Enter Chang Xiangsi and help Jingzhai fight

Chapter 168 Birthday

Ruiyang waved his hand: "Then I guess you'll have to wait a long time! There are many guests tonight, and it will take a long time for him to drink before he comes back!"

I nodded, and thinking that Ruiyang was tired from the journey, I didn't say much and let him go back to his room to rest.

In Tu Shanjing's bedroom, I wiped every corner of the table, chairs, benches, and desks, and found his favorite incense to make the room fragrant. I also made his bed and replaced it with the quilt that had been dried in the sun yesterday.

My hands were full, but my heart was empty, and I was busy until the moon was halfway up in the sky. I remembered the gift I wanted to give him, so I went to my room to get it and put it on the suitcase.

I didn't know when he would come back. I paced around the room restlessly for a while. Maybe he was tired from working. I was a little drowsy, so I fell asleep on the table.

I don’t know how long it took, but I regained some consciousness and felt someone gently touching my hair that was scattered on the table.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Tu Shanjing's enlarged face close to me. His complexion was slightly red, with a mole under his brow, the corners of his eyes were slightly raised, and there was a pool of water in his eyes, revealing a hint of warmth.

Seeing that I was awake, he smiled and said, "The moon sets and the stars sink, and the beauty is sleeping in spring."

I was startled and quickly stood up and bowed: "Master, are you back?"

He nodded, took a step forward, and said with a hint of alcohol: "Yeah. Did you miss me?"

I felt something was wrong and took a step back to look at him.

He took another step forward, took me in his arms, gently stroked my hair, and said in a deep voice: "If you don't answer, I will take it as your consent?"

I raised my right hand behind him, and six ice arrows formed a circle, spinning in the air.

"Tell me! Who are you pretending to be? Or are you the young master's puppet?!" I said harshly in his arms.

He let go of me, took a step back, and with a wave of his hand, he collected my six ice arrows. The watery look in his eyes gradually disappeared, and his vision became clear.

He smiled and said, "It's really me. Your spiritual power has improved a lot."

I was skeptical, but I couldn't beat him, so I could only ask cautiously: "Are you really the young master? Then let me ask you--"

He took over the conversation: "An Lingrong's father is An Bihuai, the county magistrate of Songyang County. Guanglin's purse is embroidered with banana leaves with gold edges. Have you prepared Xiaowei's dowry? No need to take the test, it's really me."

I finally believed it and said with a smile, "It's really you, sir! I thought I was dreaming because I was confused in sleep! Or are you drunk?"

He smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that Chang's method doesn't work for you. I'm not drunk, he is. He blocked a lot of alcohol for me tonight."

I laughed and said, "What method did Master Chang teach you? Has he ever used it himself? Don't learn those things from your bad friends!"

He smiled again: "My original form is a fox, and his original form is a dog. We are just fox friends and dog friends. When we get together, it's natural that-" He blinked and said: "Forget it, I won't talk to you about that. What is that hard thing in your arms? Is it a birthday present for me?"

I took out the brocade box from my bosom and said, "No, this is what the young master sent Guanglin to deliver today. He said it contained some spiritual stones."

He took it, opened it and looked at it, then closed the box and said, "I see. Big brother didn't drink much during the banquet today, and he sent me back after the banquet. We haven't talked like this for a long time, and he was kind enough to help me send Chang back. Please help me put the gift in the study later, and I will go to him tomorrow to thank him."

I took the box and put it back in my arms, then turned around and took out my mother-of-pearl wooden box from the trunk, handed it to him and said, "Sir, this is my gift."

Tu Shanjing took it with a smile, unwrapped the brocade wrapping, and shook the mother-of-pearl wooden box with a gradient pearlescent color towards the candlelight, praising it, "What an exquisite craftsmanship!"

He opened the wooden box and saw a piece of poetry inside, so he picked it up and read: "Early plum blossoms bloom on tall trees, reflecting the blue sky of Chu. I want to give it to you thousands of miles away, but the distant mountains and rivers separate us.*"

He looked down at me with a smile and said, "Have you also been practicing calligraphy during this period?"

I smiled ashamedly and replied, "I only learned a little bit. I asked Xiao Hui to write it down as a sample, and then I wrote it down. During this period of time, I mainly focused on improving my spiritual power. Miss Hong Ying taught me very well."

He nodded: "Then I will reward her later."

I looked up at him, and saw the man I had been thinking about for so long standing in front of me. The candlelight cast a faint glow on him, which seemed real and illusory, like a dream or a song. For a moment, I forgot what to say.

He looked at me with a smile at first, but after a while the smile faded, and his eyes became bright, as if there were hooks and a deep pool in his eyes.

"Jingye, you must be tired after traveling and attending the banquet with me. You stay here tonight," he said softly.

I shivered, wanting to escape from this scorching swamp, so I said, "Then I'll go get some hot water for you to wash up. You've been traveling so hard, you should rest early."

He sat down at the table, took a sip of the herbal tea on the table, and said, "Okay."

I opened the door and saw Ruofeng waiting at the bottom of the stairs, so I asked him to get some hot water.

Ruofeng brought hot water and left. Tu Shanjing washed up, and it was getting late, so he blew out the candle, took off his clothes and went to bed.

I listened to him for a while and then he began to breathe deeply. I tossed and turned, and his pair of tender eyes filled my eyes. He was there whether I opened my eyes or closed them.

I simply got up, put on my outer robe, and gently pushed the door open to go out.

It was a cloudy night. I could not see the moon. The sky was gray, with only a few stars occasionally peeking out from behind the dark clouds. Fortunately, the air was good, not so cold any more, and the wind was faintly filled with the scent of spring.

I took a few steps and thought that since I was already up, I might as well take Tu Shan Hou's gift back to the study and put it away. Otherwise, I wouldn't know if Tu Shan Jing would take me out when I help him wash up tomorrow morning, and it would feel like a hassle to leave it here.

When I arrived at the study, I saw from afar that there was no one at the door. Maybe the person on duty had gone to the toilet.

After walking a few more steps, he glanced over and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

The study door is too dark.

It was originally a smooth wooden door, which should have been the same light and dark as the ice-cracked window frame next to it, but now it seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.

I bravely walked closer and took a look. It turned out that the door was wide open. It was darker inside the house than outside, so it looked pitch black from a distance.

I walked in carefully, but stopped as soon as I stepped in.

Because I heard a rustling sound in the house, and it stopped the moment I entered.

I don't move, and the other person doesn't move either.

After I got used to the darkness a little, I saw a yellow tail in front of the table with the help of a little light from outside.

I took out a tinderbox and polished it, then saw a big yellow dog lying in front of the table with its back to me, wagging its big tail.

I breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Where did the puppy come from? There is no food here~" Then I walked forward with a tinder in my hand, wanting to see if it had messed up any documents.

Suddenly my scalp felt tingling and I stopped.

Yes, there is no food in the study, so why did it come in here?

*Adapted from "Early Plum" by Liu Zongyuan.