Chapter 808 Lianghan, will I get pregnant?
The darkness was as black as ink, and two bonfires on the open ground suddenly tore through the darkness.
One of the campfires was deserted.
Another campfire cast long, elongated shadows of two figures, one tall and one short, in front of them.
A woman's mournful question shattered the silence.
Then came a silence that lasted for an unknown period of time.
The pile of dry branches burned silently, the flames twisting and turning like countless crimson pythons, sometimes coiling into a dark blue core to lick the charred bark, sometimes bursting into orange-red fragments that shot into the void.
The crackling of burning pine resin mingled with the hooting of owls, each explosion startling the firelight and pushing the somewhat distorted shadows of the man and woman by the campfire into deeper darkness.
The girl in the purple bib was closest to the campfire.
Ouyang Rong saw that the sparks behind her were like fireflies flying backwards, rising in the heat wave, turning into ashes and scattering before they could touch the stars in the sky.
A few occasionally drifted into the wind, flickering in and out of the bushes, like spirits wandering in the wilderness.
At that moment, Ouyang Rong suddenly smelled the acrid odor of burning damp firewood and rotten leaves, which blocked his nasal cavity and made him suffocate.
"Crackling—!"
Another cracking sound of dry firewood and twigs bursting.
The flickering firelight abruptly pushed the shadows of the two men in front of the campfire to either side, into the deeper darkness.
Just then, the tall, slender figure of the man went against the current and walked to the side of the woman's curled-up figure who was about to be pushed into the darkness.
Rongzhen's purple dress had fallen to the ground, and she was only wearing a small purple undergarment on her upper body. In the cold wind, she hugged her chest tightly with both hands.
Ouyang Rong walked over, took off his only remaining inner garment, and wrapped it around Rong Zhen's body.
Rongzhen suddenly reached out and shoved him in the chest.
"Get out!"
Ouyang Rong continued to approach and draped a coat over her shoulders.
She simply used both hands to push hard.
"Get out! Get the hell out!"
Ouyang Rong, however, persisted and moved closer, wrapping the girl in her purple bodice tightly with his moon-white undershirt.
Rong Zhen was petite and chubby, and even with her arms outstretched, there wasn't much distance between her and Ouyang Rong's chest. Ouyang Rong wrapped his arms around her, and she was still held in his embrace, unable to escape.
Rong Zhen turned to run away, but Ouyang Rong wrapped her tightly in his clothes and held her in his arms.
"Release me! I am not a lowly woman. Please have some self-respect!"
She struggled.
Ouyang Rong felt that it was even harder to press down than a pig during the Lunar New Year.
He spoke:
"Don't move, tie your hair."
Rong Zhen's body suddenly stiffened.
I wonder if I misheard.
She turned around and saw Ouyang Rong, his upper body bare, with a pair of jade hairpins in his hand, which he had taken out at some point and was about to tie up her hair.
The reversal... or rather, the happiness, seemed to have come too suddenly, leaving Rongzhen stunned.
Seeing that she was no longer struggling, Ouyang Rong freed his hand and gathered up her long, black, satin-like hair.
He said in a low voice:
“You are not a lowly woman. You have done everything a woman is capable of, including things that people would consider shameful and even things that the world would consider lewd.”
Rong Zhen's face instantly turned bright red, and she asked in a timid voice like a little girl:
"Didn't you push me away? Didn't you want to leave?"
Ouyang Rong ignored her upturned, delicate face and stared intently at the dark green hairpin:
“I am a man, not a saint, but what qualifications do I, Ouyang Lianghan, have to receive this kind of blessing from God?”
"You are the flower, but I am not the craftsman. I am a stranger who has strayed into the garden and will slowly destroy the garden that sustains you."
"What you desire most in your heart is a gentleman like a butterfly, fluttering around you all day long, an embellishment to the garden in life, and nourishment for it in death. I cannot pretend not to know just because you are unaware. To accept you is to accept this assimilation."
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and said with utmost seriousness:
"I consider myself a calm, rational, decisive and fearless scholar, but these days since you have subtly revealed your feelings, you have taught me a lesson. I can also be calm and rational, decisive and fearless, indecisive and hesitant."
"What you've done is an affirmation of 'a gentleman of integrity,' thank you for truly seeing me that way."
Rongzhen couldn't help but say, "You, speak like a human being! Don't spout platitudes."
Ouyang Rong paused for a moment, then continued tying her hair, lowering his eyes as he said:
"I am no gentleman, so beware of me."
Rong Zhen suddenly turned around, interrupting his attempt to tie up his hair. His black hair fell loose again, tickling Ouyang Rong's chest.
She stepped forward, her eyes red and choked with sobs:
"I don't care if you're a gentleman or not, but what kind of man is a man who can't face his instincts? If you're so capable, then hug me. Go and face your instincts. What kind of hero pushes me away?"
