That afternoon, an elegant four-horse carriage departed from the Investigation Department, followed by hundreds of Military Marquises as escort. The carriage slowly made its way out of Chang’an city.
That evening, during curfew, when all the streets of Chang’an were empty, a Kangju horse galloped out from the Cui residence and disappeared into the pitch-black night.
Cui Xun and Li Ying rode together on one horse, traveling under the stars and moon until dawn the next morning, when they finally stopped to rest.
Cui Xun tied the horse to a tree and went to a clear stream to fetch water. However, he was preoccupied with something. Only when a mountain cherry blossom floated down the stream and gently touched his wrist did he suddenly notice and lift the water-filled leather pouch from the stream.
After all… he had still brought her along…
But… if she found out, would she be angry?
She wouldn’t forgive him…
With his mind full of worries, he carried the leather pouch toward Li Ying, who was sitting under a cherry tree. He had changed into a commoner’s clothes, dressed in white. He wore a heavy snow-white fox fur coat over a white robe. Compared to his usual crimson official attire, the white clothes softened the delicate beauty of his features, giving him a more cool and dignified appearance.
So when Cui Xun handed the water pouch to Li Ying as she sat under the cherry tree, and she looked up at him in his snow-white attire, her face was inexplicably flushed slightly.
Just as she had told Yu Fuwei, she loved Cui Xun’s appearance and would never tire of looking at him.
Her heart pounded like a startled deer, so she quickly opened the water pouch and lowered her head to drink, hiding her romantic thoughts.
But her thoughts were completely transparent to Cui Xun. He sighed softly. The appearance she loved, he despised deeply. If not for this body, he wouldn’t have endured those two years of darkness with the Tujue. Yet at this moment, he couldn’t help harboring a somewhat base intention to use this despised appearance to obtain a promise.
Cui Xun sat on the ground beside Li Ying. Looking at her as she drank with her head lowered, he suddenly exclaimed, “Oh!”
Li Ying immediately looked up: “What’s wrong?”
Cui Xun frowned slightly. He looked at Li Ying, slowly moved closer to her, then reached out toward her temple.
His breath drew nearer, his beautiful eyes becoming clearer. His slightly upturned dark eyes were like countless peach blossoms blooming in a jade-green pool, utterly captivating. Li Ying’s heart began to race. What did he intend to do? Touch her hair? Or… kiss her?
But how could Cui Xun possibly initiate a kiss?
She froze in nervousness. Just then, a pink cherry blossom fell from the tree, gently floating down before her.
Li Ying suddenly realized that sitting under the cherry tree, a blossom must have fallen onto her hair, and Cui Xun was reaching to brush it away.
With this realization, she wasn’t so nervous anymore and waited for Cui Xun to pick the petals from her temple.
Cui Xun did pluck a petal from her shoulder, but then used it to gently touch her warm earlobe: “Why are your ears red?”
Li Ying was stunned.
Then she immediately understood and felt both embarrassed and angry.
So he had been teasing her.
She quickly turned her back on him, picked up fallen cherry blossoms from the ground, and began tearing at the petals in frustration. Behind her came Cui Xun’s soft laughter, which made her even more embarrassed. As she continued tearing at the petals, she said: “I won’t go to Lingnan with you anymore. You can go by yourself, and if you get…”
She had intended to say “killed,” but the words caught in her throat. She wanted to change it to “captured,” but she couldn’t bring herself to say that either. So she weakly concluded, “…blocked on the way, I won’t care.”
Cui Xun stopped laughing, but after a while, he did not attempt to coax Li Ying. She wondered if her words had been too harsh.
Surely not?
While she was pondering this, suddenly a grasshopper made of grass appeared before her from behind.
The grasshopper was lifelike, especially its wings, which seemed about to flutter away. It was even better than the one she had taught Cui Xun to make.
Li Ying was momentarily dumbfounded, then immediately said in annoyance: “Even if you make a hundred of these, I still won’t go to Lingnan with you.”
Cui Xun said softly: “What about a thousand?”
Li Ying couldn’t help turning around, saying incredulously: “You can make a thousand?”
Cui Xun smiled gently: “If I make a thousand, will you stop being angry with me?”
Li Ying snorted: “We’ll see when you’ve made a thousand!”
Cui Xun sighed: “Alright, then I’ll make a thousand.”
After saying this, he pulled some grass and prepared to make another grasshopper. Li Ying quickly said, “Hey, I was just saying that casually.”
But Cui Xun spoke rather seriously: “But I’ve taken it to heart. Mingyue Zhu, if I anger you again in the future, will you forgive me if I make a thousand grasshoppers?”
When he became serious, Li Ying felt uncomfortable again: “I was just saying it casually, and besides, you haven’t made me angry.”
Cui Xun said solemnly, “You are a princess, your words are golden. You can’t just speak casually. Anyway, I’ve taken it seriously.”
Li Ying didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “If you want to take it seriously, then do so.”
She really couldn’t understand why Cui Xun was so insistent on this matter.
With those words, Cui Xun’s lips curled into a smile. He glanced at the Kangju horse tied to the tree, resting, and said: “We’ve been traveling all night, and the horse is tired. Let’s rest for a while before continuing our journey.”
Li Ying nodded. She was indeed very tired, and her spiritual energy was somewhat depleted. So she lay down under the cherry tree and fell into a deep sleep.
A gentle breeze blew, causing cherry blossoms to fall like rain, landing on the sleeping girl’s hair and body. A pale pink five-petaled cherry blossom spiraled in the air, slowly falling onto her forehead. Cui Xun instinctively reached out to brush away the petal, but as his hand approached her jade-like forehead, he quickly withdrew it as if feeling unworthy.
Having achieved his earlier purpose, he had no more excuses to touch her.
He couldn’t soil her again…
The girl’s skin was snow-white, and the pale cherry blossom resting on her forehead was like a beautiful ornament, dreamlike, otherworldly, almost breathtaking.
Cui Xun stared unblinkingly. At this moment, all the ferocity seemed to have vanished from his heart, leaving only tranquility and gentleness. He even vaguely thought, how wonderful it would be if things could remain like this forever…
He gazed steadily at Li Ying, not daring to move a muscle lest he wake her. But suddenly his throat itched. He covered his chest, suppressing the urge to cough, and then reached for something in his sleeve.