Chapter 309: Chapter 309: No Way, What They Want, You Must Want Too!
Shen Hua’s complexion was deathly pale, her thoughts tumultuous, and a buzzing filled her ears.
Wei Yingying noticed the change in her demeanor and felt a sudden pang of concern, fearing that Shen Hua was feeling unwell again.
The girl’s eyes seemed as if all their luster had been drained away, losing their former defiance and pride, as if bearing an agony she should not have to endure, on the verge of fainting the next instant.
It had been a long while since Shen Hua felt so utterly helpless, as if the sky were collapsing.
"You were fine just a moment ago, what’s happened to you now?"
Wei Yingying, panic-stricken, said: "If you really pass away, who’s going to help me deal with that bitch Wei Zhuzhu in the future!"
As she spoke, she reached out to check Shen Hua’s breathing.
With a ’slap’, her hand was fiercely swatted away by the girl.
Wei Yingying breathed a sigh of relief: "You’ve got a strong slap; seems like you’re okay. On the day I get married, I was actually thinking of giving you a mansion too."
Listen to this nonsense!
Was it all for Shen Yangyang’s money?
However, Shen Hua was too dispirited to even bother arguing. She slowly laid down, her pale hand pulling over the quilt, and encasing herself securely in a cocoon of isolation.
Her voice, filled with sorrow, was heard.
"The food is in the third cabinet. Go get it yourself."
"Also—"
"If you want to make impractical wishes, go to the Daoist School."
The girl fell silent again, instead, she wrapped herself up deeply, and turned to face the wall.
After the two others had gone, Shen Hua remained motionless in the same position.
Time passed without measure until the candle in the room burned out with a ’hiss’, plunging everything into total darkness.
Glistening tears were spinning inside the girl.
—The light is gone!!!
During this difficult time, bringing up the past was bitter and unbearable.
She remembered at the age of five, You Qing took her to the Daoist School; back then, the little girl, though frail, followed medical advice diligently, and her medicinal regimen was not particularly alarming.
At that time, she had spent a month in a school.
The girl donated all her saved money to the religious offerings, hoping to outdo Zhou Zhizhi in the school’s assessment.
But she didn’t succeed.
Thankfully, with Zheng Qianyu’s aid, she wasn’t the worst off.
As for studying, it was clear that without regular effort, one couldn’t expect fortuitous outcomes.
That same year, she made another visit to the Daoist School, not to trouble the Three Pure Ones, but to maliciously make a wish: to transfer her illness to Zhou Zhizhi.
However, upon returning, she herself fell ill with a cold. Zhou Zhizhi, as a fellow student, came to visit her.
At that time, Zhou Zhizhi already displayed the air of a white lotus.
—Miss Shen, I heard you were sick, and I was very worried.
Zheng Qianyu was on one side.
—Worried about what? A scourge that lingers a thousand years hasn’t died yet.
Zhou Zhizhi then continued.
—Miss Shen, when will you return to the school? I truly look forward to studying and writing with you.
Zheng Qianyu snickered.
—What are you looking forward to? Looking forward to her looking down on you from atop a stool with her nose in the air, like a peacock saying: Move your ink and brush further away, if a single drop stains my Su Embroidery skirt worth thousands of taels, I will not spare you!
Because of this, the girl became even more ill.
Later came Xue Tuan.
She drew a lowly fortune.
In a fit of anger, she threw back the fluffy little paw.
The girl in the quilt stirred, revealing exhausted and withered eyes.
Moonlight filtered through the window bars, leaving but a cold frost. Desolation enveloped her.
The girl’s hand slowly rose.
She sat up.
Shen Hua put on her shoes expressionlessly, and slowly got out of bed.
With a ’creak’, the door to the house was opened.
Yingwu saw her holding a bamboo lamp and hurriedly asked: "Lady, where are you going?"
The girl’s gaze was unfocused. After Yingwu asked again, she seemed to finally hear and responded faintly: "The day torments with brevity, I wander by lamp at night."
