The eight-year-old grandmother laughed heartily: "Your grandfather had..."
It is Luo Ling.
He looked at the two of them with a helpless smile, but more than that, he felt gratified.
He continued, "But now is not the time. People are coming after me—Qingyun and Ajun." He shook his head, seemingly troubled. "This little third brother, I can't stop him." Then he looked at Qin Weixi and asked, "Little sister, are you going or staying?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Yening immediately lowered his hand that was touching his waist.
Qin Weixi was somewhat surprised: "Didn't they have something to do today?"
Luo Ling thought for a moment and said, "Qingyun must have known you would be coming today, but I didn't know about Ajun."
But every year before the New Year, Jiang Yuanjun would bring A Xiao with her. The two of them would go into the Qin family's old house to clean it up and sit there for an hour.
Qin Weixi smiled slightly: "Since that's the case, there's no point in hiding. Now that I'm back, this day will come eventually."
Before she was eight years old, she never cried in front of others, but now she often bursts into tears. She has never met her grandmother, but she knows that she was a very brave and resolute woman. When she was little, only her grandfather often gave her advice that was hard to hear: "My dear granddaughter, you must be brave. Only if you are tenacious can you destroy the enemy's will."
Luo Ling looked at Chu Yening again. He frowned slightly: "Just pretend I was never here." He turned to leave, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked back. The moonlight had quietly bathed her in its glow, highlighting her high eyebrows, pointed yet slightly rounded chin, bright and captivating eyes, and tall stature. She stood there in the moonlight streaming into the Qin family's old house, dressed in a snow-white silk dress, radiant and clear. She stared intently in the direction he was about to leave, and seemed to be gazing back at him as well.
He hesitated.
A moment later, he turned back and stood beside her without saying a word. But the clear smile on Luo Ling's lips made it clear that he had made his choice.
Tao Qingyun met Jiang Yuanjun at the back gate of the Qin residence. He was also somewhat surprised and couldn't help but ask him, "What are you doing here?"
By the moonlight, Jiang Yuanjun looked at him and smiled faintly: "A lot has happened this year, and I wanted to come and see you in advance. But you?" As he spoke, he tried to walk inside, but his heart felt increasingly heavy. For many years, he had been too ashamed to come to the Qin residence, only coming here temporarily during the New Year when every household was filled with the sound of firecrackers, thinking that he could avoid being noticed.
Seeing this, Tao Qingyun became somewhat hesitant, but the small gate to the courtyard had already been opened from the inside.
Upon seeing Luo Ling, Jiang Yuanjun's eyes flashed with surprise, but she remained silent. Tao Qingyun was also quite silent at this moment, exchanging a glance with Luo Ling, who nodded at him without making a sound. Then, Tao and Jiang walked into the courtyard one after the other.
Luo Ling simply smiled gently at Jiang Yuanjun without saying a word. Just as he was about to close the small door from the inside, a hand suddenly appeared through the crack, followed by the voice of the person outside: "What are you all doing here?"
Tao Qingyun and Jiang Yuanjun, who were behind Luo Ling, stopped immediately upon hearing the sound. Jiang Yuanfu had already quickly slipped in through the gap in the doorway.
She saw the three of them looking completely surprised.
Tao Qingyun spoke first, asking, "What are you doing here?"
Jiang Yuanfu said, "Big cousin! You're asking me? I should be asking you!" She glanced guiltily at Jiang Yuanjun beside her, "I came with my brother. Today, after returning to the palace, the Empress Dowager asked him to have dinner at Kunning Palace, but he said he had something to do. I went to the East Palace to look for him, but A-Xiao was evasive and said that my brother had left the palace. But what could he possibly have to do since we've been in Penglai? So I came along."
Tao Qingyun's gaze immediately darkened slightly, and she said to her with a tense expression, "You, go back to the palace first. A few of us men have arranged to drink here. What are you doing here, a young lady?" As she spoke, she looked at Luo Ling and said, "Quickly, unlock the door."
Jiang Yuanfu, however, wouldn't have it, her delicate brows furrowing as she looked at him: "What's wrong with a young lady?" Her voice suddenly became a little hoarse as she said this: "Who says young ladies can't drink?" She chuckled and looked inside again: "Or are you hiding someone in there?"
