Mu Yuan was usually unsmiling and never showed his emotions, and he was already used to her rejections and would never reveal his feelings. But when he heard Xue Zhi say those words, he seemed somewhat excited—he paced back and forth twice, then turned around and said:
"Then let's set off as soon as possible. I'll have someone prepare our luggage right away."
"Um."
Night fell.
In front of the south wing of Chaoxuelou.
Xuezhi knocked gently on the door, then pushed it open and went inside.
A few cold moonbeams cast their pale light on the corridor. In the darkness, the paintings and utensils appear exquisite yet solitary, and the aroma of tea wafts from the side room. A man sits in a wheelchair with his back to the door, bathed in the soft moonlight.
“I’m about to go on a long trip,” Xuezhi stepped forward, thought for a long time, “and will have someone take good care of you.”
Shangguan Tou remained silent.
After a long silence, Xuezhi said again, "I will miss you a lot while I'm away."
Shangguan Tou turned his head slightly, his eyes fixed on her. She looked back at him, her eyes smiling. To her, that terrifying, even unrecognizable, face seemed to be the most beautiful face in the world.
“I knew you had something to say.” She smiled, walked quickly to him, squatted down, and gently rested her head on his knees, holding his long but broken fingers. “You wanted to tell me that it’s the change of seasons and that I should take care of myself, right? Of course I will.”
Shangguan Tou looked at her, still silent. He couldn't speak.
Xuezhi was like a clingy but quiet snow cat, gently rubbing against his lap.
On this quiet, moonlit night, she seemed to possess the greatest happiness in the world.
Shangguan Tou blinked—his eyes, perched on his mangled face, shone so brightly in the moonlight. But they quickly reddened. He rubbed Xuezhi's face with the back of his hand, tears falling in a steady stream into her thick hair.
She sensed it, but showed no sadness. She simply closed her eyes, smiled, and said, "Brother Tou, don't be sad. As long as Zhi'er is here, she will make you happy."
He stared into her half-open, dark eyes, swallowed hard, but couldn't utter a single word.
What he really wanted to say was: Xuezhi, you know perfectly well, you know everything. Why are you still doing this?
This night was warm yet lonely. Just like the past six years, every night she spent contentedly in peace.
A night filled with the fragrance of flowers and the chirping of insects.
In fact, Shangguan Tou and Xuezhi's ordeal brought many couples together, such as Zhongtao and Qiu Hongxiu. However, upon first hearing of Shangguan Yuan's passing, Qiu Hongxiu did not consider Zhongtao. Even until Xuezhi's trip to Suzhou, she had not agreed to be with Zhongtao.
Qiu Hongxiu was always the self-centered type of woman. She wasn't afraid of dying alone, nor was she afraid of gossip. Moreover, she believed that men were inherently base, and when she was with men, she was never willing to give her heart away.
When Shangguan Tou was seriously injured, Qiu Hongxiu and Zhong Tao were the first to come to see him. They would travel a long distance to Chonghuo Palace almost every few months, and no matter how busy they were, they would send letters to Xuezhi to inquire about Shangguan Tou's condition.
However, since Xuezhi and Muyuan got married, they have lost contact. Xuezhi fully understands why they did this, and it wouldn't be surprising if one day they came with a large group of people to kidnap her.
Therefore, Xuezhi had long guessed their attitude towards her.
I haven't been back to Suzhou for many years.
On the day she arrived in Suzhou, a thick fog descended upon the city.
In late spring, the flowers are sparse and their fragrance is subtle. The morning mist drifts among the fallen red willow blossoms, like a thin veil, transparent and delicate white, creating a hazy scene that makes the willow branches appear even more tender green.
The distant buildings were long since swallowed by the thick fog, their rooftops and windows draped like curtains. The flowers on the windowsill tilted their heads serenely upwards, their buds turning into rosy hues amidst the white mist. As dawn broke, the entire city gradually awoke, as if the dream and the fog had merged into one.
A gentle spring breeze swept across the land. Xuezhi finally spotted a diamond-shaped wine sign hanging above a restaurant amidst the red buildings and green tiles on both banks: Xianshan Yingzhou.
The gentle spring sun shone on the wooden wine sign. The bright red, four-cornered lanterns also looked brand new in the morning light.
There weren't many drinkers at this time.
Qiu Hongxiu, having received the letter, prepared well in advance to receive Xuezhi. She rarely came downstairs when receiving men, but she always treated women with the utmost respect. Standing on the shore, her beauty surpassed even the fragrant jasmine on both banks.
However, after meeting Xuezhi, her attitude was so cold that it was almost inhuman.
"Palace Mistress Xue, what brings you here?"
Xuezhi lifted the beaded curtain, stepped off the boat, and lightly leaped onto the shore: "Sister Hongxiu."
"Come in and sit down." Qiu Hongxiu glanced at Mu Yuan and Chong Shi, who had come ashore afterward, gave a cold laugh, and turned away before she could finish speaking.
"Brother Mu Yuan, why don't you take Shi'er for a stroll first?"
Mu Yuan nodded, patted Chong Shi's head, picked him up and put him on his shoulders, and went shopping.
Xuezhi watched his tall figure from behind and suddenly realized that he had lost a lot of weight in recent years. His excessive busyness seemed to have thinned his frame considerably. She kept watching him until he completely disappeared into the bustling city center before entering the Immortal Mountain Yingzhou.
Author's Note: Writing these two sections separately wasn't progressing well, so I'll just put them together...
The final chapter of Moonrise will be released on the 10th of next month. I'm finally free! Ah ha!
