High-class Spring Joy

Annoying, the person in front of me seems annoyed?

Looking at the person in front of her, when Chu Jingyu showed such an expression, if it were the old Qinghe, she would definitely have been thinking about what to do, how to coax Chu Jingyu, how to admit her mistake, and how to make him stop being angry. In short, she would have used every trick in the book.

Even before, when Qinghe saw Chu Jingyu so angry, even though she had already made up her mind to leave the Marquis's mansion and stay away from Chu Jingyu, she would still feel a little scared and would subconsciously think about it. But she would quickly recover after that. However, she was impatient and annoyed by his temper.

Now that Qinghe is watching, she feels no emotion at all.

She felt completely calm, as if she were looking at a stranger, but the pain in her wrist still made Qinghe frown subconsciously.

Looking at Chu Jingyu's expression, Qinghe was a little surprised and confused. She didn't know what was bothering him.

What's so annoying about him?

He was the one who was sold into the Marquis's mansion at the age of ten to bring good fortune, served as a maid for ten years, was scolded by the old lady, and bullied by the Jiang Qingge sisters.

You entrusted your trust to someone, only to find that the person who was just trying to fool you wasn't him at all.

When faced with a life-or-death situation, the person who was repeatedly and decisively abandoned by the person they once cared about most was not the one in front of them.

So Qinghe didn't quite understand what was so interesting about some of the people in front of her.

Qinghe rubbed her wrist, looking at Chu Jingyu in front of her with little emotion: "I wonder what brings you here today, Fifth Young Master? Is it just to stop an ordinary commoner like me from entering your house and then intimidate me? Aren't you afraid I'll report you to the authorities? Even if I don't punish you, it will at least tarnish your reputation."

Chu Jingyu never expected that the person he had been thinking about for so long would react like this when he finally saw her. Qinghe would actually say such heartless things to him.

This made Chu Jingyu both angry and furious, and even more so, he couldn't understand why things had turned out this way between him and Qinghe.

From Qinghe's perspective, she had not appeared in the mansion since returning from Xiangguo Temple. Chu Jingyu had also learned from a servant that Qinghe had left the mansion.

Chu Jingyu couldn't believe that Qinghe would leave him like this, and he couldn't believe that the girl who had been clamoring to marry him since she was a teenager would suddenly not want to marry him anymore. This was unbelievable to Chu Jingyu.

Furthermore, wasn't this how Qinghe always acted every time she was angry with him before? She would pretend to be sad, act heartless, and act like she wanted to stay away from him, but in reality, he would always coax her back with a few words and give her some nice things.

Chu Jingyu hadn't taken the matter seriously in the first place. It was true that Xiangguo Temple was in great danger on its way to encounter the bandits, and it was indeed a near-death experience. But this wasn't the first time Qinghe had experienced something like this.

They had previously said that Qinghe had been kidnapped. Chu Jingyu remembered his first reaction. He had already promised to travel with Jiang Qingge, so he couldn't betray her trust or ruin his reputation. Therefore, he chose to go with Jiang Qingge first.

But after learning that Qinghe was indeed kidnapped, didn't he immediately lead a large group of people, dozens of servants and young men, and search almost the entire city of Bianjing? Wasn't it all to find Qinghe? They searched for most of the night before finally finding Qinghe in a cave on the mountain.

Chu Jingyu realized he might have made a mistake from the beginning, and he actively tried to make amends. After he did, Qinghe returned to normal, and there was no change between them.

So what Chu Jingyu didn't understand was why it wouldn't work this time. Encountering bandits at Xiangguo Temple was indeed dangerous, but it couldn't necessarily be more dangerous than being kidnapped, right? Why wouldn't it work this time? Did she remember this incident so vividly?

Chu Jingyu's brows furrowed into a deep frown as he scrutinized the person before him. Confused and irritated, he demanded, "Why? It's just because I didn't save you first when we encountered the bandits. But your life is one thing, and everyone else's life is another! Why did I have to save you first? I didn't say I wouldn't save you. It's just that when I saved others, someone saved you. If no one else had saved you, I would have naturally saved you. Don't you know how much I care for you? All these years. Would I have stood by and watched you die? Would I have let something happen to you in front of me? No, Guoguo, you know how important you are to me, and I know it too. I wouldn't let anything happen to you in front of me. But why can't you understand me for something like this?"

