bayedsolid Chapter 349 Green Robes
Chapter 349 Green Robes
Spring River Pool.
The autumn wind blows obliquely.
A perfect couple composes poems and essays.
The gauze curtains fluttered, revealing two beautiful faces.
The boy mustered his courage and sang: "Green are your robes, deep is my longing; for your sake, I have hesitated until now..."[1]
The name of the young lady Zijin comes from the Book of Songs. The poem is beautiful, the name is beautiful, and the person is even more beautiful.
The poem expresses what his heart desires at this moment.
Zhou Mu didn't understand; the girl Zijing looked at him with such tenderness and affection.
However, she only regarded him as an elder brother.
Could it be that he misunderstood, or that he was just being wishful?
Not too possible.
I must have been too hasty in revealing my feelings and scared her away.
After all, Miss Zijing is not yet of marriageable age and is at the age when her heart is just beginning to open to love. She should be quite ignorant about the feelings between men and women.
It's understandable that a woman might be caught off guard and at a loss when a man suddenly confesses his feelings for her.
Like a child who had made a mistake, Zhou Mu quickly stood up, bowed, and apologized, "I'm sorry, Miss Zijing, I was being presumptuous. I thought..."
I thought you loved me as much as I loved you.
Zhou Mu didn't say these words aloud.
However, Zhou Mu was still unwilling to give up, and he blurted out all his thoughts.
“Miss Zijing, I only know that if I don’t speak now, I will never have another chance. Ever since you appeared at the Zhou residence, I have been in love with you at first sight. The more we spend time together, the more I can’t forget you. I think of you when I eat, I think of you when I walk, and I even dream of you… I originally planned to propose marriage after your three-year mourning period was over, but my family arranged a marriage for me. Now I only want one word from you. If you are willing to marry me, I will break off the engagement. I am willing to wait for you for three or five years, after your mourning period is over and after you come of age.”
Jiang Zijin turned her head away, adopting a childlike demeanor.
Having seen so many fickle lovers, it's surprising to see such a devoted lover.
If you ask me if I'm tempted, then yes, I am a little bit.
If she agrees now, this fool might disobey his parents and break off the engagement.
After getting to know him, I found Zhou Mu to be quite nice. He's handsome, a gentleman, gentle, considerate, and kind.
Unlike other scions of noble families who have a large number of concubines and maids.
However, Zhou Mu is the youngest son in the family and has been pampered by the whole family since childhood.
Too naive and innocent, never having experienced hardship.
Without the burden of family responsibilities or the worry of making a living, his mind was probably filled with nothing but pretentious elegance and romantic notions.
I heard that Zhou Mu's brother married that shrew from the Lu family.
It's alright now that his parents are alive, but if he fails to pass the imperial examinations and enter officialdom in the future, it's still uncertain whether the Zhou family will have a place for him.
After her mother passed away, Jiang Zijin also thought about marrying into an ordinary family and living a peaceful life.
She even began secretly buying houses and land outside her father and grandmother's back, making plans for the future.
Because she knew very well that her father and grandmother wouldn't give her much dowry, and couldn't give her much at all.
She has to earn everything herself.
But after spending time with Zhou Mu, her thoughts changed.
From a small family to the entire Liang Kingdom, a man's status determined his wife's status.
If she marries Zhou Mu, she will be the second wife of the Zhou family. In the future, when she sees Lu Wan, the Marquis's wife, she will have to bow and respectfully call her sister-in-law.
When she went out to a banquet, she had to bow or even kneel before any woman of higher status she encountered.
However, if she married the emperor, apart from the empress dowager, all the women in the world would kneel before her and call her Empress.
Rather than being the principal wife, she was caught in a web of concubines and maids vying for her affections.
She would rather fight for the Empress's throne in the harem.
The same struggle yields vastly different rights.
She wasn't given a second chance to live this kind of life; that would be like going back to the beginning.
She had experienced the joy that power brought her in her dreams, and once she had experienced it, it was hard for her to let go.
Even though this life has been full of ups and downs.
It has even become unrecognizable.
My maternal grandfather's family is gone, and so is my mother.
But she is still alive.
There is hope in life.
There are also grudges from past lives—the hatred of being toyed with, the hatred of being killed—that are not so easy to let go of.
So she said to Zhou Mu, "Brother Mu, I am grateful for your kindness. I have always regarded you as my elder brother. Forget about me. I am a daughter born out of wedlock. My maternal grandfather and uncles are all criminals. In terms of family background and origin, I am far inferior to your daughter from the Duke's mansion. Even if you break off the engagement, your parents will definitely not agree to you marrying me."
“Sister Zijing, I don’t care whether you are born of the principal wife or a concubine. I am in love with you because you are unique. We are of one mind. You understand me. Even if I don’t say it, you can know what I am thinking. We are so compatible. Moreover, my mother likes you very much. I will definitely persuade her to let me marry you.” Zhou Mu was really unwilling.
Jiang Zijin hadn't expected Zhou Mu to be so stubborn.
If he really went to the Shen family and said he wanted to break off the engagement and would only marry her, that would be terrible.
She earnestly advised, "Young Master Zhou, it's different. Liking someone doesn't necessarily mean you have to marry them. Just like you like noodles, but you won't eat them as your staple food every day. We're not meant to be. Wouldn't it be better to just be brother and sister?"
Zhou Mu looked at Zijing, but the tenderness in his eyes seemed to have disappeared.
It was all indifference and helplessness.
He felt a chill in his heart.
It seems the girl was pushed too far.
Not wanting Miss Zijing to distance herself from him, Zhou Mu said with a sigh, "If Sister Zijing is unwilling, I will not force her. Let us then be brother and sister."
Jiang Zijin suddenly felt inexplicably flustered.
I lifted the curtain and looked around.
"What's wrong, Miss Zijing?" Zhou Mu followed her gaze but didn't notice anything unusual.
The wind was a bit stronger, and it was blowing against his face.
But it couldn't dispel the disappointment in his heart.
"Brother Mu, let's go back." Jiang Zijin felt uncomfortable all over.
"Choo Choo Choo……"
Chirp flew away and then flew back, landing on Miao Miao's shoulder and complaining.
[You have no idea, Zhou Mu is too stupid... Even I could tell that Jiang Zijing only thought he was just amusing himself... Zhou Mu is such a fool.]
Jiang Miaomiao: ……
Uh! She actually heard a confession.
What makes Zijing understand him, resonate with him, and share his heart?
Ugh! I'm getting goosebumps.
This sounds exactly like someone who's encountered a romance scammer.
There are no two people in the world who are perfectly compatible. If there is, you should be careful.
Jiang Miaomiao suddenly thought of something.
She could dream of Jiang Zijin's past life, and perhaps Jiang Zijin herself dreamed of it too.
If that's the case, then this girl is very likely to have been reborn.
Only then do their actions and words have a sense of transcending their age.
So she was looking for Zhou Mu as a backup plan.
The sharp-eyed little fellow spotted several more horse-drawn carriages on the lakeshore.
The boats on the lake gradually approached the shore.
Wow! This is going to be interesting.
……
Note [1] is from the Book of Songs, Zheng Feng.