The mansion was peaceful, the slightly hot summer weather made people lazy, except for the cries of birds and cicadas, it was quiet and peaceful around.
These days, each day was more leisurely than the other day, Bai Ping under the boredom suddenly remembered that person who was locked in the Jade courtyard.
That lady cousin has always been pampered, the weather was so hot now, she was still locked alone in that depressing room, don’t know if she was going crazy?
Bai Ping’s heart easily gave a slight tremor that cooled her down, she went toward the Jade courtyard after remembering, she thought that since she recalled this matter so easily, she better go take a look. After all, Tang QiaoYuan might have forgotten even more cleanly than her, if he really bullied Qin MeiWan excessively, by that time if Master Qin from Liu City demands an explanation, it will certainly make things difficult for Tang QiaoYuan.
At that moment, Tang QiaoYuan was keeping Fang Su company under a tree’s shade in the courtyard, Bai Ping walked slowly through the garden by herself, when she saw the footmen guarding outside the courtyard’s wall from afar, she happily lowered her face.
Bai Ping thought about Qin MeiWan’s haggard expressions several times, the more she imagined the more relief she felt, finding it absurd that she spent these years being all high and mighty while bullying the Tang mansion’s maidservants, and now she really got her retribution. This time Qin MeiWan has done something that will definitely make Tang QiaoYuan not tolerate her again, fearing it might be her last time as a “guest” in this mansion.
Hereafter, they won’t have to see her ever again, just thinking about it made Bai Ping feel joyous; besides, before driving her out they were able to lock her up for several days, it honestly allowed her to let out her anger.
Bai Ping smiled slightly and walked toward the Jade courtyard’s entrance.
Just as she was about to step inside, a maid suddenly rushed out from inside and bumped into her. Bai Ping took two steps back, while the maid that came head-on paid her respect hurriedly, then without apologizing, she urgently said: “Miss Bai Ping! Just now, the young cousin tried to hang herself in her room, she really can’t remain locked up anymore!”
Bai Ping was stunned for a moment, her eyebrows moved slightly, but she still appeared calm, and asked: “Is the person dead?”
“The lady is safe for the time being, the girls have been holding onto her legs and have not let her kick over the stool yet.”
“Then she won’t die,” Bai Ping figured out, she knew that Qin MeiWan was just being dramatic, hence she was no longer anxious, then instructed: “I will inform the master, try to drag on for a while, if you can’t do it then just let her hang herself.”
“Ah? This…” the maid looked at her nervously with lingering fears.
Bai Ping glanced at her: “If she is really willing to seek death, then I will cut my head off, then leave it in the courtyard to accompany her.”
The maid nodded her head in a daze.
A faint noise came from the bedroom inside the courtyard, Bai Ping turned around, and carried on to go back.
Meanwhile, it was another scenery in the main courtyard.
Tang QiaoYuan sat down under the tree leaning on it, and took advantage of the shade to enjoy the cool breeze, he wrapped one arm around Fang Su and read him the riddle with great interest: “Tenth of October.”
Fang Su tried to think about it: “‘Dawn’1? Like from dawn to dusk.”
Tang QiaoYuan chuckled and nodded, then asked another riddle: “The sunrise reflects on the West Lake.”
This time Fang Su couldn’t easily remember, he spread out his left hand to write and draw on his palm, but still couldn’t find a clue after pondering for a long time and could only shake his head toward him: “It’s too difficult…”
Tang QiaoYuan squinted his brows, grabbed his hand and wrote carefully each stroke: “It’s the ‘yang’ character.”
“Why?” Fang Su’s palm felt ticklish and asked him in confusion.
Tang QiaoYuan was about to answer when he saw in his peripherals a girl entering the courtyard, he kissed Fang Su’s fingers then said with a smile: “I will tell you later.”
Fang Su pursed his lips and nodded.
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Not too far away, Bai Ping slowly approached and paid her respect, but seemed hesitant to speak, wondering whether or not Fang Su should know about this. While hesitating, Tang QiaoYuan looked at her expression and took the initiative to ask her: “What happened?”
