Chapter 33 (2/2)
Qi Jianqiu rarely saw Feng Luodi dressed in tones of red, and never expected that it would look so good on her friend. At that moment, she felt as if Feng Luodi was a deity who had descended to earth just to play a song on her zither, and would return to the heavens any moment. A light smile graced her lips, seeming approachable and distant at the same time. It was just like when we first met. Neither of us has changed.
Qi Jianqiu walked towards the pavilion slowly, the memories of their friends.h.i.+p flas.h.i.+ng through her mind. Some were orchestrated, others were authentic. But just because I did not tell her the truth, a catastrophe happened.
Finally, she pa.s.sed under the final archway of the corridor, and stood a few yards away from Feng Luodi. Feng Luodi did not stop her music, nor did she look up. Qi Jianqiu took a breath and closed her eyes.
“I had no clue who you were, the first time we met. I’d just felt that it was rare to have someone who could relate to me like you did, and n.o.body had understood my culinary dishes before you came along. n.o.body, not even my father, had treated my pa.s.sion for cooking seriously. But you did. You spoke my exact thoughts when I’d engineered the dishes, and even gave them fitting names.”
“Afterwards, when I found out who you were, I have to admit that I had ulterior motives. I wanted to find out what kind of a person you were, seeing as how you were supposed to marry the 7th Prince like I was. But time pa.s.sed, and I knew I wasn’t going to marry the prince, and neither were you.”
“I told my father that I didn’t want to marry the prince, and he’d rejected the proposal before his Majesty could declare the engagement. Afterwards, I’d heard that your parents had done similar things, and your engagement to the prince had been called off as well.”
“I was really happy about this, but I never dared to tell you the truth, for fear of my initial deceit ruining our friends.h.i.+p. More than that, I was afraid that this information, and our friends.h.i.+p, may be exploited by others for their selfish means. Luodi, I didn’t mean to hide the truth from you.”
Qi Jianqiu poured her heart out to Feng Luodi, but the latter did not respond. Qi Jianqiu bowed her hand, thinking that she had lost her friend. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she was overcome with guilt.
Feng Luodi turned to look at her, her hands continuing with the song. “I know.” She smiled. “I invited you here to hear me play, why did you cry?”
“Don’t you want to hear me explain?” Qi Jianqiu sniffed, surprised by Feng Luodi’s words.
“I do.” Feng Luodi looked earnestly at her. “But I didn’t want to have to ask you for it, and you never approached me again.”
“I did not dare to find you again.” Qi Jianqiu was embarra.s.sed.
Feng Luodi nodded, and gestured for her to sit down. “That’s why I got Moyin to invite you today instead.”
Hearing his name, Qi Jianqiu huffed angrily and sat down. “Didn’t you always address him as Master Jiang? Since when were the two of you so close?”
Feng Luodi smiled. “During the period when you stopped going out with me.”
Qi Jianqiu pursed her lips. In some aspects, Luodi and Jiang Moyin are so similar.
They sat in silence for a while, feeling the wind breeze across the lake. Qi Jianqiu spoke softly.
“Luodi, I am glad to have met you.”
“Me too.” Feng Luodi smiled, and set her hand to the strings again, teasing a few notes from the zither.
“Is this Wind Crane?”
“Nope. I’ve returned the Guqin a long while ago. Anything you’ll like to hear me play?”
“Yes! Play for me a song from the maestro you’ve told me about before! The one whose songs are different from most others, but are always so moving.”
“Alright then.”
I wrote this by the orchid pavilion
In a script of flowing water
By moonlight I open the door
And I see you in my heartstrings
Outside the pavilion where the Guqin sits
A few drops splatter on my heart
The sun s.h.i.+nes brightly in the afternoon
And I shy from your beauty
A dot of cinnabar adorns your forehead
Your beauty bewitching the world
Between the span of my fingertips
The years speed by into oblivion
The wind breezes across the lake
You turn and smile at me
In the heat of summer we dance
And how I wish we will never stop
“How is it? I’ve changed a bit myself.”
“It’s amazing. Everything you play is amazing.”