Chapter 69 Old Friend "I like you the most——"...
A crowd surged forward. Besides Shi Chunsheng, another gaze fell on Zhu Hao. She glanced sideways. Song Xieqing's face remained calm, his eyes reflecting her under the bright candlelight. Zhu Hao turned around again, and Shi Chunsheng was slowly approaching her. Zhu Hao glanced at Song Xieqing, and after a brief moment of thought, she was about to speak when Song Xieqing suddenly flicked her forehead. "I'll go buy you some fashionable snacks from Kyoto."
His force was so gentle that Zhu Hao didn't feel any pain, but rather an itch. However, Song Xieqing continued to stroke her forehead. He said meaningfully, "Don't do it for too long."
Today is an absolutely auspicious day. Not to mention Kyoto, even in Dacheng, no matter which state or county, there are loud gongs and drums, and the streets and alleys are filled with singing and laughter.
Knowing they couldn't find a quiet place, the two of them just sat down randomly on a shop. They faced a large banyan tree surrounded by people. She couldn't hear clearly, only a few words occasionally, but the two words "Song Lang" always hit her ears clearly.
Shi Chunsheng asked the waiter to bring some tea and snacks. He was not polite in wishing everyone a good time. However, as he took a bite of the tea cake, his eyes were always fixed on the banyan tree not far away. A smile appeared on his lips, which he was not even aware of. Shi Chunsheng followed her gaze and smiled too.
He settled in the capital for a year and gained some understanding of the local customs and even the storytellers and actors on the streets.
The storytellers under the banyan tree would set up stalls to tell stories during festivals. Most of the stories were about famous figures from the previous dynasty and the early years of the founding of the country. Among them, the most popular were the anecdotes and stories of the founding emperor Huanzhen and the previous dynasty's imperial teacher Song Lang. The capital was different from Huaicheng. Song Lang was no longer just cursed, but admired.
Bystanders are more judgmental than those involved. Shi Chunsheng laughed at himself. It was just as he said. However, he still had doubts that were not solved. He just had to delve deeper and see the light.
"Pianpian." Shi Chunsheng broke the silence. The young lady looked back, her eyebrows and eyes raised with joy. He asked stupidly, "Is he treating you well?"
Obviously, the answer to this question was clear without her response.
Therefore, even though it was he who asked, Shi Chunsheng couldn't bear to hear it. He only added another question to cover up his inner anxiety, "When did you remember it? How is your health recently? I heard that Young Master Lu's medical relatives have been sent back. I guess... Pianpian's stubborn illness has been cured?"
Zhu Hao smiled back, not answering the previous question. He only answered the current one, "Yes, well, thanks to Young Master Lu's medical relatives, as for my memory... I remembered it not long after you left Huaicheng."
Although she regained her healthy body thanks to Song Xiqing, this was the only answer she could give to her relatives and friends who were unaware of the situation.
He had so much to say to her, but since his career, his chances of meeting her had dwindled, not to mention that she already had a husband. He had been gone for a year, and he had missed her all that time. Shi Chunsheng hated his own uselessness, and now that he had finally met her, she was still the same, remembering all their old memories. But Shi Chunsheng felt as if someone was entangled in his words, unable to utter a single word as usual.
Zhu Hao estimated the time and knew that their meeting was rare. She paused inwardly and asked with a smile, "I don't know much about the imperial examination, but... Mr. Shi will be taking part in the joint examination at the end of the month?"
Shi Chunsheng smiled faintly, "Yes."
Toast to the good, "After the examination, I should be called a tribute scholar."
He paused holding the cup, looked up at her with a deep smile, and said, "Pianpian, don't make fun of me. If I don't win..."
Zhu Hao clinked his cup with his, the tea rippled and made a crisp sound. "If it were you, it would definitely work."
"Thank you for your good wishes." A warm current flowed through his heart, and Shi Chunsheng changed the subject: "Is Grandfather still in good health?"
Zhu Hao nodded rapidly, "I visit him in my free time. He's much better than you and I thought. He does morning exercises every day and talks about you all the time, yet he never writes a single letter, saying it's keeping you from studying. Oh... really, how much time can he waste opening a letter from home?"
