0152 Yearning for Home (End) [End of Text]
Amidst the swirling wind and the dappled sunlight, the white gardenias, embraced by the wind, leaped down in dense clusters, landing on her hair and clothes, as if to completely envelop her.
Zhan Yaoguang stood up and noticed that a few damp gardenias had indeed fallen on her dark hair. He took two steps forward to brush them away for her.
Unexpectedly, Shu Fu's skirt swayed, and she took two steps outwards on her toes.
You stepped on my shadow!
The boy, being cheeky, deliberately turned to the side so that his shadow would brush against her in a friendly manner, making it look like they were intimately close.
Why can't you step on it?
Shu Fu dodged half a step again: "There's a rumor that shadows are part of the human body's essence, and if someone steps on them, you won't grow taller. I'm only seventeen, I still have many years to grow."
—But she wasn't short to begin with.
After all, her father was from Longyou, and she was considered quite tall among girls of her age.
But no one can complain about having too many good things. For example, Empress Sun and General Qin are both very tall and have slender, graceful figures. I wish I could grow up to be like them.
Upon hearing this, Zhan Yaoguang stopped moving and stood straight in place: "Then I will return the essence I stole from you, and you can step on it back as you please."
Shufu was indeed intrigued. She stepped into the shadow cast by his figure, stretched out the tip of her shoe from under her skirt, and pressed it against the tip of his heart, finally satisfied.
The girl turned around again, put her hands behind her back, and slowly walked forward.
The boy immediately snapped out of his daze and followed closely behind her.
“Afu—”
She didn't speak.
I miss you so much...
She ignored him.
“I went to Yonglefang first, the place where you used to live. Knowing you weren’t there, I tried to find out where you were and finally found it.”
Shufu continued walking forward without saying a word to him.
Zhan Yaoguang was somewhat deflated. She didn't raise her head, and her gaze naturally fell on the ground. The two were not too far apart, and their shadows were intimately close.
He suddenly had a whimsical idea. He stretched out a finger and, using the faint shadow cast by the bright moonlight, poked her hand, which was tucked behind her waist in the shadow.
What a heartless young woman.
Anyway, she didn't notice.
—Who said that?
Shu Fu walked casually, but her eyes were always slightly lowered as she secretly watched what he was doing.
Seeing his downcast eyes, clearly disappointed, yet only daring to use his shadow to entwine her hand.
Shu Fu chuckled, then suddenly stopped in her tracks and stretched out her hand from behind her back towards him: "If you want to hold my hand, then do so. When did you become so coy?"
Seeing a fair and soft hand extended to him, Zhan Yaoguang's eyes finally lit up with a joyful smile, and without saying a word, he took the hand.
The two walked side by side, with clouds drifting overhead.
Zhan Yaoguang asked, "What you just did..."
Shu Fu knew what he was asking and answered very naturally: "Oh, I actually have a problem. When I meet someone I haven't seen for a long time, I feel a little awkward. For example, when I was a child, my mother would take me back to my maternal grandparents' home in Suzhou in the summer to visit relatives. I met several cousins who were clearly my playmates who had parted with me in tears the previous year. But when I met them again this year, I always felt awkward and unfamiliar."
He subtly tightened his grip on her hand.
“But—” Shu Fu paused here, a faint light flashing in her eyes. She looked up at him and gently squeezed his knuckles. “I am an extremely soft-hearted and easy-going person. When my sisters hugged me and whispered in my ear how much they missed me, I immediately became familiar with them and slept with them that very night.”
Zhan Yaoguang was a person with extremely strong perception. Even though she spoke very tactfully, he still felt a strong and impulsive urge to act.
As they passed a corner, Zhan Yaoguang suddenly let go of her hand. Meeting the girl's questioning gaze, the boy walked halfway forward and then squatted down.
"Get on, I'll carry you back."
The action was somewhat abrupt, but Shu Fu was not embarrassed. She simply gathered her skirts and jumped onto the boy's straight back very naturally.
"Why did you say you wanted to carry me?" She pressed herself against his back, raising her wrists upwards and tightly hugging his neck.
Warm breath brushed against her ears, tickling them slightly. Zhan Yaoguang's ear tips turned slightly red. After considering for a moment, she said, "Your sisters and friends, when they want to be intimate with you, they just come over and hug you. You've experienced this many times, so when others hug you, you naturally won't take it to heart."
"But if I carry you on my back, I'll be the first one. From now on, whenever someone tries to win your favor, you'll always think of me first."
Shu Fu snorted and didn't reply.
Zhan Yaoguang paused, then suddenly changed the subject: "After leaving Tongguan, I left the Ministry of Rites' entourage and the old women from my clan behind on the road. I ditched them and rode alone to Chang'an ahead of them. I wanted to see you sooner. I missed you so much, so very much, Afu."
Upon hearing this, Shu Fu remained silent, but a bittersweet feeling welled up in her heart.
In an instant, moonlight seeped into the gardenias, and under the veil of summer night, it cascaded down with a soft patter.
Without warning, Shufu kissed him on the cheek.
The cool, damp touch on his cheek sent shivers down Zhan Yaoguang's spine, making his limbs go limp and almost causing him to let go and allow her to slide off his back.
He suddenly stopped, no longer moving forward, standing straight in place, letting a gardenia blow onto his nose, then wobbling and falling to the ground.
Shu Fu didn't urge him. Instead, she opened her mouth and responded to his words: "In that case, then—congratulations on your return. Chang'an missed you very much."
"Chang'an is a city, nothing but an inanimate object. I don't care whether it thinks of me or not." Zhan Yaoguang had just recovered her senses when she heard her response, and her tone was extremely dissatisfied.
