Chapter 382 Faintly, Lotus Steps Appear in My Dream
There is no moon tonight.
The residence in Huaiye Lane, the bedroom of Yinbingzhai.
The night outside the window was fading.
Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze, bent down to pick up Ye Weilai, who was dozing off on the table, and walked back to the bed.
The silver-haired girl's long, smooth hair was tied with a red string. Her small face was closed, with red creases from when she had been lying on the table. Her long, curled eyelashes trembled, and her eyes moved beneath her eyelids, as if she was dreaming about something.
Its soft, small body exudes a faint post-bath fragrance, like daytime foam, elusive and hard to grasp.
Ouyang Rong silently covered Ye Weilai with the blanket.
"Mmm...mmm..."
The little girl seemed to wake up a little, but without opening her eyes, she turned over on the bed. Her little hand subconsciously reached under the pillow and touched the leather scabbard of the short sword. She mumbled something inaudibly, then buried her head, her long hair covering her face, and continued to doze off.
In the stillness of the night, in an empty house, a solitary figure stands alone.
Ouyang Rong suddenly remembered the embroiderer.
I recall the mute girl in the underground palace, sitting with her knees drawn up on a cloth-wrapped longsword. When I first saw her, she had a pair of clear, limpid eyes, like a reluctant stream.
He could see that delicate face again, and those four slender fingers that handed him the sheepskin water pouch.
Both times Ouyang Rong climbed out of the underground palace, she looked up at him longingly.
He silently surveyed the bed and the sleeping little girl.
Ouyang Rong pursed his lips. Back then, when he was peacefully asleep in that calming incense, was she also sitting by his bedside, just like he was now, quietly watching his sleeping face?
Revisiting this matter in my mind is a very strange feeling.
Aside from some vague fragments of memories, Ouyang Rong and she were not particularly close.
Being approached quietly while someone is asleep, and possibly even physically touched, should be something that would instinctively disgust someone like Ouyang Rong, who has a somewhat domineering personality and a strong sense of territory.
Even if the other party is using the guise of caring for him, Ouyang Rong is not a child, but an adult. He no longer blindly feels moved and forgiving towards such one-sided efforts from others, but is very clear that he has the right to refuse what the other party is forcing.
Only relatives and family members, such as aunts, would be slightly more lenient or have their principles changed.
However, Ouyang Rong couldn't muster much disgust or aversion towards the mute embroiderer's actions.
Instead of finding it strange, I felt a sense of curiosity.
I'm curious about her experiences over the years, and why the embroiderer doesn't hate him out of hatred, but instead appears by his side when he falls into a coma twice.
I'm curious about what she's thinking.
As his thoughts raced uncontrollably, Ouyang Rong recalled a detail, a detail that he only realized today, and now he could finally appreciate its significance.
It is said that when Ouyang Rong woke up and came down the mountain, disguised as Wei Shaoxuan, he heard Boss Li casually mention that during the time he was unconscious, some Yue women, including the eldest queen of the Nüjun Palace, Xue Zhongzhu, had been lurking in Dagushan, searching for the "craftsmanship" of the Dingjian.
At first, Ouyang Rong thought he was just lucky, and that his junior sister and teacher had helped him hide well, which was why he wasn't caught by Xue Zhongzhu.
But looking back now.
If the embroiderer is a Yue woman from Yunmeng Sword Marsh, and that day when he was unconscious in the Sanhui Courtyard of Donglin Temple, she also took care of him under the alias Zhao Xiaoniang.
I've heard that Yunmeng Sword Swamp, as a secluded sect, has few members and follows a small but exquisite path, with the Yue women being as close as sworn sisters.
So, as fellow disciples, Xue Zhongzhu and the other Yue women must know Xiu Niang very well. Since they were both on Da Gushan Mountain, they must know what Xiu Niang was doing. So, did they know about her existence?
Did you know that this embroiderer's former husband had snatched the job and become the master swordsmith? He is a rare and unique swordsman?
Or did they know, but deliberately let him go...?
But when I think of the specific details of the Lotus Tower Alliance recorded in the murals of the underground palace,
This cauldron-shaped sword was forged from the once-guardian cauldron of the Yunmeng Sword Marsh, so it should be very important to the Yue women of the Sword Marsh.
Ouyang Rong has always been very self-aware.
I feel that the embroiderer's senior sisters, especially that cold-looking eldest female ruler, wouldn't be so mindful of their junior sister's past friendship as to give up the cauldron and sword and hand it over to him to take away.
Therefore, there is only one answer: he was not discovered, or rather, he was discovered, but his identity as the swordsman was not discovered.
The thought that so many unexpected twists and turns had occurred while he was unconscious at Sanhui Temple that day was a shock.
Ouyang Rong sat on the couch, elbows propped on his knees, head bowed, face buried in his hands, rubbed them together, and let out a long breath.
Although Yue Pin exhausted all his spiritual energy in killing Qiu Shenji that day, causing the spiritual energy in his meridians to dry up, it was not easy to detect the strangeness of his Dao meridians.
However, after he recovered from his illness, he should theoretically be able to demonstrate his spiritual cultivation...
