Chapter 51: Moonlight doesn't look human at all, like the legendary Gu with painted skin...
“…”
Seeing the person coming, Yu Qing was also stunned for a moment.
Xie Jing was standing a few steps away, facing the window, and the moonlight illuminated his face brightly for a moment.
So clear, so beautiful, it was the face she had been dreaming about.
Yu Qing was distracted for a moment, almost thinking that he was hallucinating, but he quickly remembered that he had only drunk two sips of wine and would not be drunk at all.
Yu Qing frowned when she realized who this person was. She lightly jumped down from the windowsill and stood still. "It's late at night and the dew is heavy. Why are you out here, young master?"
Xie Jing: "I..."
He paused, unable to explain, and asked, "Why are you here, sir?"
Yu Qing didn't know how to answer. He couldn't say that he was commemorating his deceased wife who looked very much like him.
According to her usual style, she should pretend that nothing happened at this moment and ask this person to go back to his room and not go out.
But before she could speak, Xie Jing took a few steps forward.
"To be honest, I've lived in a mountain temple since I was a child, with no one to rely on. The thought of going to the capital makes me unsure of how to cope. That's why I couldn't sleep that night," Xie Jing asked. "And your Excellency, are you worried about something too?"
His voice was low and soft, and he looked straight at me.
He doesn't look like a human at all. He looks like the evil spirit in the legend that hides a painted skin and bewitches people, or a monster that transforms into the person the other person is thinking of.
Yu Qing's throat felt a little tight. She cleared her throat and said in a deep voice, "Just admiring the moon."
Xie Jing said: "...Is that so."
He also came to the window, looked out, and sighed: "Indeed, the moon is full tonight."
It was too close, and Yu Qing's back felt a little stiff.
When facing vicious enemy soldiers, she would always draw her sword and move forward, but now facing an unarmed person, she subconsciously took half a step back.
She sensitively smelled a faint sandalwood scent on Xie Jing's body, as if it was the result of living in an ancient temple for a long time.
This suddenly reminded her of the hall in Tanyin Temple where the eternal lamp was lit. There was also the air filled with sandalwood, and Qingjia's lamp was burning there.
She couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't stay with Xie Jing any longer.
Anything about the other person, even the most unrelated things, reminds her of another person.
"If it's nothing urgent, you should get some rest as soon as possible," Yu Qing said coldly, "We have to travel tomorrow."
She stepped aside and raised her hand to make way, as if to invite Xie Jing back to the room immediately.
Facing a warrior, Xie Jing naturally couldn't resist and obediently followed the direction of her hand. He sighed regretfully, "I thought that we would meet late at night and have a good night to talk with you...Okay."
Yu Qing felt that his words were really weird. The two "men" just met by chance. It was not a chance meeting on a good night, but a secret meeting.
She watched Xie Jing return to his room. Just as she was about to leave, Xie Jing opened the door again and asked, "General?"
Yu Qing raised his eyebrows. Xie Jing handed him something. Yu Qing was stunned when he took it - it turned out to be a small bottle of fermented rice wine.
"Drinking cold wine at night is harmful to your health. You might as well try this," Xie Jing said. "I wish you a sweet dream, General."
·
Yu Qing returned to his room and placed the fermented rice wine on the table—there was another bottle of the same wine next to it.
In fact, today when she went to feed the horses, she passed by the shop next door and saw the owner making fermented rice wine, so she bought some too.
I once tasted osmanthus wine with Qingjia at Nanhu in Beijing, but I never tasted one as sweet as this. I thought the one brewed in Jiangnan might be more authentic and delicious.
“…”
She blew out the candle and quietly returned to the bed.
·
When they went south, they all took the official road, and normally they should have returned by the same route, but it was the thawing season now, and they only learned halfway that the river was ice-flooded, and the coastal areas were affected. The nearest official road was also submerged and had been congested for several days. The government was rushing to repair it, but they were afraid that the road might not be open within ten days or half a month, so they had to go around to the east first.
Due to the change of route, they could not reach the next town before dusk that day, so they rested at the post station.
Post stations are generally not big, and it is not easy to find one that can accommodate so many people. The conditions are naturally incomparable to those of inns in the city.
Several rooms were cleared out for Xie Jing, Yu Qing and several other officials and eunuchs. The other guards slept in the common bunk beds and took turns to stand guard at night.
Who knows how many outfits Xie Jing brought from the palace. Every time Yu Qing saw him these past few days, she noticed a difference. Even though he was constantly on the road, he still had the leisure to dress himself up, as if he wasn't on a long journey, but rather a noble outing.
After settling down, he stayed in the house for a while. When he came out, he had changed into a clean and soft coat, taken off his hair crown and changed into a hairband, which made him look more gentle and scholarly.
The post station had stored food, and the guards simply prepared some rice porridge and side dishes. Everyone ate together in the middle, and there was a fire not far away for warmth.
Walking in a hurry, everyone else was more or less a little sloppy, and the guards were all wearing inconspicuous dark clothes, which made Xie Jing look out of place. It was hard for Yu Qing not to see him.
Yu Qing ate a bowl of porridge and got up to go back to his room.
There was no taste in her mouth, so she drank the remaining half bottle of fermented rice wine, washed up, and went to bed with her clothes on.
