Walking into the side hall, the door was open, and Lou Junyan was looking at the account books on the table.
He Yiyi placed a bowl of hangover soup beside him and said, "You drank quite a bit last night, drink some soup to sober up."
Lou Junyan rested his chin on his hand and looked at her with a smile, "Feeling sorry for me now?"
He Yiyi walked to a chair, picked up a book and flipped through it without saying a word.
An oil lamp was lit on the table, and the room was peaceful and quiet.
Lou Xiyue and I weren't actually eavesdropping secretly. I glanced at the open door and frankly admitted that we were openly eavesdropping; and we intended to continue doing so.
I said, "You see, your brother just drank some hangover soup, so you shouldn't drink with him anymore."
Lou Xiyue tilted her head and looked at me with a puzzled expression. "Hmm?"
I pointed inside the house and said to him, "They're in the process of repairing their relationship, let's just watch from here."
Lou Xiyue coughed lightly.
I looked around and pointed to the corner behind the pillars, saying, "Why don't we go there? The lighting is better, and we can see more clearly."
Lou Xiyue rubbed her forehead, a slight smile playing on her lips. "My fifth brother is always decisive. Be careful that he doesn't find out, or the consequences could be quite serious."
I nodded solemnly, "Yes, yes, that's why I want you to watch it with me."
Lou Xiyue said, "..."
I could faintly hear the sound of the clapper at midnight.
Lou Junyan closed the account book, took a brocade robe from the chair, handed it to He Yiyi, and said with a smile, "There's a tear in the hem of this robe, would you like to mend it for me?"
He Yiyi took the needle and thread and began to sew it up stitch by stitch by the light of the oil lamp.
She lowered her head slightly, her sideburns slipping down to reveal her beautiful neck. The candlelight cast shadows on her face, which fell into Lou Junyan's eyes.
Lou Junyan lowered his head slightly, tucked her hair behind her ear, and gently kissed He Yiyi's ear.
She seemed startled, and with a misstep, she pierced her fingertip with the needle, causing bright red blood to ooze out.
Lou Junyan frowned and said in a low voice, "How could you be so careless?" He then grabbed her fingertip and put it in his mouth, sucking out all the blood.
He Yiyi tried to pull her hand away, but Lou Junyan grabbed it and pinned it behind her waist. He whispered in her ear, "Yiyi, will you have a child for me?"
A thin mist hung over the courtyard, the shadows of the flowers were soft and diffused, and the pale yellow moonlight covered the ground.
He Yiyi's fair face was expressionless. She bit her lip and said calmly, "I will marry Wu Lang along with the He family's debts. Wu Lang can have whatever he wants."
The room was quiet for a moment, then a clap of thunder suddenly sounded outside the window, and the night wind rushed in through the door, blowing He Yiyi's hair into a mess. Several pages of the account book on the table were turned over with a "rustling" sound.
Lou Junyan seemed to pause for a moment, then released his grip and walked to the door. Before the two carved wooden doors closed, he said, "I want you, He Yiyi."
Lou Junyan is indeed a cautious businessman. He has learned from his mistakes and knows that this time he should lock the door to keep a low profile.
This version of "It gets dark, the lights go out, it gets light..." makes me want to die of resentment. What I hate most is this kind of half-hidden, half-revealed scene that can only be imagined in my mind.
I glanced at Lou Xiyue with great enthusiasm, only to find that he was looking at me from the side.
The moonlight was so faint that it was almost imperceptible, yet one could still make out his face, which was quite handsome.
I forgot my lines for a moment, stared at him for a long time, and then remembered, "I actually wanted to admire the moon..."
Before I could finish speaking, he leaned down and kissed my lips, a light touch, close to my lips, against the tip of my nose, with warm breath. Lou Xiyue whispered, "I missed you so much."
Things happened so suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, he still had that same ambiguous smile. I stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing whether what had just happened was real or if I was hallucinating because I was imagining Lou Junyan and He Yiyi.
Before I could even figure it out, a sentence slipped out that shocked me.
I said, "Shouldn't you be thinking about your childhood sweetheart?"
I admit it's all the moon's fault; if this continues, it'll practically drive people to commit crimes.
I coughed and said apologetically, "Let's wash up and go to bed. I've been too frightened today, I need to calm down."
Lou Xiyue was also slightly taken aback. After a moment of silence, she responded and asked a servant of the He family for a room to stay in.
Early the next morning, I wanted to talk to He Yiyi and explain the situation.
Lou Xiyue and Lou Junyan were playing chess across the table in the courtyard. As I passed by, Lou Junyan rested his chin on his hand, observing the moves, and said slowly, "Was it because of Miss Qi that you refused the marriage last time?"
Lou Xiyue remained noncommittal, took a white chess piece from the chessboard, rubbed it between her fingertips, and after a moment, placed it on the board with a sound. "When will Fifth Brother return to the capital?"
Lou Junyan smiled and said, "Next spring."
Lou Xiyue raised her eyes and said, "I would like to borrow Fifth Brother's Xie Zhi white jade."
I was taken aback by what I heard. It turned out that an extremely old medical book in the valley once recorded that there were four talismans in the world that could protect people's lives: the Xie Zhi White Jade, the Candle Dragon Red Jade, the Yellow Jade, and the Xuan Bee Black Jade. The book only said that these four talismans were incredibly powerful, and when they came together, they could summon the four beasts to appear in the world. As for the specifics of their boundless power, I didn't know if the book didn't record it, or if it did record it but I just didn't see it.
Lou Junyan paused for a moment, then asked, "Is your injury not fully healed yet?"
Lou Xiyue shook her head. "No, I'm using it for something else."
Lou Junyan paused for a moment, then said, “The Xie Zhi white jade is still in the capital. I will have someone bring it to you.”
Lou Xiyue took a sip of tea. "Thank you, Fifth Brother."
Lou Junyan placed a black piece on the chessboard, glanced at me, and said casually, "Last time you refused the marriage proposal and took a palm strike from Shen Feng, losing some of your inner strength. If you want to investigate Uncle San's affairs, bring more people with you."
Lou Xiyue chuckled softly, "Fifth Brother, you lost."