After faking my death, the male lead’s cousin went crazy - Chapter 15

Originally, Gu Wan had called Li Yueyue over yesterday because she wanted to learn how to write. Later, the poisoning incident happened. Today, she had gone early to deal with Qian Kui and had only been concerned with getting rid of the smell of blood on her body. How could Gu Wan still remember this matter?

She curled her hand into a fist and coughed lightly. “I know your foot is injured, so there’s no rush. I thought it wouldn’t be too late to practice once your injury is a little better.”

Shang Rongyue narrowed her sly eyes.

Naturally, she could tell that the other party had truly forgotten the matter completely. After all, such a big thing had happened yesterday. Even if she forgot, it was understandable.

But Shang Rongyue’s true purpose in coming this time was to find out how the poisoning incident had progressed. Yesterday, this bandit had taken away everything in her room that she had used to make almond pudding. This person’s thoughts jumped around unpredictably. If she was careless and somehow placed suspicion back on Shang Rongyue, then Shang Rongyue had to know early so she could defend herself.

But judging by the current situation, since Gu Wan could still care about the injury on her ankle, Shang Rongyue’s suspicion had probably been completely cleared in her heart.

Thinking of this, Shang Rongyue could not help letting out a breath of relief, and even the smile on her face brightened a little.

And that tiny change fell completely into Gu Wan’s eyes.

It was only one sentence. Why was this Li Yueyue so happy, her brows and eyes curving, unable to hide her joy?

Why?

Because Gu Wan had asked about her injury?

Looking again at the way she had walked those few steps after seeing Gu Wan just now, limping crookedly, one could imagine how difficult it must have been for her to come all the way here from her own residence.

Was it really for writing practice?

On Shang Rongyue’s side, the stone in her heart had fallen. Taking advantage of the fine afternoon sunlight, she quickly planned to return to the grape trellis in her little courtyard and take another nap. After all, she had used up so much strength yesterday. How could she not properly recover?

“Since Sister thinks that way, then I won’t disturb Sister.”

After saying this, Shang Rongyue was about to take her leave.

The weather was gradually warming. Later, when she napped, she could simply cover herself with a thinner blanket. As Shang Rongyue walked, she thought about which blanket would be suitable.

The green one was a little thick. The red one was embroidered with mandarin ducks, and looking at it would make her think of how she had been schemed against and married off, so that was no good either.

The sapphire-blue one. That sapphire-blue blanket was perfect!

Just as she made her choice, the person who had originally been standing behind her suddenly turned and called out to her.

“Since you’re already here, let’s start today.”

“?”

Shang Rongyue turned back in surprise.

Gu Wan straightened her back and pretended to be solemn. “Choosing another day is not as good as taking the day at hand. Besides, when it comes to studying, earlier is better than later.”

Her sweet dream of an afternoon nap was shattered. Shang Rongyue only dared to secretly curse the other party for going back on her word and did not dare actually do anything.

However, the other party was quite considerate of her. Seeing that her foot injury made things inconvenient, Gu Wan gave her own Eight Immortals chair for Shang Rongyue to sit in, while she herself moved over a round stool and placed it beside the chair.

“Where should we start?”

“Let’s start with names,” Gu Wan said, propping her cheek in her hand and glancing at the blank paper in front of Shang Rongyue. “Teach me how to write your name.”

Fine.

Shang Rongyue picked up the brush and wrote “Li Yueyue” on the clean white xuan paper.

Gu Wan looked at the graceful handwriting on the paper.

Yue.

She had originally thought the other party’s name used the “yue” for “bright moon,” or perhaps the “yue” for “joy.”

“Yue?” Gu Wan picked up the sheet of xuan paper and said leisurely, “I recognize the ‘king’ radical on the left side. As for the right side…”

Shang Rongyue put down the brush and patiently explained, “The right side is the ‘moon’ from moonlight.”

“Oh? Then how is this different from the moon?”

“Of course it’s different. This character ‘yue’ means a divine pearl in ancient legends. It means something precious,” Shang Rongyue answered.

A divine pearl, something precious.

Since even her name meant the pearl in someone’s palm, why had she lowered herself to stay in this bandit den?

Before Gu Wan could ask, Shang Rongyue picked up the brush again.

“What about you? What’s your name?”

Gu Wan put down the xuan paper in her hand and answered after a pause, “Sanniang. Shen Sanniang.”

Shen was Gu Wan’s mother’s surname. It was not considered a prestigious family name in the capital. As for Sanniang, that was simply because Gu Ze had once called her “Third Gu” in front of Shang Rongyue.

“Sanniang…” Shang Rongyue curled the tip of her tongue and murmured it once. Then, on the same paper as before, beside her own name, she wrote the other woman’s name.

Afterward, she placed that paper to the front, took another sheet, and spread it on the desk. Holding the brush shaft in both hands, she handed the brush to Gu Wan.

“Then today, let’s start with Sanniang’s name.”

Gu Wan clumsily took the brush and deliberately used the posture of holding a sword. On the new paper, she drew three extremely sloppy horizontal lines, then copied the shape and crookedly wrote the character “niang” beside them.

Then she looked proudly at the person beside her, as if waiting for praise.

One had to admit, these were the ugliest two characters Gu Wan had ever written since she could remember. She had studied under famous teachers. Wanting to abandon her many years of calligraphy habits was indeed not an easy thing.

Seeing this, Shang Rongyue thought the other party had probably never received much schooling because she had spent years robbing homes and plundering wealth. But that could not be considered her fault. One could not decide one’s birth. If given the choice, what girl would not want to peacefully remain in her inner chambers and enjoy her parents’ affection? Who would willingly make a living on the edge of a blade every day?

