Chapter 21
That night, the sycamore leaves were so dense that they resembled layers of low-hanging dark green curtains, and the moonlight could only seep through the gaps like scattered silver.
Shi Mingyue dismissed Wen Yuan and stood alone in front of the courtyard, waiting. She clutched a plain handkerchief in her hand, the corner of which was crumpled—inside was a small gift she had prepared for Yun Zhan.
Suddenly, the side gate creaked softly.
Yun Zhan stepped into the lamplight, his black night clothes covered with dew and dust, and a maple leaf from afar stuck to his temple.
Yun Zhan arrived after class in the afternoon. He hadn't eaten dinner so he could spend more time with Shi Mingyue.
The girl's brows showed an unconcealable weariness, yet they still curved into a smile the moment she saw Shi Mingyue.
Shi Mingyue paused for a moment, then quickly stepped forward, her fingertips first touching Yun Zhan's sleeve, feeling a damp, cool sensation.
"How did it get like this?"
His voice was low and soft, trembling with worry.
She tiptoed, hesitated for a moment, and seeing that Yun Zhan did not dodge her at all, she used a silk scarf to wipe the dust from her forehead, her movements extremely gentle, as if afraid of hurting Yun Zhan.
The night lights illuminated her slightly furrowed brow. Shi Mingyue's eyes were beautiful, so clear they could reflect the finest speck of gold from the lamplight, yet so deep they seemed to hold the entire Milky Way hidden in their deepest ripples. When her eyelashes fluttered slightly, it was like butterfly wings skimming the surface of water, stirring up the most delicate ripples.
In her eyes, Yun Zhan only saw his own reflection.
Shi Mingyue didn't ask what happened on the way; she just put the brand-new scarf around Yun Zhan's neck.
"Don't move."
She spoke softly, as if coaxing a child. The scarf deftly circled her fingertips, tightly encircling Yun Zhan's neck. Shi Mingyue, worried that a cold draft might get in, adjusted it again for her.
"I bought this scarf a couple of days ago. It's made of high-quality camel hair and is very warm."
This scarf is also from a luxury brand and is extremely expensive.
Shi Mingyue didn't know what kind of scarf Yun Zhan liked, so she bought the best quality one among the expensive scarves. She thought that as a sincere and valuable gift, Yun Zhan would not refuse her.
Actually, when Yun Zhan came last time, she noticed that Yun Zhan was wearing a little less clothing and his clothes were often damp. She guessed that he must have wandered around the Shi family's woods a lot.
Shi Mingyue turned around and went up the stone steps to bring a bowl of warm ginger soup, with two thin perilla leaves floating on the surface.
"Take a sip first, it'll warm you up."
Yun Zhan took it, and Shi Mingyue's fingertips touched Yun Zhan's, so she naturally held Yun Zhan's hand.
"It's so cold. Don't wear so little in the future. Night clothes aren't warm at all." Shi Mingyue frowned as she looked at her thin clothes.
Yun Zhan did not struggle, but only turned his head slightly to look at Shi Mingyue's face: "Your body seems to be much better. The medicine I gave you last time should have been effective."
Yun Zhan smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling. She seemed less concerned about whether she was cold and more concerned about Shi Mingyue's health.
"I came here specifically to treat your health."
Yun Zhan lifted a corner of her sleeve and gently placed his fingertips on Shi Mingyue's wrist. Such a gesture was extremely bold for a young lady from a sheltered family.
Under the lamplight, Yun Zhan carefully sensed her pulse. His lowered eyelashes cast a soft shadow on his cheek, which rose and fell with her gentle breaths, like a lake ruffled by a gentle breeze.
Shi Mingyue gazed at her quietly, her eyes reflecting only Yun Zhan in the still waters of her eyes.
His hand rested on the stone table, palm facing up, but his fingertips curled slightly due to a sudden heart palpitation.
That section of wrist bone was so thin it looked as if it would break at any moment, and the pale blue veins beneath the snow-white skin were faintly visible, like the tenderest leaf veins in early spring.
Yun Zhan raised his hand, his fingertips landing first on her wrist.
The cool fingertips carried a refreshing minty scent and the crispness of the night breeze; then, the temperature quickly spread from where their skin touched, the heat of Yun Zhan's skin creeping along her meridians into her arms, and then burning all the way to behind her ears.
The fingertips moved slowly, probing the pulse inch by inch.
Each press felt like plucking an invisible string; each pause seemed to hold back Shi Mingyue's breath.
The places Yun Zhan touched felt like they were being electrocuted, a tingling, numb sensation that was impossible to escape.
Shi Mingyue's eyelashes trembled violently, like a startled butterfly, yet reluctant to fly away. Her fingertips tightened quietly at the edge of the stone table, her nails lightly tapping the wooden surface, producing a very faint "tap" sound, which secretly matched the pulse under Yun Zhan's fingertips.
"Your pulse is floating and slightly rapid, but it's much better than before. I'm relieved to see you're alright," Yun Zhan said softly, his voice hoarse from the night wind.
Yun Zhan smiled slightly at her. She was extremely beautiful, like a light ink landscape painting that had suddenly been colored.
Under the moonlight, Yun Zhan's eyes were like the surface of a lake just after the spring night had melted, reflecting the lamplight in their clarity. Occasionally, when he looked up, they would ripple with shimmering light.
Her eyelashes were long and delicate, casting two soft shadows under her eyes when she lowered them, like ink that hadn't quite dried, gently spreading out. Her lips were thin and moist, with a touch of warm jade pink, and when she spoke, it was as if the fragrance of flowers and the sound of the wind in the pines wafted out together.
As the lamplight shone upon him, Yun Zhan was enveloped in a warm, gentle glow, neither dazzling nor glaring, yet captivating.
