The melancholy sound of the guqin floated in the air as it narrated what was weighing the player’s mind down, playing Jian Jia from the Book of Songs: The reeds and rushes are deeply green, and the white dew is turned into hoarfrost. The man of whom I think, is somewhere about the water. I go up the stream in quest of him, but the way is difficult and long. I go down the stream in quest of him, and lo! he is right in the midst of the water. (Translation by James Legge)[a]
Because of the blistering hot summer, all the windows were completely open. Mosquito repellent incense was placed on all the window ledges and the wispy smoke billowed in the air while the soothing sound of the guqin drifted in, cleansing one’s mind.
Ruan Zhu’s mind became empty and she sat up on the bed. As the guqin’s song came to an end, she nevertheless could not help but to sing:
The green grass is flourishing and in the white fog
there is a beautiful woman across the water.
The green grass is luxuriant and indistinct in the white fog,
there is a beautiful woman in the midst of the water.
I’m willing to go against the current to nestle against her side.
Helpless against the dangerous rapids ahead, the road is once again distant and long.
I’m willing to follow the current in the direction she’s gone,
yet saw a faint silhouette like she had long been standing in the water.
The green grass is flourishing and in the white fog
there is a beautiful woman across the water……
Across the Water 在水一方 by Chiang Lei 江蕾 [b]
The mellow voice was just like a fine wine, intoxicating the mind of people. Just earlier, Yun Shi Wei had been put into a fitful sleep by the guqin but had been quickly woken by his wife’s singing. He reach out a hand to hug her: “Spouse, it is still your singing that is nice to listen to. Listening to it is very comfortable. But, that person’s guqin song is also not bad, hearing it made me want to sleep.”
This dolt, such a beautiful guqin melody had actually been regarded as a lullaby.
Ruan Zhu suddenly felt that the two parents of the Yun clan giving her their second son as a secondary husband was a wise move. If he had been arranged as the principal husband for some other female, it would be a wonder if he didn’t end up being disliked and ignored.
In the inn’s Sky Room #3, Lu Piao Xiang’s jet-black hair spilled across his shoulders and over the white robe he had draped across himself. On his angular yet distinctly handsome face, there was a hard to make out emotion as he blankly stared at the starry sky for a very long while, while murmuring to himself:
“You really are the kindred soul I have been looking for all along.”
He had only played Jian Jia to comfort himself and very quickly, a similar song had been sung. Could this be a coincidence? No, this was clearly the mysterious arrangement of the Heavens. The world had a Lu Piao Xiang that loved the guqin, and naturally, the world would also have one that understood him–his kindred soul.
Lu Piao Xiang’s tall and straight figure stood motionless in front of the window, only returning to rest in his bed after half the night had passed.
At this moment, Ruan Zhu did not yet know that the song she had sung out of a sudden impulse would entrap the young man even further.
She was currently imprisoned inside Yun Shi Wei’s embrace with his arm as her pillow and felt a bit at peace.
Pregnant women were prone to sleepiness. Just as she was about to doze off, his noisy voice sounded from next to her ear: “Spouse, after you give birth to Eldest Brother’s child, have him eat some contraceptives to let me have some children, too. I would like a boy. After he’s born and grows stronger, I’ll teach him martial arts, horseback riding, and archery.”
STAI LEGGENDO
Husbands Seeking Love
Storie d'amore[C O M P L E T E] The day she transmigrated it, she was already the wife of two men. She later became the Queen of the country. Her life has been cherished by seven men.