Not to mention that as soon as he woke up, he eagerly went to open the Mo family's sword box and boldly examined the swords.
Could it be that not a single trace of energy has leaked out?
Yunmeng Sword Sect is the world's leading sword sect, Xue Zhongzhu is the leader in swordsmanship, not to mention Yue Chuzi, the leader in swordsmanship.
The fact that these women from Yunmeng Yue were able to pinpoint the location of the Dingjian sword at Dagushan and search for it proves that they possess special methods, and quite a few at that.
After a moment of doubt, Ouyang Rong slowly relaxed his brows.
Besides the Mo family sword box possessing the ability to conceal and suppress, he felt it might be related to his own ability to hide and gather energy like a nobody after awakening.
But how did she acquire this ability? It seems she didn't have it before. Could it also be related to the embroiderer?
It is said that the embroiderer was just like a nobody, with a quiet temperament, as still as a virgin.
What is the origin of this?
Is it contagious?
Or perhaps the memory of vaguely biting the beautiful woman's slender neck in my dream was actually true, which is why...
Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
Despite a multitude of thoughts and ideas, the deduction has led to a dead end.
"Are you in Yunmengze? What are you doing now? Will you sneak in again like last time?"
"Or is it that we'll never have the chance to meet again? It seems that Yue Nu is unable to get married."
"If she comes, how should I respond? Should I invite her to dinner? So she can meet my junior sister and aunt?"
"After all, her aunt and mother had a misunderstanding about her back then, and it hadn't been cleared up yet. Her aunt was definitely unhappy with the misunderstanding. I heard Wei Lai mention that she was indeed quite afraid of her aunt. When she was a cook, she would avoid her aunt, and it was Wei Lai who covered for her..."
After rubbing his face by the bed and muttering to himself for a moment, Ouyang Rong left the bedroom and went to the study. As he passed Ye Weilai's desk, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
On the table lay a specially made hard-tipped pen.
At first, Ye Weilai wasn't used to writing calligraphy, so Ouyang Rong had a flash of inspiration and used his memories from his previous life to make a brush head that was harder than the usual soft brush. After dipping it in ink, this hard brush head was also more suitable for writing the kind of fountain pen calligraphy he used in his previous life.
This way of writing made it much easier for Ye Weilai, unlike writing with a soft-tipped brush, which would result in crooked and messy characters. The little girl quickly grew to like this "traditional method" that Ouyang Rong mentioned and learned it easily.
Ouyang Rong didn't really like writing calligraphy, but having been in this world for so long and inheriting the memories of this life, he had gotten used to it.
To conform to the norm, I usually use a brush to write in the government office and rarely use the penmanship I had used in my previous life. It was only recently, when I was teaching Ye Weilai, that I picked up some of it again...
Ouyang Rong stopped, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he picked up the special pen. Using the blank paper as a starting point, he quickly began to write.
A short while later, a poem was completed on the paper:
A Yue maiden gathers lotus by the autumn waters… her narrow sleeves and light silk reveal two golden bracelets…
His pen paused and continued writing intermittently. Finally, Ouyang Rong put down his pen, looked at the "Butterfly Loves Flowers" poem, his eyes glazed over for a moment, and murmured:
"...The fog is heavy, the smoke is light, and the companions who came are nowhere to be seen...The faint sound of returning boats drifts far away...The sorrow of parting leads to the southern bank of the Yangtze River...The sorrow of parting leads to the southern bank of the Yangtze River..."
He repeated it to himself twice.
"Senior Brother."
Just then, the junior sister's clear voice came from outside.
A young woman in a red dress excitedly pushed open the door and entered the house.
The pen fell to the ground. Ouyang Rong immediately bent down to pick it up, stood up, blocked the table, and silently folded the paper raft of the poem about butterflies and flowers that he had written on a whim, and quietly stuffed it into his sleeve.
"Why is Junior Sister here?" he asked curiously.
Xie Lingjiang didn't notice anything amiss. Instead of looking at the desk, she glanced at Ye Weilai sleeping on the other side of the bed and smiled gently.
"Uncle Li has something to discuss with you. Let's go. Wei Lai is asleep."
Ouyang Rong nodded, tidied up, and before leaving, Xie Lingjiang helped him carry the zither case out the door.
Upon arriving at the Xunyang Prince's residence, they discovered it wasn't anything too urgent; it was a letter from the Xiang Prince's residence. As they had discussed before, Li Xian read it aloud to everyone for their consideration…
Inside the study, while Ouyang Rong was drinking tea, he took advantage of his junior sister chatting with Wei Mei...
He first put down his teacup, then slightly opened a corner of the sword box beside him. Ouyang Rong kept his eyes straight ahead. From the gap in the sword box below, "Craftsmanship" tried to peek out, but was pressed back down by Ouyang Rong's index finger. At the same time, he quietly shook out a piece of folded paper from his sleeve and stuffed it into the sword box.
The sword case was closed.
Ouyang Rong breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued drinking his tea.
The whole way here, when his junior sister held his hand, he didn't dare to make any big movements, like flicking his sleeve...