The girl in front of him was chattering incessantly with great excitement, and Shi Chunsheng seemed to be able to really see the energetic but stubborn Shi Yu from her few words.
He couldn't explain his mood at the moment, he just felt his eyes and nose swollen. After he finished speaking, the two of them fell into silence again. People came and went on the street, but no one stayed. To them, they were just passers-by, and he was probably the same to her.
Why is it that we used to talk about everything as children, but now we have nothing to talk about?
Silently, he only secretly remembered her when Zhu Hao looked towards the banyan tree.
Suddenly, Zhu Hao glanced sideways for no reason, and he unexpectedly fell into her smiling eyes. Shi Chunsheng suddenly remembered that the girl sitting in front of him was an extremely cheerful person when he was a child. Later, because her brother suffered from a hidden illness and was implicated, she almost never smiled. It was not until the case of burial alive was solved that she smiled again.
Zhu Hao fished out the Luban lock from her inner sleeve. It was the one Shi Chunsheng had given her on her birthday the previous year. Zhu Hao placed it on the table and deftly turned the lock pieces. After just a few turns, the Luban lock toppled over like a mountain. A little finger-sized pearl rolled out from the middle of the scattered lock pieces. Zhu Hao twisted it between her fingers and pushed the scattered pieces of the Luban lock toward him with her other hand. "I'll take the pearl and return the Luban lock to you. Although I intend to repay my childhood self, Chunsheng, I didn't like toys that required much thought, nor did I like studying."
It was clearly just ordinary idle talk, but his heart was still flying in the windless air. He tried to grab onto something, but every time it was just a breeze passing through his fingers, confusing him.
He recalled the little girl who always ran to his bookstore to read to him and pestered him to dismantle the Lu Ban lock when he was a child. In the end, he suddenly realized that everything in his mind, including the raised emotions in his heart, was like the Lu Ban lock on the table, which would collapse at the touch of a button.
The four realms returned to silence. Shi Chunsheng tried his best to maintain a smile on his face and said softly, "Pianpian, I understand."
The crowd behind her was always blurry, but now there was a figure coming against the hurried flow of people. Shi Chunsheng carefully considered the look of the man when he looked at him and then whispered to his wife. He laughed dryly again and guessed that the time was almost up. No wonder he was so anxious.
Shi Chunsheng looked at her with deep hope and wished her well, wondering when he would see her again.
…
Zhu Hao pulled Song Xieqing around and looked around, "Didn't you go buy me some snacks? Why did you come back empty-handed?"
He interlocked his fingers with hers and led Zhu Hao in the opposite direction of Shi Chunsheng's departure. "I thought it would be more fun to take you for a stroll and eat along the way. What's the matter? You chatted with him for a long time, but you just sat there doing nothing? Shi Chunsheng didn't bring any snacks? Did he leave you hungry for nothing?"
Zhu Hao laughed, "Long time?"
Song Xieqing stamped his feet, "A long time."
Seeing her amused expression, it was obvious that she had no idea how he had gotten through most of the hour. He was so exhausted that he couldn't help but restrain himself from using magic to spy on her.
"Fried tofu—crispy on the outside and tender on the inside—"
A crisp shout exploded in the ears of the two, which was clearer and more piercing than the vague noise behind them, followed by the fragrant aroma of fried tofu.
Zhu Hao turned around and saw that it was a medium-sized shop with a long queue along the street. There was a crooked plaque with four large characters "Jiangshi Jiafu" written in cursive. A girl was busy in front of the counter. When she looked up, she saw a pretty face as gentle and pleasant as jade. It was the young lady who had just helped her solve her doubts in Guandian Tower.
Song Xieqing's eyes also paused on her.
Song Xieqing seemed a little depressed along the way. Although he always responded to her gossip, kept track of her every move, tidied up her hair from time to time, and lifted her skirt whenever they were in a crowded place, Zhu Hao had a feeling that something was wrong with him.
So, Zhu Hao decided not to leave and stopped in an alley. It was already past midnight, and the place was still bustling with activity under the emperor's chariot, but no one was seen passing through the alleys and streets.