"Understanding?"

Qinghe seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. Her eyes flashed with a calm light, and her retort was also very clear. There was no fluctuation of emotion in her voice; she was simply stating the facts:

"Which is more important, someone else's life or mine? Or rather, does the young master value the lives of all beings, or does he value Jiang Qingge's life more than everyone else's? I won't ask further; the young master knows perfectly well. Besides, I'm just a commoner now, no longer a maid in the Marquis's mansion, nor anyone's bride for good luck. Why should I understand you, young master? There's no such logic in this world. In that incident, or rather, in those many incidents, the young master unequivocally chose Jiang Qingge. Of course, that was the young master's right to choose, and he could choose whomever he wanted. That was his freedom. At that time, I was just a lowly maid, without even the chance to make my own decisions, without even the right to speak. So whatever the young master said was the law. Whoever the young master wanted to live, he wanted to live; whoever the young master wanted to die, he could die, and he had to die." "But I am no longer that lowly maidservant of the Marquis's mansion, no longer a maidservant who can only obey the young master. Although I have no birth, no status, and no power, I still have the right to speak my own mind, to say what I want to say. I also have the right to choose what I want and make my own choices. Since the young master has already made his choice in so many matters, choosing Jiang Qingge, why are you trying to influence my choice here? What does my choice have to do with the young master? Since the young master has chosen to be considerate of Jiang Qingge, why? And why should I be considerate of the young master? Just because the young master thinks of that pitiful affection I once had for you? That tiny bit of affection? It has long been exhausted. You yourself exhausted it, young master, and you can't blame anyone else for that. Who in this world should be considerate of another person? Isn't the young master being a bit unreasonable?"

Qinghe's words, when read literally, were not particularly cruel. Her tone was not cold either; rather, they were like a gentle, flowing stream, speaking softly and continuously, seemingly without any aggression, yet carrying an undeniable firmness.

That's exactly it. Like water that has no aggression, yet when you try to break or disturb it, you find that it has its own rhythm and is not affected by anyone.

It was this very Qinghe that made Chu Jingyu feel truly unfamiliar and helpless.

Chu Jingyu was startled. He looked at Qinghe in front of him and felt that although the girl in front of him looked exactly the same as before, there was no difference between her and before, but it seemed that everything about her had changed, and he couldn't put his finger on it. He couldn't put a specific change into his mind.

Upon closer examination, including the words spoken earlier, Chu Jingyu became increasingly alarmed, especially when he looked at Qinghe, who showed little reaction, no emotion, and no anxiety, as if this matter was completely unimportant to her.

When Qinghe said these things, she was simply stating a very cold and objective fact in a very calm and indifferent manner, without any emotional coloring.

It seemed that even though Chu Jingyu was treating her this way, he couldn't evoke any emotion in her at all.

Such a thought shocked Chu Jingyu, who was standing in front of him, and made him feel scared, guilty and flustered.

These complex emotions all ended up on Qinghe's face, a beautiful and charming face. Chu Jingyu knew that Qinghe was good-looking; he had always known.

Moreover, when she looks at this beautiful and charming face, it is mostly with a gentle and tender feeling, and her clear and beautiful eyes mostly hide the thoughts of a young woman.

When Chu Jingyu saw such a cold and indifferent gaze again, it was as if he were looking at a stranger. Such a gaze, such an expression, such perception made Chu Jingyu feel uneasy.

