Xiao Zi Yi Ming
I had a dream last night, and in it, the waves kept crashing against me. I couldn't help but hum softly, and then I heard a faint laugh from above me...
Bai Er? I woke up instantly... and sat bolt upright...
I woke Muli up, and she got up to tidy the hair in front of my face. She asked, "What's wrong, Xu Yi?"
The strands of hair in front of my eyes were brushed aside, and I saw that Muli's eyes were completely mine. I hugged him and snuggled against him, mumbling, "I was dreaming."
"Oh? Did I appear in your dreams?"
It's just that you're not here... But it's so strange, why did I dream about Bai Er? Wasn't Mu Li the one who was with me last night?
Seeing that I didn't answer for a while, Muli thought I was having a nightmare, so she patted my back and comforted me, "It's okay, you're awake now..."
Yes, I'm already awake...
Seeing that it was still early, I hugged Muli and lay down again, snuggling against his chest to find a comfortable position: "It's still early, let's sleep a little longer."
"Go back to sleep?"
Huh? I looked up at Muli and saw that his eyes were full of lust. Was he sleeping with this again? Before I could react, he lowered his head and kissed me again...
In a moment of deep affection, he called me: "Thirteen... call me Yi Ming..."
"Yi...Yi Ming?"
He couldn't help but bite my lip: "This is... my nickname."
The small character? A small character that no one else knows, does it mean that I'm already family in his heart?
Before I could think any further, Muli led me all the way to the top of the mountain...
"Mmm..." I had barely uttered a sound when Muli sealed my lips with hers again...
Now I understand why emotions and desires are so unforgettable... The feelings involved are truly indescribable...
When we got up, the prime minister and Ah Shi were already waiting for us.
The prime minister was dressed in casual clothes, looking like a wealthy merchant from the common people.
Ah Shi was dressed in a formal student uniform and looked very smart.
I looked at the prime minister: "Aren't you going to court today?"
The prime minister glanced at me indifferently, then put another mouthful of porridge into his mouth: "I'm not going."
Hmm? I looked at Ah Shi, who smiled at me and said, "I'm taking the imperial examination today, and my teacher is seeing me off. Auntie, you should eat quickly too, we'll be leaving soon after."
"Ah? Today is the day of the imperial examination?"
Mu Li, who was sitting next to me, was no longer calm. He glanced at me indifferently and said, "I thought you knew about today's imperial examination, which is why you dragged me to the Prime Minister's residence so late last night."
Okay, so I'm the only one who's detached from worldly affairs...
Ah Shi teased, "Auntie is a person outside the secular world, so it's normal that she doesn't care about worldly affairs."
"Are you nervous?" I asked Ah Shi.
Ah Shi patted his chest: "Auntie, I didn't realize it until you asked me, but now that you've asked, I'm getting nervous..."
"Uh... I'm sorry..."
Muli looked at the table full of food and asked Ashi, "Ashi, which of these side dishes is the best? Can you recommend one?"
"This, this..." Ah Shiyi pointed to the plate of steamed buns on the table: "These small vegetable buns are especially delicious, they're filled with several kinds of vegetables..."
"Oh..." Muli picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, exclaiming, "Delicious!"
"Right, right? And that vegetarian salad is pretty good too..."
I watched the two of them go back and forth, one asking and the other explaining. I glanced at the prime minister, who gave me a sidelong look, smiled, and said nothing.
Oh...it seems Muli is trying to distract Ashi and prevent him from focusing on the scientific expedition...
After easily stepping out the door and onto the street leading to the examination hall, I saw a long queue of students waiting to take the imperial examinations. I couldn't help but exclaim, "So many people?"
Ah Shi gave me a wry smile: "Auntie, what you just said makes me nervous again..."
"Then what should we do? Why don't you recite the Pure and Tranquil Sutra?"
"Huh? How could I possibly remember this head covering..."
"The Great Dao is formless, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth; the Great Dao is without emotion, yet it governs the sun and moon..."
Ah Shi repeated after me: "The Great Dao is formless, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth; the Great Dao is without emotion, yet it governs the sun and moon; the Great Dao is nameless... Oh dear, Auntie, how can I calm down right now!"
"What should we do then?" I looked at the Prime Minister: "Prime Minister, how come you weren't nervous at the time?"
"How could I not be nervous? I was even more nervous than A-Shi. After all, A-Shi was a prince, while I was just an unknown nobody, relying entirely on this one opportunity..."
"So, how did you get through it?" I asked cautiously.
"How did you get through it? You got nervous for a while, but then you stopped being nervous..." At this point, the Prime Minister patted Ah Shi on the shoulder: "Once you sit inside and pick up the brush, you won't be nervous anymore."
"Okay, I understand, teacher." Ah Shi nodded, looking 'determined'... but there were too many people in the line, and we waited for almost half an hour before it was our turn.
Now, Ah Shi's tense mood was once again overwhelmed by the anxiety of waiting: "Why is it taking so long? What if my time is up before I even get in?"
