Chapter 26
The night grew darker. Yue Qingning stood in the deep blue air and looked at the burning brazier in front of him. Inside the brazier were their clothes and used face towels.
The flames shot up into the sky, bringing brightness to the night. She looked at the flames quietly, but her heart felt a peace she had never felt before.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening behind me.
She turned around and saw that the desperate man had stood up and walked out with a high fever.
Yue Qingning quickly stopped him and wanted to help him back, but the man was very stubborn at this time. He refused to take a step forward and instead sat down in front of the door.
"Queming, you still have a high fever. If you faint, I won't be able to help you up!"
He took a deep breath, leaned against the door, and shook his head at her.
"I know the situation myself. I won't faint for the time being."
Yue Qingning was also exhausted by his annoyance and sat aside like him.
"Why do you have to come out?"
He chuckled softly, "Time flies by so quickly. I don't want to spend the rest of my life lying on a sickbed."
It was at this moment that Yue Qingning discovered something. He usually didn't talk much so he couldn't hear it. But now there were only two of them, and every sentence he said contained insights and understandings that were not appropriate for someone of his status.
Thinking of this, her hidden vigilance was aroused by him again.
"Que Ming... I always feel like I know very little about you."
He looked at her with a fire in his eyes, which made her reflection in his eyes brighter.
"Miss, don't bother thinking about it. As long as you want to know, Que Ming will tell you everything."
The sincerity in her eyes pierced her soul. He was thinking about the secret of his identity, while the other party was thinking about the means he designed to harm her.
Yue Qingning looked at him silently for a long time.
Why do you want to hurt me?
Would he answer if she really asked him that? Or would he feign shock and swear he had no second thoughts?
In fact, she already knew how he would behave, and at this moment she really didn't want to see his fake performance at all, so she suddenly interrupted him.
"Come to think of it, I haven't even asked you what your name was before Queming. Queming was the name the owner of the Qinfang gave you, right?"
Que Ming was stunned for a moment, thinking that she would ask something based on her expression just now. He didn't know whether he was relieved or disappointed.
His teacher had told him not to tell anyone about his affairs, not even her.
She should have noticed something, but for some reason she forced herself not to ask, leaving him no way to confess.
Que Ming sighed imperceptibly and continued her conversation.
"Yes, when the owner of the zither shop took me in, he said that birds have wings that allow them to fly high, and he hoped I could fly above the mountains."
At first glance, it seems to be for his own good, but the word "sparrow" means a toy. No matter how high it flies, it will be locked in a cage. The word "sparrow" is really not a good word.
"He's also someone with bad intentions..."
She whispered the truth quietly, but Que Ming heard it, and he knew it too.
But he didn't care. It didn't matter what she was called now. The only thing he was worried about was whether she would still recognize her after he changed her name soon.
"What about before that? What was your name before?"
He seemed to pause, and looked at her again as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Seeing that she was unwilling to say anything more, Yue Qingning patted her skirt and pretended to stand up.
"Since it's inconvenient to tell me, I won't force you to tell me."
Que Ming really grabbed her.
"No... I just forgot my name. I was separated from my family and hurt myself after going through some things. I've forgotten a lot of things about myself. I only remember that my last name is Ling."
"Which 'Ling' is it?"
He lowered his hand to the ground and raised it, "Aoxue Lingshuang, the word Ling."
He waited quietly, hoping that she could think of something from it, but she pondered for a long time without any expression and just nodded.
"The character Ling is so rare! I've been in Beijing for so many years and I've never heard of anyone with the last name Ling."
“…”
He remained silent. The Ling family had been wiped out ten years ago, and he was afraid that no one with the surname Ling would come to Beijing in the future.
Things have changed and the years have passed.
The Ling family disappeared from the capital without any fuss. Not many people even remembered the Ling family name. It was unknown whether the one in the palace still missed their old friend.
He said nothing again. Qingning thought he was asleep, but when she looked over, her eyes met his.
He seemed to be always looking at him. When he thought about it carefully, it seemed that no matter when he looked at him, he would catch him red-handed.
Yue Qingning raised his hand to cover his face and coughed awkwardly.
Seeing her like this, Que Ming thought that she was also infected with the disease, and raised his hand to touch her forehead.
Qingning didn't expect him to reach out his hand, and she dodged in a hurry. His fingertips suddenly stopped half an inch away from her, and the two of them stood there awkwardly, staring at each other.
This hand is raised so skillfully!
He himself didn't know what was wrong with him. He actually stretched out his hand so presumptuously. Perhaps it was because the high fever from his illness made his head dizzy, making it difficult for him to even think before doing anything. He just acted on his instinct and followed his heart in everything.
If this goes on, the lady will probably hate him even more.
What's more, he had accidentally touched her waist just now. She was probably not only disgusted but also afraid of him.
This is really... the older he gets, the more he seems to be regressing. I haven't seen him make so many mistakes before!
He thought about it carefully, and it seemed as if all these mistakes and omissions started from that day. If she cared even a little more, he would show her his ugly face...
Their eyes met, and she stepped back an inch with evasion in her eyes.
Que Ming turned his hand around and covered his face in a daze. His red face was almost as red as the clouds in the sky.
