Sunday 24 September 2023

WLAEF 78




Chapter 78

These two days when Jiang Yun Zhu came home, Shen Feng Ming read books and dealt with Qilin Guards's affairs. But he always felt that something was missing. Until he saw the vibrant spring, he suddenly thought of the phrase ‘Flowers are coming into bloom on your way home, so you can enjoy them whilst ambling along.’

He wanted to see Jiang Yun Zhu, so he came here.

Just in time, he arrived to see Jiang Yun Zhu leaning forward and standing in front of the window looking at him.

In spring, the window was half open. The beautiful woman was half hidden. The moment she saw him, there seemed to be ripples in her water-cut eyes.

Shen Feng Ming suddenly understood something. He got off his horse and walked quickly to Jiang Yun Zhu's room.

He came with a gust of wind. Jiang Yun Zhu's heart instantly sped up. She turned around and returned from the window, looking at the door. She could hear his footsteps, getting closer and closer, as if stepping on her heart.

At this time, Shen Feng Ming had already arrived at the door. He didn't knock on the door, but directly pushed the door in and closed the door behind his back.

The room seemed to suddenly become smaller.

Shen Feng Ming’s dark, solemn, and cold eyes fixated at Jiang Yun Zhu.

Jiang Yun Zhu's heart beat faster. She put on a smile to hide it, "Gentleman Shen?"

Shen Feng Ming took out a box from his sleeve and opened it. There was a white jade hairpin inside.

"Miss Jiang, I carved it with my own hands. I want to give it to you." Shen Feng Ming picked up the white jade hairpin and handed it to Jiang Yun Zhu.

Jiang Yun Zhu looked at the hairpin and felt her mind go blank.

In this day and age, men and women cann't give things casually. Especially something personal like a hairpin. And, he said, he carved it with his own hands.

He... Jiang Yun Zhu looked up at Shen Feng Ming.

Her face was like a lotus petal, white and pink, like it had a halo. Her slightly raised chin fully revealed the graceful jawline and the gorgeous red lips and brought them closer to Shen Feng Ming. As if a silent invite.

Shen Feng Ming's Adam's apple rolled down. He slowly lowered his head. His red lips parted slightly.

Jiang Yun Zhu suddenly woke up. She took a step back, looked away, and stammered, "Gentleman Shen, have you had lunch yet?"

  "No."

"I'll make it for you." Jiang Yun Zhu stated and walked out.

While passing by Shen Feng Ming, a hand grabbed her wrist suddenly. There were thin calluses on that hand. It gave her a sense of strength. It latched onto Jiang Yun Zhu's wrist and felt like it had latched onto half of her strength.

"I have something to tell you." Shen Feng Ming said. He pulled Jiang Yun Zhu back with a light pull. Maybe he was using too much force, or maybe Jiang Yun Zhu was unprepared. She had directly bumped into his arms.

Strong chest, pounding heartbeat.

Jiang Yun Zhu stepped back quickly and pushed him with her hands at the same time. Her face was already flushed.

Shen Feng Ming let go of her, but took two steps forward.

There was a table behind Jiang Yun Zhu. She wanted to stay away from him, but her lower back was pressed against the table and felt quite jarring.

Shen Feng Ming sensed that something was wrong with her. With a push of his hand, he easily put her on the table.

Jiang Yun Zhu was sitting on the table. Her legs could faintly touch his. His legs were slender and powerful, giving people an unshakable feeling.

Jiang Yun Zhu didn't dare to raise her head. Nor did she dare to move. She lowered her head with her gaze resting on his thin waist.

Her slender neck seemed to be dyed a layer of pink, like the finest jade.

Shen Feng Ming lowered his head, looking at the fairness she revealed. He picked up the white jade hairpin again, "Miss Jiang, my surname is Shen, and my first name is..."

Suddenly, it dawned on Jiang Yun Zhu. What did he want to say? His name was Shen Feng Ming?

"You want to give me this hairpin?" Jiang Yun Zhu didn't know what she was thinking and abruptly interrupted him.

  "En."

Jiang Yun Zhu looked at the hairpin again.

The whole body of the white jade hairpin was pure white. The head of the hairpin was carved into the shape of a blue luan. It was lifelike, very delicate, and beautiful.

Jiang Yun Zhu had seen good things before and immediately knew that this hairpin was priceless.

"I'm afraid it's too expensive." She said.

Shen Feng Ming inserted the white jade hairpin in her hair. The black hair was like a cloud, which complements the white jade hairpin.

Jiang Yun Zhu noticed his movement. The warm white jade hairpin was inserted into her hair little by little. She tensed her body.

"Miss Jiang."

"I'll cook for you." Jiang Yun Zhu slipped off the table and walked outside.

This time, Shen Feng Ming didn't stop her. Jiang Yun Zhu ran to the kitchen in one breath and then supported herself on the cutting board in the kitchen with her hands. She let out two breaths and felt a little calmer and her mind could turn.

At this moment, she thought of the white jade hairpin on her head and quickly reached out to pull it out.

  Then what? Holding the white jade hairpin, she stood there with thoughts rolling in her mind.

Why did she interrupt Shen Feng Ming? She actually didn't know.

Maybe it was because she found the current situation was fine. But if he says his name, everything seems to be different and she didn't like that kind of change.

Today, when Jiang Yun Xiu came, Lin Ting An was vaguely mentioned again. Jiang Yun Zhu remembered many things in her dream.

She took care of everything for Lin Ting An. Lin Ting An knew that she didn't want to be a concubine, so he strongly resisted the Marquis Anping and finally married her as the young madam of the Marquis Manor. Everything seemed beautiful, as beautiful as it was written in a storybook.

