VBNWDW - Chapter 111

Chapter 111

A few days later, summer peeked out, chasing away the last of the spring chill. It painted the leaves on the branches a deep green, where birds perched in a row, looking down.

In the cool shade of a tree, a bamboo rocking chair swayed.

The person sitting in it was clearly ill at ease, unaccustomed to such leisure. Her back was ramrod straight; if one were to measure it with a ruler, it would surely be perfect to the millimeter.

But the little Daoist beside her was a scoundrel, pushing the rocking chair and insisting she try it. Her almond eyes curved into a slight crescent, sparkling with a clever light that made one want to fall right into her trap.

The only one suffering was the rocking chair, which creaked and groaned without end.

"Isn't it comfortable?" that person said with a smug look, showing off. "On a scorching summer day, rocking in the shade of this tree with a slice of watermelon in one hand and a fan in the other… I wouldn't trade it, not even if an immortal came to visit."

Beside her, Zhong Jueyu couldn't help but chuckle. She was dressed in a long, lake-green brocade skirt, having forgone an outer robe to enjoy the coolness. A golden pendant inlaid with coral hung from her waist, giving her an air of elegant nobility.

The person next to her was dressed much more casually. A simple wooden pin held her hair up, and she still wore the same Daoist robes. The sleeve resting on the armrest was pushed up, revealing that the marks on her slender wrist had finally faded.

Zhong Jueyu glanced over discreetly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Master Qingyue is right," she replied.

Her tone held a hint of laughter, as if she were humoring a child.

The person beside her, whether she noticed or not, continued on her own. "I told you so. Tomorrow, I'll go find my senior sister and ask her to bring one for you when she goes down the mountain. Then we can lie on rocking chairs and enjoy the cool air together."

Zhong Jueyu didn't quite approve. "It's not that hot these past few days, and you've only just recovered. You should avoid the cold. What if you catch a chill again…"

Luo Yueqing's lips formed a pout, and she quickly gave a perfunctory reply. "I know, I know. Aren't I sunbathing right now?"

She shifted her body until she was fully in the sunlight. Even the nearby stone table was hot to the touch.

Luo Yueqing's tone changed as she complained, "Besides, is that the point?"

Zhong Jueyu couldn't help but look at her, a little puzzled.

"Are you made of wood?" Luo Yueqing scolded.

Luo Yueqing's skin was fair, and having been cooped up indoors for the past two days, it now looked like the finest white porcelain under the brilliant sun, so delicate it almost seemed translucent.

Zhong Jueyu was momentarily dazed. She subconsciously raised a hand to touch her lips, then pretended nothing had happened, stroking her chin to cover it up. "Why am I made of wood now?" she asked.

Her expression was blank and confused, not at all like she was faking it.

Luo Yueqing was both annoyed and amused. "Your Highness truly has an affinity for the Dao. Why don't you find a master from the Quanzhen school another day and formally convert?"

The Quanzhen school was the strictest; once you joined, you were not allowed to marry or have children.

Hearing this, even someone as slow as Zhong Jueyu understood. She turned sideways and leaned closer, her voice helpless. "What is it, little Daoist?"

Her upturned phoenix eyes were enchanting without being vulgar, possessing a natural nobility. When she gazed quietly at someone, they held a barely perceptible tenderness.

Seeing that the other party wouldn't speak, she softened her tone and coaxed, "Master Qingyue, please have mercy and enlighten me, won't you?"

Only then did Luo Yueqing explain in a huff, "Is the point lying in a rocking chair? It's obviously about being together."

She deliberately emphasized the last word.

Her eyelids lowered as she grumbled in a low voice, "Why haven't you come to see me these past two days? I've been bored to death."

As her words fell, Zhong Jueyu froze, a slightly unnatural expression on her face. She turned her head away. "I was busy."

She added randomly, "I've been with the temple master these past few days."

