Chapter 80: The Sweet Couple of Sanglin, Gathering Energy for Your Overtime Work Tomorrow...
The affected wailing drew Changsun Qingjing closer, who bent down to help Li Shimin up and gently massaged his aching and swollen neck.
"Are you alright?" The girl gently placed the head, which wasn't particularly delicate but was still quite presentable, on her lap.
"You should lie down and rest, even take a nap, and stop trying to show off your witty remarks! Otherwise, I'll really leave in a huff." Changsun Qingjing lightly flicked Li Shimin's forehead, her threatening words filled with coquettishness and playfulness.
"I humbly obey your orders, like a rat fleeing into the wild." Li Shimin closed his eyes as soon as he finished speaking.
A slightly bitter, green walnut scent wafted from the back of his head, clinging deeply to his skin and the folds of his clothes, diluting the spiciness of the styrax.
"Fine, I'll obey your orders. Where have you run off to?" Changsun Qingjing punched his shoulder and laughed.
"How about I dart to your desk and become an elegant sable to keep you company while you write and read?" Li Shimin couldn't help but open his eyes and look at Changsun Qingjing, who had a smiling face.
The restless moonlight danced among the mulberry tree branches, and scattered torches swam through the forest like golden-red fish. The girl's fluffy hair, now free of stray gold hairpins, left a pale golden mist on her cheeks.
Changsun Qingjing's eyes, like the scales of a newly born dragon, shone with a clear radiance untouched by desire.
"Oh, actually I'm fine." Li Shimin gripped Changsun Qingjing's hands tightly, not daring to mention that he was putting on an act, and hesitated to speak.
Changsun Qingjing realized that he was half genuinely hurt and half acting, and couldn't help but frown in response.
"Why don't you have a chat with this ink-scented ferret of mine..."
"You must know that the brush used to copy the 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion' must be made of mountain rat whiskers and Xiangfei bamboo?"
"Don't get angry, getting angry will make you ugly."
"Are you still reading the Spring and Autumn Annals lately?"
"Have you finished reading the Zuo Zhuan?"
If you don't answer, then I guessed right.
Li Shimin relentlessly teased Changsun Qingjing, determined to get her to talk.
He didn't know what words to use to describe the lovely woman before him, who seemed to be able to see into his heart at any moment. More precisely, she possessed the magic to enter and leave his heart at will, and he felt no desire to be wary.
Changsun Qingjing suddenly chuckled and said, "Why do you talk so much? You always force others to chat with you. The day your uncle delivered the marriage certificate, he clearly said this: 'Mr. Gao, please forgive me. My nephew is both scholarly and martial, and he is indeed well-mannered and respectful, but he doesn't like to talk much in front of women. My sister is always worried that he will be disliked by his maternal uncle, aunt, and bride in the future. I humbly request that Mrs. Changsun be understanding. If he is too dull, please tell my sister not to take it to heart and just see...' How come you are so different from what the matchmaker said?"
“Oh my, the proud and aloof Dragon Girl has finally spoken to me…” Li Shimin suddenly jumped up from his warm and comfortable lap, sat down opposite Changsun Qingjing, and took Changsun Qingjing’s hands again.
Changsun Qingjing suddenly felt that although the handsomeness of this face was not what she was most satisfied with, the owner of this face had a spirited demeanor and a magnanimous character that made up for her regret, and had a different kind of outstanding beauty.
"The Dragon Girl has found the luminous pearl and no longer wants to leave the Pure Land of Videha." Changsun Qingjing relaxed his brows, lowered his eyes and joked, trying his best to pull his tightly clenched hands back.
“No, it was the Dragon Girl who used the essence of the fertile land to forge the luminous pearl, and the luminous pearl protects the Pure Land of Videha.” Li Shimin released his hand and said, “Guanyinbi, thank you for always being with me.”
Together they climbed Mount Taiyi and witnessed the solar halo, and paid homage to emperors of past dynasties at Mount Mang; they joined forces to resist the vicissitudes of life, including the exile of their adoptive father and the death of their mother, and barely won Yang Guang's temporary trust with their clumsy tactics; they enjoyed the dazzling song and dance performances of the Tiaozhi people, which resembled prophecies, and also witnessed the desolation after the lanterns shone brightly by the Tongji Canal; they faced the deaths of starving people in Hedong, and disregarded the principle of social hierarchy by personally experiencing farming and weaving.
“Sometimes I wonder, if your sisters and close friends from Daxing knew that your husband’s official hat was stained with dew and his jade pendants with mud, would they be outraged and ridiculed? Would you feel ashamed and embarrassed because of my actions?”
