When Duan Xu had almost dealt with the aftermath of the failed marriage and returned to his courtyard, Chen Ying and Duan Jingyuan were in his Haoyue Residence, surrounding He Simu and watching He Simu paint. She had changed into a moon-white double-breasted silk dress with lotus patterns, and was holding her sleeves to paint on the rice paper.
A pile of colorful paints was spread out beside them. Duan Jingyuan hugged Chen Ying and watched He Simu paint in amazement. When Duan Xu stepped in, Duan Jingyuan whispered to her third brother: "This Miss He is a great painter. I think the painters in the palace can't compare to her."
After a pause, she continued, "But why does she seem to not recognize colors? I just took out all the paints I have and explained them to her one by one. How could such a great painter not recognize colors?"
Duan Xu patted Duan Jingyuan's shoulder, but he did not respond. Instead, he hugged He Simu from behind, forcing her to stop painting and pay attention to him from her concentrated state.
"..." Duan Jingyuan covered Chen Ying's eyes and said we won't disturb her anymore. Then he dragged Chen Ying out of the room. Chen Ying was still struggling and shouting that she wanted to spend more time with her little sister, but she couldn't resist Duan Jingyuan's strength.
"Third brother, please restrain yourself! I have informed my sister-in-law and the housekeeper that Chen Ying's sister is here, but you should at least act like one. Also... don't lead the child astray!"
Duan Xu laughed out loud. He let go of He Simu and went to close the door. He said to Duan Jingyuan outside the door, "Thank you for taking care of me, sister."
When there was no more noise outside the door, he turned around and walked behind He Simu, continuing to put his arms around her waist.
"I thought you were gone when I got back."
He Simu's eyes were still on the painting. She smiled and said, "You and He Jiafengyi teamed up to make me lose my power. Where else can I run to?"
"Wang Suyi left Nandu safely and arrived in Shunzhou."
"You should call her Madam."
"Si Mu..." Duan Xu stretched out his voice, as if begging for mercy. He Simu turned to look at him, with a smile in her eyes, but her smile darkened when she saw his profile clearly. She put down her pen, reached out and touched his cheek, and asked, "Who hit you?"
Duan Xu was a little surprised. He had already applied ice to his face, and no one had noticed the fingerprints on his face throughout the day. The evil ghost's eyesight was indeed extraordinary.
Duan Xu's hand covered her hand that was stroking him, his eyebrows curved: "It's okay, I can't feel it now, it doesn't hurt at all."
He Simu frowned, she thought for a moment, and said, "Did your father beat you?"
"Um."
"Him? He didn't save you back then, and now he has the nerve to hit you."
"My father naturally doesn't think he did anything wrong." After a pause, Duan Xu leaned on her shoulder and said, "I can't blame him and say that he was wrong back then. Do you still remember the mineral I mentioned in front of all the generals, Tianluo?"
"Remember."
"Back then, the Huchi people threatened my father, and what they wanted was the method of refining the Tianluo Mine in Luozhou."
When his father was young, he made some friends in the underworld, including the Wensheng Pavilion, which was engaged in assassinations. His father discovered that a killer in the Wensheng Pavilion was a descendant of a famous craftsman family in Luozhou, and was one of the few people in the world who mastered the method of refining high-purity Tianluo.
So his father helped the killer to come out of the Wensheng Pavilion, preparing to let him join the Ministry of Industry to put the Tianluo refining method into practice. However, Hu Qi somehow got the news and came to his father to coerce and bribe him to get this person. When coercion and bribery failed, he kidnapped Duan Xu, but his father did not give in after all.
"The Huqi people got the news so quickly, my father suspected that someone in the court was colluding with the enemy, so he temporarily hid this person and his family's handwritten letter, waiting for the day when Luozhou is recovered and the mine is returned before making plans. The craftsman who mastered the method of extracting Tianluo was still a young girl back then, and now she is Miss Luo Xian of Yumao Tower."
He Simu looked up at Duan Xu in surprise, and Duan Xu smiled and said, "How about it? It sounds like my father was also a hero when he was young, right?"
He? Can you say that his father was wrong
Could he blame his father for abandoning him in order to protect the Daliang country, to prevent the country's most important treasures from falling into the hands of others, and for the survival of millions of people
He? Of course not.
Moreover, his father didn't know what he had suffered in Danzhi. His father thought that he was simply displaced in Danzhi, making a living by practicing martial arts, and trying to find his way back to Nandu. If the guilt lasted for a year or so, it would almost disappear.
"But he is old after all. He thinks Luo Xian is still his confidant, but Luo Xian has been mine for a long time. What he knows from Luo Xian is just what I want him to know."
Duan Xu said lightly, but saw He Simu turned around, she sat on the table, put her arms around the back of his neck, and looked into his eyes seriously.
In his world of only black and white, light and shadow floated in her eyes.
"Do you feel wronged?" she asked in a calm tone, as if she was not questioning but stating something.
This was the first time he heard such a question.
