Happy Spring Every Year

Chapter 179: Sleepless Tonight

Jiang Xun followed Old Lin back to the Lin Mansion. The carriage was moving slowly on the road and Jiang Xun spoke very little as usual.

Elder Lin hissed, his face full of confusion. "Xiuzhi, is it also like this when you and Sui Sui are together?"

"Sui Sui is such a lively girl. It's really unfair to ask her to marry you."

Jiang Xun: “…”

"Teacher, you didn't say that before."

Elder Lin raised his chin and spoke frankly, "Hasn't this old man never gotten along with Sui Sui before? I've gotten to know her better these past few days, and I feel like you're really out of your league."

Jiang Xun: “…”

"So the teacher is dissatisfied with Xiuzhi for not asking what happened in the imperial study?"

Lin Lao, who was exposed, said: "Ahem, who told you to look like you don't care?"

Jiang Xun's brows darkened upon hearing this, and he turned the tables, "Teacher, you were able to escape unscathed and with such composure, it's clear you were prepared. It was just that you didn't communicate in advance for the sake of Xiuzhi."

"I also want to thank the teacher for always considering Xiuzhi."

After hearing this, Mr. Lin felt "itchy all over" and shouted, "Look, he's angry again, talking in such a sarcastic tone!"

"You are narrow-minded! You don't know how to appreciate kindness! You——"

Jiang Xun: “…”

Hold it.

The old man will soon admit his mistake.

"Isn't it okay that I'm wrong?"

Old Lin muttered something, and his voice suddenly became weaker. He lowered his head and fiddled with his sleeves in a wronged manner.

Jiang Xun: “…”

Under Lin Lao's usual pitiful offensive, Jiang Xun finally softened his expression and said calmly, "Then tell me what you have to say, teacher."

Elder Lin suddenly looked up, smiling again, and said smugly, "I knew you'd fall for this trick!"

Jiang Xun: “…”

There is as much silence tonight as usual.

Mr. Lin talked about all sorts of things, and finally got to the point, talking about the past.

"It's nothing, actually. I was just so focused on reading the classics that I turned down my family's offer to find a match for me and took the provincial examination."

"I ended up winning the first prize, and my family threw me a party, and I met a wonderful girl."

"I was already tempted by this. When I asked around, I found out it was the girl my family had mentioned so much."

"But before I could mention it to my family, news of the selection in the capital came through first, and that girl was on the list."

"That was the end of it. Who would have thought that later, when she entered the imperial court as an official, at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, she... that girl... no, the empress, encountered difficulties and had nowhere else to turn, so she spoke to me for a few words."

As Mr. Lin spoke, his speech became slower and slower, his eyes filled with a trance, as if he was slowly sinking into memories.

"She... looked radiant, though a little thinner. We met at the corner of the palace wall, and were about to brush past each other, when she suddenly called my name."

"Her voice was choked with sobs as she begged me to help her. I thought, for someone as polite as her, she must have been desperate, so she waited for me here. After all, that wasn't a place for a concubine."

"I stopped and turned my back to her, but the advice I gave really touched her heart. I said that the third princess had no choice but to marry."

"Her sobs rang out, then were blown away by the wind..."

Mr. Lin's voice trembled slightly, and he suddenly came back to his senses at this moment.

He hurried to see Jiang Xun, and when he saw that Jiang Xun didn't even look at him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He lost his temper.

"Well, that's what happened, and Cui Daoyuan finally dug it out by all means."

At this point, Mr. Lin frowned and looked stern.

Cui Daoyuan has so many ways, but he chose this one and chose to disturb her!

Jiang Xun remained silent, but his heart was filled with turbulent waves.

He didn't want to make the teacher uncomfortable, so he looked away in time, but just now, he really saw tears in the teacher's eyes.

Perhaps the light-hearted phrase "I was tempted by worldly desires and met a good girl at the banquet" is actually an unforgettable encounter.

