Chapter 161 Guo'er's Invitation, Wei Lai Returns
night.
Under a moon that is seven-tenths full.
roof.
The maids who accompanied Yilan Pavilion were immersed in sweet dreams.
Inside the main room, on a beautifully decorated bed with carved curtains, the crimson bedding was lifted.
The bed was empty, and the shoe cabinet under the bed was also empty.
Meanwhile, Xie Xiaoniangzi, who was originally under their care, appeared on the roof of Yilan Pavilion.
It's the same old place again.
This time, however, Xie Lingjiang did not have a small wine pot in her hand; instead, she had a bamboo stick wrapped in a fortune-telling paper.
Xie Lingjiang hugged her knees, sometimes looking up at the moon, sometimes glancing at the plum grove courtyard next to the Su residence not far away.
A moment later, she gently buried her face between her knees.
The bamboo skewer in his right hand is silently turned between his five fingers.
The folded red paper wrapping the marriage fortune slip was wrinkled; she had examined it hundreds of times.
Just like Xie Lingjiang used to sneak around studying, secretly twirling her pen under the cover of bamboo slips when her father wasn't looking.
The unfathomable thoughts of a young woman are also revealed in her fingertips.
However, what troubled her as a child was the seemingly endless sea of learning.
But after all, she was born into a noble and scholarly family, and held the script of a talented woman who could write poetry.
Her academic studies, poetry, and classical texts during her student days were ultimately no challenge for her intelligence and pride.
But Xie Lingjiang is now troubled by another kind of endless scene.
"How should I solve this problem..."
The night breeze on the rooftop carried away the woman's murmurs.
What kind of problem is difficult to solve?
Suddenly, a clear female voice broke the monotonous howling of the night wind on the rooftop.
A nimble figure leaped lightly across the considerable gap between the rooftops of Yilan Pavilion and Meiying Studio.
They acted without hesitation and without fear of slipping and falling.
It's that plum blossom makeup girl again.
She slipped on her embroidered shoes, which were not fully on, wrapped a silk blanket around her arm, and sat down next to Xie Lingjiang without any ceremony.
"Could you be more careful? Jumping around on the roof is dangerous."
"With Sister Xie here, I won't fall."
"You're really not being polite."
"No need to be so polite with Sister Xie."
Su Guo'er blurted it out.
Xie Lingjiang turned her head and looked at her indifferent but pretty face, her delicate chin habitually tilted up.
Su Guo'er turned to Xie Lingjiang:
"What's troubling you, Sister Xie? Tell me about it."
Xie Lingjiang stopped spinning the red-paper-wrapped bamboo stick in her hand and suddenly said:
"Why are you so confident and domineering about everything?"
Su Guo'er retorted, "Isn't Sister Xie also arrogant because of her talent? Many men in this world, when they see Sister Xie, will also feel that Sister Xie is like an ice queen, unapproachable."
Xie Lingjiang shook her head. "It's different. You're... it seems like you're like that with everything."
Su Guo'er didn't even lift her eyelids. "I'm too lazy to pretend to be an innocent little rabbit, speaking softly and acting coquettishly. I can't do it."
Xie Lingjiang lowered her head and asked, "What if you meet someone you like in the future? Will you still be so strong-willed and confident?"
Su Guo'er frowned slightly, as if pondering the question, but then she turned her head, looked at Xie Lingjiang, and asked:
"Why are you asking this all of a sudden? Could it be that you've run into someone, Sister Xie? I heard you went to the temple fair at Donglin Temple with your senior brother a few days ago. Hmm, what's this? Is it a fortune slip you drew for marriage?"
Xie Lingjiang did not answer, nor did she wait for Su Guo'er to continue her curious questioning. She looked up at the moon and interrupted:
"I asked Master Shandao for you, but there's still no trace of that poem..."
"Oh, by the way, I also got a marriage fortune stick for you."
As he spoke, he took advantage of Su Guo'er's disappointed expression and the fact that she had looked up and wasn't paying attention.
With a flick of her wrist, the bamboo skewer that was originally between the five fingers of her right hand was replaced by a new bamboo skewer hidden in her sleeve.
Xie Lingjiang looked straight ahead and handed over the slip of paper without turning her head.
Su Guo'er raised her eyebrows slightly, glancing curiously at the brand-new marriage fortune slip wrapped in red paper:
"mine?"
"Um."
"Why are you asking for this for me? I don't need it." She said sternly. "Besides, what respectable woman believes in marriage fortune slips?"
I asked for it on the way.
"and yours?"
"I don't."
Su Guo'er looked at her suspiciously, "You didn't pray for yourself? Then what were you doing at Donglin Temple?"
Xie Lingjiang shook her head, saying without batting an eye, "I was invited to go to the Beitian Nursing Home with my senior brother."
Su Guo'er shook her head speechlessly, casually took the bamboo stick wrapped in red paper, and tossed it into her sleeve.
Her expression was indifferent, and she used her little finger to brush aside the strands of hair that had been ruffled by the wind near her ear.