In fact, Lin Ting An was very concerned about her background, so he stealthily changed all the servants in the Manor, so that no one would mention that she used to be a maid in the Manor.

On the outside, he didn't allow anyone to mention her background. He also hoped that she could learn qin, chess, calligraphy and painting like those major household misses and become a real ‘Young Madam of the Marquis Anping Manor’. He even wanted her to recognize Vice Minister Pan as her godfather and explained to outside that she was Vice Minister Pan's long-lost daughter.

In fact, Jiang Yun Zhu didn't think she was inferior. And she didn't want to learn qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The two often quarreled over this.

There were Marquis Anping, Marchioness Anping, old Madam, all the gentlemen and misses in the Manor, and even those noble misses, relatives and friends. Jiang Yun Zhu didn't like them at all. It was only by Qin Yao's side that she could let go of her airs and eat and play at will.

So she didn't like the life in the Marquis Anping Manor. It felt like a cage, so suffocating.

As for the Shen Family. The Shen Family was a major household. Shen Feng Ming's mother, Princess Danyang, was the emperor's younger sister. His father was Academician Shen. The court affairs, family affairs, plus Shen Feng Ming's own troubles. It was all a mess that makes the head at the thought of it.

No, why was she thinking so much? Jiang Yun Zhu suddenly realized that she didn't seem to like Shen Feng Ming much. So why mention marriage with him?

Moreover, Shen Feng Ming may not necessarily marry her. Maybe he wanted to have a ‘Daming Lakeside’ encounter, or he wanted her to be his outside mistress or concubine? After all, her identity was there!

She was out of her mind just now. Jiang Yun Zhu slapped her forehead and put away the white jade hairpin to return it to Shen Feng Ming later.

Afterward, she prepared to cook. This matter made her happy.

  What to do? She noticed the ducks in the kitchen and an oven. When she ordered an oven last time, she ordered one for her family. It seemed that Tan De Bao didn't like to use it. The oven was very new.

It so happened that she could use it. Let’s make roast duck. The roast duck, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Served with sauce and wraps, how delicious! Moreover, the roast duck takes a long time. She didn't want to see Shen Feng Ming now.

Prepare the duck. When marinating, she would make lotus leaf pancakes.

This process took half an hour.

Finally the duck was marinated. Put into the oven. Jiang Yun Zhu's oven was custom-made to bake snacks and biscuits, so the duck could only be roasted in a furnace-style way. The speed was even slower.

Jiang Yun Zhu simply moved a chair, sat on the chair, and watched the beautiful scenery of the mountains in the distance as she waited for the duck to be cooked.

Today's weather was particularly good. The sky was as blue as if freshly washed. The white clouds were floating in the sky, setting off against the mountains. It was beautiful and picturesque.

Sitting in her room, Shen Feng Ming could see the distant mountain and that person through the window as soon as he raised his head.

The aroma of roast duck wafted in. He wasn't in a hurry though. First, he looked around the furnishings in the room and then he sat there and waited.

Now that he had decided, he had the patient like always.

After another half an hour, Jiang Yun Zhu wondered if Shen Feng Ming had fallen asleep or couldn't wait and leave. So she got up and looked into her room. What she saw was Shen Feng Ming sitting there with downcast eyes, like a statue.

No, that feeling of being ready to go wasn't like a statue, but more like a dormant leopard.

Jiang Yun Zhu bit the bullet, took out the roast duck, and began to slice the duck.

After a while, a large plate of duck slices was ready. Jiang Yun Zhu found a large tray, put the duck meat, lotus leaf pancake, sauce, and several side dishes of crispy green vegetables into the tray. Then she made another bowl of seaweed and egg soup. Without anything to do to delay, she brought the tray into the room.

"Gentleman Shen, you must be hungry. Eat quickly." Jiang Yun Zhu put the tray on the table, took out the contents one by one, and said to Shen Feng Ming.

Shen Feng Ming looked at the things on the table and saw pieces of duck meat, like clove leaves, thin and crystal clear. Only Jiang Yun Zhu's craftsmanship could make such good things.

"Roast duck. Dip it in the sauce and eat it wrapped in pancakes with vegetables." Jiang Yun Zhu explained.

"En." Shen Feng Ming washed his hands, picked up the chopsticks, clipped up a few slices of duck meat, put them into the lotus leaf cake, put the sauce and his favorite vegetables, and then directly rolled the pancake with his hands. He put it in his mouth.

Most aristocrats don't eat with their hands. They were afraid of losing their demeanor.

But Shen Feng Ming didn't seem to have that scruple. This action done by him was very pleasing to the eye.

The slender fingers were twisting the snow-white lotus leaf pancake seemed if he was twisting a snow lotus.

Shen Feng Ming's hands were beautiful, well-proportioned.

Jiang Yun Zhu suddenly felt that she was hungry. Looking at the time, it was already 3pm. It was almost time for dinner.

Shen Feng Ming seemed had said that he hadn't eaten lunch and came over.

Jiang Yun Zhu was a little ashamed. She delayed it until now.

Forget it. Extending the head out was a cut. Retracting the head was also a cut. Jiang Yun Zhu took out the white jade hairpin and pushed it toward Shen Feng Ming, "Gentleman Shen, I'm ashamed. You better take it back."

Shen Feng Ming's hand that held the lotus leaf pancake paused, "If I definitely want to give it to you."

It didn't matter whether he was selfish or domineering. Anyway, he had thought it through. It was impossible for him to watch her marry someone else. As for what she wanted, he could work hard.

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1 comment:

  1. Feng Ming is starting to go all out. I wonder whose stubbornness will win. Thank you for the chapter!

    ReplyDelete