25
Across the lotus pond, Su Zhuoguang seemed to sense something and also turned his head to look. Instantly meeting that detached, cold gaze, Qiao Shilian’s heart tightened. She was already feeling guilty for peeking, so she hastily lowered her face.
A moment later, when Qiao Shilian looked again, the opposite bank was empty, as if the person who had been there earlier was just her illusion.
She inexplicably felt a hollowness in her heart as well.
At the octagonal pavilion, upturned eaves grasped at greenery, wisteria vines swayed in the dappled light.
Ji Chen paced back and forth within, finally unable to contain himself as he said to Su Zhuoguang before him, “What’s going on between you and Miss Qiao? Such an important matter yesterday, why make me write it for you?”
At that time, he was solely focused on the Crown Princess selection matter. Later, when Su Zhuoguang was willing to send a letter to the Prime Minister’s residence to help Qiao Shilian, he, being anxious and impatient, hadn’t pondered the reasons behind it carefully.
Su Zhuoguang: “She’s busy drawing a clear line between us.”
What he thought was naturally that if Qiao Shilian saw the person delivering the message was him, perhaps she would fear being too involved with him and be unwilling to seek his help. If it were Ji Chen, maybe she would still grab onto that lifeline.
However, if she sought Ji Chen, the matter would ultimately fall on him anyway, so Su Zhuoguang didn’t see much difference.
Therefore, he had let Ji Chen finish writing that letter and deliver it to the Prime Minister’s residence.
Little did he know, Ji Chen hadn’t signed his name, instead handing it to Fenglai and having Fenglai deliver the letter.
Ji Chen: “?”
Perfectly fine, why draw a clear line? Ji Chen seemed to remember something and suddenly felt things weren’t quite right.
Then Su Zhuoguang briefly mentioned to him the incident of Qiao Shilian giving the sachet when returning to the capital from Mount Jiunu.
Ji Chen jumped from the pavilion to the stone steps in shock. “Why didn’t you say so earlier!”
Su Zhuoguang found it strange. “What do you mean, not say so earlier?”
Ji Chen immediately recalled that day when Qiao Shilian asked him about Su Zhuoguang.
At that time, he simply assumed Qiao Shilian wanted to understand Su Zhuoguang better to deepen their relationship. Thinking back on it now, cold sweat broke out on Ji Chen’s back. Hadn’t his words clearly deepened the misunderstanding between the two?
Now seeing Su Zhuoguang’s expressionless face, he wished he could drag this man before Qiao Shilian to properly explain.
However, Ji Chen knew well that, given Su Zhuoguang’s nature, this was impossible. Having been with him for years, Ji Chen had never seen Su Zhuoguang yield for anything. This man had an innate stubbornness and an indifference that ignored all senses. He probably wouldn’t realize he had angered someone to death even if it happened.
Ji Chen practically gritted his teeth. He glanced at Su Zhuoguang, flicked his sleeve, and left the pavilion.
Leaving Su Zhuoguang alone, perplexed, standing in the pavilion, his gaze drifting intentionally or unintentionally towards the opposite bank of the lotus pond.
By this time, Consort Li had already left. Qiao Shilian was still strolling by the lotus pond, occasionally exchanging pleasantries with noblewomen who came to chat. But she remained unsettled, preoccupied with the Crown Princess matter, spending most of her time alone, admiring flowers or lost in thought.
“Miss Qiao.”
A familiar voice came from behind. Qiao Shilian turned to see Ji Chen walking towards her alone. She curtsied to him. “Lord Ji…”
Ever since that night when Ji Chen had helped her out of a predicament in front of Qin Shuo, she had ceased to fear this supervisory censor. Since then, she had also come to understand that Ji Chen had an easygoing temperament, was unconventional in his ways, and treated her with great kindness. Therefore, being alone with him now, Qiao Shilian didn’t feel constrained.
Ji Chen first chatted casually with her about some capital anecdotes—like a certain high-ranking minister in court who appeared extremely dignified but was actually henpecked, or how a famous zither player at a certain restaurant was actually a man dressed as a woman and had almost been bought home by his unaware elder brother, and so on.