“I will uphold righteousness and find joy in both hardship and comfort. If my relatives and friends are so shallow, it would be perfectly acceptable to never associate with them again in this life.” Changsun Qingjing pulled Li Shimin’s sleeve as they came to the edge of the mulberry grove. “On the contrary, you are quite ridiculous! Since I have temporarily put aside the books of ancient sages and wise men, and have been repairing silkworm rearing equipment with peasant women, inspecting the mulberry grove, and personally visiting the weaving workshop, I must have made up my mind to follow my husband’s lead. You, as a man, are always wondering if I have any intention of backing down. You are just worrying yourself unnecessarily.”
"Madam, I was wrong. I will not say those probing words again." Li Shimin bowed and apologized.
"That's more like it! I won't argue with you anymore. Come on, let's see how bright the bonfire is burning under the platform." Changsun Qingjing suddenly stood up, almost knocking Li Shimin to the ground.
"Didn't we agree to 'shake our clothes on a thousand-foot-high ridge and wash our feet in a ten-thousand-mile-long stream'?" Li Shimin laughed. "Why have you changed your mind and want to watch the show again?"
"You're not Lu Zhonglian, yet you're paying extra for it. What's wrong with taking a look around the world?" Changsun Qingjing teased.
She pulled Li Shimin to the edge of the mulberry grove and pointed to the noisy crowd below the platform: "Even if they are later conscripted to repair the Taihang Road, the Grand Canal, and the Piling Palace, separated from their wives and scattered to the four winds, I do not think that what we are doing today is in vain." The moonlight danced on her face.
Every word she uttered was presumptuous and disrespectful, yet the words she spoke were as melodious and powerful as the sound of metal and stone.
Li Shimin nodded in agreement, his eyes slightly red.
"Let me tell you an interesting story. In Daxing, or perhaps in the past, there lived a carefree nymph. The pond was big enough, she had many friends, plenty of food, and the scenery was crystal clear, so she didn't feel lonely. But sometimes the nymph would look up at the world above the water, that lush and bustling summer, the beautiful flowering trees, the leisurely chirping of cicadas, the soaring eagles, and the vast sky and earth."
Changsun Qingjing spoke with such rapt attention that even her eyelashes fluttered like the glistening wings of a dragonfly. "The naan suddenly felt she had been trapped in this small pond for far too long; she had fallen in love with that summer. So she used all her strength to fight against the surface of the water that was relentlessly suppressing her, and to struggle against the immense force that was constantly pulling her back to the bottom. The other creatures in the water wept and advised her: 'Don't go to the human world! It's an illusion. No naan or damselfly that went there ever came back alive. You will die.' Having already witnessed the beauty of the human world and envying the wings of cicadas, the naan still resolutely left everyone. She came alone..." On a cold, shady rock, the ugly, weak nymph transformed into a dragonfly. She was no longer a nymph; she could never return to the pond, but she possessed the lush, vibrant summer she had always longed for. To other short-sighted insects and scale-like creatures, the nymph was dead; to the other aquatic microbes harboring the same hope, the nymph had almost achieved a miraculous immortality; to the dragonfly, whose lifespan was only a month or so, the exuberant summer was practically eternal. She couldn't go back, and she didn't want to go back.
For the young man who had been listening intently to Changsun Qingjing, these words were nothing short of a passionate declaration, as intense as summer blossoms.
He was confident that he was that lush and bustling summer, able to give the dragonfly the whole sky.
A mulberry branch drooped down between them in the night wind, and new buds, like faint blue down, sprouted from its brown cracks.
The two drew closer to each other as if bewitched.
“You are that stubborn little nymph. You will be well taken care of in the human world. Don’t worry about what those little insects who can’t live without the pond think about summer.” He smiled and cupped her face, his lips brushing against her warm cheeks that were shrouded in golden mist.
She looked at him, puzzled, not understanding why this story would evoke such a protective instinct in her.
The fine downy hairs on the mulberry branches brushed against their cheeks, causing them to feel a sharp, agonizing pain, like someone who had taken Cold Food Powder but couldn't find an antidote or an ice mat. Perhaps like a turtledove that had eaten too many mulberries and was now short of breath, palpitations, and a hazy memory, they could only see each other.
The moonlight seemed to flow in Changsun Qingjing's eyes, as if it were a life-saving spring desperately needed by a patient who had been thirsty for a long time.
She was his lover, his wife, his cure for his illness, and another version of himself in this world.
The evening breeze carried tender mulberry branches, brushing against her slightly parted lips, her delicate features like water chestnuts and coral reflected in the water.
Does that tender heart harbor a molting nymph?
"I'm cold..." She pressed her palms against his shoulders, trying hard to suppress her desire to immerse herself in that sweltering summer.
He must have misunderstood her intentions! She just wanted to find shelter from the wind.
A burning desire quickly enveloped the struggling "naagi" as she emerged from her chrysalis. Li Shimin kissed her lips.
