Chapter 89 Changes (5) Phoenix feathers cast shadows across a thousand rooms, like Zhang Guang...
Changsun Minxing noticed Li Shimin's unspoken thoughts, coughed, and moved closer to Changsun Qingjing, saying, "Sister, he wants to take you to the martial arts arena... Say something, don't just stand there."
"I'm not going," Changsun Qingjing replied decisively.
“…Alright.” Upon hearing this refusal, Li Shimin stood there, hesitant and at a loss, feeling extremely awkward in front of Changsun Minxing. His instep throbbed slightly, and he couldn't fathom how much suspicion Changsun Qingjing harbored towards him. The power he had displayed in the mulberry grove the previous night was etched into his very being, and he had abandoned his obsession with inviting her to accompany him again.
When the two were engaged, Changsun Minxing was busy taking care of the seriously ill Master Lu, while also worrying about Gao Shilian's uncertain fate. Therefore, he and most of the young men in Chang'an who were familiar with Li Shimin firmly believed that this marriage was a chivalrous act of a young man.
After all, it was no easy feat to uphold a verbal marriage agreement and marry his adopted daughter, who had been demoted to a minor official post, despite the risk of arousing the emperor's suspicion. Of course, as her family, Changsun Minxing still hoped that Yilie's impulsive actions were somewhat driven by budding feelings.
After all, heroic deeds are only for outsiders to applaud, while tender feelings are what sustain the bond between husband and wife.
However, Changsun Qingjing's repeated acts of acting recklessly and disregarding Li Shimin's sincere intentions deeply worried Changsun Minxing, who wished he could just grab his head and drag him to the training ground.
He suppressed his anxiety and said gently, "Sister, go with him. It'll be good for him to relax."
"No!" Changsun Minxing replied cautiously.
Although Changsun Qingjing's words were meant for Changsun Minxing, they brought a relieved smile to Li Shimin's face.
He realized he had always underestimated Changsun Qingjing. Even though she was planning something more important, he had repeatedly misunderstood her as arrogant and willful.
"Thanks to your reminder, Zhang Liang's wedding is approaching. I need to find some time to visit him again and make proper arrangements for the wedding. Your thorough preparations make me proud, and the engaged couple will remember it fondly." Li Shimin solemnly clasped his hands in front of his chest and stepped forward to thank Changsun Qingjing, saying, "Your Excellency Changsun is very magnanimous. On behalf of Zhang Lang and Li Niang, I thank you, Your Excellency."
Changsun Qingjing pursed his lips and said, "I'll put it on the tab for now. You owe me a favor, and I'll repay it slowly in the future."
"You two are making a scene. I'm going to follow the monk to practice meditation..." Changsun Minxing pretended to be reserved, straightened his clothes, put his hands behind his back, and followed the novice monk into the distance. He needed to light an incense burner.
Even as an observer, he couldn't quite tell whether the two people in front of him would become brothers and sisters, sworn brothers, close friends, or husband and wife in prison in this hasty and righteous marriage.
Perhaps the person involved was just as confused.
Li Shimin left behind a few capable retainers to protect Changsun Qingjing and his servants before riding away.
Changsun Qingjing and Acai were taking a walk near Jingyin Temple, waiting for Guoniang to return.
In their spare time, the mountain village girls who tended the fields and gardens would gather in front of a large clump of wild roses, carefully avoiding the thorns as they picked the pink flowers, laughing and joking as they decorated each other's hair with the not-so-bright and large pink clusters.
Zheng Fuyou dashed past them, nearly knocking over one of the girls who was admiring herself in front of a bucket of water.
"Please forgive me, please forgive me." Zheng Fuyou said dismissively and ran away, which made the girl who was hit curse him a few more times as "pig and dog".
Zheng Fuyou paid no heed to the girl's curse, skipping joyfully all the way to the fire chamber. Guoniang, carrying a large bouquet of peonies, had already bid farewell to the gardener and returned to the path.
"Sister, are you tired?" Zheng Fuyou tied a large bunch of forsythia flowers around his waist, pretending it was a sash.
The grasshopper smiled broadly: "I'm not tired."
"Sister, I have something delicious to give you."
Zheng Fuyou leaned closer to Guoniang, who bent down in response: "What strange thing are you going to give me this time?" She waited without moving, her bright smile perfectly complementing the bouquet of vibrant peonies.
The child took out some candy from a hidden pocket inside the garment and stuffed it into the grasshopper's mouth.
"Delicious," the grasshopper girl mumbled.
The brother and sister walked side by side on the road, but both deliberately slowed their pace.
"Sister, we have to part again..." the boy said dejectedly.
Zheng Fuyou suddenly ran from the grasshopper's side to the front, jumped up and sniffed the fragrance of the peony: "Sister, what kind of flower is this? It's so beautiful."
Before the grasshopper girl could answer, the child snatched the two largest peonies from her arms.
"Sister, can I borrow your flowers?" Zheng Fuyou ran towards Jingyin Temple.
"You insolent brat, these are Lady Changsun's peony flowers!" Guoniang cursed as she chased after him. "How dare you lie to me? Believe me or not, I'll break your legs!"
"Haha, my older sister can't outrun me anymore!" Zheng Fuyou turned around and made a face. "Is the candy delicious?"
The siblings chased and played, their peony petals, veiled in crimson gauze, drawing envious and jealous glances from the young girls working along the way.
When Zheng Foyou got tired of running, he stopped in front of the wooden notice board at Jingyin Temple and read the newly posted notice for conscription of men and women, half guessing and half reading it.
He pointed to the piece of rattan paper that would cause countless families to be torn apart and die, and said, "Sister, Father won't go, will he?"