Ouyang Rong held the hairpin empty in his hand and said, word by word:
"If I had pretended to be stupid and hugged the princess just now, it would have been the greatest disrespect to her. Such a mistake made in the heat of the moment would have truly demeaned the princess."
Rong Zhen, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders, wrapped in an inner garment, listened to Ouyang Rong's words, her small face still gazing at him with a somewhat dazed expression.
Most women would feel rejected and disliked at that moment, let alone someone with a strong sense of self-respect like her.
Rongzhen slowly lowered her head and murmured softly:
"Fool, big fool."
"What?"
Ouyang Rong didn't hear clearly.
Rongzhen didn't answer, but sniffed and said:
"You're not a gardener, and I'm not a vase. What I want isn't some 'butterfly gentleman,' but rather..."
She swallowed the blunt word, took a deep breath, and said firmly:
"What if I said I was willing to smash that garden with you? Would you dare to hug me?"
"Your surname is Wei."
"This is my mother's surname, a surname bestowed by the sage. I do not wish to have the surname Wei, nor do I wish to have any connection with Wei Jisi and the others."
Rongzhen was somewhat agitated, and spilled the beans like beans from a bamboo tube:
"Back then, the Emperor and my mother were very close sisters. He looked down on my father's humble origins and disliked my mother's marriage to a distant place. After ascending the throne, he summoned my mother back to the capital, wanting her to remarry. However, he was afraid of damaging his reputation, so he wanted my father to offer to divorce her. My father and mother refused, so my father was demoted to a remote place..."
"In the end, neither my mother nor my father went to Luoyang. Only I went to the palace alone. I was given the surname Wei and the title of Princess. But I never felt that this was a favor. I do not like the surname Wei. Do not regard me as one of them, and do not think that accepting it means being assimilated. Absolutely not."
Ouyang Rong quieted down, his brows gradually furrowing, as if he were deep in thought.
Rongzhen tilted her head and asked him:
"According to you, your junior sister Xie Lingjiang is also a flower in the garden. You can accept her accompanying you to smash the garden, so why can't you accept another flower? Have you ever thought that this is very unfair? Just because she arrived first? This is not fair."
“Ouyang Lianghan, just tell me, do you dare or not, are you willing or not? I only need one word from you, just one word.”
Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, then said with extreme caution:
"I may not be able to return to the capital immediately. I promised my aunt and junior sister that I would bring the embroiderer back safe and sound, and I also promised the embroiderer that I would take her to Luoyang."
Rongzhen almost blurted out:
"If Xie Lingjiang can tolerate Xiu Niang, I can too, and I can tolerate her even more than Xie Lingjiang. I met Xiu Niang in Xingzifang before and spoke to you about it once. I don't know if you remember, but I said that this blind and mute child bride's true feelings for you are as clear as day. You must treat her well and live up to her feelings, otherwise I will have misjudged you."
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but ask:
"But weren't you just jealous when you saw my hidden embroiderer's sword..."
Rong Zhen blushed slightly, her eyelashes trembling as she denied it:
"I'm not jealous..."
He paused, then said rather irritably:
"That was a misunderstanding that you were leaving and wouldn't come back, that it was all for her. Besides, you were really too good to her, so good that it made people..."
"When you brought a string of cash to Xunyang Grottoes that day, was it just to find Xuezhongzhu to ransom someone, without thinking about anything else?"
While Ouyang Rong was quiet, Rong Zhen stared at him and said:
"I want to hear the truth."
Ouyang Rong turned his face away.
His face still held the familiar calm and resolute expression Rongzhen knew, but the words he uttered filled her with joy.
"I've thought about it."
He spoke with extreme caution.
Rong Zhen seemed to suddenly breathe a sigh of relief.
She smiled faintly:
"These words are enough." He tilted his head again: "This sentiment is enough."
Ouyang Rong suddenly said:
"I really will smash things, I'm not kidding."
Rongzhen, undaunted, raised her head and asked:
"Like the destruction of the Buddha statue the other day?"
Ouyang Rong leaned forward slightly:
"The Buddha statue I destroyed the other day was made of clay; what I want to smash is the Buddha in people's hearts."
The man in front of her was shirtless, which was somewhat embarrassing and comical, but in Rong Zhen's eyes, who was staring at him, there was an indescribable aggressive aura.
She knew he meant what he said, and always had.
Rongzhen's heartbeat inexplicably quickened, like a drumbeat.
She looked away and lowered her head to brush her dark hair behind her ear.
"I will not interfere with your men's affairs."
Rongzhen raised her head again and spoke softly:
"But no one can hurt you. As long as I am here, only I can hurt you in this world."
