Amor bajo las estrellas lejanas

Capítulo 42

On the one hand, it was her younger sister Tian Xiyun who spread the rumors; on the other hand, Minglu found that Tian Xiri had gone from being a hot commodity to being ignored because of the rumors, which was very advantageous to him, so he just watched from the sidelines.

A month later, feeling the time was right, he went to the palace to see the emperor and asked him to arrange a marriage between him and Tian Xiri.

The Emperor inquired of the Empress Dowager's opinion, but to his surprise, she refused. Her reason was that Tian Xiri's mother was seriously ill, and it was inappropriate to discuss personal matters concerning their children at this time; therefore, the matter should be postponed.

Tian Xiri's mother passed away six months later, and Tian Xiri observed mourning for her. At this time, he naturally could not bring up the matter of marriage.

He could only wait, but he never expected that this wait would last for two years.

During this time, his mother urged him to marry a wife several times, but he was unwilling. Later, when his mother learned of his intentions, although she was not pleased, she did not particularly object, since Tian Xiri's status was worthy of him. This was also a good opportunity to consolidate the family's power. However, his family had only one son for three generations, and for a hundred years, the lineage had been weak. Therefore, his ancestors had all married and taken concubines at a very young age. He was now eighteen years old and had several wives, but still no children, which naturally caused his mother a lot of nagging.

Time flies.

As he waited, he found himself thinking of her and longing for her. Occasionally, he would draw her image: her radiant smile that night, her stunning beauty behind the beaded curtain.

He had been waiting...

Two years passed in this wait. During this time, he happened to meet Ruyan, a woman from a merchant family, while on official business. Upon seeing her, he felt that her demeanor was very similar to Tian Xiri (as he had imagined), so he proposed marriage and brought her back to his household.

Not long after, at Xi En's father's sixtieth birthday celebration, he met the dancer Lan'er. Upon first seeing her, he felt that Lan'er's figure was very similar to Xi Ri's (his imagination), so he took her as a concubine.

But he was never satisfied, because he never got what he truly wanted. He kept waiting, waiting for that person to belong to him completely.

Finally, two years later, his mother went to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager first. During their casual conversation, she intentionally brought up his marriage. Two days later, Minglu personally went to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager and solemnly proposed to marry Tian Xiri. The Empress Dowager scrutinized him for a long time and asked, "Minglu, why do you want to marry Tian Xiri?"

He replied, "I will never regret the love I have for you, even unto death." As soon as he said it, he was taken aback.

The Empress Dowager remained silent. She hadn't expected Minglu to utter the phrase "unwavering until death," as it was far too heavy a word.

In the Empress Dowager's heart, Minglu and Xiri were somewhat similar. Minglu was smooth in his dealings with people, while Xiri was quick-witted and adaptable. Minglu was reserved and unassuming, while Xiri was intelligent and perceptive—both were shrewd individuals. However, she preferred intelligent and sensible children, and she liked all three boys: Suoge, Minglu, and Xiri. But Suoge's refusal of the marriage proposal had already harmed Xiri. Since Minglu genuinely loved Xiri, why not grant their wish? She finally nodded and agreed to the marriage.

Only then did he realize that his longing for her had already penetrated to the bone and was beyond his control.

×××××××

Two years later, at Shixianglou.

Xiao Xiangmei was formerly a famous actress in Fu Jin's household. Recently, he arranged for her to perform on stage at the Shi Xiang Lou in order to lure out Zhang Guiyi, the second-in-command of the Da Luo Mountain bandits. Zhang Guiyi was fond of men, enjoyed listening to operas and musical instruments, and especially liked male actors who resembled women. For a while, Ming Lu spread the word that he would come to support the actress Xiao Xiangmei every day, making the newcomer Xiao Xiangmei's fame soar. However, after several days, Zhang Guiyi still did not appear.

When Xiao Xiangmei was singing at the climax, he threw a silver ingot onto the stage, but suddenly saw that the silver ingot behind him was twice the size of the one he threw. He felt displeased. When he looked up, he found that the man on the second floor who had just thrown the silver ingot was listening intently to the opera, and he looked exactly like Tian Xiri!

At that moment, he couldn't help but look again and again, increasingly feeling that the man resembled Tian Xiri by seven or eight points. But the man never glanced at him. Staring at a man in public was beneath his dignity, and besides, he had no homosexual tendencies. Although it was common for high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital to keep male concubines, he disdained to do so.

