Hidden Shadow – CH 116

Chapter One-Hundred-Sixteen: Playing with Longing

“Hey.” Hua Rongjian reached out and poked her.

A flash of white light appeared, and the dagger was already at Hua Rongjian’s neck. He calmly and dismissively said, “You are so unsociable.”

Living in groups was something An Jiu had not known in ages; it was no wonder she could not fit in.

She nonchalantly withdrew the dagger and continued scraping the wood.

An Jiu was dressed very thinly, the fabric clinging to her body and outlining her slender figure. She lowered her head, revealing a section of her long, white neck, her brows furrowed and eyes downcast, as if living only in her own world. The dagger reflected the sunlight, and layers of wood chips curled and fell onto the cobblestone ground.

Hua Rongjian seemed touched by something, his voice softening. “Fourteenth Young Lady, let’s go for a walk.”

In wealthy and noble families, unmarried women generally could not go out alone, unless there were no men in the household and the woman needed to go out to earn a living. Even then, it was not absolutely forbidden, but she needed to be accompanied by an elder.

An Jiu paused for a moment, then put down what she was holding. “Let’s go.”

“I also…” Mo Sigui was interrupted by Hua Rongjian halfway through his sentence. “It’s fine if the Divine Physician does not want to go out. My father wants to come and see you this afternoon.”

Prime Minister Hua had long wanted to see Mo Sigui, as it concerned the life of his eldest son. However, Mo Sigui had not recovered from his poisoning and was refusing visitors, which was why it had been delayed until now.

As the saying goes, “He who eats another’s food is bound to do his bidding,” and even if Mo Sigui was shameless, he could not refuse to meet the Prime Minister Hua just to go out and have fun.

Seeing the two of them turn away without looking back, Mo Sigui said to the maid beside him, “Bring me brush and ink!” The maid in Prime Minister Hua’s household was well-trained and quickly brought out a table, laid out Xuan paper, and dipped a sheep-hair brush in ink, handing it to him.

Mo Sigui began to paint.

The painting depicted two small turtles in a white porcelain jar decorated with floral patterns. Vines drooped from the jar, laden with love beans. Scattered petals of crimson hue filled the jar and on the ground, creating a remarkably beautiful scene.

He wore a long ochre robe, his black hair half-draped down his back. His slightly lowered, almond-shaped eyes seemed to hold a pool of spring water, captivating the maid beside him.

His eyes curved slightly as he turned and asked, “How is it?”

The maid paused, blushing, and lowered her head, whispering, “The Divine Physician’s painting skills are superb, and the subject matter is quite interesting.”

“This is the male, and this is the female.” Mo Sigui was painting portraits of Hua Rongjian and An Jiu. He looked at them again and again, very satisfied. He then picked up his brush and wrote a few elegant characters in the blank space: “Playing with Love.”

On the side, he added another line: “Green mountains cannot obstruct us; remaining in the water jar; when time grows weary, why not play with longing?”

These were a few very interesting sentences, seemingly amusing on the surface: Without towering mountains to separate us, we exist in the same water jar, lazily with nothing to do, so why do we not play with love beans?

Mo Sigui’s true intention was to satirize Hua Rongjian and An Jiu; although their personalities clashed, they had no other turtles to choose from, so they had to make do and play together.

However, thinking deeper, the playful exchange of love, the binding of longing, actually carried a strong sense of mutual dependence.

Mo Sigui wrote the date of the painting at the end, and even the reason for it, such as being inspired by seeing two turtles.

“Frame it, put it in a box, and send it to your second brother.” Mo Sigui sat down on the stone stool, leaning casually against the table, and unfolded it with a swish, gently shaking it. “Tell him that if he dares not hang it in the most conspicuous place, he can forget about me curing his brother.” Dare to play tricks on me! Humph!

The sun was shining brightly; it was exceptionally pleasant.

Hua Rongjian, inside the carriage, raised his hand to cover his right eye. “I have a feeling that things are not going well today.”