Chapter 71: Confession
The Pingyang Marquis' Mansion is magnificent, its pavilions and towers centuries old, imbued with the warmth of time and a quaint elegance. In the courtyard stands a rockery as tall as a person, carved from white jade. Each tree and stone is meticulously carved, lifelike. Inside, the windows are bright and clean, and everywhere you look are exquisitely decorated with famous calligraphy and paintings, as well as valuable collectibles.
The palace is divided into four large courtyards and several small courtyards, where the eldest princess and the marquis live, the crown prince and his wife, the marquis's mother, and Li Xuanhe live respectively.
The princess settled Xun Shu and Ah Shui in a small courtyard near Li Xuanhe. She personally selected several maids to clean and keep everything in perfect order. Xun Shu wasn't used to being waited on, but thankfully, the maids in the mansion were extremely well-mannered. They mostly stood silently in various corners, like murals on the walls, heads bowed, and remained silent. They only approached to respond when Xun Shu called out, a stark contrast to the maids she had encountered before.
It was almost evening when Xun Shu and Li Xuanhe returned to the Marquis' Mansion. She changed her clothes and washed her face, then stood in the small square courtyard. When she looked up, she could just see the sunset dyeing the sky red.
When she worked at the coffin shop, there was a wooden ladder in the corner of the yard. When the weather was nice, she would climb up to the roof, sometimes to watch the sunset, sometimes to admire the stars. Now, in a foreign land, while the sun, moon, and stars remained the same, there was no one around to shelter her from the wind and rain. Ultimately, everything was different.
"What are you looking at?"
Xun Shu lowered his eyes to look at the newcomer. He saw that Li Xuanhe had already washed and dressed in an emerald robe, with a white jade leather belt tied around his waist. The hem of his robe swayed as he walked, revealing faint silver streaks. His hair was held up with a gold-thread crown inlaid with a pigeon-blood ruby. The coarse-clothed young man from the coffin shop was no longer visible.
In the moment of shock, Li Xuanhe leaned closer to Xun Shu with his handsome face, revealing a few large white teeth: "Miss, your eyes are so bright, but are you confused by my appearance?"
The sharp-eyed maid in the corner said: "...How did Sanlang become like this after his trip? Did he injure his head?"
Xun Shu: ...How come this guy is as thick-skinned as a city wall?
Xun Shu rolled his eyes and pointed at the small patch of sky. "I'm watching the sunset. I remember when I was working at the coffin shop, I often climbed up to the roof to watch. Unfortunately, there's no ladder in this yard, so I can't climb up now."
"Why is that so difficult?"
Li Xuanhe took a half step forward, grabbed her waist, and held her tightly in his arms. While Xun Shu was stunned, he lightly tapped his toes and jumped onto the stone table in the courtyard, then used the momentum to leap to the roof.
The roof was steep and the tiles were bearing the weight of two people, making constant noises. Li Xuanhe didn't dare to loosen his hand around Xun Shu's waist, for fear that she would fall down if she didn't stand firmly.
Summer clothes were thin, and the two of them pressed tightly together, without the slightest gap. He could feel Xun Shu's soft body, her crisp and powerful heartbeat... Her heartbeat seemed to be getting faster and faster, just like his.
The evening breeze twirled Xun Shu's hair, sending it dancing wildly across his nose. The aroma of soapberry mingled with the fragrance of flowers, with a hint of sweetness, perhaps from the fruit snack she had just eaten.
The strand of hair brushed across his face, bringing out a bit of itchiness. This itch seemed to penetrate his skin and flesh and scratch straight to the tip of his heart, making him feel itchy and his blood felt hot.
Li Xuanhe's body temperature continued to rise, and he began to feel a little overwhelmed. He stared at Xun Shu, his eyes gentler than the sunset glow. "Are you standing still?"
Xun Shu nodded, then frowned: "Did you put anything on your waist? It hurts."
Li Xuanhe paused, and immediately loosened his hand from her waist. He turned his back, cleared his throat awkwardly to cover up his embarrassment, and without turning back, pointed to the rooftop beside him and said, "Would you like to sit there for a while?"
He looked really strange, but fortunately Xun Shu didn't think much of it. After a "hmm", he walked over carefully and sat down. Li Xuanhe followed her, lifted the hem of his clothes, and sat down beside her at an arm's length with nimble movements. He bent his knees, as if to hide something, and his eyes dodged left and right.
Emotions surged in his heart like mushrooms after rain, on the roof of his home, in a place so familiar to him. Everything here seemed to give him courage, and he couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to see such a beautiful sunset every day in the future?"
How could he not know such a simple thing? Xun Shu was a little surprised, but he patiently explained to him: "It depends on the weather. Such a gorgeous sunset doesn't appear every day."
"...If there is, would you like to see it every day?"
"Yes." Xun Shu still didn't understand what he was talking about. "If you want to see it, just look up. What do you want to say?"
Li Xuanhe's eyes wandered, and finally landed on hers. He stared at her without blinking, and whispered, "Do you want to watch the sunset here every day?"
The blush on the boy's face was more brilliant than the sunset glow, and his entire body, illuminated by the sunlight, seemed to be coated with a layer of gold. Xun Shu finally realized that his words were not just literal meanings; he seemed to be confessing his feelings.
Her heart was pounding so fast that it was about to jump out of her throat. She nervously clutched her dress, as if trying to grasp her remaining sanity, and did not answer him immediately.
Did she like him? She must have liked him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so sad when she suspected Jiang Zheng's disappearance was related to him and decided to go east and part ways with him. Nor would she have been so happy when she later learned that Jiang Zheng had been captured and taken to the capital, allowing them to continue traveling together. But there were too many obstacles between them. Even if she wasn't a disciple of the Sitian Pavilion, even if he wasn't from the Dali Temple, their lives would still be like an insurmountable chasm, difficult to cross.
