Chapter 38 Miss Liang Ye's judgment does indeed need improvement...
Her long eyelashes trembled, and she opened her eyes, turning around to see Zhao Xu walking towards her amidst fallen petals, his posture upright, the gold buckle on his belt reflecting the setting sun, flickering with each step.
“Miss Meng.” Zhao Xu met her eyes, stopped abruptly, and lowered his head. “I’m so sorry to have disturbed your peaceful sleep.”
"My apologies for my rudeness." Meng Lingyao quickly straightened her clothes and asked, "General, what brings you here?"
"When I came, Miss mentioned this 'King of Flowers,' and I longed to see it, so I came to admire it." Zhao Xu lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing something. "Indeed, it is breathtakingly beautiful."
The person before me was dressed in red, like a cloud, with rosy cheeks and bright eyes, clearly more captivating than a tree full of peach blossoms.
Zhao Xu dared not look again.
“By the way, I was lucky enough to win the pitch-pot game just now, and this prize…” He took out a brocade pouch from his bosom and poured out a pure white jade seal, “I wanted to give it to Miss.”
The seal knob is carved with a Qilin looking back, simple and profound, with pure and soft colors, and a warm glow flowing in the twilight.
"General Zhao, this is a prize you won. I have not earned it, so how can I accept it so casually?"
“How could it be considered a failure?” Zhao Xu said earnestly, “If it weren’t for Miss’s suggestion, I wouldn’t have played the pitch-pot game. Without Miss, there would be no seal, so how can it be considered a failure?”
He spoke with utmost sincerity, his dark, jade-like eyes genuine and moving.
"If the general says so, then I do indeed seem to have made a great contribution." Meng Lingyao said with a smile, "Then I will accept it. Thank you for your kindness, General."
She casually praised, "General Zhao is not only an excellent archer, but also a master of pitch-pot."
Zhao Xu's hand, holding the seal, froze in mid-air. His previously spirited expression suddenly drooped, his eyelashes casting small shadows beneath his eyes. His fingertips unconsciously traced the qilin pattern, his Adam's apple bobbing several times before he finally said, "Unfortunately, I'm still slightly inferior, losing to Pei Shaoqing and failing to obtain Miss's painting..."
The mountain wind whipped up petals that filled the hillside, and Meng Lingyao saw his dim eyes. He had been so flamboyant during the competition, but now he looked as withered and drooping as a wet petal.
Perhaps due to the influence of the alcohol, her heart softened, and she blurted out, "It's just a painting. If the general wants it, I'll paint another one."
Zhao Xu's eyes lit up instantly: "Really?"
Meng Lingyao reached out and took the jade seal, shook it, and said in a serious tone, "Bartering is very fair."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Xu broke into a bright smile, her previous gloom melting away like spring snow, and even the jade belt binding her hair seemed to come alive.
“However, there are many people and eyes in Shushi Residence, and if someone sees me, it may cause gossip…” She deliberately dragged out her words, and seeing her smile freeze nervously again, she slowly said, “But I do have a set of daily painting tools in my carriage.”
"I'll go get it now." Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Xu leaped into the air. His dark robes swept across the fallen petals, and he disappeared into the depths of the peach grove in the blink of an eye.
Meng Lingyao was stunned for a moment, then almost burst out laughing.
Before half a cup of tea could be brewed, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the mountain path. Zhao Xu came running, carrying his painting box on his back. His tanned skin was flushed, and a fine layer of sweat covered his forehead. When he got closer, Meng Lingyao noticed that even his sideburns were a little disheveled, but the painting box was as steady as a mountain. When she opened it to check, not a single drop of paint had spilled.
"I've kept you waiting, Miss." He hastily wiped the sweat from his brow and unfolded the plain silk from the box as if presenting a treasure. The mountain breeze brushed against his still-heavy chest, carrying the scent of pine ink mixed with grass to her nose.
Having chosen a flat rock near the stream, Meng Lingyao mixed the ink and asked, "What would the general like to paint?"
"All is well." Zhao Xu knelt to the side, his hands resting neatly on his knees, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness. "Miss's paintings... are all well done."
As she dipped the wolf-hair brush into the azurite, she caught a glimpse of the young general secretly wiping the sweat from his palms with his sleeve. As the brush moved across the paper, a soft "snap" was heard—Zhao Xu, engrossed in his reading, had accidentally broken a dry twig beside him. He was instantly embarrassed, his ears practically bleeding, yet he still couldn't bear to look away.
Meng Lingyao picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and perhaps moved by something, she painted with exceptional care. The spring mountains were like dark eyebrows, and the peach blossoms were like rosy clouds; she depicted the beautiful scenery before her on the paper.
After finishing the painting, she took out her own seal and stamped it on. After a moment's thought, she took the jade seal from before and stamped it on the painting as well.
"Here you go." As she handed over the scroll, her wrist suddenly felt heavy.
Zhao Xu received it with both hands, as if receiving an imperial edict. His well-defined fingers carefully avoided the still-wet ink, and he even held his breath as he unfolded it. His gaze lingered on the streams, mountains, and spring trees, finally settling on the two seals in the corner, where it remained for a long time.
In a daze, Meng Lingyao felt as if what she had given her was not an ordinary landscape painting, but some kind of extraordinary treasure map, as if following a special path would lead to a rare treasure.
While packing up his painting supplies, Meng Lingyao noticed that he would steal glances at the rolled-up scroll every few moments, as if afraid it would vanish into thin air. She could sense that his genuine joy was completely unpretentious. Unlike Pei Xu, whose taking the painting was a way of repaying a debt of gratitude, Zhao Xu seemed to cherish it simply because she was the one who painted it.
