Chapter 194: Chapter 168 I Wish to Be Acquainted with You Chapter 194: Chapter 168 I Wish to Be Acquainted with You Zhao Rong’s call attracted the attention of many onlookers.
However, it was just after class had ended, and the Four Seasons Hall was quite noisy with students dispersing in all directions. No one recognized the na “Qing Jun,” unaware that it was the intimate given na of Zhao Lingfei, the one whom all the n in the prefecture admired like the moonlit lotus flower. She had, in fact, just been behind them, attending the sa class.
Still, soone had noticed.
Zhao Rong reluctantly withdrew his gaze. He had seen that “shy deer’s” silhouette from behind and thus couldn’t see whether she nodded in response or not. Anxiously worried, he considered pursuing her, but knowing haste wouldn’t help, he decided to let it be.
Just then, a figure darted to Zhao Rong’s side, locking his throat with an arm.
“Do you really know Zhao Lingfei?”
Fan Yushu’s handso, powder-covered face still showed disbelief, even though everything he had just observed seemingly confird it.
As a fragrance wafted over, Zhao Rong disdainfully pushed Fan Yushu’s hand away, curling his lip and saying, “Didn’t I tell you? Qing Jun—ah, Lingfei is my wife…”
He blinked, “With the full formalities, the proper wedding rites—could it be fake? Should I show you the marriage certificate?”
Zhao Rong did not elaborate on who exactly married whom, cough cough, was that important? Not important!
Fan Yushu nodded earnestly, “Alright, show it to .”
“Get lost.”
—————
After hastily running for a while, Zhao Lingfei, noticing that her childhood friend, who previously hadn’t seed so, but was now becoming increasingly “shaless,” hadn’t followed, slowed down and sighed in relief.
After being still for a few monts, Zhao Lingfei narrowed her beautiful, autumnal eyes and turned back to look at the deserted path behind her.
Her heart suddenly filled with irritation, but then she beca unsure again…
With a gentle shake of her head, Zhao Lingfei’s expression gradually returned to its usual calm and coolness.
Yet the pink blush on her porcelain cheeks lingered long after.
It secretly drew the gaze of so Residence Students passing by.
Zhao Lingfei swept her clear eyes randomly, and the males who were sneaking glances quickly looked away.
She paid them no mind because at that mont, her heart was still replaying the words of the man at parting.
How had he beco a student at Linlu Academy, accompanying a Teacher to the Taiching Prefecture… It made her panic earlier, really, running around everywhere, but… it’s also quite good, he ca to seek out actively…
Rong’er in a student’s robe actually looks quite handso, more spirited, um, he was actually quite good-looking before, just always stern-faced towards , now… well, with all smiles, not acting properly, is… is also annoying…
And, how has Rong’er’s handwriting changed? It’s different from when we were kids… Could it be Uncle Bai’s wine… and there are so many other changes, has he experienced a lot these years… No, I can’t talk to him yet…
The letter, yes, the letter he wrote to , my letter…
Zhao Lingfei’s eyes sparkled as she gently caressed the coarse rice paper filled with soone’s writing, hidden beneath her sleeves, then walked lightly towards Nanci Mansion.
About half an hour later.
Zhao Lingfei arrived at the gate of Nanci Mansion, where her usual deanor had returned.
Zhao Lingfei stopped in front of a table and politely said to a high-bunned female officer who had stood up to greet her:
“Hello, are there any letters for ?”
Her voice was cold.
The high-bunned female officer sighed, “Miss Zhao, the letter you instructed us to look for has still not arrived today.”
This Miss Zhao had been asking every day, making one wonder what kind of letter it was that she couldn’t let go of…
Zhao Lingfei bit her lip, “No, not that one, it’s… well, please give all the letters sent to .”
The high-bunned female officer was taken aback and couldn’t help but take another look at Zhao Lingfei, feeling that sothing was different from usual. Was this reticent Fairy asking for the love letters sent by those n?
Clearing her throat and feeling strange, but without much thought, she said, “Certainly, please wait a mont.”
After speaking, the high-bunned female officer took out seven brocade boxes, each bearing the Qinglian Pavilion mark.
Zhao Lingfei swept them into the Suru Object with a wave of her large sleeve, said nothing more, and turned to enter Nanci Mansion.
She moved briskly and soon disappeared from everyone’s sight.
The female officers watched this, exchanging glances.
——————
This was an elegant and pristine room.
Looking around.
The furniture, carved from fine purple sandalwood and adorned with diverse and intricate patterns, conveyed a delicate and gentle feeling associated with a lady’s belongings.
The faint fragrance of sandalwood mingled with a unique, feminine scent drifted softly within the room.
Sunlight filtered through the latticed windows, casting speckles of light inside.
In the southeast corner, there was a delicate bed hidden behind a curtain of blue and white, its fringes swaying with the breeze.
Next to the bed stood a rosewood vanity with a bronze mirror, placed beneath the south window.
This was a woman’s private chamber, fresh and leisurely in atmosphere, but besides a few essential items, there was a lack of the typical playthings found in worldly maidens’ rooms, showing that the hostess favored simplicity and elegance, light and understated.
At that mont.
A woman entered through the door.
With her hair neatly coiffed and dressed in white, her features were cold, yet the faint moles under her eyes added a touch of softness.
At first glance, one couldn’t help but exclaim at the transcendent beauty of such an ethereal Fairy.
After entering the room, Zhao Lingfei still stood by the door, closing the two panels behind her, leaning against the door fra, and catching her breath as she cald herself.
She glanced around the empty room with bright, lively eyes, and then rested against the door, tilting her head back slightly, her eyes sparkling.
