Hibiscus as a Painting - Chapter 221
Zi Jin continued to gaze at the audience below, seemingly searching for someone, completely unaware that the person opposite her had launched a hidden weapon at her. Just then, a white shadow flashed by, a small figure blocking Zi Jin's path, a copper coin clutched in its hand.
This was a child of about seven or eight years old, with a small, palm-sized face, snow-white skin, and rosy cheeks. His round eyes were bloodshot with anger, and his cherry-like lips were slightly pouting. If it weren't for the boy's robe he was wearing and the bun on his head, anyone would definitely think that he was a girl.
The woman quickly squatted down and smiled ingratiatingly at the child: "Yue'er, where is your father?"
"Let's go." The child who was staring at Young Master Jinyang didn't even glance at Zi Jin and said coldly.
"You let him leave alone?" Zi Jin asked anxiously.
The boy glared fiercely at Zi Jin with his narrow, almond-shaped eyes: "When you said he was handsome, Dad had already left, and you were still playing here. Is he so good that you forgot about home?!"
Zi Jin pouted slightly, reached out and hugged the boy, saying in a slightly coquettish and aggrieved tone, "Mother just wanted to get the ring... Yue'er... Yueyue... Good Yueyue, tell me quickly where your father went?"
A blush of embarrassment flashed across the boy's face: "I told him to go sit and wait in the building across the street." His voice was gentler than Fang's.
Upon receiving the news, Zi Jin didn't hesitate. She leaped off the stage and ran quickly towards Jin Yu Man Lou on the opposite side.
A flicker of astonishment crossed Young Master Jinyang's eyes, followed by a look of utter rage and shame: "Woman! You!..."
The boy opposite, whom Zi Jin called Nianyue, had a rosy face that instantly turned icy cold. He threw the copper coin in his hand. With a light step, he delivered a powerful palm strike to Young Master Jinyang. Young Master Jinyang never expected that a child could possess such skill, and before he could react, he had fallen off the stage.
Nianyue stood on the high platform with her hands behind her back, her narrow peach blossom eyes scanning Young Master Jinyang from top to bottom. She said coldly, "How dare you call my Zi'er!" After saying that, she turned around and flew to the high platform, took the glass ring at the top, and disappeared from the platform in the blink of an eye.
Love and hate leave no trace, deep affection is hard to wait for, the descendants of the gods, three generations of marriage and resentment fill the river, watching the tide rise and fall (16) The finale Part 2
Si Kou Xunxiang, dressed in a long white robe, sat in the far corner of the main hall of Jin Yu Man Lou. Although his face was covered by a bamboo hat and veil, his knee-length silver hair still attracted everyone's attention.
Zi Jin, who had just come down from the arena, grabbed Si Kou Xunxiang's sleeve with a fawning expression and whispered, "Xiao Bai... good husband, don't be angry. I was just saying it casually, don't take it seriously."
"He's handsome..." Si Kou Huanxiang's gentle voice carried a hint of annoyance.
Zi Jin quickly said, "No! You're beautiful, you really are beautiful! You've always been beautiful, you're the most beautiful in my eyes, I can never get enough of looking at you."
Si Kou Xunxiang struggled to pull back the sleeve that Zi Jin was holding: "You came here to see him, you lied to me, saying it was for the thumb ring... He, he, back then... you liked..."
Zi Jin slipped her hand under the table into Si Kou Huan Xiang's sleeve, firmly grasping his hand. Through her veil, she whispered in his ear, "I didn't. I really did it for that ring. That ring was our token of love; how could I let it fall into the wrong hands? I knew he was here, but I never expected to run into him. I really don't like him... My dear husband... Please believe me, please believe me..."
Si Kou Huanxiang turned his head to look at the woman through his veil and said, "You're not lying to me?"
Zi Jin hurriedly said, "I'm not lying, I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, ask Nian Yue."
Nianyue handed the ring to the woman from under the table, picked up the water on the table, and gulped down half a cup: "Young Master Jinyang's beauty is indeed well-deserved, even Zi'er is mesmerized... Waaah..."
Zi Jin covered Nian Yue's mouth with her hand, hugged and kissed her for a while, and said softly, "Good Yue'er, Mother was wrong, okay? First, please appease your father, good Yue'er... good Yueyue... good Nian Yue..."
