Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Sleeping

Chapter 101

As if anticipating my move, the person suddenly spun me around, my feet leaving the ground and my head spinning. I couldn't even bend my knees. When my feet touched solid ground, I looked up angrily, and a strange face loomed large before my eyes. Before I could even figure out what was going on, I felt a warmth on my lips—I had been kissed.

Oh my god, I was kissed by a stranger like that! Ignoring my disgust, I tried to push him away, but he just held on tighter. Finally, I gritted my teeth, and he let go in pain. I slapped him hard across the face, then wiped my mouth frantically with my sleeve and ran towards the door. Ugh, what the hell is going on?!

"Ah!" Before I even got close to the door, I was picked up from behind. I reached out desperately towards the door, but couldn't touch it at all. Just as I was about to scream, my mouth was covered, and a soft murmur sounded in my ear, "Qianqian!"

My body went limp, and I stopped struggling. The person released their grip at the same time. I turned around, took a step back, and carefully examined the person in front of me. It was definitely a fox's voice, but this face had absolutely no resemblance to that bewitching fox. Wait, those eyes, those peach blossom eyes, they definitely look like a fox's. And that mouth, although the lower lip seemed to be bleeding, well, it really does look like a fox's wicked mouth.

I walked up to him and circled him, sniffing him. Sorry, not sniffing, but smelling! Strangely, there was no pungent ambergris.

"What are you doing?" The fox's elegant, thieving paw lightly touched his lips, asking with a wry smile. However, because his face was clearly not on the same level as his paws, it looked particularly bizarre. Sigh, the fox's current face was just too ordinary.

"Is it really Big Brother? But why... does it not smell good?" I hesitated for a long time before deciding to tell the truth. I really couldn't believe that the person in front of me was Fox, or rather, I couldn't believe that Fox had suddenly appeared here.

"Just because of that, you're going to slap me without hesitation?" He suddenly leaned forward, his peach blossom eyes half-closed, and said in an exceptionally gentle voice.

A chill ran down my spine. Oh no, it's definitely a fox! I held my right hand up to my eyes, looked him over for a few seconds, and then threw myself into his arms, bursting into tears: "You damned, heartless, stinking fox, you dead fox, do you still remember me? I haven't seen you or heard from you for so long, I thought you'd forgotten me!"

He didn't speak, but his arms were tightly around me. I opened my mouth, lowered my head, and bit down hard on his shoulder until my lips ached. Then I let go, stepped back, and looked up at the person in front of me, tears streaming down my face, calling out again and again, "Big brother, big brother, big brother..."

He kissed away each of my tears, one by one, whispering "Qianqian" with each kiss. That night, the fox, like me, ultimately miscalculated; otherwise, we would probably be married by now.

"Why is Big Brother here? And why did you disguise yourself to sneak in?" It took me a while to calm down. I looked up and stared at those peach blossom eyes for a few seconds before muttering, "You disguised yourself as Big Brother's attendant?"

There's no need to ask him what happened during this time. He's right in front of me now, dressed like this. I'm already content to see him. There's no need to dwell on why we haven't heard from each other for so long!

He smiled without saying a word, clearly acquiescing, and placed one hand on my face, moving it back and forth.

"Brother, the Phoenix Orchid Jade Pendant is on Xi Lan." Despite feeling extremely guilty, she still had to confess.

Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Asleep (Revised Edition) Volume Four: A Hidden Melancholy and Resentment for a Short-Lived Reunion

Chapter word count: 4392 Update time: 08-12-24 12:57

Short gathering

"I know," he replied casually.

I asked in surprise, my voice slightly startled, "When did you find out, brother?"

He remained silent, but a look of comfort appeared in his peach blossom eyes. The fox said he knew—did he come to find me with the jade pendant, only to discover he had found Xi Lan instead?

"Brother, have you heard about Envoy Ye Cang?" I asked, wondering why the fox had sent my brother on this mission.

"Xiu Ruo's ambitions are indeed quite large." He pulled my hand down, held it tightly in his own, and said lazily.

My heart skipped a beat. What did Xiu Ruo mean by having such ambition? Could the matter of Ye Cang's envoy be the trigger for war? Or was this all a conspiracy? Were Ye Cang and Xiu Ruo really going to war? If so, Xiu Ruo would definitely need the support of other countries.

"Will Long Yao form an alliance with Xiu Ruo?" If the answer is yes, does that mean Er Linzi will be going to the battlefield again?

What does Qianqian think?

I looked up at him. Though I couldn't see his true expression beneath his disguise, his peach blossom eyes were as deep and unfathomable as a still pool. Ah, when it comes to matters of state, the fox becomes quite enigmatic. An alliance seems inevitable, but what will be the conditions? If war breaks out, Xiu Ruo will have to win over Tianqing, Hanxing, and Longyao. If any of them side with Ye Cang, the war will become exceptionally difficult.

The conditions for the alliance... what an ominous feeling! Suddenly remembering Xiaobai, I hurriedly asked, "Xiaobai, he..."

The sharpness in his eyes flashed by so quickly it seemed like an illusion.

