Chapter 59 Dust and Light (18) A Short Knife Given to Green Plum.
The emperor had not yet issued an edict for the princess's marriage, but the news had already spread and quickly reached the ears of the students around her. Early that morning, Zhi Rou had just sat down at the family school when her classmates were all discussing the matter.
Sheng Xingyun had been somewhat lax in disciplining his children at home, and now he dressed in bright and gorgeous clothes every day. Right now, he was holding a gold-plated fan and swaggering over to Wei Yuanzhan's desk.
"Have you heard? The imperial court has actually agreed to a marriage alliance with the Northern Li Kingdom, and even presented 300,000 bolts of silk as a gift, and signed a treaty between the two countries to avoid war."
As he fanned himself, he clicked his tongue and sighed, "Fortunately, Princess Wenjing was married off early. The King of Beili is an old man over fifty."
The idea of using a marriage alliance to persuade the Northern Li Kingdom to cease hostilities was met with a raised eyebrow from Zhi Rou, who seemed to find it absurd: "Would a marriage alliance even work?"
“How is it useless?” Sheng Xingyun closed his fan, his robes lifted from Wei Yuanzhan’s desk, and strolled over to Zhi Rou. “The previous dynasty’s Princess Li made a marriage alliance with the Southern Barbarians, and the Southern Barbarian leader, out of respect for Princess Li, did not harass the border for more than ten years.”
Judging from his tone, it seemed that a marriage alliance was the best solution to resolve the situation. Upon hearing this, Song Qizhang stood up, raised his forehead, and frowned, saying, "What's the point of talking about usefulness or uselessness? Once someone's heart is set on betrayal, who cares about the alliance?"
Being refuted in public, Sheng Xingyun was initially displeased, but then he recalled that during Emperor Xiaozong's reign, Princess Yong'an was beheaded by her husband shortly after marrying into the Yanli clan, and sacrificed to the flag. He couldn't help but awkwardly touch the bridge of his nose: "What you said is true..."
Then Song Qizhang turned his back and sat upright facing his desk, fiddling with his stationery while muttering, "If you can't win on the battlefield, you entrust your safety to a woman. What a wise ruler."
His voice was extremely low, like a feather drifting in the air; you could clearly see his lips moving, but you couldn't hear a sound.
Sheng Xingyun was filled with curiosity: "What did you just say?"
Zhi Rou quickly spoke up for Song Qizhang: "Second Brother said that these things have nothing to do with us, and there's nothing to discuss." She then pushed aside the figure beside the table and didn't even glance at him again, cutting off his chance to continue speaking.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Sheng Xingyun moved back to Wei Yuanzhan and asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Wei Yuanzhan's gaze remained fixed on Zhi Rou, his gaze almost aggressive, as if he wanted to pull her arm out of her wide sleeves to see if she had tied a knot herself again.
Upon hearing this, he looked up and met Sheng Xingyun's eyes, then said softly, "Master Du has arrived."
The sound sent chills down one's spine, and without turning back, one slipped to their seat.
Upon closer inspection, there was no sign of Master Du. The doorway was empty, without a single ghost in sight.
"Yuan Zhan, you've tricked me again!" Sheng Xingyun shouted angrily.
As soon as the afternoon bell rang, Song Hanjin greeted Zhirou and returned to the courtyard. Zhirou slipped out from under the gate to wait for Wei Yuanzhan.
The summer breeze rustled the treetops, and dappled shadows of leaves danced on the girl's shoulders. With her hands behind her back, she kept glancing into the cave entrance. Finally, she saw Wei Yuanzhan step out of the threshold of the family school and bid farewell to the teacher.
As they drew closer, Zhi Rou smiled at him. His gaze shifted slightly downwards, and his voice carried a hint of concern: "How is your hand?"
"It still hurts a little when I pull it, but it's okay, I can still hold the reins with my right hand."
Wei Yuanzhan glanced at her for a moment, then gave a soft "hmm." Stepping onto the veranda, the two walked one after the other, him deliberately walking on her right side to avoid accidentally brushing against her sleeve.
"Where did you go yesterday?" Wei Yuanzhan asked.
Thinking of Jiang Luoya, Zhi Rou lowered her eyelids, reluctant to speak, but Wei Yuanzhan was innocent, and she couldn't deliberately ignore him, so she said, "Big brother took me to the clinic."