In any case, it is always gratifying to receive such high regard for one's work.
On the way down the mountain, the two chatted and laughed all the way, and the atmosphere was much more natural and harmonious than when they went up the mountain. After a long day of sunshine, the water stains on the mountain road had all dried up.
After taking a few steps, Meng Lingyao, slightly tipsy, deliberately stumbled on the slippery moss. Sure enough, a warm palm immediately supported her elbow, the reassuring strength coming through the gauze.
"Thank you, General. Perhaps I drank a little too much wine just now." As she tried to pull her hand away, she found that Zhao Xu had already let go first, his wrist hovering in a perfectly protective stance.
“No need to be so polite, Miss, please be careful.” His ears were red, but he straightened his back and said, “If you don’t mind, you can help me up.” “Then I’ll trouble you, General.”
When they reached the halfway point of the mountain, Zhao Xu suddenly stopped and addressed him politely, "Young Master Pei."
Meng Lingyao looked up as Pei Xu slowly walked from the side path, his white wide sleeves billowing in the mountain wind, like a jade mountain about to collapse. His gaze swept over their clasped hands, his expression cold and distant.
"Young Master Pei." Upon seeing the newcomer, Zhao Xu suppressed his earlier excitement and bowed respectfully to Pei Xu. In the twilight, he appeared slightly disheveled, yet his eyes still held a lingering joy. "Why are you here alone?"
Pei Xu stopped a few steps away, his gaze sweeping over Meng Lingyao's cloud-like hair before landing on the painting box behind Zhao Xu. After a moment's pause, he said, "Come and fetch a few scrolls for His Majesty." His voice was as cold as a mountain spring, devoid of any warmth.
"My lord is very busy and must be exhausted." Thinking that this person had only enjoyed half a day of the Shangsi Festival before being summoned away by the Emperor and had been busy until now, and seeing that he would have to continue to be busy, Meng Lingyao rarely felt a little compassion and said, "It is getting dark, my lord, please be careful on the road."
"Thank you, Miss Meng." Pei Xu lowered his eyes. "I have other matters to attend to. Please make yourselves at home."
His reply was extremely brief, without even a word of pleasantries, before he brushed past the two of them and left on his own.
Meng Lingyao was slightly taken aback. She had always known that Pei Xu was aloof and always kept people at arm's length, but in their several interactions, Pei Xu seemed to indulge her and feel helpless.
She almost thought she was the special one.
Indeed, the Zhou family's affairs have come to an end, and she has gained some attention. They are now even. It's perfectly normal for them to return to their initial state of estrangement.
"Miss Meng?" Zhao Xu called out with concern when he saw her lost in thought.
"It's nothing." She came to her senses and smiled at him. "Let's go down the mountain."
Pei Xu walked alone along the secluded path, the swaying bamboo shadows reflected on her robes, like ink wash paintings. The words of advice she had just received should have been comforting, but seeing her walking so close to Zhao Xu, who was not only carrying her painting box on his back, but also holding a painting scroll in his arms.
That statement then sounded rather harsh.
Actually, this wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this.
Last year, at the Cui family's lotus-viewing banquet, the host came up with a unique idea: to place several small and large awning boats on the lotus pond so that guests could get close to the lotus flowers and enjoy the view.
A girl in pink sat at the bow of a small boat, holding a handful of lotus flowers. She carefully selected a budding lotus and turned to hand it to Lu Heming, who was punting the boat. He heard the talented scholar from Jiangnan recite a poem about lotus flowers on the spot, but his affectionate eyes were clearly fixed on her lips, which were wet with water droplets.
"Snap—" The crisp sound of a bamboo branch breaking accidentally shattered his memories. Pei Xu looked down at the red mark on his palm and suddenly felt ridiculous. That day, there were more than ten covered boats on the lake, but the one he was on almost brushed past them.
He remembered that Jian Su had said that Miss Meng was bad at judging people.
He rebuked him harshly at the time, but he didn't agree with it in his heart.
She has always been extremely intelligent.
Although Lu Heming came from a prestigious family, his clan was far away in Wu County. He was exceptionally talented and could become the top scholar in the imperial examination, but every few years a new top scholar would emerge in the capital, and the number of such talents in the Hanlin Academy was as numerous as the fish crossing the river. He was handsome but not unparalleled in appearance; he excelled in everything but not excessively—worthy of her, yet not so much as to arouse too much jealousy.
The same was true of Zhou Yizhi later on. Although he was incredibly wealthy, he was still a merchant by birth and looked down on high-ranking officials and those of higher social standing. If she were to marry into the Zhou family, they would surely cherish her like a treasure.
And then there's Zhao Xu now. The second son of the Marquis of Wuxing, he may not be eligible for the title, but he's young and promising, with numerous military achievements. The people she sets her sights on are always just right—neither too high nor too mediocre.
That's incredibly clever.
Pei Xu suddenly recalled the stunning beauty he had seen her with earlier that day. He had thought the phoenix hairpin suited her perfectly when he first saw it, and her attire today made that perfect match even more perfect, further enhancing her beauty and talent.
Just like him today.
After walking a few more steps, a drop of night dew slid down from between the bamboo leaves and landed heavily on Pei Xu's brow, its coolness penetrating to the bone.
Pei Xu stopped in his tracks. He had changed his mind again.
Lu Heming had a seemingly upright and honest appearance, but in reality he was tyrannical. Zhou Yizhi was even worse.
As for Zhao Xu...
He thought of Cui's mannerisms and frowned slightly.
Miss Meng's judgment does indeed need improvement.
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Author's Note: Oh, it's a specialty of Zhenjiang~~ [covers face and peeks]
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