“Brother,” I quickly grasped his hand and pleaded, “I don’t care about the rights and wrongs between you and him, but I beg you to forgive him for kidnapping me from the palace. He saved me and helped me before. Although he intended to deceive me this time, he didn’t hurt me. I don’t blame him, and I can’t blame him. After this, I will never confide in him again. I only beg you, brother, not to let this matter disrupt your previous plans. Also, I promised him that I would give him justice regarding the rumors.”

If we hadn't been abducted from the palace back then, our situation would be completely different now, and things wouldn't be as complicated as they are now.

"I never imagined that such a great secret was hidden in the palace," the fox said instead of answering.

Secrets within the palace? What secrets could the palace hold? Xiao Bai kidnapped me from the palace; are there secret passages within the palace unknown to the fox? Are there other forces within the imperial city unknown to the fox? And what's the story behind the imperial edict Xiao Bai mentioned…?

Just as he was pondering this, Wang An coughed softly outside the door. Before he could cough twice, a knock sounded again, sounding somewhat urgent.

"Qianqian, you must wait for your older brother to come and take you home, understand?" he said somewhat anxiously. "Yefeng will stay here, but with a Holy Spirit Beast by your side, I'm afraid Yefeng won't be able to protect you as closely as usual. You have to be extra careful."

“Big brother…” I held his hand tightly, my voice choked with emotion.

"If you need anything, you can contact Chu Fan." The fox said softly, squeezed my hand tightly for a moment, then let go, moved a few steps behind the door, reached out to open it, and then disappeared behind the door.

Wang Anlue looked at me anxiously from outside the door. I glanced again at the place where the fox was hiding, then turned and left the west wing.

It was Old Man Yun who came over. He seemed to have just finished discussing matters with another old man and came to see Yun Feng. Knowing I was here, he sent someone to find me in the west wing. I followed Wang An back, and upon entering, I saw Yun Feng and Xi Lan had finished eating and were talking to Old Man Yun. I stepped forward and bowed to Old Man Yun, then excused myself, saying I had something to attend to. He didn't say anything, just nodded, then gave Xi Lan a meaningful look. I bid farewell to Yun Feng and left Xuan Yu Palace, Wang An following cautiously beside me.

"If you need anything, you can contact Chu Fan." The fox's words echoed in my ears. Who was Chu Fan?

As night deepened, the palace lanterns cast flickering shadows, and the air carried the subtle scent of spring.

"Xi Lan?" Suddenly, someone walked beside me. I turned my head and saw that familiar white figure. Wang An, however, had already tactfully kept a distance from us.

"The gifts that Yun Xiang brought seem to have deeply moved the princess; her eyes are still red." A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Moved? What moves people is never an object, but the human heart." I looked up at the sky, the night sky calm and vast. My thoughts were swirling, for the person I had secretly met earlier, for the person beside me now. "There was once a person who gave without expecting anything in return. That person knew the outcome would be futile, yet was still willing to give everything for another. He who never concerned himself with politics entered the court, went to the battlefield in white without regret, even when injured, even when unconscious, even when he might never wake up again, he never asked for anything in return. Such a person would move anyone deeply. But I often thought back then, such a person, the more moved he was, the more guilty I felt. Guilty for not being able to reciprocate his feelings in the same way, guilty for accepting his sacrifices knowing I couldn't reciprocate, yet because of things I had to do, a path I had to walk."

My head was still tilted back, but tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. I lowered my head and let the tears fall into the night, sighing softly, "When I learned that he was injured but still rushed to save me alone, when I watched him get even more injured while trying to save me... when I saw him lying motionless on the bed as if he had stopped breathing, I told myself, Lin Qianqian, you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be in these people's lives. If this person in front of you never wakes up again, what face do you have to live on in this world, to cling to this life? In this life, I owe him my love, I owe him my life. If there is an afterlife, let future lives be the ones to atone for the debt I owe in this life."

"He survived, but we lost contact. When I saw him again months later, although he seemed fine, I still wanted to ask him in person if he was better, and to hear him say that I was alright. That's what I thought and that's what I did, but the answer was so unexpected."

"What do you want to say? What do you want to tell me?" His gaze was fixed on me, and there seemed to be a hint of sneer in his voice.

“I want to say that if he forgets me, it should be a kind of happiness for him; if he doesn’t remember me or the little things we did together but only remembers hating me, that’s still better than someone who remembers me remembering our acquaintance and friendship; if he hates me and wants to marry me to torment me as revenge, that’s understandable.” I stopped and turned to look at him, tears welling in my eyes, but I stubbornly held them back, without wiping them away. I said calmly, “Whatever he does, I understand, and I will never blame or resent him. If he really wants to marry me, I’m willing to marry him, I’m willing to marry him happily, whether it’s for revenge or out of genuine affection.”

He was clearly startled, his dark, bright eyes fixed on me, a flame I couldn't understand flickering within them. He gripped my wrist tightly with a force that seemed to want to crush it. I met his gaze, fearless and unrepentant. He abruptly released me, averted his gaze, and strode off down the path to the left.