Chapter 33: Do you like him or me? ...
The spring light shines into the Sanqing Temple, and the dust floats slowly in the slanting sunlight.
However, the golden bodies of the Three Pure Ones were spotlessly clean, and the altar was filled with fresh fruits and fragrant sandalwood, indicating that someone had just come to clean and offer sacrifices.
Cong Ying straightened his clothes and knelt on the cushion, reciting a round of sutras devoutly, then bowed down and prostrated himself:
"I have a wish, please listen to the Three Pure Ones. I wish my younger sister peace and happiness, and I wish the Third Young Master a hundred blessings."
Ji Caibing said, "Haven't you heard about the three monks who had no water to drink? Of course, even three gods need three wishes before they can be fulfilled."
Cong Ying: "What's the matter with monks? My dear sister, please be careful with your words."
Ji Caibing said casually, "Quick, make another one for yourself."
Cong Ying knelt down and kowtowed again, but not for herself: "...I wish His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin peace and health."
Ding-ding-dang-dang, suddenly there was a sound of golden bells. Following the sound, I saw a man slowly walking out from behind a small screen behind a red lacquer pillar. He had a golden bell tied around his waist. The spring light made his shadow look thin and slender, like a dry brushstroke in freehand painting.
He was born pale and handsome, but also sickly and thin, always giving people a cold and gloomy demeanor. When he walked slowly with the help of his jade crutches, he looked like an exquisite and precious puppet on a string.
However, at this moment, there was a hint of tenderness on his face, and when his eyes looked at me, there was actually a bit of sparkling brilliance.
He stared at Cong Ying intently: "Was Fourth Lady making a wish for me just now?"
Cong Ying was dumbfounded: How could he be here!
She quickly stood up and saluted, her ears turning red, unable to conceal her panic and embarrassment. "Your Highness, I greet the Prince of Jin."
Prince Jin held her arm and asked her to stand up. Cong Ying subconsciously stepped back to avoid him, but he took another step forward.
To say he was forcing her wasn't accurate; it was simply a subconscious act of intimacy. His voice was low and gentle as he spoke to her: "Others wish me life to my face and curse me death behind my back, but you are the only one who truly prays for me... However, I don't care what others think. It's enough that you wish me the best."
Zong Ying's heart was pounding wildly, and she lowered her head and replied, "Your Highness, this is too much. I have been helped by Your Highness before, and praying for Your Highness is only human nature."
"Okay, that's human nature." The King of Jin still looked at her with a smile: "If you don't like to hear it, I won't say it."
Cong Ying breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I will not disturb Your Highness from paying homage. Please allow me to take my leave."
Unexpectedly, the King of Jin refused to let her go: "But I want to find someone to walk around with me."
Ji Caibing quickly jumped out: "Aying has other important matters to attend to, so let me do it!"
Prince Jin glanced at her, lowered his head and said gently to Cong Ying, "Apart from you, I'm afraid I don't have patience for anyone else."
Cong Ying nodded: "I will accompany Your Highness, please go first."
She took two steps behind and comforted Ji Caibing, saying, "Your Highness has no ill intentions. Don't worry, sister. Wait for me in the carriage first."
The two of them left the Sanqing Hall, walked through the wind and rain corridor and passed through the vegetarian rooms, and slowly walked towards the back mountain.
The Prince of Jin's jade crutch landed gently and firmly on the blue bricks beneath his feet. For some reason, Cong Ying sensed he wasn't in a very cheerful mood. She was trying to guess his intentions when he bluntly asked, "I heard you're rekindling your relationship with Xie San and agreeing to marry him." Cong Ying was surprised. "Who told you that, Your Highness?"
Prince Jin: "Actually, I guessed it."
That's quite a good guess, Congying thought, she hadn't even had time to tell Xie Xuanlan.
She remained silent, which confirmed his guess. King Jin stopped and stared at her, not concealing the sadness and pity in his eyes. This look made Cong Ying feel uneasy, but more of it made him feel confused.
