0075 Paper Kites (Part 3)

Unbeknownst to anyone, Li Qiao, whom Shu Wei and Gui Niang were thinking of, was currently in the Kuai Zai Pavilion in Pingkang Ward.

There was nothing of great importance to be done in the government office today. After he finished his shift, he delegated some minor tasks to his staff and then wandered off to Pingkang Lane without really thinking.

There was no other reason than that he was simply too curious about that Miss Yunzhu. He actually knew that just because of a farce, he was so angry that he abandoned all the guests and turned away without looking back.

Knowing his identity, the madam greeted him with trepidation and led him to a private room by the canal. She then had freshly brewed purple bamboo shoot tea served, saying repeatedly, "Honored guest, please be seated. I will call Yunzhu out right away."

Li Qiao smiled and took a sip of tea: "There's no need to force it. If Miss Yunzhu really doesn't want to, just consider me here to enjoy some fragrant tea and admire the river view."

If you really want to appreciate water scenery, you can go to Qujiang Pool. Why bother coming to Pingkangfang to see some fancy tourist spots? You must be looking for Xi Yunzhu.

The madam secretly grumbled to herself, but on the surface she still wore a smiling face. Afraid of disturbing Li Qiao's enjoyment, she agreed and then drifted away like a wisp of smoke.

The madam walked all the way to Xi Yunzhu's door and heard the sound of a konghou coming from inside. She stopped and listened for a while. Even though she couldn't understand the tune, she felt that the sound was as melodious as the cry of a phoenix in Kunlun Mountain. No wonder so many scholars were willing to follow her.

She sighed and pushed the door open to go inside.

Upon hearing the sound, Xi Yunzhu looked up and abruptly stopped what she was doing.

"Your next performance won't be for another seven days. What do you want from me now?" Xi Yunzhu said calmly.

The madam's forced smile froze, and she walked a few steps to her side: "Why are you giving me that cold look again? I've come to tell you something good."

Xi Yunzhu remained expressionless, waiting for the madam to continue.

"A distinguished guest has arrived and specifically requested to see you. Do you know who he is? He..."

“I’m not going,” Xi Yunzhu said before she could finish, her voice cold and indifferent. “We made a contract before, and I will stay in your Kuai Zai Pavilion for ten years. During that time, you are not allowed to force me to do anything I don’t want to do.”

The madam was taken aback, realizing that she was bringing up old stories again.

Was she twelve or thirteen years old then?

The madam didn't remember clearly, only that the kidnapper said she was from Xiangzhou.

At that time, Xiangzhou had not yet been recovered and was in the midst of war. Her family fled to Guanzhong, but their carriages overturned on the way, and she was the only survivor.

Although he survived, he suffered a head injury, which caused him to lose sight in both eyes.

However, Xi Yunzhu was very beautiful, and even though she was blind, the madam did not hesitate to keep her.

Furthermore, her unique beauty and talent made her eligible for many of her demanding conditions.

The madam had only casually agreed, but she never expected that the young men of Chang'an would be so captivated by her aloof and detached demeanor. From the moment she appeared, she left an indelible mark on countless hearts, and after a few more encounters, she became the renowned Xi Duzhi of Pingkang Ward.

From then on, the madam rarely argued with her anymore.

Seeing that she was unmoved, the madam tried to appeal to her emotions: "Yunzhu, please have pity on me and let me go out and show myself just once. I ask myself honestly, I have truly cherished you all these years. Even other families don't love their daughters like this."

"You love bamboo, so we've filled the entire Kuai Zai Pavilion with all kinds of bamboo just for you; you love reading, so we've let you take whatever you want, practically emptying out all the bookstores in Chang'an. And your eyes, weren't they cured by us paying for a doctor to heal them?"

Xi Yunzhu stood up and stared coldly at the madam.

If the person here were even slightly soft-hearted, they might have been persuaded by her words to the point of tears and repeated confessions. But Xi Yunzhu was not like that. She knew clearly that the money she had earned in the brothel over the years had long since covered the expenses the madam had mentioned.

Not to mention...

She took two steps forward, looked directly into the madam's eyes, and said, word by word, "I have never forgotten for a moment that I was abducted by you. It would be ridiculous for me to feel grateful."

The madam's expression changed, and she was somewhat at a loss for words.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and a pimp outside said, "The Prince sat there for a while, and seeing that Miss Yunzhu hadn't arrived yet, he left. I could hardly keep him..."

Upon hearing this, the madam couldn't help but stomp her foot, her eyes filled with frustration. Turning her head, she saw Xi Yunzhu calmly return to her desk, and she couldn't suppress her anger. Unable to actually hit her, she could only taunt her with a sarcastic remark:

"You're still hoping to find that guy who traveled with you for a while during your escape? I told you long ago, when those people kidnapped you, they pushed him into the river and drowned him when they saw him chasing after you to snatch you."

"Even putting all that aside, you were blind at the time and didn't know what he looked like. It's ridiculous to think you could find him based on a fragment of a sentence that's neither ancient nor modern."

"To be frank, the young master Liang who responded to you that day comes from a family of scholars and noble lineage. His ancestors have always been from Jingzhao and have never been to Xiangzhou."

Xi Yunzhu gave her a cold look, said no more to her, picked up her hand and plucked the string, producing another melodious tune.

...

After leaving Kuai Zai Pavilion, Li Qiao saw that Xi Yunzhu's wish had not been fulfilled. Suddenly remembering that Xuan Yang Fang was not far from Ping Kang Fang, he felt a faint fragrance of osmanthus blossoms in his heart and changed direction.