“I’m not going.” Guoniang’s breath was ragged, and she coughed frequently. She held the bouquet tightly in one hand and put her other hand on her younger brother’s shoulder, comforting him, “Young master promised us that he would ‘hide’ Father. Nothing will happen. Don’t think too much. Go home and help Mother gather firewood on the mountain.”
"Oh." Zheng Fuyou suddenly shuddered and carefully hid the two peonies behind his back.
"My lady, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Guoniang greeted Changsun Qingjing, who was walking slowly towards her, somewhat guiltily. The young mistress looked at the two siblings with some curiosity.
“Guo Niang, I heard from Chan Yi that the Fire Chamber can grow flowers all year round. Today I’ve really seen it.” A Cai deliberately stepped forward to admire the newly picked peonies, shielding Zheng Fuyou behind her.
The two women had witnessed firsthand how Changsun Qingjing treated lazy and derelict servants, how he penalized them by deducting their monthly salaries, and how he sent them to the farm to repair irrigation canals... and they couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Changsun Qingjing noticed the fear in the two maids' hearts and stepped forward gracefully, asking Zheng Foyou, "Foyou, do you like peonies?"
Zheng Fuyou nodded, then shook his head: "I like them, but I'll only look at them; I wouldn't dare claim them as my own." He presented the two peony blossoms to Changsun Qingjing with both hands: "Please forgive me, my wife. My actions were presumptuous and have nothing to do with my elder sister..."
"Yes, yes. Buddha is ignorant, please don't take offense, my lady," Guoniang said readily.
"It's alright, you can keep it."
"Really?" Zheng Fuyou asked in surprise.
"Go ahead, give it to whomever you want," Changsun Qingjing said with a smile. "You can make an offering to Guanyin in your name, give it to your elder sister, use it to apologize to those women who were offended, or even take it home..."
Guoniang and Acai both breathed a sigh of relief.
The three of them, master and servant, just chuckled to themselves. After all, Zheng Fuyou was just a child, and he wouldn't immediately understand brotherly love and remorse just because he knew a few more words.
Zheng Foyou excitedly rushed into the inner courtyard of Jingyin Temple and eavesdropped on Changsun Minxing and the abbot discussing Buddhism outside the bamboo grove.
Unfortunately, he spent half a day intently spying, but he didn't understand a single word.
He hesitated for a moment, then tiptoed back to the Dharma Hall. The hall was empty. He placed the newly picked peonies into a plum vase and silently admired them for a while.
Zheng Foyou waited for half a day but no one passed by, and he felt a little disappointed. He then paid his respects to the memorial tablet of Zhou and Confucius and the shrine of the Ghost Mother and Child before closing the door and leaving.
Then, the mischievous child happened to bump into Changsun Qingjing and his two companions who had just offered flowers to the temple. Zheng Foyou smiled shyly, praying that his childish and clumsy feelings for the sunflower would not be discovered.
"Sister, I'm leaving." He snuggled close to the grasshopper, who brushed away the withered bamboo leaves clinging to her brother's sweaty forehead, nodded, and hugged him tighter.
"Beware of the spring chill, take care of your health."
Amidst the reluctance of his elder sister, the envy of Ah Cai, and the sighs of his eldest grandson Qing Jing, Zheng Foyou left Jingyin Temple.
The forsythia sash around the boy's waist bounced with each jump, and in the afternoon sunlight, the tiny flowers, like floating pieces of gold, gathered towards the source of the sunlight.
Changsun Qingjing gazed at Phoenix Mountain from afar, feeling as if the mountain resembled a phoenix reborn from the ashes, perched among the weeds. Golden light floated on the layered peaks, and purple mist swirled around the verdant cliffs.
Nearby, an old man sang while carrying a hoe, and village children played while chasing pheasants.
In the blink of an eye, the phoenix's feathers cast shadows upon thousands of rooms, like the shelter of a grand mansion.
The urgent sound of bells suddenly rang out, like clashing swords tearing through cloth, shattering the harmony of the harvest amidst the fields. Farmers dropped their plows and looked back, children cried out in fright and hid, and flocks of sparrows scattered in a panic from the haystacks…
A young man in red robes galloped past on his steed, its hooves striking the stone and kicking up dust like a mist. The man and his horse paused for a moment in front of the wooden signboard in front of the temple. The horse neighed and reared up at the sudden stop, its mane bristling as if it were spewing flames.
Amidst the whispers of the maids and servants, the horse neighed, a sound that was both mocking and sorrowful, conveying its master's disdain and ridicule as he glanced at the proclamation on the notice board.
The steed paused briefly, then galloped off again, its thunderous sound shattering the deathly silence before Jingyin Temple. Where the red shadow disappeared, only yellow dust swirled in the air, churning in the phoenix-feather-like wisps of sunlight.
"They look so alike, I almost thought the young master had returned," a retainer behind Changsun Qingjing whispered. "The way he controls the saddle with one hand is also similar..."
"Are there any close relatives of the Duke of Tang staying here recently?" A-Cai asked her servant curiously.
"Never heard of it," Bu Qu said honestly.
"Gua Niang, is this the young man from around here?" A Cai's curiosity only grew.
“I don’t remember having such a man at all…” Guoniang shook her head, completely clueless.
As the swirling yellow dust slowly settled back onto the road, Changsun Qingjing snapped out of his reverie: "Let's go back to the villa."
This was her second encounter with the boy in red.
Why are two complete strangers so alike in their cynical and insightful demeanor?
Author's Note: The plan fell through, and the three of them went about their own business [shy emoji]
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