“It’s about the lady cousin.” after Bai Ping dropped the words she saw that Tang QiaoYuan had no intention to conceal it from Fang Su, but only revealed an expression where he was suddenly reminded that there was such a person, so she stopped thinking too much and said: “She has been fussing around to hang herself in her room.”
Tang QiaoYuan raised his eyebrows, and asked something similar to her words: “Is she dead?”
Bai Ping raised the corners of her lips slightly, and shook her head: “Not yet.”
“Then I will go take a look.”
Fang Su was surprised when he heard this, facing such circumstances he and Tang QiaoYuan stood up, he originally wanted to go along and take a look, but then he was stopped by Tang QiaoYuan.
“It’s better to stay here and wait for me.” Tang QiaoYuan rubbed his earlobe, he didn’t really want for him to follow along. Although he spoke so easily a while ago, he actually remembered very clearly what a troublesome woman Qin MeiWan is.
Fortunately, Fang Su has always been obedient, even after hearing him say such words he wouldn’t question why not, and nodded his head to acquiesce.
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Tang QiaoYuan looked with delight, after getting along in the last few days, the more he realized he wanted to be closer to him, the memories of the past from beginning to end remained in his mind, overlapping, becoming harder to distinguish which one is accurate…
“The west side of the character ‘lake’ is water, replace water by day, so it will be the character ‘Yang’.” Tang QiaoYuan chuckled, suddenly explaining to him the riddle from earlier.
Fang Su lifted his eyes, Tang QiaoYuan slowly withdrew his hand on his earlobe: “Wait for my return.”
With this gentle tone, Fang Su’s heart felt warm, curved his eyes and nodded.
Tang QiaoYuan looked at him again for a short while, then promptly turned around to leave, along with Bai Ping they went toward the Jade courtyard.
There was no more noise coming from inside the courtyard’s bedroom, Bai Ping stopped outside the door, and guarded ceremoniously, Tang QiaoYuan pushed the door open and entered alone, then frowned instantly.
Inside was a vast mess, it was impossible to distinguish a lady’s room from it, the floor was full of torn silk and broken china, even the bookshelves were knocked over, it was exaggerated like it had been through a catastrophe.
Qin MeiWan tiredly sat on the side of the couch, a few maidservants were standing on the side in shock, seeing that Tang QiaoYuan finally came, hurriedly greeted him.
Tang QiaoYuan made a sign with his hand to ask them to leave, walked to the table and picked up the overturned round stool, leisurely sat down, then looked at the table, his sight was filled by emptiness, not even a whole teacup or teapot could be found, he opened his mouth and asked the person on the couch: “By breaking all the porcelain cups, how do you drink water?”
Qin MeiWan stared at him for a long time, she didn’t eat properly these last few days, thin and pallid, only laughing out loud after a while: “Does cousin still care whether I live or die?”
“Then can you say, you care for my safety?” Tang QiaoYuan calmly replied ironically, his tone directing at the “special fondness” love poison, and said without hesitation, “When you poisoned me, did you even think that I could’ve died?”
Qin MeiWan laughed after hearing this: “I did.” she met Tang QiaoYuan’s unwavering pair of eyes, “Of course, I did think about it…I thought, if you still could not like me, then you would be better off dead… But now things have come to what they are now, aren’t you not dead yet? If I was really ruthless enough to want your life, how could I easily give you the antidote?
Tang QiaoYuan listened to her irrational argument and felt like she wouldn’t listen to reason.
“They all say that young women are reserved and restrained, have a thin face, how are you so different, I treated you coldly from the beginning, but why are you unwilling to give up?”
“Because you are not supposed to treat me coldly,” Qin MeiWan’s face couldn’t keep calm, then said in a wrong manner, “You were doting on me so much when we were kids, why can’t you come to like me?”
“If you want to listen to the truth, I am not unwilling to talk about it,” Tang QiaoYuan heard her mention the matters from their childhood, and replied honestly, “I was considerate towards you during childhood because I was duty-bound by the fact that I was an older brother, there is nothing apart from siblings affection. Besides this, because I always felt indebted to uncle’s kindness, therefore it was to repay him. But from my muddled memories, that arrogant temperament of yours, I have never liked it.
