Chapter 88 Moonlit Breeze
It was as if I were meeting her for the first time, and as if I wanted to cut out every inch of her expression at that moment.
Qingqing was terrified by the beast-like gaze and instinctively leaned back a few inches. Yan Dibai's frightening gaze suddenly vanished.
He turned his head abruptly, the autumn wind ruffling his hair at the temples. His beautiful profile remained remarkably calm, without him making a scene.
I've never seen Yan Dibai's eyes like that before. Qingqing's lips moved slightly, and suddenly her hand felt sticky.
Upon closer inspection, the mooncake had been crushed into tiny pieces.
She was suddenly at a loss, her instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm telling her that Yan Dibai was acting very strangely. But her lingering emotions made her hesitate again and again, causing her to miss the best opportunity to leave.
"No romantic feelings involved?" Yan Dibai asked, his voice hoarse.
His tone was flat, revealing neither joy nor anger. Since they had decided to talk things out, Qingqing had no intention of backing down. She gritted her teeth:
"...I have always kept to my duty."
Yan Dibai's pupils trembled violently, and a mocking smile curved his lips: "The chosen one?"
Qingqing's fingers tightened continuously: "...Mmm."
"Ha. Why are you so sure I'll succeed and fulfill your wishes? Just because of my intelligence?"
His hands were already trembling. Yan Dibai stared straight at the small lake in front of him; he too had wondered about this question.
Why was Yang Liuqing so convinced that he could turn things around? Why was she willing to risk everything to protect and care for him?
Qingqing couldn't answer; it was a task, and there was no other reason.
She didn't want to lie.
In that moment of silence, Yan Dibai's vision blurred, and he suddenly couldn't see anything clearly. Blood, fire, and the sounds and images of men and women intertwined into an overwhelming net.
His breathing was erratic, and his remaining rationality kept his body from going berserk.
Yan Dibai tried his best to keep his voice steady: "Along the way, is what we've done the way ordinary men and women should do? Would ordinary men and women hug each other? Would ordinary men and women sleep in the same room? Would ordinary men and women be so ambiguous with each other?"
"Driven by circumstances—"
"What about the days you served me in the palace? You were beneath me, letting me hold you—" He twisted his face, his voice almost laced with rage, each word heavy with malice, "What talk of ruler and subject! You can fool yourself, but you can't fool me! Yang Liuqing—"
"You dare say you truly have no romantic feelings for me?!"
This question was like a thunderclap, making Qingqing tremble with fear. Yan Dibai's bloodshot eyes were filled with her panicked expression.
Her lips opened and closed repeatedly, and Qingqing's eyelids blinked incessantly. After a long while, she slowly raised her eyes, revealing her clear black and white pupils looking at him.
She asked softly, "And what about you?"
Yan Di Bai Zhi.
He swayed. His raging anger was suddenly frozen in those three light, airy words. It crumbled completely.
The boy's chest heaved as he tried to find a clue in her clear, bottomless eyes, but all he saw was a tranquil lake.
And a tiny ripple in the center of the lake.
He abruptly turned his back and practically fled.
The night wind swept up a few fallen leaves, which swirled and landed on the shattered moon.
The courtyard gate slammed shut.
Qingqing looked at the moonlight in the courtyard, her breathing labored, and covered her face.
This shouldn't be the case.
Yan Dibai has a childlike nature. She should coax and fool him as before. But... when Yan Dibai interrogated her in the car, Qingqing found that she couldn't do it.
A profound sense of dread told her that she couldn't continue.
She'll leave sooner or later, so rather than getting lost in the long run, it's better to endure the pain for now and draw a clear line sooner.
Qingqing rubbed her chest, which felt heavy, and suddenly felt a cool sensation on her face. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and saw a few glistening water droplets on it.
She...cried?
Qingqing stared in disbelief for a while, and when she came to her senses, her mouth was filled with the pungent aroma of osmanthus wine.
Having lived in this world for so long, I have never experienced the joy of the aristocratic families drinking themselves into oblivion.
"Delicious..." The fermented rice smells so good.
She slowly squinted, rubbing her eyes repeatedly with the back of her hand. Finally, she gave up and began humming a random tune, whatever came to mind. Gradually, her vision blurred, and the moon grew larger and closer. It even seemed to sprout features, its red lips opening and closing towards her.
Qingqing leaned against the pillar, staring intently at the red lips.
What a heartless mouth.
She tilted her head and suddenly smiled.