That was indeed the truth, but she had been the one to seek out the temple master, intentionally avoiding this person. Aside from the night Li Shigui had brought news, the two had barely seen each other. Even when they did, it was just a few hurried words over a wall.

Luo Yueqing pouted. "Then you have to make it up to me."

"Make what up?" Zhong Jueyu was being particularly dense today, constantly asking questions.

The person beside her was so exasperated she raised her eyebrows and shouted, "Zhong Jueyu, are you playing dumb!"

"Playing… playing what…"

Zhong Jueyu's vision went white as the little Daoist nun threw herself onto her, straddling her thighs with her hands hooked around her neck. "Asking, asking, asking! Forget Quanzhen, you have no aptitude for enlightenment whatsoever!" she said indignantly.

Zhong Jueyu opened her mouth, wanting to ask again, but she stopped abruptly, completely at a loss.

She wanted to raise her hands to steady the person on her lap to keep her from falling, but she didn't dare let them make contact, so they hovered in the air. Her other hand gripped the armrest, knuckles turning white.

The rocking chair, forced to bear the weight of two people, swayed and let out a piercing creak.

Only Luo Yueqing was comfortable. As if she understood nothing, she sat on the other person's lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The distance between them shrank to a hand's breadth, growing even closer with every rock.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled spots of light that shattered with every gust of wind.

"You… you should get down first," Zhong Jueyu managed to say after a long moment.

"What's wrong?" Luo Yueqing tilted her head, her expression open and honest.

"Get down first," Zhong Jueyu repeated.

"I won't." Luo Yueqing was a stubborn one. After just a few words, she grew impatient, taking full advantage of the good-natured person to bully her.

She accused her in a huff, "What questions do you have that you can't ask me? Why did you have to go find that crabby old man!"

"Isn't it fun to play gomoku with me? At worst…" Luo Yueqing hesitated, then added, "At worst, I'll give you a one-stone handicap."

It was a mystery how this terrible player, who could lose even with a three-stone handicap, could say such a thing.

Zhong Jueyu's expression was complicated.

Luo Yueqing felt a little guilty herself, her tone wavering. "Then we can play something else. I'm pretty good at xiangqi…"

Zhong Jueyu wasn't entirely convinced and just looked up at her.

The cool pads of Luo Yueqing's fingers were still resting on the back of her neck. That spot was always particularly sensitive. Even an accidental touch from a maidservant pinning up her hair would make Zhong Jueyu frown, let alone the current situation.

It was a touch between two people of vastly different body temperatures, resting against the slightly protruding bone of her vertebra, unconsciously stroking it again and again.

Luo Yueqing wasn't heavy. Her frame was small, and in the arms of Zhong Jueyu, who had practiced martial arts for years, she felt as light as a wisp, like holding a soft, fluffy cloud.

But this soft, fluffy cloud was pressing down on her thighs, rendering her immobile. She could only feel the sensation through the thin fabric—cool and soft.

The faint scent of sandalwood curled around her nose, tickling its way into her heart.

Zhong Jueyu suddenly wanted to ask. To ask if she knew her own identity, if she knew she was still engaged, if she knew that the person she was sitting on was her sister-in-law. That she should be calling her sister-in-law, not Master Qingyue.

Zhong Jueyu was deliberately pretending not to know, but what about her? She must have known perfectly well. If she was unwilling to marry into the imperial family, she should have stayed far away from Zhong Jueyu, not… not like this.

"Your Highness?" The person on her lap noticed she had zoned out.

"Jinyan," Zhong Jueyu said instead.

"Huh?" Luo Yueqing didn't understand the sudden utterance.

"Since we are in a Daoist temple, we should forget our past identities," Zhong Jueyu continued.

She said it again. "Zhong Jueyu, courtesy name Jinyan. Master Qingyue can just call me Jinyan."

In Great Liang, it was rare for women to be given courtesy names. Most were given a first name, and then a more intimate boudoir name, which could only be known and used by their parents, close family, and future husband.

