Mountains and rivers are waiting for you to return

Chapter 16 She Smiles
A fragment of memory suddenly popped up, causing Pei Nai to have a severe headache.

She heard the sound of sand in the desert and the shrill night wind that kept whistling over the tents, making people feel lonely. She stood by the dry well, watching the flags folded by the north wind, and stared into the distance.

The clip flashed by, but she felt a deep despair from it.

So what exactly happened ten years ago?
Jin Ling'er spoke his name in a trembling voice, reminding Pei Nai of this man's current identity.

"Duanduan Dinggong."

Yes, Duke Duan Ding, the uncle of the current emperor Xiao Mingyi, the extremely powerful Duke, also exercises the power of regent. He possesses a supreme status, which is far different from her at the moment.

Pei Nai felt bitter in his heart, and he couldn't tell what it was.

He was there, wearing a black fur coat with gold accents, stepping on cloud-walking boots, with a handsome appearance and a golden and purple ornament. Their separation was only a season at most for her, but it was ten years for him.
How long is ten years?
The dry lake turned into a river, and wrinkles appeared between the man's brows.

The years have left their marks on him, taking away all his childishness, but giving him toughness and maturity. Gu Jinheng, who is now in his thirties, makes Pei Na unable to take his eyes off him.

On top of the east auxiliary building of Yuanxiao Pavilion.

Everyone had recovered from their shock, except Pei Nai who was still in a daze.

"This..." Yixi looked at the two people opposite her and lowered her voice, "This should not be included in the scope of the bet, right?"

Jiang Qingyue felt more and more proud in her heart. Even the heavens were helping her and had just arranged for Duke Duan Ding to appear at this time.

She felt that she couldn't let this opportunity go, so she deliberately made things difficult for him, sneering, "Why not? Our bet just now didn't stipulate that this would be considered an accident. What? Is our Princess Chen Zhao going to get scared one day?"

Pei Nai came back to his senses and remembered that the bet just now had to stand. Jiang Qingyue and Jin Ling'er had already asked the previous people, and now it was Yixi's turn.

She looked at Yixi, only to see that her face was ashen. The look she gave Pei Nai said with a few words in large letters: I am so unlucky.

Jiang Qingyue was glad that she was not as unlucky as her, but at this moment she felt like watching the fun.

Who would be willing to ignore his or her own fragile life, withstand the pressure around Duke Duan Ding, and go over to talk?
Jiang Qingyue thought she would see Yixi make a fool of herself this time, but she didn't expect Pei Nai to speak first: "How can we bother our Yixi with such a small matter? Let her read a book, I'll go for her."

Jiang Qingyue and Jin Ling'er looked at her like she was a fool, their mouths wide open, "It's just a small matter?"

Yixi grabbed her sleeve, her eyes clearly showing "no", but Pei Nai wanted to see Gu Jinheng, so she decided to go this time. She asked the palace maid, "Do you have paper and pen?"

Jiang Qingyue looked at her incredulously again: "What do you need paper and pen for?"

"Lord Duan Ding cannot speak, and I don't understand sign language. Only with paper and pen can we communicate better." Pei Nai and Gu Jinheng have lived together for five years, so she naturally understands sign language, but she remembers her current identity.

She is Tang Mingzhi now, she understands, but Tang Mingzhi doesn’t.

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Jiang Qingyue's face twitched a few times and she said unhappily, "Miss Tang, are you living in the last dynasty? Or are you really living in the village, isolated from the outside world for a long time? Duke Duan Ding's illness was cured ten years ago, and he can speak fluently now. What are you crazy about?"

Pei Nai was completely stunned. Gu Jinheng’s muteness was cured?
Although this news overturned her cognition, it reminded Pei Nai in an instant that when Gu Jinheng was young, he once became a disciple of Li Sanniang, a Yin Gong master from Huojiang, one of the Six Rivers, in order to learn the Shenqi Yin Gong of Dandao and use the Qi Gong to open up the Qi and blood, thereby curing his muteness.

It seems that Gu Jinheng's hidden skills have reached perfection.

Pei Nai thought about this and felt happy for him.

Outside the window, Gu Jinheng and his guards walked into the main building of Yuanxiao Pavilion, and his figure could no longer be seen.

Pei Nai smiled at Jiang Qingyue and hurried downstairs.

To them, this was a difficult gambling task, but to Pei Nai, it was just a few words with the most familiar old friend.

After she left, Yi Xi hurriedly chased after her, shouting at Pei Nai to wait a moment.

But Pei Nai walked down the stairs very quickly. He went down three floors and reached the floating bridge connecting the east auxiliary building to the main building without stopping.

On the floating bridge, Yixi finally grabbed her.

Pei Nai turned around and said, "No, why are you stopping me?"