She gave a cold laugh again: "Big Cousin, you've never treated Afu like this before." She turned her face away from Tao Qingyun: "Did Afu offend you sometime? Afu grew up under your brother's wings and is used to being unrestrained. If she has offended you at some point, please don't hide it, lest we two become enemies and they suffer as well!"
"Why are you nagging like this just because I told you to go back to the palace?" After saying that, Tao Qingyun stopped looking at her, flicked her sleeves, and walked inside with a tense expression.
Luo Ling and Jiang Yuanjun stood there, stunned, exchanging bewildered glances. This was certainly not the debonair and dashing Han Qing Jushi of the past.
It was Jiang Yuanjun who broke the silence, asking her, "It's getting late. Zhenhui, if you don't return to the palace, your mother will be looking for you."
As Jiang Yuanfu walked forward, she shook her head and said, "It's alright. I've already told Zishu that if anyone asks, just say I went to my maternal grandfather's place. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, so no one will suspect anything." She then smiled slightly at Jiang Yuanjun, "Isn't that what you should do, brother?"
The wind blew relentlessly tonight, and the moonlight was cold and thin. Several people slowly walked through the corridors of the mansion. Jiang Yuanjun sighed helplessly. Before the sigh had even faded, two figures appeared around the corner.
One woman had cherry lips and a delicate nose, eyes like autumn water, and wore a snow-white silk dress that seemed inappropriate for the festive occasion.
A man in brocade robes with black hair, bright eyes and sparse eyebrows stood beside the girl.
Ten years have passed since they parted, and the world has changed dramatically. Ten springs and autumns have passed in the capital in the blink of an eye. Sandstorms, rain, falling leaves, and snow have swept through the city. In this deep darkness, and with the distance of several feet, the Jiang siblings found it difficult to see clearly.
For a moment, they didn't know whether it was that the eyes couldn't see clearly, or that their hearts dared not recognize them.
Jiang Yuanfu's face turned deathly pale in an instant, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, and she staggered backward. Jiang Yuanjun, on the other hand, stood motionless, staring blankly at the girl in the distance, dressed in a snow-white silk dress with bright eyes and white teeth.
"Seventh Sister!"
"Seventh Sister!"
The two spoke in unison. Jiang Yuanjun spoke first, followed by Jiang Yuanfu.
Jiang Yuanjun strode forward, her eyes still filled with surprise, staring intently at Qin Weixi, but she dared not reach out to touch her.
Memories are etched deep in my mind. Look, still as eager for coolness as when we were children! Fifth Brother, do you remember? What you personally promised the late Emperor back then. Fifth Brother, do you remember?
Tao Qingyun's gaze swept back and forth between Qin Weixi and Chu Yening's faces. Finally, with an expression that said, "I already knew," she lowered her eyes and chuckled softly, "What a guy who values women over friends."
Jiang Yuanjun gave a bitter smile, her eyes glistening with tears. Then, a single tear instantly dripped from the corner of her eye, falling to the ground with a "plop," landing between the two of them and mingling with the dust.
"Seventh Sister, I should have known! I should have realized it sooner!" His voice was hoarse, almost out of control: "Good, good. The Qin family still has people, the Qin family still has people." He kept repeating.
Qin Weixi smiled as she looked at Jiang Yuanfu, who was slowly approaching from behind him. Because of her leg ailment, she always walked slowly. Tears streamed down her face. "Yes! Seventh Sister, you've been calling me Afu lately. Afu, I'll pick some persimmons for you. Afu, will you stay the night and share my bed with me tonight? Yes, only you, Seventh Sister, would call me that. How could I not have thought of that? I was so foolish! Zhenhui, you were so foolish!"
"But Seventh Sister, why didn't you tell me and Brother?" Jiang Yuanfu looked at Chu Yening beside her, then at Tao Qingyun behind her, both of whom remained calm and composed. She already understood, and with a bitter laugh, tears streamed down her face: "Fine, you all know, only Brother and I don't." She looked at Chu Yening: "So, not long after Fourth Brother returned to the capital, when did you find out? Did Third Brother trust the Qin family from the beginning that they hadn't plotted a rebellion? Wasn't that right?"