Duan Xu was stunned. He lowered his eyes, smiled and shook his head: "I didn't expect anything, so there's nothing to feel wronged about."
He Simu lifted his chin, looked at him and said, "Even if you didn't count on anyone before, you can count on me now. You are my lover."
Then she hugged him in a hug and smiled in his ear: "I don't make promises easily, but once I do, I will never let you down. You can trust me."
Duan Xu was silent for a long time, then he put his arms around her back and buried his face in her neck. He spoke softly, with a smile in his voice: "I wasn't wronged at first. He hid it from me and I lied to him, just to act out a harmonious scene. Maybe that's how family members are."
"Family? People are not like that."
"Is it."
"Well, from now on, I will also be your family member."
Duan Xu hugged her tightly and stopped talking.
He has always been like a ball of fire, blending everything else into one wherever he goes without changing his true nature. Bright and sharp, he is an untouchable warmth and a bottomless puzzle.
But now he? Not anymore.
He Simu felt that she was holding a heart beating rapidly, fragile yet firm, firm yet fragile.
The little heart raised its head and looked at her, eyes sparkling, and said, "You said I was your lover."
"That's right."
"Do you want to leave a mark?"
He Simu was a little surprised. Duan Xu pointed at the paints covering the table and said with a smile, "Your Highness the Almighty Ghost King, can you tattoo? Do you want to paint on my body?"
He Simu was stunned for a moment. She looked at Duan Xu, who was dressed in green, for a long time before she smiled and asked, "What are you drawing?"
"Red plum blossoms covered with snow, just like you." Duan Xu replied.
He Simu didn't know why Xue Fu Hong Mei looked like her, maybe it was because the red and white color scheme resembled her regular clothes. Duan Xu consciously reached out and took off his shirt, revealing his muscular upper body and scars all over his body. He Simu walked around him, then pushed him to the bed and asked him to lie down on the bed.
"When I first saw these scars on your body, I felt like you were a piece of porcelain with ice cracks." He Simu stroked his back.
Duan Xu lay on the mattress, laughed muffledly and said, "I didn't expect that I look so good in your eyes."
He Simu's hand touched the burn on his waist.
"What's the matter with this wound on your waist?"
"It was originally a slave mark that God knows, but I ironed it out."
"Aren't you afraid of pain?"
"Actually, I am very sensitive to pain, but I am not afraid of it. I kept shouting in pain just to make you soft-hearted."
He Simu patted the back of his head and said, "You are very honest now."
Duan Xu laughed softly.
There was a cut on his back, and the wound looked like a horizontal branch. He Simu used paint and needle to paint along the wound, as if a vibrant plum blossom grew out of his flesh and blood, covered with a layer of fine snow.
She had just learned about colors and felt that everything in the world was too bright and even made her dizzy. The plum blossom on Duan Xu's back was also like that, adding a bit of seductiveness to her snow-white youth on a sunny day, which made her look like a ghost.
The wind blew up the gauze curtain, and it fluttered. In the distance, a fair-skinned boy was lying on the red mattress, and a girl in a moon-white dress was supporting herself on the bed with her arms and painting on his back. The picture was indescribably beautiful.
"My father taught me to paint." He Simu said as he painted, "My father is very good at these. He is proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy and painting. He is different from me. He was once a mortal for a period of time, so he has a better control over these things than me. He would use various methods to let me imagine what the world is like, and he always felt guilty because I couldn't really experience it. I don't blame him, and I have always loved him. In my opinion, this is what a family should be like."
She finally put down her pen, and lifelike plum blossoms bloomed on Duan Xu's shoulders.
She lowered her head and kissed his shoulder. Duan Xu turned his head and she kissed his eyes and lips. Duan Xu pulled her to the bed. He Simu hugged his neck and said, "Be careful. It will get wet in a while."
Duan Xu kissed her fingers. He seemed to always like kissing her fingers. Then he interlocked his fingers with hers, entwining their slender fingers together.
"If it's over, I'll continue painting tomorrow."
He Simu looked up at him and said with a smile, "Don't hurt me again today."
Duan Xu shook his head and said, "No."
When he leaned over, He Simu whispered in his ear: "Do you know what the ice cracks mean?"
"What?"
"The harsh winter has passed, and spring has come." After a pause, she continued, "You will be like this too."
The harsh winter is over, the nightmares are gone, the wounds are healed, let the spring come into your life, and you will do the same.
Duan Xu smiled softly, lowered his head and kissed He Simu. He felt that he would not be able to help but be weak in front of her in the future, and then he might not be sad but pretend to be sad. He liked the way He Simu felt sorry for him.
"Si Mu."
"… Um?"
"I really want to know what moved you to agree to me."
"Fool."
"Ah, Your Majesty the Ghost King is so broad-minded, tell me..."
Duan Xu's neck was pulled down, and his voice was drowned out by a burst of passionate kisses and gasps.
A moth flies into a flame, Wei Sheng hugs a pillar. Such a smart person would act like a fool. How can we feel at ease