Chapter 103 Chapter 103 My uncle was actually sleeping soundly on the teacher's legs...
Ji Lian stared at Xie Tingyu's sleeping profile, and couldn't help but half-raised herself, gently stroking her eyebrows with her fingers, slowly tracing them to her lips, carefully outlining the soft contours.
After a while, Ji Lian leaned over and placed a gentle kiss, a cool breath brushing against her lips. Then, he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. The rich aroma of Shenshui lingered around his nose, and his heart, restless and uneasy after months of separation, finally settled.
His calves pressed against hers, their bodies clinging to each other. Holding her close, he finally closed his eyes contentedly and fell into a deep, sweet sleep.
Suddenly, wisps of white mist rose in the dream. When it dissipated, the surrounding scene gradually became clear. It was actually his residence in the palace, Posa Pavilion.
Ji Lian sat in front of the mirror and looked at herself in the bronze mirror. There was a delicate lotus flower on the center of her eyebrows, and two flower decorations that looked like tears but were not tears at the end of her eyes. Her eyes were tinged with a unique blush, which added a bit of softness and beauty.
Her lips were stained with crimson rouge.
He lowered his head and saw in his hand a golden phoenix fan, embroidered with mandarin ducks embracing each other, the golden thread shimmering with light. Her wedding gown was a crimson brocade like a rosy cloud, embroidered with twin lotus flowers, intertwined branches and winding trailing along the ground.
Is he getting married? Is he finally going to marry Xie Tingyu?
Ji Lian looked up in surprise, only to see Jiangzhu beside her with a sad face. The tear-stained corners of her eyes and the drooping corners of her lips all expressed deep sorrow.
"Why are you crying?"
Ji Lian was puzzled. "Today is my big day, why are you crying like this? You should be happy for me."
Jiangzhu silently shed tears, saying nothing. Ji Lian's heart tightened inexplicably, and she turned back to the bronze mirror, only to see two clear tears trickling down her own eyes. Her face showed no joy at all, only sorrow.
Ji Lian frantically raised her hand to wipe away her tears, her heart pounding with anxiety: Why was he crying too? Could it be that the person he was going to marry wasn't Xie Tingyu?
He doesn't know.
He just shed tears, and his tears were like a river bursting its banks, flowing endlessly, with a despair surging from the bottom of his heart.
At this moment, a loud singing was heard from outside the palace, "The auspicious time has arrived - respectfully invite the emperor to marry -"
A procession of palace ladies filed in, their faces solemn and incongruous, a sight befitting such a joyous occasion. They folded their hands over their chests and whispered, "Your Highness, please move."
Several people stepped forward, forcefully lifted Ji Lian up, and pinned his arms behind his back to prevent him from breaking free.
"How dare you be so rude!"
Ji Lian struggled and shouted, but the palace servants ignored him and escorted him out of the palace.
"Let go."
Outside the palace gate, the long-awaited envoy, Bingbi, stopped him in a deep voice: "This is the emperor's minister. He will need to meet with the court officials later. How can you treat him rudely?"
"yes."
The palace maid murmured her agreement and let Ji Lian go.
Ji Lian was at a loss and was surrounded by the crowd and walked to the Taiji Hall.
Hundreds of officials gathered at the steps. Ji Zhao stood in front of the hall with his hands behind his back. He turned around at the sound and glanced at his elegant wedding attire. "Now that we've come this far, accept the gifts and then set off. Don't miss the auspicious time."
Ji Lian stood frozen in place, a chill rising from his feet and crawling up his spine. He stared into Ji Zhao's icy eyes and slowly knelt. A palace maid presented him with a tray, upon which gleamed three golden hairpins adorned with phoenix beads.
Ji Zhao inserted the golden hairpins into his hair one by one.
This is the old ceremony for the marriage of an imperial noble. Each golden hairpin symbolizes the good relationship between Qin and Jin and the everlasting alliance.
The envoy holding the pen shouted: "The ceremony is over, the emperor is sent to marry——"
All the officials knelt down and said, "Eternal alliance, safe journey—"
Ji Lian was numbly helped up and walked down the long steps step by step, and was finally put into a chariot covered with red gauze.
Under the gaze of everyone, the chariot started off and drove out of the palace gate.
On both sides of the official road, the people crowded together. Some cheered loudly, some looked sad, and some cursed angrily, the complaints and shouts intertwined into a chaos.
Ji Lian could no longer hold back the tears in his eyes, and the noise in his ears gradually faded. He just tried his best to open his eyes wide, trying to catch a glimpse of Xie Tingyu's figure in the crowd or on the road in front of the sedan chair.
