"Go and get my box of 'Peach Blossom Drunk' rouge." Su Qingyao suddenly spoke, with a tone that left no room for doubt.
Upon hearing this, the maid was stunned. The young lady had spent fifty taels of silver last month, having painstakingly sent merchants from Jiangnan to find that box of rouge. It was said that the rouge was made of the finest materials, using cinnabar imported from the Western Regions, and the coloring was exquisite, like the shy hue of a spring peach blossom at its first intoxication. Normally, the young lady treasured it so much that she wouldn't even let anyone touch it. But seeing the young lady's resolute gaze, the maid didn't dare ask any further questions and obediently retrieved the exquisite mother-of-pearl box from the depths of her dressing table.
Su Qingyao, clutching her rouge box, walked towards Suiyuxuan with slightly anxious steps. When she arrived at Suiyuxuan, she saw Su Jinli sitting quietly on a stone bench under the crabapple tree, concentrating on reading. Her light green skirt made her figure look even slimmer, like a bamboo in spring, graceful and elegant. The sunlight filtered through the newly sprouted leaves, casting mottled light and shadows, falling on the pages of the book and casting trembling shadows on her long eyelashes, like a delicate ink painting, beautiful, quiet and moving. This scene made Su Qingyao startled slightly, and the hand holding the rouge box subconsciously paused.
"Hey." Su Qingyao stepped forward and placed the rouge box on the stone table. A crisp "snap" sound startled a white butterfly that had been resting quietly on the page. The butterfly fluttered its wings, drawing a graceful arc in the sunlight, and disappeared into the flowers.
Su Jinli looked up when she heard the voice and saw that it was her elder sister. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes: "Elder sister?"
"What are you looking at?" Su Qingyao rolled her eyes, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the exquisite patterns on the mother-of-pearl box. She said with feigned impatience, "You look so bare-faced all day, like a little nun in a temple." She pursed her lips, a hint of awkward concern in her eyes, "This color suits you. It will prevent people from saying that the daughter of the prime minister can't even afford rouge, which is embarrassing for our Su family."
Su Jinli looked at the box of exquisite rouge and gently opened the mother-of-pearl box. Suddenly, a faint floral fragrance filled her nose. The rouge cream in the box was as colorful as the gorgeous sunset in the sky, soft and charming, just the "peach blossom intoxication" that the daughters of the capital were so eager to obtain. She cast her eyes on her eldest sister again, only to see that her cheeks were slightly red, and the tips of her ears were even more faintly flushed. Her awkward expression actually revealed a rare cuteness. Su Jinli couldn't help but smile slightly and said softly, "Thank you, eldest sister."
"Who asked you to thank me!" Su Qingyao took a step back as if she had been burned, and turned to leave. But when she reached the Moon Gate, she couldn't help but turn back, glared at Su Jinli, and said fiercely: "Remember to put it on at the next poetry club event! If you embarrass me, I'll show you how I will deal with you!" After that, she quickened her pace and almost fled.
Looking at her elder sister's slightly disheveled back, Su Jinli gently opened her rouge box, dipped her fingertips in rouge, and slowly applied it to her lips. The slightly cool touch, with a sweet fragrance, felt like a warm current flowing through her fingertips into her heart. Her reflection in the mirror had lips as rosy as a newly blossoming peach blossom, delicate and charming.
"Miss, isn't this the box that the eldest lady treasures the most?" Lu'e walked over gently, carrying tea. When she saw the rouge box on the stone table, her eyes widened in surprise, eyes full of disbelief, "How could she bear to give it to you?"
Su Jinli smiled but said nothing. She knew her elder sister's transformation might be due to the Liu family's decline, or perhaps it stemmed from a subtle sense of guilt deep within her heart. Regardless, this box of rouge, with its warmth, was like a stone dropped into the lake of her heart, creating ripples within her tranquil heart. In her past life, her elder sister had shown her indifference, a stranger to her; now, this awkward yet genuine concern made her feel a unique warmth and authenticity.
The setting sun's afterglow filtered through the leaves of the crabapple tree, gently scattering across the rouge box. The shimmer of the mother-of-pearl glimmered, shifting, like the complex light that flickered in the eldest sister's eyes as she turned, filled with hesitation, concern, and a subtle touch of tenderness. Su Jinli gently closed the box, the delicate fragrance of "Peach Blossom Drunk" still lingering on her fingertips. She suddenly felt that perhaps the seemingly cold family ties of this deep and spacious courtyard could, like the hue of this rouge, inadvertently imbued with a touch of moving warmth, blossoming with a unique brilliance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
