The Wandering God

30 Cold Pillow and Lonely Bed 1/2

"Really. What's your name?"

"I'm Wen Ming Lang. You?"

"Lu Sanli."

"Lu?" the girl called Ming Lang said, confused. Then her eyes widened. "Hot hell! You're one of the princes!"

Sanli tensed, waiting for her to call him 'the bastard prince', as everyone else did. But she didn't. She said something that surprised him even more.

"Marry me!" The girl said. She turned in her chair to face him, then took his hand in her own.

Sanli laughed out of surprise. "What?"

"Marry me! If I come home with a prince, my parents will stop trying to get me to marry every rich old lord in Lin'jing to help grow the family fortune."

Sanli could not stop laughing. Although they were sat at the back of the class, his laughter was loud enough to carry to the professor in the front.

"Is something amusing, my prince?" their lecturer asked with disdain.

"Ah, sorry I just, my neighbor wrote the character wrong. Instead of palace, it says phal—"

The professor dismissed Sanli's words with an irritated wave and returned to his lecture.

Sanli turned back to the young woman, still laughing softly. "I'll tell you what, Student Wen Ming Lang. I'm not going to marry you. But I will help you with your zih. They're atrocious."

Back in the present, Sanli watched Ming Lang as she finished her letter. Her handwriting had drastically improved, but she still forgot stroke order.

"I hope this storm doesn't affect your oath swearing tomorrow," said Sanli, leaning a chin on one hand as he watched her write.

"It won't. The ceremony takes place in the temple. Rain won't reach in there," Ming Lang said. She brought her seal, just an ordinary, family yinzhang, to rest on the paper, signing it. Then she tucked it into her sleeve and stood to leave.

"Why don't you stay longer?" said Sanli. He reached out and took her arms gently in his hands, as if to hold the small woman in place. "We have not seen each other in such a while."

Ming Lang crooked an eyebrow. "I do not think your lover will be happy about that. I am sure she is waiting for me to leave to come to you."

Sanli sighed, and thought of Ao. He was surprised she had agreed to come to the Memorial Temple with everyone. Her face that morning when she had appeared in the courtyard, dressed like a queen, had made it very clear she did not appreciate Ming Lang's presence.

"I've told you. She is not my lover. Just a... friend," said Sanli, letting Ming Lang's arms go and sinking back in his chair.

"A friend you sleep with? A friend doesn't glower at me like she did. What did you tell her of me?"

"What's there to tell? You're also my friend. From my university days," said Sanli indifferently.

"A friend who you proposed to, if you recall. Did you tell her that? Is that why she hates me?"

Sanli sighed again and thought back.

It was the final day of classes. Next week would be their graduation ceremony, and then they would be graduates of the university.

Sanli glanced at the girl sat beside him. Her hair was still cut short, but as she had grown, it had become plain she was no boy. Her lips had filled, and her cheekbones sharpened. A part of him knew Ming Lang was not what was considered pretty or beautiful, but a much larger part of him loved her face, in all its familiarity. He could not think of a face he would rather see.