Разные пути ведут к одной и той же цели (жениться на человеке равного социального положения)

Глава 33

The person next to me froze for a moment, then closed his eyes in pain. When he opened them again, he smiled gently at me, but his eyes were already slightly red. He reached his injured right hand into the quilt, seemingly unafraid of the pain, and slowly moved it to cover my hand, but he didn't press it down; he just held it gently.

"Yes, I am indeed a coward. I have lived in the legend of my father since I was a child, living in the glory of Tian Shu Palace. I am always afraid that one day I will repeat my father's mistakes for the sake of Tian Shu Palace. I pushed you away without even struggling... I am a complete coward."

"But, Gu Yi, when I saw you on the battle stage the day before yesterday, seeing your stubborn face and your rapidly improving martial arts after three years of seclusion, I realized that no matter how good my martial arts are or how well I manage the Tian Shu Palace, I am not worthy of you. You are determined to prove yourself, while I don't even dare to try."

"It was at that moment that I decided I could no longer be cowardly. If I were strong enough, strong enough to protect you and Tian Shu Palace no matter what, there would be no more trouble. Gu Yi, I'm stupid and slow to react. I only understand now that you shouldn't be the only one working hard for all of this."

The window was slightly ajar, and the afternoon sun spilled across the floor, looking warm and cozy. Leisurely dust motes drifted aimlessly in the air.

I gradually felt warmth on my hands. Qingjiu stared at me intently, his eyes already red, but his gaze was more resolute than ever before. His unwavering gaze was so intense that it was hard to look away. His voice was still gentle, but it now carried a heavy weight of power.

"Guyi, I want to be with you."

"Guyi, I like you."

...

After a moment of silence, I looked at Qingjiu and said calmly, "...But I don't like you anymore."

"...I won't be with you either."

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked away from Qingjiu, whose face was pale.

He's such a proud person; once rejected, he definitely won't persist. I don't want to turn back; turning back wasn't part of my original intention.

“I know… I did so many things that must have made you feel disheartened. Gu Yi, you are such a proud person, you certainly don’t want to turn back. When you went into seclusion to practice martial arts, you shouldn’t have had any intention of turning back. You just wanted to prove something to me.”

My hand, hidden under the covers, slowly clenched. He still looked at me with that resolute gaze, letting me know that this time I was wrong, and he was right.

"I also want to prove to you that I am still worthy of your love."

"I will spend my whole life proving it, and waiting for you to believe it."

...

After I recovered from my injuries, Qingjiu left. He didn't say anything more after that day.

However, he came to see me the night before he left, and I was pretending to be asleep because I was suffering from insomnia.

He kissed me, not on my forehead, or anywhere else, but directly on my lips.

Everything in the universe, including myself, lost its breath at that moment.

"...selling clothes."

He simply called my name softly. Yet, it seemed to encompass a thousand words.

I didn't open my eyes, but I knew that the moonlight that night must have been exceptionally bright and clear.

Forty-six cups of Lu wine

Lu wine, as red as amber, with purple brocade scales on the Wen fish.

...

After Li Yiyao brought news that would shake up the martial arts world, I didn't sleep well that night and woke up in the middle of the night.

I sat on the bed in a daze for a while. I didn't want to lie down, but I also felt that sitting there like this wasn't going to work, so I got up, put on my coat, and decided to wander around.

Pushing open the door, the moonlight, like a surging tide, crashed directly against the doorway. The indistinct outlines of the rolling mountains, bathed in the bright moonlight, resembled a reclusive old man, contemplating life and death while gazing at the moon.

I froze for a moment, then slammed the door shut. After a while, I realized I wasn't dreaming, so I slowly, bit by bit, pushed the door open again.

In the small courtyard in front of the gate, under a tall tree, next to a stone table, sat a person.

The person, who had been looking down, turned their head at the sound. Even though they were in deep shadow, I felt they were smiling at me. Their lips must have been slightly pursed in a faint smile, their eyes slightly upturned, and their entire face softened, like the warmth of spring sunshine. A familiar expression, yet one I hadn't seen in a long time.

He looked at me, stood up, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

"...selling clothes."

...

The moon is bright and the breeze is gentle.

