Chapter 45: Get Out

This was a plain white handkerchief with a green bamboo embroidered in the lower right corner.

The bamboo stem was straight and tall, its entire body emerald green.

Pei Yuanshao clutched the silk cloth before him with trembling hands, his body leaning forward from where he reclined against the chair.

His rounded fingertips fell on the exquisitely embroidered bamboo, his crimson lips quivering slightly.

He raised his eyes, peach blossom eyes staring directly at the lady not far away, and asked in a deep voice, “Does this handkerchief belong to you?”

Liu Changning’s expression was strange as she glanced at his solemn face. She couldn’t help but shrug.

It’s hard to be kind. For a moment she felt pity, but forgot that the person opposite was an extremely picky individual.

Her convenient husband had always loved cleanliness. A few years ago when they spent day and night together and were familiar with each other, she would hand him a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and he would use it without worry.

Now meeting again, she was just a strange woman to him. At this moment he must be feeling disgust and wariness.

Thinking of this, Liu Changning set the celadon teapot on the table and turned her head to glance at him.

She patiently explained, “Your Highness need not worry, this handkerchief belongs to this humble commoner. It has not been used and should be clean.”

Pei Yuanshao’s brows were furrowed high. Although his whole body was trembling, he forcibly suppressed the urge to grab her throat. At this moment, he just wanted to know, why? Why was the embroidery on this handkerchief exactly the same as that person’s preference from years ago, even the position of the green bamboo was the same.

Two years ago, in Huashi Town, Xiqiao Village.

That day he had free time and was in the kitchen lighting the fire to cook.

The smoke and ash from the stove blurred his eyes.

That person stood nearby and handed over a yellowed handkerchief.

She said softly, “There’s soot on your eyelids, use this to wipe it off.”

That rough cloth handkerchief was plain white, the fabric coarse. After being washed with soap and dried in the sun, it was dry and warm, but the color was monotonous and pale, just like her entire person.

He asked curiously, “This handkerchief has been used many times, how do you always keep it on you?”

That person said, “I’m sentimental about old things.”

He pouted. She was sentimental about old things, but not about him.

Taking the handkerchief, he wiped the black soot clean from his eyelids.

She reached out to take it back, but he tucked it into his bosom.

He negotiated, “It’s all dirty from wiping. I’ll help you wash it clean and return it to you, alright?”

That person stared at him for a moment.

He awkwardly looked away and said casually, “Your cloth handkerchief has been washed too many times, the edges are already yellowing. If it had a pattern embroidered on it, it could be decorated a bit. What kind of pattern do you like? When I have free time, I’ll help you embroider a pattern, how about that?”

Sunlight streamed into the kitchen, casting a halo of light behind that person. She brushed aside the stray hairs by her ear, a hint of a smile spreading in her tea-colored eyes.

That was the first time he had caught a glimpse of genuine laughter in her eyes.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, “You actually know embroidery?”

He stammered, “I… although I don’t know embroidery, with more practice in the future, I’m sure to learn.”

That person chuckled softly, “If Young Master Yuan is proficient in embroidery, then embroider a bamboo in the lower right corner of the handkerchief. After all, it’s just a cloth to wipe sweat, no need to bother embroidering anything complicated. One green bamboo is enough. It means Changning, straight and tall, bending but not breaking. How’s that?”

The echoes of that person’s deep laughter from years ago reverberated in his chest, and Pei Yuanshao’s fingertips pressed even harder on the embroidered handkerchief.

His dark eyes stared unwaveringly at the woman before him, the feigned smile at the corners of his lips completely disappearing.

In his deep and reserved eyes, a hint of gravity and hope spread. He caressed the green bamboo embroidery on the handkerchief.

Word by word, he asked in a low voice, “Why does your handkerchief have a green bamboo embroidered on it?”

Liu Changning was stunned for a moment. It was because her name was Liu Changning, born in a bamboo grove. On the day of her birth, there was thunder and lightning, and the bamboo grove at the foot of Canglang Mountain was struck down entirely by lightning. Only she, as an infant, survived in such a grand display of lightning.

When her master picked her up and brought her back to the mountain gate, he said, “This girl was born in a bamboo grove, breaking out of her cocoon at death. She has lived through lifetimes. The bamboo grove fell because of her, yet she alone survived. So name her Liu Changning, courtesy name Cang Yun. May she be like bamboo, bending but not breaking, breaking but not severing, rising to challenges, and reaching straight to the azure sky.”

Her convenient husband’s gaze was intense. Liu Changning met his dark and deep eyes.

She looked at him strangely. The green bamboo was the origin of her name. But she couldn’t explain this to him.

The green bamboo on this handkerchief was embroidered by her junior disciple.

Her junior disciple Jia Zizhuo was Master Jia’s only son, pure-hearted by nature, shy and gentle.

Some days ago, after the provincial examination results were released, she had returned to White Deer Academy to bid farewell to her mentor. Her junior disciple had personally embroidered twenty handkerchiefs to give to her.

She coldly refused, but unexpectedly, her junior disciple shed tears before her.

A man crying in front of her, Liu Changning really couldn’t bear it, so she had to accept the gift.

She figured that a handkerchief was just for wiping sweat and dirt anyway, not worth much money. In the future, when she encountered something nice, she could send one or two things back to her junior disciple to be even.

But her convenient husband’s gaze was burning. He clutched that handkerchief tightly, and his originally lifeless black eyes seemed to have a glimmer of light.

He was waiting for her answer, as if it was very important to him.

A flash of surprise passed through Liu Changning’s eyes, and she asked softly, “Does Your Highness recognize the bamboo on this handkerchief?”

“This item was embroidered by this humble one’s junior disciple. One day, while discussing poetry with my mentor in the bamboo grove, my junior disciple accidentally entered. He asked what this humble one liked, and I casually answered, green bamboo. My junior disciple kept it in mind, and before coming to the capital, personally embroidered several handkerchiefs to gift to Cang Yun.”

As the cold words of the woman before him poured into his ears, Pei Yuanshao felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

He tugged at the corners of his mouth, his gaze fixed.