Chapter 104 Like Strong Wine (Sixteen) The most passionate, the most tender, the most unrestrained...
After making up her mind, Zhi Rou glanced around and felt that this was not a place to tell secrets. Perhaps it was because she and Su had stayed here before and things had not gone smoothly. So she stood up and pulled Wei Yuanzhan away.
Zhi Rou held the sleeve in her hand, her delicate hair tracing the pattern on the hem, her reflection like water.
Wei Yuanzhan tried several times to roll his hand out of his sleeve and press it against her palm. He hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to do so, a group of servants passed by. Zhi Rou naturally let go of him, her eyelashes drooping slightly, and she managed to act without any flaws.
Wei Yuanzhan inwardly regretted his actions, glancing sideways at the group of people with a hint of coldness in his eyes.
Missed opportunities often require waiting for a while longer. Wei Yuanzhan followed Zhi Rou, two steps behind her, his eyes fixed on her profile, occasionally curving his lips into a smile.
Zhi Rou had already noticed his focus. She bit her lip, her eyelashes fluttering erratically. She wanted to tell him to stop looking, but felt that saying so would diminish her confidence. So she pretended to take a step, and just then they met.
She stopped and greeted them with a smile, "Sister, Second Sister-in-law."
Song Hanjin originally went to find Zhirou, but on the way she caught a glimpse of Xu Chengce's shadow, so she turned back and ran into Li Shulan. She then pulled Li Shulan along to cover for her, and they made their way here.
Seeing Zhi Rou and Wei Yuanzhan together, Song Hanjin gave them a quick look. Li Shulan, however, remained unfazed, smiled back at Zhi Rou, and addressed her as "Young Master Wei."
The eldest and second branches of the family occupied opposite sides of the Song residence. Although they visited each other frequently, Zhi Rou only met her second sister-in-law on the day she returned to the capital. The second sister-in-law was a few months younger than Zhi Rou and, true to her name, was a woman with poetic talent. Song Qi Zhang was no longer completely uneducated, though he was still somewhat mischievous. The two, one quiet and one lively, were quite compatible.
Song Hanjin didn't say much in front of others. She turned her head and looked around for a while before turning back to tell Zhirou, "This road is not very quiet. It would be best if Fourth Sister avoided it."
After Song Hanjin finished speaking, her gaze lingered on Wei Yuanzhan for a moment, and for some reason, she felt relieved. With Zhirou with him, Xu Chengce probably wouldn't dare approach; she'd better just slip away.
"Shulan and I will go to pay our respects to your aunt first, and then we will come to your room tonight."
Zhi Rou nodded in agreement. After the two women had passed by, she turned around in the corridor and called back to Wei Yuanzhan, "Come on, follow me."
Wei Yuanzhan laughed as he removed his boots and followed her through the courtyard and several more arched doorways, but they still couldn't escape Xu Chengce's presence.
The sunlight shone brightly, casting dappled shadows on the long robe in front of him, and Xu Chengce paused slightly.
"Fourth...Fourth Miss." After a moment of surprise, his eyes lit up, but before he could finish his sentence, he swallowed it back. "My cousin is here too..."
Wei Yuanzhan walked up, raised an eyebrow and looked at him for a moment. His robes were casually tucked together with Zhi Rou's. He asked casually, "Cousin, you're still living in the Song residence. Doesn't your grandmother miss you?"
His tone was very ordinary, and his expression was very amiable, but Xu Chengze felt a chill run down his spine.
“My grandmother doesn’t like younger generations bothering her these days. My mother’s 40th birthday is at the end of the month, so I’ll go back then.”
Wei Yuanzhan said "Oh," and then added, "Okay."
What does "good" mean? Xu Chengce twitched his eyelids and glanced at him and the Fourth Miss for a moment. The young man and woman stood quietly together, with no extra distance between them, as if they were a match made in heaven.
Although Xu Chengze was not quick-witted, he understood what Wei Yuanzhan's actions were trying to convey. He felt ashamed and bowed to the two of them before taking his leave.
This was the first time Zhi Rou had seriously looked at him. Her gaze followed him out of the cave, and she turned back with a gentle smile.
Wei Yuanzhan frowned and asked, "What's so funny?"
“He seems intimidated by you.” Zhi Rou said as she walked forward, and Wei Yuanzhan’s brows relaxed. “Is that so?”
Though she said this, she couldn't help but feel a little smug inside. Wherever he was, no one could get close to her.
Zhi Rou understood his tone, turned around, and took a step backward, her voice slow: "You are clearly... very kind."
Before she could finish speaking, Wei Yuanzhan suddenly stepped forward and pulled her closer, saying, "Be careful."
There was a stone step underfoot, and the path was uneven.
Zhi Rou's breathing quickened for a moment, then she lowered her eyes, stopped fooling around, and walked normally beside him.
The two chatted idly as they passed through a low doorway, revealing a hidden world inside.
It was not a room, but a long corridor with no overhead cover, high walls on the left and right, and two low doors facing each other at the far end. The passage was narrower than the area next to the Song Mansion, and there wasn't even a bird or tree in sight.
Wei Yuanzhan glanced at him, then suddenly smiled: "If I hear what you're about to say, am I going to be silenced?"
His casual and teasing tone made Zhi Rou burst into laughter, and then she followed up by asking, "Are you scared?"
Wei Yuanzhan curled his lips and took two steps inside: "I'm scared, scared to death."
This place was where Zhi Rou and Xing Hui used to "seclude themselves from the world." After school at noon, she would occasionally play here with Xing Hui, and there were rarely any other people around.
Zhi Rou led Wei Yuanzhan to sit on a low stool under the wall. She hadn't returned for a long time, but the stool was still spotless, suggesting that Xing Hui often came here when she wasn't around.