He suppressed his curiosity and continued listening to the opera.

As the play ended and everyone dispersed, he and Nalan and the others happened to reach the stairwell and encountered a man who called himself Li Yu.

Fu Jin said, "How is it? Isn't this young master handsome? He looked good from afar, with red lips, white teeth, and clear eyes. Now that we're up close, he's probably even more handsome than Yingying."

Nalan sighed with great emotion, "Yes, what a pity. He's a man. Look at his Adam's apple. If it weren't for that feature, I would have really thought he was a woman dressed as a man."

Adam's apple? Minglu looked at Li Yu's Adam's apple and sure enough.

Li Yu clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "Gentlemen, you are too modest. This is my first time in the capital, and I am unfamiliar with the place. Please forgive me if I offended you just now." His voice was deep and had a slight Suzhou accent.

Nalan laughed and said, "So you're from out of town. No wonder you don't recognize us."

After several rounds of polite exchanges, Li Yu's words were quite pleasing to the ear, and Nalan and Fu Jin seemed to have a rather favorable impression of this Li Yu of unknown origin. Li Yu, being a sensible and perceptive person, seeing that they were in high spirits, offered to treat them to drinks.

He didn't want to say a word, but simply watched everything unfold before him with indifference.

It's not surprising that many people would try to curry favor with the four of them. But this man who suddenly appeared looked exactly like Tian Xiri! This made him secretly wary. But it didn't seem like Li Yu was a woman disguised as a man, because he didn't have pierced ears, had an Adam's apple, and his voice was completely masculine.

However, he still harbored doubts subconsciously, secretly observing Li Yu's every move, trying to find clues.

Upon arriving at the Wan Hua Lou, Ming Lu intentionally observed Li Yu's expression.

That night, when Li Yu entered the Wan Hua Lou, she almost fell. He instinctively turned around to help her up, but unexpectedly, Li Yu fell into his arms. At that moment, he felt a soft body in his arms, and he couldn't help but feel a slight flutter in his heart.

That night, to his surprise, although this seemingly inexperienced Li Yu was clearly a first-timer in a brothel, she was very cheerful and drank just as much as he and Xi En. When he saw her blushing as she kissed the woman beside her, Ming Lu himself didn't know what he felt at that moment.

He thought, this Li Yu must just be a fake like Tian Xiri... A lady from a respectable family like Tian Xiri would never do such a thing.

That night, perhaps because Li Yu resembled Tian Xiri, he gradually became infatuated and actually got drunk. He hadn't been this drunk in a long time, so drunk that he was unconscious, so drunk that he seemed to see Tian Xiri in his dream, except... Tian Xiri was stepping on his face...

When he woke up, he had a terrible headache. He sat up groggily and saw Li Yu standing by the door, looking a little flustered. He asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

But then he chuckled and replied, "Prince Ming is awake. I'll go and ask the maid to fetch water for him to wash his feet."

Foot bath water? Minglu covered his forehead, which was throbbing from a hangover, and wondered groggily: Did he hear wrong? Or was he still dreaming? Ugh... He collapsed onto the bed again.

On the way back, he walked with Li Yu. His headache persisted, and he was too preoccupied to speak, walking silently. Li Yu, who resembled Tian Xiri, seemed to remind him of his desire to see her. Now that they were engaged, meeting wouldn't be difficult. In fact, he felt a sudden urgency, wanting to see Tian Xiri immediately. Upon seeing the steward at the gate, he immediately ordered him to send someone to the Tian residence with a visiting card.

That day was truly a memorable one, one that Minglu would never forget.

He finally met Tian Xiri. She did look very much like Li Yu, but apart from that, they were completely different!

On that day, his dream of many years was shattered.

But he didn't believe it could be the real Tian Xiri; he still had doubts!

He secretly ordered Xiao Xiangmei to test Li Yu. He watched Xiao Xiangmei and Li Yu's every move from behind the screen, but he got nothing. Li Yu didn't make any mistakes. Was he just being paranoid?

It wasn't until the afternoon, when Nalan invited them to bathe together, that Li Yu saw Nalan undress. He awkwardly turned his head away, his face turning red. Li Yu's expression made him suspicious again. He also refused Nalan's invitation to bathe with him, making excuses. This deepened Li Yu's suspicions.

That night, when Fu Jin suggested sneaking a peek at Tian Xiri, he looked at Li Yu and suddenly wanted to confirm it as well.

He wanted to be sure, to be sure once again, that this Li Yu might be...