"

"Hmm, it doesn't seem to be raining today. That umbrella looks quite exquisite. Could it be another gift from some young and talented man?"

Li Guo'er's pretty face showed a hint of doubt: "What umbrella?"

Cai Shou was stunned:

"Isn't this Miss's? That's strange. When we went to the poetry gathering this evening, there didn't seem to be any umbrellas at the entrance. Could it be that one of the maids left it behind..."

"Really? I came in too fast and didn't notice."

Li Guo'er nodded, squinting at the aloof and beautiful face in the dressing mirror, and asked in a cool tone, "You didn't touch it, did you?"

Cai Shou shook her head: "I didn't move it. I just passed by and it felt strange. It's late at night, and there's a red umbrella at the door. In my hometown, this kind of thing is considered unlucky..."

Li Guo'er interrupted in a nonchalant tone: "Then let's just throw it away."

"oh."

Cai Shou was not surprised at all by the young lady's indifferent tone and manner of handling the situation. She turned around, went out, and went to throw away the umbrella.

"etc."

Cai Shou turned around in confusion: "What's wrong, Miss?"

Li Guo'er picked up a comb, gathered her hair to one shoulder, looked at herself in the bronze mirror, tilted her head to comb her hair, and casually said:

"Fine, just leave it there. Don't touch it, don't worry about it."

"Are we waiting for that ignorant maid to fetch it herself?" Cai Shou scratched her head, her tone filled with admiration: "Miss is so kind, she doesn't mistreat the servants."

Li Guo'er remained silent, seemingly acquiescing.

At one point, she secretly glanced at the silly-looking, chubby-faced maid in her glasses.

Immediately, Li Guo'er seemed to lose all interest in the matter and started chatting with Cai Shou about other topics.

Before long, after removing her makeup and changing her clothes, Li Guo'er got up and walked towards the bathtub behind the screen. Cai Shou, accompanied by two maids, was about to go downstairs to fetch a wooden tub of hot water.

Li Guo'er suddenly stopped: "Colorful ribbon."

"Oh, what's wrong, Miss?" Cai Shou turned around obediently.

"You returned home early today. Did you see anything... anyone?"

"Who? Who?"

Li Guo'er stopped in front of the screen, turned around and smiled slightly, her tone as relaxed as ever: "Ouyang Lianghan."

Cai Shou shook her head:

"Didn't Young Master Ouyang only come during the day recently, bringing along the angels from Luoyang?"

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since he's visited our residence in private."

Her tone was regretful and disappointed:

"He hasn't even come to see Miss Xie. Oh, why are you asking this, Miss? Do you miss him too?"

Upon hearing the words "Miss Xie," Li Guo'er frowned slightly, but quickly recovered, pouting slightly.

"I miss him."

After saying that, she walked behind the screen without looking back, intending to undress and take a bath.

Cai Shou left with her maids.

Hearing the footsteps of her personal maids temporarily disappear at the top of the stairs, Li Guo'er was standing on a pale pink high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) that had fallen to her ankles. She hooked her fair and delicate legs up and kicked off the thin inner garment hanging from her ankles... She stopped undressing.

The calm and composed expression on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of suspicion mixed with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance.

Wearing only a light pink and green bib and underpants, Li Guo'er paced and twirled around the bathtub, her fingers tracing her delicate chin.

His steps were somewhat unsteady.

The red umbrella undoubtedly bears the handwriting of Ouyang Lianghan. Li Guo'er is literate and has a photographic memory; she can even imitate other people's handwriting with ease.

She would never mistake that guy's handwriting, and it was definitely not someone else's imitation, because even the smallest details of his penmanship were exactly the same.

Besides, who in the Xunyang Prince's Mansion would be so bored as to imitate Ouyang Lianghan's handwriting and write something like this for her?

Is the old man who's about to die eating poison?

Therefore, all the evidence points to one possibility...

This was personally written and delivered by Ouyang Lianghan.

Furthermore, he also happened to be at the Xunyang Prince's Mansion tonight to participate in a nighttime conspiracy.

Li Guo'er couldn't help but recall Cai Shou's words from earlier. She turned to look at the tightly closed window, outside which lay the courtyard of the Xie family's daughter next door:

"Could it be that it was delivered to the wrong place? Are you an idiot and went to the wrong yard?"

She slowly stopped, frowned, and shook her head:

"But Sister Xie isn't in the manor, so why did you send over a love umbrella out of the blue? And you even said those... those frivolous things, you really have no shame."

The thought of the phrase "You are so beautiful, I can't forget you" made a certain unmarried young lady feel her cheeks burning.

Before the New Year, on the night of Xie Lingjiang's birthday banquet, neither Li Guo'er nor her family attended and were unaware of what had happened. After the banquet, Xie Lingjiang immediately returned to Jinling.

