Chapter 15
Zhao Heng felt a fiery passion in his heart, and when she looked up and met his sincere and intense gaze, she found herself unable to look away.
Because she knew that after this moment, they would never see each other again.
"Fool," Zhao Heng sighed lightly.
"I have something for you too," An Xuzhi took out the pouch that he had kept close to his heart for a long time, now warmed by his body temperature. Slowly, he untied it and revealed a green jade hairpin. "I thought it would suit you the moment I saw it. Do you like it?"
Zhao Heng lacked close relationships, aside from her grandmother, no one truly cared for her.
In her early years in the village, the crippled doctor treated her fairly well, giving her food to eat and treating her grandmother's illnesses. She thought he cared for her, but later he forced her to drink bitter herbal concoctions - "I can train a dog to guard the gate, you should do something for me too."
After entering the palace, Aunt Chen treated her well too, but she handed her over to Jiang Jin.
And so she remembered why she liked Bai Yu -
His kindness towards her was unconditional.
Simply because she was herself, he offered his sincere affection.
Although only an attendant in the Eastern Palace, he had read many books and traveled extensively outside the palace, broadening his knowledge. He spoke to her about the world outside the palace, about the beauty of the mountains and rivers, and the customs of the people.
He said that after she left the palace, he would take her north to see the grasslands, south to see the rainy Jiangnan, west to ride camels in the desert, and east to search for pearls in the sea...
Through his words, she saw vast mountains and rivers, exotic cultures.
She was confined to a corner of the palace walls, but he had opened a window for her to glimpse the vast world outside.
He gave her the respect and care she had never experienced before.
How could she possibly let go of someone as good as Bai Yu?
But even though she couldn't bear to let go, she knew she had to.
An Xuzhi noticed Zhao Heng's low spirits, and his joy was overshadowed by concern. He frowned, his clear and sincere eyes filled with worry.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?" An Xuzhi asked hurriedly.
"It's not that. I really like it," Zhao Heng's eyelashes trembled, and she suddenly asked, "Bai Yu, why are you so good to me?"
An Xuzhi thought she was being silly, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Because Ah Heng is also very kind to me, you even made me shoes."
Zhao Heng shook her head. "Compared to how kind you are to me, a pair of shoes is insignificant."
Finally, An Xuzhi noticed the hint of tears in her voice, and he slowly turned to look at her, staring at her reddened eyes. He felt a huge rock pressing down on his heart, making him feel uncomfortable and restless.
He reached out to touch her head, "Silly Ah Heng, back then when I was being bullied by the palace people, you, much shorter than me, dared to stand in front of me and drive away those who were bullying me. Ah Heng, if it weren't for you, I would still be a mute who is bullied by others."
Feeling the warmth of the young man's hand in hers, tears welled up in Zhao Heng's eyes.
She remembered herself back then.
And the cowering and trembling Bai Yu in the corner.
They were both pitiful at that time, one like a soulless zombie, the other bullied and weak.
Now, things had finally gotten better...
For some reason, despite trying to stop the tears, she cried even harder.
In the end, she gave up on restraint.
It didn't matter, shedding a tear for him was no big deal. In front of Bai Yu, she didn't need to pretend to be strong. He wouldn't mock or disdain her weakness.
The setting sun had almost disappeared, and the evening glow draped the entire palace city in a picturesque veil.
The fair face of the woman was like a delicate lotus flower under the rosy sunlight, with tear stains radiating a faint light, evoking both pity and discomfort.
âWhy do you keep crying?" he asked softly, suddenly feeling the urge to hold her in his arms, to shield her from all sadness and suffering.
But in the end, he restrained himself and simply raised his fingers to gently wipe away the tears from her cheeks.
The calloused fingertips brushed her cheek, and within Zhao Heng's rough and real touch, there was warmth.
For a moment, her heart felt like it was being twisted like a knife, making it difficult for her to even look at him. She lowered her head, slowly stopping her tears, and whispered, "It's nothing, just feeling sad at the thought of you leaving for so long."
"Is Ah Heng reluctant to see me leave?" At that moment, the young man's heart almost exploded with countless fireworks, grand and dazzling, filled to the brim. The words came out before he realized how frivolous and absurd they sounded.
Zhao Heng's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly turned her gaze to Bai Yu.
In this moment of separation, in the final moments of being together, they both should be happy.
She boldly nodded, her voice sounding distressed and sad, "Yes, I am reluctant."
The young man's nervous heart suddenly blossomed. Amidst the joy and the splendor, he heard more of her pained voice filled with heartache and helplessness. In a soft and tender voice, he called her name, "Ah Heng..."
With a gentle look still lingering in Zhao Heng's eyes, she seemed somewhat dazed, "Hmm?"
Almost unable to resist blurting out a marriage proposal, he desperately suppressed the overwhelming urge within him.
From the very beginning, Zhao Heng had misunderstood him.
Kidnapped in his youth and left traumatized, he had developed aphasia and hadn't spoken for many years, leading to a solitary temperament.
He disliked crowds and noise, often wearing Bai Yu's palace attire while hiding behind the garden rockery to read.
The day Zhao Heng met him, he was sunbathing behind the rockery in Bai Yu's clothes, only to encounter a few palace servants gambling in the shade who mistook him for a lowly gatekeeper due to his attire.