"What brings you here in the middle of the night, Palace Master?" I gripped the doorframe, my face wary.

The Grand Palace Master looked inscrutable but didn't answer. Instead, he patted the stone bench beside him. "...Come and sit down."

I gripped the door frame even tighter.

Two wolf ears suddenly appeared on Qingjiu's head, but the smile on his face became even gentler, and his eyes looked like he was coaxing a rabbit.

"good."

Then, as if a rabbit tail had sprouted from my body, I inexplicably moved closer and obediently sat down.

"……Give."

A wooden box was pushed in front of me. Long, slender fingers opened it, revealing neatly arranged pink pastries. A faint, sweet aroma wafted into my nostrils, and then, I felt hungry…

It's peach blossom cake.

“When you lived in Tian Shu Palace, you often got up in the middle of the night to look for something to eat. Have something to eat.”

"That's impossible."

"Didn't you notice that the pastries in the kitchen were often lukewarm?"

"...It's summer already, where did these peach blossoms come from? They must have been sitting there for months..." the person continued stubbornly, completely lacking in romance. Meanwhile, several pastries in the food box had mysteriously disappeared.

The Grand Palace Master pretended not to see what was happening and continued to answer gently, "The peach blossoms on the mountain always bloom late, so this was made with fresh peach blossoms from the mountain."

"Unsolicited kindness is either a sign of treachery or theft; could it be poison?"

Suddenly, a large hand grabbed my wrist and pulled it to its owner's lips. Qingjiu lowered its head and swallowed the half-eaten peach blossom cake in my hand. The soft lips left a warm touch on my fingers, but my hand trembled violently as if I had been electrocuted, and I was unable to break free.

Qingjiu's eyes curved into crescent moons, but she didn't loosen her grip on my wrist. After swallowing slowly, she spoke gently.

"See, there's no poison."

"Qing, Palace Mistress Qingqing, please...have some self-respect." She abruptly shook off his hand, but to her surprise, it was so easy. However, due to the force, Qingjiu's hand slammed against the stone table, scraping off a small piece of skin that immediately turned purple.

I was stunned, stammering, unsure whether to apologize, but Qingjiu acted as if nothing had happened, smiling as she withdrew her hand and simply raised her chin to signal me: "Continue eating."

Perhaps because I felt a little guilty, I obediently continued to eat the pastries piece by piece. They tasted excellent, but for some reason, the sweet and sticky sensation between my lips and teeth did not bring me any instinctive pleasure.

Qingjiu didn't speak or make any further movements. He just quietly watched me eat with his head down. His eyebrows were relaxed, his eyelashes were drooping, his narrow eyes had a slight curve, and his thin lips were pursed in a faint smile. His whole face had soft lines. He had been like this ever since I opened the door and saw him.

I wonder if people tend to overthink when doing something as simple as eating. I started thinking, this is the first time I've seen this person in two years.

Surprise, joy, anger, indifference—none of these seem to be present, yet it's certainly not bland. It's a mixture of five flavors, a slight bitterness seeping into the whole body. Is this the taste of a light, thin wine?

From the tender age of eighteen to now, at twenty-five, no longer young, seven years have passed. Yet, all told, the time I've truly spent with this person is less than a year. The vast majority of the time has been spent as adversaries, with me trying to defeat him. When and why did I fall for him? I can't even remember the reasons. Was it not the girlish infatuation with a prodigy? Or the deep resentment of being abandoned? Before I turned twenty-two, I constantly pondered this question. But after our battle on Mount Qi, I was struck by a chilling realization: I'd been perplexed and doubted for so long, yet I'd never questioned, or even realized, a single premise—

I like him.

But do I really like him? Do I still like him?

Thinking back to when I lived on Tian Shu Peak, I felt angry at his manipulation, yet forgave him because of his humble apology. I was sweet for days because of some trivial things, and heartbroken because of his final abandonment, forcing me to hide away. Those were all feelings of love, right? But how long ago was that? Is it really possible, or is it necessary, to hold onto those feelings from my teenage years until now?

