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Chapter 222 Love Poem

On the artificial hill, the Zhu siblings were indeed dumbfounded.

Zhu Zigeng exclaimed in shock, "Hongzhi is truly a master! We actually wanted to teach him about love and romance!"

Zhu Zixian said, "It's like showing off your skills before an expert."

Zhu Zijing was full of admiration and said, "There are always people more capable than you, and mountains beyond mountains. I have learned a lot."

Zhu Zigong at the academy: "I missed it, I missed it..."

Miss Zhu bit her handkerchief, her eyes brimming with tears: "I don't care, I want a man like that too."

Zhu Ziming said, "Dream on, there's no other Qiji in the world..."

"Give it to me, give it to me..." Zhu Zihe was so happy that his face contorted with joy, and he couldn't help but let out a strange laugh.

~~
Under the rockery.

"Are you relieved now?"

"Mmm." Su Lu nodded emphatically, grinning like a silly boy. "Xiu Mei, with your words, I'm sure I can persevere to the end."

Seeing his relieved expression, Huang E was overjoyed and couldn't help but reach out her delicate hand to tease him, "Then give it to me."

"What?" Su Lu asked.

"A token of love?" Huang E said coquettishly, "Do you think you're all you have besides your mouth, you frivolous and dissolute scoundrel?"

“I definitely need this, but I don’t have one right now…” Su Lu said awkwardly, “I was short on time, and buying just any gift would be too insincere. I couldn’t think of anything suitable, so I came empty-handed.”

"You really don't treat me like an outsider." Huang E chuckled and said, "Where did your silver tongue go? You should have said that tangible tokens might be lost, which would be too unlucky, so I prepared a love poem for you, so you can remember it forever, until the end of time."

“That’s a good idea…” Su Lu said with a smile. After saying that, he began to look around, racking his brains.

He couldn't help but wonder, was this girl easy to deal with or difficult to deal with?
Huang E then pretended to listen attentively, smiling as she watched Su Lu pacing back and forth, not forgetting to tease him:

"One step, two steps, three or four steps..."

“I’m not Cao Zhi; I can’t compose a poem in seven steps.” Su Lu stopped with a wry smile and said, “I have it.”

"So you can compose a poem in six steps?" Huang E couldn't help but chuckle. The man was modest, but he only took six steps.

"Don't laugh, or the atmosphere will be off." Su Lu glared at her.

"Alright, alright, I won't laugh, please, brother." Huang E covered his mouth, but his eyebrows and eyes curved like a new moon, like a happy little fox.

"Oh, how am I supposed to read this?" Su Lu said helplessly, "I'll just write it down for you."

"Did you bring any writing materials?" Huang E asked, noticing that his hands were empty and he hadn't even brought his schoolbag.

"It's alright." Su Lu then raised his hand and called out, "Give me a pen!"

Huang E found it amusing and wanted to see what kind of antics he was up to.

A moment later, a white blob actually flew down from the artificial hill, and Su Lu caught it right in the face!

It was his cloth satchel.

"There are still people there?" Huang E was stunned and looked up at the artificial hill. Sure enough, she saw figures moving there, the Zhu siblings fleeing in a disheveled state, their laughter echoing down below the hill...

"No, no, we were just passing by."

"You guys continue."

"Brother Qiji, well done!"

"How could these people be like this?" Huang E was so ashamed she wanted to disappear into the ground. If she had known someone was spying on her, she wouldn't have been so bold as to act this way.

"That's why I switched to writing," Su Lu said with a smile.

"When did you find them?" she asked Su Lu again.

"I just heard someone laughing like a night owl on the artificial hill." Su Lu moved very quickly. As he spoke, he pulled out a bamboo bookmark from his bag. It was no more than a palm's length long and about two fingers wide, with rounded ends and as thin as a cicada's wing.

He held a slip of paper in one hand and a brush in the other, and wrote a poem on it with a white cloud pattern. He handed it to Huang E and asked, "Is it pleasing to the eye?"

Huang E held the bookmark in his palm, feeling that it was neither cold nor rough to the touch, and the fragrance of bamboo mixed with a faint smell of ink lingered in his nose.

She was initially very shy, but after reading the poem, she immediately calmed down, read it several times, and a happy smile gradually bloomed on her face.

Huang E carefully tucked the bookmark into her sleeve and said sweetly, "You pass."

"Just passed the test?" Su Lu teased.

"You're so annoying..." Huang E was great when teasing Su Lu, but when it came to the other side, she became incredibly shy.

"Ah, I'm actually disliked." Su Lu clutched her chest, looking hurt. "Then I'm really terrible." "I like you." Huang E could only lower her head, her ears red, her voice barely audible. "Is this alright?"

"What do you like?" Su Lu insisted on getting to the bottom of it, not wanting her to be vague like last time.

Huang E's face flushed red, and mustering all her courage for the day and even the month, she exclaimed, "I love this keepsake, I love this poem, I love this person!"

After saying that, he covered his face and ran away, leaving Su Lu there alone, giggling foolishly.

~~
Huang E ran all the way to the other side of the pond before stopping, turning to look at the twin lotus flowers in the lake, and smiling sweetly…

She was hesitating whether to leave without saying goodbye and only have her maid give a greeting when she saw Miss Zhu stand up from a large cluster of hydrangeas, wearing a straw hat on her head.

"All done?" Miss Zhu waved the flower shears in her hand, indicating that she had been tending to her beloved flowers and hadn't been peeping.