Seeing that Nianyue remained silent, Zi Jin quickly turned her face to Sikou Xunxiang, smiled slightly, took his hand, and carefully placed the shimmering glass thumb ring on his thumb, saying softly, "My husband is the most handsome, really!"
Whether it was her imagination or not, even though there was a veil between them, Zi Jin could still feel that the person opposite her seemed to be wearing a smile that could captivate all beings.
VIP Room on the Second Floor of Jinyu Manlou
The man who had been watching the scene in the hall from the window suddenly turned around and slammed his hand on the white jade table beside him: "That Sikou Xunxiang is clearly taking advantage of the situation and acting innocent. How can he play tricks on Jin'er like this! He's perfectly fine! Yet he still pretends to be so stupid!"
Qi Yongyue glanced at Jun Lin's angry face and quickly said, "Didn't Your Majesty see it just now? His Highness the Crown Prince looks so much like Your Majesty, especially his eyes, as if they were made from the same mold. And his skills on the stage just now, it's hard to imagine that a seven-year-old child could have such skills."
Gradually, a smile crept into Jun Lin's cold and fierce phoenix eyes. He glanced at the hall for a while before smiling slightly and saying, "At that time, I thought that this child must resemble me more, so that Jin'er could see me every day and think of me from time to time."
Qi Yongyue laughed and said, "Now His Majesty has gotten his wish. His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't resemble the Empress at all, but he looks about 80% like His Majesty."
Jun Lin unconsciously touched his face, his phoenix eyes becoming even brighter, and his smile deepened as he said softly, "Jin'er is teaching him so diligently, which shows that Jin'er really likes him."
"As His Majesty has also seen, the Empress has not had any other children so far, and it seems that she obeys His Highness the Crown Prince in everything..."
A commotion downstairs interrupted their conversation.
A young man dressed in fine robes and brocade robes, accompanied by a group of people, obliquely blocked the three people downstairs who were about to leave.
"Young lady, this must be your first time visiting Huaiyin City. Why don't you stay at my residence for a few days, and let me show you the hospitality of a host?" the elegantly dressed young man said with a smile, waving his fan.
Zi Jin stood there stunned for a long while before a smile, which she couldn't suppress, appeared on her lips. She quickly replied, "From now on, if you follow me, you'll eat and drink the finest food, wear endless silks and satins, and enjoy countless delicacies. It's your good fortune that I've taken a liking to you. Do you know who I am? I am... Oh, and who are you, sir?" She had finally encountered the legendary scene of someone harassing a respectable woman. She had almost thought she would never see such a spectacle in her lifetime.
The elegantly dressed young man paused for a moment, then continued with a smile, "Young lady, you are quite interesting. Since you asked, I will tell you that I am the eldest son of the magistrate of Huaiyin."
Zi Jin frowned and looked down at Nian Yue: "Is the garrison commander a very high-ranking official?"
Nian Yue said coldly, "A petty official."
The richly dressed young man's face instantly turned green, and he shouted, "Do you know that the Consort Xuan, who is currently enjoying the Emperor's favor, is actually my own sister? Do you know that our Emperor has not yet taken an Empress and does not even have a prince? If nothing unexpected happens..."
A hint of worry flashed in Zi Jin's eyes, and she frowned as she asked, "Why is there still no prince?"
"Nianyue." Sikou Xunxiang, who had been silent all along, called out softly.
Nianyue, who had been poised to strike, lightly touched the ground with her toes and her figure flickered slightly. The group of people who had been standing there screamed and fell to the ground.
Si Kou Xunxiang grabbed Zi Jin's hand, who was still in a daze, and walked step by step out of Jin Yu Man Lou, past the crowd on the ground.
Young Master Jinyang emerged from the shadows on the third floor of the Golden Jade Pavilion, his amber eyes fixed on the three figures slowly making their way out. A strange, bittersweet feeling welled up within him. It was an emotion that was both utterly unfamiliar and terrifying, as if the most beautiful thing he had ever possessed, the most important thing in his heart, had gradually faded away, vanished, and would never return.
As she raised her hand, tears streamed down her face...
Jun Lin leaned against the window until the three figures disappeared around the street corner before he looked away, his phoenix eyes staring blankly in the direction of the hall.
Qi Yongyue said in a low voice, "If Your Majesty misses the Empress, you can find something she likes next time and set up a competition arena."
Jun Lin gave a bitter smile: "There are many rare treasures, but how many would she even want? This ring is hers... I didn't want to take it out, but I really... really want to see her..."