Song Xieqing looked down at her, "Pianpian?"
Zhu Hao suddenly raised his head and bumped into his jaw accidentally. One of them covered his forehead and the other covered his chin, and both of them frowned.
"Not only is the Jiang family's tofu delicious, but Miss Jiang Lai, the Tofu Beauty, is also a renowned beauty far and wide."
Song Xieqing was speechless for a moment. He pulled her into his arms with amusement, "Eh? Pianpian, this is the first time I see you jealous."
He felt it was strange. Seeing that she cared about him so much, he couldn't help but feel a little flattered. However, he didn't want to have any more misunderstandings in the future and make her feel depressed.
Zhu Hao bumped into his chest and said, "You can see clearly now that you are not tofu."
Song Xieqing remained motionless. He pinched her cheek and said, "What are you thinking about? Pianpian, when I was reading the fate book, I happened to see the words 'Jiang Lai'..."
However, his interest in this person was far more than that. It involved people and things from a hundred years ago. Song Xieqing didn't know how to explain the whole story for a moment. Moreover, he was not completely sure, so he only said: "She bears a resemblance to an old friend from the previous dynasty. There is reincarnation in the world, so I wonder if there is any connection."
Zhu Hao's expression darkened for a moment when she heard the word "reincarnation." Song Xieqing saw it clearly and was about to ask her, but Zhu Hao spoke first, "Who is it? How come I've never heard of you having any female friends? Song Xieqing, didn't you say...that when you were a human, you didn't have much contact with girls?"
When the two of them were making peace, he had already told her the whole story of a hundred years ago and the method to interpret her fate. However, he did not mention this "old friend" at all, because there was really nothing worth talking about between him and the princess of the previous dynasty. It was just a courtesy between the monarch and his subject, and a friendship between a teacher and a student. Although Jiang Zhi had arranged the marriage, she went to the palace to defy the order, and he had no intention of marrying, so he immediately wrote a memorial to reject the order.
Although this incident was recorded in the Huaixianlu, if she knew that the woman he had just noticed looked like Princess Suiping, how could she not think too much about it.
He was a little flustered. He opened his lips several times, but only called her nickname sporadically, and panic filled his usually cold face.
Zhu Hao really couldn't help laughing, his shoulders were shaking. It turned out that he was also so flustered, and it was so funny to tease him.
Song Xieqing's solemn expression eased slightly, but his tone was still subdued. "Good luck, it's not funny."
"Well... okay, I won't laugh anymore." Zhu Hao tried to hide her smile, but Song Xieqing looked like he was being bullied by her. She had no choice but to stand on tiptoe and kiss his neck, half coaxing and half laughing: "How could I not believe you? How could I doubt you? Song Xieqing, I like you the most——"
The lights outside the alley were all out, and the alley was dark and gloomy. The back of Zhu Hao's head hit his palm. He pushed her against the wall of the alley, held her neck and kissed her.
The body temperatures of both of them gradually rose, and they were gasping for breath due to the heat. The woman's warm and moist breath brushed his neck, causing him to break out in a thin layer of sweat. Song Xieqing put his arms around her waist and picked her up. He protected Zhu Hao's waist with one hand and passed his other hand across her legs that were wrapped around his waist. Song Xieqing slowly bit her from her lips to her neck.
Zhu Hao was itchy and was about to speak out, but this man's hands became more and more dishonest. The rustling of fabric rubbed against her ears. Zhu Hao groaned briefly, but he blocked her words. She had no choice but to cling to his shoulders, rising and falling. Zhu Hao said weakly, "I see that although Immortal Song has no female confidante, he is good in this aspect..."
She considered her words briefly and said, "It's quite a feat."
A low laugh reached her ears from the endless alleyway. Zhu Hao's feet had already left the ground, and she was thrown about, her stockings dangling from her toes. She could only vaguely hear him say, "Seeing you, I've learned everything without a teacher."
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The author has something to say: Bystanders judge, but those involved are confused. - "Lazy True Son" by Ma Yongqing, Song Dynasty
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