Jiang Yuanjun gazed at the slender figure in the moonlight. She held a lantern, her aura serene and cold, standing quietly in place. He suddenly recalled her every smile and gesture from his youth—her beating of Liang Shuwen's youngest son, her fights over the Liang family's daughters, her eyes blazing with unwavering determination—that fiery young girl. Like the wind that came, and then like the winter snow that year that vanished.
"Seventh Sister!" Another drop of clear water flowed by, and he slightly raised one hand, then slowly lowered it, as if he was also trying his best to restrain himself, his whole body trembling slightly.
Jiang Yuanfu looked at Chu Yening, who had remained silent, and asked, "Fourth Brother?"
"I've come to see an old friend. Tonight is a festive night, not for the past, not for family matters, not for grudges. What? Is that not allowed?" Chu Yening smiled. Then, a hint of impatience appeared between his brows. He leaped up a tree, rested his head on his arm, and gazed at the stars in the sky, not saying a word to anyone.
Qin Weixi's eyelids twitched, then her gaze swept over Jiang Yuanfu's knees before she looked at Jiang Yuanjun, who was no longer the proud Crown Prince of the Great Xia Dynasty she once was. She smiled and said, "Some things are better left unknown than known."
Jiang Yuanjun said, "But Seventh Sister, only when you are well can we all be well."
Jiang Yuanfu noticed the scroll he was holding and asked, "Brother, what are you holding?"
Jiang Yuanjun didn't answer, but instead unfurled the scroll she had been clutching. In the cool night, with stars twinkling in the sky, the moonlight filtering through the clouds allowed them to see the scene depicted on the scroll. It seemed to transport the six of them back to that vibrant summer, filled with the sounds of cicadas and the green trees.
Two years had passed since the late emperor's death, and the Empress Dowager had been residing at Xiaguang Peak. These eight men went to visit the Empress Dowager, who was often grieving over the late emperor. That day, she summoned a skilled court painter to create a lifelike portrait of them. The eight men stood under the shade of a tree by Xiaguang Lake, gazing at the court painter not far away.
The eight people were divided into two rows. In the back row were several young men, and the one laughing the most happily was undoubtedly Tao Qingyun. Luo Ling, still mature beyond his years, stood upright with Qin Shuoguang, who was laughing heartily around him, and Jiang Yuanjun, who was smiling gently.
Three little girls stood at the front. Jiang Yuanfu, dressed in pink, had a butterfly hairpin with wings that fluttered in the wind tucked behind her ear, and smiled slightly. Luo Jiaxiaoxing, dressed in a ginger-yellow silk skirt, had her hair styled in a cute bun, also with a butterfly hairpin in her ear, and smiled sweetly. Qin Weixi stood to her left, dressed in a pale yellow brocade dress, holding her little hand in one hand, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
As for the young man from the Chu family, he didn't stand with the other boys in the back row. Instead, he stood beside Qin Weixi, hands on his hips, with a sly smile. Meanwhile, Zhou Feng rushed in from afar, still panting heavily, and as he hurried along, he stood in front of the three girls, obediently squatting on the open ground.
When Zhao Shuhan brought Ping An to visit her great-aunt at Xiaguang Peak, the eight people invited her to join them in the painting. Zhao Shuhan repeatedly declined, saying, "No, no. Such a beautiful scene, a painting is still, unlike a memory which is alive. It would be such a pity if no one appreciated it and kept such a beautiful moment in their mind forever!"
The Empress Dowager laughed heartily: "What your grandfather has, you must have too! Inscribe this painting as—'Eight Years Young'."
With a smile, the court painter captured this scene forever in that bright summer season. Zhao Shuhan and Ping An stood beside the painter, watching them with smiles.
But none of them could have predicted that after the height of summer came the crisp autumn air and the falling snow of winter. The gears of time turned, and as the seasons changed once again, it was time for them to go their separate ways.
Qin Weixi's bright eyes were already misty with tears. She raised her eyes slightly and looked at Chu Yening, who was looking down at the painting from the tree. How come this person was standing with her back then? She couldn't quite remember.
