Chapter 39 Blue-Gold is Better
His tone was steady, but it carried a hint of... stiffness and a guilty conscience that was trying to cover up his true feelings?
It was as if she was forcibly explaining an accident that even she herself didn't quite believe.
Tang Xiaoning's gaze lingered for a moment on the gash, which was clearly torn open by internal force or skillful technique "accidentally."
She glanced again at the exquisite brocade in Zhou Wenyuan's hand, which was shimmering and seemingly intended to please her.
Then look at Li Minghua's profile—seemingly calm and composed, but with a slightly taut jawline...
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck me, and my mind became as clear as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun!
A sweet smile suddenly appeared on her lips, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but her shoulders couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Her beautiful eyes curved into crescents, filled with a sly and smug "I understand, I understand" expression.
Her wooden female warrior... is she... jealous?
Zhou Wenyuan, however, was completely oblivious to the undercurrents that were unfolding in the blink of an eye, and the consequences of his gift-giving.
He felt the atmosphere was a bit strange, especially since the aura around that guard, Li, seemed even colder.
He was still trying to complete the task his mother had given him, pointing to the brocade in the box: "Little sister Xiaoning, look at this cloud pattern..."
"Brother Wenyuan!" Tang Xiaoning quickly put down her hand covering her mouth, tried to straighten her face, and interrupted his futile sales pitch. "I'll accept the fabric. Please thank Auntie for her kind offer."
She pointed to the brocade box, gesturing for the maid Xiao Cui, who was standing beside her, to take it.
She immediately picked up her disastrous needlework again, deliberately poking and prodding the fabric with the needle, as if to say, "I'm really busy, don't bother me anymore."
"Look, as you can see, I'm busy making a new sword tassel for Minghua, so I really don't have time to talk to you much."
Zhou Wenyuan's gaze then fell on the unfinished sword tassel in Tang Xiaoning's hand, which could be described as "abstract art." The black silk threads were tangled and knotted, and the glass beads were crooked and twisted.
He glanced cautiously at the guard Li by the window, whose aura had noticeably lowered.
Although the other person was still looking down at the book, the fingers that were turning the pages seemed to have paused for a long time, and the aura emanating from him was so cold that it could almost freeze the candlelight.
A strange chill crept up Zhou Wenyuan's spine.
He subconsciously shrank his neck, feeling that even the warm incense in the heated room couldn't dispel the chill.
"Well... alright then..." he replied dryly, his feet involuntarily moving towards the door. "I... I won't bother you any longer, Xiaoning, you... you're busy... Miss Li, farewell!"
After saying that, without waiting for a response, he practically fled in panic, his back view showing utter disarray.
Watching him disappear hastily outside the door, Tang Xiaoning couldn't help but burst out laughing.
She put down her needlework, rested her chin on her hand, and cast her bright gaze at the "culprit" by the window who was still pretending to read a book, but whose ears were secretly blushing suspiciously. She felt that she had never felt so bright and cheerful.
As soon as Zhou Wenyuan's slightly disheveled figure disappeared from the entrance of the warm pavilion, Tang Xiaoning immediately threw the needle and thread in her hand and the horribly damaged glass beads into the sewing basket as if she were getting rid of a hot potato.
Like a nimble deer, she hopped over in two steps to Li Minghua, who was still sitting steadily by the window, seemingly engrossed in studying the torn pages of the book.
"Hey!" She stretched out her slender finger and poked Li Minghua's strong forearm with a mischievous touch.
She was almost right next to her face, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes sparkling with a mischievous and lively light, her red lips curving up like a cat that had just successfully stolen a delicious dried fish.
With a mischievous and smug look, she exclaimed, "Heroine Minghua—"
She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, with a slightly teasing tone: "That page from just now... really just cracked on its own due to years of neglect? Hmm?"
Li Minghua's body tensed for a moment. She did not answer immediately, but instead closed the "innocent victim" military book in her hand with an expressionless and extremely steady movement, and then gently placed it on the low table beside her.
Her gaze remained fixed on the empty space ahead, her tone flat and devoid of any emotion: "Of course."
Two words, spoken with resounding force, an attempt to maintain the last bastion.
"Oh—?" Tang Xiaoning exaggeratedly dragged out the tone, raising the last syllable, and the smile in her eyes and brows deepened, curving into two crescent moons.
“But I have this feeling…” She deliberately lowered her voice, leaning closer, her warm breath almost brushing against Li Minghua’s ear, with a knowing, playful air, “Is it because some people think Brother Zhou is too noisy and gives them a headache? Or…”
She paused deliberately, admiring how Li Minghua's jade-like earlobes rapidly blushed to a hue visible to the naked eye.
"Or perhaps... he disliked the material he gave him, its glittering gold too dazzling, causing our Guard Li to accidentally 'leak his inner strength' and take it out on these poor pages?"