Like the last raindrop about to fall on a green tile after the rain, clear, quiet, and with a gentle tenderness that cannot be disturbed.
When Shi Mingyue met her gaze, her heart suddenly skipped a beat—
First, she felt a slight tightness, as if she were being gently tugged by an invisible thread, then her heart began to pound rapidly, as if a little deer was thrashing around in her chest, making her forget the rhythm of her breathing.
A thin blush slowly spread across her snowy cheeks, burning from the tips of her ears all the way down to her neck, like someone had put a drop of rouge in a white porcelain cup, which instantly melted into a cup of spring water.
Shi Mingyue subconsciously tried to raise her hand to cover her earlobe, but only touched her burning hot earlobe. Her fingertips were incredibly hot, while her palms were sweaty and slightly damp.
"Yun Zhan, why are you so worried about me... You saved me, and I've already received so much kindness from you, but I've never given you anything in return." Shi Mingyue's eyes were misty. In her world, she had almost never seen someone like Yun Zhan.
She was well protected by her parents, but she never felt that the world was simple.
No one is unafraid of death, and no one cares without a reason.
"First of all, I saved you not entirely because I wasn't afraid, but because I determined at the time that 'someone had to go.'"
Yun Zhan looked at her, his eyelashes casting delicate shadows on his cheeks.
"What I fear is not death itself."
"What I fear is the proposition that 'if I don't save you, you will die' will come true."
Yun Zhan's voice was a little hoarse, but his eyes were surprisingly honest and clear.
Shi Mingyue was momentarily dazed as a sudden wave of memories washed over her. On that night of deafening explosions, she recalled the fleeting expression on Yun Zhan's face when he held her—a fearless and detached calmness that transcended life itself.
She was in Yun Zhan's arms when she unexpectedly came into his line of sight.
It was as if humans were seeing fire for the first time, illuminating the entire cave.
Shi Mingyue's fingertips curled up quietly, her nails digging lightly into her palms, but she felt no pain, only that her heart was beating faster.
She suddenly grabbed Yun Zhan's sleeve, her expression somewhat dazed: "Could you teach me how to take a pulse? I want to learn too."
Yun Zhan paused for a moment, then nodded woodenly: "Um... put your hand on my wrist. I... will teach you."
"First, your fingertips must land at the 'inch-to-foot' position; a light touch is floating, a heavy press is sinking..." When Yun Zhan raised his eyes, they were filled with an innocent, autumn-like gaze.
Shi Mingyue's heart skipped a beat again.
Shi Mingyue silently turned her wrist over, palm up, and lightly tapped her own pulse with her fingertips, her voice low and soft: "But I can't get it right, can you press it for me once?"
The last syllable had a small, almost inaudible tremor, like a dewdrop clinging to the tip of a blade of grass.
"OK."
Yun Zhan sat down, his two fingers together, the pads of his fingers resting steadily on her wrist. The moment their skin touched, Shi Mingyue felt a little numb, but she pretended to be calm and looked up, her gaze meeting Yun Zhan's eyes.
Is that so?
She asked softly, but her fingertips quietly moved forward half an inch, lightly touching the base of Yun Zhan's fingers, like a feather testing the wind direction.
Yun Zhan was slightly taken aback and was about to withdraw her hand when Shi Mingyue took her hand and gently placed her fingertips on Yun Zhan's pulse. Her voice was so soft it seemed to melt: "Then... let me try to feel your pulse."
The throbbing beneath her fingertips was clear and rapid. She subtly curved her lips into a smile, a hint of triumph flashing in her eyes before quickly disappearing behind her long eyelashes.
The fragrance of herbs wafted through the air, and the sunlight slanted down on their intertwined hands, casting a gentle golden glow on Shi Mingyue's hidden thoughts.
...
The grueling teaching session is finally over.
Yun Zhan breathed a sigh of relief. She packed her things and was about to leave when she noticed a small storybook on the table—the one Shi Mingyue had been reading that morning, "Marriage".
"You watch these things too?" She had always thought that daughters of officials would disdain such things.
"May I take a look?" Yun Zhan asked, still a little curious.
"Can I not read it?" Shi Mingyue blushed and hurriedly put the storybook away.
"There's nothing interesting about this... It's just another love story... about the infatuated love of women in ancient times."
Shi Mingyue silently thought to herself: A fox's liking is still liking.
"That kind of infatuation where you can't live without someone? I don't think there are girls like that in real life." Yun Zhan sat on the table and chatted casually.
Unwavering choices only exist in books; how many people in reality can actually make them?
She didn't notice that Shi Mingyue's ears had started to turn red.
"Yun Zhan...that's the kind of person I am."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it had an unprecedented clarity, as if it shattered the etiquette she had upheld for over a decade.
"If I love someone, then my life, my name, and my wedding dress will belong to only that person."
Shi Mingyue looked up, her eyes burning with two small flames.
“I rarely disobey my parents, but when it comes to choosing a partner, I must make my own decision.”
She told Yun Zhan that it really took a lot of courage to say these things.
But she was willing; even through the thin spring dress, her heart pounded so hard that Shi Mingyue's fingertips went numb.
In this life, I will marry no one but you; if I break this vow, I will gladly accept divine retribution.
The night breeze swept through the corridor, causing the ends of her hair to flutter slightly.
Yun Zhan was so shocked by Shi Mingyue's words that she couldn't speak. After a while, she still felt a lump in her throat.
Yun Zhan hesitated for a moment, and was about to speak when Shi Mingyue turned around, turned her gaze to the bright moon in the sky, and whispered in a voice so low that it was barely a breath: "She only needs to answer me once, that's enough."
The moonlight was silent, yet it illuminated the resolute light in the girl's eyes, sharp enough to cut through all social class, etiquette, and the impending storm.
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