Chapter 569: Chapter 558: Miss Shen Is Engaged to Someone Else
A year later, in the depths of winter.
The snow fills the sky, like smoke yet not smoke, like fog yet not fog, drifting and swirling as it falls on branches.
The piercing cold wind cuts to the bone.
The festive cheer of the new year has yet to dissipate. The calls of street vendors rise and fall as they roam the alleys.
In Yunqi Pavilion, the best quality charcoal burns warmly.
The girl bent over the desk has a delicate face, adorned in Su Embroidery with a dark floral jacket and a red skirt hemmed with beads and gold. Her hair is in an intricate bun, lips red and teeth white. One could hardly imagine how lovely her smile must be.
In her hand, she fiddles with a letter that came from Shengjing.
For over a year, Cui Yun has not visited Fengzhou.
The letters he sends, one each month, have never stopped coming. But skimming over the same old lines again and again, Shen Hua had grown tired of them long ago.
Initially, she knew but few characters, and she wrote crooked and askew. Nevertheless, she took great pains to reply, querying her teacher whenever she found it challenging.
Latterly, she simply hired a scribe for livelihood; she vividly recounted him recent intriguing events.
Gradually, her interest waned.
A year may be short for adults, but it’s much too long for a little girl.
She still remembers the sense of loss when Cui Yun left; yet now, upon reflection, the reluctance to part has been forgotten.
The girl has also come to understand the gap between the Marquis Yangling Mansion and the Shen Family.
"Shen Hua!"
Zheng Qianyu enters from outside, hands holding newly blossomed wax plum branches.
"Going to watch a play or not?"
"What play?"
"Is the play important? It’s the people who matter!"
Unable to suppress her emotions, Zheng Qianyu doesn’t even think before tossing aside the letter in her hands and pulling her outside.
"The one I mentioned to you years ago, the most handsome actor from Muchun Garden—remember? Four years back, you were confined by the old man to daily study, never mentioned going out, and always had to see Sister Xiao when free, standing me up every time I asked you to the theater. When you finally had the time, that actor and his troupe had already gone on tour to perform."
"He just returned yesterday! He’s become the star attraction."
"I’ve managed to snag a good spot with difficulty. Muchun Garden is now surrounded by a crowd, all there to feast their eyes on his elegance."
"Wait a moment."
Shen Hua: "Fetch my aquamarine feather and snow fox fur cloak."
Zheng Qianyu: ???
Looking around: "You’re ordering me?"
"Is that not allowed?"
Of course, it’s allowed!
She deserves this!
Upon arriving at Muchun Garden, as the young actor takes the stage and begins his performance, Shen Hua finds herself captivated.
Indeed, he is very handsome, with a presence that seems out of place in such an environment, pure and untainted.
Zheng Qianyu is thoroughly enchanted.
But she notices Shen Hua’s gaze fixed, so much so that Shen Hua forgets to eat the fruit she had peeled.
As the performance ends and the young actor leaves the stage.
Shen Hua slowly turns to Zheng Qianyu.
"Indeed, quite impressive."
Zheng Qianyu, regretfully: "It’s a pity he only performs once a day."
Shen Hua rises without showing much emotion.
"Leaving? How about we browse the jewelry shop instead?"
The girl doesn’t respond, marching instead towards backstage.
She finds the young actor and presents a gold ingot.
The girl, chin lifted: "You."
She scrutinizes him from head to toe: "Accompanying guests, is that what you do?"
That year, she turned ten.
The fate that should have unfolded at the age of nine has now been reeled back onto its original track by destiny’s gears.
At the Marquis Yangling Mansion.
Cui Yun adjusts his clothing and straightens his sleeves, securing his headgear.
"They are nothing but a rabble, hollow threats. I have everything under control."
Cui Bai cradles the sleeping Cui Rong.
"I have complete trust in your actions, Weizhen. Do you still remember the Third Prince?"
Cui Yun looks up: "Brother, why bring him up out of the blue?"
"I’ve been in correspondence with him for the last six months."
From the moment his father resigned his official post and Cui Bai stayed in Shengjing, Cui Yun sensed something unusual. The Marquis Yangling Mansion had never taken sides, and brother had never privately communicated with the Third Prince, Ji Teng, previously.