After they sat down, the atmosphere suddenly became more formal. Wei Yuanzhan was fine; he didn't know where her next words would lead, but he remained silent, waiting for her to speak.
Zhi Rou pondered how to bring it up, but lacking experience, she tried asking, "Have you heard of Chang Yu?"
Her voice was slightly soft, and it took Wei Yuanzhan a moment to catch the name she mentioned. After searching his memory for a while, he frowned slightly: "That traitorous general?"
Zhi Rou was speechless for a moment: "You say that too..."
Upon hearing this, Wei Yuanzhan looked at her with concern and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhi Rou placed her hand on the cool wooden stool, opened her mouth, but found it difficult to speak frankly to him. Her words seemed somewhat unrelated.
"Actually, my birthday is in June, a few days later than yours. I only just found out that you are only one year older than me."
Wei Yuanzhan, not understanding how anyone's birthday could be wrong, raised an eyebrow: "June?"
Zhi Rou didn't look at him, her eyelashes slightly lowered: "My mother...she wanted me to remember a special day, so she told me that my birthday is the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, and every year on this day, she would take me to Qingyin Temple, where we would stay for several days."
“Back then in Luozhou, I envied others who had birthday gifts and family celebrations. But my mother treated me very well, and I knew she must have her reasons for not celebrating my birthday.”
"Later, when I arrived at the Song family mansion, Xinghui would instruct the kitchen to make longevity noodles for me every year, and would also buy me rare and sought-after items from the south to make me happy."
Recalling this, a happy smile appeared on Zhi Rou's cheeks. Sister Xing Hui always made her feel incredibly close to her.
Then she turned to look at Wei Yuanzhan and said, "I've kept all the gifts you've given me every year."
Wei Yuanzhan was very generous, sometimes to her liking, and sometimes to her so much so that she would draw her sword.
Even so, she carefully packed everything he sent into her box. In an ordinary household, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a "mountain of gold and silver."
Wei Yuanzhan listened attentively to her story and then asked, "Then why did your mother tell you your birthday?"
"Because I brought someone back to Beijing."
Zhi Rou's smile faded slightly. "To be precise, he came back even earlier than me."
Wei Yuanzhan was very alert. After hearing her two sentences, he was almost certain that the person she was talking about was Su Du.
Zhi Rou hesitated several times, wanting to speak, but then hesitated, unsure of how to phrase it. Wei Yuanzhan was someone she trusted, and she didn't want to beat around the bush. She also felt extremely stifled and had to get her words out.
Her tone softened: "Sudu, he's not from the grasslands, his surname is Chang. I should have been surnamed Chang too."
Upon hearing this, Wei Yuanzhan's eyelashes twitched slightly.
How... how did she become a member of the Su family?
Seeing that he remained silent and his brows were still furrowed, Zhi Rou couldn't help but feel nervous.
Does her background matter to him?
Will he still see me the same way as before? Zhi Rou wondered, her fingers gradually twisting together.
"Could you..." say something, anything at all?
The silence was unbearable, but fortunately Wei Yuanzhan didn't make her wait too long.
His long eyebrows remained furrowed, adding to his sorrow, as he softly asked, "Is this what caused you distress that night?"
Zhi Rou nodded. After a moment of silence, she finally revealed her feelings and stopped holding back.
“My mother built a cage for me, afraid to show her face, while I fly around like a bird every day… She doesn’t want me to dwell on the past, but I want her to live openly and honestly, as she was originally. But… but I’m also afraid…”
She was both afraid that Chang Yu was conspiring with Bei Li, and also afraid that he was truly innocent. If it was the former, how could she tell her mother once she found out?
Wei Yuanzhan indeed had little recollection of Lin Shi; it was as if she didn't exist in the entire Song family mansion. Hearing Zhi Rou's words, he felt genuine pity, not only for her self-blame but also for the injustice she bore.
He watched her quietly, the sunlight shimmering on her usually proud eyes, which now drooped slightly, unable to meet his gaze.
Wei Yuanzhan reached out and brushed the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, as if tidying her up, and promised, "Do whatever you want. If you encounter anything difficult, I'll handle it."
Warm fingers slid across her ear, lightly touching her earlobe as they fell, sending a tingling sensation through her.
Zhi Rou's mind wasn't on that at the moment, and she didn't find his actions inappropriate. Instead, his words made her stop in her tracks, and she stared at him blankly.
Those eyes were the most passionate, the most tender, and the most unrestrained she had ever seen. Her gaze met his, burning like fire, yet she did not look away.
Zhi Rou asked hesitantly, "Are you really not afraid that knowing too much might be dangerous?" She used a joking tone, not wanting to burden him.
Wei Yuanzhan responded aptly, "For example, what if you silence me?"
Zhi Rou chuckled softly. He leaned slightly against the wall, his gaze fixed on her. His words were tinged with regret, yet also with a touch of frivolity, and floated around in a light, airy tone.
Even so, I can only lament that I cannot control my emotions and that my fate is full of twists and turns.
Zhi Rou inexplicably sensed some affection in the words, her cheekbones flushed, and she rarely showed such shyness. Feeling quite uncomfortable, she spoke up and said frankly, "Now that you know my secret, I want to know yours too."
Although she didn't understand what secrets he had that she could uncover, Wei Yuanzhan sensed an unusually ambiguous meaning in her words, as if being honest with each other was the most intimate form of contact, giving him a thrilling yet unsettling feeling.
Zhi Rou remembered what she had heard at the East Palace, and her eyes gleamed with inquiry: "When did you learn to swim?"
That's what I was asking.
Wei Yuanzhan pondered how to respond to her, then straightened up again, a smile playing on his lips.
"If I said I learned it for you, wouldn't it sound like I'm asking for a reward from you?"
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