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Qiu Hongxiu ordered someone to make tea for Xuezhi, and then coldly asked her what she wanted to eat. Xuezhi waved her hand and asked where Zhongtao had gone. Qiu Hongxiu simply replied, "He's dead," and that was it. Xuezhi looked at the woman sitting opposite her, both amused and exasperated. After thinking for a while, she finally stood up and said, "I was just passing through and thought I'd come to see Sister Hongxiu. Since you're well, I won't bother you any longer."
"Take care." Qiu Hongxiu's eyes drifted to the window, and she even took a sip of her tea. Before she had even finished her tea, her chest was already heaving violently. When Xuezhi reached the door, she finally couldn't hold back any longer, slammed her hand on the table, and stood up, saying, "Chong Xuezhi, come back!"
Xuezhi stopped in her tracks: "Sister Hongxiu, is there anything else you would like to instruct me on?"
"Since we've been friends for years, let's not beat around the bush and talk things out." Qiu Hongxiu rushed up to her and said angrily, "Do you know that Langya left early this morning when he heard you were coming, saying he'd come back after you left? Tell me, you're disgusted with Baldy now that he looks like that? Okay, I admit he's not good enough for the handsome and virtuous Palace Master Zhongda now. You remarried, fine, but you made it known to the whole world. How can you face Yipintou for his deep affection for you before?"
"Of course I feel sorry for him."
Her words left Qiu Hongxiu speechless. Qiu Hongxiu shook her head, calming down considerably, and her attitude softened: "Then what do you mean?" Seeing that she was looking at her without speaking, she continued: "Indeed, you are still young. No one can bear to spend their whole life with a useless person. It's not that I don't understand you, it's just... that person is a top-tier expert."
"Yes, I owe him," Xuezhi said with a faint smile. "No matter what I do, I can't make up for what I owe him."
“Your son is all grown up now… Who owes whom, you two? Just, after you remarry, please don’t abandon him. I know him best; if he’s unhappy about something, he keeps it all inside and would never say a word. Besides, he can’t say it now…”
“He’s dead,” Xuezhi interrupted.
"That's why I said—what?" Qiu Hongxiu stared at her blankly, as if she had been slapped in the face.
In the vast white mist, Suzhou in spring lost its vibrant colors, and its outlines became blurred. The red buildings that once stood there seemed to have turned into a mirage, no longer exquisite, no longer bright.
Qiu Hongxiu reacted quickly, immediately smiling with a hint of contempt: "You're just making excuses for remarrying, aren't you?"
Xuezhi looked at her quietly for a long time before repeating, "He's dead."
She had composed herself and didn't show any signs of losing her composure. But as she uttered those three words, a huge tear fell from her eye without warning.
She was confident that she could calmly recount all of this, and she did.
Seeing Qiu Hongxiu's exquisitely made-up face instantly turn to one of overwhelming grief, she wasn't unaffected. However, she couldn't continue crying. If she did, she might really do many foolish things.
She has her own plans.
At the very least, she wanted to avenge Shangguan Tou and Xian'er.
Qiu Hongxiu and Xuezhi chatted all day. As the sun set, not long after Xuezhi left, Zhongtao returned. He bought Qiu Hongxiu her favorite peach blossom branch, prepared for her to once again ruthlessly throw it aside.
As he handed the flower branch to Qiu Hongxiu, he also said with a stern face, "I really did come back after seeing that girl surnamed Chong leave. So, what did she say to you?"
Qiu Hongxiu stared blankly at Huazhi, her eyes swollen and her makeup a little smudged.
Zhong Tao then noticed her unusual behavior and hurriedly asked, "Did she say something really hurtful? Did she bully you? Hongxiu, Hongxiu, don't scare me."
A gentle breeze stirred the wine plaque of Xianshan Yingzhou. The setting sun cast countless crimson rays upon Suzhou. As the four elegant characters swayed, Qiu Hongxiu's hair and gold hairpin were slightly disheveled.
She suddenly threw herself into his arms, hugged him tightly, and burst into tears.
She had always kept her distance from Zhong Tao, actually because she was afraid he would run away after he got her. However, when faced with the death and departure of the person she loved, the former was more frightening.
Life is unpredictable. She didn't want to end up like Xuezhi. She didn't want to have regrets. They wouldn't be Xuezhi and Shangguan Tou.
At that moment, Xuezhi stood in the small boat on the opposite bank, lifted the curtain, and looked up at Chongshi and Muyuan, who were smiling at her. She patted Chongshi's head and pointed to the pile of wooden toys in his arms, saying, "Wow, Uncle Mu bought you so many things!"
"Yes, this is Guan Yu, this is Zhang Fei, and this is Liu Bei!" Chong Shi shook the wooden puppet in his hand.
Mu Yuandao: "You chatted with Miss Qiu all day?"
Xuezhi smiled and nodded.
Soon, the boatman rowed the oars, and she secretly turned around and lifted the gauze curtain, seeing the fairy mountain Yingzhou on the opposite bank, and two people standing under the setting sun, embracing tightly as if no one else was around.
Xuezhi knew that Sister Hongxiu was truly heartbroken, which was why she was crying so much. She had always considered Shangguan Tou the most important person in her life.
The fog dissipated, and the bustling night of Suzhou quietly rose in tranquility. Red lanterns lit up, and the pleasure boats moved slowly forward. Two figures on the shore were gradually shifted in view, eventually being replaced by the passing crowds and lights.
Everyone cries when they are sad.
But Xuezhi must not cry.
Because the person who could stop her from crying is no longer here.
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