"No, that's definitely not true." I shook my head.
The prime minister scoffed, "That's not necessarily true."
"Huh? Isn't the imperial examination supposed to start only after all the students have entered?"
The prime minister glanced at me again: "There's a time limit."
"Prime Minister, what you're saying is making me nervous..." I looked at Ah Shi, only to see his eyes full of laughter. I instantly realized that the Prime Minister was teasing me: "You tease people too, old man?"
"We've all been on edge this morning, but you've been all relaxed. How could we not let you share our tension?"
“Okay, okay,” I nodded, “You’re right, now that we’ve all been nervous, we don’t need to be nervous anymore.”
Ah Shi looked at me and nodded: "Yes, you don't need to be nervous anymore."
After waiting for almost an hour, Ah Shi finally entered the examination hall under our gaze. The Prime Minister waved to us and said, "Let's go. That child will have to take the exam for three days. We'll come back to pick him up in three days."
We had just stepped out of the intersection when we saw the steward arrive with a carriage to fetch the prime minister. The prime minister gracefully boarded the carriage, turned to us, and said, "I'm going to the palace..."
"Let's go to the palace too..."
The prime minister rolled his eyes at me and said, "I'm in a hurry, I'll go first. You two young people can take your time later."
After saying that, he sat down and had the steward drive the carriage away.
Uh... is it really necessary to leave the two of us behind at this crucial moment?
I looked at Muli speechlessly. Muli smiled slightly, leaned closer and kissed my cheek: "Maybe... you don't like me."
"Hmm? Didn't the Prime Minister quite admire you before?"
Muli leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Maybe it's because you don't like it anymore after last night."
What does that mean? It means you're unhappy that someone else's cabbage was eaten by pigs?
Mu Li smiled and said, "You can freely enter and leave the Prime Minister's residence, and the steward and servants all call you 'Miss.' Isn't that obvious enough?"
"What? You mean the prime minister is raising me like a daughter?"
Muli took my hand: "After all, he's one of our juniors."
Uh... life is truly unpredictable...
"Tell me, how could a man like the Prime Minister raise a daughter like Xiang Qi?"
"Perhaps it's because I see my father so dazzling every day, so I feel that I should also be dazzling..."
"Yes, once a person becomes obsessed, it's easy for them to go astray..." I thought of Bai Da again, and the laughter from my dream resurfaced in my mind...
I looked at the hand holding mine, then looked up at Muli beside me, wondering why that person's voice appeared in that scene in my dream...
Muli touched my cheek with her hand and asked, "What's wrong? You seem to have something on your mind..."
"It's nothing," I said, putting aside the questions that were still nagging at me. "Shall we walk back slowly?"
"Yes," he nodded, and led me all the way back to the palace.
After I sat down again under the eaves of the Imperial Observatory, watching Baohe playing with a lantern beside me, I unknowingly fell asleep...
In my dream, I came to that flower field again. In front of the flower field was a huge jujube tree behind it. Bai Er was standing under that tree, looking up at the sunlight on the tree canopy.
I slowly and quietly approached him, but he didn't disappear even when I got behind him. So I asked him, "Bai Er, why do I keep dreaming about you? You keep appearing in my dreams but never show your face, and you always chase me away very quickly. Why is that?"
The man in front of me didn't answer, so I continued, "I already... I already have a lover..."
"His name is Muli, right?"
Finally, he turned back. After so many days, I finally saw that familiar face and those gentle eyes. He looked at me with emotions in his eyes that I had never understood before...
He smiled, leaned closer, and called to me, "Xu Yi, do you understand my eyes now?"
I understood, and I instantly recalled the look in Wu Zi's eyes when he looked at me earlier...
"Could it be?"
He didn't respond to me, but instead leaned in and kissed the corner of my lips, calling out, "Xu Yi..."
"You..." I took a half step back in disbelief, covering my mouth: "You...you...you..."
He took two steps closer, bent down, and looked down at me again: "This is why I couldn't see you before..."
"Then...then how come you're allowing me to see you again now?"
Bai Er lowered his eyes, looked at my heart, and said softly, "Because of Xu Yi, I have already fallen in love with you."
My mind was a bit muddled and my thoughts weren't clear enough. I just wanted to create some distance, so I took two steps back.
But the moment I took two steps back, Bai Er followed me and took two steps forward...
The distance between us is still less than three inches...
Bai Er smiled softly and said, "Xu Yi, don't hide."
Then he instantly hugged me and kissed my lips again...
When our lips met, I could clearly feel an invisible thread connecting us...
His kisses lingered, intimate and tender...
“This isn’t right…” I pushed Bai Er away: “This isn’t right, Bai Er.”
He moved closer, raised a hand to smooth my sideburns, then his hands moved down the curve of my cheek to my chin, gently brushing my lips, his voice still soft: "Xu Yi, you, you're not allowed to run away..."
Then I really felt like I couldn't move, letting him lower his head and get closer little by little, until his lips touched mine again...
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