Just a short while ago, when she met the chubby-faced maid in the corridor, she was in a bad mood that she didn't admit to, and she didn't pay attention to Cai Shou's ramblings about looking for books.

At this moment, Li Guo'er thought for a long time, but couldn't figure it out:

"However, has your relationship already reached the point of exchanging gifts? I, the princess, saw through Sister Xie's thoughts at a glance, but before, she seemed to be constantly getting rejected and making no progress. How did things suddenly turn out like this..."

"Furthermore, the maids and servants in the manor should know that this is my boudoir. Did he just find it randomly?"

"Furthermore, Cai Shou clearly went back to her room to look for a book at night, which overlapped with the time you came to have your tryst. Didn't you see her? How could she have gone to the wrong courtyard? Was it just a coincidence?"

The young woman in plum blossom makeup couldn't help but bite her lip and mutter to herself:

“Ouyang Lianghan, did you do this on purpose, or was it accidental… wait a minute.”

As Li Guo'er hesitated and speculated, she suddenly remembered something from the past.

"When we first met face to face, it seems you also gave me a red oil-paper umbrella. We met by chance on the mountain path of Donglin Temple, and you gave me and Caishou an umbrella to shelter us from the rain..."

The unexpected connection caused a strange and complicated expression to appear on Li Guo'er's beautiful face. Her gaze gradually turned to a red umbrella placed at the entrance downstairs, drawn to it.

"Is it another red umbrella? It seems like they're doing this on purpose..."

"Could it be that you came here tonight to plot against me without waiting for me, and that you were not intentionally looking down on me and not caring about me?"

"Instead, he was worried that I would return early, so he deliberately ended the day early and then sneaked over to deliver the umbrella?"

“Ouyang Lianghan, you, you…”

The rather proud and narcissistic young woman in plum blossom makeup was both suspicious and shy, and her tone was somewhat stuttering.

In the candlelight, that little face was absolutely stunning...

The next day.

Li Guo'er got up early as usual, pretending nothing had happened.

Only the faint dark circles under her eyes seemed to be telling something.

As for the red paper umbrella quietly placed by the door, she seemed not to see it and continued to enter and leave her boudoir as usual.

She didn't let the other maids move it either.

However, every time I passed the doorway of the red umbrella, a young woman with plum blossom makeup would walk slightly faster than usual, as if she was deliberately hiding something.

But out of the corner of my eye, I'll glance over to make sure it's still there.

Li Guo'er seemed to be waiting for someone to discover that she had put it in the wrong courtyard, so that she could secretly take it away and pretend that nothing had happened.

Or perhaps...were waiting for him to reveal something more explicit?

She didn't know what she was waiting for, or what she was expecting.

The next few days passed in this uneventful way.

The appointed night for their rendezvous arrived once again, and Li Guo'er, having attended another poetry gathering hosted by the Juhua Poetry Society, did not return early.

During the poetry gathering that evening, Li Guo'er seemed somewhat distracted.

Afterwards, she immediately stood up, declined the flattering invitations from the young talents, and quickly left, returning to the Xunyang Prince's Mansion.

The plot ended, and Ouyang Lianghan had already left.

Li Guo'er turned around and found an excuse to send Cai Shou and the other tagalongs away.

As she approached the boudoir, she slowed her pace, her jade-like hand clenching slightly into a fist hidden in her sleeve.

They arrived at the boudoir.

Li Guo'er looked ahead, lifted the hems of her skirts on both sides, and walked into the courtyard. She immediately saw a brand-new light green oil paper umbrella quietly placed next to the red umbrella at the entrance of her boudoir.

The format is exactly the same.

He didn't take away the red umbrella; instead, he placed a new one there.

And when the new umbrella was opened, there was a line of familiar handwriting.

"At dawn I gaze at the sky, at dusk I watch the clouds... Whether I walk or sit... I think of you? You, you, you're never going to stop..."

Li Guo'er quickly closed her umbrella, looked around, and her pretty face showed some embarrassment.

After looking around for a while, taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the courtyard, she quickly put the green umbrella back intact, pretended not to have seen it, and slipped into the building.

In the days that followed, as if to verify something again, Li Guo'er would often drift off into thought, frequently flipping through the calendar, as if anxiously waiting for a certain date.

A few days later, another night of plotting began in the study of the Prince of Xunyang's mansion.

As usual, she returned to the Prince's Mansion late after attending the poetry society's regular poetry gathering, by which time Ouyang Lianghan had already left.

Li Guo'er used a different excuse to send away Cai Shou and the other maids.

She pursed her lips, feeling a mix of shyness and anticipation—a strange feeling she had never experienced in her seventeen years of life.