And the reunion at the palace banquet that year, and every time we met from afar thereafter, these unspeakable emotions would fill every little crevice of my heart and overflow into every year to come.

Teacher, never married.

In addition to teaching and educating, and in addition to passing on knowledge, perhaps it is also for... that person in the palace.

Seeing Jiang Xun's silence, Elder Lin coughed lightly and continued, "I received the news yesterday and immediately informed the Princess. Fortunately, no bad consequences were caused."

At that time he told the eldest princess that this time they had to be both true and false and reasonable, so the two of them each admitted part of it.

As for whether His Majesty believes it or not...

Given the emperor's temperament, once the suggestion is made, it is like a thorn buried in his heart. It doesn't matter whether he believes it or not. He and the princess just need to avoid revealing any flaws and get away with it safely.

I think this is also the plan of the old fox Cui Daoyuan, who is preparing for his future plans.

Thinking of this, Elder Lin tilted his head and asked, "Xiuzhi, have you found any results for the matter about the Shen Mansion that you mentioned earlier?"

Jiang Xun had obviously figured all this out. He shook his head and said, "It's under control. There's been no movement yet, but since Minister Cui has taken action, it's clear it's coming soon."

The teacher and the student talked for a while longer, and when they arrived at the gate of Lin's residence, they were greeted by the south wind.

When Jiang Xun saw him, he immediately asked, "Did Miss Shen get home safely?"

Nanfeng nodded immediately. He was afraid that the young master would worry, so he waited outside the mansion as soon as possible.

Jiang Xun stayed at Lin's house tonight. Old Lin said he was a little tired, so he washed up and went to bed as soon as he entered the yard.

Jiang Xun knew that Lin was always troubled, so he didn't dare to disturb him and quietly left.

Old Lin lay on the couch, tossing and turning until late at night.

And he is not the only one who can't sleep tonight.

……

The moonlight is like water, sprinkling on the palace walls.

In the Cining Palace, Concubine Rong suddenly stood up and put on her clothes.

The inner hall was dim, and only the candlelight left in the outer hall shone through the gauze, casting dim shadows and barely illuminating the small world in front of him.

Concubine Rong walked to the dressing box and took out a wooden hairpin from the bottom of the box full of treasures.

The originally smooth body of the hairpin has been rubbed to be extremely smooth, and the pattern on the hairpin head, which was once delicate and clear, has now become blurred.

The color of the wooden hairpin has changed from light wood to the dark chestnut it is today. It has accompanied Concubine Rong for more than forty years, carrying many stories and also pouring out love, hate, anger and obsession.

Concubine Rong looked at the hairpin carefully, stroking it with her fingers. She had already memorized every inch of its texture.

This hairpin is the only thing left from the past.

That year, when she heard in the harem that a famous official had emerged in the previous dynasty, the talented Lin from Yangzhou, she dropped the teacup in her hand and broke it.

And at the corner of the palace during the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, she finally saw him.

Just like at the first place banquet that year, he was still as high-spirited as ever, except... he was a little thinner.

He must have taken some things to heart, right? Otherwise, why would he look away so hastily when their eyes met?

As she turned her back and sobbed, she saw a shadow on the ground.

He walked towards her, raised his hand, but then dropped it again. They were so close, yet there was a lifetime gap between them.

It happened more than 20 years ago, but she still remembers it so clearly.

Concubine Rong laughed at herself and glanced at the blurry bronze mirror. There was no need to look, as her beauty had grown old and they would never meet again in this life.

Thinking of this, Concubine Rong tightly grasped the hairpin in her hand, then put it back in its place and turned back to the couch.

I don’t know when I fell asleep, and my dream went back to more than 40 years ago.

Amidst the sounds of stringed instruments, a young man in gorgeous clothes, with a radiant look and bright eyes, bowed to her politely:

"I am the host of today's banquet, Lin Wanting, the eldest son of the Lin family."