Wu Ling reached out his hand. “Please ride the carriage in front. Ruo Yuan and Hong Li will be coming over later.”
Su Xi-er nodded, and went forward to board the horse carriage. It wasn’t long before Ruo Yuan and Hong Li arrived as well.
“We can leave the palace again.” Hong Li’s eyes shone as she clapped in joy.
Sitting beside her was Ruo Yuan, who kept her head lowered. Why is Commander Wu here again? I feel embarrassed every time I see him.
“Ruo Yuan, don’t be nervous when you see Commander Wu.” Su Xi-er reminded.
Ruo Yuan came back to her senses a moment later, but kept her head lowered. How should I stop myself from being nervous? The only solution is to not look at him! Hence, she came up with an idea: hiding from him. There’s too much of a chasm between me and Commander Wu. Besides, he has Miss Qing. They get along well, and Commander Wu seems quite fond of her.
Ruo Yuan’s pupils darkened at this thought. I can’t be nervous. Commander Wu will be marrying Miss Qing in the future. If she finds out that I still harbour such feelings, she will definitely beat me to death.
It was because of this that Ruo Yuan’s expression became indifferent until she raised her head to smile at Su Xi-er. “We’re going to have your measurements taken for the wedding dress. Su Xi-er, you’ll definitely be earth-shatteringly beautiful when you wear it on the day of the wedding!”
Hong Li burst out in laughter at the phrase ‘earth-shatteringly’. “You use whatever Grand Tutor Kong teaches you. How can ‘earth-shattering’ be used to describe a woman’s appearance?”
The corners of Su Xi-er’s mouth curled into a smile as she quietly watched them bicker.
Ruo Yuan looked at Hong Li in confusion. “What should I say then?”
“Dazzling beauty that makes the fishes sink and the geese descend; So beautiful that the moon hides behind the clouds and the flowers are put to shame;[1] Devastating beauty that causes the downfall of a nation!” Hong Li smiled as she replied.
“Causing Prince Hao to fall in love with her, hehe.” Ruo Yuan giggled as she commented.
Su Xi-er couldn’t help but laugh. “You are very clever. I should ask Grand Tutor Kong to teach you properly.”
“Grand Tutor Kong is so knowledgeable, and I’m already happy that he uses some of his spare time to teach me. I can’t take up too much of his time.” Ruo Yuan laughed in a silly manner before turning her head to look outside of the carriage.
The horse carriage had already left the imperial palace, and was travelling on the main street which was lined with peddlers hawking their wares.
The seamstress they were going to see had been mentioned by Grand Tutor Kong yesterday. Her husband had passed away, leaving her with just one daughter who had married into a farming family in the suburbs last year. As a result, the seamstress was left alone and living a simple life ever since.
The horse carriage stopped opposite Ye’s Inn, where the seamstress was staying, and allowed Su Xi-er and the rest to alight.
Yun Ruofeng was drinking tea in his room when he opened the window and happened to catch sight of them coming out of the horse carriage.
When Su Xi-er entered an embroidery house, Yun Ruofeng slowly placed his teacup down, his heart sinking along with it.
She’s about to get married. She’s walking into an embroidery house to pick her wedding dress.
A sour feeling gushed forth from the bottom of his heart, causing his heart to ache. The scene of her entering the embroidery house made it feel like needles were stabbing his eyes.
At this moment, the manager of Ye’s Inn walked in with pastries. “Patron, the pastries are here. Please have some. It’s a well-known specialty of Beimin.”
Only after the manager placed all the pastries on the table did he realise that Yun Ruofeng was staring at the embroidery house opposite the inn. He couldn’t but remark, “There’s only one seamstress in that embroidery house, but her needlework is superb despite being nearly 60 years old. When the male members of the Imperial Household marry a wife, they will personally pay her a visit to request her to sew a wedding dress.”
Every word was like a knife penetrating Yun Ruofeng’s heart. The originally clear look in his eyes was now shrouded and dark.
The manager was baffled. Did I say something wrong? Isn’t the patron staring at the embroidery house because he’s interested in it?
1. Phrases used to describe the Four Beauties of Ancient China.