Worried he would expose their gambling activities, they savagely beat him and threatened to throw him into the lake.
That's when Zhao Heng came to his rescue, driving away those annoying and disrespectful palace servants with a laundry pestle.
But she also mistook him for a palace servant.
At first, he didn't see the need to correct this misunderstanding, and as time passed, they grew closer without knowing how to address it.
Their misunderstandings didn't burden their relationship.
However, he never expected that through their prolonged interaction, his view of Ah Heng grew increasingly beautiful in his eyes.
He never imagined he would consider marrying her, spending a lifetime caring for her.
The young man, filled with sincerity, looked at his beloved girl, his intense heartbeat consuming his entire being.
The story was long, and he needed plenty of time to slowly narrate it to her.
But it wasn't the right time, as he was about to depart southward.
He couldn't irresponsibly and hastily tell her this story, leaving her to wander alone, speculate, hesitate, and worry.
He knew Ah Heng too well.
She wouldn't look down on or disdain him because he was a palace servant, but she might still fear and retreat because he was the eldest grandson of the Duke of Anguo.
He began to anticipate his return, wishing time would hasten its pace to bring that day closer.
"I'll be back soon," An Xuzhi squeezed out a smile.
"Let me put the hairpin on for you." He picked up a hairpin and inserted it into her hair bun, the delicate and exquisite accessory shimmering in her lustrous locks. Observing her for a moment, he couldn't help but sincerely admire, "Ah Heng looks so beautiful."
Zhao Heng remained silent, eyes downcast.
"I've arranged for someone else to look after your Grandmother. If anything happens, he'll come to you," An Xuzhi added, "You... don't need to worry."
"Okay," Zhao Heng replied gloomily. She would soon leave the palace and reunite with her grandmother, being able to personally take care of her from then on.
"All right, don't be sad, I'll be back soon." An Xuzhi tousled her hair, "Go back now, I have to leave too."
He still had to bid farewell to the Emperor and the Empress, even though it was hard to leave.
But as he turned, he saw her still standing under the osmanthus tree, gazing at him. He said, "Go inside, I'll keep an eye on you."
Zhao Heng quietly met his eyes, unable to move her feet.
An Xuzhi felt that she was too emotionally low today, and his heart also felt a bit uncomfortable. He realized her reluctance was due to his imminent departure, a bittersweet feeling mixed with sadness.
"A Heng, go back, the wind has picked up," he said.
So she turned around and walked through the half-closed courtyard gate.
An Xuzhi stood tall outside the courtyard, watching her figure gradually disappear, a bright smile on his lips.
*
In the Chengming Hall, Li Wenjian stood by the window and saw a young man approaching with agile steps. He asked Mu Gui, "Did Ah Lin enter the palace again?"
"Minister Ye and his party are leaving the day after tomorrow, so he must be going to bid farewell to His Highness," Mu Gui replied.
Li Wenjian nodded, lifted his robe and sat down, waiting for Ah Lin to come in.
This was not the first time An Xuzhi was going on a long journey, but Li Wenjian always worried. He felt a sense of responsibility towards An Xuzhi, transferring all the teachings and concerns his uncle had for him onto his shoulders.
After a while, Ah Lin still hadn't shown up. When he looked again, the figure was already gone.
He furrowed his brow, "Where is he?"
Mu Gui was speechless, "He's gone out."
Li Wenjian was puzzled.
Mu Gui looked at Li Wenjian's expression and said, "When His Highness was at the Duke of Anguo's residence, Fourth Young Master also visited a few times."
At the Duke's residence, Ah Lin naturally wasn't there to see him.
Meaning, it was normal for him not to come see him this time.
Li Wenjian suddenly realized, "Is he here to see his beloved?"
Mu Gui was stunned at first by the remark, then after a moment of thought, replied, "There don't seem to be any female relatives staying here with His Highness."
"It might not necessarily be a female relative," Li Wenjian shook his head, thinking back to Ah Lin's words by the lake that day, and couldn't help but smile again.
The young man's attempts at probing were transparent in his eyes.
It seemed that his beloved with humble origins was a maid in the Eastern Palace.
After thinking for a moment, Mu Gui immediately understood and asked, "Should I investigate who she is?"
"No need," Li Wenjian waved his hand, "It's too early to jump to conclusions about something so uncertain."
"But...Fourth Young Master is naive, what if someone has ill intentions..." Mu Gui worried.
Li Wenjian picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and sighed, "Let it be, as an adult of nineteen, he has the ability to judge people's intentions, good or bad, it's his own fate."
His words that day were not just words of comfort.
He didn't care about the identity of the woman Ah Lin chose, as long as he liked her, and as long as he had enough courage to face the gossip of the world, he would never interfere with a single word.
As for now, the young man's first taste of love had made his whole being light up with joy because of her. Whether things worked out or not, for him, this moment was the most beautiful.
He was not like Mu Gui, who didn't understand romance, so he would not meddle lightly and disturb this happiness.
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Author's note:
Li Gouzi: Nephew, go for it! Uncle is rooting for you!!
Poor Ah Lin: Love doesn't disappear, it just transforms into an aunt. (T_T)