Gu Jinheng, who was going upstairs, was stunned. He took a few steps, pushed open the carved side window, and looked inside, but only saw two girls talking.

There were a lot of mixed noises in the palace today, and Gu Jinheng had no idea what they were doing before.

But from the moment he stepped into the gate of Yuanxiao Pavilion, he could clearly hear these girls discussing things related to him.

Of course, he also heard that one of the girls still thought he was dumb. Gu Jinheng opened the window only because the words that the girl said just now sounded very much like what Pei Nai often said when he was stopped from helping others to vent their anger. The tone of voice was exactly the same as Pei Nai's back then.

For a moment, it seemed as if her voice and appearance were still there. This thought instantly confused his heart.

He smiled slightly at himself, what was there was nothing there but a bunch of children.

The winter wind blew through the wide-open window and blew across my face, causing pain.

Gu Jinheng closed his eyes and relaxed for a moment, then turned around and left. The servants closed the window.

On the floating bridge, Yixi raised a finger and pressed it to her lips, signaling Pei Nai to speak softly.

Then he leaned close to her ear and explained, "Mingzhi, life is important. At this time, why bother about the gambling game? Reputation is not something you can afford. Losing a game to them won't be a big deal. We can just leave. Duke Duan Ding's aura is too strong. Civil and military officials are always on their guard when they approach him. If you happen to bump into him, Madam Ju and I can't protect you!"

Pei Nai only recently realized that in the eyes of others, Gu Jinheng was this kind of person.
But what kind of person is Gu Jinheng? Even though Pei Nai had slept in the same bed with him for five years, he still couldn't tell.

But she knew that Gu Jinheng would not make things difficult for a little girl.

"What are you afraid of? He won't eat me. I'm just asking him a question."

Yixi was about to say something to persuade her, but Pei Nai turned around and left before she could say anything.

In a blink of an eye, Pei Nai had already walked into the main building. Yi Xi did not dare to make any noise, and could only follow her with great concern. She thought that if something went wrong, she would not know how much use it would be if she asked for mercy as the legitimate daughter of Prince Guangping.
Yixi shook her head in despair, blaming herself even more. Why would she bet with such a mediocre person when she had nothing better to do? If Mingzhi was implicated, she would never be able to atone for her sins even if she died.

When Pei Nai walked over, Gu Jinheng was standing in front of a bookshelf.

The palace servants knelt on the ground trembling with fear, all leaning forward and close to the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

Pei Nai understood that he was here to look for a book.

There are many books in the Imperial Study, but perhaps because of the palace banquet today, the officials who should have reported their affairs in the morning court went to see the emperor in the afternoon to report their duties, so there might be a lot of people in Xiao Mingyi's Imperial Study at this time, and because it was inconvenient, he came here.

Pei Nai thought for a long time about how to start the conversation.

Gu Jinheng should have already heard the reason why she came here. Whatever she said would be regarded as idle nonsense, and he probably wouldn't pay any attention to it.

It would be better to just say it directly, she suppressed her heartbeat.

"I pay my respects to Lord Duan Ding. May Lord Duan Ding be blessed with good health and happiness."

Pei Nai performed the blessing ceremony according to the etiquette of women.

Gu Jinheng had a stern look on his face, his eyes were on the bookshelf, and he didn't even look at her.

Pei Nai was a little nervous. Gu Jinheng's aura of keeping strangers away was indeed getting stronger. "My friend just made a bet with a classmate. The teacher of their academy asked a question not long ago about the understanding and views of family. I need to get an answer from you to complete the task. Can I ask Lord Duan Ding for advice?"

Gu Jinheng seemed a little unhappy. The air flow suddenly surged and Pei Nai felt his breathing stagnate, as if someone was strangling his neck.

The silver-armored guard beside him was well aware of this and stepped forward, ready to drag Pei Nai away.

She roughly understood the reason, and she calmly swallowed the air into her dantian. The qi started from the Ren and Du meridians, and circulated along various meridians to every part of the body. Her tense body relaxed at the moment the qi flowed through her body, and she also got rid of the feeling of suffocation.

Gu Jinheng finally raised his eyes and saw the girl looking at him with a smile in her eyes.

There was no fear, nor was there any anger at his recent actions.

Her smile seemed to penetrate the years and brought Gu Jinheng back to more than ten years ago.

He clearly remembered that there was a girl who often looked at him with such eyes, the girl who stopped the carriage and asked him in the street who he liked, the girl whose eyes and heart were full of him.

People on this floor can feel that the pressure from the surrounding air is gradually decreasing.

Gu Jinheng's heart softened. Not only did she say similar words, but even her rash and straightforward personality was somewhat similar to Pei Nai's at that time.

The silver-armored guard who was about to step forward was stopped by an invisible force.

Gu Jinheng finally spoke, "What about you?"

(End of this chapter)