Fuzhu's Ballad

28

CHAPTER 28 Heavenly scripture without words

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Spring came late in Tongye, and when they got back to the General’s mansion, it was already snowing lightly.

Shentu Rui’s horse moved slowly, and Lan Dan sat in his arms, tightly holding onto his bow. It was heavy, but it gave her an indescribable sense of security.

The streets were dimly lit, with only the moonlight shining down to light the way. It wasn’t very late, but the entire city was quiet, except for the faint echo of Shentu Rui’s horse hooves as they passed through the streets. The entire world seemed to be sleeping in the chilly moonlight, leaving only her and him. She watched as Shentu Rui’s pale breath dissipated in the air, feeling as if they were the only two people in existence.

She knew it was an illusion. With Shentu Rui’s temperament, he could walk alone for eternity. But even if it was just an illusion, she didn’t want to break the magic of this night, this moon, and this man.

Unfortunately, someone had to disturb this rare state of tranquility. Sun Shi Xiang arrived on foot, carrying a lantern made from a sheep’s horn, from the direction of the General’s mansion.

Shentu Rui saw it and knew something was wrong. He dismounted from his horse and held the reins, walking a few steps to meet Sun Shi Xiang, creating some distance between himself and Lan Dan who remained on the horse.

“Your Highness, there is an urgent report from the capital.” Sun Shi Xiang lowered his voice, but the surroundings were too quiet, and Lan Dan heard him clearly.

Sun Shi Xiang extracted a letter from his pocket and handed it over to Shentu Rui. He held the lamp up high to assist him in reading the letter.

Lan Dan could only see Shentu Rui’s back. Even though he did not say anything, she felt his mood had become gloomy. Even his action of burning the letter and envelope on the fire seemed to be done reluctantly.

He turned to look at her, with a slight crease on his forehead. “I have an urgent matter to attend to in the capital and need to return as soon as possible. You…”

“I’ll go with you!” Lan Dan knew he was worried about her enduring the hardships on the road and wanted her to take a carriage back to the capital slowly, but she didn’t want to.

Shentu Rui slowly nodded. “Alright then, rest early tonight. We’ll set off at dawn tomorrow.”

“Alright!” Lan Dan said cheerfully.

In the stillness, Lan Dan heard all kinds of slogans and orderly footsteps in her sweet sleep. She unconsciously opened her eyes, looked at the window paper, and saw no light. She doubted if she was dreaming, but the sounds were too real. She froze, sat up straight, and wondered if Shentu Rui had already left.

The slogans got closer, and Lan Dan realized that it was the army morning exercise. Her heart accelerated too violently, even if she understood it for a while, she could not calm down, and became flustered.

She arranged her tangled hair and acknowledged her predicament— that of a duckweed with no roots. The sense of helplessness was deeply embedded within her, and neither she nor Shentu Rui could alleviate it.

She shook her hair in annoyance, jumped off the bed, and realized once again that she was a weak person who avoided problems because she did not know how to solve them. She felt frustrated as she prepared herself for the day, her face looking pale and lifeless in the mirror.

She went to the dining room for breakfast, where Shentu Rui and Su Yi Ming had just returned from their morning exercises, looking radiant and energetic. Although breakfast was simple, they ate heartily. She only had a small piece of bread, which was hard to swallow, but luckily, there was hot soy milk, which she drank listlessly.