Chapter 576 The Embroiderer's Eyes [Requesting Monthly Tickets!]
In all his years, Ouyang Rong has eaten sweet and savory glutinous rice balls, such as black sesame, red bean paste, peanut, and even those dipped in sugar.
The only thing I've never eaten is spicy food.
It's true what they say, "Birds of a feather flock together."
He nodded.
She was undoubtedly the real child bride who had gone missing.
The local cuisine in my hometown of Nanlong, Luling, is very spicy.
However, it's not necessary to add dogwood to all the dried glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival...
After a brief smile, the slender girl seemed to immediately notice the problem. A look of concern and worry appeared on her delicate face.
Ouyang Rong roughly understood that she had previously infiltrated the Melu Garden and cooked for him, so she knew his preferences and tastes.
She mistakenly thought that Ouyang Rong loved spicy food and would accept anything, so she made dried rice balls tonight as a surprise for him.
Instead of a pleasant surprise, it turned into a shock.
"Ya ya."
Upon hearing the sound, Zhao Qingxiu suppressed her initial smile, hurriedly stood up, and nervously placed her hands on her navy blue floral apron.
"It's okay, mmm, it's delicious, it's... flavorful enough."
Ouyang Rong, barely able to bear the spiciness, quickly offered words of comfort.
A moment later, he covered his mouth with both hands, bent down, and tried to swallow the dry, pungent meatball that was irritating his taste buds.
He finally caught his breath.
Ouyang Rong casually waved his hand:
"It's alright, please sit down and wait for me to finish eating..."
"Hmm, it's not bad, don't be nervous. What, you mean this is your first time making spicy dried dumplings? This... is very creative, I think it's great, try it more often."
He tried his best to comfort him.
At the same time, scoop up a dried ball with a spoon, pinch your nose, and swallow it directly.
They didn't even chew the filling or taste it; their efficiency was indeed very high.
He wolfed it down in one go, finishing almost half a bowl.
The only thing limiting him was his belly, which was round and full from eating so much tonight.
"ah."
Zhao Qingxiu's face seemed to show a sense of relief.
However, Ouyang Rong ripped off the sky-blue ribbon that was covering her eyes.
Seemingly sensing that her lover wasn't eating the dumplings properly, she kept staring at him intently the whole time.
Zhao Qingxiu quickly got up and turned her face away to avoid his gaze.
She gestured with her finger in the air, looking in the direction she seemed to be pointing to the well water not far away.
"Um, thank you."
Zhao Qingxiu went over and ladled a bowl of cool spring water for Ouyang Rong.
Ouyang Rong accepted it and thanked him.
Zhao Qingxiu sat down again on the stone bench opposite him.
She held her chin in her hands, tilted her head slightly, as if listening intently to the sound of him "enthusiastically" eating the dried meatballs.
For a moment, they even forgot to ask for the sky-blue ribbon that Ouyang Rong had snatched from his hand back.
While eating his dried glutinous rice balls, Ouyang Rong also secretly sized up Zhao Qingxiu.
The embroiderer was very thin.
Not the kind of skinny with a small frame.
Instead, she had thin arms and legs.
Because the embroiderer wasn't short.
Take, for example, a woman named Rong, who was similar in appearance; she was also slender.
Rong Nushi, who was promoted to the position of Jade Maiden of the Yin-Yang School, was the kind of "slender" girl with a loli-like figure.
She's just a bit petite overall, but she still has curves in the right places.
For example, the cheeks and wrists have flesh when you pinch them.
But the embroiderers were different.
Her smooth arms and legs were like those thin, white bamboo poles.
The fair skin on her slender neck even revealed faint blue veins.
Yes, the embroiderer's skin was very fair, typical of a delicate girl nurtured by the mountains and rivers of the Jiangnan region, which further highlighted the bluish veins under her neck and wrists.