The chariot's pulley rolled over Zhuque Bridge and into Wuyi Lane. Ji Lian stared blankly at Xie Yuan, who was slowly retreating beside her. The high walls and deep courtyard gradually receded into the distance, but there was no sign of her, not even a trace of her.
By the time he came to his senses, the chariot had already left Jiankang City. The white fog had once again filled the air, obscuring the road ahead. Even the face of Jiangzhu, who was accompanying him, gradually became blurred in the thick mist.
When the fog cleared, he found himself in a vast meadow.
He ran barefoot, his hair flying in disorder, but he didn't know where to escape to. All around him were grasslands and mountain shadows, and in the distance, countless cold eyes seemed to be watching, as if they were watching a joke that was not to be expected.
The thunderous sound of horse hooves was chasing him relentlessly behind him, and hawks were circling high in the sky, casting shadows over him like invisible ghosts, forcing him to have nowhere to escape.
Suddenly, with a sharp sound, the noose gripped his neck tightly. The force suddenly tightened, forcing him to stumble to his knees, his face falling into the muddy grass, his eyelashes and hair covered with wet dirt and grass debris.
From behind him came vulgar laughter and jeers, and people dismounted and surrounded him. He wanted to see their faces clearly, but he saw only a thick fog, so blurry that he could not make out anything.
The rope was suddenly pulled, and his body was dragged to the ground, the mud and grass scratching his skin, and he looked as miserable as a stray dog. He desperately grabbed the rope and thrashed around, but it was no use.
Eventually, he was dragged to the front of the lake.
The lake was tranquil, yet it reflected a strange and pathetic face. His eyes were lifeless, his lips were cracked, his black hair was withered, and he seemed to have been drained of all life.
Someone whispered coldly in my ear.
"You are the husband bestowed upon my king by Tengri. You will stay here forever to continue my king's bloodline."
"You are no longer the emperor of the Great Zhou. You should have given up after coming here. You actually still want to escape."
"Haha, run, where can you run to?"
"Hahahahahahahahaha, the Great Zhou will be ours sooner or later."
Ji Lian stared at her reflection in the lake in despair.
A stone was suddenly dropped into the water, sending ripples spreading. As the waves spread, the reflection on the lake gradually distorted, transforming into a blood-red ruin. The palace collapsed, and the corpses of palace servants lay scattered on the ground. Soldiers trampled through the ground, and blood flowed like a river. The world was desolate and devastated.
This is the palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Ji Lian's mind was torn apart, and he suddenly leaned forward and plunged into the lake. The icy cold water instantly swallowed his head, and his ears were filled with the roar of water.
He suddenly gasped and woke up from the nightmare.
The candles had long since burned out, and everything was still in chaos and darkness.
Ji Lian's hair was soaked with sweat, and she was panting rapidly, murmuring uncontrollably, "Xie Tingyu, Xie Tingyu, Xie Tingyu..."
"Why are you calling me?"
A hand reached out and gently tucked his wet hair behind his ear. Ji Lian turned her head away, a suppressed sob escaping from her nose. Suddenly, she half-raised herself and threw herself forward, burying her face in Xie Tingyu's shoulder, finally crying uncontrollably.
It was not a low sob, nor a slight tremor, but a complete and utter sob as if one had survived a disaster.
It seems that no matter what happens, as long as Xie Tingyu is there, everything can be resolved.
In the midst of this weeping, Ji Lian slowly recalled everything in her dream.
He actually got married, but his wife was not Xie Tingyu!
How could it not be her? How could it not be her!
Ji Lian raised her tear-stained face and choked up, "I dreamed that I got married... But, but my wife is not you..."
He grasped Xie Tingyu's arm tightly and asked hoarsely, "Why not you? Why don't you come and marry me?"
Xie Tingyu thought it was just an ordinary dream, gently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and patted his back to comfort him: "Don't be afraid, dreams are the opposite of reality."
Unexpectedly, Ji Lian cried even harder: "No! My dreams are all real!"
He grabbed her skirt with a trembling voice, "Do you remember the dream I had at Xie's Villa? I dreamed of a riot in Jiankang City, and soon a riot really broke out. I dreamed of you being injured, and you really were stabbed and seriously injured."
"But the rebellion was finally quelled, and my injuries have healed," Xie Tingyu said in a low voice, "which shows that Lianlian's dreams may not always come true."
