Chapter 22
Pale yellow gauze curtains hung all around, and a huge floor-standing incense burner stood in the center of the room. The interior was decorated in a simple and elegant style, and there were piles of copied calligraphy on the table. Books filled two or three cabinets, clearly indicating the boudoir of a talented woman.
Qingyun never expected that Song Chaoyun would take her to such a private place. For a moment, she didn't know whether to stand or sit. A maid came forward to serve tea, making her feel extremely uneasy. She didn't know what the other party wanted to do and why they didn't treat her like a slave at all.
She still vividly remembers the slap Song Chaoyun gave her when they first met.
Song Chaoyun changed into a snow-white jacket, her alabaster skin faintly visible. She turned around and saw Qingyun still standing straight in the room. Her eyes darkened, and she said, "I've never seen you so disciplined before."
Upon hearing this, Qingyun chuckled twice. "The past is the past, and the present is the present. Our identities are different now, so naturally we can't be the same as before." Her words were perfectly worded, so even if the other party noticed anything unusual, she could use this as an excuse.
However, she still dared not let her guard down until she figured out why Song Chaoyun wanted to see her.
Song Chaoyun lazily gestured for her to sit down, stared at her for a moment, and then said, "I understand you less and less these days."
Qingyun was taken aback by what he heard, thinking to himself, "What's so hard to understand about this? Why does Your Highness say such a thing?"
Song Chaoyun looked at her and said, "I think you have actually done what you said back then. Your current intelligence and achievements are not something that can be achieved overnight. It seems that you have been studying desertification control from the very beginning."
As she spoke, her expression turned somewhat forlorn: "In the past and now, I am inferior to you in every way."
Upon hearing this, Qingyun's mind raced. She had no idea what Song Chaoyun and the original owner had said. She tapped the system, but it couldn't come up with a single answer. After carefully considering her words, she finally spoke, "Your Highness, why do you say that? You are my mentor. How can a thoroughbred horse display its talents without a mentor?"
She was screaming inwardly, "Song Chaoyun, have some confidence! The fact that you can handle everything so perfectly is a skill in itself!"
She looked at the other person, imagined the scene of her conversation with the original owner, awkwardly put herself in the original owner's shoes, and said firmly, "Chaoyun, I have always been very grateful to you for forgiving the past and for always believing in me. I'm afraid I can't do these things now that I'm in a position of power."
He had thought the other party would be very cooperative and warm, but to his surprise, Song Chaoyun only showed a slightly disgusted expression after hearing it, saying, "You really have changed your personality a lot now."
Qingyun; "..."
This kind of emotional manipulation makes people feel awkward, doesn't it?
"In short, this matter couldn't have been accomplished without you. Is this all you came to me for?" Qingyun simply let loose and stopped putting on airs in front of her.
After finishing her reflections, Song Chaoyun naturally got down to business. She knew Qingyun had gone to see Liu Ruo, but the old man was unusually quiet today, unlike his usual self. Who knew he might be plotting something? She wanted to give Qingyun a heads-up.
Secondly, it was a test. Song Chaoyun leaned lazily against the cushion, glanced at Qingyun, and asked, "Do you still remember the official from the Ministry of Revenue you met the other day?"
Qingyun only remembered this person after hearing her talk about him. It seemed like she hadn't seen him all day. But if she had to say she remembered him, she definitely would, since her impression of Ye Linping was that he was just a show-off. "I remember him, isn't he the guy from that day?"
Upon hearing this, Song Chaoyun raised an eyebrow. "What do you think of him?"
"A spoiled brat."
Song Chaoyun: "..." You think you weren't like that before?
In short, Song Chaoyun knew that Ye Linping was not a good person. Qingyun was stupid when it came to love. If she were to be deceived by his appearance and believe this scoundrel's words, she would be jumping into a fire pit. Now she could see that Qingyun didn't seem to be interested in him.
After a few more subtle hints, Qingyun said, "I don't like those weak, bookish types." As she spoke, she stroked her chin in thought, and Song Junwu's face unexpectedly appeared in her mind. She unconsciously murmured, "Song Junwu seems like the kind of guy who's all muscle when he's naked but looks thin when he's dressed."
Upon hearing this, Song Chaoyun sat up abruptly. "You don't mean you're interested in him, do you?"
Qingyun was bewildered by the question and shook her head, replying, "No, I just think he's good-looking."
[I feel that Song Chaoyun's conversation this time is a bit strange.] Qingyun thought to herself after being dismissed. She sensed that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Song Chaoyun's gaze towards her was really weird.
However, she couldn't worry about that now; she needed to get the seedling protection project started as soon as possible. As soon as she stepped out of the command post, she saw a person leaning against the small door. She looked back and found that it was Song Junwu, who was wearing a light blue round-necked, narrow-sleeved robe.
The pattern embroidered with gold thread shimmered with an unusual firelight. The man wore a light purple headscarf and a small tiger head tied around his waist, looking quite playful. Qingyun looked him up and down.
He wasn't like this just now. He was dressed in a dignified and dull outfit in the hall before, but now he's so adorned with jewels and has the spirit of a young general.
