Chapter 46 Gazing at the Moon from the Rooftop "Fine, even as a ghost, don't let me go..."
"Your Highness, the Lady has fainted in the small Buddhist hall. The Marquis and the doctor have rushed there." Guang Sheng cautiously stepped forward and reported in a low voice.
Tonight, the moon is bright and the stars are few, and the east wind is slightly cool. A row of elm trees is planted on one side of the courtyard corridor. It is the season when the branches and leaves are lush and green. The bright moonlight shines on the verdant branches and leaves, which sway slowly and gently in the night breeze.
Qin Jin sat atop the roof ridge, his brocade robe fluttering in the night wind. His tall and imposing figure was enveloped by a large, full moon. The moonlight elongated his shadow, contrasting with the swaying shadows of the trees, creating a scene of stillness and movement, sparseness and density, gazing at each other from afar.
Several wine jars were placed beside him. Qin Jin's eyes reflected a cluster of firelight as he quietly watched the letter in his hand burn to ashes. Upon hearing this, he remained calm and only responded with a soft murmur.
Guang Sheng tactfully withdrew. After the ashes were scattered by the night wind, Qin Jin casually picked up a wine jar, took two sips of wine, and couldn't help but frown.
He doesn't like drinking, especially strong liquor. Even though he has had to indulge in a life of pleasure over the years, he still hasn't gotten used to the taste of strong liquor.
He set the wine aside, rested his chin on his hand, and turned to gaze at the full moon hanging in the sky above Chang'an.
I stared at it blankly for a full quarter of an hour.
His swollen temples throbbed with pain. He lowered his head, his eyes were wet, his long neck was bent deeply, his head rested on his thin wrist, his wrist pressing heavily against his eyelids as he suppressed his breathing.
The moonlight, like a thin spring garment, draped him lightly, making his elongated shadow stand out clearly and forlornly, giving him a strangely pitiful and inexplicably dejected air.
When Xue Rongyue was welcomed in by the servants, she looked up and immediately saw the figure on the roof ridge that looked like a stray dog.
The servant who had led her in had just stopped when Guang Sheng heard the commotion and quickly came out of the room, startled: "Madam Xue?"
A servant from the Marquis's residence replied, "Madam Xue said she has important business to discuss with the young master, and the Marquis instructed me to lead the way for Madam Xue."
Having said that, he curtsied and withdrew.
Guang Sheng looked at him helplessly. He glanced at the young master on the roof and was about to ask Xue Rongyue to come another day when he turned around and found that he could not find Xue Rongyue.
He looked around frantically and finally found Xue Rongyue on the ladder leading to the roof. He was taken aback and exclaimed, "Madam Xue, no, that ladder—!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a "crack" was heard, and a section of the wooden ladder broke. Xue Rongyue's body suddenly leaned backward and slid down several inches. Fortunately, she was quick-witted and grabbed a piece of elm branch behind her, thus preventing her from falling.
Still shaken, Xue Rongyue gripped the tree branch tightly, then suddenly shouted, "Qin Jin!"
Qin Jin's strong, broad back stiffened. He lifted his head from his arms, his usually nonchalant eyes reddening, and his brows furrowing, revealing his hesitation.
—Why does it sound like he heard Xue Rongyue's voice? Is he dreaming?
Until Xue Rongyue shouted again in a fit of anger, "Qin Jin, stop pretending to be dead, come and save me!"
Hearing the noise coming from under the eaves behind him, Qin Jin's knuckles tightened slightly. Only after a few rapid breaths subsided did he stiffly take a step. Amidst the creaking of the roof tiles, he looked down at Xue Rongyue, who was gripping the edge of the wooden ladder with one hand and clutching an elm branch with the other.
The moonlight favors him, embracing him alone.
He stood against the bright moon, his eyes lowered, the cool moonlight melting into his eyes, becoming an obscure and unclear emotion.
Xue Rongyue looked up, and although she couldn't see his expression at all, she felt that the scene was somewhat familiar.
She originally intended to sneak up and give Qin Jin a big scare, but instead, she was startled by the damned wooden ladder and got stuck on it, unable to move forward or backward.
Barely managing to steady herself, Xue Rongyue reached out her hand to Qin Jin, her face somewhat grim: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and pull me up."
After saying this, Xue Rongyue suddenly remembered where this feeling of familiarity came from.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, she climbed the mountain in the snow. During her fight with Qin Jin, she unfortunately fell off a cliff. At the critical moment, she was able to save her life by tightly holding onto a piece of red silk.
At that time, Qin Jin stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down at her in the same way, ignoring her struggles when her life was in danger.
Seeing that the branch she was holding was about to fall, and worried that Qin Jin would remain unmoved again, or say something probing or sarcastic, Xue Rongyue was about to use her three tried-and-true tricks: "I have something important to discuss," "You have wronged me," and "My brother."
Qin Jin, however, had already reached out his hand as if possessed.
Unexpectedly, it was so easy, and Xue Rongyue quickly took his hand.
The soft, delicate touch pressed against his palm, and Qin Jin's Adam's apple bobbed suddenly. He looked away in a panic, almost letting go of her hand again.
This startled Xue Rongyue sober. In an attempt to steady herself, she nearly pulled the green branch in her hand to shreds. She cried out, "Qin Jin, what are you doing!"
Qin Jin snapped out of his daze, used his knuckles to pull Xue Rongyue up.