Ji Lian shook her head, tears rolling down her eyelashes: "I also dreamed of two people's deaths. They are really dead."
"who?"
"I dreamed that my father died at the hands of the Queen Mother."
As if he had thought of something, he added hastily, "Yes, I also dreamed that Wang Xuanji died from falling off a cliff due to a hail of arrows."
Before he finished speaking, the hand caressing his back suddenly stopped. In the darkness, Xie Tingyu's breathing seemed to be stifled. After a long moment, he slowly lowered his hand to soothe her. "Lianlian, are you saying that your dreams can glimpse the future? And that you can even foresee the death of others?"
She neither asked why Ji Lian knew who Wang Xuanji was, nor did she ask how he knew this person.
A strange aura of silence emanated from her.
I couldn't make out her expression in the darkness, but I could only hear her deep voice as she digested this horrifying truth. "Does that mean everything you dream about will come true?"
Ji Lian nodded, tears still lingering on her face: "You see, my dreams have always been accurate."
He described the scenes in his dream in which he was forced to marry, crawled in humiliation, and the palace collapsed.
A pair of warm hands cupped his face, lips gently kissed away the tears, and then hugged him deeply, "Your future wife can only be me. If someone else dares to get ahead of me, I will rush to grab the marriage, what do you say?"
Ji Lian choked up and hugged her tightly. "Then you must come to pick me up." His voice was interrupted by sobs. "If the palace is really like in my dream, crushed by iron hooves, what will you do?"
Xie Tingyu lowered his eyes, but his tone was extremely firm: "Then I will use my cavalry to crush all obstacles."
The next morning, a ray of sunlight came through the window lattice, making the dust in the air look like dancing gold flakes.
Just as Xie Tingyu lifted the quilt, two arms snaked around him from behind. Warm breath brushed against his ears, and a slightly hoarse voice asked, "Are you going back to Xie Garden?"
"Yes. I must return and write a military report. I must also compile a policy paper outlining the shortcomings observed during this expedition and submit it to the Feng Pavilion and His Majesty."
At this time, Ji Lian had most of his body pressed against her back, his head buried in the hollow of her shoulder, breathing sweetly: "It's the same if you write in the Emperor's Mansion. I have all the four treasures of the study here." He tightened his arms and bit her earlobe, "Don't leave, I won't let you go."
Seeing that Xie Tingyu insisted on getting up, Ji Lian also got off the bed, straightened her clothes and tied her belt, and even knelt on her knees to carefully smooth the hem of her robe.
At this time, the servants came in one after another holding copper basins and towels. They all followed Jiangzhu's instructions and waited quietly in the outer room without entering the inner room.
After they washed and ate, Xie Tingyu sat at her desk while Ji Lian poured water, ground ink, and spread out paper to weigh her down. Seeing her absorbed in writing about military matters, Ji Lian propped his chin on his hand, his eyes fixed on her.
From the slightly furrowed brows when concentrating, to the blue veins visible on the back of the hand when writing, the handwriting is so elegant and graceful.
As I watched, greed gradually grew.
Ji Lian simply leaned over, put his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder, and read the military newspaper with her.
Xie Tingyu was writing about the gains and losses of various places during the march and the merits of the generals during the siege. At the end, he changed the page and changed the tone to comment on the shortcomings of Wang Ning's actions.
Ji Lian, haunted by nightmares last night and having woken up early, was already drowsy before two cups of tea, but she still didn't want to leave. He simply pushed her hand away, resting his head on her legs, and fell asleep on his side, his nose pointed at her lower abdomen, breathing steadily.
Xie Tingyu's writing stopped.
Her mind was suddenly in turmoil. After writing a few words, she couldn't help but lean over, gently touch his eyelashes with her fingers, and touch his cheek with her fingertips.
When her fingertips slid to her lips, he did not open his eyes, but opened his lips to suck on the fingertips and licked them lightly with the tip of his tongue.
Xie Tingyu laughed, then contentedly withdrew his hand and picked up his pen again. Before he finished writing a line, a small shadow suddenly appeared on the ground behind the screen and slowly moved forward.
In a flash, a little head popped out, and was about to shout: "Uncle——"
Xie Tingyu raised his eyes, put his index finger to his lips, and shook his head to indicate silence.
Ji Xun's mouth suddenly tightened into a circle, and although he didn't understand what was going on, he still mumbled "oh". When he got closer and took a glimpse of the scene behind the case, his eyes widened and he suddenly understood.
It turns out that this time my uncle was sleeping soundly with his head resting on the teacher's legs!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