After saying that, no one else spoke. Zhi Rou felt something was off and glanced at him sideways. The well-arranged light and shadows shone on his face, reflecting a hint of arrogant and aloofness.
Zhi Rou then realized something was amiss: "You...were waiting for me yesterday?"
Wei Yuanzhan instinctively wanted to say no, but a mischievous urge got the better of him; he wanted to see what her expression would be when she knew he was waiting. So he put on an even colder face and simply stared arrogantly ahead.
“You…” Zhi Rou hadn’t expected him to wait. Given his personality, wasn’t he the one who hated wasting time and didn’t want to waste a single moment?
She frowned and stared at him for a long time, her voice tinged with caution and resentment: "Don't wait for me anymore. If I want to see you, I'll tell you."
Wei Yuanzhan turned his head and saw that her beautiful features were piecing together a look of shame on her face. He smiled gently and teased her, "Are you His Majesty? Do I have to wait for your summons?"
He was tall with long legs, and he would slow down after taking a few steps, so he wanted to ask her to keep up.
Unexpectedly, there was no one beside him. He stopped and turned around.
Song Zhirou stood there stubbornly, her beautiful eyes meeting his. She blinked slightly, revealing a hint of arrogance.
Wei Yuanzhan raised his lips, his voice still the same as before, which, from a distance, seemed to mask a different emotion: "Did I offend you again?"
Low and soft, like the setting sun.
Zhi Rou replied, "Yes."
Her behavior aroused Wei Yuanzhan's suspicions, but he couldn't help worrying that she was genuinely angry, so he had no choice but to start walking towards her.
With each step closer, Zhi Rou's lips curled into a slight smile. When he was right in front of her, she swiftly extended her hand from behind her waist, holding something in her palm, and brandished it at him.
She was born in the Year of the Dragon, and she always carried some dragon-shaped wooden trinkets with her.
Wei Yuanzhan was amused by her behavior, pulled out her "culprit" and put it in his palm, and chuckled softly: "Boring."
Zhi Rou didn't take it to heart, but he was clearly frightened; he couldn't escape her notice even for a moment.
She stepped forward and said, "I saw a flower shop on Mingyue Street yesterday. Shall we go take a look? Master's orchids have withered, and I'd like to get him a new one."
Wei Yuanzhan readily agreed, glancing at her and asking, "Do you want to change your clothes?"
Zhi Rou nodded.
"I'll wait for you outside the mansion," he said, and walked on.
Upon arriving at Mingyue Street, Zhi Rou had barely touched the ground when she glanced around and was immediately drawn to a pastry shop.
She walked over, and Wei Yuanzhan followed slowly. Just as she was about to reach for her purse, a hand slipped into her peripheral vision and paid the bill for her.
If it were anyone else, Zhi Rou would definitely refuse, but that was Wei Yuanzhan.
As they grew up, he always liked to pay for her expenses when they were out. At first, she was polite to him, but after she got used to it, she would pay him back elsewhere.
The shopkeeper wrapped the pastries in tung oil paper and handed them to Zhirou. She barely took a couple of bites before hearing a nearby vendor calling out for maltose, so she went and bought two more bags.
Wei Yuanzhan smiled, a hint of mockery in his eyes, and glanced at her: "Are you here to pick flowers for your master?"
"The flower shop is still far away. If I don't eat something, I'll be hungry again soon." Zhi Rou handed over the pastry. "Are you really not going to eat?"
Wei Yuanzhan and she had different tastes. They could tolerate each other when sitting at the same table, but it was more appropriate for them to use their own separate tables when separated.
He pushed her hand away: "No need."
Zhi Rou placed the candy in his hand, then counted the candy inside the bag herself. Luo Luo said that the candy vendors on Mingyue Street would give a woman a bag full of about twenty candies, but would give a man half.
As expected, after spending so much time together, there were so many memorable things that she didn't even have to consciously think about them before the images from the past floated into her mind.
Zhi Rou's shoulders slumped slightly, feeling somewhat annoyed. Looking up, she spotted Jiang Luoya not far away through the throng of people; the other woman also looked over, but neither moved.
She still felt displeased with Jiang Luoya, but despite her displeasure, she found it hard to let go. This feeling of having her joys and sorrows tied to someone else made Zhirou very unhappy.
He clenched his fingers slightly and took a deep breath: "Let's go."