As I matured, I began to realize that even the proudest person will bow down in the face of love. But I never intended to do so. I always thought about proving my strength to him, then turning away with my head held high. I never thought about winning him back, nor did I ever imagine what it would be like to be with him. This wasn't love anymore; it was just excessive pride disguised as love, wasn't it? For the last six years of those seven years, we barely saw each other. When we did meet, it was always like fighting. How could there still be any love left?

Knowing that I had eaten all the pastries in the food box, I instinctively reached in but found it empty. Only then did I recover from the spell of self-questioning and stare blankly at Qing Jiu in front of me.

He no longer wore the repulsive, cold purple clothes; his eyes no longer held the indifferent, aloof light; his posture was no longer guarded, but rather wide open, facing me; after his martial arts competition in Qishan, he must have been exhausted, yet he still rode at the same speed as his master to Qiuchang Mountain to find me, bringing me my favorite plum blossom cakes, instead of rushing back to Tian Shu Peak to maximize the impact of his perfect victory—wasn't Tian Shu Palace his primary concern?; the proud man, the chosen one of heaven, would wipe my mouth with his clean sleeve, and speak to me in a gentle, even ingratiating tone:

"This is enough for dinner. If you want more, I'll bring you more tomorrow."

I was almost about to ask the question, something I'd wanted to ask two years ago.

Qingjiu, why are you doing this?

Two years ago, on Qishan Mountain.

After unleashing the first six moves of the Sword Technique Against the Ruler, I was utterly exhausted. My legs gave way, and I collapsed amidst the rubble that had been reduced to ruins. Looking at Qingjiu, who was still standing upright, I closed my eyes, gave a self-deprecating laugh, but my voice remained calm.

"I...I still lost."

The Qishan Mountain, filled with martial arts heroes, was completely silent; I could even hear the wind rustling through the branches of the trees.

The person opposite me looked down at me, staring intently at me, their gaze so serious it seemed to see right into my bones. I couldn't quite place the expression on their face—whether it was surprise, astonishment, regret, self-mockery, or something else I couldn't decipher.

He suddenly smiled at me, loosened his grip on his right hand, and the sword suddenly fell to the ground with a "bang".

"...No, no."

He rolled up his right sleeve and showed me his right arm, which was a bloody mess, caused by ruptured veins due to excessive force.

He slowly walked to my side, squatted down, and the sunlight shone on his face like scattered gold. Because his features were so prominent and distinct, half of his face was bathed in sunlight, and his eyelashes looked like fluffy gold. The other half was hidden in the darkness, allowing me to see his eyes, which seemed even more profound.

Qing Jiu placed his left hand, which he could still lift, on my head and stroked my hair. His voice was as warm as the summer sun, making me, exhausted and vulnerable, suddenly want to cry.

“Guyi, you see, you didn’t lose,” he said.

...

The bright moon shines coldly over a thousand mountains.

"Palace Mistress Qing, are you going to all this trouble to show that you like me?" I suddenly asked bluntly.

The man next to me nodded immediately, the movement was very slight, but it was without hesitation and resolute.

I slowly exhaled, no longer looking at him, and said coldly, "Then there's no need for that, because I no longer love you."

I expected an awkward silence, or that this proud man would simply turn and leave. However, what I could never have imagined was that Qing Jiu, the invincible master of Tian Shu Palace, acted like an ordinary young man in love. After being rejected by the person he admired, he refused to leave. He enveloped my cold hand in his warm palm and uttered the words I thought he would never say again. His voice was still gentle, gentle yet firm.

"First, I don't believe it. Second, even if it's true, it doesn't matter. I owe you so much, I don't ask for more. My love for you is enough."

The wind on the high mountain seemed to be asleep under the rich moonlight, lying down and losing its sound.

Forty-seven cups of calamus wine

Calamus Wine: A thousand kinds of purple wines are recommended for calamus, at the lush and beautiful Songdao Orchid Boat Residence.

...

The next day, I was dragged down Luowu Mountain by Qingjiu. The reason given was that seven years ago, Tian Shu Palace offered 100,000 taels of gold for a year of my services, but I left halfway through. The transaction wasn't completed, so they didn't pay me. Now, for the sake of my own reputation and the honor of the Thousand-Year Sect, I should make up for those six months.

.