Chapter 208: Chapter 126: Begonia Without Fragrance (Part 2)
"A girl must definitely be more reserved." Gu Haitang thought to herself, I’m not like Qingqing, that kind of shameless woman.
"And also, at that time, I actually wasn’t quite sure about my own feelings..."
Chu Xuan nodded, then suddenly let go of Gu Haitang’s hand and walked over to the rock wall, picking a blooming Haitang flower.
The flower was light pink, with tips that gradually turned white, like a blush, quite beautiful.
Chu Xuan turned back and placed the flower in Gu Haitang’s hair. "The beauty of Haitang lies in both its elegant appearance and its graceful charm. It suits you well."
Haitang’s pretty face reddened slightly, but she still asked, "Is this a gift just for me, or do other girls get one too?"
Chu Xuan was speechless, "Just for you."
"Then do you know why I’m named Haitang?"
Chu Xuan smiled, "I do, because Haitang has no fragrance."
Haitang was a bit surprised, then pretended to be angry, "Oh, so you’ve been sniffing me daily for my scent, is that it?"
Chu Xuan naturally shook his head, "No, it’s just that when you hugged me so tightly before, I instinctively breathed in."
"And also, I discovered this three years ago, during that time at the Scripture Repository, when your jade pendant fell."
Gu Haitang was a little surprised, "You remember such small things so clearly?"
"I remember everything about you clearly."
Haitang felt even happier inside, thinking that there wasn’t a better, more considerate man in the world than Chu Xuan.
Of course, if he weren’t so flirty, it would be even better.
"Speaking of Haitang having no fragrance, it reminds me of a poem." Chu Xuan looked reflective.
"The joy is not enough, and we rely on each other in drowsiness, ashamed to taint celestial beauty with the scent of orchid and musk. Shaoling is indeed not romantic enough to write a poem because there is no fragrance."
Not enough joy, rely on each other in drowsiness? How exactly does "taint celestial beauty" do that harm?
In short, the first thing Gu Haitang thought of were things unsuitable for children, but she asked in a serious manner:
"What do the last two lines mean? It sounds like a reference to something?"
Chu Xuan chuckled, "It means: Du Shaoling, are you too heartless? Just because Haitang has no fragrance, you’re not willing to write a poem for it."
"This Shaoling brother was a great poet. Although he lived in Shu, a region abundant with Haitang blossoms, he wrote over a thousand poems in his life about chrysanthemums, lotuses, peaches, azaleas... but never once about Haitang, hence the later generations teased him for this."
Gu Haitang, upon hearing this, raised her eyebrow and asked, "What about you? Would you be as heartless?"
Chu Xuan was a bit surprised, "I thought you would ask, ’Would you write a poem about Haitang,’ why focus on this?"
"Because I don’t care if you write poems, I only care if you’d be heartless." Gu Haitang said matter-of-factly.
Chu Xuan thought it over and agreed, "Of course not."
And so, the two of them, hand in hand, strolled in the sunlit valley blossoming with wildflowers, talking and laughing like a pair of lovers, completely forgetting any conflicts in the outside world.
"By the way," Chu Xuan suddenly remembered something while chatting, "there’s one more thing I’m curious about."
"Three years ago, when we first met, I felt you were a bit too close to me, which is why I wasn’t sure if I could trust you at first."
"Why did you do that back then? Was it purely out of curiosity about me?"
Gu Haitang’s heart skipped a beat, completely unprepared for Chu Xuan to bring up something from so long ago... Should she tell him honestly about the task her family assigned her?
But if Chu Xuan knew she approached him with a purpose from the start, wouldn’t he be angry? Surely, he would, right?
Gu Haitang couldn’t imagine such a scenario; the closer their relationship got, the more she feared being abandoned by him... That would be ten times more painful than being ignored by him.
All in all, the more Haitang thought about it, the more scared she got, so she comforted herself:
Anyway, my conscience is clear, as long as I haven’t really harmed him, it’s fine. To my family, I’ve always put them off, never revealing Chu Xuan’s secrets.
It’s better to keep hiding it like this. In any case, I would never accept such a task again in the future.
Chu Xuan is obviously a good person, with nothing to do with evil. Let this matter end here.
With her thoughts spinning, Gu Haitang smiled and said:
"Curiosity was part of it, but also, I thought an arranged marriage would be beneficial for both parties."
"And finally, I was intentionally observing and testing you, to see if you were excellent enough, worthy of entrusting my life to."
Chu Xuan nodded in understanding and asked teasingly, "So do you have an answer now?"
Haitang shyly lowered her head, "Not yet, but soon..."
At that moment, somehow, Gu Haitang, who was previously shy, suddenly gathered her courage, "Chu Xuan, let’s get married when we get back."
Chu Xuan was instantly stunned, wasn’t it, girl? Just a moment ago, you said you didn’t like me, and now we’re fast-forwarding to marriage?
Haitang’s face was flushed, "I’ve thought it over. Since I’ve already figured out my feelings, and our families cooperating benefits both sides, it would be better for us to marry sooner rather than later, to avoid complications over time."
Gu Haitang was quite worried about this, especially concerning Ji Mingyu, Qingqing, Qin Mengyao, and the like.
Once she expressed her feelings to Chu Xuan, she became increasingly worried about those women stealing him away, so it was better to act first, especially since she had the perfect excuse of "arranged marriage."