Qin MeiWan’s face was pallid, hearing the end, she let out a self-deprecating smile.
In reality, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t guessed it already, but there was a great difference between guessing it and hearing it directly from his mouth, hearing it now, she didn’t feel like it was laughable, instead just felt that it was cruel.
“Because of this, you didn’t even come to see me? Coming to Lin Zhou this time, it can’t be helped that you didn’t allow me to go to the main courtyard, I had to wait until today to be able to speak with you… If I didn’t try to seek death, you still wouldn’t have come, right?”
“Perhaps,” Tang QiaoYuan nodded, up to this moment he already didn’t have any sibling’s affection left for her, replied coldly, “After all, if you had not sought death, I had almost forgotten that you were here.”
“Tang QiaoYuan!” Qin MeiWan thoroughly broke down, she no longer spoke with rationality, “On what basis are you treating me like this! Others say that I am both talented and beautiful, in the entire city of Lin Zhou, is there anyone who is better than me!”
“Fang Su is better than you.” Tang QiaoYuan, who was afraid he wasn’t quick enough to provoke her, replied with a half-joking attitude.
However, when these words were spoken, Qin MeiWan calmed down instead. She looked at Tang QiaoYuan for a while, then sneered: “I knew it, even after being detoxified of the love poison, you still like him… He really got a great opportunity for nothing.”
“It isn’t unexpected,” Tang QiaoYuan thought about it, “If there was no case of love poisoning, it would have depended on whether or not I could have met him, if it was meant to be liked, I would have still liked it.”
“Why?” Qin MeiWan was not resigned, “I was dedicated for a dozen years and you were still not moved, could it be that if it was someone else, it would only take you one glance to like them?”
“There is no why, not everything needs to have a reason. What two people need to stay together is resonance between both, it never should be forced. If you like (something/someone) you will just like it, if you dislike you would just dislike it, if you could understand it earlier, you wouldn’t be that troubled for so many years.”
“Is it?” Qin MeiWan looked at him with a slight smile, “but I deliberately don’t want to talk about reason, the more you don’t want me, the more I want to pester you.”
“Incorrigible.”
“Cousin is only aware now that I am unreasonable?” Qin MeiWan stopped trying to say things that would move him, only being full of equanimity, she laughed then changed her expression, spoke faintly, “Cousin, do you still remember when you were little, you used to keep a rabbit, white and tender, and was carried by you all day long……”
Tang QiaoYuan’s expression slightly changed.
“You liked it so much back then…therefore I cut off his ears, poke blinded his eyes, cut off his four limbs, and threw it into the garden’s lake… From then on, you never raised any other small things again.”
Tang QiaoYuan’s heart in his chest was racing madly, intense anxiety flooded into his mind, suddenly stood up, hurriedly went back to the main courtyard. Took two steps, then heard behind him that eerie voice laugh and say: “It’s too late… I gave him a chance to choose life, but as long as you take him back to the mansion, if you step away from him for even half a step, you will never get to see him again.”
“Are you mad!” Tang QiaoYuan was furious, turned around and walked toward her, harshly grabbing her throat, “You are not allowed to touch Fang Su!”
“Too late…” Qin MeiWan held his palm tightly, said with difficulty, “I cannot have it…there is no one … who can have it…”
Tang QiaoYuan was fuming with rage with gritted teeth, stared at her with anger, after a short while, he used his strength to throw her on the bed, he had no more energy left to entangle with her, quickly turned around to leave.
Translated & Proofread by: Milktea and Gemini
Notes:
The answer is actually the combination of the characters “十日十月” (Tenth of October) into a single character which gives the answer “朝”. It has several meanings such as dawn or day. Fang Su replied ” ‘朝’ 朝朝暮暮 (zhāo zhāo mù mù).” 朝朝暮暮 is an idiom that also has slighly different meanings such as ‘From dawn to dusk’, ‘From day to night’, or ‘day after day’. (Chinese idioms can be very vague sometimes, that’s why depending on how it’s used the meaning can differ a little, and makes it hard to understand if you don’t have the whole context)Sponsored Content