He walked all the way to Gui Niang's small house, picked up the copper ring and knocked on the door. Immediately, a very clear and pleasant voice came from inside: "Coming!"

Then, the door opened from the inside, revealing a young girl's face.

Gui Niang initially thought it was another guest and was about to ask, "What can I do for you, guest?" when she looked up and met Li Qiao's face.

She was startled, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she cried out "My lord!" before rushing into his arms.

Li Qiaozhi was very pleased with himself and kissed Gui Niang on the cheek.

A fragrant aroma of flowers wafted from the eaves, and he even made a mental assessment—

Miss Yunzhu is the most talented, and Gui Niang is the most kind and lovely, but his true love is Shu Wei.

Unfortunately, Shu Wei was fiery and intolerant of others, which forced him to compromise himself to this extent.

Li Qiao sighed, put his arm around Gui Niang, and walked into the courtyard. Little did he know that Shu Wei, the fierce and intolerant woman in his heart, was sitting in the oxcart at the alley entrance, quietly watching the whole thing.

"girl--"

Inside the car, Shu Wei's face was deathly pale, and her hands were trembling slightly, as if she were about to collapse at any moment.

"It's okay, I'm fine..." She suddenly grabbed Xu'er's outstretched hand. Xu'er winced in pain but didn't dare to cry out.

"Let's go back to the manor—"

From that day on, Shu Wei was often absent-minded. Sometimes she would write a single drop of ink on a piece of paper, sometimes she would accidentally spill too much fish food while feeding the fish, and sometimes a bowl of warm sweet porridge would be handed to her, which she would not finish even after it had cooled down.

At night, I started having more dreams, and our friendship of more than ten years shattered into many fragments.

She dreamt of meeting Li Qiao for the first time. It was March in Chang'an, Qujiang River was flowing with brocade, the sky was a vast expanse of blue, and the willows were covered in velvety cotton. She and her companions were flying kites when the young man saw her from across the river and bowed to her from afar.

Not long after, letters and flowers arrived in her hands through various channels, filled with beautiful words and clusters of blossoms, all expressing a young man's sincere love.

She couldn't resist and went to his first date, and then there were two, three more times...

The scene quickly shifts. Ten years into her marriage, they have been in a cold war for over a month. The entire household is filled with tension, and everyone is extremely cautious, afraid of making a mistake.

Unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere any longer, she decided to apologize and make peace with Li Qiao.

That night, the wind and rain were dark and gloomy. She personally made green rice dumplings, which were only eaten in spring, and delivered them to Li Qiao's study, hoping to remind him of the past. However, she never expected that she would see her newly widowed younger sister there.

Shu Yin was startled by her sudden intrusion and screamed in fright.

Li Qiao didn't dodge or avoid it. He casually picked up his outer garment from the ground and put it on, even pulling Shu Yin behind him to protect her.

She couldn't remember much about what happened after that, only that she had rushed at him like a madwoman, and Li Qiao frowned and loudly called for someone to come in and take her away.

After that, she was filled with resentment and had a complicated relationship with Li Qiao for several years. Then one night, she died in her dream and when she opened her eyes again, she was back in her childhood.

The enchanting spring sunlight streamed through the gauze-covered carriage windows, casting a pure white glow on the ground. Seeing that she was awake, Xu'er smiled and handed her a cup of tea: "Miss, you're awake? Rinse your mouth with this tea; we're almost at Xinghuafang."

In the sixth year of Chongde's reign, a spring banquet was held in Xinghua Ward.

She had an idea almost instantly.

She hated Shu Yin, who destroyed her perfect family, and she also hated Li Qiao, the cold and heartless man from her past life.

However, she couldn't bear to directly reject Li Qiao, who had traveled all the way from Jiangnan to send her magnolia flowers when he was young.

She couldn't help but wonder if, had she not suspected Li Qiao or separated from him, Shu Yin wouldn't have found an opportunity to take advantage of her.

So she started over, scheming against Shu Yin while protecting her relationship with Li Qiao, which became almost the sole purpose of her life.

But one day, someone suddenly told her that her lover had broken his vow when their love was at its peak.

It's not that someone deliberately seduced you, nor that you didn't do well enough; it's just that this man's nature is like this.

She was bewildered, and for a moment she did not know the meaning of her rebirth.

Shu Wei has been having nightmares every night for the past few days, waking up in fright several times. Her face is pale and haggard, and she has lost a lot of weight.

Seeing this, Xu'er was anxious. She grabbed her hand and pleaded, "Miss, Miss! Please talk to me. Should we call a doctor or go to the temple to pray? Please don't just stay silent."

Shu Wei felt a warmth on the back of her hand; it was a tear from Xu'er's eye that had landed on her hand.

She closed her sore eyes, then looked at Xu'er: "Shall we go to the temple to pray?"

“Yes!” Xu’er’s eyes lit up. “Xiangji Temple, or Da Ci’en Temple, or even those Persian temples run by foreigners, are all good. The Zen masters there are all highly accomplished and will surely be able to enlighten you, Miss.”

"...Never mind, if praying to gods and Buddhas were really effective, I wouldn't be stuck in this predicament."

However, when Xu'er mentioned finding someone to comfort her, she actually thought of someone.

—Shufu.

She was genuinely curious: why was Shu Fu so resolute and determined when both of them had husbands who changed their minds?

Before Shufu, no woman had ever taken the initiative to propose a divorce.

But she not only brought it up, she also genuinely worked hard for it. Even though her parents were indifferent and her relatives ridiculed her, she still did it and became the first woman in the Dali era and even in the entire history of the dynasty to get a divorce.

How could she dare?

only--

Can the Shufu of today truly understand what the Shufu of seven years from now is thinking?