Thinking of this, Shang Rongyue felt that the other woman’s twisted handwriting and rough way of holding the brush were not things worth mocking.

She gently pried open Gu Wan’s fingers and took out the brush from within. Then she rolled up her sleeve and explained the correct posture to her.

“This is how you hold the brush. Do you understand?”

Gu Wan nodded on the surface, but as soon as the brush was in her hand, she deliberately acted mischievously again.

In the next moment, a soft palm pressed against the back of her hand. That Li Yueyue stood up and directly held her hand, correcting her posture.

The top-quality wolf-hair brush dipped into the inkstone. After sweeping away the excess ink, Shang Rongyue used their current posture and held the other woman’s hand, slowly moving it across the paper.

A graceful “Shen” appeared clearly.

“Don’t use too much force. Just follow my hand and feel it.” Shang Rongyue stood beside Gu Wan, her breath fragrant like orchids, the faint scent on her body spreading through the air.

It seemed to be rose.

Yesterday, she had mentioned rose dew. It should be that.

Rose petals were bitter, and the flower’s fragrance all came from the stamens at the very center. The rose dew Shang Rongyue used was made by washing whole roses, crushing and sieving them, then boiling the seeped-out juice into a condensed dew. So the scent on her body was not sharp or overpowering. It was an elegant, delicate fragrance.

Just like the bright spring light outside the window passing through the window paper and shining onto their clothes.

The warm sunlight fell around the two of them, pleasant and gentle.

On the back of Gu Wan’s hand, the young girl’s palm was soft and tender, wrapping around her fist from the outside. The gentle force guided her arm. The other party did not use much strength, but it was just enough to move her arm.

People said girls were prone to having cold constitutions. Perhaps this Li Yueyue was the same. Back at the cliff, Gu Wan remembered that the other woman’s wrist had been cold. At the time, she had thought it was because she was frightened. But now, standing under the sunlight, her hand was still much colder than Gu Wan’s.

Perhaps “ice skin and jade bones” described a delicate person like this, Gu Wan thought.

After the three characters “Shen Sanniang” were written, Shang Rongyue finally let go of her hand and smiled.

“See? If you write slowly like this, you can write well too.”

Can write well too?

When had that brush just now ever listened to Gu Wan’s command?

It was just that when the touch on the back of her hand suddenly left, Gu Wan felt her skin inexplicably itch.

“There was one part just now I still didn’t quite understand. Can you teach me again?” Gu Wan pointed to the right half of the character “niang.” “For this part, do you write the horizontal stroke first or the vertical stroke first?”

Shang Rongyue had a very good temper. She once again held the other woman’s hand and lifted the brush to dip it in ink. Just as the brush tip was about to touch the paper, Lanxi’s knock sounded at the door.

“Chief, Miss Su is here.”

Hearing that someone had come, Shang Rongyue suddenly let go of Gu Wan’s hand and unconsciously took a small step to the side.

As the boss of the bandit den, Shen Sanniang probably would not like people seeing her being guided by the hand while writing, Shang Rongyue thought.

“Why did you suddenly move so far away?” Gu Wan put down the brush and did not hurry to let the person in. Instead, she first asked Shang Rongyue beside her.

The afternoon sunlight was warm, and the windows in the room were closed. Shang Rongyue’s cheeks were slightly flushed from the heat. But in Gu Wan’s eyes, no matter how she looked at it, she looked as if she had been caught in an affair.

Oh, what other reason could there be? Because her beloved had arrived.

Gu Wan pressed the paper with both their names written on it underneath the others before finally letting the person in.

Su Zhaoyun originally thought Gu Wan was alone in the room, so surprise flashed through her eyes the moment she saw Shang Rongyue. But she had serious business, so she did not dwell on it.

She dipped slightly toward Gu Wan, then looked at Shang Rongyue beside her.

Shang Rongyue realized Su Zhaoyun probably had something to discuss with the chief, and it would be inconvenient for her to stay here, so she took the initiative to leave. As she passed by Su Zhaoyun, she did not forget to greet her and ask how her body was recovering.

“Thank you for your concern, Miss Li. I’m much better.” Su Zhaoyun raised both arms and bowed to Shang Rongyue.

That was an extremely formal scholarly etiquette, representing the highest respect.

“Yesterday, my body was unwell, so I’m making up this bow to Miss Li today. Thank you for saving my life, Miss Li. Zhaoyun will never forget it.”

Shang Rongyue hurriedly helped her up, then smiled and left the study.

On this side, the door had just closed when Gu Wan sat behind the desk, propping her cheek in her hand. Her fingertips tapped rhythmically against the tabletop.

“Why don’t I see Miss Su giving me such a grand bow?”

Su Zhaoyun smiled. “You and I have known each other since childhood. I thought there was no need for that. If you want one, I can bow to you too. Thank you, Young General, for saving me.”

After saying this, she really raised her hands.

Gu Wan cut her off with a soft “tsk.”

“Forget it. Since it’s not voluntary, getting it would be no fun.”

Su Zhaoyun brought the topic back to serious matters. “You asked me to examine Qian Kui’s corpse. I checked it. There’s nothing wrong.”

Gu Wan responded with an “All right.” After telling her about Consort Rong, she instructed Su Zhaoyun, “Tomorrow, I’m entering the palace. Come with me.”

“You suspect someone wants to harm Consort Rong?”

Gu Wan smiled and shook her head.

This younger female cousin was a formidable character. Someone capable of scheming against Shen Rong in secret probably had not been born yet.