Chapter 10 Ten Piles of Red Jade Beads
Jing Ye was silent for a moment, then moved closer to Wang Yuying, their arms touching. He spoke, then continued, "Throughout history, emperors have always had three palaces and six courtyards, without exception, which has caused much strife. Unlike ordinary people like us, one wife is enough for a lifetime."
Wang Yuying lowered her eyes, pretending not to understand his implied meaning.
Jing Ye genuinely believed she didn't understand and continued rambling, "I'll always remember the first time I saw you. I was starving and only got sheltered by the general. I saw you riding by, so small yet so majestic. I looked at your face and your hair and thought, how could there be such a beautiful and exquisite fairy? I remember you were wearing a white dress that day. When you brushed past me, I shrank back because I was afraid of getting my stains on your dress dirty."
As Jingye recalled this, he involuntarily raised his chin, gazing up at the goddess who had once again appeared before him.
"Later... I actually often secretly kept an eye on you, but I didn't dare to get close. Sometimes when I was practicing martial arts with the general, and you passed by on the veranda, I couldn't help but look, and my hands would be a beat slower." Jing Ye said with a self-deprecating smile. Wang Yuying was unaware of these kinds of subtle thoughts, but the general saw through them but didn't say anything.
"Back then, I really didn't dare to talk to you," Jing Ye emphasized again. He remembered that he mustered up the courage to buy a silver bracelet, intending to give it to Wang Yuying. But before he could give the gift, he learned from others that the shirts Wang Yuying wore every day could buy fifty-three of the silver bracelets he bought, and the gold-inlaid jeweled hairpins she wore could buy hundreds of them. His bracelet wasn't even worth as much as a box of her lip rouge.
Jingye finally mustered up the courage to let loose completely; he was truly audacious, how ridiculous!
until……
"Do you remember the first time Zhu Ge, Ding Man, and I learned archery?" He looked at Wang Yuying, who seemed a little lost, and gently reminded her, "That day you came to the training ground."
Wang Yuying frowned slightly.
She doesn't remember.
Jing Ye wasn't annoyed and laughed, "None of us know how to wear arrow sleeves. You just happened to be passing by the training ground and helped us fix them." He would never forget the moment when Wang Yuying's fingertips touched his body through the fabric. So this was what it felt like. So this was the moment she didn't look down on him. He could get close to his goddess.
At this moment, Jing Ye's nose still felt sore: "You might not believe it, but I almost cried back then."
He turned the arm and wrist that he had used to support Wang Yuying's head, and stroked her cheek. His fingertips trembled, and he dared not touch her, feeling both unreal and blissful.
"Later we got to know each other better, we rode horses together, patrolled the camp. In the summer it was hot, the sand was scalding hot on our feet, and it wasn't until night that we could cool off. We sat side by side with Zhuzi and the others, drinking and chatting..."
Once Jing Ye started talking, it seemed impossible to stop. He kept reminiscing about the past. Wang Yuying guessed the reason for his rambling, but she couldn't respond—she didn't want to, and wouldn't, get married again, no matter who it was with.
She remembered the affections of her childhood, but she was no longer moved by anyone's memories. The moment Jing Ye stirred her heart was after their reunion when she saw him bathing in a hot spring, water droplets rolling over his abs.
"Isn't there a stream near your camp?" Wang Yuying suddenly asked, interrupting Jing Ye's incessant chatter.
Jingye fell silent, his lips still parted, unaware of what was happening.
Wang Yuying propped her head up with her hand, sat up slightly, looked down at Jing Ye, and laughed, "Did you deliberately come up the mountain to bathe?"
Jing Ye then realized that she was asking him if he had deliberately seduced her.
Jingye's face instantly turned as red as the sunset clouds in July or August.
He didn't intend to seduce her, but he did think that if he were closer to the Taoist temple, would there be even a tiny chance... of seeing her?
Wang Yuying smiled gently as she noticed the change in Jing Ye's expression.
Upon hearing this, Jing Ye hurriedly tried to explain, "I—"
He had barely uttered a single word when Wang Yuying lowered her head and sealed his lips with hers. There was no need to say anything more; she neither dwelled on the past nor worried about the future, choosing to enjoy life to the fullest.
Jing Ye couldn't help but respond to Wang Yuying, turning his head and kissing her until they were breathless before separating slightly: "Heh... if we have a chance... shall we go out for a stroll together?"
Wang Yuying wanted to continue kissing him, but Jing Ye cupped her face and continued to plead, "Go out for some fresh air? It's not good for you to stay in the room all the time..."
He looked into her eyes, his heart pounding, wondering if she was willing to let him step out of the darkness and into the sunlight.
Wang Yuying exchanged a glance with her and said in a relaxed tone, "Okay."
She leaned down again, and this time Jingye responded fiercely, kissing her lips and pecking at her neck. Wang Yuying felt both ticklish and tingly, as if the torch she held had burned her. She involuntarily tilted her chin up and slapped Jingye: "Easy, you're biting like a dog!"