Although her slender figure made her look very good, it was easy to imagine that she was the perfect clothes hanger. The shape of her legs, which were subtly outlined by the fabric under her dress, was also very attractive and pleasing to the eye.
However, this is an unhealthy form of thinness.
To put it bluntly, he was skin and bones, and had weak blood and qi.
When Ouyang Rong held her wrist through the fabric earlier, he was worried that he might break her arm if he used even a little force...
Although he vaguely knew that she had Qi Refining cultivation, if it really came down to a contest of strength, the embroiderer would most likely break his arm.
But it still made him furrow his brow.
"Miss Embroidery, what did you have for dinner tonight?"
"Ah...ah." Zhao Qingxiu shook her head, pointed to her stomach, and waved her hand.
"Aren't you hungry at night? But you can't skip dinner."
Without saying a word, Ouyang Rong scooped up a dried glutinous rice ball and held it to her lips.
Realizing what had happened, he added:
"It might be a bit spicy. If you don't like it, we can go get something else later."
Zhao Qingxiu waved her hands and subconsciously shook her head.
"It's okay, I'll just get a different spoon."
Ouyang Rong immediately got up and ran to the kitchen before the embroiderer could react.
However, when he went to the kitchen, he was carrying a spoon, and when he came out, he was still carrying a spoon.
"Hmm, this time it's okay, you can have a bite too."
He said in a very serious tone.
Feeling the warm, dry rice balls in the spoon in front of her, Zhao Qingxiu hesitated for a moment, closed her eyes, and shyly opened her pink lips.
Ouyang Rong smiled and put the dried rice ball into her mouth.
After taking the spoon back, he calmly scooped up another dried dumpling, put it in his mouth, and chewed it.
He remained calm and composed throughout.
With her eyes closed, Zhao Qingxiu had no idea that someone was being unhygienic and malicious.
They probably thought there were two spoons.
Zhao Qingxiu puffed out her cheeks as she chewed on the glutinous rice balls, her mouth full of spicy flavor, but her small face remained expressionless.
From a young age, she discovered that she was very tolerant of pain, able to endure it quietly. The only thing that could make her teeth make a sound was extreme pain.
This bit of spiciness is nothing compared to the pain she's experienced before.
"Tomorrow, I'll go to the East Market to buy a pound of pork. The price should be lower now... I recently learned how to make a meat dish called Dongpo Pork. You should try it; I guarantee you'll like it."
While swallowing dry rice balls, Ouyang Rong mumbled something indistinctly.
Zhao Qingxiu lowered her head and remained silent.
What I really want to say is that she would eat anything he made and put in her mouth, even if it was raw.
Ouyang Rong finally finished the bowl of dried glutinous rice balls, put down the bowl, patted his belly under his scholar's robe, and let out a long sigh.
I'm so full tonight.
He lay half-reclined on the table, unwilling to move, and turned to look at the embroiderer.
She was looking down, her hands clumsily smoothing out the wrinkles on her navy blue floral apron around her waist, her face serious, as if she were doing something very important.
Ouyang Rong immediately raised his hand and lightly flicked the pendant on the icy white jade hairpin on his head with two fingers.
"Longling—"
A crisp sound rang out from in front of the table.
The embroiderer suddenly looked up.
Ouyang Rong blinked, but didn't mention the ice-white jade hairpin. Instead, he waved the sky-blue ribbon in his hand, his expression gradually becoming serious.
"Tell me what's wrong with your eyes. It's not convenient to ask during the day when there are too many people around."
Zhao Qingxiu lowered her head again.
Ouyang Rong waited for a while, but she didn't say anything.
"Is it inconvenient to say?"
Zhao Qingxiu took a lamp, brought it close to her hand, dipped her finger in water, and wrote on the table.
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes to look.
Zhao Qingxiu: Can I not say it?
Ouyang Rong was silent for a moment, then nodded:
"OK."
As he spoke, he took the opportunity of feeding her dry dumplings to lean forward and look at her neck. There was a very faint wound, shaped like a tooth mark.
