Miss Truth-Chapter 694: Extra Story Two: Sang Chen’s Story (Final)_2
Ruoruo hemmed and hawed for quite some time, but couldn’t come up with a reason. Children often act on impulse; there’s rarely a reason behind their actions—perhaps it was simply fate with Du Jiangli.
After passing through an arch, Ran Yan quickened her pace. Ruoruo had always been more frail than most children, and with Du Jiangli suffering from a cold and fever, she might catch it from him. Not wanting her daughter to endure that misery, Ran Yan first fetched a pill from the pharmacy to prevent a cold for Ruoruo to take, then immediately wrote a prescription and sent Wan Lu to brew the medicine.
Meanwhile, only Sang Chen and Du Jiangli remained in the room.
Sang Chen stood outside the mosquito net, feeling rather awkward, unsure whether to stay or go.
"You should go back first, sir," said Du Jiangli, his thoughts hazy. Just now...it seemed he had spoken of marrying Sang Chen.
Sang Chen hesitated for a long while before he said, "Then I shall take my leave first."
Stepping outside, he lingered, unable to bring himself to leave. He had always been timid, but he was not indecisive. Yet, faced with this affair, he felt trapped; on one hand, he felt he should not change his heart, while on the other hand, he felt that the affection for Du Jiangli was the same as his initial feelings for Ran Yan. The only difference was that he was not afraid of Du Jiangli.
It was as if his affection had simply shifted onto Du Jiangli.
After standing still for quite some time, Sang Chen finally bid farewell and unknowingly made his way to Liu Qingsong’s residence.
Liu Qingsong was off duty today. Lying in a hammock with his legs crossed, he enjoyed a massage from a beautiful maid. On being informed of Sang Chen’s arrival, Liu Qingsong got up, put on his wooden clogs, and went out to greet him, exclaiming, "What a rare visitor! Has the esteemed monk finally come down from the mountain?"
Sang Chen’s face reddened, and he gave a bow.
After both had sat down, Sang Chen stutteringly told Liu Qingsong about the situation with Du Jiangli, and with a face full of confusion, he asked, "What should I do?"
"What do you mean, what should you do? You need to take responsibility for her!" Liu Qingsong shoved a piece of fruit into his mouth and said, "I really don’t understand how you think. Ran Yan obviously has no romantic feelings for you, with three kids running around everywhere, and who knows, there might even be a fourth, fifth, sixth one on the way. Are you really going to stay chaste for her? Aren’t you tired of living like this?"
Seeing Sang Chen hang his head, Liu Qingsong swallowed his food and said, "The Buddha’s teachings speak of guarding the heart, not just the body. ’Meat and wine pass through, but the principles stay in the heart.’ Since you’ve not guarded your heart, what’s the point of guarding your body? Are you asking for people to look down on you?"
"I despise myself for not guarding my heart," Sang Chen said gloomily.
And there lay the crux of his problem. Unlike those men who cheat physically while their hearts remain unchanged, Sang Chen was the opposite. He yearned for a lifelong partnership with the woman he loved, but that woman went ahead and committed to a lifetime with someone else, prompting him to force his heart to become indifferent to romantic love, demanding that even if he developed feelings, he would never betray the emotions he once held.
"Some love is fleeting like a shooting star, some accumulate like grains of sand into a tower, and some love is as eternal as a glance lasting a thousand years... Who can predict what kind of love they will experience? Who can assure that one will stay true for a lifetime?" Liu Qingsong stated with a melancholic gaze lifted at a forty-five-degree angle, then suddenly slapped the table, remarking, "Don’t you think I’m incredibly talented?"
Sang Chen pursed his lips in silence for a long while, then said, "Lady Dianliang makes sense, I need to muster some courage and act like a bold and responsible man!"
Having said that, he got up and hurriedly took his leave.
Just as Liu Qingsong stood up, a maid rushed in and exclaimed, "My Lord, the Lady is giving birth!"
"Wasn’t she sleeping?" Liu Qingsong dashed toward the backyard, running and shouting as he went, "Call the midwife, boil water, prepare meals, and make ginseng soup!"
While all was chaos on that end, Sang Chen, resolved in his decision, headed to East Market to buy clay, planning to make an inkstone.
Half a month later, when the issue of Du Jiangli becoming a nun had somewhat cooled down, Lady Zhao took the opportunity of visiting the temple to secretly inquire Sang Chen about the matter. Sang Chen agreed without hesitation and said he would visit the residence in a few days to formally propose.
So, one morning at the end of autumn, in the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era, just after the morning drum had sounded.
In the dim light of dawn, a young man in wide-sleeved robes carried a big bundle to Du’s residence and knocked on the door.
When the door opened, the young man, with sweat dripping down his face, said, "I am here to ask for a lady’s hand in marriage."
The doorkeeper was taken aback and said, "Don’t talk nonsense, sir. Our lady has already been betrothed, and even the wedding date is set."
Sang Chen felt as though he had been struck by lightning, his mind buzzing.
Seeing his handsome appearance but distressed demeanor, the gatekeeper couldn’t help but feel sympathy, "Sir, you should leave quickly. Don’t wait for dawn or you’ll be seen."
Sang Chen stood in a daze for a while before he remembered to ask, "Is this the old residence of Du Ruhui?"
The gatekeeper realized the mistake and enthusiastically advised, "You’ve gone the wrong way, sir. The old residence of the Du family is to the east. Turn left out of the alley, turn right at the T-junction, walk forward for more than ten yards, then turn left, and it’ll be the first doorway."
Sang Chen listened until his head spun, yet he still expressed his thanks and murmured, "Left, right, left, left, right, left..."
He rambled on for quite some time before remembering to ask, where is the east?
"I knew you would get lost," came a light laugh from behind him.
Relieved, Sang Chen turned and saw Du Jiangli wearing a "mask", followed by a servant and a maid. He hurriedly approached her, "Wife."
"What have you brought?" Du Jiangli asked curiously as she looked at the large bundle behind him.
"I’ve made dozens of Duan inkstones... and have brought all my savings from these years to offer for my marriage to you," Sang Chen said.
"I heard you also carried Duan inkstones when you went to propose to the Ran family. Does your bundle contain more than last time?" she inquired.
"The same amount..." Sang Chen said, embarrassed.
Du Jiangli asked, "Is there any writing beneath the inkstones?"
Surprised, Sang Chen replied, "How did you know, Wife?"
After a moment of reflection, Du Jiangli said, "I once had one... um, I dreamed about it. From now on, make them without any writing. I’ll write on them."
"What will Wife write?" Sang Chen inquired.
"..."
"Wife?"
"Hmm?"
"What will you carve?"
"..."
"Wife."
"Won’t tell you."
"It’s not that I wanted to ask; I wanted to know, are you truly a fox, Wife?"
"You are the fox!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
...
Dawn broke to the east, and golden sunlight enveloped the entirety of Chang’an City, with the two of them walking towards the sun, their shadows stretching long behind them. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