He seemed to have no interest in opening it for inspection whatsoever.
Xie Lingjiang didn't urge or give any instructions.
She only looked at her own marriage fortune slip and its interpretation.
Xie Lingjiang did not open the marriage fortune slip she had obtained for Su Guo'er.
The two sat side by side for a while.
Su Guo'er then asked Xie Lingjiang about the situation regarding the "Return to the Past" poem, but the answer she received only made her look more disappointed.
Su Guo'er seemed uninterested in the conversation, and Xie Lingjiang was also distracted throughout, speaking very little.
Seemingly feeling a bit bored, Su Guo'er tightened the blanket around her, got up, and turned her head.
"They're gone."
On the rooftop, the tiles were still damp from the previous day's rain. The woman in plum blossom makeup walked slowly, pausing before leaving, as if she had remembered something:
"By the way, you can bring your senior brother along on my birthday."
Su Guo'er spoke casually, as if it were a spur-of-the-moment thing.
Xie Lingjiang was taken aback, a hint of hesitation appearing on her pretty face:
"Why did you bring your senior brother here? He lives a simple life and doesn't have anything valuable to give you?"
"Does Sister Xie think I would want his gifts?"
Su Guo'er pursed her lips and casually tossed out a sentence:
"Although your eldest brother comes from a commoner family, he is still an outstanding person. His public trial in the whole county last time was quite interesting... You can bring him along so he can get to know more people."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingjiang couldn't help but glance at Su Guo'er's departing figure one more time.
This Su family girl still speaks in such an annoying way.
Is this true for everything?
I wonder if anyone will be able to cure her in the future.
Just as Xie Lingjiang was lost in thought and muttering to herself.
Several hundred meters away.
A quiet courtyard with plum trees.
The houses in the courtyard were shrouded in a darkness as dark as ink.
It's like splashing a large blob of thick ink onto a blank landscape painting.
Unbeknownst to Xie Lingjiang, who was on a distant rooftop, a pleasant, faint sandalwood scent was permeating a dark and gloomy room she often looked out from.
Ouyang Rong felt that he had been sleeping very soundly at night these past few days, and it would be dawn in the blink of an eye. He even felt sleepy and yawned during the day.
Right now, in the house late at night, under the faint scent of sandalwood.
Ouyang Rong's breathing was very regular and long.
However, the direction from which the bed was located, along with the moonlight falling in front of the bed through the gaps in the wooden window, suddenly brightened and moved forward as the clouds parted to reveal the moon.
The moonlight under the bed gradually illuminated a corner of a woman's embroidered shoes.
There were two pairs of shoes on the ground.
And separated by the beaded curtain of the bed.
One could also vaguely see shadowy figures moving about on the couch...
The chirping of insects echoed throughout the plum grove courtyard, making the night even more still.
The inky darkness of the night must have concealed countless secrets and the tangled thoughts of lovers.
It was late at night, when a woman was watching over the moon and someone was keeping her company in bed.
There was also a young girl clumsily climbing over the wall.
Ye Weilai is actually quite afraid of the dark.
But she fears even more the time without her owner.
After changing boats in Hongzhou, she traveled for several days before finally taking a boat back to Penglangdu overnight.
Madam Zhen did not allow Ye Weilai to return alone; instead, she sent two servants to accompany her.
However, for the moment, both of Ouyang's attendants are still resting at the inn next to Penglang Ferry.
Most prefectures and counties in the Great Zhou Dynasty implemented curfews.
Passengers like Ye Weilai and others who disembark at the pier late at night should not wander off or leave the streets around Penglangdu Pier without permission.
However, after tossing and turning in the inn for a long time, Ye Weilai finally threw off the covers, clumsily climbed over the wall, and left the inn.
Whether it was a racial talent or something else, the silver-haired girl was surprisingly agile and nimble.
As for whether she would encounter danger or bad people in the middle of the night, Ye Weilai felt that it was others who were afraid of her.
As soon as she untied her long, silver hair that reached her waist, even bad guys would secretly think she was unlucky and give her a wide berth.
On her journey there and back, Ye Weilai had seen far too many such looks.
On the streets where night watchmen occasionally sounded their gongs, Ye Weilai struggled to overcome her fear of the dark, her gray-blue eyes wide open, staring ahead.
Her slender figure traversed the familiar streets of the county town, avoiding many of the patrolling curfew officers.
Finally, Ye Weilai arrived at the gate of the Deer Park on Deer Street.
She cautiously approached and gently knocked on the door.
Before long, a servant on night watch opened the door.
"you……"
"Shhh."
Under the surprised gaze of the gatekeeper, the timid silver-haired girl quickly squeezed through the crack in the door.
After entering, she turned around and gave a stern instruction:
"Keep your voice down, don't disturb the master's sleep."
"..."
I'm trying my best to get back to updating twice a week... Also, while I'm reading this, I'd like to recommend my old book, "I Have a Sword Immortal Wife," to all my new readers. It's packed with content!
(End of this chapter)
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