She doesn't care about status, wealth, who he is and who she is, but there are some things that cannot be given up.
Xun Shu's usually gentle nature made her decisiveness rare. She didn't keep Li Xuanhe waiting for too long. She pointed at the surrounding buildings and courtyards and said, "Do you know how many rooms there are in this mansion?"
Li Xuanhe was stunned for a moment, then shook his head honestly: "I don't know."
"Then do you know how many people there are in this mansion? What are everyone's names?"
“…I don’t know either.”
Xun Shu asked again: "Do you still remember how many rooms and how many people there are in the coffin shop?"
Li Xuanhe seemed to realize what she wanted to say.
Xun Shu continued, "You've lived in a place like this since you were a child, so you might be used to it all, but I'm different. I like living in a small courtyard. I'm familiar with everyone in the courtyard, and I've decorated every room in the courtyard myself. I live in a courtyard like this, working from sunrise to sunset with everyone else. We may not be rich, but everyone trusts each other, and we're relaxed and free. During the day, Uncle Jiang makes and sells coffins, and I help him. In my free time, I can also set up a stall at the market. I've lived a peaceful life like this for a long time. Third brother, this is the life I want."
Li Xuanhe felt even more distressed when she heard this, but when she finished, he suddenly realized that she had said so much, but hadn't mentioned a single word about her dislike for him. His eyes lit up again, and he hurriedly said, "If I could move into a small courtyard after I open my mansion, where only a few people could live, would you be willing to go there and watch the sunset?"
Xun Shu blinked, and suddenly felt that this didn't seem bad: "What about Uncle Jiang?"
Li Xuanhe gritted his teeth and said, "Uncle Jiang will come too, of course!"
Xun Shu was satisfied. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Can I still set up a stall?"
"You can do whatever you want. You can continue to set up your stall, and Uncle Jiang can continue to sell coffins. In the future, if a relative of a minister dies, I will make sure they order a coffin from Jiang's Coffin Shop."
Li Xuanhe readily agreed, thinking to himself that since his eldest brother would inherit the title, he was destined for a leisurely life. There was no explicit rule in Daliang prohibiting the wife of a junior official from setting up a fortune-telling stall, or forcing a father-in-law to sell coffins. While it might be unconventional, life deserves a little unconventionality from time to time.
Xun Shu said happily, "That sounds good. Let me think about it and give you an answer when I'm done."
"Ashu, how could you do this..." Li Xuanhe felt a little aggrieved.
Xun Shu smiled and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? You haven't opened your residence yet, so why should I agree to it now?"
"Ah Shu..." Li Xuanhe slumped his shoulders like a drowned puppy, but after a moment, he shook off the water and became cheerful again. "By the way, when we were in Chaozhou City, I promised you that I would take you to eat the most delicious Touhuaci. Tomorrow I'll go to the kitchen and ask them to make it for you. It will definitely be better than the chef at the Zhao residence..."
The two of them were laughing and joking on the rooftop, not shying away from the maids in the courtyard. In an unnoticed corner, Qin Lanxin was holding a food box, her body trembling uncontrollably.
She had just ordered the kitchen to make a bowl of sweet soup, intending to take it to Li Xuanhe's courtyard, but his servants said he wasn't in his room, but had gone to Xun Shu's courtyard and hadn't returned. She had no choice but to come here, but before she even entered the courtyard, she overheard the conversation between the two on the rooftop...
Qin Lanxin took a deep breath, turned around and left without saying a word, her eyes full of resentment.
She is a lady from a noble family, but she wants to compete with such a lowly bitch!
When she was almost at her residence, she turned her head and said to the people around her, "Write a letter to my father and tell him I can't wait any longer."
-
The eldest princess said that the welcoming banquet in the evening was just an ordinary family dinner, which would be held in her courtyard. However, when Xun Shu followed Li Xuanhe there, he was still shocked by the scene in front of him and didn't know what to say.
The yard was brightly lit with lanterns, and in the middle of the yard stood a huge yellow pear wood round table, on which rested a fist-sized luminous pearl, which emitted a lustrous light in the dim night.
Maids filed in and soon covered the table with all kinds of delicacies. The eldest princess and Pingyang Marquis came out of the room and saw Xun Shu and Li Xuanhe had arrived. The eldest princess smiled and greeted them, "Miss Xun, please sit next to me. I haven't seen such a beautiful young lady in a long time."
There were only four of them at the welcoming banquet today. Xun Shu originally thought that Li Xuanhe's second sister would also be there, but before coming he found out that she had been married a few years ago and was now working outside with her husband and was not in the capital.
The four of them sat down, and the maids poured wine for them. After a few pleasantries, the Marquis of Pingyang asked Li Xuanhe, "What exactly is going on with the disaster relief money? Why is it suddenly mentioned after all these years? When your mother heard that you disappeared while investigating a case in Jiangnan Road, she was so worried that she almost lost her mind. She went to the Queen Mother every day to cry, and she wanted to send all the nearby garrisons to look for you."
Li Xuanhe paused, thinking it over in his mind before answering, "Master has always kept this in mind. He's never given up on searching for that disaster relief money, but the long journey to Jiangnan makes it difficult to reach it, even if he's willing. Last year, thanks to my mother and uncle, I became the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple. Many in the court were dissatisfied. Master wanted to give me some experience, so he sent me deep into Chaozhou to investigate. But Master didn't expect that group of people would get wind of it and even try to kill me in the wilderness." He changed the subject and smiled, "Thanks to Ah Shu and Uncle Jiang. They saved me and helped me hide my identity, so I had the opportunity to investigate the disaster relief money case."
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The author has something to say: Ah, Blackbird is still a teenager after all~
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