She and Prince Jin were not close friends, and even if Prince Jin had feelings for her, they shouldn't be so deep.
Was he looking at her, or was he seeing someone else through her?
The King of Jin asked, "Why do you want to marry him? Is your family in trouble again? I can help you."
Cong Ying: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. My family is doing well recently."
Prince Jin: "Then you want to marry him because..."
Cong Ying: "Because I like him."
If he could have heard such a clear and firm answer in his previous life, he would have been so happy. Unfortunately, when he heard it now, he felt sad that he was doing something for others.
The feeling of jealousy was like the tongue of a poisonous snake, trying to uncover the desires that were brewing in his heart.
Prince Jin spoke almost impulsively, "But he broke off your engagement before, and wasn't exactly kind to you. If... I mean, if he changed, wasn't as high-spirited as he is now, and his affection for you was even deeper, which one would you prefer?"
Cong Ying frowned slightly and thought, this is a really strange question.
It seemed like a harmless joke, but King Jin seemed very persistent, so Cong Ying actually began to think seriously about it.
After a moment, she suddenly smiled and said firmly, "Of course I like him better the way he is now."
If a person like Third Young Master Xie had become unrecognizable and his temperament had changed, he must have experienced unbearable torture. How could she bear to see him suffer like that?
The King of Jin's eyes suddenly turned dim.
This answer was not unexpected. With Xie San's good looks, dashing in red clothes, and being good with swords, it was a great advantage for him to be liked by her.
But now that I hear it in person, it still feels like a knife cutting into my heart.
He lowered his eyes to look at his pale and weak hands and his lame legs. Suddenly, he felt disgusted and raised his hand to smash the python-head jade crutch hard against the stone wall.
Crash - the jade crutch broke into several pieces and rolled down with the rocks.
Even he himself hated this look, so how could he expect her to look at him even more?
Prince Jin turned around and walked back alone, but without his jade crutch, his anger and self-hatred could not support his injured ankle. He stumbled over a protruding stone after only two steps, making a dull thud.
"Your Highness, be careful!" Cong Ying hurried forward to support him, but he pushed her away in resistance.
"Leave me alone, I'm going to die here!" His emotions were a little intense for a moment.
Cong Ying really couldn't figure out why he was suddenly so unhappy, so she didn't dare to comfort him, fearing that it would cause more trouble. She could only ask dryly, "How about I call your Highness's attendants and help him back home?"
But the King of Jin leaned against the porch and said coldly, "There's no going back, not in this life."
Turning back from Ying, I looked back at the road I came from. The mountain fog gradually dissipated in the morning light, and the outline of the Sanqing Temple was still clearly visible. I couldn't help but wonder: What a flat road! Why can't I go back?
She didn't dare say much, but stood aside with her sleeves twisted, hoping that King Jin's servants would come over.
When Prince Jin saw her like this, the countless noisy resentments in his heart gradually sank into soft-hearted sadness.
...She shouldn't be blamed. The King of Jin thought that it was because he was too lustful and pushed too far.
After a long moment, he lowered his head and smiled, then suddenly reached out his hand to Congying: "Forget it... Ah Ying, come and help me."
Cong Ying had no time to care about his title, and hurriedly and carefully helped him up: "Your Highness, shall we go back?"
Prince Jin: "I was feeling a little unwell just now. It wasn't directed at you. I hope you can forgive me."
Cong Ying: "Then shall I help Your Highness go back and rest?"
"There's no rush to go back." The King of Jin ignored her eagerness to return home. Instead, he looked towards the mountain behind him and said, "I'm going to pay my respects to an old friend. Please come with me."
Cong Ying had no choice but to support him and continue walking forward.
In fact, the King of Jin would rather put all his strength on his injured foot and rarely asked her to help him. It was just that Cong Ying had to walk close to his side to prevent him from suddenly losing his strength and falling.