As Ouyang Rong heard this, her voice gradually softened, and her usually cold face flushed red in his presence tonight.
"You defiled my body tonight, and you stole my undergarment before, taking my innocence long ago. I can only be yours now. If you betray me, I will..."
Ouyang Rong felt that the word "waste" was inappropriate, but he couldn't say it for fear of ruining the atmosphere, upsetting her, or being accused of being argumentative and nitpicky.
Seeing the girl in the purple bodice staring intently at him with eyes that seemed to devour him, Ouyang Rong subconsciously asked:
"Otherwise what?"
Rong Zhen snorted coldly and did not answer.
While Ouyang Rong was still pondering, she suddenly said:
“Accompany me to the lantern festival once a year during the Lantern Festival, give me a hairpin on my birthday every year, and cook me a bowl of soup every month.”
She seemed pleased when she said the last sentence.
Ouyang Rong said somewhat seriously:
"I'll cover the lantern riddles at the lantern festival, but as for the hairpins, my salary might be a bit low..."
Rong Zhen glared at him and said urgently:
"A wooden hairpin is still a hairpin."
Ouyang Rong's expression turned serious, and he patted her small shoulder:
"Okay. As for soup, there's plenty."
Rongzhen reached out and pressed her hand against his steadily beating heart, gazing at him:
"A gentleman's word is his bond?"
Ouyang Rong nodded emphatically:
"What's done is done!"
The lingering sound echoed for a moment, and then the world seemed to quiet down.
Something seems to have changed, yet everything seems to remain the same.
Rong Zhen and Ouyang Rong stared at each other for a while. Her eyes gradually became shy, and she lowered her gaze.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot, tie my hair up."
Ouyang Rong immediately went behind Rong Zhen and continued to tie her hair up, his expression extremely serious.
A moment later, the girl in the purple bib had a simple high bun tied up on her head, resembling the hairstyle of a married woman.
Rongzhen raised her hand to stroke her high bun, her joy growing stronger.
Ouyang Rong sat down, took out some roasted rabbit meat, tore it in half, and handed it to her to eat.
Rongzhen buried her head and took small bites.
Ouyang Rong also lowered his eyes and filled his stomach a little.
For some reason, even though they had expressed their feelings and made plans for their relationship, the atmosphere between them became somewhat silent.
Perhaps because both of them are proud and concerned about their image, they were arguing like enemies just moments before, but now their relationship has taken a dramatic turn for the better.
Although it was a natural progression, it was also full of twists and turns.
It felt both familiar and strange.
It's a mix of love and hatred.
Of the 30,000 characters in the world, the character for "love" is the most difficult to write.
Just as the gazes fell silent and the air grew still, Rong Zhen's inner garment, which had been covering her body, slipped to the ground.
Ouyang Rong immediately bent down to pick it up and was about to put it back on her.
"I have come."
Rong Zhen whispered something, then took the inner robe from Ouyang Rong and wrapped it around his body. She then picked up a scholar's robe and helped Ouyang Rong put it on.
She just didn't tie his belt, leaving Ouyang Rong's chest exposed.
After getting dressed, Rongzhen lowered her head slightly.
"Don't move."
She stepped forward and nestled her small frame into Ouyang Rong's arms.
She hugged him tightly around the waist.
This time, with the girl in the purple bib in his arms, Ouyang Rong didn't make the same mistake again. His hands hovered helplessly for a moment before gradually lowering them and landing on her slightly cool, bare arms, rubbing and stroking them to warm them up.
The two sat together by the campfire, quietly embracing each other.
Ouyang Rong stared at the firelight in front of him, unable to see Rong Zhen's expression, but he could feel the girl's body burning hot, like a small furnace, and the fragrance of her hair lingered at the tip of his nose, making him feel a little itchy and unable to resist scratching it.
In this embrace, he could hear Rong Zhen's rising and falling heartbeat, and the even breathing of her nose. Her eyelashes fluttered, brushing against Ouyang Rong's neck and causing a slight itch.
She seemed to be asleep, dreaming, and was completely still.
Ouyang Rong sat upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and waited for a long time until his eyes ached from staring at the campfire.
Just sitting here...
At one point, Ouyang Rong raised his right hand, which was on Rong Zhen's forearm, scratched his nose, and then put it down, as if to put it back in place...
Just then, Rong Zhen frowned and suddenly raised her small face.
Ouyang Rong quickly withdrew his hand and looked down, but he didn't get a reproachful look from her.
Rongzhen's face was full of worry as she whispered a question to him:
"Lianghan, do you think I might be pregnant after we've been hugging for so long?"
Ouyang Rong: ...?
At that moment, he suddenly understood what the lady of the house meant by her gritted teeth and the words "ruined her".
(End of this chapter)
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