Lost in her thoughts.
The woman stood still in silence for a while.
At so mont, the corners of her lips curved lightly, casting a gentle arc and suddenly illuminating the otherwise modest and restrained chamber.
Such sentint, such scenery, at such a ti and instance, presented the most captivating image.
She was the most striking feature in this room.
Zhao Lingfei tilted her head and smiled faintly, indulging in her thoughts for a while as the corners of her mouth curved even more.
The eagerness she had for his love letter while outside waned now that she was back in her boudoir, replaced by a leisurely pace.
She had always cherished the experience—that the process was more delightful than the result, its endless aftertaste sweet, a process she relished with gusto.
After savoring this particular feeling for a good while, Zhao Lingfei finally moved, slowly pacing towards the wardrobe by the dressing table.
This was one of the most private spots in a lady’s boudoir.
Zhao Lingfei opened the wardrobe, her cheeks flushing as she quietly flipped through her favorite dresses and intimate undergarnts, searching for sothing.
In this most private corner of her private space, hid the most treasured personal belongings of the otherworldly Qinglian from Taiching Prefecture, long coveted by countless n.
After a while, Zhao Lingfei, with narrowed eyes, moved aside a pile of neatly stacked bridal gowns in the wardrobe to retrieve an embroidered wooden box hidden beneath.
The box was solid and lacquered black, bound with a red ribbon tied into a beautiful bow.
She cradled the box tenderly, crouching in front of the dressing table, her curled body leaning against it.
Zhao Lingfei placed the box on her knees, reaching out to gently tug at one end of the red ribbon.
The box opened.
She, who always appeared proud and strong to others, now resembled a little kitty that had stolen away into a corner to gleefully count its treasures.
The room was very quiet at this mont.
Zhao Lingfei, squatting on the floor with her body curled up, unknowingly let her head gradually bow down, burying it in her knees.
The box rested on her knees.
Zhao Lingfei’s petite oval face was parallel to the side of the box, her tiny nose touching the box’s surface, her long, autumnal eyes shimring faintly as they carefully peeked over the box’s edge and stealthily surveyed its contents.
Inside was a deep red card, her marriage certificate with Zhao Rong.
There was a small lock of black hair tied with a red string, intended to be paired with Zhao Rong’s hair on their wedding night, yet so far, it was still solely composed of her raven strands.
No man had yet tied the knot with her in this life.
In one corner of the box, laid a neatly folded white handkerchief embroidered with two, well, mandarin ducks, which she always found attractive, despite soone holding the complete opposite opinion. Yet, it was the prettiest handkerchief she had ever embroidered, so she had carried it with her to the bridal chamber, and when he was absent, she shyly slid it underneath the blush-red comforter.
But this hotown handkerchief, colloquially known as the “white joy handkerchief,” remained pristine white, not bearing the slightest trace of the nuptial bed’s hue.
How it was brought there initially is how it later returned.
Actually, she was already exceedingly familiar with the contents of the box, but ever since that night when he took away the jade she had carefully tended for five years and left, Zhao Lingfei rarely opened it. Even on the occasions when she couldn’t resist doing so, she was as cautious as she was now.
However, now that Zhao Rong has returned to seek her, her attitude towards the box, which she once thought would never be opened again, remained the sa, “timid” and woefully bashful, hard to revert back imdiately. Yet, the eyes peeking over the edge of the box couldn’t help but smile.
At this mont, Zhao Lingfei was like a greedy kitten stealing treats.
Savoring the mories.
mories seasoned with “him.”
No longer the sour taste of tis without “him.”
Zhao Lingfei’s gaze “touched” each item in the box, lingering occasionally on certain special things.
Like the white joy handkerchief, which Zhao Rong had used to wipe his mouth.
How could this thing be used for wiping one’s mouth? It was… it was embarrassingly shaful…
The lady’s teeth clenched softly, she spit lightly, and yet her eyes brimd with a tender, soft sha, like the warm waters of spring.
The items inside the box.
Apart from a few belonging to Aunt Liu and Qian’er, the rest, all of them, were related to him.
Zhao Lingfei’s eyes were gentle.
Ti passed unnoticed.
She ca back to her senses, as if awakening from a trance.
Reaching in, she carefully pulled out a well-preserved letter from the box.
This was the first letter that Zhao Rong had sent to Zhao Lingfei in this lifeti.
She was as delighted then as she was now.
The letter contained only a short line of words.
“When the flowers bloom on the path, you may leisurely return.”
And so.
The then her eagerly returned to get married with the bridal gown and nurtured jade in hand…
Zhao Lingfei closed the box up, stood up with the first love letter—what she stubbornly deed as the first love letter—and approached the desk.
Zhao Lingfei then took out seven embroidered boxes, opening each one carefully to search through them.
After a short while.
A hand slid amid varying letters in a certain embroidered box, then suddenly halted.
The fingertips rested upon a plain white envelope.
This letter was unremarkable, not the least bit conspicuous.
But those characters upon it… though she had only recently seen them again, they were already etched into her mind.
Zhao Lingfei took a deep breath, pinched the envelope gently, broke the seal, and drew out the folded letter inside.
This was his second love letter.
It is a love letter, this ti, you said so yourself.
No backing out now.
Zhao Lingfei slowly unfolded the letter, her beautiful head bowed, her gaze touching it as she murmured softly, “Shang Ye?”
She focused her attention, reading quietly:
“Shang Ye, I wish to be known to you, with a life that never fades… though mountains be ridgeless, rivers dry up, winter thunder claps, sumr snow falls, and heaven and earth collapse, only then dare I… part from you!”
…
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