0020 Horizontal Branches (Part 3)
In the dark of night, ink splashes across the sky, a crescent moon hangs in the air, and a few pale stars twinkle.
It was night when the group returned to the mansion. Madam Luo told everyone to go back to their rooms and rest. The sisters bowed and thanked her before leading their maids back to their own courtyards.
...
Upstairs at the Spring Festival Gala, Shu Fu lit the lamps one by one. After sitting in the west room for a long time, she slowly took out a piece of white paper and spread it on the table.
Since it's not feasible to have my mother decide to annul the engagement, I can only write a letter to my father to let him know.
Aye has always been a person of integrity and righteousness; otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed his sisters to not practice the Nun's Book and instead read various miscellaneous books according to their own interests.
"Father, upon receiving this letter, it is as if we are face to face: at the time of this letter, all major affairs in the capital were peaceful..."
Shu Fu briefly mentioned the recent situation of her family and relatives, paused for a moment, and then picked up her pen to continue writing.
"On the 23rd day of the first month of the sixth year of Chongde, when spring was in full bloom, my two sisters and I went to the Xu family’s spring banquet, where we happened to meet Brother Liang."
"However, my elder brother is unruly and has offended my sister Yin in the courtyard. The details of the incident are too numerous to describe, but everyone at the banquet heard about it. Therefore, I believe that we should cancel Fu's engagement and arrange a marriage for my sister, in order to preserve Yin's reputation..."
After writing all this, she breathed a sigh of relief, added a few words of comfort to Shu Rongguang at the end, and then concluded with a deep bow.
The next step is to find a way to send a message to the southern border, and then we can ask Aye to decide on this matter.
When Shu Fu put down her pen, Zhan Yaoguang had already returned to her room sometime earlier and was quietly sitting on a chair opposite her at the wooden desk, watching her.
The boy had beautiful features, and his focus was especially captivating.
Shufu had gone through so much that day, yet she still managed to spare a smile for him.
Zhan Yaoguang watched intently as she sealed the envelope with wax, then suddenly blurted out, "You're unhappy, aren't you?"
Although he asked the question, his tone was very certain.
Shu Fu was startled, but then casually got up and walked around him, nestling herself into the small couch and grabbing a hidden pouch with gold thread patterns, which she held close to her chest.
"I'm fine, just tired after a long day and a bit listless."
She said the same thing to her mother.
But Zhan Yaoguang was not as easily fooled as Luo Shi. He walked up to her, looked at her with complicated eyes for a while, and suddenly reached out his hand to her: "Get up, I'll help you cheer up."
Shu Fu looked up at him in surprise.
Zhan Yaoguang found a sturdy rope from somewhere and said to Shufu, "When I carry you on my back in a little while, I'll use this rope to tie you up a bit. It will hurt a little, so I'll tie it loosely. You mustn't move around."
Shufu felt a little awkward: "Does it have to be this way?"
“Yes,” Zhan Yaoguang said firmly, “I’m afraid I might accidentally drop you.”
"..."
Shufu finally gave in, and the boy carried her on his back, binding her intimately with ropes.
Blushing, she pressed her chest against his straight back, a wave of shy warmth quickly washing over her. Only when she rested her forehead against the back of his neck and felt his equally disordered breathing did she feel slightly more at ease.
The young man was as light as a swallow and as swift as a crane. His lightness skill had reached a state of perfection. Even when he was traveling with her, his movements were not slow.
As night fell in Chang'an, the moon, though weary from its slumber, remained awake. The city was ablaze with lights, the streets bustling with activity, the sounds of pipa, huqin, sheng, and xiao still lingering, and the aromas of rouge, fine wine, and fresh fruit filled the air.
In another month, it will be Empress Sun's fortieth birthday. All the prefectures and counties below Chang'an will suspend the curfew from the beginning of February, and all will hold a grand celebration for the Empress's birthday.
Bathed in such a prosperous and joyful scene, Shufu's mood was inevitably affected, and she gradually became relaxed. (Braised radish + Group 201)
"Which direction is Liang Zhiyan's house in?"
The spring night breeze carried the boy's voice to her ear, and Shu Fu was taken aback: "Why are you asking this?"
Zhan Yaoguang had followed her almost the entire day, and through her conversations with those people, she had reconstructed the events that had occurred before with remarkable accuracy.
He asked, "I said I'd help you cheer up, do you want to go find him and settle the score?"
Shu Fu was not a truly gentle and virtuous lady. In the past, she only wanted to break off her engagement with Liang Zhiyan and be done with it. But once someone mentioned to her that she wanted to settle scores with Liang Zhiyan, the seeds of revenge were quietly sown in her heart.
Shu Fu remained silent, and Zhan Yaoguang assumed she had softened her heart and backed down, so she coaxed her gently, "He betrayed you before, and today he tried to force himself on you and even belittled your family. How can you still feel sorry for him?"
As he spoke, he thought with a touch of jealousy: How could someone like that be engaged to her? No girl in their clan would want a man like that!
Shu Fu replied, "I'm not reluctant, I'm just thinking about what kind of suffering he should endure."
"..."
Shu Fu pointed out the way to Zhan Yaoguang, and the boy carried her on his back, using the walls and treetops for support several times. With light and swift movements, he avoided all the pedestrians who might discover them, and passed through two horizontal and three vertical alleys, eventually finding the Liang residence in Xuanyi Ward.
The Liang family prided themselves on being a cultured and scholarly family, and never allowed any of their members to get involved in the mundane affairs of money-making. They lived solely on their ancestral property and the salaries of Liang Zhiyan and his son.
Over the years, although he didn't live in poverty, he wasn't as glamorous as other officials.
Because of this, the Liang family mansion was smaller than the Shu family mansion, and its layout was not as exquisite as the Shu family mansion, so the two of them easily found Liang Zhiyan's courtyard.
Zhan Yaoguang led Shu Fu to the roof of the main house in the courtyard. After untying the ropes binding them, they lifted a few blue tiles decorated with lotus patterns, and a faint light shone through the house.
After glancing down at the ground, Zhan Yaoguang quickly covered Shu Fu's eyes.
Shufu: "..."
“I saw it,” she said. “Besides, I’m not completely ignorant.”
With a close friend like Li Miao, who had kept countless male concubines, Shu Fu knew a thing or two about the world. Besides, if she were truly ignorant, why would she have helped him do that kind of thing in the carriage today…?
She reached out and covered Zhan Yaoguang's hand, forcefully pulling his hand away.
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