It was clearly him who raised his hand first, but now he didn't dare to look at her.
But seeing how embarrassed he was, my own uneasiness actually eased a lot.
Qingning breathed a sigh of relief and stood up and said to him.
"You need more rest now, go back to the room and lie down!"
As she was about to go back, Que Ming suddenly called her from behind.
"Miss, I want to ask one more thing!"
After being pulled by him again and again, Yue Qingning lost his patience and looked at the fire without even turning his head.
"What?"
"The young lady asked me before if I had seen what you wrote...what was it?"
Because of that sentence, he tossed and turned day and night, but still couldn't come up with anything. He thought the eldest lady would just give him a quick death and sentence him to life imprisonment.
Yue Qingning didn't expect that he would know this, so she turned around and stared into his eyes.
"How do you know?"
Que Ming hadn't had any hope, but he didn't expect her to react like this. It seemed like she really did have one or two words to say.
"Miss Youhu asked me this before, but I thought about it for a long time and still couldn't come up with an answer. Why not tell Queming so that I can remember it from now on."
She was speechless. She actually said this...
It’s just that my state of mind when I wrote it in my last life was completely different from now, so there’s no need to show those dusty thoughts to others.
She let her guard down and chuckled.
"It's nothing important. I just remembered that we could have sat around the fire that night, brewed tea, and exchanged a few lines of poetry with Sister Teng. I wanted you to listen to this new line I wrote. Is that okay?"
Seeing that the person in front of him seemed to be interested, Yue Qingning calmly found a poem that few people had heard of and read out two lines from it.
"The fragrance of tea boiled in Lingquan at night is alive, and the zither is thinking of autumn and the crane tent is clear."
Before he could finish his sentence, the man who usually took care of the horses suddenly started laughing.
Yue Qingning understood at this point. He really did understand! Not only did he understand, he also knew who wrote this poem. But where did he read it from?
This poem is not common, and it can only be considered mediocre. There are not many people in the capital who have seen it. How could he even know this poem?
This man was truly unfathomable! She'd known he was no ordinary man, but she hadn't realized how much he'd done beneath the guise of a groom. This, however, did explain her past life's doubts. After all, not everyone who climbed the social ladder could become an official, and the illiterate had no path to success.
Seeing her pondering over it, Que Ming finally retracted his smile.
In fact, most of the books on poetry were leftovers from her reading. The teacher often took some books from her and gave them to him, asking him to have both literary and moral qualities and not to be biased.
At that time, he often held her book, hid under the table, covered himself with a quilt to block the candlelight, and quietly read the few notes she left on the book.
The annotation is very well written. In just two sentences, both the words and the emotions are encompassed.
He often found himself drawn into her thoughts while watching her, and as time went on, he also learned something about her likes and dislikes. In a sense, she could be considered half his teacher.
Thinking this but unable to say it out loud, he raised his eyes and praised helplessly.
"Queming thinks the young lady writes very well!"
She wasn't lying, what she wrote was indeed excellent!
Hearing him pretending like this, Qingning became even more suspicious.
He clearly knew it but refused to admit it. Instead, he made it so obvious for her to see it. What was he thinking?
But before that, she wanted to know who was helping him study?
Could it be the Crown Prince? Had the Crown Prince already taken a fancy to him long ago and nurtured his studies? But let alone him, even he had only met Xiao Yan by chance, so he probably had no chance to meet him.
Even if this is true, the prince should have kept him by his side. How could he let him be taken away by the enemy?
Who else? Could it be my mother?
My mother has always been kind-hearted. The servants in the mansion are the first to ask her for help when they have difficulties. She will definitely help in any way she can. If Que Ming asks to read a book, she may lend him a couple of Buddhist scriptures, but it is absolutely impossible for her to teach him!
Having reached another dead end, she stared at him for a long moment, her breathing becoming increasingly rapid.
She seemed to be angry, and Que Ming hurriedly wanted to stand up and comfort her.
He is hers to begin with, so what's wrong with her wanting to know?
Even if her identity was exposed, he was just repaying her life-saving grace with this body! Besides, he knew her character better. Even if she knew, she would never tell anyone and let him die.
He stood up in a hurry, and as soon as he stood up, he felt dizzy and almost fell down.
A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him up.
"Miss……"
Don't think too much! It's the teacher who is teaching me.
Just as he was about to speak, the woman opposite him interrupted him.
"Didn't I tell you...if you collapse here, I can't take care of you."
Once again dodging...
Que Ming's head was burning with fever, but his chest felt half cold. He forced a smile from the corner of his mouth.
"Yes... Queming will go back now and not embarrass the young lady."
After saying that, he stood back in the room, holding onto the door frame. He held onto the door with both hands and looked at her again, but this time she didn't give him a chance and turned around first, walking into the night.
The dark blue mist covered her outline. He leaned against the door and watched for a long time, unable to recover until the person disappeared from his sight.
She was so smart! From suspicion to understanding, it took only a moment. She knew what he was hiding, but she also quickly realized that she shouldn't expose it, so she left him tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
After all, she still cares about him and even allows him to hide something. Who else can get such treatment from her?
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