Jing Ye became even more enthusiastic, and Wang Yuying simply opened up to enjoy it. Only through comparison did she realize that men were all different in every way. Some were like musicians with superb fingering skills, some were skilled in ventriloquism, and some were full of vitality and reckless. Jing Ye was the one who liked to serve people the most. She had been abstinent for two years and was finally quenched. She couldn't help but reach out her hands and hook them around Jing Ye's neck with satisfaction.
A dim lamp casts a shadowy reflection of two entangled figures on the draped curtains.
About half an hour later, Jing Ye lifted the gauze curtain, got out of bed, and poured water for Wang Yuying. After handing her a cup, he squeezed back into bed. Once Wang Yuying had finished drinking and put the cup down, he cautiously asked, "When shall we go out?"
Wang Yuying pressed her tongue against her cheek inside her mouth; he was afraid she wouldn't keep her word.
"When do you take a break?" she asked, not minding giving Jing Ye small favors as long as she was well taken care of.
“This month is the 27th. Next month is the 16th, the day before the Great Heat. The month after that is the 4th, which is the Beginning of Autumn.” He immediately told Wang Yuying everything.
She chuckled, then pondered for a moment. The 27th was still quite a few days away, and Consort Shu should have already returned to the palace by then: "If it doesn't rain on the 27th, then let's meet at Panyun Pavilion at the foot of the mountain at Chenshi (7-9 AM). If it rains heavily, we'll postpone it."
"good!"
*
May 27th.
Jing Ye had observed the stars last night and confirmed that there would be no rain. This morning, before dawn, he arrived near Panyun Pavilion. He changed into a pair of short straw sandals, the most common clothes for farmers in the outskirts of Beijing, and wore a straw hat to cover his face, but he still dared not wait in the pavilion for too long, for fear of attracting attention and causing trouble for Wang Yuying.
Jingye wandered around the surrounding mountains before finally entering the pavilion at dawn.
Wang Yuying hadn't arrived yet. He paced back and forth in the pavilion a couple of times, then stopped to look at the sky. It wasn't raining today, but there wasn't much sun either; it was cool and shady, just right so Wang Yuying wouldn't be exposed to the sun. Thinking this, he silently smiled, then saw someone approaching in the distance, and his eyes lit up.
Wang Yuying, dressed in coarse linen clothes and a headscarf, with stubble on her lips and an Adam's apple on her neck, wearing straw sandals and carrying a bamboo cane, was also dressed as a man. She and Jing Ye exchanged a smile and strolled slowly into the pavilion.
Jing Ye resisted the urge to take her hand and took a breath: "You're dressed so discreetly today."
He looked down at himself again, concealing himself so that no one would recognize them.
Wang Yuying noticed that the concern in Jing Ye's eyes seemed genuine, and knew that he was thinking of her and didn't want her to reveal her identity—but if he was really afraid of causing her trouble, he shouldn't have invited her out.
Ultimately, his desire for recognition and status still prevailed.
Wang Yuying laughed it off. She believed that it was pointless to expose everything between a man and a woman; this was a lesson she had learned from her own mistakes.
She left the pavilion first, with Jing Ye following behind. Without turning around, Wang Yuying asked, "Where are you planning to take me today?"
Jing Ye smiled and looked at the back of Wang Yuying's head, then said softly, "Let's go visit some fun places nearby."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuying leaned back and laughed, "The famous place around here is this Floating Mountain. Do you mean you want to go up the mountain?"
She turned her head and looked up at the plaque on the stone pavilion, which read, "Climbing clouds and climbing mountains, that is the meaning."
Jing Ye naturally knew he couldn't go up the mountain. Despite being teased by Wang Yuying, he wasn't angry at all. Instead, he felt a bit stupid. He raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, but then remembered he was wearing a straw hat and put his hand down heavily.
"Isn't there a Floating Jade Lake nearby? Shall we go boating on it?" Jing Ye asked Wang Yuying with a smile. Several colleagues had said that Floating Jade Lake was like jade floating on the ground and was very beautiful.
“Then we have to go this way.” Wang Yuying smiled and turned right.
As Jing Ye watched, he felt that her simple movements were all heroic and graceful, and every one of them touched his heart.
Jingye quickly followed.
When the two arrived at Fuyu Lake, the water was indeed rippling and shimmering with golden light. However, there were no pavilions or trees to provide shade around the lake. Under the blazing sun, it was no longer as cool as it was at dawn. The waves that crashed against their faces carried a wave of heat. Wang Yuying had only stood by the lake for a short while when her face, neck, and back were covered in sweat.
"It's so hot! It's so hot!" She was so agitated that she didn't care anymore and reached out to tug at her collar.
Jingye wasn't the type of person who carried a folding fan around, so he quickly took off his straw hat and fanned her.
The wind was strong, but Wang Yuying still felt hot; the heat seemed to emanate from within her body. She looked up and asked Jing Ye, "Is my face completely red?"