Changsun Qingjing trembled under the mulberry tree. She was like a nightingale trapped in a thicket of rose thorns, a flame encased in a glass lamp, suppressing her cries and the warmth of light within her heart.
One of her hands, along with her arm, limply rested on his shoulder, while the other unconsciously slid down to his neck, caressing the boy's throat, which was beginning to bulge.
Such caresses are like the gentle rocking of a boat, leaving ripples on the green water; like night mist turning into dew, permeating the fragrant air, and releasing a sudden burst of heavenly fragrance.
Li Shimin was momentarily captivated, and he intensified the probing and caressing between his lips and teeth. As if sensing that the lovely woman before him would vanish like a butterfly with its wings folded or a cicada shedding its shell in autumn, he moved his hands away from her chin, one supporting the back of her neck, and the other pressing against her waist.
Changsun Qingjing's soft fingers trembled slightly, as if the tips of his fingers were unintentionally pricked by the newly sharpened edge of the sword in his throat. Helpless, his hands shrank to his sides in fear.
Somewhat disappointed, he moved his burning lips slightly away, maliciously testing her reaction. The girl's breathing was ragged, like a silkworm spinning its silk, hesitant and broken. The newly grown downy hairs playfully brushed against her cheeks. The clumsy brushing reached deep into her bones.
He had originally intended to tease her like a wild beast playing with its prey, but now he had become a timid little tiger, peeking out its white fur for a scratch, with an innocent and affectionate look.
Changsun Qingjing suddenly opened his sleepy eyes, and his drooping eyelashes suddenly turned into a reverse-flowing galaxy. The stars that had been imprisoned in his eyes broke free from their cages and rushed upwards, crashing straight into the turbulent sky in Li Shimin's eyes.
Like a red fox trying to steal grapes, she stood on tiptoe, grabbed his collar and pulled him close, her tongue brushing against his lips before quickly moving away, wrapping her arms around Li Shimin's neck with the smug satisfaction of having tasted the grapes.
Their eyes met for a long time, the threads of their gazes gradually tightening. A non-existent spiderweb had managed to firmly bind their tangled emotions, trapping them in the web of fate.
Changsun Qingjing suddenly felt a heaviness in his ear. It turned out that the hazel hairpin had slipped down to his temple, like a wind chime about to fall.
“My hairpin…my…” Her waist was suddenly caught in an even larger snare. Before she could struggle, her jaw was pried open by a new kiss.
The sharp, arrow-like styrax pierced her fair skin, strangling her reason along her nasal cavity and throat, each heartbeat shaking off the spores of the love potion.
The passionate kiss subsided, and his lips slid down her trembling jawline, along her long, egret-like neck, finally settling in the hollow of her collarbone, gently teasing the wings of her pink butterfly. Where his soft whiskers brushed, rosy scales appeared.
He pulled the hazel hairpin that was dangling from her hair, and the wisps of smoke trailing from the fleeing hairpin were like the ethereal energy escaping from a censer.
He buried his kisses and desire in her alluring black hair, peering into her burning body temperature and fragmented thoughts.
"Wait a minute." She snatched back the rough, almost unpolished hairpin as if possessed, and her neck, filled with burning desire, suddenly felt cold.
Changsun Qingjing withdrew his hands from Li Shimin's neck and placed them on his shoulders again, asking, "You've been reading more than just the Spring and Autumn Annals lately, haven't you?"
He grabbed one of her hands and pressed her palm against the sharp mark on his throat: "I accidentally flipped through Chao Yuanfang's book, and you've been on my mind ever since, even in my dreams..."
The seductive red fox, now subdued, its once-proud tail now two rosy blushes clinging to Changsun Qingjing's cheeks. She, of course, understood the explicit, burning desire in those words of love. Li Shimin and she pressed their foreheads together, their breaths still ragged.
"Don't talk nonsense..." She tried to avoid the temptation of revealing the true intentions.
“I won’t speak. I’ll only listen to you now… Where do you want to go?” He was certain she had nowhere to run.
A young girl's shyness and longing are the most adorable rebellion in the world. No need for chariots or ladders, just a little sincerity and a touch of flirtation are enough to make her raise her head and surrender, letting him plant his royal flag all over her heart.
There will be no exceptions!
Just as Li Shimin was feeling smug, Changsun Qingjing gripped the hazel hairpin tightly and pretended to bury her head in his chest.
She bit her lip with her teeth, her starry eyes blazing with fire. She took a deep breath, lifted her heel, and stomped on Li Shimin's instep with all her might. With a twist of her evil power, she finally vented her anger.
Author's Note: Hahahaha. We tricked them all in, tricked them all in, and then injected them with insulin one by one. [Evil grin]
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