Yan Dibai froze, his heart, which had felt full because of that silly smile, was now pierced by that indistinct murmur and felt a sharp, persistent pain.
“Yang Liuqing,” he took a deep breath, half-squatted in front of her and sniffed, then pulled up his sleeve and sniffed himself. He immediately frowned; the smell of alcohol on him was far less strong than hers. “I was only gone for half an hour, and you ate a whole bowl of fermented rice?”
"Wake up—" Seeing the girl slumping to one side in a drunken stupor, Yan Dibai frowned even more deeply and gently pushed her shoulder. Qingqing didn't move an inch and continued to slide limply down. Yan Dibai had no choice but to catch her in his arms and straighten her body.
Qingqing instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, "...dizzy."
"He asked for it." Yan Dibai paused, but tightened his grip on her arm.
“I’ve only had one cup of sake, and you’ve had less than a third of it.”
Only when she was drunk would Yan Dibai open up about his true feelings.
"..."
Caught off guard by her unexpected question, Yan Dibai's heart was thrown into turmoil. She stumbled out the door, stood in the cold wind for a while, and found that there was nowhere to go except Yunshui Courtyard.
Tonight was supposed to be the night Li Si and his friends were supposed to come for their work report. He slowly wandered to the base of the wall, but there was no one there. Overwhelmed with bitterness, anger, and frustration, he wandered aimlessly, grabbed a cup of wine from the kitchen, and then... as if possessed, turned back.
Yan Dibai stared intently at the girl's drunken face, letting out a frustrated sigh.
He assumed that Yang Liuqing, so carefree, must already be asleep. Yan Dibai hesitated for a long time, not wanting to see the closed door, nor wanting to truly be separated from her. He had so much to say, but didn't know how to face her. Unexpectedly... she also started drinking on the spot.
The fire that had been burning within him for a whole day and night suddenly subsided by more than half.
As if possessed, he reached out and pinched her right cheek.
As soft and smooth as ever.
She was forced to pout, her straight eyelashes fluttering uncontrollably. Yan Dibai leaned closer with interest to take a closer look, and could vaguely see a few tiny water droplets clinging to them.
He paused, then carefully hooked his index finger and slowly placed it on the tip of his tongue.
Salty.
It is... "tears".
Yan Dibai's pupils narrowed to pinpoints, and she suddenly released her grip. "Yang Liuqing."
The boy's voice trembled.
Half-drunk and half-awake, Qingqing kept hearing the buzzing of mosquitoes in her ear. She struggled to open her eyes, and it took her a while to connect the mosquito buzzing with the red lips in front of her. She pouted impatiently, "Hmm...?"
"who I am?"
"...Uh, who are you?"
He seems completely drunk.
Yan Dibai's Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't press her directly about whether she liked Yan Dibai or not, as he had done before. Instead, he changed the subject: "Tell me, who is the best man in the world?"
The best man? Qingqing didn't quite understand the origin of this question, but adhering to the principle of not embarrassing anyone, she furrowed her brows and racked her brains:
What does "good" mean?
"He is... both intelligent and brave, talented and handsome, and no ordinary person can rival him."
Qingqing remained silent.
Yan Dibai waited for a moment, and seeing that her eyes were closing more and more tightly, he couldn't help but pull her up and bounce her around: "Speak."
Qingqing's face scrunched up, and after a moment she said in a muffled voice, "Xiao... Yuanjing."
"What?!" Yan Dibai exclaimed incredulously, raising his voice.
No wonder she wouldn't admit it; he was right when he sensed it at the hunting grounds back then. If it weren't for this sudden impulse to ask her over wine today, she would have kept it to herself, leaving him restless and tormented!
He glared hatefully at the person in his arms, "So you really did like Xiao Yuanjing! Besides being taller, what does he have that I don't? When I come of age, I'll be much taller and broader than him!"
What are you talking about? Qingqing couldn't stand the person blowing hot air on her face and neck, and stretched her head vigorously:
"Walk……"
Yan Dibai felt as if struck by lightning, and couldn't help but tighten the grip on the person, determined to settle the score with her:
"I'm not leaving! Tell me, what's so good about Xiao Yuanjing?"
Unable to bear his pestering any longer, Qingqing turned to slip away. But Yan Dibai grabbed her around the waist, pulled her onto his lap, and cupped her face in his hands.
There was no escaping it now. Qingqing tried twice to no avail, so she could only lean against his thin waist and abdomen and groan softly.