In her hazy consciousness, she seemed to have a dream. She dreamed of a person with his back to her, and his long silky hair hanging down to his waist. Yu Qing was touching the hair infatuatedly, tying it up for her, and inserting a blue jade hairpin into her hair.
Lowering her head, she saw the man's smiling face reflected in the makeup mirror in front of her. Yu Qing subconsciously called out, "Your Highness..."
"Your Highness!"
A cold wind suddenly blew, and Yu Qing woke up with a start, and then realized that he had dreamed of Qingjia.
Her heart was beating like a drum, and it took her a long time to calm down. She raised her eyes and found that the window frames of the post station had been in disrepair for a long time and could not be closed. They were opened by the night wind. The night was cool and the wind was strong, which naturally woke her up.
Otherwise, she could have continued to fall into a sweet dream.
Yu Qing held the window against his back this time, and suddenly it occurred to him that perhaps the windows in other rooms were also leaking air.
She paced a few steps, hesitating in her heart, but finally couldn't resist the impulse. She walked out as if possessed by a ghost and stood in front of Xie Jing's door diagonally opposite.
She... was just worried that this precious prince had caught a cold, so she went over to check on him.
·
Yu Qing was very good at concealing his presence, and even the wooden door opened very steadily. Apart from a slight noise, there was no sound at all.
Xie Jing fell asleep unconsciously, his posture was very straight, and his face was peaceful.
When he was awake, Yu Qing couldn't stare at him, but now she could stare at him as long as she wanted.
If... Qingjia was really here... how great would that be... ?
Yu Qing would never have imagined that one day he would sneak into someone else's room like a flower thief. This behavior was really too vulgar.
But there is really no other alternative.
She had once found the elegant portrait that the palace had sent her before her wedding. She had been struck by it at first sight, but when she looked at it again later, she realized it couldn't even remotely compare to the real person's beauty.
In the dim light, the outlines of Xie Jing's facial features were a little blurred, with just enough softness to make them look real.
Looking at him, it seemed as if she had made up for the regret of not being able to see the princess clearly in her dream just now.
However, before she could leave, Xie Jing opened his eyes.
Yu Qing: “…”
Her first reaction was to raise her hand and knock Xie Jing unconscious.
Xie Jing asked, "...General?"
Yu Qing said stiffly, "Yeah."
Xie Jing asked, "Why are you in my room?"
After a brief moment of embarrassment, Yu Qing quickly recovered. She had seen a lot of storms before, and the dignified Prince of Xuanbei was not likely to lose his composure. She said calmly, "It's night time, and I thought I heard some noise, so I came in to check on you."
Xie Jing said: "Oh... I was wondering, it scared me. But I was awake the whole time and didn't seem to notice any sound..."
"Maybe the news leaked from somewhere," Yu Qing said, but then he sensed something was wrong. "Why is he awake? Could it be that he's still worried about returning to the capital?"
In the past few days, Xie Jing occasionally came to talk to her, and bluntly said that the capital was a den of dragons and tigers, and that he was short-sighted and afraid that he would not be able to adapt. Yu Qing came from a noble family and had been in the court for a long time, so he hoped that she could tell him something about the situation and matters.
Yu Qing did not believe it easily. She had already determined in her heart that Xie Jing was definitely not an innocent young woman.
If he truly devoted himself to spiritual practice, he would be no different from the ascetic monks in mountain temples. How could he possibly behave like this noble young man? Furthermore, he was not at all reserved in front of officials of all ranks, and he accepted the courtesy of servants and guards with equanimity.
Before he contacted the court to explain his background, he must have made sufficient preparations.
Xie Jing said: "...Indeed, there is a little bit..."
Yu Qing said bluntly, "Your status is extraordinary, so don't underestimate yourself. Even if you were in the capital, there wouldn't be many people who could surpass you."
Xie Jing sighed, "That being said, being born into a heavenly family is mostly beyond one's control. Who knows if there will be other difficulties?"
Yu Qing couldn't deny this, no one knew it better than her.
However, she didn't have the patience to comfort Xie Jing any further. She just said, "There's no point in worrying about the future. There will always be a way out when the time comes."
Xie Jing was still hesitant to speak, Yu Qing asked: "Why, is there anything else?"
Xie Jing said, "Actually... the main reason I couldn't sleep was because this bed was too uncomfortable."
Yu Qing: “……?”
Xie Jing's bed was clearly covered with a thick layer of mattress. Wasn't that enough? Yu Qing said, "There's more in the mattress cabinet. Wouldn't it be enough to just put another layer on it?"
Xie Jing said: "But those are still trendy."
Yu Qing: "Let them grill it for you again."
Xie Jing: "Let's not do that. It's late at night and we won't need to mobilize so many people..."
Yu Qing looked at him helplessly, wondering what on earth he wanted.
As expected, the princes are not easy to deal with and each one is difficult to serve.
Xie Jing whispered, "It's okay, I'll just endure it for one night."
His bed already had two layers of mattresses, and the guards had warmed them by the fire before dinner. On top of that, there was an extra layer of satin brought down from the carriage. Yu Qing really didn't know where the problem was.
She asked Xie Jing to move aside, lifted the quilt, and found that a wooden board had swelled due to moisture and was indeed sticking out a little.
Yu Qing was speechless for a while. He pressed with his hand, and with a click, the wooden board was tightly fitted into the gap under the strong force.
"Okay," Yu Qing ordered, "Go to sleep."
Xie Jing: “…”
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