Xie Wangzhi certainly understood and instinctively retreated: "I..."
"Don't you understand?" Li Qishen didn't understand the girl's mind, and insisted on speaking frankly, "I do..."
"Don't say that!" Xie Wangzhi blushed quickly, all the way to the end of his eyes. He felt embarrassed and annoyed, and forgot about etiquette for a moment, and just urged Li Qishen to go back. "It's already this late, you should go back, otherwise, if you are caught by the guards... I'll see what you can do."
The latter part of the sentence was said in a lower and lower voice, and it was obvious that the girl was shy and said nonsense in a hurry. Li Qishen would never be caught, but he was happy to cooperate with Xie Wangzhi and nodded: "Then let's get back to the topic. Do you still want this bracelet?"
“… Of course I want more.” Xie Wangzhi responded, holding the window frame with one hand and stretching out the other hand to take the jade bracelet that Meiqiu was holding in his mouth.
The coal ball was a little far away and not high, so Xie Wangzhi had to slightly stretch out her upper body, and because she was looking down at the bracelet, she naturally lowered her head slightly. When she lowered her head, her long hair, which had been untied before, flowed down her shoulders, making her skin look as white as jade in the night, and her neck was elegant and beautiful, like a swan sipping water.
Li Qishen's heart moved slightly. The moment she got the bracelet, he gently held her wrist, then quickly moved forward and kissed her on the cheek.
"It's okay. I'll wait for you to understand." He spoke close to Xie Wangzhi's ear. The voice was quick and soft. If others saw it, they would think that the man and his wife just brushed against each other accidentally. "I'll return this bracelet to you. Remember to wear it as a betrothal gift during the autumn hunt."
He glanced at the tip of Xie Wangzhi's burning ear with satisfaction, let go of her hand, stepped back a few steps, and blended into the night. Xie Wangzhi didn't even have time to look, and the person disappeared. I think she ran away with the coal briquettes in her arms.
The night wind blew slowly, and if it weren't for the jade bracelet that was returned to me in my hand, it would have seemed like a dream.
Xie Wangzhi used the back of her hand to test the temperature of her face, turned back to the dressing table, opened the drawer, thought about it, and didn't put the jade bracelet back. After all, it had been bitten by the coal balls, so it had to be washed, but it was so late, and she didn't want to go outside to call for help, making the maid unable to sleep well in the middle of the night.
After hesitating for a moment, Xie Wangzhi placed the jade bracelet on the table and took out another box from the drawer. This box was exquisite, and when it was opened, it revealed a pair of bracelets, made of pure gold, with Tuyuhun patterns engraved around them, but they did not look rich or tacky, but rather because of the circle of bird-like and cloud-like patterns, they had an almost bizarre exotic style.
Xie Wangzhi picked up the bracelet, stroked the undulating patterns on it with his fingertips, and tentatively compared it with his wrist. The bracelet looked like it was for an adult woman, but Xie Wangzhi's wrist was thin, so it was too big when he received it, but now it can barely fit, and it probably has a "white wrist with a gold ring" feel.
…bride price.
Thinking of Li Qishen's sudden words before, and thinking about what he was doing now, Xie Wangzhi's face turned red. Without bothering to tidy up, he stuffed the gold bracelet in his hand into the room without even closing the drawer. He turned around hurriedly, fell headfirst onto the couch, and covered his face with the quilt, like a little squirrel in a tree hole.
She buried her head in the quilt, not daring to look up, thinking about the time she had spent with Li Qishen from her youth to the present. She recalled each thing one by one and finally understood what she had been thinking when she insisted on learning the guzheng and plucked the fourteen strings alone in front of the window.
Xie Wangzhi raised his head from under the quilt, took a deep breath, and responded softly to Li Qishen: "I... I like you, too."
After she finished speaking, she became shy again, buried her head in the quilt, and hugged the soft pillow on the couch tightly, sweating finely on the back of her neck, and she refused to raise her head.
**
Li Qishen suddenly did this, Xie Wangzhi had wild thoughts, tossing and turning for most of the night, and finally fell asleep exhausted at midnight. When he woke up the next morning, he was naturally a little tired, and the whole person was listless, and he didn't say a word while washing up. Instead, Hongyun was uneasy, staring at Xie Wangzhi, fearing that something had happened to his wife.