She stepped into the boudoir once more.

Beside the door of the boudoir, a pale pink oil-paper umbrella had suddenly appeared.

Li Guo'er, who had been hesitant at first, quickly quickened her pace and opened the third new umbrella.

On the umbrella was his usual short sentence.

"If you ask how much leisure time there is... a river of misty grass, a city full of drifting catkins... the plum rain when the plums are yellow."

Li Guo'er paused for a moment, chewing repeatedly.

"Hmm..." This poem has an unusual format, not following the rules of classical Chinese poetry, but it is exceptionally easy to recite.

She knew it was just a fragment, but he used it casually, as if he had casually scribbled it on the umbrella when he was overcome with longing and sorrow, acting freely and fearlessly.

Such talent and the ability to leave room for interpretation are simply irresistible.

After chewing it a dozen times, Li Guo'er suddenly stomped her foot.

Why are you writing such good poems? Why are you not doing anything serious? Why are you putting all your talent and energy into these love poems that flirt with women? Do you really miss her that much?

One moment they were so fond of it, the next they tossed the new umbrella aside like a hot potato, hurriedly putting it back in its place.

They still avoided it, afraid to touch it.

It seems as if they are afraid that once they touch and accept it, it will be like completing some kind of ritual, becoming tainted with something that most women in the world both love and hate, are obsessed with, yet break their hearts.

But as a result, three more handmade oil-paper umbrellas appeared at the entrance of the boudoir, and some things could no longer be hidden. On the morning of the second day after leaving Guo'er, she found that the way Cai Shou and the others looked at her had become a little strange.

No one dared to ask her directly, nor did anyone dare to touch the umbrella without permission.

But in the dead of night, troubled by her love affair, Li Guo'er couldn't help but feel ashamed and angry, and spat out curses:

"You, Ouyang Lianghan, you...you hypocrite! No wonder you haven't taken Xie's sister as your concubine yet, and you've been doing this behind her back...you've tarnished my innocence."

Although she cursed, for some reason, Li Guo'er didn't feel much dislike for her.

Perhaps it was because of Ouyang Lianghan's strategic thinking, wisdom, talent, and abilities that she had always admired him.

Most women don't find it greasy or disgusting to be admired and confessed to by outstanding peers; rather, they don't find it a special kind of irritating or disgusting.

I hate his bluntness and boldness, which makes me feel ashamed and angry.

But when she thought of her beloved Sister Xie, a strange, innocent yet comforting emotion suddenly welled up in her chest, as if she had received some kind of strong affirmation and recognition.

This is a subtle competition and rivalry that only exists among beautiful and outstanding women.

But why do I feel so anxious?

For several days in a row, Li Guo'er's heart was in turmoil, bidding farewell to her usual nonchalant and unhurried demeanor.

One night, as she was about to undress and go to sleep in her bedside, she suddenly remembered something. She got up, put on her clothes, went to the bookshelf, and pulled out a large book.

After hesitating for a moment, he took out a marriage fortune slip from Donglin Temple that he had kept hidden for a long time.

After a moment's hesitation, Li Guo'er suddenly opened the slip of paper.

Take a closer look and read aloud:

"I'm too lazy to look back at the flowers, half for cultivating the Tao, half for you."

She frowned and looked down. Below the red paper was a line of interpretations in Master Shandao's handwriting:

"Even amidst a sea of ​​flowers, I remain too lazy to look back. Partly it's because of my yearning for the Tao, a heart free from desires; the other part is because I met a radiant soulmate early on, naturally disdaining the mundane. This is fate, but also a tribulation, difficult to overcome, so difficult to overcome..."

The string of interpretations seemed to pause at the end, finally leaving eight characters:

The moon shines brightly, but when can it be grasped?

A seemingly inexplicable Zen poem, yet Li Guo'er immediately discerned its meaning:

When... can we pluck the bright moon that hangs in the sky?

Li Guo'er remained where she was.

She suddenly recalled the utter disappointment she felt these past few days when she examined those talented scholars and officials seeking their services. Before, she had felt resentful and unwilling to admit defeat, but now…

She recalled frequently comparing them to her brother's advisor, Ouyang Lianghan, but they could never compare.

I recalled the "bright moon" gift that Ouyang Lianghan, the benefactor in the prophecy, had delayed in sending due to unforeseen circumstances.

I also thought of... a strange way of sharing wealth and hardship.

“Ming…Mingyue, why is it Mingyue again? Wait, could it be…could it be that the Mingyue in the prophecy is Ouyang Lianghan himself?”

Under the moonlight by the window, a young woman with plum blossom makeup stammered, her heart pounding, her cheeks gradually burning.

The trace of her former spoiled and arrogant demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

(End of this chapter)