The two of them spoke very little for the rest of the journey until the pavilion was within sight. King Jin looked at the budding tallow tree and said, "We're here."
Looking around from the firefly perspective, there was no grave in sight.
The King of Jin slowly walked to the foot of the Chinese tallow tree, knelt down beside the twisted roots, rested his forehead on the trunk, and sighed almost inaudibly as he closed his eyes.
At that moment, Cong Ying felt like a traveler on a long journey who had finally found a sheltered place to rest. He was quiet, as if deep in sleep, but his fingers, caressing the tallow tree, were slightly bent, revealing the turbulent emotions within him.
For some unknown reason, Zong Ying suddenly shuddered, as if a flash of inspiration had occurred to him. When he tried to think deeply about it, he couldn't grasp anything.
She hesitated and asked, "I've never heard of a grave here. I wonder which of your dearest friends is buried here?"
The King of Jin said, "She is my late wife."
Dead wife... Dead wife?!
Cong Ying was shocked. He had never heard that Prince Jin had a wife. Even if he really had a deceased wife, she should be buried in the imperial mausoleum. How could she be buried in this nameless place in the desolate mountains?
Maybe it's the beloved who can't give her a name, maybe it's...
Maybe it was something, but Ying couldn't guess.
However, Prince Jin looked at her intently, as if waiting for her to ask. His calm expression made it seem as if he would tell her anything if she dared to ask.
But Congying was deterred by this deep secret.
She asked another question: "Excuse me, does your Highness's deceased wife look somewhat like me?"
The corners of Prince Jin's pale, blood-red lips curled up slightly, and he looked at her intently and said, "It's not like that."
Cong Ying frowned: If it's not similar, then why is he...
The King of Jin said, "I have searched for her for many years, but when I learned she was buried here, I didn't dare come to see her. Even in my dreams, I would stay away from her, for I was afraid she would hate me. Today, you are with me, so I dare to come here. Unfortunately, there is no tea or wine. I say it is to pay my respects, but in fact, it is to heal my own heartache..."
Cong Ying couldn't understand and could only listen quietly.
"Aying, come closer, a little closer...can I hug you?"
Cong Ying has always been in awe of ghosts and gods, so she was a little frightened when she heard this: "The dead are the greatest, Your Highness, you must not offend them—"
It was useless to say anything. Without even waiting for her to step back, he firmly grasped her with one hand and held her in his arms.
Prince Jin's embrace was soft and cool, filled with a faint medicinal scent. Zong Ying subconsciously wanted to struggle, but the golden bell on his waist and his suppressed, almost sobbing voice fell into her ears:
"Ah Ying——"
I found you.
Suddenly, a feeling of warmth surged from her heart, spreading through her limbs and bones, knocking her to the spot. She was in a trance for a long time, and when she came to her senses, she found her face was covered in tears, her hands were clasped around the Prince of Jin's sleeves, and she was hugging him back intimately.
She tried to struggle but couldn't, and said awkwardly, "Your Highness Prince Jin, did you bring me here to cast a spell on me?"
I heard his slow, gentle laugh: "If I really had that kind of magical power, it would be great. I would have fewer worries."
He finally let go of Cong Ying, raised his hand to wipe the tears from her face, and picked off the dead branches that the wind had blown into her hair.
Cong Ying always felt that it was wrong, that it shouldn't be like that. She and the King of Jin were alone, unmarried, and couldn't do something so inappropriate. But, but...
His eyes and tone, at this moment and place, became a force that held her still, making her unable to pull away, but deep down in her heart, she did not reject this feeling.
She frowned slightly in confusion, and the King of Jin's fingertips rested on her brow.
"Don't worry, don't be afraid." The King of Jin whispered like a lover's whisper, "I will help you get whatever you want. In my life, I only wish that you can get whatever you ask for. Since you like him, then I wish you... a happy marriage and eternal love."
A wave of sadness spread from Ying's heart.
She thought to herself, was she under a spell after all?
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