Ouyang Rong took a deep breath and spoke in as calm and indifferent a tone as possible:
"But you have to tell me one thing, was it someone else who caused you this harm?"
Zhao Qingxiu immediately shook her head.
Ouyang Rong paused for a moment, "Naturally, you suffer from an eye disease?"
Zhao Qingxiu hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"If it wasn't done by someone else, and it wasn't an eye infection, then what could it be?"
He raised his voice a little, which made Zhao Qingxiu tremble. Sitting on the stone bench, she suddenly turned her back to him, hugged her knees, and buried her face in her hands.
Ouyang Rong slowly composed himself, and after a while, he said in a very calm and gentle tone, "Alright, let's not talk about it for now. Can you... turn your body back?"
Zhao Qingxiu slightly raised her face, seemingly not having heard, her dark eyes gazing with a hint of excitement at the distant night.
That day, Old Monster Sun made his move again, and the condition for rescuing Tanlang was that he would take her eyes.
She agreed without hesitation.
Later, she parted ways with her awakened lover in the underground palace and returned to Yunmeng Sword Marsh. She went to find Old Monster Sun and fulfilled her promise before the old Taoist priest locked her back in the water dungeon.
Old Man Sun was very impatient and repeatedly asked her if she wanted to back out. He said that it was not too late to back out now. She could just go and take the eyes of that heartless scoundrel. He added that she had saved his life, so taking his eyes was not too much to ask.
Zhao Qingxiu firmly refused. Regarding the matter of offending someone, she took out a dagger, intending to do it herself, but was stopped by her senior sister who suddenly appeared.
The eldest sister strongly opposed it, but Sun Laoguai, who was usually timid towards the eldest sister, was surprisingly resolute.
Moreover, the principle of exchanging one item for another for every life saved by the divine healer has been a rule on the mountain for thousands of years, and Yunmeng Jianze is no exception.
Later, the two went into a room, and it's unclear what they talked about.
After she came out, Old Monster Sun coldly made her eat something, while still trying to persuade her: "Whenever you regret it, you can still go and get that brat's dog eyes in exchange."
Zhao Qingxiu ignored it, only remembering that after swallowing the object, the sky darkened, her mind wandered, and when she woke up again, it was already "dark".
Reaching out to touch it, though the eyes were still visible, one was completely blind.
After that day, Old Monster Sun was thrown back into the water dungeon, but the aftermath of this incident had only just begun. The next day, it caused strong dissatisfaction among the other senior sisters. The fifth senior sister even directly questioned the eldest senior sister and said something in front of everyone that was shocking and even heart-wrenching.
Fifth Senior Sister asked if Eldest Senior Sister allowed Junior Sister to sacrifice her eyes to save that scoundrel for the sake of Yunmeng Yuanjun's position.
This statement subtly touches upon the rules of the Queen's Palace. The first in line to succeed the Lord of Yunmeng Sword Marsh—the Yuanjun—is Yue Chuzi, followed by the Chief Queen of the Queen's Palace.
In those days, Zhao Qingxiu felt very guilty that her personal matters had caused her usually harmonious and united senior sisters to quarrel.
However, it seems that the second senior sister stepped forward and went to talk to the other angry and dissatisfied senior sisters in private. I don't know what they talked about, but the fifth senior sister went to the water dungeon that day without saying a word. I heard that she went to see Old Monster Sun. I don't know what they talked about, but she left silently in the evening... Anyway, after that day, the quarrel in the shop calmed down.
Moreover, Zhao Qingxiu remembered that on the day she went blind, her senior sister told her that it was actually good to be blind, at least she wouldn't be looking for him anymore.
Who would have thought... we'd meet like this now?
After saving Tanlang at Donglin Temple in Longcheng, Zhao Qingxiu kept her promise and returned to Jianze with her senior sisters, never paying attention to Tanlang's whereabouts again.
