After picking up Wei Qingwu and bringing him home, the family had a lively meal together before Wei Qinglou went to the Zhu residence.
He was already a regular at the Zhu residence. Whenever he got off his carriage at the gate, a clever servant would see him from the doorway and then run to the courtyard to report the news. At this time, Lüzheng would go to brew tea.
Zhu Jiayu was checking the accounts when a shadow suddenly fell over her. She looked up and saw Wei Qinglou, her eyes widening instantly: "Why are you here?"
"I came here because I wanted to know what you were doing." Wei Qinglou walked into her study with ease, dragged a chair to sit down at the desk, glanced at the account book in her hand, and sighed with worry, "It seems that Miss Zhu doesn't really care about me. She knows I'm on leave, but she doesn't ask me to go out. She even has the leisure to stay at home and look at account books. I'm afraid that after she finishes looking at these account books, she will forget about me, this idle person."
Zhu Jiayu closed the ledger: "It was clearly my thoughtfulness that prevented me from bothering you, a minister who is busy with official duties, but you actually turned the tables on me."
"But today your second brother is returning to the capital, and you..."
Wei Qinglou interrupted her with a laugh: "He doesn't have time to care about me. Right now, he's at home being forced by his mother to look at portraits."
"portrait?"
“Mother wants him to meet eligible noble ladies, but she’s afraid he might not like them when he meets them, so she’s compiled their portraits into a book for him to choose from. I think Mother is determined to settle his marriage this time.” Wei Qinglou said, then added, “Speaking of which, only my sister hasn’t gone through this. Before Mother even worried about her marriage, she had already fallen in love with the then Prince Ke at first sight.”
Zhu Jiayu pondered his words, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "So you mean you've also seen the portraits of noble ladies? I wonder how old the girl Lord Wei admires is, and what noble background she comes from?"
Wei Qinglou nodded frankly: "I did look at them. But in the end, I didn't choose any of them."
He raised his head and looked at Zhu Jiayu seriously: "They are all very good. Their family background, character, appearance and talent are all outstanding. Not to mention that they are a good match for me, they would be very suitable to enter the palace as empresses."
"But I really didn't like them. At the time, I just felt that they were all wrong no matter how I looked at them, and I had a feeling that I couldn't explain. Now when I think about it, I suddenly realize that it might be because I had you in my heart back then."
"Even before I realized my feelings for you, your image was already lingering in my mind. So no one else can compare to you."
"Sometimes when I look at you, it's like looking at the clouds in the sky, sometimes bright, sometimes dark, sometimes near, sometimes far. When you are bright, I become bright too; when you darken, I am grateful for the dimness. But no matter how close you are to me, I always feel that you are far away."
Zhu Jiayu stood up, cupped his face in her hands, and gently placed a kiss on his forehead: "But now this cloud is yours."
Wei Qinglou embraced her, giving her a warm response.
...
Wei Qinglou left after having dinner at the Zhu family's house.
Zhu Jiayu was full and slumped in her chair, not wanting to move. But thinking of Wei Qinglou's accusations against her during the day, she felt she should still see him off.
To her surprise, after seeing him to the door, Wei Qinglou took off his heavy cloak and draped it over her shoulders, then took her hand and said with a smile, "Since you've already escorted me this far, why don't you walk with me a little further?"
All right.
Zhu Jiayu raised her hand and touched her round belly, feeling that she should also take a walk to digest her food.
Wei Qinglou led her to Yong'an Street.
Night had fallen, and the streets were deserted. Occasionally, a few figures would pass by, all hurrying home. Red crepe lanterns hung outside the teahouses and taverns, swaying in the wind.
They walked all the way to the banks of the Spring Shade River. The cool river water reflected the lonely spring moon hanging in the sky. When the wind blew, the river water rippled, and the reflection of the spring moon became blurred.
Wei Qinglou stopped and asked her, "When you went to Zhonghe Street last time, did you take a good look at the lanterns in the market?"
Zhu Jiayu paused for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I didn't have time."
"I see..." Wei Qinglou drawled out the words, then suddenly raised his hand and covered her eyes, whispering, "Ayu, close your eyes."
Zhu Jiayu didn't understand, but she still listened to him and obediently closed her eyes.
After about half a cup of tea's time, he slowly moved his hand away and said to Zhu Jiayu, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jiayu slowly opened her eyes, and in the next instant, a dim light suddenly appeared before her: the previously gloomy and desolate Chunyin River was now lit up with lanterns.
Beneath the green shade of willow branches, in the spring-shaded river, soft yet bright candlelight illuminates the scene. The lanterns come in many shapes: some are shaped like animals—rabbits, kittens, tigers, carp… others like flowers—peonies, herbaceous peonies, azaleas, magnolias…
The tranquil river rippled, reflecting the candlelight and lamplight, which illuminated the early-blooming plum blossoms on the bank.
Zhu Jiayu and Wei Qinglou's shadows also fell on the water's surface, and they stood hand in hand amidst the countless lights.
Wei Qinglou said, "I heard that if lovers go to the lantern market together and see how the lanterns light up and go out, they can stay together for a lifetime, from youth to old age."
I want to see this lantern festival with you as soon as possible.
Zhu Jiayu turned her head, her eyes slightly red.
She wanted to say that this lantern festival wouldn't make a difference between them. But she swallowed the words back.
Finally, she said, "Okay."
"From youth to old age, we'll be together for a lifetime."
As the first snow of early spring fell softly, Wei Qinglou pulled her into his arms with a force that seemed to want to embed her into his very bones.
Looking back, he was countless times grateful to his past self from last spring. He sometimes wondered if things would have been different if he hadn't gone to Suiping. Would he have had a chance to meet Zhu Jiayu again in his later life?
But most of the time he would only start something and then not dare to think too deeply about it.
He had already met her, fallen in love with her, and could not bear the thought of her not being in his life. Even if it was just a fantasy.
He was once a barren land, but after meeting her, he was finally revitalized by spring rains, and the desolate mountains turned green again.
In that instant, Zhu Jiayu also thought of many things, of the past that had been forgotten, of their first meeting in Suiping City, and of the night they spent together.
She once thought she would be cowardly when it came to love, never daring to cross the river again. But how fortunate she was to meet Wei Qinglou, and she finally found fulfillment in love, no longer fearing gain or loss.
Because she knew that someone would love her for a long time.
From then on, she wanted to save up all the most touching moments in her life and wait for him to arrive in person.
——————
For Zhu Jiayu, Wei Qinglou was her only salvation; for Wei Qinglou, Zhu Jiayu was his only dream. The main story ends here. Next, I'll write several side stories, including one about Zhu Jiayu and Wei Qinglou's married life and raising a child, and another about the two secondary couples, Song Jiangmei and Gu Jinshu. Then I'll write a side story about Zhu Jiayu and Wei Qinglou in a parallel universe, because sometimes I wonder, if Zhu Jiayu hadn't committed suicide and Wei Qinglou hadn't died young, would everything have been different?
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