Chapter 72 You See the Moon "This time, don't break your promise and lie to me again."...
The bright moon hangs high in the sky, and all is silent. A long wind howls across mountains and rivers, carrying scattered wildflowers to unknown distances. The hazy, soft moonlight falls steadily, gently illuminating Xue Rongyue's beautiful face, as radiant as peach blossoms, and bathing her every smile and frown in a gentle glow.
—Truly gentle.
Upon hearing Qin Jin's blunt question, Xue Rongyue's smile froze, and the corners of her mouth immediately turned down, revealing her true colors. She glared at him, her expression completely contrary to her gentle nature: "Judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty person."
She reached out and grabbed Qin Jin, pulling him down to lie down.
Before Qin Jin could struggle, he was already lying next to Xue Rongyue. The two were so close that he didn't need to turn his head to see Xue Rongyue's every smile and frown out of the corner of his eye. Their shoulders were pressed tightly together, and in the sweltering summer heat, their clothes were so thin that they could clearly feel the warmth of each other's skin without even trying.
The tingling sensation was amplified to an unbearable degree, spreading from the shoulder pressed against his shoulder to his throat, and down to his heart, making it impossible for Qin Jin to ignore. He lay straight, the tips of his ears turning red again, his peach blossom eyes staring intently at the trembling branches above his head, not daring to move his eyes easily.
"Qin Jin".
Xue Rongyue's voice was right next to me.
Immediately, Qin Jin lay even straighter, his arms hanging rigidly at his sides, looking as if facing a formidable enemy. It seemed as if the person lying next to him was not Xue Rongyue, but a vicious mountain bandit.
Xue Rongyue received no response and assumed Qin Jin hadn't heard her, so she raised her hand and poked his arm, calling out again, "Qin Jin!"
Taking a deep breath, Qin Jin cleared his throat and managed to squeeze out a "hmm" through his teeth.
Why the sudden coldness?
Xue Rongyue frowned in dissatisfaction, muttered a few words under her breath, and then continued, "Look, the moon."
After lying down side by side, with every movement of Xue Rongyue, her fair and rounded shoulders inevitably rubbed against Qin Jin's skin. The touch of their shoulders sent waves of heat through Qin Jin's heart, and his mind was buzzing. Although Xue Rongyue's words reached his ears, he couldn't immediately understand their meaning.
It wasn't until Xue Rongyue's raised hand began to ache and the deliberately deep sadness on her face showed obvious cracks that he belatedly realized what was happening and looked in the direction Xue Rongyue was pointing.
He nodded stiffly: "Yes, the moon..."
Why have you suddenly become so dull!
Xue Rongyue frowned slightly, pursed her lips, and had no choice but to continue, "Pear blossoms in the courtyard, bathed in the soft moonlight; willow catkins by the pond, carried on a gentle breeze. Do you still remember?"
To prevent Qin Jin from not replying for a long time, she deliberately pinched his arm. This trick worked; the moment her fingertips touched Qin Jin's arm, he quickly replied, "I remember, your name."
When she was born, Xue Xiude named her. Upon learning that she had given birth to a girl, Xue Xiude stopped in his tracks as he was about to head to the backyard. He sighed in disappointment and, looking at the annoying willow catkins drifting all over the city, casually said, "Let's just name her 'Catkin'."
Thus, the second daughter of the Xue family was named Xue Xu.
Later, after her brother's death, she changed her name; the name "Rongyue" was one she chose for herself. She insisted on changing her name, and when Xue Xiude learned of this, he was furious. He ordered his personal guards to restrain her and personally gave her five strokes of the military rod.
If it weren't for Madam Cui and Qin Jin, who had come to offer incense for her brother, rushing over after learning about it, she would have been beaten with countless military rods. At that time, Madam Cui had already decided to divorce Xue Xiude, and the two argued incessantly after meeting, until Qin Jin helped her to the side room.
His face was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, and his hand holding hers was icy cold with a barely perceptible tremor. She lay on the bed, silently weeping. Qin Jin looked at her silently for a long time before asking her in a hoarse voice, "...Why are you so insistent on changing your name?"
She bit her lower lip hard, her whole body trembling with pain. Hearing this, she said, word by word, fiercely, "I hate willow catkins!"
Actually, that's not the case.
Xue Rongyue snapped out of her reverie and slowly said, "I don't hate willow catkins; I'm just taking my anger out on them."
She hated the name because, as a child, she learned that the character "絮" was just something Xue Xiude casually uttered, without any deep meaning or the blessings and love that her parents poured into it. It represented perfunctory and indifferent behavior, so her aversion to the name reached its peak.
But these words were simply too difficult for her, who was still so young, to say. And out of some unknown fear and desire to escape, she was unwilling to accept or acknowledge them, and even wanted to help bury them.
Qin Jin was taken aback and turned his head to look at her intently.
He hadn't expected Xue Rongyue to suddenly bring this up with him.
The moonlight shone on her outstanding profile, her drooping eyelashes fluttering like raven feathers, and a fleeting glint of water flashed in her almond-shaped eyes.
After a long pause, he said, "The name Xue Rongyue is indeed much better than Xue Xu."
Xue Rongyue smiled and said, "I once lied to myself, thinking that I would hate the willow catkins that never know when to advance or retreat forever, but only now do I realize that I have become accustomed to the spring days in Chang'an being decorated by them."
As she finished speaking, she turned her head to meet Qin Jin's gaze, her words flowing without pause or hesitation: "Just like I once thought that we would be enemies for life, but these days I keep thinking back to the past and realize that I have already gotten used to your presence."