Qiao Shilian listened quietly, unable to hold back a smile when the stories reached amusing points.
Seeing her relax somewhat, Ji Chen finally shifted the conversation. “Miss Qiao… about what I said to you that day when descending the mountain, please don’t take it to heart.”
“Hmm?” Only then did Qiao Shilian realize Ji Chen had sought her out today for this matter.
Ji Chen paused briefly in his speech. “That Fubai… you actually can’t judge him by appearances.”
Mentioning Su Zhuoguang, Qiao Shilian couldn’t help but lower her gaze. She had already sent the gifts to the General’s Manor. From now on, there would be no debts owed, and she wouldn’t go to disturb him again.
But since the topic had come up, she followed Ji Chen’s words and asked sullenly, “For example…”
Ji Chen: “For example, yesterday you sent an entire chest of gifts to the General’s Manor. He was so delighted after seeing it that he couldn’t sleep well all night.”
Qiao Shilian: “?”
She truly found it hard to imagine the word “delighted” being associated with Su Zhuoguang. On his face, apart from the usual indifference and an aura that kept people at a distance, she had never seen any other expression.
Ji Chen spoke with conviction: “He hasn’t had many friends in his life and has never received gifts before, so he was extremely delighted by this.”
Qiao Shilian was half-convinced, half-doubting: “Then why was it that when he received the sachet…”
“It’s like this. He’s not good with words and didn’t know how to express that he really liked it. Afterwards, hearing you, Miss Qiao, say you wouldn’t have further contact with him, he was heartbroken, so he behaved somewhat abnormally…”
Ji Chen tucked his hands into his sleeves, secretly pinching himself, and said with sincere emotion: “Don’t be fooled by his cold appearance. Actually, he has admired you for a long time, only regretting that these years spent fighting for the country on the battlefield prevented him from being with you always.”
Admired her for a long time?
It was as if thunderclaps echoed in her ears. Qiao Shilian’s face froze, her vermilion lips slightly parted in disbelief.
This was akin to someone telling her they could cook sand into rice or boil water into ice—utterly impossible.
Yet the person telling her this was Ji Chen. Perhaps others might not understand Su Zhuoguang’s thoughts, but Ji Chen’s words could always be trusted to some extent.
Qiao Shilian’s heart was a tumult of mixed emotions. It took a long while for her to recover from this news. But she still couldn’t understand: if this were true, how could Su Zhuoguang have fallen for her?
According to Ji Chen, Su Zhuoguang had liked her since he was young, when he left the capital for the northwest. So why had they been strangers all these years? Only in her second life, when she actively approached Su Zhuoguang, did they begin to have any interaction?
Seeing her full of doubts and knowing what she was thinking, Ji Chen continued: “Think about it. Two years ago, when he returned to the capital, you, Miss Qiao, were inseparable from His Highness the Crown Prince. So, Fubai thought you had found your destined, and in his grief, he could only hide his feelings well, not letting you notice.”
Qiao Shilian stared blankly at the dead-serious Ji Chen. Though she still felt it was strange, the logic barely held up. However, all these events, if heard in a storybook or seen in other people’s affairs, might seem believable. But now the protagonist of this story was Su Zhuoguang…
While her thoughts drifted, she heard Ji Chen suddenly say: “If you intend to choose a good partner for yourself, why not try Fubai?”
Qiao Shilian knew well that now she was merely a fish stranded in a dry rut.
The sudden change with the Eastern Palace was undoubtedly a sword hanging over her head. She didn’t know when it would fall or how deep its blade would cut into her. She urgently needed to escape the place the sword pointed at and find a way to protect herself.
She pondered for a moment, then turned her head to Ji Chen and said, “Thank you, Lord Ji… I will consider it carefully.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Regardless, the deepening misunderstanding between the two had partly been due to his unintentional fueling. This could be considered him slightly rectifying the situation. However, regarding what he had said to Qiao Shilian today, he hoped Fubai would never find out in this lifetime. Otherwise, he feared he might be chopped into pieces by him.