Jing Ye glanced at Wang Yuying carefully—she always became whiter the more she sweated, and at this moment her skin was like solidified cream, and even with stubble on it, she was still stunningly beautiful.
Jingye's glance turned into a stare.
“No red, your face is very pale.” He turned the straw hat around and put it on Wang Yuying’s head, pressing it down a bit so that no one else could see her like this.
Wang Yuying was taken aback at first, then understood. She remained noncommittal but did not remove her straw hat.
"Let's find a shady spot to rest?" Jingye said, secretly blaming himself for choosing the wrong place to come to Fuyu Lake.
Wang Yuying nodded emphatically and exhaled. Since no one was boating on the lake, the only restaurant by Fuyu Lake was closed, so she had to find somewhere else. Wang Yuying then decided to turn back towards Fuyou Mountain, remembering that there was a tea stall along the way that also sold iced drinks, where she could rest and cool off.
Along the way, I spotted a vendor carrying a load of fruit on a shoulder pole, which hadn't been there when I arrived. The vendor's pole was wide at both ends, and the basket was filled with peaches, pears, and grapes, as well as five or six pomegranates, round like lanterns with small cracks.
Why are pomegranates on the market so early?
Wang Yuying couldn't help but feel a craving. Jing Ye glanced at Wang Yuying under her straw hat and realized that her slightly gleaming eyes and tightly pursed lips were signs that she wanted to eat pomegranates.
Jingye quickly stepped forward and took all the pomegranates from the basket.
Wang Yuying noticed that she could only eat two at most at a time, while Jing Ye had clearly bought too many, but she didn't scold him. She decided to save the same amount for later. Wang Yuying smiled broadly at Jing Ye.
The two walked one after the other, and Jingye intentionally adjusted his pace, gradually becoming side by side.
Seeing the tea stall in the distance, Jingye raised his eyes and asked, "Shall we go inside and have a bowl of iced drink?"
Wang Yuying smiled and said, "That's exactly what I wanted."
They all sped up.
With no other customers at the stall, the two sat down in the shade. The stall sold iced drinks including citronella, perilla, mung bean water, and preserved plum water. Jing Ye originally wanted to drink mung bean water, but seeing that Wang Yuying had chosen preserved plum water, he changed his mind and asked for plum water as well.
Wang Yuying glanced at him, and after they were seated and their drinks were served, she scolded, "Why did you choose the same thing as me?"
Jing Ye chuckled foolishly, and after a long while he managed to squeeze out "delicious," but his eyes swept over Wang Yuying's hands. Her fingers were wrapped in strips of cloth, using her injured hands from working to conceal the fact that she had long, fair, and delicate fingers that were different from a man's. He also thought that since she entered the shed, she had been deliberately speaking in a coarse voice.
They were like fellow travelers, brothers and friends, but who knows when... they might become husband and wife?
Jing Ye felt a mix of confusion and bitterness, but he didn't stop peeling pomegranates for Wang Yuying.
They faintly heard the sound of horses' hooves. Jing Ye and Wang Yuying looked up almost simultaneously and saw two rows of men, dozens of them in total, riding identical brown horses, slowly approaching from afar.
Jing Ye had received the emperor before and immediately recognized that this was the imperial carriage of Consort Shu visiting her family. Without hesitation, he lowered his head.
Wang Yuying squinted, scrutinizing the men's clothing and appearance. They all seemed to be without eunuchs, and she couldn't help but frown—hadn't Consort Shu been summoned to visit her family long ago? Why hadn't she returned yet?
Wang Yuying lowered her head, and her straw hat followed suit, obscuring her eyebrows and eyes.
Pairs of eunuchs carrying phoenix banners or pheasant feather palace fans, and holding incense burners and yellow umbrellas, passed by one after another, followed by the colorful phoenix palanquin surrounded by attendants. Wang Yuying couldn't help but glance at it. Jing Ye noticed and looked nervously at Wang Yuying, then followed her gaze to examine the palanquin, discovering that Wang Yuying's gaze was fixed on Consort Shu's earlobe.
The empress wore a pair of earrings with pink tourmaline on top and teardrop jade on the bottom, the size of her ears.
Jing Ye pursed his lips. Wang Yuying had always loved large earrings, preferably adorned with fluorite, and she would wear them even knowing that riding a horse at the border was risky. But now... she had thought things through carefully today, covering her ear piercings with tape, without any ornaments.
Wang Yuying looked away.
Only after Consort Shu's carriage had gone far away did she glance again in the direction it had left, and Jing Ye asked leisurely, "Do you want someone like her?"
Wang Yuying's eyes darted around, and she understood, shaking her head: "No need."
After a moment, Jing Ye spoke again, his voice low and deep: "But I want to give it to you."
Wang Yuying paused slightly, then looked down at the plate of pomegranates that Jing Ye had peeled, picked one up, and smiled, her eyes narrowing, "If there were earrings exactly like these pomegranate seeds, I would want a pair."
After saying that, he put the plump and juicy pomegranate into his lips.
A note from the author:
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