He abruptly turns to Cui Bai.
Cui Bai smiles broadly: "It is as you have surmised."
"General Jin is getting on in years; he can’t stay on the border for much longer. In these six months, haven’t other nations been eyeing us like tigers stalking their prey? Jin Zhong is a fiery young man, but he listens to General Jin, and General Jin listens to my father, naturally, they can’t be sent to their deaths. And the military generals the official family wants to promote are all mediocre at best."
Marching into battle is no child’s play.
And the Imperial Family has never set foot on the battlefield.
How could they possibly understand the hardships of soldiers who toss their heads and shed their blood?
A fine game of chess indeed, yet Emperor He is tying himself in knots without even realizing it.
"Brother has been busy these days and thought that since you are still unwed, you have more free time than I do. From now on, you will make contact with him."
Cui Yun: ...
Dumping everything on me, yet I fail to see where you could be possibly busy.
Just at this moment, Ji Qing entered from outside.
"My lord, the secret informant from Fengzhou City reports that Miss Shen has spent a fortune to dine with that scholar."
Cui Yun’s face suddenly darkened.
He had originally thought Shen Hua was too busy with her studies, and for this, Cui Yun even felt relieved.
Very good.
Not replying to my letters. It turns out she’s been busy finding a scholar to date.
He got up, about to head outside, but before he could leave, he was called back by someone behind him.
"In a few days, it will be Mama’s birthday."
He stopped in his tracks.
Cui Bai couldn’t help but chuckle: "The secret agent you left in Fengzhou is actually quite capable."
It appeared as if he had remembered something.
"I can’t leave Rong’s side. Even if I were to resign my post, in these past six months, too many people have been watching my father and me closely. We are truly restrained."
"How about this, you could also plant some of your own agents as hidden informants in places like Hengzhou, Tongzhou, and Hui State. Though it may be time-consuming and strenuous, for you, this should be no difficult task. There’s no rush for this, take your time to plan it out."
————
Meanwhile, the secret agents at the Shen Family deliberately let Shen Zhi hear about the matter concerning Shen Hua.
Shen Zhi rushed home from the school, only to find out that Shen Hua had already left the house.
In the biting cold, the girl wrapped herself up tightly.
She looked down coldly and loftily at the dirty Zheng Qianyu.
"With your skills, you can’t even start a fire. Am I expected to wait another ten years to eat a roasted sweet potato?"
Zheng Qianyu was very irritable: "You think you can do better?"
She would’ve taken over already if that were the case!
Why would she have to listen to Zheng Qianyu’s nonsense then?
Zheng Qianyu: "It was you who invited me out! Yet now you expect me to roast sweet potatoes for you! How shameless can you be, not to mention unreasonable!"
"Unreasonable?"
The girl confidently told her: "I am the very definition of reason."
Zheng Qianyu: !!!!!!
Shen Hua rose with grace, having given up on Zheng Qianyu’s sweet potatoes, and turned to head towards the right side where she had seen a jujube tree on the way here.
Big, round jujubes hung on the tree; Shen Hua looked up at them.
They were high up, the kind you couldn’t reach even if you jumped.
She glanced back, far away from Zheng Qianyu. She shouldn’t be able to see.
The girl felt that there was nothing in the world she couldn’t accomplish.
She composed herself and climbed the tree.
Yangyang climbing a tree should be quite an elegant sight as well.
She tiptoed laboriously but didn’t forget to snap off a small branch to prod the nearest jujube, never expecting to hit a beehive on the tree.
Her footing slipped, and she plummeted down.
Landing heavily onto the snowy ground, with a hard rock beneath, she winced with the pain scrunching her little face.
Followed by the piercing pain of being stung by bees.
Shen Hua struggled as if on her deathbed.
Her face!
History often repeats itself in astonishing ways.
Indeed, someone saved her.
It was He Chu who ran over to help.
Three months later, Ji Qing reported once again.
"My lord."
This time, he stammered and hesitated, cautiously observing Cui Yun’s expression.
"Miss Shen is engaged to another."
The teacup in Cui Yun’s hand shattered.
