Chapter 36 Chapter 36 No one is traveling with me.
The lights were flickering as Lin Zhen sat at the desk beneath the painting of mist and rain, holding a wolf-hair brush in his hand, his eyes wandering on the night light outside the window.
Only a light stroke of ink spread across the snow-white rice paper, and the door creaked open.
"I heard from the maid that you went back home first. The customs in Qizhou are quite different from those in Beijing. Why don't you take a closer look?"
Qi Yushi gently pushed the wheelchair to close the door, then slowly walked into the room.
Before he went out, Uncle Chen added a black fox fur coat to him. Against the backdrop of the flickering firelight, his face looked even whiter than snow and his lips looked even more rosy.
Lin Zhen pursed his lips slightly. "I was a little tired from copying books during the day, so I came back early."
Qi Yushi raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at her sitting upright at the desk, and smiled, "Why don't you rest earlier?"
Lin Zhen feigned composure as he casually tucked the rice paper in front of him into a book beside him. He suddenly stood up, his eyes flickering as he said, "It's time to rest."
If you want to settle down, you must take a bath and undress. As soon as these words came out, Lin Zhen pushed himself from one predicament to another.
So she just stood there stiffly, without moving.
"There are some documents in the study that need reviewing. Madam, please put them away first."
Although this was a tacit statement they had made when sleeping in the same room for nearly a month, Lin Zhen still breathed a sigh of relief.
After taking a shower and changing clothes, Lin Zhen lay quietly on the bed. She tossed and turned for a while before falling into a light sleep. In her hazy state, she had a dream.
In the dream, Qi Yushi was sitting under a colorful lantern stand. After hearing her soft call, he looked towards her.
When their eyes met, a face that was usually as warm as the wind gradually turned cold. The mottled light reflected on his face turned into patches of blood, spreading across his face. The lights behind him became dimmer and dimmer, gradually blurring into a scorched earth, with blood flowing everywhere.
Qi Yushi's expression turned from cold to painful, so painful that he almost couldn't support his body, but his pair of clear eyes still stared at her intently.
She wanted to go forward and hold him back, but her body seemed to be restrained by something and she couldn't move at all...
"Lin Zhen—Lin Zhen!"
Lin Zhen suddenly woke up from the shouting. The face in her dream still came into her eyes, but her complexion had returned to normal and she was looking at her with a frown.
Before she completely woke up from the dream, the tears in Lin Zhen's eyes dripped uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes. It was not until she felt a hint of coolness on her cheek that she slowly came back to her senses.
Qi Yushi withdrew his fingertips and whispered, "Are you having a nightmare?"
Lin Zhen paused for a moment and shook his head.
"Sir, what are you doing...?"
Qi Yushi clutched the wet hem of her clothes tightly and moved her wheelchair back a little, fearing that she would be exposed to the cold.
"I was bathing just now when I heard—heard a noise from the inner room, so I hurried over. My clothes are disheveled, so I hope you will forgive me, young lady."
He looked calm and even had a hint of smile in his tone, but he was betrayed by a cough caused by a gust of cool wind.
Lin Zhen hurriedly got up from the bed, helped him change into dry clothes, and added some new charcoal to the stove.
"You should sleep in the inner room tonight." Lin Zhen was a little worried. "How can a man let a woman sleep on the floor?"
He seemed to be in the mood for a joke at any moment, but after a moment he said seriously, "I still haven't finished reading a few volumes, so I thought I'd take a bath to clear my mind before reading. I'm afraid I'll disturb your rest."
After he said that, Lin Zhen had no choice but to give up and lay back on the couch, no longer wanting to sleep.
He only left one lamp on in the outer room. Through the purple bamboo screen, Lin Zhen looked at everything hazy in front of him.
She suddenly understood why his bedroom made her feel so strangely at ease. The layout and style of the room were reminiscent of her father's...
Including the thin but upright figure outside the screen.
That person was my father's only student in his life.
It seemed that she already had the answer to his identity in her heart. After the temptation under the lanterns tonight, it was she who turned around and retreated.
She suddenly realized that she didn't know how to respond to his question.
She even felt that what had just happened was not a dream at all, but his past that she dared not touch, his former hell, the hell of tens of thousands of loyal souls in Qizhou.
On the other side of the screen, Qi Yushi's gaze lingered on his fingertips for a long time.
*
New Year’s Eve soon arrived.
There are only more than twenty people in the Chen family, including masters and servants. In order to make it more lively, Uncle Chen proposed a few days ago to hold the New Year's Eve family dinner in the attic in the backyard, so that everyone in the family can celebrate the festival together. Lin Zhen naturally agreed.
There were several more stoves lit in the attic than usual, making it warm. The servants opened the two south-facing windows, reflecting the moonlight, which made the night banquet more enjoyable.
"This old servant offers tea instead of wine, wishing you and your wife a happy new year and a smooth life!"