She said, "Perhaps it's because you've always been by my side, no matter what our relationship is like, you've never left."
"One by one, the people close to me have left me. When I look back, only you are still by my side, whether near or far, always walking with me."
His throat tightened so much that he couldn't speak. Qin Jin's fingers, hanging by his side, suddenly clenched, the knuckles and veins bulging noticeably from the force. In the depths of his gaze as he looked at Xue Rongyue, there was an unfathomable mix of emotions and turmoil.
"Qin Jin." She called softly, her gaze unwavering. "What I said that night was sincere. I've gotten used to you being in my sight all the time. During the time you left Chang'an, when Father returned to Chang'an with his adopted daughter, I would always involuntarily think of you when I was sad or scolded."
"Sometimes, it's you as a child, crouching down to clumsily comfort me. Sometimes, it's you as an adult, arms crossed, leaning to the side, mocking me with eyes full of sarcasm."
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and Xue Rongyue's words finally paused noticeably. She pulled up the corners of her lips, but her smile was mixed with bitterness and barely perceptible sorrow: "But no matter what, I really did think of you."
In the tranquil mountains, even the wind has stopped its clamor, leaving only the clear sounds of breathing and heartbeats. The air is thick with the moist scent of the air, making the breath feel sticky.
The two stood close together, their eyes locked, and at that moment, their pupils could see nothing but each other's reflections, nothing else.
Qin Jin also curved his lips into a smile, his deep and dark gaze like an unfathomable pool, his eyes fixed on her brows and eyes. Qin Jin seemed to be looking at her, yet not looking at her: "This is what you wanted to say tonight, isn't it?"
Xue Rongyue's lips curved into a deeper smile as she returned the sentence to him: "Actually, you don't have to know me this well."
The two of them laughed together.
After a pause, Xue Rongyue spoke again, her tone deliberately calm: "When we were at odds, I always thought I hated you, but even then, I hoped you could live a long and healthy life, and... stay with me for a while longer."
"Okay?"
Unexpectedly, after Xue Rongyue finished speaking, Qin Jin's expression immediately changed. His smile froze and disappeared, and the emotion in his eyes was quickly replaced by a sharp gaze.
With a heavy slid of his Adam's apple, Qin Jin seemed to awaken from a drunken stupor as if he had just acquired a rare wine.
He suddenly broke away from the atmosphere that Xue Rongyue had deliberately created.
The veins on his long, slender neck bulged, as if he had just been pulled from a bottomless pool. His rapid breathing seemed to be an attempt to suppress the complex emotions surging in his heart, but his eyes still betrayed his obvious emotions. His expression was almost icy. He suddenly sat up, his eyelashes falling, his broad and upright back sharp and clearly undulating.
Looking at his taut back, Xue Rongyue was stunned.
For some reason, she once again caught a glimpse of obvious pain in Qin Jin's eyes.
Why?
Did she say something wrong?
Xue Rongyue felt a little uneasy and kept replaying her words in her mind, trying to find a clue. But after repeated consideration, Xue Rongyue was still confused. She could only sit up and ask, "What's wrong?"
Qin Jin did not turn around to look at her. His eyes, which had been open, closed again, like a fully drawn bow. His knuckles clenched into fists and pressed tightly against his forehead, his jaw tense, as if he was trying his best to suppress the spread of some kind of emotion.
Amidst her heavy breathing, Xue Rongyue gradually sensed unease and...danger.
She subtly shifted her body backward, her cherry lips pressed tightly together, looking at him with surprise and uncertainty, wondering what had gone wrong.
In the unsettling silence, Xue Rongyue hesitated for a long time before finally reaching out and gently tugging at Qin Jin's sleeve: "Are you... alright...?"
With Xue Rongyue's gentle tug, Qin Jin's rapid breathing suddenly stopped. He stiffly turned his head to look at her, his fingers trembling slightly, as if all his emotions had been pulled out of his body by that gentle tug.
Sharp, dense pain pierced his internal organs, each continuous, agonizing pain causing blood and flesh to splatter. Although dignity was screaming within Qin Jin, urging him to expose Xue Rongyue's deception yet another, another, more surging desire, even a humble emotion, was firmly suppressing everything.
Everything around seemed to fall into an endless stagnation, so heavy that it was hard to breathe. In the end, the surging emotions overcame everything, like the wind that had been restrained by the mountains and rivers, ceasing its clamor.
He finally made a choice and compromise.
He said, "Okay."
Qin Jin's eyes were bloodshot, and every breath that escaped from his nose was extremely hot: "This time, don't break your promise again... don't lie to me."
Before Xue Rongyue could ponder the deeper meaning of those words, the system notification suddenly rang out—
[Congratulations, host! Your favorability towards target [Qin Jin] has increased by 10.]
[Congratulations, host! Your favorability towards target [Qin Jin] has increased by 8.]
[Congratulations, host! Your favorability towards target [Qin Jin] has increased by 10.]
[Congratulations, host! Your favorability towards target [Qin Jin] has increased by 12.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 13.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 12.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 12.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 6.]
......
[Congratulations, host! We have detected a sharp drop in the hatred level of the target [Qin Jin]. Your conquest progress has reached 56. Please keep up the good work!]
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The author writes: Pear blossoms in the courtyard, bathed in the soft moonlight; willow catkins drift on the pond, carried on a gentle breeze. ① From Yan Shu's poem "Allegory/Untitled: The Painted-Roof Carriage Will Never Be Seen Again" (Song Dynasty).
Persimmons also hold many secrets [Let me see].
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