A ray of hope
This thought flashed through Xiao Luochen's mind like a meteor. He didn't have time to think about it because he still had a fourth brother who needed comfort.
Xiao Luochen placed his hand on Xiao Luochen's shoulder, as if to pass on his strength to his fourth brother. This was in a crowd, and he didn't want to draw attention to himself or embarrass his already traumatized fourth brother in public.
Xiao Luochen patted the back of his hand gently. He had calmed down and comforted Xiao Luochen.
"Luo Chen, I'm fine. The past is over. She's happily married, and I'm living a comfortable life. That's perfect. Don't dwell on the past, don't fear the future, just live in the present."
These were not just words to comfort Xiao Luochen, but were indeed the truth that Xiao Luochen had realized over the years. It was not easy for a former favored child like him to see through the world and live a gentle and calm life after experiencing such a major change.
"Don't be afraid of the future, live in the present..."
Xiao Luochen recited this sentence silently, and in an instant he seemed to understand something, but when he looked into it more deeply, it seemed that nothing was left.
While Xiao Luochen was in a daze, Su Musong and Duan Min had already left the ring and joined the main group. The two of them looked different, and it was unknown whether they had any unpleasantness when they were pushing the prize for the ring.
Su Musong couldn't see clearly on the ring just now, but now he saw clearly that the person in the wheelchair next to Xiao Luochen was Xiao Luochen. He was also very surprised. When Xiao Luochen had healthy legs, he could be seen often. Since he was injured, Su Musong had only seen him twice in the past six years.
"Fourth brother!"
"Little Mu Song has grown a lot taller, and is becoming more and more like a towering pine tree."
"Fourth brother~, I'm sixteen this year. Next time, don't tell me I've grown taller. Just praise me for being more handsome and majestic, okay?"
Su Musong is the oldest among his brothers and sisters. He usually acts like the eldest brother and rarely acts like a spoiled child. However, when it comes to acting like a spoiled child to his brothers, he is obviously more adept at it than the real youngest in the Xiao family.
"Brother Luo Chen..."
Duan Min seemed to have something to say to Xiao Luochen, but was interrupted abruptly by Su Musong.
"Luo Chen, look over there. The Emperor and the Queen Mother seem to have moved to the observation deck. It looks like the lantern boat tour is about to begin. Let's go over there."
Su Musong pulled Xiao Luochen's sleeve and pretended to go to the observation deck, as if he didn't want to give Duan Min a chance to talk to Xiao Luochen.
Xiao Luochen saw Duan Min's embarrassment, but still obediently followed Su Musong. At this moment, he had no intention of caring about the thoughts of Duan Min's little girl.
The group followed the crowd towards the observation deck, which had an excellent view. To prevent the emperor from being disturbed by trampling, the imperial guards had cordoned off the area early in the morning. After arriving near the pier and unable to go any further, Su Musong and his group stopped and took up their positions, waiting for the light boats and fireworks.
"Mu Song, what did you say to Princess Duanmin just now? I noticed that she looked unhappy after coming down from the arena."
Xiao Luochen looked at the unhappy County Master Duanmin and couldn't help but be curious about what had happened between her and Su Musong. Logically speaking, she liked Musong and should be happy to see him.
"Nothing much. Luo Chen, you see Prince Ding isn't on the platform. Why is he absent from such a grand event?"
Su Musong was obviously unwilling to talk about his conversation with Duan Min, so he unnaturally turned the conversation to the absent Prince Ding Yuwen Ye.
"You and I saw with our own eyes that Prince Ding went with the army to the northwest. Why did you say that Prince Ding was not present?"
Xiao Luochen knew that Su Musong was interrupting him on purpose, and felt a little unhappy.
"I know what you are talking about even if you don't tell me."
Looking at the extremely unnatural expressions of Duan Min and Su Musong, Xiao Luochen guessed that Duan Min had just expressed her feelings to Su Musong, so Su Musong was being so secretive in front of him.
"The county lady is of noble status, beautiful appearance, well-educated, and cheerful temperament. Looking at all the ladies in Kyoto, she is indeed a rare and perfect match."
Seeing Xiao Luochen praising County Master Duanmin so much, Su Musong became a little anxious.
"You really think so?"
"Don't you think so?"
"So that's what you think."
Su Musong's eyes dimmed and his nose felt a little sore.
"People need to know what's good for them. It's not easy for a girl to express her feelings to her sweetheart."
Xiao Luochen didn't know why he could say such jealous words.
"It's not easy for her, so it's easy for me?"