Seeing that the young master hadn't driven away Lady Xue, Guang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was a little puzzled, he didn't make a fuss and quietly withdrew again.
Xue Rongyue's wrists were red. She glared at Qin Jin and said angrily, "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You're so vicious! If I really fall and die here tonight, I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"
"...Fine, even as a ghost, don't let me go." The quiet night breeze rustled through the branches and leaves. After a moment of silence, Qin Jin lowered his eyelashes to hide the deep complexity in his eyes, then sat back down on the roof ridge, picked up a bottle of strong liquor, and casually took a sip.
Xue Rongyue looked at him thoughtfully: "Are you in a bad mood?"
"No."
Qin Jin denied it.
"Come on," Xue Rongyue scoffed. "You've always been like this when you're in a bad mood, since you were little. Don't forget, I'm the one who taught you this method."
When she was little, she liked to read miscellaneous books sold outside, especially stories fabricated by talented men. Although her mother and brother doted on her, they did not want her to read these messy books, so she could only ask Qin Jin to bring her a few when he traveled.
In return, she generously shared the skills she had learned from the miscellaneous books with Qin Jin.
"That's exactly it. That's what all those books say: sit on the rooftop in the dead of night, feel the cool night breeze, look at the bright moon in the sky, and then fall into deep thought. After sitting there all night, even the most painful and difficult problems can be figured out, really!"
So, in the dead of winter, the six- or seven-year-old girl and Qin Jin climbed onto the rooftop, which was piled high with snow. She plopped down in the snow and almost slipped off with the falling snow. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating; that night, dark clouds stretched for hundreds of miles, and the stars and moon were nowhere to be seen.
In the dead of night, a howling east wind blew, making Qin Jin shiver uncontrollably as he wrapped his cloak tighter around himself. His face contorted with embarrassment, he stammered, "Really? But my... my... my butt is completely numb from the cold, I have absolutely no energy left to think..."
Actually, she wasn't in much better shape; the hand warmer in her sleeve was frozen solid. But she was determined to stick to her word: "No, no, no, that's right! That's what the book says. This is a trial. You, you, you, you, you, you, a real man, how can you back down!"
Frost clung to Qin Jin's eyelashes. Hearing this, she gritted her teeth, her face serious, her eyes lowered in thought, and she remained silent. In the end, even she couldn't stand the cold anymore and hesitated whether to leave, but seeing Qin Jin still deep in thought, out of a sense of loyalty, she gritted her teeth and persisted.
It wasn't until late at night that Qin Jin suddenly stood up, looking very serious, and said that he had figured out the problem that had been bothering him. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The two of them came down from the roof and were both diagnosed with three days of persistent high fever and ten days of being bedridden.
Xue Rongyue recalled the past and couldn't help but feel a little proud: "See? I didn't lie to you. That's what the books say. Ever since you attained enlightenment in the snow that year, you would hide on the rooftop whenever you were sad. That time you quarreled with the Marquis and got beaten, I was the first one to find you."
"You were clearly hiding up here crying, but you just won't admit it. You said you were reading a book up here, but you're holding the book upside down."
With her hands on her hips, Xue Rongyue looked Qin Jin up and down, deliberately using past events to mock and humiliate him: "Did you cry this time?"
With a slight tremor of his eyelashes, Qin Jin lowered his head and looked at the wine jar in his hand.
The clear wine was illuminated by the bright moonlight, and beneath the gentle ripples, Xue Rongyue's vivid and lively face was visible.
Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Xue Rongyue couldn't help but feel a little timid, worried that if she mocked him too much, Qin Jin would turn on her.
With a slight frown, she was about to say something to make amends when she suddenly heard Qin Jin scoff coldly: "You still have the nerve to mention that winter night."
"Why are you embarrassed to mention it?" Xue Rongyue asked, displeased.
With her long, straight legs spread wide open, Qin Jin put down the wine jar and looked up at her: "That year was the coldest winter Chang'an City had ever experienced in a hundred years. I almost froze to death."
Xue Rongyue retorted stubbornly, "It was a bit cold, but you were thinking very seriously that night."
Upon hearing this, Qin Jin was genuinely amused and exasperated: "Is that what you call serious thinking? I was clearly frozen unconscious!"
That night was unusually cold, and he was extremely sensitive to the cold. If Xue Rongyue hadn't knocked on the door and said she would take him to a nice place, he would never have gone out.
As a result, Xue Rongyue led him to the rooftop, where a biting wind was blowing overhead and the snow was icy cold beneath his buttocks.
He forced himself to sit down, and his soul almost left his body!
But Xue Rongyue wouldn't let him leave. He himself didn't even remember what time he had fainted from the cold. If it weren't for the night watchman's drum suddenly waking him up, he probably would have frozen to death that night!
Lying in his hospital bed, he was marveling at his good fortune and just about to send his servants to find the night watchman from that night and reward him with a fortune when Xue Rongyue came running over excitedly: "My method is good, isn't it? You were able to figure it out thanks to me. If it weren't for me, you would probably be troubled by what's weighing on your mind for ten days or half a month!"
Looking at Xue Rongyue's smug and self-satisfied face, he felt like strangling her.
He did come to terms with his troubles, after all, he was already on the verge of death at that time, what was there that he couldn't understand?
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Author's Note: Persimmon: Almost froze into an ice sculpture
Xiaoyue observed, and Xiaoyue was satisfied: You're thinking really seriously! [shy][Let me see]
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