“…Alright then,” Shu Fu finally relented, as if pleading for mercy. “I admit, Chang’an is a vast and prosperous city, carrying millions of people every day, so it wouldn’t care whether a foreigner stayed here. But…”
She lowered her voice, with a hint of shyness from a young girl, and slowly said, "But, Shu Erniang in Chang'an City, she genuinely misses you."
...
In the early autumn of the sixth year of Chongde, Shu Rongguang, the Vice Minister of Rites, brought a joint petition from various tribes of the Southern Barbarians to Chang'an and presented it to the Emperor. The petition expressed the wish of the Southern Barbarian tribes to submit to the royal court and follow the imperial instructions. It also instructed the young grandson of the tribal chief to come to Chang'an to learn Han culture and pray for a long and prosperous future.
Emperor Chongde was overjoyed and ordered the Ministry of Rites to draft an edict appointing the head of the Zhan clan as the Prince of Zhennan, to act on behalf of the court to pacify the south and oversee the affairs of various ethnic minorities.
In his spare time, he inquired about Zhan Yaoguang's intention to marry.
At this moment, he was already prepared to marry a woman from the imperial clan, and the two of them would stay in Chang'an together, where he would give them important positions.
To everyone's surprise, after a moment's thought, the young man laughed and said that he had been admiring the demeanor of Vice Minister Shu these days and wished to marry the second daughter of his son.
Although Emperor Chongde was somewhat surprised, he did not have much objection. So he and Empress Sun specially chose a day to summon Shu Fu to the emperor's court, confirmed her wishes, and finally wrote an imperial edict to bestow the marriage upon her.
This marriage agreement, personally drafted by the emperor, was unprecedented since the establishment of the dynasty and a symbol of goodwill between the two clans. As a result, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were on high alert and worked diligently for nearly two years before finally setting an auspicious date for the wedding ceremony in the spring of the eighth year of Chongde.
On this day, auspicious birds soared high amidst thin clouds adorning the clear sky, and the green willows along the Qujiang Pool swayed gracefully, their white catkins swept up by the wind and drifting softly to all corners of the land. The people of Chang'an flocked to Zhuque Street, all eager to witness the spectacle.
As dusk fell and the setting sun shone for half its length, the long procession finally came to an end. At the end of the long street, the faint sound of horses' hooves echoed, the sound of horses' hooves striking the Heavenly Street.
The crowd assumed that the groom was riding a horse to welcome the bride, and a commotion broke out as everyone jostled and craned their necks to get a better look.
As the figures drew closer, people realized that it wasn't just the groom riding alone; it was clearly a perfect couple approaching side by side.
Along the wide avenue, minor officials ran alongside, striking gongs to announce: "The Princess of Dingxiang County and the grandson of the Prince of Zhennan are newlyweds. The Emperor and Empress have personally bestowed upon them the honor of a side-by-side wedding procession. Our dynasty's newlyweds should take them as an example, replacing the previous dynasty's fan-removing ceremony with the side-by-side wedding procession. May the couple prosper together and enjoy harmony for ten thousand years!"
At first, the people found this unbelievable. How could a bride and groom ride side by side? If this were done, wouldn't everyone along the way be able to see the bride's face?
As the sound of hooves drew closer, everyone looked up at Gao Jun, and their breath caught in their throats.
They had never seen such a beautiful bride—or rather, breathtakingly beautiful.
This young girl was radiant, her literary talent and essence all contained within her, as if nothing could hinder her, and no ordinary person or world could disturb her. She forged ahead with boundless courage.
People suddenly realized: Yes, that's how it should be. If a bride is truly joyful and happy, why would she hide it from others?
Some long-standing rules need to be changed.
That night, the stars were numerous and their light was boundless.
Instead of staying in the mansion bestowed by the emperor to celebrate their wedding, the newlyweds held hands and fled to Leyou Plain in the dead of night.
The sky was high and the land was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. Shu Fu was enjoying the rustling night breeze when she suddenly burst out laughing.
Zhan Yaoguang asked her what she was laughing at, and Shu Fu replied, "I'm laughing because one of us is a grandson in name only, and the other is a county princess without a fief. We two are a perfect match."
The boy was taken aback for a moment, then smiled along with her.
"After today, is there anything you want to do?"
"My cousin Luo invited me to go south to Suzhou for a lake trip, saying she'd take me on a covered boat to pick lotus seeds. I'd like to choose a summer day to keep the appointment; Her Majesty the Empress is starting a school and plans to add a new course on horseback archery after the start of autumn, and I'd like to help her with my assessment; and then there's your hometown... I bought Yue Niangzi's newly revised edition of 'The Chronicles of the Four Directions,' which describes the Miao region as mysterious and romantic. What do you think about going there after the winter solstice? The Miao region is located in the south, and it's said to be much warmer than Chang'an even in the dead of winter. Going there after the winter solstice would be the most suitable place to spend the winter..."
Seeing that she was resting her head on his lap and becoming more and more engrossed in her conversation, Zhan Yaoguang couldn't help but tear off a blade of grass and hold it to her cheek, gently scratching it in an attempt to get her attention.
"You've covered all of summer, autumn, and winter, so what are we supposed to do in spring?"
After hearing this, Shu Fu looked at him for a while with her bright, watery eyes. Zhan Yaoguang's heart pounded under her gaze, and he almost lowered his head to kiss her. But she suddenly turned to the side, stretched out her arms and tightly embraced the young man's slender waist, pressed her face against his stomach, and answered in a muffled voice:
"There is nothing else to do in spring, and I will see you in spring."
(End of text)
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