Su Musong blurted out, and Xiao Luochen was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond. However, Su Musong was obviously not asking for an answer, and then said
"Since you have this plan, why don't you tell me? Even if we've been classmates for many years, you shouldn't hide it from me."
"Like I said, just let me stay with you. I won't get in your way. If you want to get married and have children, then just do as you wish. I'm not stopping you, so why bother hiding it from me?"
Xiao Luochen was completely confused. It was clearly Duan Min who expressed her feelings to Mu Song, so why did she bring up his marriage and having children?
"What am I hiding from you?"
"She called me so affectionately. Are you saying you didn't know each other before? She's infatuated with you and came to me eagerly saying something. Am I supposed to stop you from liking her?"
"If you don't want my sincerity, then fine, but why do you trample on it so casually? If you hadn't told her about my feelings for you, she probably wouldn't have come to me specifically to say that."
The more Su Musong spoke, the more wronged he felt, and he couldn't stop talking, completely ignoring the fact that he was in a crowd.
Fortunately, the noise was so loud and the fireworks were popping up from time to time, making loud noises. If you didn't stand close to them, you couldn't hear what the people around you were saying.
Xiao Luochen was shocked. Duan Min had clearly told him that she was in love with Mu Song, but from Mu Song's description, how come her lover was actually him?
"Wait...wait a minute, didn't she just express her feelings to you? Isn't she attracted to you?"
"Xiao Luochen! Are you trying to embarrass me on purpose?"
Su Musong felt as if his breath was blocked in his heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. He had never felt such a strong resentment towards Xiao Luochen as he did at this moment.
Even when he was rejected by the lake, even when Xiao Luochen smashed the snow sculpture, he only felt sad, but never complained.
He felt that he could control himself, but Xiao Luochen's questions gradually brought out the resentment that he had intended to suppress in his heart.
If he continued to stay here, he would probably have to watch the two of them release river lanterns together. Thinking of this, Su Musong suddenly didn't want to stay any longer.
He originally thought that he could calmly watch Xiao Luochen pass the imperial examination, have a wedding night with many children and grandchildren, as long as he could be by his side.
However, when such a person really appeared, Su Musong found that he could not do it. He was jealous and unwilling to accept it.
"You and her can go light the lantern. I'm going back."
Su Musong stuffed the fan pendant in his hand into Xiao Luochen's hand and was about to leave. The moment he turned around, his hand was grabbed by the person next to him.
"We made the river lanterns together, who do you want me to release them with?"
The one who grabbed Su Musong was naturally Xiao Luochen.
Xiao Luochen looked at Su Musong, whose eyes were misty but he was trying hard to keep the tears in his eyes, and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
I have wronged him so much in the past six months. "You gave me a papaya, and I gave you a jade pendant in return." He gave me the "beautiful jade". Could I be so stingy and selfish, only thinking about my own future, and completely ignoring his true heart?
"You can put it with whoever you want."
Su Musong wanted to shake off Xiao Luochen's hand, but Xiao Luochen did not let go. Instead, he changed direction and inserted his fingers into Su Musong's fingers, interlocking theirs.
"But I only want to play it with you."
At this moment, Su Musong felt that a brilliant firework exploded in his mind, just like the sky at this moment, illuminating his entire body.
"Luo...Luo Chen..."
Su Musong raised his hand, which was interlocked with Xiao Luochen's, in disbelief.
A gentle smile appeared on Xiao Luochen's lips as he looked at Su Musong, who was surprised, happy and shy, with gentle eyes. He felt that the man in front of him was very cute.
When the second round of fireworks bloomed in the sky, the loud explosion brought Su Musong, who was still immersed in surprise a moment ago, back to reality.
He suddenly remembered that they were in a crowd now, and it would be bad if his and Xiao Luochen's intimate behavior was seen by someone with ulterior motives.
So he quickly let go of their clasped hands and hid them in his wide sleeves.
Xiao Luochen asked jokingly
"Musong, are you shy or scared?"
"Fear."
"What are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid someone might see it and spread bad things about you, which would affect your future."
Su Musong said whatever he thought. Fortunately, Xiao Luochen understood him. If it were someone else, they would probably think that this was a mockery of Xiao Luochen's previous actions.
"Oh, that's terrible. It seems someone has seen it."
"Who saw it?"
Su Musong panicked when he heard this, and quickly loosened his fingers that were clasped with Xiao Luochen, trying to pull his hand back, but Xiao Luochen held it too tightly and he couldn't break free.
Xiao Luochen raised his head to the right rear side of Su Musong. Su Musong looked in the direction he pointed and suddenly felt complicated.
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