Every word and phrase precisely hit the nail on the head regarding Li Minghua's carefully concealed secrets.
Li Minghua felt the close presence and the blunt words burning her ears.
She subconsciously turned her head away, avoiding Tang Xiaoning's seemingly bright eyes.
To hide her sudden embarrassment, she reached for the cup of tea on the low table beside her, which had long since gone cold, and brought it to her lips, almost gulping it down.
The cool tea slid down his throat, slightly calming the heat on his face, before he managed to maintain a calm demeanor and said, "...He is indeed noisy."
This can be considered a reluctant admission of one of the motives.
"Just arguing?" Tang Xiaoning was not about to let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
She immediately pressed her advantage, her large, watery eyes fixed on Li Minghua's sharply defined profile, relentlessly cornering her. "Nothing... else?"
A brief silence fell over the warm room.
Li Minghua's fingers tightened slightly as he held the teacup, his knuckles turning white.
She stared at the tea leaves that had sunk to the bottom of the cup, as if she were contemplating an extremely complex strategic plan.
Just as Tang Xiaoning thought this blockhead was about to play dead again and was about to poke her again, she heard a deep voice that almost melted into the air, with an awkwardness and... a desperate honesty:
“…Yun Jin is too gorgeous and makes movement inconvenient,” she paused, as if searching for a more convincing reason, but in the end it only came down to a simple and straightforward conclusion, “It’s not suitable for you.”
Tang Xiaoning's smile froze instantly.
She blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
The next second, an immense surge of joy exploded in her heart!
This isn't a critique of the fabric! This is clearly... blatant possessiveness at play.
Even her wooden female warrior would use this method to declare her sovereignty!
She desperately resisted the urge to hug Li Minghua and laugh wildly while spinning her around, deliberately blinking her big eyes and feigning innocence to tease her:
"Really? But I think that brocade is quite beautiful, so shiny and elegant..."
"not good!"
Before she could finish speaking, Li Minghua interrupted her decisively. Her tone was almost stubbornly certain, and she even turned her head slightly to glance quickly at Tang Xiaoning, her eyes filled with unquestionable seriousness: "Blue-gold is better."
This additional statement further points to the color of the sword tassel that is being painstakingly created by Tang Xiaoning's needlework.
Looking at her slightly flushed profile, her thin lips pressed into a straight line, and her eyes that tried to appear calm but couldn't hide her embarrassment, Tang Xiaoning felt her heart melt completely, as if being caressed by the gentlest spring breeze.
Good heavens! Even her jealousy is so unique!
To express dissatisfaction by precisely cracking the pages of a book with internal force?
This is an amazing feat that even the most romantic and talented writers in traditional Chinese novels couldn't have come up with!
This clumsy yet domineering cuteness made her absolutely smitten.
"Pfft..." She couldn't help but chuckle, then immediately decided to stop "torturing" the guard who was practically smoking.
"Alright, alright," she said softly, soothingly as if coaxing a child, "I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you! Our Lady Li says that cyan-gold is the best, then cyan-gold is the most beautiful color in the world!"
She nimbly returned to the embroidery stool, picked up the pile of "treasured" materials and needles and thread again, gestured with them towards the sword at Li Minghua's waist, her smile as radiant as a flower, her tone full of coquettishness and intimacy:
"Once I finish embroidering this unique sword tassel, I'll tie it on for you myself, so it can sway on your scabbard every day..."
She paused deliberately, blinking; "To dazzle the eyes of some clueless people who are always eyeing the gift of brocade! How about that?"
As Li Minghua listened to her childish yet possessive sweet declaration, his gaze fell on the messy but meaningful tangled thread in her hand.
The corners of her tightly pursed lips curved upwards in an extremely subtle arc.
She lowered her eyelashes, concealing the smile in her eyes, and a low, clear reply escaped her throat:
"Um."
A single word carries all the approval, pampering, and a silent sense of belonging.
Just then, the maid Xiao Cui came in quietly, carrying freshly brewed tea and several plates of delicate pastries, preparing to pack up the brocade box left by Zhou Wenyuan.
As soon as she stepped into the warm room, she keenly sensed that the atmosphere was different from the silly laughter of the past few days, yet equally sweet.
The young lady had a sweet smile on her lips as she was busy "fighting" with her needle and thread, while the usually cold-faced guard Li by the window, though still holding a book, seemed to have lost all his aura of unapproachability, and his profile even showed a hint of... gentleness?
Looking at her young mistress's radiant smile, as if her wicked scheme had succeeded, Xiao Cui instantly understood.
A smile crept onto her lips, and she put down her tea and snacks and tidied the brocade box with even greater gentleness, as if afraid of disturbing this silent and enchanting moment.
The warm pavilion fell silent again.
The only sounds in the air were Tang Xiaoning's occasional soft gasps as the silk threads got tangled or she was pricked by a needle, and the barely audible rustling of paper as Li Minghua turned the pages.
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