Longing for Love (Twice Reborn) - Chapter 21

A man in his early twenties, wielding significant power. A ripple of astonished murmurs spread through the group.

Juchen’s faint smile gradually faded. She turned back silently, choosing not to join their discussion.

Half a month had passed since that day she stood him up, and she hadn’t seen Song Mi since.

She knew she had broken her promise first it was only natural he wouldn’t come looking for her. A man as busy as him had no reason to find it strange or concerning if a woman who had climbed into his bed suddenly stopped appearing.

After all, there were plenty who wanted to climb into his bed. Rather than waiting until he grew tired and offered her hush money, it was better to end this fleeting affair with her own absence.

Even as she rationally convinced herself of this repeatedly, Juchen gripped her brush tightly, staring at the memorial before her without writing a single word.

At lunchtime, Juchen declined Xue Wan’s invitation. After everyone had left the Phoenix Pavilion, she buried her head on the desk.

Outside, the cicadas continued their relentless clamor.

Juchen simply covered her ears and buried her head in her arms, yet she still felt the incessant buzzing of tinnitus ringing in her ears, leaving her heart without a moment’s peace. It was as if she were floating adrift in an endless sea her entire body unable to sink yet unable to reach shore, her throat and the corners of her eyes filled with the briny bitterness of seawater.

This feeling was truly awful.

At noon, Yuan Zheng had just left the Privy Council. The canteen was already past serving hours, and with his stomach growling, he hurried outside the palace. Passing by the Phoenix Pavilion, he unexpectedly found Juchen leaning motionless against the desk.

Yuan Zheng furrowed his brows and approached, bending down to shake her arm.

“What are you doing? Why are your eyes red?”

Their gazes met, and Yuan Zheng’s voice turned stern. “Who bullied you?”

Juchen shook her head, her voice choked as she whispered, “The cicadas are too loud. I can’t calm my mind.”

“Is that all? I thought something serious had happened. I’ll have someone clear them out for you this afternoon. Have you eaten?”

Juchen shook her head again.

Yuan Zheng frowned, then directly grabbed her arm and practically dragged her to Taiyuan Tower, scolding her all the way: “I know you hate the heat, but that’s no excuse to skip meals. Who’s going to compensate you if you ruin your health?”

“Look how thin you are. You should take a page from Xu Yang’s book last night, after dinner and a midnight snack, she heard about Taiyuan Tower’s new pastries and dragged me out of bed in the dead of night to fetch them for her.”

“I asked her why, with so many people in the princess’s residence, she always insists on tormenting me. Guess what she said? ‘They’ve worked all day and need to sleep.’ Ha! So apparently, I’m the only imperial son-in-law who never gets a break, twelve months a year, twelve hours a day!”

Yuan Zheng crossed his arms, growing angrier the more he thought about it.

“If not for the emperor’s decree, even a dog wouldn’t take this job as her consort!”

Listening to his grumbling all the way, Juchen finally found herself distracted, the corners of her lips curling slightly. Yet her mind involuntarily drifted to the scene of her second reunion with Song Mi after their wedding.

That first night, she had been dead drunk perhaps liquor emboldening the timid, making her more uninhibited. The second time, though she had also been the one to stop him, sober as she was, the moment they reached the bed, her entire body trembled. To avoid hurting her, he spent a long time soothing her, and it wasn’t until deep into the night that Juchen finally let out soft, fragmented sounds of pleasure.

Accompanied by a low, muffled groan from the man, he lifted his head and stared into her dazed eyes.

Juchen’s cheeks flushed crimson. Parting her lips slightly, she was about to beg him to stop looking stop looking when her stomach abruptly betrayed her with two loud, merciless growls.

Nothing could have been more embarrassing.

Yet he didn’t seem put off. Frowning, he asked if she hadn’t eaten, then got up and began dressing, saying he’d find her something to eat.

Juchen hardly dared trouble him, especially since it was already late at night. Waking the cooks at this hour would be too cruel she was a laborer herself and understood the hardships all too well.

Song Mi didn’t argue, only said he’d ride to the Golden Market to buy food, as the taverns there never closed.

Juchen stared blankly at his retreating figure, suddenly realizing why certain tenderness especially from someone of high status like the Prince of Pengshan needed only the slightest display to set one’s heart ablaze.

Clutching her sleeves, her nose stung, and she abruptly buried her face. At this moment, she felt nothing but overwhelming sorrow.

The misaligned time and misplaced heartbeats this helpless feeling truly brings profound sorrow.

Is this how he lived his past life?

In front of Taiyuan Tower, carriages and horses bustled, and the streets teemed with people.

Song Mi and Lin Zongbai sat across from each other in an elegant private room on the highest floor, engrossed in a game of Go.

Song Mi lifted his teacup and placed a piece on the board. Just then, a ripple of lighthearted feminine laughter drifted in from the doorway.

Instinctively, he turned his head to glance out the window.

Among the crowd of court ladies, there was no trace of that familiar figure.

Lin Zongbai followed his gaze and remarked casually, “Haven’t seen Dusty in a while, have you?”

Song Mi turned his attention back to the game. Noticing his cup was empty, he reached for the teapot—only to find it drained as well.

With a slight raise of his hand, a maid outside hurried in with a freshly brewed pot, poured two cups respectfully, then withdrew with a bow.

Lin Zongbai rubbed a Go piece between his fingers and frowned. “You’ve been coming here these past few days, skipping meals and draining my finest teas for free. What’s the deal?”

Song Mi replied evenly, “I have to return to the Grand Secretariat this afternoon. Your tea helps keep me alert.”

Lin Zongbai propped his chin on his hand, studying him with amusement. “Since when does the famously tireless Song Mi need tea to stay focused? Unless something or someone has been distracting you. Care to share?”