Yingwu: !?!
Shen Hua took each step down the stairs and walked out aimlessly. Outside, there was nothing but the solemn patrolling soldiers and the howling wind.
Upon seeing Shen Hua, the stern-faced soldiers, who were about to disperse loiterers, thought she was the girl Xie Xun had taken away on horseback days ago, assuming Xie Xun was planning another secret tryst. They casually rubbed their noses and feigned ignorance, looking away to another spot.
So the girl proceeded unhindered. She strolled slowly, her long eyelashes glistening like dewdrops, her flowing hair soft as mist. She lifted her head in quiet sorrow.
"Yingwu, ah."
Shen Hua: "Can you count how many stars are in the sky?"
"This—" Yingwu hesitated.
Shen Hua: "Is it difficult for you?"
In a subdued voice, the girl replied: "It’s all my fault."
Yingwu’s scalp tingled nonetheless.
"It’s not difficult!"
"I’ve climbed mountains and crossed seas of flames; such a trifling matter is nothing."
"Then start, I’ll supervise you."
Resigned to her fate, Yingwu began to count the stars that speckled the expansive night sky,
from one to a hundred.
But Shen Hua was slow to respond: "Which star did you start from?"
The girl’s voice was gentle and tender: "Could you point it out to me?"
Perplexed for a moment, Yingwu admitted: "I have forgotten."
She was diligent, however, and looking around, she noted that the overhanging eaves of the post station partially obscured the night sky.
"No worry! I’ll take Miss Shen to the roof where we can count the stars comfortably!"
Seeing Shen Hua nod, Yingwu scooped her up with light-footed grace, and they ascended, the girl’s lamp swaying in her hand.
Once they were seated,
Before Yingwu even began, the girl pressed a finger to her lips and cast her gaze downwards. Then they overheard unfamiliar voices speaking from inside the room below.
——Don’t hold it against me for being rash; any clear-eyed person can see my affection for you. All I ask is, are you willing to marry me?
—— It’s not in my power to decide, as it’s a matter that requires my parents’ permission and the matchmaker’s word.
The man again coaxed her gently.
——Among the girls of Shengjing, all of them are after my illustrious family status and wealth. Now that my family has fallen on hard times, they all steer clear of me, but you are different from them.
The girl hesitated, feeling herself to be truly noble.
The gentleman continued to outline to her a fabricated vision of a perfect married life, full of considerate promises.
The girl, filled with hopeful anticipation, was about to nod bashfully in agreement.
Shen Hua quietly lifted a tile from the roof.
Taking a deep breath, she shouted.
"That won’t do. You must want what they want too!"
Scared, Yingwu swiftly returned with her charge.
And before a quarter of an hour had passed, the room’s door once again creaked open.
This time, Yingwu exchanged a glance with Ying Yi and did not stop her.
————
Cui Yun seldom went to bed early, but tonight, he sweated profusely on his forehead as nightmares mercilessly engulfed him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The war drums thundered, deafening to the ear.
An overwhelming tide of enemy soldiers charged forward, brandishing their long swords, leaving a trail of corpses wherever they went.
Cui Yun saw his elder brother, Cui Bai, his face smeared with blood.
Although leading only a few hundred soldiers, they stubbornly held their ground. Behind them, Chi City, under his fierce instructions, had firmly shut its gates to protect thousands of civilians.
A dense shower of arrows pierced hearts, shields barely managing to block them, as one soldier after another fell by his side.
The last to fall was Cui Bai.
An arrow pierced his forehead. Blood gushed forth.
The man fell hard to the ground, staring at the gloomy sky.
"Weizhen."
Struggling, he cried out: "Ah Si."
Cui Yun suddenly opened his eyes, drenched in cold sweat, his back soaked through.
A shadow lurked in the darkness: "Awake, are you?"
Shen Hua: "Did you sleep well?"