Your wishes will come true.
Chapter Sixteen
"The real show is about to begin." Gu Ling walked up to Zhou Yulin's side without anyone noticing, watching the battle unfold with great interest.
Zhou Yulin just wanted to lie down and not act in the play. If not, she would leave. There were too many people here, which made her a little socially anxious.
"The Jiang family of Jinling? Ha, what a coincidence. It is the Jiang family that I have a grudge against. Kid, who are you?" The other party's contemptuous and provocative tone did not make this brat back down. On the contrary, he spoke with a cold face and a lot of dissatisfaction, "Jiang Zanghua, the thirteenth generation descendant of the Jiang family."
"Oh, I didn't expect the Jiang family to have run out of talent. This year they even have someone who swears. Oh, why don't you say a few words to your grandma?" Jiang Zanghua raised his head, revealing a disdainful look. "Boring. If you like playing these boring tricks with me, I admit you do have some skills. At least, I'm really getting excited now."
Zhou Yulin, watching the show, had only one thought in her mind: "Can't we just have a fight already? I'm in a hurry to get off work."
"Ha, you're crazy."
"Thank you, Joker."
A heartfelt thank you made Gu Ling almost break down in tears.
Two words made the other party argue with me for three minutes.
However, the standoff between Jiang Zanghua and the female ghost lasted less than three minutes before she fled in panic, leaving Qin Xin lying unconscious on the ground. Watching the departing black mist, he straightened his clothes, turned around and smiled, "Hello, I am the director of the play, Jiang Zanghua."
"I'm sorry for leaving you with a bad impression. I will personally come to apologize and extend a special invitation to you to participate in my latest play, 'Innocence'." Jiang Zanghua's politeness caught Zhou Yulin off guard.
Soon after, Zhou Yulin politely declined, saying, "I'm not going to stay in Jinling for long anyway. Let's talk about it another time."
"Okay, I'll make a note of the date next time."
No, you don't know how to be polite, do you?
Thus, thanks to Jiang Zanghua's reasoned arguments, the next time was set at a specific time and place: Zuixianglou, one hour later.
Jiang Zanghua said he would give this script to himself and Chen Muyao as a gift; it was just some low-level magic spells anyway.
The script records everything that happened that day. Opening the script is like flipping through a diary of the day, which is quite novel. Now Zhou Yulin understands why this is one of the three treasures of Jinling.
However, on the way back to the inn, Zhou Yulin discovered a blind spot: if it was just a small magic trick, why did Chen Muyao have to cooperate and continue acting?
No one can force him to do anything if he doesn't want to.
But why would he act? Perhaps he already knew what was going to happen and wanted to watch the show, or perhaps he wanted to watch his own show. Hmm, that makes sense.
Zhou Yulin's expression shifted between frowning and understanding, which Chen Muyao noticed. The young man closed his eyes and said leisurely, "If you're disappointed, you can find someone to act out the substitute bride scene with you again next time."
At this point, he opened his eyes, his gaze shifting to the bustling traffic outside the car. Then, as the atmosphere quieted down, he awkwardly explained, "Actually, the drama 'Substitute Marriage' isn't very interesting. It's just a double-substitute story. The male lead is also a substitute, and his true identity is actually the Crown Prince of the current dynasty."
"To be honest, the play is not realistic either. First of all, it's absurd that a crown prince would fall in love with a concubine's daughter and be so deeply in love that he would rather be a substitute for her. Secondly, as a crown prince, he would have no interest in the affairs of state and would be preoccupied with love. Such a person would not be a wise and virtuous ruler even if he became emperor."
Listening to that, it seems like I'm not the kind of person who's blinded by love.
"And what about you? If it were you, what would you do?"
She looked at herself, as if she were genuinely curious about the answer to this question.
The boy looked up, his green hair ribbon fluttering in the wind. "No."
After receiving a definitive answer, Zhou Yulin felt a sudden, sharp pain in her heart, as if pricked by a needle. Almost immediately, she asked, "Why?"
The young man spoke calmly but with unusual seriousness, “I will not let the woman I love become anyone’s substitute. She is herself, she doesn’t have to become someone else, nor does she have to live her whole life carrying someone else’s identity.”
He raised his well-defined hand, the red and white ribbon in his hair fluttering in the night breeze, and turned to look at Zhou Yulin, "Women are like the wind, they should be free their whole lives."
Gu Ling smiled as he listened, and added appropriately, "Then I wish us all a bright future, and may the wind always find its way home, no matter where it blows."
The setting sun casts its last rays, and the dust and smoke from carriages drift into people's homes.
—
Upon arriving at the inn, the group went to their respective rooms to rest.
When Zhou Yulin went downstairs for dinner, she happened to run into Gu Ling. Gu Ling was carefully walking down the steps, holding onto the handrail. Seeing a puddle of water on the steps, Zhou Yulin kindly tugged at his sleeve and reminded him, "Be careful."
Gu Ling recognized Zhou Yulin's voice immediately.
"I checked the almanac before I left home, and it said I would meet a benefactor. Hey, the almanac was right."
Zhou Yulin walked to his side and asked with some curiosity, "If you can see, why are you wearing a white veil?"
Even with his eyes closed, Gu Ling could still sense the girl's gaze, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little tense, but he quickly broke it with a playful smile, "What's wrong? Are you curious?"
Zhou Yulin thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'm not curious, I just want to ask, but I'm also afraid of hearing things I shouldn't know."
“You guessed right. I really can’t tell you this. But I promise you I’ll tell you when the time is right.” Gu Ling smiled, revealing two cute little tiger teeth, which evoked Zhou Yulin’s memories of their first meeting. The woman shook her head and smiled, full of anticipation, “Then I’ll wait for the day when A Jin tells me the truth.”