Luzhu was more relaxed than her, and did not pay attention to these details. She just washed the jade bracelet carefully according to Xie Wangzhi's instructions, wiped it dry and put it away: "Madam, how did this jade bracelet come back?"
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it. Once he did, Xie Wangzhi's face turned red again. He paused before answering, "Last night... the cat was sent back."
"Cat?" Luzhu was suspicious, but as a maid, she would not doubt Xie Wangzhi and just nodded, "I will put it away for you."
"Okay, I understand."
Lu Zhu responded, thought for a moment, and then remembered something: "Madam, I dare not decide what to take with me for the autumn hunt. Would you like to choose?"
Xie Wangzhi was slightly stunned. Li Qishen had clearly mentioned it last night, but she had been tossing and turning all night and had completely forgotten about it. It was only when Luzhu mentioned it that she remembered about it.
The autumn hunts were mostly held in August and September, and this year was no exception. In addition, the emperor had been hunting in the Lishan hunting grounds for several years before staying in Huaqing Palace with Concubine Xiao to avoid the cold, and would not return to Daming Palace until the New Year, so that he could receive visitors who came to pay homage to him.
Since he was going to stay in Huaqing Palace for a long time, he had to bring people with him. In addition to the palace servants, the important officials in the court could not escape. As Xie Wangzhi's father, he had to live with him in a separate courtyard near Huaqing Palace. When the father went, his children could naturally follow him, so the autumn hunt in Lishan Hunting Ground was the most grand. The ladies of marriageable age could observe the riding and shooting and see which man they liked, which might become a good story.
Xie Wangzhi naturally only liked Li Qishen, but he didn't want to conflict with Aye, so he had to go with him, not to mention that Li Qishen mentioned this by name. She pursed her lips and didn't embarrass Luzhu: "No need, just prepare as I usually do when I go out. You don't need to prepare too much, it's just a short stay anyway, and I will definitely return to Chang'an City within half a month."
"Yes." Lu Zhu thought about it and felt something was wrong. "My lady has some newly cut clothes recently. Why don't you wash and dry them and take them with you so that you can wear them sooner? As for jewelry... My lady doesn't wear them very often, so I dare not make the decision."
"Pick out some new clothes. If they are conspicuous, don't wear them." Xie Wangzhi didn't want to be in the limelight. She just wanted to be safe and smooth, and was willing to be a gray foil. It was really hard to say about jewelry. She thought about it, "... The same goes for jewelry. Pick some jade, pearls and sandalwood, as long as they match the clothes."
Luzhu responded and called Qingyu, ready to go and clean up together.
Just as he turned around, Xie Wangzhi suddenly said, "That's right."
"My lady, do you have any other instructions?" Luzhu turned back and asked blankly.
"I just remembered it. Since it's autumn hunting, I'm afraid it's inconvenient to wear bracelets, especially jade ones." Xie Wangzhi thought about the pair of gold bracelets that Li Qishen gave him, but he couldn't say it directly. He made up an excuse for a while and tried his best to pretend that nothing happened. "I thought... just wear the pair of gold bracelets. If there is a bump, it's easy to repair."
Of course Luzhu would not doubt it. She took Qingyu's hand to pay her respects, walked around the screen, and went to the back to pack the boxes.
Xie Wangzhi motioned Hongyun to go down as well, and when the inner room was quiet, she suddenly turned around, ignored her long hair that had just been combed, and threw herself back on the couch, her cheek against the soft pillow. After a while, she closed her eyes, letting the blush flow over her cheeks, her eyelashes still trembling slightly.
**
This year's autumn hunting is scheduled for the end of August. We will set out from Chang'an City and arrive at the Lishan hunting ground on August 30, right at the junction of August and September.
The hunting grounds of Mount Li are divided into inner and outer areas, and the inner areas are further divided. Before hunting, dangerous beasts such as tigers or bears will be hunted or driven away in advance to avoid a head-on collision and not knowing who is the prey. Larger animals such as deer and foxes are also driven to the inner area. There are more rabbits in the outer area that cannot even fight back, which makes it convenient to satisfy your hunting addiction after playing.
