Bright Moon (GL) - Chapter 1

At the Cui family banquet, Ji Zhaoyue was relaxing under a tree, casually fanning herself.

She had been in the capital for a long time, but she still couldn’t get along with the proper, rule-abiding noblewomen.

After all, she was used to the free and easy ways of the borderlands. Here, she was constantly mocked and found it extremely annoying.

Especially Xie Qingyan from the Xie family, who would mock and belittle her all day long, as if she couldn’t stand her behavior. To everyone else, she was polite and courteous, as graceful as a celestial fairy.

“Hmph, what an act.”

Thinking of Xie Qingyan, Ji Zhaoyue couldn’t stay still. She sat up, crossed one leg, and mused, “I heard the Xie family girls are at the Cui family banquet today. Should I go take a look?”

A Cui family maid had just brought a fruit platter, and in the blink of an eye, the lady who had been lying there was gone.

Ji Zhaoyue, who had practiced martial arts since she was a child, was light on her feet. In a moment, she arrived at the spot where the young men and women were composing poems.

By the shimmering lake, Xie Qingyan stood in a pale lavender dress. A single magnolia hair ornament adorned her hair, and she smiled politely, her eyes full of coldness.

She looked like a doll.

Ji Zhaoyue, who was ruled by her emotions, couldn’t stand such a pretentious person.

As soon as she approached, the chatter of the young ladies and gentlemen stopped. Xie Qingyan’s expression froze slightly, assuming Ji Zhaoyue was there to cause trouble again. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she looked down at the ground, her lips, which had held a faint smile, now pressed into a straight line.

Everyone seemed to know who Ji Zhaoyue was here for. They all looked at Xie Qingyan and quietly stepped back to avoid being involved.

Hidden within her wide sleeves, Xie Qingyan’s fingers tightened little by little, and for a moment, her eyes glistened.

This was how it always was. She tried so hard to please everyone, but when trouble came, no one ever stood on her side.

Ji Zhaoyue, with her arms crossed, noticed how everyone was backing away. She thought Xie Qingyan had been talking about her, causing them to deliberately avoid her. She became even angrier. “I have no past grievances or recent grudges with you, so why do you always target me!”

She clenched her fists and couldn’t help but let out a cold snort. She walked over deliberately, staring at Xie Qingyan until the girl looked flustered. Then, with a fake smile, she began to speak sarcastically, mimicking Xie Qingyan’s way of talking about her. “Miss Xie, the candied hawthorn from the other day was very sweet. I came specifically to thank you for your generous gift.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingyan clenched her hands into fists. Her dark eyes welled up instantly with a hint of grievance. “Generous gift?” That was something she had saved up money for and secretly bought after shaking off her maid!

Ever since her parents died, she had been ignored in the Xie family. Besides the regular seasonal clothing and accessories that made her situation seem normal, most of her monthly allowance went into the pockets of other relatives. She rarely received it, and she had many expenses. She couldn’t pawn her accessories, so she had to be very careful with her money.

But that day, she saw her older male cousin bring candied hawthorn back for her second cousin. The sweet and sour smell immediately tempted her. She remembered how her parents used to occasionally bring her street food to satisfy her cravings, and candied hawthorn was something they often brought. She really wanted to eat it and finally managed to slip away from her maid to secretly buy some. She never expected to be seen by this rude woman, who snatched the candied hawthorn right out of her hand in the middle of the street!

Because she had snuck out, she couldn’t make a scene. She could only swallow her frustration, but she was furious inside.

A martial artist is indeed this rude and unreasonable!

Xie Qingyan had no intention of responding to her. She just hoped her cold expression would make her leave quickly. Being here was truly upsetting.

The young lady turned her head away, her voice cold and clear, yet exceptionally pleasant. “It was just a vulgar trinket. Since General Ji’s daughter likes it, you can just take it. No need for thanks.”

Ji Zhaoyue’s mouth twitched. After several encounters with Xie Qingyan, she could tell from her tone that the other woman was calling her vulgar as well. It was infuriating.

A martial artist can only fight; she’s terrible with her words. But this young lady from the capital looked as fragile as a willow branch, her body as thin as paper. Ji Zhaoyue was afraid she might break her with a little force. She couldn’t win with words, and she couldn’t hit her. She felt so frustrated, as if she had come here just to be annoyed.

It was at this moment that Prince Duan leisurely walked over with his hands behind his back.

A sharp-eyed person saw him and immediately spoke up. “Greetings, Your Highness Prince Duan.”

Everyone looked over and followed suit, bowing.

Although Ji Zhaoyue couldn’t stand Xie Qingyan, she wasn’t fond of anyone else either. Prince Duan was even more pretentious than Xie Qingyan, and her father often compared them, then used it as an excuse to lecture her.

She found Prince Duan extremely annoying, so she simply turned and gave him a lazy fist-and-palm salute, not even completing the proper gesture.

Prince Duan acted as if he didn’t notice, shaking his head with a smile. “General Ji’s daughter, it seems only the Cui family can convince you to come out.”

Ji Zhaoyue secretly rolled her eyes, thinking, “If I’d known you were coming, I wouldn’t have come.” She mumbled a few perfunctory words and looked at Xie Qingyan again. Sure enough, the girl had already composed her slightly annoyed and indifferent expression, replacing it with an elegant and proper one.

