Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 23

Zi Jin changed into clean clothes, her face pale and her steps trembling as she walked back to the first-floor cabin. Seeing Zi Jin approach, Qi Yongyue smiled apologetically at her.

Zi Jin gave Qi Yongyue a perfunctory, stiff smile, secretly lamenting: If this Princess Xile exposes me, won't I be doomed?

"Brother Jin, are you... alright?" Jun Chi frowned, his face full of unease.

Zi Jin waved her hand casually, unaware of Jun Chi's worry, still lost in her own thoughts.

"May I ask your name?" Princess Xile asked as soon as Zi Jin approached. At this moment, Princess Xile had changed out of her wet clothes, removed her straw hat, and was all smiles.

“Your Highness, my younger brother Zi Jin is young and has lost his voice.” Seeing Zi Jin standing there in a daze, Zi Feng immediately stood up and replied politely.

"Oh? I heard her unrestrained laughter on the water today, how could she have lost her voice?" Princess Xile smiled, clearly showing disbelief.

Upon hearing this, Zi Jin raised her head and looked directly at west Le, her eyes revealing anxiety.

"My younger brother suffered a family tragedy when he was young, and he lost his voice due to the shock. In recent years, he can only cry and laugh."

"Is that so? It's a pity that such a talented young man... is just a mute." Princess Xile said with slight disappointment, then returned to her seat and paid no more attention to Zi Jin.

After hearing this conversation, Zi Jin felt relieved when she saw that Princess west Le was no longer asking questions, knowing that Princess Xi Le would not expose her.

Having averted the crisis, Zi Jin sat listlessly on the edge of the boat, her feet dangling in the air. As the sun set, the entire lakeside shimmered with golden light, and the trees in the distance swayed in the golden glow. On the boat, the people were either reciting poems, sipping tea and admiring the scenery, or talking about love.

Zi Jin was a little drunk. Jun Chi, who had been sitting next to Zi Jin the whole time, quietly followed Zi Jin's gaze and looked around.

Zi Jin suddenly abandoned the beautiful scene and walked out of the cabin. Jun Chi wanted to follow, but Jun Lin called him to play the zither.

When Zi Jin returned, she had a wooden board, paper, and charcoal in her hands.

The air was filled with the intoxicating sound of strings.

Jun Lin smiled and whispered to Princess Xi Le, occasionally glancing meaningfully at Zi Jin opposite him. That smile was clearly different from the one he used when scheming against Zi Jin.

Princess Xile listened intently, her eyes fixed on the rippling lake in the distance, lost in thought, her peripheral vision occasionally glancing at Zi Jin's figure.

Zi Feng sat on either side of Jun An, a shy smile playing on her lips. Jun An closed his eyes, feigning sleep, to enjoy the soft music.

Qi Yongyue sat casually in the corner, his eyes filled with a sense of ease.

Jun Chi stroked the zither with both hands, a confident and unassuming smile appearing on her delicate face, occasionally glancing up at Zi Jin.

The setting sun cast a long shadow of Zi Jin as she drew on paper with charcoal for a long time, looking completely absorbed in her work, a faint smile always playing on her lips.

A goddess reincarnated, originally to save the common people, was reborn to answer questions of love and tribulations throughout countless lifetimes; her past life was but a dream (Part Two)

The Past is but a Dream (Part Two) As the sun sets, the emerald green lake seems to be gilded with thin layers of gold, the distant scenery hazy yet breathtakingly beautiful. Emperor Xuanlong sits reclining on a long chair, gazing into the distance, his eyes unfocused yet overflowing with sorrow. His appearance is unlike that of an emperor; fragile and pitiful, like an abandoned child.

In the early autumn of the sixteenth year of the reign of Emperor Yaochen, the Empress was nineteen years old.

"Hahaha...haha...Jun Xiaosan, I've caught him!" The harsh early autumn sunlight made Empress Yanzai's cheerful face sparkle.

"Catch! Two already! Everyone says the 'Blue-backed Dragonfish' is extremely difficult to catch. Today, I have displayed my divine power and caught two in less than two hours," Empress Yanzai said as she changed her wet clothes inside the curtained tent.

Jun Ying stood outside the tent, carefully carrying the fish basin, his face filled with heartache.

Empress Yanzai changed her clothes and came out of the curtain. She carefully examined the two "blue-backed dragon fish" in the gilded and carved fish basin. Only when she saw that the two fish were still full of life did she show a relieved expression.

Jun Ying looked at Empress Yanzai's wrinkled hands, feeling an unbearable pain in his heart, as if being cut by a knife. He lowered his eyes, his brows furrowed.

"Jun Xiaosan, immediately break camp and return to the palace!"

"Your Majesty, you have been traveling for several days in a row, and you have just arrived here and immediately soaked in the water for two hours. In my opinion, you should set up camp here to rest for the night... What do you think?" Jun Ying's voice was anxious and worried.

Empress Yanzai looked around. The trees were still lush and green in early autumn, and the occasional calls of various birds could be heard in the distance. Biyue Lake, like a piece of jade, was set between heaven and earth. How could anyone not be captivated by such a beautiful scene?

"Jun Xiaosan, do you think that if I were to build a palace for Linde Noble Prince here... would he... like it?" Empress Yanzai's face showed sadness and disappointment when she spoke of Linde Noble Prince.

Jun Ying lowered his head and remained silent.

Empress Yanzai changed the subject and said, "Break camp and return to the palace immediately!"

Jun Ying suddenly looked up: "Your Majesty..."

Jun Ying knew he would never disobey Empress Yanzai, so he could only remain silently hidden in the shadows.

Empress Yanzai led a group of twenty-odd people and returned to the palace.

Empress Yanzai was reluctant to entrust the "Green-backed Dragon Fish" to others. During the long journey, Empress Yanzai rode her horse with one hand and held the fish basin with the other, using her internal strength to stabilize the water in the basin, making it as stable as if it were placed on the ground, so that the fish would not die from the bumps.

After countless fine horses had died from exhaustion, the twenty-odd people carrying the Empress had long since been left far behind. Only the Hidden Guard, Jun Ying, had followed her with his light-footed skills, but he eventually found a fine horse at the post station to catch up due to exhaustion. Now, the Empress's horse was at its limit, and with the birthday of the Noble Consort Linde tomorrow, the Empress was extremely anxious.

"Jun Xiaosan! Give me the horse!" The Empress jumped off the nearly exhausted horse and shouted to Jun Ying, who was not far away.

"Your Majesty, I have exhausted my inner strength... I am no longer able to catch up with Your Majesty on foot. Perhaps we should rest here for a while and wait for the others..."

Before Jun Ying could finish speaking, the Empress rudely pulled him down, jumped onto her horse without even turning her head, and rode away in a cloud of dust.

Jun Ying had exhausted his inner strength and reached his physical limit. In his daze, his last gaze lingered on the Empress's departing figure...

I never imagined that after twelve years of being inseparable, this first separation would be our final farewell...

Jun Ying had wondered countless times: if he had called out to the Empress before he fainted, would she have stayed? Would she?

A goddess reincarnated to serve the common people, she was born to answer questions of love and tribulations, young and innocent, unaware of sorrow. (Part Two)