But Zhong Jueyu had been sent to the academy since she was young. In the academy, status was disregarded, and titles like "Your Highness" were abandoned. Everyone was addressed by their courtesy name.

So, although Zhong Jueyu was a woman, her teacher had given her a courtesy name for convenience.

Luo Yueqing's eyes lit up. "Jinyan," she called out.

"Master Qingyue," Zhong Jueyu replied.

It wasn't perfectly symmetrical, but it was a fair exchange.

Luo Yueqing smiled. "Are you trying to humor me?" she asked.

When they had played gomoku two days ago, the prize she had proposed was Zhong Jueyu's boudoir name, but Zhong Jueyu had refused.

Zhong Jueyu turned her head away. "Were the candied fruits good?"

Luo Yueqing just found this person to be awkward, taking such a roundabout way to appease someone. "A little sweet," she replied. "That Ruyi Cake was the best. I wonder which shop it's from; I've never tasted it before."

"I'll buy you more next time, then," Zhong Jueyu quickly interjected, though she didn't reveal the source.

Luo Yueqing didn't think much of it. Her hands still hooked around the other's neck, she asked with a grin, "Is this how you usually coax people?"

The hand hovering over the small of her back finally moved a little closer, settling into the shallow dimple of her waist through the fabric.

Zhong Jueyu's tone was flat. "I don't usually coax people."

No matter how out of favor she was, she was still the legitimate eldest princess of Great Liang. It was others who had to curry favor with her.

Luo Yueqing's eyes curved into crescents. "Jinyan," she called out again.

It was unclear what she was so happy about.

Zhong Jueyu answered once more, then asked, "Did you eat osmanthus cake today?"

The fragrance of osmanthus was unique and lingering. Given how close they were, it was inevitable she would catch a whiff when Luo Yueqing spoke.

Luo Yueqing seemed completely unaware that anything was amiss. She nodded. "The osmanthus cake was delicious too. Do you want to try some?"

As soon as she said it, she prepared to get up from the rocking chair to fetch the cake from her room.

But Zhong Jueyu stopped her. The hand on her lower back applied a slight pressure as she refused. "No need. I don't like sweets."

Luo Yueqing tried her best to sell it. "It's not that sweet. I don't know how the shopkeeper managed to preserve autumn osmanthus until late spring, but they probably don't have much left. It'll likely be gone soon."

Zhong Jueyu shook her head. "I don't want any."

"Fine," Luo Yueqing said, a little disappointed. She settled back into her lap, not sensing anything wrong, her posture completely natural.

The only one who felt it was improper didn't stop her, lowering her eyes to hide the murky, complex emotions within as her thoughts drifted back to an earlier conversation.

Li Shigui, carrying several large and small bags, had said while putting things down, "You don't even need to ask about this. Everyone in the capital knows the Luo Family is unwilling to marry their daughter to the Crown Prince. They even came up with the excuse of praying for the grandmother's health, sending Miss Luo up the mountain to become a nun to avoid the engagement."

"But His Highness the Crown Prince is persistent. He still refuses to marry anyone else, insisting on waiting for Miss Luo to come down the mountain."

Li Shigui had curled her lip in disdain. "He doesn't even think about it. If he doesn't marry someone else, how could Miss Luo dare to come down the mountain?"

"Master Qingyue," Zhong Jueyu suddenly called out.

Luo Yueqing looked up at her, her dark eyes reflecting only the other's figure. "Hm?"

"Didn't you say I should ask you if I have any questions?"

Luo Yueqing nodded blankly.

"Tomorrow, I will speak with the temple master and have you guide me in my cultivation," Zhong Jueyu said.

Luo Yueqing was stunned at first, then an irrepressible joy bloomed. She beamed. "I'll definitely explain it better than he does."

It was hard to say where she got such confidence. An unknown, fake Daoist nun daring to compare herself to a world-renowned temple master. If anyone else heard, they would surely mock this fraud.

But Zhong Jueyu simply nodded and smiled. "Then I shall trouble you, Master Daoist."

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