"Stop pretending." Huang E said, both amused and annoyed. "I saw you just now. You were the slowest running, clumsy and almost tripped."

"Haha, really?" Miss Zhu chuckled awkwardly, put down the flower shears, and took off her straw hat, asking, "So what poem did that 'fool' write for you?"

"If you make fun of me again, I won't come to your house anymore," Huang E said, stamping her foot.

"Yes, I've already been exposed, I need to find another place." Miss Zhu took out a mother-of-pearl comb from her sleeve and carefully combed her cloud-like black hair, which had been slightly messed up by the bamboo hat.

"Don't be too smug, sister." Huang E wasn't just passive; she retorted, "You'll be the one being laughed at someday too."

“I’m really looking forward to it…” Miss Zhu felt like she’d been shot in the knee, and said quietly, “If there really is such a show, I’ll set out tea and snacks, call all my sisters over, and let you all watch to your heart’s content.”

"Sister..." Huang E felt embarrassed and quickly comforted her, "It will happen, when the time is right."

"Alas, I'll be turning twenty next year," Miss Zhu lamented. "I'm too old to count on anymore. Dear sister, please show me that poem, so I can feast my eyes."

"Looking towards twenty years old..." Huang E was speechless. Sister Zhu was always up to something; this was the first time she had heard such a term. But she still took out the bookmark from her sleeve and handed it to Sister Zhu, saying, "Here, don't make it sound so pitiful."

"Thank you." Seeing that her act of feigning helplessness had worked, Miss Zhu snatched the bookmark and read aloud with a beaming smile:
"I pledged my life to you on the Stone of Three Incarnations, and our dreams are filled with the blooming of twin lotus blossoms."

"One life, one love; together we'll grow old amidst the green hills, sharing dawn and dusk."

As she read, her pace slowed, and by the second line she was almost pausing between each word, with each word having a final syllable. When she finished reading, she was mesmerized and handed the bookmark back to Huang E.

"One love for one person in this life, until the green hills grow old and we share the dawn and dusk together... Priceless treasures are easy to find, but a true lover is hard to come by. My sister, you are truly blessed."

"My sister will also have her own good fortune." Huang E didn't deny it, carefully putting the bookmark back into her sleeve. Looking at Miss Zhu, who was dazed by the display of affection, she asked with some concern, "Sister, are you alright?"

"It's alright, it's alright." Fortunately, Miss Zhu was open-minded and quickly calmed down, saying, "I just realized it. It turns out I don't need to pretend, I'm just really pitiful."

"Sister, you don't need to envy me. We might not even be able to get past my father's approval." Huang E was a kind girl. Although she had already made up her mind, she still expressed her worries to make Miss Zhu feel more comfortable.

"Indeed." Miss Zhu, forgetting her own feelings, hurriedly asked, "What if your father disagrees?"

"We'll just have to wait it out, what else can we do?" Huang E sighed. Well, now he was really worried.

~~
"I disagree!" Huang Ke slammed her hand on the table for the first time with her daughter.

Upon returning from his inspection of Taiping Town, the first thing he did was listen to his youngest son Huang Feng's report that his daughter had gone to the Zhu family to meet that thief again, and he immediately lost his temper.

Huang Bingxian originally thought that his warning would at least keep things in check for a few days, but he didn't expect that as soon as the little thief came back, he started stealing the cabbages in his own field again!
He immediately and angrily summoned Huang E, questioning her about whether she knew a petty thief named Su Lu!

"I know him." Huang E nodded, glancing at the young man beside him, finally realizing who had betrayed him.

"Is it really just a simple acquaintance? What other relationship do you have?!" Huang Ke pressed.

“It’s the kind of relationship Father is thinking of,” Huang E answered without hesitation.

"You! You! How could you do such a thing?" Huang Ke's face turned purple with rage, and her voice trembled as she said, "What kind of sorcery did he use on you? Did he coerce you?!"

“No, Father, what kind of person is Hongzhi?” Huang E’s answer pierced the old father’s heart. “We were in love, and if you really want to know, I started it first.”

"You're talking nonsense, I don't believe you!" Huang Ke was just like any old father whose home has been robbed, so angry that he was furious and had lost all composure as a fourth-rank official.

"Father, calm down. It's not worth getting sick from getting angry." Huang Feng quickly tried to soothe his father. Although he was Huang Ke's youngest son, he was already married with children and wouldn't be like Zhu Zigeng, who spent his days mingling with a group of underage boys and girls. Therefore, Su Lu had never seen him before.

But Huang Feng was in charge of the household, and all the maids, servants, coachmen, and guards had to listen to him.

"I'm so angry!" Huang Ke grumbled angrily while stealing a glance at her daughter, who indeed froze in her anger and looked sad.

Huang Bingxian felt a pang of pain in his heart, but knowing that he couldn't soften his heart at this moment, he continued to whine:

"If you still want this father, then don't see that little thief again."

"Exactly, what's so great about that kid?" Huang Feng chimed in.

"Where isn't she better than you, you traitor?!" Huang E glared angrily at the young man, then sobbed as she said to Huang Ke:
“Father, please grant my request. Hongzhi is a man of noble character and profound learning. He is not only a distinguished student of Mr. Gangshan, but also the leading scholar of Heshan Academy. Even the esteemed Hanlin scholar Pang and the scholar Zhu Chuanlu regard him as a treasure. How could he possibly be unworthy of your daughter? We are not doing anything improper or out of line; we are simply in love and have a normal relationship. Father, please agree…”

(End of this chapter)