"He doesn't bully the weak; he has the air of an emperor." Unlike Yan Dibai, who always bullied her before.
These words were like cold water splashed on his face, and Yan Dibai shivered.
“The aura of an emperor.” He repeated strangely, a sinister glint in his eyes. “I am the rightful heir of Yan and Jin, who once sat on the throne. What imperial aura does Xiao Yuanjing, the son of a warlord, possess? Not bullying the weak… he’s nothing but a hypocrite! In the future, if the Xiao family wants to gain power, they’ll have to get past me!”
In his anger, he suddenly remembered something, and his eyes suddenly turned deep and dark. Qingqing suddenly felt a tickle on her ear as Yan Dibai leaned close and whispered in her ear:
"...Where is Yang Liuqing's home?"
“My home.” The mention of home instantly triggered the most primal memories in her mind. A serene smile appeared on her face. “My home is…”
Yan Dibai listened intently, but unexpectedly, she stopped speaking halfway through. Yan Dibai frowned slightly, "Yang Liuqing?"
Qingqing sighed and waved her hand: "My home... is in a very far place."
"...The capital is 1,300 li away from here, which is very far."
“More than that,” she said with a hint of sadness, “very far, very far away.”
Yan Di Bai Mo.
More than a year later, he was curious about the girl's background for the second time.
The strange melody, the inexplicable "grandmother," and her personality that didn't match her background. And then there was her talk of a distant hometown.
Things that were once ignored now seem to raise all sorts of questions.
Yang Liuqing was from the capital. His father was lame and his mother was seriously ill.
The information reported by Yifu could not possibly be wrong.
Her accent was pure, her appearance was dignified, and there was no possibility that she was a non-Han person.
An absurd conjecture suddenly surfaced before his eyes. Yan Dibai cupped her face and gently pinched it.
A faint red mark appeared on the tip of the nose.
...is a person.
Rubbing her temples, Yan Dibai secretly scoffed at herself for being crazy.
The so-called divine assistance in King Wu's conquest of King Zhou is all unverifiable mythology. Although Yang Liuqing was beautiful, she was by no means the likes of Daji, the Nine-Tailed Fox, who could seduce a king and bring down the Shang Dynasty.
Furthermore, Emperor Xin immolated himself as a sacrifice to Heaven, and the Shang dynasty was succeeded by the Zhou. Yet Yan Dibai was still alive and well, and had even set up a series of traps, eagerly awaiting a northern expedition.
What spirits and monsters, what destiny? It doesn't matter where she came from or why she came.
None of that matters.
He stroked the warm, soft skin and asked one last time:
"Why did you swear to follow Yan Dibai to the death? Was it also because of this so-called 'aura of an emperor'?"
Her face was itchy too. Qingqing wrinkled her nose, shrank back a couple of times, rubbed against Yan Di's chest under his piercing gaze, and then pulled her sleeves over herself.
She lay on top of him, her eyebrows slightly curved, as if sighing:
"He's the one I chose."
As soon as he finished speaking, the commotion around him vanished.
Yan Di's mind was buzzing. She held the person for a long time in a daze, then suddenly lowered her head and buried her face in the person's slender neck.
The scent of soapberry mingled with the delicate fragrance unique to young girls. Yan Dibai had longed to smell it for so long, and now he could finally smell it again. His eyelashes drooped, his straight nose pressed against his collarbone, and his eyes were filled with an otherworldly tenderness.
"Yang Liuqing".
"..."
"Do you know that only a husband is allowed to draw a woman's eyebrows?"
"……ah?"
"I did your eyebrows, applied powder and rouge, and did several things that I wouldn't do except for my husband. You should thank me."
"..."
She didn't respond again. Yan Dibai chuckled and straightened his expression:
“I know you’re upset that my actions were sudden. There was no official document of investiture, nor was there a formal investiture ceremony. It doesn’t make sense. Wait a moment, I will definitely make up for it in full.”
“Yang Liuqing,” he said, his jaw tightening as he lightly traced her pink eyebrows, eyes, and nose with his fingertips, “tell me, what kind of person is Yan Dibai?”
The question was easy to answer, and Qingqing replied without hesitation: "...Beautiful. Smart, domineering, uh—"
Yan Dibai smiled: "That's right, I'm domineering."
"So Yang Liuqing, I'm going to kiss you."
Under the clear moonlight and gentle breeze, the young man leaned down and bit the lips he had long coveted.
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