"Lord Song," Qingyun said, bowing respectfully.
Song Junwu hummed in agreement and said, "Come with me."
Qingyun: "?" So they've all caught her?
However, Song Junwu didn't have any instructions for her. He was just worried that Qingyun might have gone to the wrong place, since the weaving of the straw net wasn't on the sand dunes but inside the city. It was dark at the moment, but the streets were brightly lit.
Qingyun looked up and saw a sea of people gathered from her feet to the distance. Women and children from the city were all busy weaving in the streets. She was stunned by the sight and turned to Song Junwu, "Could it be that you...?"
Song Junwu looked into the distance with a grim face and said, word by word, "With the combined strength of all the cities, what is there to fear from a small storm?"
Seeing this, Qingyun bowed deeply to the other party again, expressing his gratitude once more, "Thank you very much, Lord Song."
A servant brought over a horse. Upon hearing this, Song Junwu simply smiled, took the reins, mounted the horse, and the horse trotted a few steps in place. Then the servant said, "Miss Qingyun, please don't act impulsively again in the future." After saying that, he spurred the horse and galloped away.
Qingyun immediately knew that everyone knew about her visit to Old Man Liu. She just pursed her lips and didn't take it seriously. Lin Wanjun, seeing that Song Junwu had finally left, got up and pulled Qingyun, saying, "Come here."
Amidst the constant chatter, many people noticed Qingyun and Song Junwu standing together and whispered among themselves, guessing which family Qingyun belonged to. Qingyun quickly glanced around but didn't see Mu Helian. After asking, she learned that Mu Helian had a task on the hill and needed to supervise the work, so she hadn't come.
Without further ado, Qingyun picked up some dry grass and began weaving a straw net with the others. The torch flames flickered, the wind howled all around, and the treetops swayed precariously. Many felt a chill creep up their spines. The wind carried not only sand and gravel, but also a variety of emotions that spread among the crowd.
Humans seem to have an innate excitement for extreme weather under strong winds. Although some people in the crowd were afraid, others felt more and more energetic to work because of this kind of weather. Qingyun kept working and just kept speeding up, and cartloads of hay were consumed between everyone's fingers.
Some of the grass was very prickly, causing many people to groan and complain. Qingyun's hands were also chafed and sore, but she just focused on working hard. When she came to her senses, her hands had already gone numb. Lin Wanjun was a little worried when she saw her like this. "Take a break?"
Qingyun simply shook her head. She didn't have time to rest. She had to live up to the trust these two people had placed in her, and everyone else's trust. After all, Song Junwu had managed to gather people from the entire city. What else could she say? "If I can get through today, I can rest for as many days as I want."
Seeing this, Lin Wanjun said, "I heard from Lord Mu that Lord Liu didn't stop you this time."
Qingyun: "So what if he tried to stop me? Can an arm twist a thigh? Both of them are standing right here with me."
Lin Wanjun smiled with relief and quickened her pace. When she turned back to look at Qingyun, she couldn't find a living person anywhere. Qingyun was completely surrounded by straw, with straw covering her head on both sides, leaving only her small face showing. Her expression was furrowed and particularly serious.
The movements were so fast they seemed to spark, truly living up to the saying, "You only see afterimages, not the real thing." Lin Wanjun couldn't help but laugh out loud. Hearing the sound, Qingyun snapped out of his reverie and asked with a puzzled look, "What are you laughing at?"
Lin Wanjun brushed the bits of grass off her hair, covered her mouth, and smiled, saying it was nothing, "I've never seen you like this before." The Qingyun of the past had given her a sense of distance, making her feel that she should be more compatible with a strong-willed person like Mu Helian.
Lin Wanjun recalled her encounter with Qingyun at a poetry gathering. At that time, her handkerchief had been thrown into a pond, and Qingyun had only asked if she wanted it or not. When she received a definite answer, she assumed the person was going to send a servant to retrieve it, but unexpectedly, Qingyun jumped into the pond and got it for her.
She also taught the others a lesson, and because she was a young lady from the Marquis's mansion, no one dared to bully her.
"Your weak-willed nature is a disgrace to our noble family. You are in a position of power and should be given a lot of responsibility. How can you set a good example for the children below the social class with this attitude? You should have the demeanor of a leader of ten thousand men so that those scoundrels know that you are not to be bullied."
She remembered those words vividly. When she first saw the person at her sickbed, she felt that the person looked very familiar. Later, she realized that it was actually Qingyun. She never thought that she would also be exiled to this place. It seems that she has not changed all these years, but she has long forgotten her.
But Qingyun is doing well now. It has gained the courage to be approachable and has become more down-to-earth.
However, that's because Lin Wanjun herself didn't realize that she used to treat the original owner of this body as a god-like figure. Now that the fairy has descended to the mortal world and is eating and traveling with her, she naturally feels that she is down-to-earth.
Qingyun was unaware that Lin Wanjun had already gone through a thousand thoughts in her mind. Upon hearing this, she pursed her lips, then noticed some grass clippings on her lips. She quickly spat them out and brushed her stray hairs aside. "If you haven't seen this before, take a look." Although she didn't know what was so strange about it.
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