"During the autumn harvest a while ago, our village had another bad harvest. I learned about this from a letter written by my brother... I originally thought that I might have to sell my little sister this time."
Hearing that this autumn's harvest was worse than the year she was sold, Shui Xinyuan immediately took her few clothes to the capital market and sold them in exchange for a meager amount of money to send home, but she
Knowing that is still not enough.
"But the next letter told me that after the imperial envoy from the capital inspected various villages, he asked the villages with poor harvests to pay half of the tax...so there is no need to sell anyone."
Correspondence is also very expensive, so Shui Xinyuan always writes three times before receiving a reply. This time, perhaps because his family was very happy, Shui Xinyuan received a reply very quickly.
The letter read: "Sister, please don't worry..."
Shui Xinyuan cried as she read the second letter from her younger brother.
At that time, the emperor was already ill in bed and unable to govern himself.
"I heard that the person who takes charge of the government on behalf of the emperor...is His Highness Fusu."
"..."
"It's never been like this before, no matter how bad the harvest was... so..."
"I……"
Lu Fusu put down the teacup and closed his eyes.
His eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"...I didn't know anything. Until I met you three years ago...I always thought that this country was rich and fertile, and I believed that."
"Your Highness Fusu..."
"After listening to your words, I still couldn't believe it, so I decided to see it with my own eyes... Later, I left the capital for the first time and went to Shenzhou, Yinzhou, Wuzhou... and also Liuzhou,
I’ve also been to your hometown, Qidu Town.”
"Huh?"
This matter... was never mentioned once in my brother's letters.
Could it be that no one in the village noticed it?
After Lu Fusu was silent for a while, he finally said: "I was really too ignorant back then. Although I couldn't see everything in Yuan Kingdom... I knew very well how superficial and narrow what I had learned, seen and heard was.
"
Opening his eyes, Lu Fusu looked at Shui Xinyuan and smiled slightly.
"You are the truth, Shui Xinyuan. I was so ignorant that as a prince, I never thought about how heavy this status is, and you told me this... I must thank you."
"That's not the case!"
Shui Xinyuan stood up, looking a little panicked.
"I'm sorry, I... please forget what I said..."
She clasped her hands together as if praying, closed her eyes tightly and lowered her head.
...I was too talkative. I relied on His Highness Fusu's gentleness and said unnecessary words to him.
...He is too gentle, and he will definitely not listen to it.
Since no one knew about his trip to Qidu Town, Lu Fusu must have secretly visited various places.
As far as Shui Xinyuan knew, the road from Maozhou to Shenzhou was definitely not easy to walk.
Riding a small boat on a turbid river, on a road full of rocks... I actually caused His Highness Fusu to go to those places.
"...You don't need to apologize."
Hearing the sound nearby, Shui Xinyuan opened his eyes and saw Lu Fusu also standing in front of him.
"Those who stand above others must always remind themselves that they are below others."
"under……"
"That's right, standing at the highest point means that there must be people below to support you before you can stand on top. Therefore, those above must consider those who support them, that is, they must place themselves above those people.
The position below."
Lu Fusu gently wiped away the tears from Shui Xinyuan's eyes with his fingers.
"If you apologize to me, I will also apologize to you... We are really alike!"
"..."
Shui Xinyuan somewhat understood what Lu Fusu meant.
But Shui Xinyuan still shook his head slowly.
"There's no way we're alike."
"That's not the case."
"No one will look at me..."
"Um?"
"His Royal Highness Fusu saw me, but... no one thought so."
"What's the meaning……?"
Shui Xinyuan lowered her head and spoke intermittently about the rumors among the palace servants, but she did not name Zhuyan and Yao'er.
"Me... to the court lady dancing in front?"
"Everyone thinks so..."
"This... is really surprising."
Lu Fusu sat back in his seat and scratched his forehead.
"Hey, most people may indeed think that I am paying attention to the court ladies who attract attention, but this misunderstanding is really troublesome."
"Misunderstand……"
"Of course it's a misunderstanding. I was only looking at you from beginning to end."
Shui Xinyuan choked up when he heard Lu Fusu clarify again.
"They said they were court ladies dancing in front? I can't even remember their faces. Are there two or three of them?"
"Five people."
"There are so many? I never care about those rumors. Anyway, they will be broken after a while. You don't really believe those rumors, right?"
"No...I don't believe it either..."
...is he telling the truth?
No one remembers except me?
"That's good. No matter what others say, there is only one truth."
"good……"
Originally thinking that there was a beauty dancing at the scene, Lu Fusu would still divert his attention to some extent, but he didn't expect that he would deny it so simply...
What should I do? I’m so happy…
"Water girl?"
"Yes, yes!"
"What's wrong? Sit back on the chair quickly! It's cold on the ground."
"Yes... right..."
"Didn't I say you don't need to apologize..."
After smiling bitterly, Lu Fusu stood up, and Shui Xinyuan quickly followed suit.
"Then, um, tea... have another cup, I'll make it."
"Okay, then I'll help you."
A slightly stronger wind blew in, causing the lights in the room to sway.
After both of them fell silent, the surroundings became silent, and it seemed that even the slightest sound of clothes rubbing against each other could be heard.
Shui Xinyuan poured the tea carefully.
"Can you come out again?"
"Huh?"
"If I show up at the workshop, I'm afraid there will be a lot of problems later. Although I feel sorry for you, I will be very happy if you can still come here like tonight."
"..."
Lu Fusu's expression didn't look like he was joking.
"Can I... still see you?"
"I want to see you."
Lu Fusu said with a steady smile and an unmistakable tone.
"In fact, in the past three years, I have constantly wanted to see you... However, I think I am still a fatuous prince who has no face to see you, so I have never been able to meet you."
"..."
...No way?
"Although I am still very ignorant, I think I have made a little progress compared to three years ago. If you can agree, I hope we can meet again in the near future."
"..."
I……
I also……
"I originally made up my mind that I would not be able to meet His Highness Fusu until I became a dancer who could climb the hall..."
"Water girl..."
"My dancing... is not good enough..."
...so I never thought that I would be seen.
Even if you want to meet, even if you work hard to be able to meet.
Lu Fusu smiled and reached out to touch Shui Xinyuan's hair.
"We finally met..."
He finished combing a lock of bangs with his fingers and then pulled back.
"Let's take a step back from each other! Otherwise...it will be too lonely if we can't see each other."
"good……"
"Don't cry! Miss Water."
"well……"
I tried to restrain myself but was unable to stop the tears from pouring out.
Not because of sadness, but because of happiness, and a bit of confusion.
...This time it really seemed like I was dreaming.
If this is a dream, I really hope that dawn will not come.
"It's so nerve-wracking...what should I do so that you stop crying?"
"Yes, yes... yes, no..."
"No need to apologize..."
Lu Fusu smiled, then his expression became serious, his hand hesitated... and finally he put Shui Xinyuan's hand on top of it.
It's like...
dream.
"Water girl?"
Shui Xinyuan knew that Lu Fusu looked confused, but she couldn't stop crying for a while.