"I only have a superficial understanding and can't quite grasp it fully," Mei Jiu said.
Environment shapes a person. As a child, Mei Jiu read all kinds of books, but after years of seclusion, grand strategies and ambitions felt too distant. Instead, the delicate emotions in poetry resonated more deeply with her, so she gradually stopped reading books like The Nine Strategies .
An Jiu saw the two of them huddled together discussing the contents of the book. Hua Rongtian seemed more than willing to impart knowledge, and Mei Jiu listened with delight. Seeing this, An Jiu quietly slipped away from the Hua residence.
The streets were ablaze with lanterns, far livelier than usual, turning the entire imperial road into a sea of light.
An Jiu noticed the bustling crowd, with many women among the passersby, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"A Jiu." A deep voice, though not loud, cut through the clamor and reached An Jiu's ears clearly.
She turned and followed the sound, spotting a tall man in a green robe and a bamboo hat standing not far away. Amid the flowing crowd, his imposing figure stood out distinctly—it was Chu Dingjiang.
He always appeared by her side like this, silent and unannounced.
She walked over. "What festival is today?"
"Someone in Guye Palace is with child. The emperor has ordered celebrations throughout the land," Chu Dingjiang replied.
Given the emperor's diligent efforts, as long as he hadn't ruined himself with medicine, it was only a matter of time before a concubine conceived. However, the emperor regarded the woman in Guye Palace as a celestial maiden descended to earth, so the dragon seed she carried was naturally deemed even more precious.
"Come, I'll take you somewhere." Chu Dingjiang took her hand and led her through the crowd.
Many people were releasing lanterns by the river, but Chu Dingjiang didn’t stop. Instead, he brought her directly into a house.
An Jiu recognized it as the place where Chu Dingjiang had once revealed his true identity. "Why are we here?"
Chu Dingjiang removed his hat. The surrounding lanterns, tied with red silk, cast a warm glow, flushing his face. "A Jiu, I don’t have ten miles of red dowry to welcome you. I won’t make grand vows, but in this life, I don’t seek a house full of wives and children—only one person to accompany me until the end. Would you... marry me?"
Even the sweetest vows couldn’t stir An Jiu’s heart, yet Chu Dingjiang’s plain words now gave her a flicker of hesitation.
If there was someone in this world who would stay with you until death, the thought alone felt profoundly fulfilling.
"If it can truly be as you say, why bother with marriage?" An Jiu didn’t want such a binding commitment.
Chu Dingjiang fell silent for a long moment before reaching out to embrace her.
A lifetime of companionship—sometimes even friends could provide that. She still didn’t understand the difference between a spouse and a friend.
"Very well." Chu Dingjiang accepted the rejection calmly and didn’t press further. Instead, he laid out a lavish feast to share with her.
After a cup of wine, An Jiu suddenly remembered something. "I told you to kill Wei Yuzhi, but you insisted on sparing him. Now he’s managed to dig you out—next time, he might just dig your grave!"
Chu Dingjiang chuckled and refilled her cup. "I’m aware of the matter you mentioned. It’s a trivial issue. For now, he won’t drag me into the open."
"Why?" An Jiu took a sip of wine.
"Because the Hua Clan is useful. He’s waiting for the right moment to escalate tensions between the Hua Clan and the emperor." Chu Dingjiang drank calmly, confident. "He won’t disregard the bigger picture."
If the emperor learned that the Hua Clan’s two sons had personally infiltrated the Crane Control Army, he would surely annihilate the Hua Clan.
An Jiu said, "He won’t, but Hua Rongjian might."Because of this matter, Hua Rongjian even resented her.
An Jiu could somewhat understand Hua Rongjian's feelings. In this world, so many people willingly sacrifice their loved ones for wealth and status. He lost a mother but gained noble standing and inexhaustible riches. His father was truly his father, his brothers were his own flesh and blood, and no one in the Hua Clan had ever treated him poorly. They even let him in on the secret of the Hua Clan's covert agents in the Crane Control Army. Given all this, asking him to kill his father and brothers for the sake of his birth mother was likely too much for him. Yet, this resentment was something he couldn't swallow.
Regardless of whether this vengeance could be achieved, the mere fact of having his fate manipulated was infuriating enough.
"At most, he'll direct his anger at me. Over the years, I've kept an eye on him. Prime Minister Hua didn't neglect his education—he has some ability, though he'll never achieve greatness." Chu Dingjiang swirled the wine in his cup. "After all, he was deliberately indulged for so many years. His capabilities are far inferior to Hua Rongtian's."
Chu Dingjiang added, "If you want a clean solution, just kill him."
An Jiu set down her cup. "You spare those who deserve death but would kill an innocent man! It's your own selfishness that pushed him to this point."
Chu Dingjiang paused with the cup at his lips. "A Jiu... is that how you see me?"
An Jiu wasn't a woman of compassion. The fact that she spoke this way meant Hua Rongjian held some place in her heart—a realization that didn't sit well with Chu Dingjiang.
"Am I wrong?" An Jiu frowned.
"No." A bitter smile surfaced on Chu Dingjiang's face. "You're absolutely right."
But A Jiu, everyone has their selfishness. If your heart truly belonged to me, you wouldn't say such things for Hua Rongjian's sake.
"What do you want me to do?" Chu Dingjiang asked.
An Jiu was momentarily speechless. The situation had already escalated to this point, and no matter what Chu Dingjiang did, it wouldn't change anything.
"Only I know the truth about his birth mother's death. Covering it up wouldn't be difficult." Chu Dingjiang folded his sleeves and watched her, his calm gaze hiding complexity. "In your heart, do he and I hold the same position?"
The question stumped An Jiu. She had never considered it.