Soon, the affairs of the Xunyang Prince's Mansion were finished, and in the dead of night, Ouyang Rong returned to Yinbingzhai.
Upon returning, he casually put down the sword box, which resembled a harp case, and ignored the paper raft.
He sat down at the table.
Rub your brow with your fingers, close your eyes, and enter the Pagoda of Merit.
Inside the ancient little tower in the clouds of the sea of consciousness, everything remains the same.
The Blessing Clock remains motionless; it hasn't encountered any triggering event recently.
It's like a spendthrift wife in the family who suddenly stops spending money extravagantly and instead quietly becomes a wife and mother.
Ouyang Rong was a little uncomfortable.
However, it's also possible that because he had too few merit points in the past few days, he was being more considerate and his spending was downgraded.
This woman is someone you can date.
Right now, after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Shuangfengjian River excavation, Ouyang Rong has accumulated quite a bit of merit.
We have a little more money in our pockets now.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the illusory, floating cyan-gold characters above the small wooden fish.
[Merit: 5,187]
"Previously it was over 1,600 merit points, but this time the ribbon-cutting ceremony gift has increased by more than 3,500, which is quite a lot."
"However, it's getting harder and harder to get merit points. I've almost worn out my junior sister. Cough cough, I'm talking about using cheesy pick-up lines to farm merit points."
"The excavation of Shuangfengjian took more than half a year to finally yield a wave of merit points. If nothing unexpected happens, the next time we will have such a big harvest will probably be when the Donglin Buddha and Xunyang Grottoes are completed. I wonder how much the merit points will increase then."
"Wait, if that empress continues to have the will of one person and the will of millions, her reputation will suffer. If I help her repair the Donglin Buddha, I might have to lose merit and be cursed by the world. Wouldn't that be a huge loss... sigh."
Thinking of a possibility that wasn't impossible, Ouyang Rong fell silent, a slight frown creeping across his face, before turning serious and muttering to himself:
"And then there's Li Zhengyan's rebellion in the Kuangfu Army. This time, a treacherous scoundrel like Zhu Lingxu has emerged, allowing the Wei family to reap the rewards and gain the greatest power in the expeditionary army."
"This King of Wei, who is in charge of suppressing the rebellion, will probably take the opportunity to reap many benefits."
"Everyone has selfish motives. It's one thing to take advantage of the situation to make a profit, but what's truly frightening is the escalation of the civil war and the expansion of the situation. Under the guise of suppressing the rebellion and with the momentum of victory, they might take the opportunity to eliminate political enemies within the court and seize the initiative in the struggle between the Wei and Li regions... What's truly frightening is their ugly behavior, wanting to take everything they can and not allowing outsiders to interfere in the slightest."
"What do you mean by prioritizing the big picture? Who cares about you?"
"It's all about taking sides, not right or wrong. It's about forming cliques and eliminating dissent. It's a matter of life and death."
"As for whether the war can end sooner, that's just a side effect; what's most important is whether we can achieve our goal of dividing the spoils."
"Therefore, official matters were handled privately, and private matters were handled publicly."
“Given the personalities of those two Wei princes, it’s not impossible…” He paused, then changed his words to himself: “No, it is exactly as it is, it must be.”
Under the lamplight, Ouyang Rong's solitary figure, sitting on a chair, was stretched across the wall. He smiled, as if speaking to the flames ahead.
"The final objective was achieved, the rebellion was finally quelled, and a great victory was won. However, behind the scenes, the Jiangnan and Lingnan regions were left devastated."
"The kings, nobles, generals, and a small number of lower-ranking officers who led troops gained fame, fortune, and honor."
"The Great Zhou Dynasty, which contributed both money and effort, secured peace for the nation."
"As for ordinary people, mothers lost their sons, children lost their fathers, and wives lost their husbands, but they did gain something: ashes and tattered robes were sent, along with compensation money."
"Then some people will say that the blame should be placed on the rebels like Li Zhengyan. They were clearly no match for the court and should have surrendered earlier, which would have prevented so many people from being implicated."
"But should they just sit there and be slaughtered? In this world, besides the lambs who accept their fate, there are always some people who feel they should do something, who feel that some things are better than life."
Even if you don't agree, you can't completely deny it.
"In this way, both sides are guilty. It's not a matter of black and white. This is the problem with all things in the world."
"You've gone on and on for so long, Ouyang Lianghan, what do you want? What can you do? What do you dare to do?"
Ouyang Rong stood up, took out a bronze mask and a black iron token, placed them on the zither case and sword box, and slowly stroked the three items with his palm.
He too wields a sword, and his stance is equally ambiguous.
"Whatever you want to do, whatever you can do, whatever you dare to do... people will always die. It's just a matter of how many or how few die. But the question is, who will die, and who... deserves to die?"
The lights went out.
The room was plunged into darkness.
The next day.
The Jiangzhou Forward team has been assembled.
Zhu Yuheng, as the vanguard general, led 1,500 soldiers and set off first.
Ouyang Rong, along with Xunyang Prince Li Xian, Governor Wang Lengran, and others, went to see them off...
(End of this chapter)
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