During the banquet, Chen Bo first raised his glass to congratulate, and then the maids and servants all bowed and greeted him. Qi Yu Shi gave each of them a reward.
Finally, Xinyi brought out a wooden box, which contained a jade crown and a jade hairpin. She was rarely seen wearing a bright Xiangfei-colored long dress today, which added a touch of softness to her heroic face and was eye-catching.
"This is what Xinyi presents to the young master... and the lady." The last few words were spoken so quietly that they were almost swallowed.
After handing the wooden box to the maid in Lin Zhen's room, Xinyi sat back down beside him. Picking up some food as if nothing had happened, she whispered in a voice only Lin Zhen could hear: "The young master's jade crown is made of green jade, and your jade hairpin is made of agate. They are not a pair."
Lin Zhen lowered his eyes and sipped the tea in his hand, pretending not to hear.
Xinyi, who received no response, was furious. She chewed the food in her mouth vigorously. After a long while, she raised her voice and said, "Just take this as a thank you for finding the prescription for me last time."
There was another silence.
Just as Xinyi gasped and was about to explode, Lin Zhen said calmly, "I understand."
“…”
Xinyi frowned and poked her chopsticks into the pastries in the bowl, humph!
"Madam actually smiled, how beautiful!"
No one knew who spoke first, but everyone looked at Lin Zhen. Her fair earlobes immediately turned red, and she hurriedly lowered her head and took a sip of the hot tea in front of her.
Hearing this, Xinyi immediately burst out laughing.
"What, what's wrong? Sister Xinyi, what are you all laughing at?"
"Don't just keep your happiness to yourself, tell us about it and make us happy too!"
Xinyi glanced at Lin Zhen sideways and said proudly, "Well, that depends on your performance!"
Several maids immediately stood up and surrounded Xinyi, shouting, "Hurry up and tell me!"
The warm attic suddenly became lively. No one paid attention to Lin Zhen. She breathed a sigh of relief and raised her eyes, only to see Qi Yu looking at her with a smile.
The two of them left the table quietly in tacit understanding.
The courtyard was hung with big red lanterns all over, even the pond water was reflected in it, and a cool breeze blew by. Lin Zhen, who was standing on the shore, couldn't help but sniff.
"On a day like this, in this weather, it's just right to have a pot of wine."
Qi Yushi was in poor health and had to take medicine all day long, so he was not suitable for drinking alcohol. Therefore, there was only tea at the table. Hearing him say this, Lin Zhen thought he was joking, but he suddenly took out a jar of wine from behind him.
Lin Zhen wanted to stop him, but seeing his bright and cheerful smile, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out.
Qi Yushi raised the wine jar, tilted his head back and took a hearty sip. He wiped the corner of his mouth and held the jar in front of Lin Zhen. "Want some?"
He thought Lin Zhen would refuse, but she took the jar of wine.
Within the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, Lin Zhen, who had wanted to admonish Qi Yu, fell drunk to the ground.
Qi Yushi lowered his head to look at the woman resting her head on his knees. The cold wind blew her long hair into the air. He took off his cloak and gently draped it over Lin Zhen.
The cloak with body temperature made Lin Zhen warm instantly. Her tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and she slowly raised her head and opened her eyes.
When Qi Yushi was looked at like this by her, he couldn't help but raise his hand and gently stroke her cheek.
"Qi Ziheng..." She opened her mouth slightly and whispered.
Hearing this, Qi Yushi's fingertips trembled slightly, his eyes darkened as he looked at her, and his heart tightened.
"I met him, Father. He is just as you hoped, a modest gentleman and a peerless figure in the country."
"only……"
She paused for a moment, the corners of her eyes flushed slightly, and her voice was so low that it was difficult to hear clearly. Qi Yushi leaned over and could barely hear what she said.
"But he can never go back to the high-spirited person you described."
Qi Yushi exhaled deeply, and the breath turned into a cloud of white smoke in the cold air, blurring his vision.
When Qi Yu left the capital with his father for his fiefdom, he was only fourteen years old.
At the long pavilion, when his teacher asked him about his future aspirations, the young and frivolous boy declared, "I hope to find a good martial arts teacher, study literature and practice martial arts, become a general or a prime minister in the future, and help my father protect the borders of the Great Zhou and bring eternal peace!"
Become a general or a prime minister?
He placed his hands on the cold armrests of the wheelchair and laughed coldly.
Lin Zhen rubbed her face uneasily in his palm. He raised his hand and stroked her temples, ears, neck and shoulder with his fingertips.
He did hear Lin Zhen's voice in front of the lantern stand that night.
Lin Zhen didn't dare to face him as Qi Ziheng, the son of Prince Chen.
He also couldn't face her directly as Qi Ziheng.
He couldn't bear to see the guilt in her eyes because of him, and he didn't want to stay with her in such pain.
Perhaps he was wrong from the beginning.
The road he is going to take is destined to be one that no one will accompany him on.
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