And there were two bright red crabapple blossoms, still attached to their branches and covered in green leaves, near her temple. That day, he insisted that the butterfly hairpin in her hair was unattractive, so he picked these blossoms and forcefully stuck them in her hair, tossing the hairpin aside. Then, opening his peach blossom eyes, which seemed to look at everyone with deep affection when he smiled, he said slyly, "The crabapple blossoms are so charming, they suit my seventh sister best, don't they? Why wear those vulgar cosmetics? It's not good, not good. But now that the flowering season is over, you can make do with these two blossoms that your fourth brother picked for you."
Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. After looking at it for a while, she looked away and looked at another part of the painting. A moment of surprise flashed in her eyes. There was another person in the painting, who was clearly looking at her in the painting. But for some reason, the court painter did not remind her and instead recorded it.
Just then, Jiang Yuanjun smiled gently at her, and Qin Weixi couldn't help but blink at that expression.
Jiang Yuanfu's eyes immediately reddened as she looked at the eight people in the painting: "I originally thought this painting was lost. We were all young back then. Later, when we thought about looking for it, I asked my grandmother, but she didn't know where the painting had gone either."
Luo Ling suddenly said, "It has been kept in my study all these years. Back then, my grandmother originally intended for the painter to work harder, so that the painting would be made into eight parts, and we all treasured them. Later, I suggested to Grandmother Zhao that only one part would be enough, as it carries our friendship and is the most precious, a unique one. Later, Grandmother Zhao entrusted this painting to me for safekeeping." As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Yuanjun, his gaze deep and unfathomable, "But this morning, A-Jun came to me asking for this painting, so I gave it to her."
"So, the Qin family's old house has remained spotless all these years, just like it was back then. Is it because you, Ajun, often come here to take care of it?"
Jiang Yuanjun said briefly, "Brother, I will only come every New Year."
“No wonder.” Jiang Yuanfu choked back a sob, then pondered for a moment. She walked over and tightly grasped Qin Weixi’s hand, staring at her intently, before asking, “Seventh Sister, what about Xiaoxing? What happened to Xiaoxing? And Seventh Sister, when did you return to the capital? Where have you been all these years? What exactly happened back then?” She looked at Qin Weixi, meeting her gaze, and after a moment opened her mouth, saying, “No, that’s not right, you impersonated Xiaoxing? You two looked alike when you were young, everyone says so.”
"...What about Xiaoxing?"
Eight years ago, in the peach grove, two young people swore brotherhood, but now, buried deep in the yellow earth, are two boys who will never grow up again.
Qin Weixi suddenly turned his back to the group, lowered his eyes to look at the lantern he was holding, and after a long while said, "Xiaoxing has died young." It was a short sentence, but the words he spoke were extremely heavy.
She left this place forever when she was six years old.
She looked up at the starry sky and said, "I want to live well for her."
Luo Ling let out a soft sigh.
"How could this be?" Jiang Yuanfu looked at Luo Ling in disbelief upon hearing this.
Luo Ling did not deny it; that soft sigh was the best answer.
Then Luo Ling looked at Chu Yening, who was lying on the tree, perhaps stargazing. For some reason, it reminded him of the night the stargazing tower collapsed, his fight with the masked man in black, and how the man kept dodging.
Jiang Yuanfu was about to ask again when Tao Qingyun stepped forward at the right moment. He looked at the group and said, "Alright, it's getting late. Since Little Seventh Sister doesn't want to talk about it, then none of us should. Since we all have our own little secrets, this time it will be our shared secret." He smiled again, "Do you all still remember our promise from our childhood? Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Today I will only say it once, and it will be the last time. From now on, we will do everything in our power to protect Seventh Sister for Ashuo."
"Since there is no wine on this festive day, let us drink this cup of sake before the moon, before the heavens, and before the gods."
"No matter what, we must always remember the bond between us, the closest of siblings. We must also remember the promise we made that day, a promise that is worth a thousand pieces of gold."
He stood with his hands behind his back in the moonlight, his gaze suddenly turning deep and tinged with a chill: "Whoever breaks this vow in the future will enter—Avici Hell!"
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A note from the author: Thank you for reading.
Thank you to the little angel who brings me wealth every month for the nutrient solution! [Heart emoji]
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