Song Mi met his teasing gaze and answered nonchalantly, “Did you know Xuyang has returned?”

That very same Princess Shimei, whom the eldest son of the Lin family had once vowed to court under the title of Imperial Examination Champion, had come back with her husband in tow.

Lin Zongbai fell briefly silent, his lips twisting downward. “Here I am, kindly concerned for you, and you go straight for the sore spot, don’t you?”

“What did I say?”

“Fine.” Lin Zongbai placed a piece, ruthlessly capturing a large section of Song Mi’s stones.

Song Mi picked up a black piece from the bowl and countered with a decisive move.

The two men engaged in a silent battle of wits, the teapot gradually emptying again as the midday sun slanted westward.

As Song Mi bent over the board in contemplation, a crisp voice suddenly floated up from below Lu Yun’s, laced with playful mockery as she called from the entrance toward the street:
“Impressive. We invite you, and you don’t come. Seems only Young Master Yuan has the pull to get you here.”

“That’s not….”

The familiar, clear voice reached Song Mi’s ears. His fingers stilled, and his gaze instinctively flicked back to the window.

There stood Yuan Zheng beside her. Seeing her flustered, he stepped forward with an easy smile and explained to her colleagues, “I practically dragged her here. Besides, if she won’t even humor me, then all those years I spoiled her as a child would’ve been wasted.”

Lu Yun chuckled. “Alright, alright. We know how close you two are just teasing. She is barely eaten these past few days, claiming it’s too hot. If you can get her to actually sit down for a meal, you’ll be doing us a favor.

Otherwise, she’ll use exhaustion as an excuse to dump all her work on us.”

“I never did that! You offered to help I never agreed to it!” Juchen’s delicate brows knit together, her face flushing with indignation, making her appear vividly alive.

“True, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tattle,” Lu Yun shot back, raising an eyebrow and drawing laughter from the surrounding ladies.

Juchen huffed. “He can’t control me anyway.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Yuan Zheng arched a brow and, just as he had in their childhood, pinched her earlobe. “Oh?”

The sound of the other girls’ amused giggles rose around them.

Song Mi gazed through the window at her starlit eyes fixed unwaveringly on Yuan Zheng, his deep gaze growing increasingly shadowed.

So, her sudden absence that night was also because once he returned to the capital, everyone else became dispensable?

Song Mi couldn’t help but recall waiting for her the entire evening, growing increasingly worried when she never appeared. The next day, arriving at Fengge Court, he saw her reporting for duty on time.

Clearly unharmed, yet she hadn’t bothered to offer any explanation that could only mean indifference.

Lin Zongbai urged him to make his move.

Turning back without looking, Song Mi placed a piece at random.

Lin Zongbai immediately countered, watching his distracted opponent with resignation. “Zhengzhi, you’ve lost again.”

Though he would come to dethrone the chess champion, Song Mi’s focus had been scattered these past few days.

Questions yielded no answers.

After so many years of friendship, when had Lin Zongbai ever seen him this despondent? The curiosity was killing him.

Ignoring his friend’s plight, Song Mi tossed the piece back into its container. After a silent moment, he looked up. “Is the preparation complete?”

Lin Zongbai sighed. “The finest jade craftsman is working on it.” Hesitating, he couldn’t resist asking, “How did you know that jade was in my possession?”

Because in our past life, you had it.

“Guess,” Song Mi replied.

Lin Zongbai clicked his tongue, raising an eyebrow. “If not for your request, I’d never part with it. Having it crafted into two bracelets who are they for? Don’t tell me after twenty odd years of bachelorhood, you’re courting two women at once?”

The corner of Song Mi’s mouth twitched. Shooting him an exasperated look, he countered, “Have you forgotten whose birthday approaches?”

Lin Zongbai’s smile froze his expression gradually sobering. “This surprises me. I always thought you disliked your half-sister. To receive her invitation and prepare such an extravagant gift.”

Song Mi mercilessly exposed him. “Didn’t you scour the realm for that jade intending to gift it to Xuyang yourself?”

A brief silence. “Yes,” Lin Zongbai admitted through gritted teeth, his bitter smile eventually giving way to resignation. “Though truthfully, you’re the more appropriate giver now.”

After all, she was already married.

——

June twenty-fifth an auspicious date marking Princess Xuyang’s twentieth birthday.

Yuan Zheng had secured half a day’s leave from court. Returning to the princess’s residence at noon, he spent the afternoon overseeing preparations.

As the sun dipped westward and carriages began arriving for the evening banquet, he stood impeccably dressed at the entrance to greet guests.

When the second evening drum sounded, a carriage emerged from the imperial thoroughfare, wheels rumbling toward the palace outskirts.

Juchen descended with Lu Yun and others, their elegant figures approaching the residence. Spotting Juchen from afar, Yuan Zheng’s smile widened ear to ear. Drawing her aside upon entry, he led her to his study where he discreetly produced several paintings from a drawer.

“Which one do you think Xuyang would prefer?” he whispered.

The Yunnan Prince’s household had guarded the southern borders for the Great Liang dynasty for generations, excelling in martial arts and particularly skilled in horseback riding and archery. Yuan Zheng was the only son sent to the eastern capital by the Yunnan Prince as a pledge of loyalty. He entered the capital at the age of six, and the late emperor entrusted him to the care of Princess Xianning, who raised him alongside Xu Yang with great care.

In recent years, the Yunnan Prince’s health had grown increasingly frail.

Within a few years, the powerful southern fiefdom would likely fall to Yuan Zheng. To ensure peace in the southern borders and demonstrate the continued imperial favor toward the Yunnan Prince’s household, the Empress Dowager arranged a marriage alliance between Xu Yang and Yuan Zheng.