Chu Jingyu panicked. The fierce look on his face vanished, replaced by confusion and anxiety. He grabbed Qinghe's wrist, trying to explain, "No, Guoguo, don't be angry... You know I'm bad with words. I can't say anything nice to make a girl happy, and you know that too. We've known each other for so many years, and you know I'm bad with words. So please give me another chance. What I meant wasn't what I just said. What I meant was that what happened at Xiangguo Temple was indeed wrong, it was my negligence. But you also have to understand, at that time, things were urgent, and I was destined to only be able to choose which one to save first and which one to save later. At that time, we only talked about who was closest to me." It's Jiang Qingge. You're further away from me. If I rush over, I might not be able to save you, but I can definitely save Jiang Qingge. Besides, I know your health. I've had Fu Yi take care of you since you were little, so your body isn't weak. But unlike you, she's always been frail, like a willow in the wind. A gust of wind could blow her over. If she fell off that horse, she'd be half-dead, if not dead. So, Guoguo, it's not that I don't want to save you, it's that if I don't save Jiang Qingge first, she'll definitely die. But you're strong, so even if I go to save you later, it'll be in time. That's how I think we can save both of us, isn't it? The day you left the manor, I... I know everything. I even had someone investigate the house you were staying in a few days ago. But I just thought you were angry, and I wanted to wait until you calmed down before we talked properly. I didn't expect that trying to calm you down would cause problems. I've been supporting you, waiting for you to return to your residence, and I've had people maintain it as if you left. I'm waiting for you to come back, waiting for you to give me an explanation. If you give me an explanation, I can apologize to you, I can explain what happened that day. But why won't you go back? Haven't I been good enough to you? Go ask around, go all over Bianjing, find out which household, which wealthy family, would allow a maid to be out for so many days, almost half a month, without returning to the Marquis's residence. And no one has held you accountable? It's not that I care about you. If I hadn't wanted to give you a proper break, if I hadn't been considerate of you, you wouldn't have even been able to step through the gates of the Marquis's mansion before being stopped by your mother's people. Why do you have to squander my feelings for you like this? Why can you only see Jiang Qingge, only see the petty squabbles of young girls? Why do you take your anger out on me because of this? My feelings for you have never changed. Do you want me to become someone who only cares about you and doesn't care about anyone else? Do you want me to become someone who only values ​​your life and doesn't value the lives of others? How can that be worthy of all the years I've studied the classics? Shouldn't a gentleman take responsibility for his family, country, and people?

As Chu Jingyu spoke, he became more and more agitated. What was originally just one hand holding Qinghe's wrist had now become two hands.

Qinghe frowned. Faced with this person's persistent pestering, even she, who was usually calm, grew somewhat impatient.

"Young Master has his responsibilities and his ambitions. He can do whatever he wants, but it has nothing to do with me. As for what you mean by being good to me, I don't agree. Do you mean that when I was kidnapped and on the verge of death on that mountain, you were holding Jiang Qingge on that boat, enjoying the scenery and the moon, and that's being good to me?"

The way you treat me well is by tolerating Jiang Qingge and her sister countless times, even though they wish they could kill me and bully me repeatedly. Sometimes you clearly know who is right and who is wrong, and who is being bullied, but you always side with others. Is that what you call being good to me?

If your kindness to me means ignoring my pain and suffering, my scars, my feelings, right and wrong, and my emotions, then I am unworthy of your kindness. You, a person as good as you, could easily find a better girl, like Jiang Qingge. She is perfect for you; you and I are a match made in heaven, a golden couple.

Qinghe paused here, mainly to catch her breath, and without giving Chu Jingyu time to react, she said directly, "There's one last thing. Regarding what you said, young master, about why I, as a servant, have been away for so long and haven't returned to the Marquis's mansion, it's probably because you're a bit behind on the times. Now my name is Qinghe, no longer the Qingyuan you spoke of, nor a maid in your Zhenguo Marquis's mansion, nor your bride. Qinghe has no connection with you whatsoever now, young master. Please don't bother me. If you don't believe me, you can go back to the Marquis's mansion and ask the old lady to see if what I said is true or false."

Having said that, Qinghe opened the door to the house, stepped inside, and stood behind the door facing him:

"If you insist on coming in, then I will have to report you to the authorities for trespassing. I have no connection with you anymore, so please leave. If we meet again, we will be strangers. The past is like fleeting clouds, gone and gone. I don't miss it, I don't yearn for it. Since you have chosen Jiang Qingge, you should remain faithful to her, instead of wavering and acting like a coward. If you had chosen Jiang Qingge and remained steadfast in your choice from beginning to end, I would respect you as a true man. But this situation only makes me doubt my past judgment and realize I overestimated you."

After Qinghe finished speaking, she immediately closed and locked the door, the action was swift and decisive.

A thick wooden door separated the two people.

Qinghe stood behind the door, leaning against it without moving. After taking a deep breath, she stood up again, as if she had unloaded a heavy burden. She walked lightly to the table and placed the roast chicken she was holding on it.

It's all in the past now.

She would never look back, never miss the past. It was better to make things clear with Chu Jingyu sooner rather than later, the sooner the better, the closer they would be.

