The man covered his head in pain and said bitterly and nervously, "I'm just saying it casually." His voice was laced with fear.
The storyteller said, "Well, let's continue talking about that living bodhisattva." He continued to narrate his story vividly. He had no idea that Jing Rong and Ji Yunshu were also listening to his "nonsense" in this teahouse.
Jing Rong was not modest at all after hearing these words. "This prince isn’t just a living bodhisattva, I am a Great G.o.d." [1]
Ji Yunshu just took a sip of tea, and almost spat it out. "A bodhisattva is usually a woman. Are you a woman? With almond eyes, a cherry-like mouth, willow eyebrows, and a prominent nose? Rather, I think you have thick eyebrows and big eyes."
"Are you saying that this prince is ugly?"
"They say that sons of emperors are usually more handsome than the average person, so how could you be ugly?"
Jing Rong smiled and continued listening to the storyteller over there talking nonsense.
Ji Yunshu asked him, "The incident of the disaster relief funds has come to an end. What are you going to do next?"
"Take advantage of this time to relax and have fun doing nothing important." He spoke lazily and took a sip of tea.
Opposite him, Ji Yunshu maintained a solemn att.i.tude. She asked tentatively, "Then the matter of your return to the capital..."
Speaking of that, Jing Rong was silent for a moment and said, "It's impossible to return to the capital at this current time. If Imperial Father receives that report and knows that the case can't be solved, he might order this prince to stay in Yufu forever. If you decide to return to the capital to investigate the ‘Lin Capital Case’, this prince will send Lang Po and the others to protect you and stay by your side. They will also be able to take care of you for this prince."
“Did you not tell me at the start that you and I will return to the capital together? There is no way I will leave first. Furthermore, the Emperor's decree has yet to arrive. Everything is unknown."
"What if..."
"There is no ‘what if’, you will return to the capital." She was very sure about it.
Jing Rong smiled and didn't reply.
They came out of the teahouse and were wandering in the street when they saw someone selling lanterns. Jing Rong immediately pulled her over to the stall.
"What would the two young masters like?"
"Do you sell Kongming lanterns?" [2]
"Of course! We have as many as you might want. "
"I will buy one."
"Okay." The seller hurriedly took out a Kongming lantern, packed it nicely, then handed it to him, saying, "Young master, that will be thirty copper coins."
Jing Rong took out the money and gave it to him. Ji Yunshu was puzzled, "What are you buying this for?"
"What else would I do with a lantern other than to light it up?" Nothing wrong with that!
He said with a meaningful smile, "Wei Yi told me that when you were in Jinjiang, you had launched a Kongming Lantern with him, so this prince wants to launch one with you as well."
Oh! So that was it. Ji Yunshu lowered her eyes and smiled. This guy was secretly jealous again.
So that evening, the two of them launched a lantern in the courtyard.
Little Xiyue also came over. She was carrying a lantern in her hand and walking around the courtyard. When she saw Qiao'er and Zhuang'er coming out with writing brushes and ink, she quickly ran over and grabbed a brush to start drawing and writing on her lantern. She was very focused.
Zhuang'er asked with a smile, "Little Xiyue, your lantern won’t be able to fly into the sky. What's the point of writing on it?"
"I will give it to my elder brother." She kept her head down and continued to write and draw. How interesting.
Zhuang'er didn't ask again and stood beside her, watching her write. Qiao'er brought the brushes and ink over to Ji Yunshu and Jing Rong, "Your Highness, Teacher Ji, here are the brushes and ink that you wanted."
The two of them had just set up the Kongming lantern. It was huge and exquisitely made.
"What did you write on the Kongming lantern the last time you released one?" Jing Rong turned his head slightly to ask her.
She lifted her pen and dipped it in ink, "If I tell you, the wish won’t come true, will it? Anyway, you write yours and I'll write mine. Neither of us is allowed to peek." She started to write on the Kongming lantern.
Jing Rong smiled and shook his head. With his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with warm indulgence, he then lifted his brush to write as well.
After a little while, they were both ready. As for what exactly was written on the lantern, no one asked again. After igniting the wick in the lantern, the two stood facing each other, with that large Kongming lantern between them.
"Yunshu." He called her softly.
"Yes?" She couldn't see him, let alone his face. She could only see the shadow on the opposite side through the bright Kongming lantern.
It took a while before his voice sounded again. "Nothing, just calling out to you."
"Oh." She couldn't help but chuckle a little.
The Kongming Lantern then slowly detached from their hands, rising up little by little. It drifted into the inky sky, the bright light getting smaller and smaller.
On one side of the Kongming lantern, the words were ‘Together in life; inseparable in death’. On the other side, written in modern Chinese characters, it read ‘Accompanying my lord everywhere; resting forever in one grave’. In total, the fifteen characters were beautifully written; both sentences also had similar meanings.
The moment the Kongming Lantern was released, Jing Rong couldn't wait to see what she had written, but he couldn't understand those modern Chinese characters at all. His eyebrows furrowed deeply a few times. "Are those characters? Or drawings?" [3]
Ji Yunshu smiled, "Drawings."
"Drawings?" Jing Rong was confused by her. He then tilted his head hard and stretched his neck to look at it.
Ji Yunshu laughed to herself and walked over to Little Xiyue. She was still busy writing and drawing on the lantern with a brush. Her handwriting was very clear and neat, but her drawings were a little crooked and out of shape.
"What are you writing?”
"I want to make a lantern for my elder brother. He used to love lanterns. There used to be so many of them in the house and in the courtyard. However, a few years ago he suddenly threw away all of them, and never lit another lantern in the room again, so I'm going to make a lantern for him."
"Did he like lanterns very much before?"
"Yes, he did. Every time he came back, he would have a lantern in his hand and would hang it in his room. He loved them so much that he won't let anyone touch them and always lit them himself."
So, Wen Xian was a man of great sentiment.
Little Xiyue finished painting and raised the lantern. She said happily, "The drawing on this was my brother's favorite. Every lantern he brought back had this kind of flower on it."
There was a line of words on the lantern, "Committed to this gentleman I admire".
Right next to the words were two clear Zisang flowers. Although the shape was crooked and twisted, it was obvious what they were meant to be. The Zisang flower was a flower that represented love. [4]
If Ji Yunshu remembered correctly, she was once part of a large team that opened a tomb in a small county in Zhangzhou. In a coffin of that tomb, they found seeds of the long-extinct Zisang flower. All the people present were very excited and immediately sent the seeds to the research inst.i.tute. It was said that the seeds bloomed a month later. Those flowers looked just like the two now painted on the lantern by Little Xiyue. [5]
The flower’s petals had a gorgeous colour; white intertwined with red and pink intertwined with white.
Unfortunately, Ji Yunshu had only seen it that one time.
Since all of Wen Xian’s lanterns had Zisang Flowers on them. It should be Miss Ye'er who usually gave them to Wen Xian.
[1] Omg how arrogant are you...?
[2] These are also called sky lanterns, often released during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on 1st Oct this year! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_lantern
[3] h.e.l.lo author, modern chinese is not so different from ancient that they're unrecognisable as words ok. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characters#:~:text=The%20earliest%20confirmed%20evidence%20of,dated%20to%20around%201200%20BC.
[4] Author probably drew inspiration from Gesang flowers, which represent 'the one in front of you is far better than your dream girl'. http://www.china.org.cn/travel/2011-10/26/content_23727620.htm
[5] Isn't this a little too convenient? The tomb raiding expeditions are just your favorite excuse for knowing random trivia eh?