Just before she pulled off her boots, Jiang Luoya grabbed her skirt and turned around, her steps showing no hesitation, displaying a more resolute determination than hers.
The sun grew increasingly scorching, and even the wind seemed restless. Zhi Rou, unwilling to have her emotions controlled, gradually relaxed her brows, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Wei Yuanzhan glanced at the person opposite him for a moment, then looked away, feigning a nonchalant expression: "What kind of New Year's gift do you want next spring?"
Suddenly hearing someone ask a question, Zhi Rou slightly raised her face and glanced at him.
In fact, on his birthday, she noticed a short knife hanging beside him, the very same one he used to play with in his hand.
"Anything is fine?" she asked tentatively.
Wei Yuanzhan felt confident that he could give her anything she wanted, and a confident smile appeared on his face.
Before he could speak, Zhi Rou leaned closer, her breath almost touching his body. With a slight downward force from her belt, she pulled his dagger away.
“I want it.”
In an instant, Wei Yuanzhan's heart pounded, as if her decisive force had drilled straight into his bones. His throat tightened slightly, and a strange light appeared in his usually deep eyes. Not wanting her to see it, he turned his chin to the side.
Zhi Rou received no response, so she moved from his left to his right, scrutinizing his expression: "Wei Yuanzhan?"
Then I heard him say, "Here you go."
"Really giving it to me?" She had only acted on a whim and had no intention of actually taking his things away, let alone the fact that he had had this knife for so long. How could he be willing to part with it?
Zhi Rou held it in her hand and rubbed it for a moment: "Then what do you want?"
Wei Yuanzhan remained silent.
As the sundial slowly moved westward, the warm rays of sunlight poured down from the horizon, casting long shadows of pedestrians on the ground, swaying with their steps.
Inside the carriage, Yanliu sat beside her, watching Jiayang remain silent with her eyes closed. She cautiously spoke up, "Princess, won't your public appearance like this anger Her Majesty the Empress?"
After leaving the palace, she instructed Qingtang to deliver a message to the Jiang family, then changed her clothes and headed to Chang Le Lou.
Hearing Yanliu's question, Jiayang sneered, "What, are you afraid the Empress will punish me if she finds out? Marrying for peace is also a dead end. Compared to that, what do you think I have to fear?"
Today in court, the Empress made her point even clearer than the previous two times, leaving her no room to back down. What angered her even more was that her mother was also in court, yet she didn't utter a single word in her defense.
Upon returning home, she angrily questioned her mother, who coldly replied, "As a member of the imperial family, having enjoyed all the luxuries, you should bear the responsibilities; this is destiny."
What a joke.
She is a human being, with a heart and feelings. Why should she be forced to leave her country and homeland to be buried in such a barbaric place?
Yanliu was stunned by her appearance. After a moment, she still lowered her head and advised, "Princess, if you don't think about yourself, think about the Prince and the Princess..."
The words had barely left his lips when a long silence fell over the car.
Yanliu knew that Jiayang was filial. Although she always had grievances against the prince, whenever outsiders secretly mocked the prince for being foolish, the county princess would always fight back in private.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Not long after, he heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the carriage. Thinking that the prince's guards had caught up, he lifted the curtain and peeked out.
Through the gap in the wall, Song Zhirou's figure emerged from the noise and jumped into Jia Yang's view.
She held up a Korean folding fan to shield her face. She chuckled as the boy beside her said something, then closed the fan section by section and twirled it lightly in her palm.
Absolutely dashing, absolutely radiant.
Jia Yang felt a stinging pain in his eyes and frowned in disgust.
On the day of the banquet held at the Marquis of Yining’s residence, Song Zhirou met with the Empress’s people; not long after, the Empress summoned her to the palace, speaking to her without any ambiguity, as if she had a handle on her.
She couldn't help but think about the cause and effect involved.
Jia Yang ordered the carriage to change course and go across the road.
Zhi Rou and Wei Yuanzhan were talking about their master when a carriage suddenly stopped in front of them. Her smile faded, and she turned her gaze to the carriage window.
A hand with well-proportioned bones lifted the carriage curtain, revealing Princess Jiayang. Zhirou lowered her eyes and bowed respectfully.
But then a voice drifted out from inside the carriage window: "Miss Song, do you believe in fate?"
Author's note: Token of love obtained!
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