A complex emotion flashed across Gu Ling's eyes, but it quickly faded away. He said pitifully, "Beautiful Zhou, please help me when there are many people downstairs. I'm afraid I'll bump into someone."
After walking a few steps, Gu Ling suddenly had a whimsical idea and said, "Sister Yu Lin, what do you think I should call Young Master Chen from now on? Calling him Father makes me seem too obsequious, and he wouldn't accept it anyway. Calling him Brother Chen makes me seem too江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry). Calling him Mu Yao makes me seem like an elder to him."
Zhou Yulin didn't have such concerns. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she didn't seem to have many names for Chen Muyao, and they were mostly just polite greetings.
When Gu Ling brought up this issue, he said in a joking tone, "Call him Young Master. Look, he's younger than you, so there's nothing wrong with calling him Young Master. Secondly, don't you think that even though he comes from a humble background, he has the demeanor and appearance of a young master? If you call him Young Master, it might sound a bit like a subordinate's address, but after a while, it becomes a term of endearment, doesn't it?"
Gu Ling thought it made a lot of sense. He turned the corner and walked to the door, where Chen Muyao had been waiting for a while.
"Young Master Chen."
Gu Ling, immediately understanding Zhou Yulin's suggestion, waved enthusiastically, "Young Master!"
Chen Muyao stared at the smiles on the two people's faces and felt something was off. They were just going out for a meal, so why did their smiles look like they were practically touching the sun?
"Young Master?" He silently repeated the three words in his mind, somewhat speechless. He looked at Zhou Yulin, stood with his arms crossed, and did not speak. However, Zhou Yulin could read the meaning in his eyes: "Did you teach him?"
Zhou Yulin quickly distanced herself, looking away, "I don't know, he just likes to call me that." Gu Ling, who couldn't see, anxiously called out, "You two, don't communicate with your eyes! I can't see!"
Zuixianglou wasn't too far from here, so the three of them decided to walk there.
Even as winter approaches, the streets remain as bustling as ever, with lights spreading out in a dazzling array of goods, and the water reflecting the everyday life of the people.
"Release one Kongming lantern and send one away."
Zhou Yulin stopped in her tracks. Just as she finished reading, Gu Ling beside her said happily, "Great! Let's buy two to put away!"
"They say the higher the Kongming lantern flies, the sooner the gods will hear your wish, and the more likely it will be granted!"
Gu Ling said sadly, "It's a pity I can't see now, otherwise I would definitely write down a hundred or eighty of his wishes. Hey, Zhou, beautiful lady, do you have any wishes?"
Of course there are.
Zhou Yulin answered in her heart that her first wish was to revitalize her sect, and her second wish was for her master, senior brothers, and fellow disciples to be safe and healthy.
"However, they say that when making a wish, you should make something more relevant, something that is closer to your immediate future, so it is easier to achieve. Therefore, I don't ask myself to create an everlasting peace. I just hope for a world of harmony and for the people to live in peace and happiness."
Zhou Yulin teased, "Why don't you think about yourself when you make a wish? Gu Ling? It's all about the common people. I thought you were some kind of royal relative."
Gu Ling retorted confidently, "Well—you can't say that. I'm also an ordinary citizen, a part of the world."
Zhou Yulin sincerely praised, "Indeed, the scope of vision has been broadened all at once."
"Is that right, Young Master Chen?"
Suddenly reminded of the mention of Kongming lanterns, Chen Mu's gaze slowly focused, and he nodded, offering a single, indifferent "Mm."
“Then I will write it for Gu Ling: ‘May there be eternal peace and prosperity for all under heaven. May the people be wealthy and free from suffering.’”
The girl's handwriting was elegant and graceful, with strong strokes. The sixteen characters she wrote truly exuded an air of supreme authority.
Chen Muyao, who had been quietly observing the writing, frowned slightly. "Does Young Master Chen have any wishes?"
He never expected that the other party would ask him that question.
The dim, golden light of the fireworks illuminated the girl's eyes and brows. She looked into her own eyes as if they held a whole galaxy of stars. Standing amidst the lights, Chen Muyao felt like she was the one standing in the dim light, quietly watching the people in the center of the festivities, only to be left with a mess.
She clutched a Kongming lantern, as if she understood something, just as three more lanterns were released behind her. Today, her demeanor was unusually gentle, conveying her devout prayers to the gods of heaven and earth. She also rolled up the hem of her pale yellow dress, and the red dot between her brows brought her already stunningly beautiful face to life.
"I wish you all your dreams come true, no matter what." Her voice was soft, with a hint of unintentional gentleness. The boy immediately scoffed, "Do you even know what I want? And you wish me all my dreams come true?"
Zhou Yulin shook her head and smiled at Chen Mu. Perhaps the atmosphere was too good today, causing her to forget all the past grievances. "I don't know. I only know that wishes that are spoken out cannot be granted."
"I have no wish."
Zhou Yulin looked up, and the moment their eyes met, the boy repeated, "I have no wishes, nor do I believe that gods exist in this world."
Chen Mu stopped there, and Zhou Yulin didn't press the matter. She wrote her wishes all over the Kongming lantern, then let go. The lantern wobbled and flew into the sky. The girl hurriedly put her hands together and, in a very convincing manner, made Gu Ling close his eyes and make a wish with utmost sincerity.
Chen Mu opened his eyes and looked at the person beside him.
For some reason, he felt as if he had experienced this scene with someone else.
At that time, the man patted his chest and said with great confidence, "Chen Muyao, you will definitely get what you want."
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