Chapter 84 The flowery bright moon was covered in the dark fog
She waited till the third night watch period (23:00-01:00). Gu Xiran hasn't returned yet.The night consisted of five two hours night watch periods.
Meijing had gone to Luminous Magnificent Pavilion with Huiyun. Only Meijing had returned and said, "Second young master was afraid that second young mistress would be waiting for him and hasn't slept yet. He sent me back to serve you and said that if you are tired, you can go sleep first."
Shu Huan made an "mm" sound and looked up from her sketch. She suddenly felt that it was a bit stuffy in the room. She asked Meijing to open the window to let the cool air from outside come in.
Meijing talked about the details of drinking party, but she didn't truly listen to it.
She leaned against the window and looked outside. The moonlight was hazy, and the mist was rising.
If one listened carefully, the faintly discerning sounds from Luminous Magnificent Pavilion would pass through the flowers and water to here. This kind of atmosphere made Shu Huan involuntarily think about a poem: The flowery bright moon was covered in the dark fog; this night really wants to go to the youth's side…
She suddenly got the impulse to paint. She called Meijing to go grind the ink. She spread out an unprocessed paper, took a brush and put it in ink. After she had moistened the brush, she went to paint on the paper. She didn't pause at all. When she finished, she put aside the brush and sighed from relief. She immediately felt her mood become lighter. She didn't look at what she had painted. Instead, she walked to the bed and lay on it. She only said, "So tired! I will go to sleep. You should also go to sleep!"
Meijing looked at the painting on the table that hasn't dried yet. So, she didn't put it away for her. She closed half of the window to prevent raindrops from wetting the painting if it rained at night. Then, she blew out the candle and went out.
When Gu Xiran returned with dew and cold air to the room and put the light on, he saw Shu Huan soundly asleep with clothes on. He couldn't help but shook his head while smiling. He walked to the table to pour tea to sober up. He didn't expect to see a Chinese painting on the table. He couldn't help himself from looking at it.
On the painting was the shadow of a flower under the hazy moonlight. Washes of ink was used to make the mist light and moving. Aside from that, there was the back of a girl dressed in a silken dress while embroidering a shoe and who used on hand to push aside the sprig of a plant with blossoms. There was no depiction of the appearance at all, but the shyness, nervousness and excitement were vividly on the paper.
The brushwork of this painting wasn't perfect yet, but the composition and Chinese art of painting was enough.
Gu Xiran looked for a while and muttered to himself, "This little girl learned quite fast…"
Although, he praised this painting, but he felt unpleasant while looking at the painting. Taking advantage that he was tipsy, he picked up the brush, dipped it in the thick ink that hasn't dried up yet and added two sentences to the painting.
After he wrote it, a cool breeze burst in from the half-opened window and awakened his somewhat dizzy head. When he looked at the handwriting on the painting, he suddenly felt some remorse that he added the sentences. Just when he wanted to quietly hide the painting, he didn't expect that the soundly asleep Shu Huan would mutter, "Gu Xiran…"
When Gu Xiran heard that, his body stiffened. He thought she had awakened and he naturally couldn't continue to act like the "thief" anymore. However, when he calmly walked to the bed, he discovered that he had overestimated Shu Huan's alertness when being asleep.
She hadn't woken up. The mutter just now was only because she was dreaming! With the help of the light, he could see that her brows were frowned and her expression was depressed. It was obviously that she didn't sleep well. From time to time, she would toss and turn.
Gu Xiran looked at her sleeping face and couldn't help himself from reaching out and trying to smooth her frowning brows. He didn't expect that his finger just touched her eyebrows when his sleeve had been grabbed by her. Her drowsy eyes opened slightly. After looking at him for a long while did she seem to have identified him. Then, she smiled slightly at him, "You have returned?"
"Mm," Gu Xiran's heart tightened. He barely suppressed the rush to take her into his arms. He smiled at her.
Seeing his smile, Shu Huan seemed to have a peace of mind and closed her eyes. She muttered, "The smell of alcohol is very foul…"
"…"
For the first time in his life did Gu Xiran became speechless because of her.
Shu Huna then called his name, "Gu Xiran…"
"I'm here."
"Help me make a choice."
The sentence that didn't make sense and made Gu Xiran frown. Just when he wanted to ask her about it, he saw that she had let go of his sleeve, turned around and went back to sleep.
"…"
Her sleeping posture would truly be his dead one day!
Last time, she didn't wake up no matter what he did. This time, she had woken up, but she just said a few sentences and went to sleep again. Only leaving him with an inexplicable question to make him have a headache.
Gu Xiran stood in front of the bed and looked at her for a short while. Suddenly, he felt tipsy. Just when he was about to blow out the light and rest, his gaze fell on the painting on the table. Immediately, an understanding appeared in his eyes.
Alright!
So be it!
He smiled faintly, blew out the light and went to bed. He didn't bother anymore with the painting and the sentences on the painting.
—
Shu Huan slept until morning. When she sat up early in the morning, she saw Gu Xiran. She vaguely remembered what had happened last night. It was just that she was confused about if it was a dream or a reality. If it was the former, it was fine. If it was the later, it would be so embarrassing.
Damn it!
She somewhat had the mentality of an ostrich. Since, she couldn't rule out the possibility that it was the later, she crept under the bed and wanted to sneak away before Gu Xiran woke up. She didn't discover that he had already opened his eyes and looked smilingly at how she bent to get the shoes on the ground. She didn't wait to wear them well before she run to the door. He felt that she looked like the girl in the painting of last night.
Shu Huan didn't know that someone was staring at her. She run panicked to the door, but she suddenly remembered something. She turned and went to the table. She didn't even look at the painting and rushed to roll it up. She planned to bring it to Bamboo Pavilion and ask Ji Danqing whether she had improved.
She ran away carrying the painting like that!
It made Gu Xiran who was still in bed a bit sullen. Then, he heard her talk to concubine Yun in a whispering voice. First, she congratulated her because of her birthday and then she said, "Last night, second young master got drunk. He is still sleeping now. Later, when he wakes up, bring him a bowl of hangover soup."
Gu Xiran didn't know whether he should be angry or laugh when he heard that. He wasn't that drunk, but he was thirsty for sleep. Hence, he simply ignored her and went to sleep again. Anyway, it was bound that she would find out about some things. It was only a matter of it being sooner or later.
After Shu Huan briefed concubine Yun, she casually ate something and went to Bamboo Pavilion. She just entered when she saw the little girl they brought back from the mountain was slowly walking around while using the bamboos in the courtyard as support.
"Do you feel better?" Shu Huan went to greet her and reached out to support her.
That girl revealed a faint smile and nodded at Shu Huan.
She still didn't talk…
It was elegant and secluded here at the resort. The food was also exquisite. Also, with the careful treatment of doctor Ji and that Shu Huan let people sent ice three times a day to Bamboo Pavilion, that girl had long escaped the dangerous period. The injury on her calf was also getting better and better with ever day. They only didn't know why she still refused to talk. If it wasn't because she shouted pain the two days she was in coma, Shu Huan would've almost thought that she had a physical defective and was born unable to speak.