Before An Jiu said the word "sleep," Chu Dingjiang couldn't have been certain. Only after she spoke did he take a step forward. Now he understood that their paces were mismatched—his step had gone too far, beyond the boundaries she had drawn.
Now it seemed everything had returned to the beginning.
An Jiu wrestled with her thoughts for a long while. She couldn't clearly distinguish the difference between Chu Dingjiang and Hua Rongjian in her heart, but one thing was certain: "You're a little more important than him."
If Chu Dingjiang and Hua Rongjian were both in danger, she would undoubtedly help Chu Dingjiang first. From this, she concluded that he mattered more to her.
"I'll take you back first." Chu Dingjiang wasn't skilled at pleasing women. The efforts he made today might seem simple, but they were the result of great thought. Even with his broad-mindedness, his mood couldn't help but dampen.
"You go ahead with your work. I'll return on my own." An Jiu stood up. "Don't worry. Wei Yuzhi is half-dead right now, and no one else would trouble me."
"Mm." Chu Dingjiang nodded.
An Jiu promptly pushed the door open and left. Though Chu Dingjiang's demeanor was as usual, she couldn't shake the inexplicable heaviness in the air.Chu Dingjiang gazed at the red silk entwined around the candelabra. After a moment, he still rose and followed her out.
An Jiu walked alone through the bustling streets. As she neared the end, she sensed a faint, familiar presence around her.
Hua Rongjian and Chu Dingjiang’s Inner Force was quite similar, but their levels were worlds apart.
An Jiu passed through an alley and arrived in front of a tavern, standing at the entrance for a while.
Just as she was about to leave, a group of drunken, extravagantly dressed young men spilled out of the tavern. Hua Rongjian was among them.
When he saw An Jiu, he froze, his drunkenness fading by half.
“Rongjian, your tastes have changed quite a bit lately!” one of the half-drunk youths remarked, eyeing An Jiu.
She was wearing a Human Skin Mask of a young man, but her figure was unmistakably feminine.
“You all go ahead,” Hua Rongjian said.
The group of young men hooted and jeered before finally dispersing, each attended by their own servants.
The two stood in silence for a while before Hua Rongjian spoke. “I owe you an apology today. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”
“It’s nothing,” An Jiu replied.
Often, friendships formed in the most inexplicable ways. For instance, she had disliked Mo Sigui intensely at first, but at some point, he had become a comrade who shared life and death with her. Similarly, she still remembered how she and Hua Rongjian had once fought so fiercely over a single disagreement, yet somehow, at some unknown time and place, they had become friends who could confide in each other.
Under the red lanterns, Hua Rongjian’s handsome face appeared somewhat hazy. “Walk with me for a bit.”
An Jiu nodded.
The two emerged from the alley and merged into the crowd, pushing their way to the riverbank one after the other. Watching the groups of young girls playing by the water’s edge, Hua Rongjian finally managed a faint smile. He bought two floating lanterns from a nearby stall and handed one to An Jiu. “Let’s release some lanterns too!”
One was a lotus, the other a peony.
An Jiu took the peony and turned to toss it into the water, but Hua Rongjian grabbed her and pulled her back to the lantern vendor’s stall. “You have to write something.”
He handed her a brush and pointed to the small rolled-up slip of paper in the center of the flower. “Write down your wish.”
An Jiu wasn’t sure what to write. She glanced around, thought for a long moment, then finally picked up the brush and wrote: May the world be at peace.
“Ha!” Hua Rongjian peeked at her words and burst out laughing. “If not for that awful handwriting, I’d have thought the Prime Minister himself had come out to release a lantern!”
An Jiu had originally wanted to write “world peace,” but after much deliberation, she had settled on something more “profound.” She demanded, “Let me see yours.”
“No.” Hua Rongjian shielded his lantern and made a run for the riverbank.
An Jiu grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. “Show me!”
“What kind of girl pulls a man’s clothes like this? Let go!” Hua Rongjian struggled in embarrassment.
“I want to see.” An Jiu dragged him back by sheer force and snatched the lantern from him.
On it were a few bold, vigorous characters: May all things go smoothly.
An Jiu scoffed. “I thought you’d come up with something more original. Yours isn’t even as good as mine!”
“What do you know, you Yakshas?” Hua Rongjian retrieved his lantern, straightened his clothes, and carefully set it afloat by the riverbank.
An Jiu followed behind and casually flung her lantern into the river. Water splashed everywhere—not only did her own lantern sink immediately, but the surrounding lanterns were also caught in the turmoil, swaying precariously. Fortunately, none of them capsized.
“Why did you just throw it like that? The lantern has to float all the way to the Queen Mother of the West for your wish to come true!” Hua Rongjian glared at her, exasperated.An Jiu stood on the shore with her arms crossed, looking down at him with lowered eyes. "That wish of mine wouldn't come true even if it floated up to the heavens. I advise you not to be so devout either—your wish won't be fulfilled either."
Where there are people, there is war. Even in that relatively peaceful era long after, conflict was unavoidable. Similarly, hardships far outnumbered moments of luck in a person's life.
Hua Rongjian abruptly stood up, furious. "Is this how you encourage someone?" he snapped.
An Jiu replied with utmost seriousness, "I'm telling the truth."
Hua Rongjian flailed dramatically, threatening to throw her into the water.
Amidst the clamoring crowd, in the distance, a tall man in dark green robes stood at the corner, holding a peony water lantern, silently watching the two boisterous figures.
After a moment, he turned into a dark alley. The lantern in his palm shattered into dust, its light flaring brightly for an instant before vanishing completely. The figure in green robes flashed away, swift as if he had disappeared into thin air, leaving only drifting motes of dust in the empty alley. (To be continued...)
OpenNovel