“What did you say to her? You even had to chase me away for that…” Pei Qingfeng started to pout like a little kid.
Bai Luochu saw the expression on his face and she couldn"t control her laughter, “Pffft, why are you making that face? Are you jealous that I went to talk to another woman behind your back?”
“Nonsense!” Pei Qingfeng turned his gaze and stared into the distance as though she had caught him doing something bad.
“Let"s go back.” Raising her foot, Bai Luochu started to walk away.
Pei Qingfeng followed behind her and the image of a refined prince disappeared as though it was never there to begin with. “Sure! Let"s go back and set a date for the marriage!”
“What are you talking about! I didn"t even promise to be your wife! Are you so sure I will accept your marriage proposal?”
Bai Luochu felt a little helpless. As soon as I give him an inch, he will reach for a yard… Humph!
“Whatever… Even if I don"t say it, our relations.h.i.+p won"t change. I already rejected all sorts of marriage proposals for you. Even the one with Ao Xue! My father and the elders in the sect already accepted you as my wife. Even if you want to run, you won"t be able to!”
“Are you so sure? Do you think that I won"t be able to vanish in a puff of smoke and disappear before your eyes?”
Pei Qingfeng became fl.u.s.tered when he heard her subtle threat. “Luoluo, if you"re not willing to get married now, we can always wait. I"m not in a rush. Please don"t do anything silly…” If she were to really disappear from the face of the earth, Pei Qingfeng wouldn"t know what to do. If she really didn"t want to get married to him, he would at least be able to see her everyday.
Bai Luochu started to giggle but it became a full blown laughter in a matter of seconds, “HAHAHA! Look at you! You really think that I"m going to leave you? Aren"t you going back to write a letter to invite your father here for the proposal? What are you waiting for? If all the messenger pigeons lose their way in the dark, are you going to be responsible for it?”
Bai Luochu quickly ran towards the Palace of Brilliance Resurgence after speaking, leaving Pei Qingfeng behind. After a long while, Pei Qingfeng snapped back to his senses and realized that she was merely making fun of him. He quickly chased behind her and lightly tapped her head.
“Luoluo, why are you getting more and more playful?”
Bai Luochu wasn"t willing to let him do as he wished and quickly fought back with her words. “Ling King, there is a saying that goes, "Those who handle cinnabar have their hands stained red and those who work with ink have their hands stained black". I"m who I am now because I interact closely with a hooligan everyday. Furthermore, you should be extremely clear about his ident.i.ty…”
“Hey! I"m an amazingly positive influence!” Pei Qingfeng was naturally unwilling to admit that he was the person who caused her to become who she was today, a cheeky little brat. He hastily tried to turn the tides in his favor but fell into Bai Luochu"s trap instead.
…
On the other hand, Su Luoqing had already returned to the inner palace. She was thinking about Bai Luochu"s advice as she couldn"t understand what she was talking about.
“What does she mean by cheris.h.i.+ng the people around me?” Su Luoqing looked at the almost ancient jewelry on her table and stared at it for a moment. After snapping out of it, she decided to bury it somewhere. After all, it was time for her to move on in life.
She recalled that the piece was given to her by the then Empress Dowager when she was still a child. She developed a certain fondness for the pretty little piece and she ran around the entire garden while holding onto it. Because of a slight moment of carelessness, she fell and sc.r.a.ped her knee. As she sat on the ground crying, no one came to help her. She wasn"t allowed to bring her own maids into the palace and the palace maids didn"t know who this little girl was and refused to help her.
No one came forward to help her no matter how loudly she cried.
All of a sudden, Pei Qingfeng appeared before her and he helped her up. It was as though she met her prince charming and he spoke to her in an extremely gentle voice, “Are you alright?”
It was this sentence of his that caused her to develop her feelings for him. Because of this, Su Luoqing wasted many years pining for the unattainable Second Prince of the Cloud Water Nation.
After so many years, she finally managed to untie the knot in her heart.
“Why is my imperial concubine in such a good mood today? Can"t you get the servants to do such ch.o.r.es for you?” Pei Rumo noticed Su Luoqing digging a pit in the imperial garden and felt the urge to tease her. He found the sight a little interesting as an elegant imperial concubine was on the ground, shovelling dirt with a tiny spoon.
Seeing that Pei Rumo had appeared, Su Luoqing quickly stood up and shook the dust off her clothes. She bowed respectfully and greeted, “Your Majesty.”
“Why haven"t you replied me? What"s the point of digging dirt in the imperial garden? Won"t you get your hands dirty?” Pei Rumo noticed the jewelry box beside her and felt a little puzzled. He once urged her to throw the old box away but she seemed adamant about keeping it. What"s got into her?
“Replying to Your Majesty, I"m just burying my past… A past that no longer belongs to me.” This was the only way she could focus on what was to come. Looking at Pei Rumo, she suddenly realized that her past was no longer important. She wanted to cherish this person in front of her.
Seeing that the way Su Luoqing looked at him changed, Pei Rumo wanted to scratch his head and question her about it. However, he decided against it as he only married her in order to stabilize his rule.
“How was your chat with them in the afternoon?” Pei Rumo"s control over the imperial palace was absolute and nothing could escape his sight. He was naturally aware that she had spoken to Pei Qingfeng and Bai Luochu in the afternoon.
Su Luoqing wasn"t surprised and a soft smile blossomed on her face as she looked at Pei Rumo. She finally opened her mouth and she said, “News sure travels fast. Your Majesty can rest a.s.sured that I will not step out of line.”
Hearing what she said, Pei Rumo widened his eyes in shock. He never thought that she would be okay with him spying on her and he even felt that he had turned into a narrow minded ruler for a moment.
“I didn"t mean to suspect you of anything. I was merely curious. You could put down your pride and speak to the two of them and you even allowed Pei Qingfeng to walk away without sparing him another glance. I felt a little surprised…”
“We can"t keep holding onto our past. We should let go when it"s time to let go. Tightly holding onto things will only cause us more pain. They seem like a match made in heaven and even though I thought that I would feel jealous after seeing the two of them together, that wasn"t the case. I only felt envy when I looked at the both of them.”
She was envious that they had the freedom to love each other, to be together with the person they loved. She was envious that they had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. She was envious that they had the chance to celebrate the wedding with a grand celebration. In the end, all she could do was to be envious of the both of them…
As Pei Rumo and Su Luoqing looked at each other silently, Su Luoqing was the first to break the silence.
“Your Majesty, the two of them are going to get married soon. Have you prepared your gift for them yet?”
Pei Rumo snapped back to his senses and recalled that he hadn"t prepared anything. He almost slapped himself for forgetting to do such an important task.
“Do you have any suggestions?” He felt that giving the two of them rare treasures was a little tacky and with their abilities, what kind of special treasure could he take out for the both of them? In the end, he simply threw the ball into Su Luoqing"s court. After all, ladies were more thoughtful when picking out gifts.
Su Luoqing never thought that she would be shooting herself in the foot when she asked a casual question. Now, she had to rack her brains to think of the perfect wedding gift for the both of them…
After thinking for a long time, Su Luoqing thought of something. However, her request seemed a little questionable. “Your Majesty, why don"t you personally write a plaque for them? Inlay the words with gold and write, "Heavens" Blessing". You can show your concern for them and it doesn"t seem too shabby of a gift.”