The court was martial, and the hunting grounds were prepared in advance. The noble ladies from Chang'an would certainly not refuse this kindness. Zheng Hanyuan took the lead, and Wen Qiniang coaxed them, and the noble ladies changed into riding clothes and brought special bows and arrows. The leading noble ladies discussed it and agreed to have a competition to see who could hunt more prey.
These noble ladies were of high temperament, especially Zheng Hanyuan, who was obviously another star-studded performance. Changning followed behind and just felt funny. With her temperament, she should follow those gentlemen into the inner field to hunt deer, but she promised Li Qishen that she had to look after Xie Wangzhi in the outer field, so she deliberately slowed down her horse and gradually distanced herself from the noble ladies in front.
Xie Wangzhi accompanied her and followed Changning's pace. Less than two minutes later, they separated from Zheng Hanyuan and the others. They could no longer be seen and were taken to a secluded place by Changning.
"Finally it's quiet. The chattering makes my head hurt." Chang Ning complained casually, pulled out the bow beside the saddle, and asked Xie Wangzhi, "But I'll brag a little. If it's just rabbit hunting, I can at least hit four out of five arrows. Do you like rabbit meat?"
"Thank you, Princess. It's not necessary." Xie Wangzhi thought about bleeding and skinning the rabbit on the spot. It was not a big deal in the kitchen, but it gave her goose bumps in the wild. She quickly refused. "To be honest, I'm not good at riding and shooting, and I'm not good at horsemanship. I can only get around. I'm afraid I can't accompany the princess to enjoy it. Besides, there's no shortage of rabbit meat. If you want to eat it, you can always get it."
"What do you mean by having fun? What's the point of saying that? I come out hunting to have fun, even if I come back empty-handed, as long as I have fun. As for the game, there will definitely be plenty of it, we can just wait to go back and eat it in the evening." Chang Ning paused, deliberately leaned towards Xie Wangzhi, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said with a kind teasing tone, "Don't worry, as long as you don't think I missed the target, I'm not as good as the Prince of Yanyang!"
The first half of the sentence was still acceptable, but when the second half mentioned Li Qishen, Xie Wangzhi's face suddenly turned red, and he cleared his throat and pretended to be serious: "Princess, don't say that... It will give people misunderstandings. I can't ride or shoot, how could I dislike the princess?"
This reaction was not right. Although she blushed, she looked frank. Chang Ning stared at Xie Wangzhi for a while, trying to figure out how far she and Li Qishen had come. But she herself had no experience and was open-minded by nature. She had no idea that Li Qishen had even climbed over the wall to have a night meeting. She only guessed based on the timid lady beside her that Xie Wangzhi's reaction meant that it didn't work out.
"By the way, are you afraid of deer or foxes?" Chang Ning sighed for Li Qishen in his heart and thought of an idea. "If you are not afraid, I will take you into the inner field and we will watch Ke Heng hunting deer. How about that?"
Xie Wangzhi pursed his lips and whispered, "Okay."
The author has something to say: I don’t really reveal my emotions in my prefaces. When I wrote my last book, I was driven to emotional collapse by the comments. I cried all afternoon on the mic with my friends, then I got up trembling and typed on the keyboard. I still wrote it down like this. The prefaces I wrote were just small dramas to play with memes or explain concepts. My friends also advised me to stop crying and not tell anyone, saying that this is fan abuse and is unnecessary.
But I am really tired this time and I can't continue. I don't understand the review standards. I will chop off my head if there is anything below the neck in the previous chapter or the previous chapter. I used the detection function of the coding software before posting, but it was still locked. I have my own life. I don't have nothing to do all day long to watch whether I have been locked. At night, I want to read a book, do homework, play games, etc., so I probably have to update earlier during this period, change the update time to the morning, and I can change it immediately if it is locked.
But if I lock a few more chapters, I may not be able to continue. I can't write this article, whoever can write it, please write it. By the way, I wish the person who locked my article will be infertile and have many children:)