Chapter 344: Chapter 312: Sweet Dream_2
So, for just one dish, they had to capture hundreds of paddy sparrows.
How much manpower must have been expended...
Just thinking of this made her heart sink, but then she couldn’t help but blame herself—She had made up her mind that on this day, just this day, she wouldn’t let the scenery go to waste, so why bother with all these thoughts?
So she smiled and said, "I understand."
Eunuch Yu glanced at her and whispered, "Madam, please enjoy your meal."
After speaking, he retreated.
Shang Ruyi picked up her chopsticks, silently picking dishes and sipping wine, yet seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, she did not touch the enticing exquisite tongue.
Chu Yang glanced faintly and said nothing more.
At this moment, a gentle melody suddenly arose. Shang Ruyi immediately looked up but saw no musician in sight; upon listening carefully, the music came from beyond the courtyard walls, faint and elusive, filling the quietness of the moment without disturbing them too much. As the music began, a troupe of red-clad dancing girls also entered from beyond the Treasure Bottle Gate, ascending the veranda and dancing gracefully to the music.
Shang Ruyi watched and listened, then turned to Chu Yang, "This—"
"Do you like it?"
Chu Yang smiled at her: "A garden stroll is not complete without song and dance for entertainment, is it?"
"..."
"Though your attire and diet have all been arranged by me recently, I haven’t provided much for your amusement to let you rest peacefully. Today, I’m making it up to you."
After speaking, he asked again, "Do you like it?"
Shang Ruyi looked at him for a while and nodded, "I like it."
Chu Yang’s smile deepened. He picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one go.
Shang Ruyi continued to gaze at him, then looked at the peach blossom placed on the table, and at the dancing girls around them, the enchanting music lingering at her ears. After a long silence, she too picked up her wine cup, drinking down the thirty-year-old daughter red in one go.
The sweet wine burned all the way down, swallowing back the words she should not have spoken.
For the first time, she realized how well she could hold her liquor.
And for the first time, she found that wine cannot drown sorrow...
Because no matter how much she drank, she could still feel the sharp pain in her chest clearly; the more beautiful the scenery before her eyes, the more splendid the song and dance, the more intense the pain she bore inside.
Finally, dinner was over.
Night had fallen.
Shang Ruyi thought she could finally escape from this seemingly endless pain in her chest, only to see Chu Yang stand up and wave his hand, saying, "Dismissed."
Immediately, the music quieted, and the dancing girls retreated.
The courtyard was almost left with just the two of them. Shang Ruyi also stood up and softly said, "Your Majesty wants to—"
She stopped herself midway through her words.
Was the day truly ending like this?
But what about the Imperial Guard, Wang Shaoji? She had received that warning handkerchief, yet until now, there had been no unusual occurrences. Could the warning truly have been mistaken? Or—
Just as her mind was in turmoil, Chu Yang reached out again and grasped her wrist.
This time, his hand was warm, even a bit uncontrollable in strength, squeezing her wrist to the point of pain.
"Your Majesty?"
Shang Ruyi was startled, but before she could say anything, Chu Yang already pulled her through the Treasure Bottle Gate, walking outside.
By now darkness had fallen, and up ahead there was no Eunuch Yu leading with a lantern, yet they moved unimpeded. That was because those glazed lamps seen under the eaves earlier were all lit!
Shang Ruyi opened her eyes wide in surprise—when had these lights been lit?
Lit without them noticing, as they walked in, it was as if they were stepping into a painting prepared just for her.
Shang Ruyi was led by Chu Yang in a daze, until they finally ascended the Bright Hall and stood on the red steps to look back, immediately widening her eyes in shock.
The whole Jiangdu Palace was illuminated by countless glazed lamps.
These lamps came in all shapes and colors, emitting lights of red, blue, translucent or hazy, dazzling like spirits of the night. The Jiangdu Palace, outlined by these bright lights, resembled an entire crystal palace, gleaming in the night, breathtakingly beautiful.
Shang Ruyi was stunned into speechlessness by the beautiful scene before her, tears unknowingly welled up, blurring the glazed lights with her tears.
"Is it beautiful?"
Chu Yang’s gentle voice sounded again by her ear, Ruyi didn’t even dare to look up at him, just nodded with her head lowered, "Mm."
But Chu Yang chuckled, "It’s not over yet."
Not over yet?
Shang Ruyi was taken aback, disregarding her tearful eyes, she immediately looked up wanting to ask him, but before she could speak, a muffled sound like a spring thunder roared above her head.
She quickly turned her head, only to feel a dazzling light before her eyes, she instinctively closed her eyes, and when she opened them, a splendid firework bloomed above the Bright Hall.
"This is—"
She wanted to speak, but had no time to do so, as one firework after another blossomed overhead, reds, yellows, purples, blues, tree fire silver flowers in thousands, illuminating the dark Jiangdu night like daylight.
Shang Ruyi was completely stunned.
People often refer to moments too beautiful as dreams coming true, but at this moment she felt like a dreaming butterfly—
Otherwise, how could life be so exquisitely perfect?
As she was marveling at whether she was in a dream or something else, Chu Yang’s voice rang by her ear.
"Do you like it?"
She opened her mouth, just about to say something, but heard Chu Yang’s voice sounding again amidst the booming blossoms of fireworks: "Do you—like it?"