Fuzhu's Ballad

6

CHAPTER 6 A timely snow in winter augurs bountiful harvest

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Lan Dan slowly sipped hot tea. The heavy snow outside looked like cotton wool. She didn’t want to think about anything. Her thoughts were too much, too deep and too dark, so she instinctively avoided dwelling on them.

Shentu Rui must be a person who knew how to enjoy life. Although the Prince of Yan’s mansion was small, everything was organized satisfactorily. She found that her bedroom was connected to a small chamber furnished with a solitary low table. She wondered what it was used for. It turned out that the floor-to-ceiling window of the small chamber opened onto a small garden. On such a cold and windy day, the dragon heater was burning hot. Opening the window to enjoy the snow while leisurely drinking fragrant tea was really comfortable and soothing to the bones.

Shentu Rui strode in from her bedroom, bringing in the cold wind. He sat down on the other side of the low table in a free and easy manner. He didn’t even take off his coat. He look extraordinarily graceful and elegant in a royal robe.

Lan Dan looked at the dragon embroidered pattern on his shoulders, and sneered coldly. Da Yan dynasty usurped the throne too quickly. Many of the ceremonial regulations had to be followed according to the previous dynasty’s system. Even this ceremonial robe… she had seen it on her brothers countless times. She couldn’t help but think of Third and Ninth Brothers who were buried in the mass grave. Once upon a time, they were also such luxurious and distinguished figures.

Her eyes dimmed as her mood plummeted. Her fingertips swirled the teacup, but she didn’t have the heart to take a sip anymore.

“Why did you have the mirror taken away?” Shentu Rui asked with great interest, as if he didn’t notice the change in her expression, or he didn’t care at all.

“When it’s in front of my eyes, I can’t help but want to stare all day,” Lan Dan replied absent-mindedly.

Amused, Shentu Rui laughed, spilling a few drops of tea. “You are still the same as before.”

These words pricked Lan Dan’s heart. She turned her face and glared at him. How could she still be the same? Wasn’t it because of him that she changed like this?

Shentu Rui was stunned for a moment. Lan Dan probably didn’t know how imposing she looked with a glance like this. The alluring face coupled with the icy expression and the girlish resentment in her eyes could almost shoot an invisible sharp arrow through the heart. His heart tingled. His mouth opened on its own and coaxed her, “I meant your temperament. Your temperament has always been very interesting.”

Lan Dan’s expression froze. Interesting? When was she ever interesting?

“I went to pay respects to my ancestors today and I’m quite tired.” Shentu Rui reclined, and the ever observant maid immediately took a high pillow and placed it against his back.

“Your ancestral tablets are all displayed in my family’s ancestral hall now?”

Shentu Rui couldn’t help laughing again. In fact, she had always spoken in an interesting way, complaining with sharp wit and speaking softly with a kind of dry humor. But no one had ever listened carefully, including Shentu Cheng.

“What do you think… of your father?” she asked suddenly, absently watching the snowflakes outside the window.

“No idea.” Shentu Rui was no longer smiling. “I haven’t had a father since I was a child.”

His attitude towards his father made Lan Dan paused. His father, the Duke of Anguo, passed away almost fifteen years ago. Shentu Rui was now twenty three this year. It seemed too unfeeling to say that he had never had a father since he should have had some memories of him at the age of eight.