Ji Zhaoyue was annoyed. “You scowl at me but treat everyone else with courtesy. What did I ever do to you?”

“Is it just because I’m rough and rude? Why do you people in the capital have so many rules?”

Ji Zhaoyue was indignant!

Xie Qingyan never looked at anyone else, her eyes fixed on the green brick paving on the ground as if she could find something fascinating there. If she had looked up, she would have noticed that the two people everyone was watching were both looking at her.

The third daughter of the Xie family was said to be the most beautiful woman in the capital. She was also skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she was well-mannered and graceful. It was just a pity… that her parents had passed away early.

A woman whose parents died early has no support.

Everyone secretly observed the expressions of the Prince and the young General. It seemed both had come for Xie Qingyan, but one was looking for trouble, and the other…

In the silence, they heard Prince Duan ask, “What were you doing here just now, young General? I remember you dislike the refined matters of poetry and prose.”

This group was full of young men and women from the capital who loved writing poems and creating poetry collections. He hadn’t expected to run into Ji Zhaoyue here; he had come to see Xie Qingyan.

A gossipy person’s eyes darted between Xie Qingyan and Ji Zhaoyue, and they raised a handkerchief to their lips and smiled. “Your Highness, you don’t know? General Ji’s daughter came to find Yan’er.”

“To find Yan’er?”

Prince Duan was a bit puzzled. He glanced at Xie Qingyan for a moment, then quickly smiled. “I didn’t know that Yan’er and the young General were friends?”

That didn’t make sense. Didn’t Ji Zhaoyue despise overly literary scholars and delicate young ladies? Xie Qingyan was both. How could they be friends?

Just as he finished speaking, Ji Zhaoyue let out an obviously disdainful snort, giving no one face. The others who knew what was going on secretly chuckled. Being so openly disliked made Xie Qingyan feel humiliated.

She turned her head with slightly reddened eyes, so Ji Zhaoyue could only see the cascade of her black hair and a small part of her pale, exquisite face, which made her seem even colder.

Prince Duan finally understood that the two didn’t have a good relationship; they were even hostile. He moved his lips but didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t risk offending Ji Zhaoyue just to please a beautiful woman.

With such an annoying person present, Ji Zhaoyue no longer wanted to stay. She put a hand on her hip, and the whip she used to beat up dandies hung loosely at her waist. She looked very impatient but didn’t say anything bad about Xie Qingyan. She just glared at Prince Duan in annoyance. “I have something to do, so I won’t bother Your Highness and everyone else.”

With that, she turned and left, as if she had really just come to thank Xie Qingyan for that candied hawthorn.

After she left, Prince Duan approached Xie Qingyan, his smile now incredibly gentle. “Yan’er, what did the young General say to you before I arrived? She has a notoriously bad temper. If there was any conflict, don’t confront her directly. Just tell me.”

Xie Qingyan’s peripheral vision caught Ji Zhaoyue’s brisk retreating figure, but the next second, Prince Duan was standing beside her.

She couldn’t help but take a half-step back. Her body tensed in a defensive posture.

Her voice was inherently cold, which seemed to captivate Prince Duan even more. “She didn’t say anything. Your Highness, I don’t feel well and would like to rest.”

“You don’t feel well? Did the wind bother you today?” Prince Duan continued to ask with concern.

Xie Qingyan’s fingers almost crumpled the handkerchief she was holding. She hurriedly turned her head. “Perhaps. I will take my leave now, Your Highness.”

With that, Xie Qingyan didn’t even wait for Prince Duan’s permission before quickly walking away. Her lips were slightly pale, and she did indeed look unwell.

Lying back in the reclining chair, Ji Zhaoyue was still silently cursing Xie Qingyan. “So you’re educated, big deal. Who are you looking down on? If you didn’t look so weak and delicate, I’d beat you up.”

Xie Qingyan also saw Ji Zhaoyue lying there on her way out.

She hesitated for a long time, still too angry to let it go. She wanted to confront her and ask why she always bullied her. Ji Zhaoyue had been so unpleasant since their very first meeting, even though she hadn’t provoked her at all.

A glimmer of moisture flashed in Xie Qingyan’s eyes, and she clenched the silk handkerchief in her slender, jade-like hand. She walked over, fuming.

Ji Zhaoyue felt much better after her mental rant. She was lying lazily in the shade, her ears twitching as she heard light footsteps crunching on twigs. She didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a maid from the Cui manor coming to offer tea. She was about to tell them not to bother since she was leaving soon. However, as she started to say “you,” she opened her eyes and saw Xie Qingyan’s beautiful, breathtaking face.

This was the first time Xie Qingyan had been so close, and it made Ji Zhaoyue feel uneasy. She was startled and subconsciously tried to move away, but she forgot she was on a narrow, hard-to-turn-in chair. As she retreated, she fell to the ground with a thud, her head hitting the brick border around the locust tree.

In the second before she lost consciousness, the young general’s mind went blank. She thought, “What hatred, what enmity? Xie Qingyan, you actually schemed to harm me!”

The accident happened in an instant. Xie Qingyan was completely stunned, her lips turning instantly white. She had one thought: “It’s over.”

She had caused the only daughter of a great general to fall unconscious at a banquet. Now, there would be no place for her in the capital…