There was still time before the evening banquet. Palace attendants set up long tables along the winding lotus pond, placing pastries, tea, and wine for guests to enjoy while admiring the lotuses.
A crowd gathered there. Qiao Shilian stepped forward, picked up a piece of sweet cake, and placed it in her mouth. The cake was soft, sticky, and delicious—a special offering not seen outside the palace walls. But she felt this cake wasn’t as good as the oil-paper-wrapped sweet cake Su Zhuoguang had prepared for her that night on Mount Jiunu, considering she hadn’t eaten all day.
Lost in thought, a man’s voice came from behind. “Shilian.”
Her heart suddenly tightened, and she even lost her grip on the sweet cake, which fell to the ground.
The newcomer was none other than Qin Shuo. Staring at the flustered Qiao Shilian who hastily curtsied to him, he recalled her absent-minded expression before he approached and mocked, “Are you still thinking of and longing for Su Zhuoguang?”
“Your Highness, whom I think of and long for is my freedom.”
Qiao Shilian did her utmost to steady her emotions, pretending not to know about the Eastern Palace moving up the Crown Princess selection. After all, this was Yaoguang Palace; under the watchful eyes of everyone, she assumed the Crown Prince wouldn’t do anything to her.
Qin Shuo only thought she was acting somewhat abnormally upon seeing him because of their unpleasant encounter at the traveling palace last time.
Today, Qin Shuo seemed to be in a fairly good mood. He wasn’t angered by Qiao Shilian’s words either. “I know you haven’t given up on Su Zhuoguang. These past few days, I took the opportunity to observe for you what kind of person this so-called aloof and indifferent-to-women Young General Su really is.”
Qiao Shilian found it laughable.
What kind of person Su Zhuoguang was—did she need him to tell her?
Qin Shuo said unhurriedly: “That night, I saw Ji Chen pleading for you. I suppose you know Ji Chen. I don’t need to elaborate on Ji Chen’s reputation, do I? The epitome of libertine in the capital is none other than Ji Chen. Countless beauties have secretly given him their hearts. A man who passes through countless flowers like him—how could his close friend remain pure and innocent?”
“If Your Highness is here to weave tales for your subject today, your subject has no mind to listen.”
Qiao Shilian let it go in one ear and out the other, thinking to herself that to disparage Su Zhuoguang, he had even disparaged Ji Chen as well.
Qin Shuo sighed. “Shilian, I just don’t want you to be deceived.”
“Even if your subject were blind for a day, my heart is not blind. Right and wrong, your subject can discern for myself.”
She thought, in her past life, she had indeed been blind, but that didn’t mean she would remain blind forever.
Qin Shuo was unusually patient. He asked her in a low voice: “Then do you know that Su Zhuoguang, in his youth, admired a woman he couldn’t obtain? That woman once gave him a sachet, and he would gaze at that sachet day and night, thinking of her?”
Hearing this, Qiao Shilian suddenly remembered that Ji Chen had told her Su Zhuoguang’s secret was his particular fondness for sachets.
But she quickly dismissed Qin Shuo’s words. “Doesn’t Your Highness find this story too absurd?”
Ji Chen had said Su Zhuoguang had admired her since his youth. How could he possibly have had another woman he fancied? At the moment, Qin Shuo was merely thinking she had feelings for Su Zhuoguang and wanted to fabricate some completely unfounded matters to drive a wedge between her and Su Zhuoguang.
Qin Shuo turned sideways, leisurely adjusting his cuff. “Shilian, you are just too easily trusting of others. That’s why I worry so much for you. According to what you say, Su Zhuoguang is indifferent to women. Then why, having had no interaction with you before, has he repeatedly helped you lately?”
Qiao Shilian was already tired of explaining to him. She stated determinedly: “Your subject does not believe what others say, only what I see with my own eyes.”
“Is that so—”
Qin Shuo drew out his tone thoughtfully, the playfulness in his eyes growing stronger.
He tilted his head, looking intently towards the distance under the jade terrace and flowers. “Then take a look over there. Isn’t that exactly what you want to see?”
Qiao Shilian slowly followed Qin Shuo’s gaze. Her expression suddenly froze.
**