After saying those words, Qinghe didn't feel the fear or worry she used to have. Instead, she felt an indescribable sense of relief. She no longer needed to worry about anything.

Qinghe took the roast chicken to the kitchen, found a very ordinary but inexpensive small plate, put the roast chicken on it, and slowly unwrapped the oil paper covering it.

The aroma of roast chicken immediately filled the air; it was glistening with oil and oozing with savory juices.

Qinghe hadn't eaten this restaurant's roast chicken in a long time, but she was sure things would get better little by little. She tried her best to make sure that she and her child could eat whatever they wanted, not to be rich and powerful, but at least not to worry about food and clothing.

Now that she has a name, a business, and a way to make money, her life will definitely get better day by day.

Meanwhile, Chu Jingyu stood in front of the door panel for a long time, unwilling to leave. His gaze was fixed on the back door panel, as if he wanted to carve two holes in it.

That day, Chu Jingyu stood outside Qinghe's house for a long time, staring at the door panel. Chu Jingyu was completely bewildered, unable to think of anything else. The words Qinghe had spoken earlier kept echoing in his mind like a curse.

But it seems that every sentence is spoken by one person, as if Chu Jingyu has countless people talking and countless thoughts in his mind at this moment.

As they argued, Chu Jingyu felt as if his head was about to split open, and he couldn't think of anything at all.

Chu Jingyu stood there for a long time before leaving, somewhat absent-minded. When he returned to the Zhenguo Marquis's residence, he was still in the same absent-minded and distracted state, which was immediately noticed by the servant Mo Lin.

Seeing that Chu Jingyu's expression was not good, Mu Lin quickly stepped forward to support him and asked considerately, "Young Master, where have you been? Why do you look so pale when you come back? Did you encounter something, or see something? Or is there someone in Bianjing City who dares to be so audacious as to openly bully you like this?"

Is it bullying? It shouldn't really be considered bullying, right?

Chu Jingyu's mind was blank, yet it also seemed to be full of things, things he couldn't understand.

Chu Jingyu looked at Mo Lin in front of him, tilted his head, and said, "If there is someone who feels that I have done something wrong, that I have mistreated her, then what should be done?"

Mo Lin is a very shrewd person. Having been by Chu Jingyu's side for quite some time, he has long since learned to assess situations and read people's expressions.

Seeing Chu Jingyu's expression, Mo Lin knew that this matter was probably related to Miss Qinghe. He thought that the matter between Miss Qinghe and the young master was not something he could interfere with.

Mo Lin didn't offer any opinion, but simply smiled and comforted him, "Young Master, the matter you're asking is far too profound. I'm just a servant, how could I have time to think about so many things? What I think about every day is naturally how to serve you, Young Master. Of course, I can't understand such profound questions. Well, Miss Jiang is here, not long after you left the manor. Why don't you go in and ask Miss Jiang if you have any questions?"

"Is Ge'er here?"

Chu Jingyu's empty eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had seen some savior. He immediately stopped talking to Mo Lin and quickly walked inside.

-

Let's look at it from both sides.

Qinghe originally bought a roast chicken and planned to cook some rice and stir-fry a small dish of green vegetables before starting her meal.

Before the vegetables were even cooked and the rice was just done, there was a knock on the back door.

Qinghe quickly put down the vegetables she had just washed and went to open the door. But as soon as she opened the door, she saw the handsome face she hadn't seen for several days.

Qinghe was somewhat surprised, and a joy he himself didn't realize appeared on his face: "Third Young Master! Come in quickly, come in quickly, why are you here at this time?"

Qinghe peeked out and looked around. Finding no one there, she pulled the Third Young Master inside: "Didn't the two guards come?"

Chu Jingxian still had the white ribbon tied around her eyebrows, indicating that her eyes had not fully recovered.

Hearing Qinghe's question, Chu Jingxian shook his head and slightly curled the corners of his lips: "They have their own things to do."

"That's a real pity. I bought a very delicious and large roast chicken in the east of the city today. If the two guards were here, they could have tried it together. It's such a shame."

The words Qinghe and Chu Jingxian spoke were just ordinary conversations, but Qinghe's face was full of smiles, and the smile in her eyes was genuine, perhaps without even her own awareness.