She and her fellow students only knew that his name was Ouyang Rong and that he was the magistrate of Longcheng County.
The main reason is that, in the eyes of the senior sisters, these are all insignificant mortals, not worth mentioning. The Queen's Palace is focused entirely on the missing [Craftsmanship] and the mysterious swordsman who intercepted it...
Zhao Qingxiu took a deep breath.
Coming to his senses, he dipped his index finger in water and continued writing on the table.
However, as soon as she wrote the first character, the girl with her eyes closed immediately brushed it away with her palm. It was faintly the character "檀" (tan) from "檀郎" (tan lang), and she rewrote it...
Ouyang Rong pretended not to see it.
My gaze fell on her right hand, which was missing its little finger.
According to my aunt, this was an injury that Xiu Niang suffered in an accident when she was a child. She already had it when she came to his family as a child bride.
Zhao Qingxiu was unaware of Ouyang Rong's distracted gaze.
Zhao Qingxiu: Young master, what brings you to Xunyang City?
Ouyang Rong smiled: "I was promoted at the end of last year. After a year of ups and downs, I am now the Sima of Jiangzhou."
Zhao Qingxiu tilted her head; she had indeed heard those people call him Sima, Scholar, and so on during the day.
She added another number: "Then, is someone bullying you?"
Bullying? Does the workplace violence committed by Wang Lengran and Lin Cheng count? If it does, then it happened, but since they've already left, let's not pursue it further.
Ouyang Rong narrowed his eyes, his tone gentle:
"No, my colleagues in Jiangzhou are all kind and friendly, and the position of Sima is a sinecure. You see, I'm quite free here... except for tonight."
Zhao Qingxiu nodded blankly and let out a soft "ah," having no idea what the Jiangzhou Sima was.
"And you haven't said yet why your family abandoned you, sending you here and there, leaving you at Chengtian Temple."
Zhao Qingxiu lowered her head and wrote: I don't blame them, I wanted to come.
Ouyang Rong raised his hand and casually touched the icy white jade hairpin on his head, his tone seemingly indifferent:
"I understand. You don't want to cause trouble for your family, huh? I see. Indeed, you're mute, blind, and a girl. Ordinary families really wouldn't want to raise you."
Hearing his seemingly imagined words, Zhao Qingxiu couldn't help but pause.
She wrote again: Why is that young master so kind to me?
As soon as Zhao Qingxiu finished writing those words, she regretted it and reached out to wipe the table.
But it was too late. She noticed that Tanlang across the table seemed to be smiling at her and said, "Because you look a lot like an old friend of mine."
"Huh?" Zhao Qingxiu opened her mouth, her little face full of confusion.
Ouyang Rong maintained his smile and said:
"I'm not talking about meeting old friends at the Donglin Temple Compassionate Relief Home. Well, that is indeed a kind of fate, half an old friend, but the old friends I'm talking about are people from my hometown."
"I don't know how to explain it to you. Well, my aunt mentioned it to me. That old friend was my childhood playmate. It seems she was missing her little finger on her right hand and was also mute. And she was also called Xiu Niang. Hmm, that nickname is very common among girls from poor families in the countryside..."
"However, young lady, you do look a lot like her. Are you... from Nanlong, Luling?"
Zhao Qingxiu's body trembled slightly.
She didn't answer, but lowered her head, a slender finger tracing across the table: "Then, young master, do you still remember the face of this old friend?"
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes: "I was sick a lot when I was young, so I don't remember much... Besides, there seemed to be some taboos, and my aunt didn't say much about it."
Zhao Qingxiu listened intently and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Just then, Ouyang Rong, who seemed to have rested well, suddenly stood up and covered her dim eyes with a sky-blue ribbon again.
He grabbed Zhao Qingxiu's slender wrist and said in a nonchalant tone:
"Come on, I'll take you somewhere."
"Huh?" The slender, mute girl with clouded eyes followed him blankly.
(End of this chapter)
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