Unyielding Spring Mountains - Chapter 56: Confession

Although Wei Zhen had heard of the bustling splendor of the capital, ever since coming to the Jin Kingdom, she had never ventured out of the palace. She thought that taking this opportunity today to relax a little would be nice.

The carriage exited the palace gates and traveled for a while. The clamor of the city surged in from all directions, filling the carriage.

The capital was densely populated, and nighttime was when it was most lively. The streets were filled with endless streams of carriages and people jostling against each other. The dazzling lights shone like a cloud of brilliance.

The lively street scene unfolded before them like a vivid, animated painting.

Along the way, they saw all sorts of novel entertainments from the common folk—acrobatics, fire-breathing performances, ball-juggling on stilts…

The various sights reflected in Wei Zhen’s eyes. Seeing her captivated by these things, Qi Yan turned back and instructed the coachman to stop.

The group wandered the streets at will, and before long, their hands were full of all kinds of trinkets and delicacies.

Returning to the carriage, Wei Zhen thought the outing was over, but unexpectedly, the carriage continued moving forward, heading straight out of the city gates.

The farther they went, the darker the road became. The outskirts were unlike the capital—there was no sign of people on the roads, and the surroundings were dim and lightless. Aside from a single lantern hanging on the carriage for illumination, there was no other source of light.

Wei Zhen felt increasingly puzzled.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Qi Yan knocked lightly on the carriage, signaling that they had arrived. Wei Zhen stepped down and asked, “Where are we?”

Before her stood what seemed to be an estate, with lanterns hanging on either side of the entrance. From afar, the estate appeared to be surrounded by farmland.

Qi Yan said, “This is Ji Wo’s estate in the outskirts.”

Before long, the wooden gate creaked open from the inside. A servant greeted Ji Wo with a respectful bow. “Your Highness.”

Ji Wo gave a slight nod. “I brought a few friends along.”

Turning his head, he gave Qi Yan a meaningful look. “Qi Brother.”

Qi Yan turned to Wei Zhen. “Princess, shall we take a look around the estate?”

Wei Zhen understood that this was to give the other two some privacy. She smiled at Ji Wo and Gongsun Xian before following Qi Yan.

Walking along the narrow paths between the fields, Qi Yan carried the lantern for her. Wei Zhen lifted her head, observing her surroundings. She had heard that Ji Wo’s estate on the outskirts was vast, and she wanted to take a closer look. However, the night was too dark, and her vision was limited—there was not much she could see.

Beside her, Qi Yan’s voice sounded. “Wei Zhen.”

Wei Zhen turned her head, and Qi Yan asked, “Do you really have no idea why I brought you out of the palace today?”

Wei Zhen was momentarily stunned. In truth, a vague guess had surfaced in her mind, but she wasn’t certain.

Seeing her remain silent, Qi Yan said softly, “Close your eyes first.”

Wei Zhen asked, “Why?”

“Just close them.”

Wei Zhen did not comply, looking at him in confusion. Qi Yan sighed. “If Lady Wei refuses to close her eyes, then forget it.”

With that, he blew out the candle in the lantern in his hand.

With a sudden “whoosh,” the flame was extinguished, plunging Wei Zhen into darkness. “You…”

The next moment, something soft and smooth covered her eyes. Qi Yan had tied a silk ribbon over them. The slight pressure of his tying the knot passed through the silk to her eyelids, making her eyelashes quiver lightly.

“Follow me.”

Wei Zhen took a step forward. With her vision completely gone, she had no choice but to rely on him.

He led the way ahead, and Wei Zhen clutched tightly at his sleeve. After a few steps, she stumbled slightly. Then, she felt a man’s hand reaching out and grasping hers.

Fingertips intertwined. His voice, faint yet steady, said, “Stay close. We’re heading up a slope.”

Wei Zhen had no idea what he was planning. When one loses their sight, all other senses become heightened. The journey underfoot felt especially long.

She walked with growing unease, and after what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived.

Wei Zhen stopped, sensing something bright beyond the silk covering her eyes. A faint light seeped in from outside.

When the silk ribbon was untied and fell away, a blinding light flooded her vision. She instinctively squinted, and when she opened her eyes again, her pupils froze, and she gasped.

Before her was a vast grassy slope stretching all the way to a distant forest. The air was filled with countless fireflies, their glowing bodies flickering, forming a scene like the Milky Way in the night sky.

She took a step forward into the grass, and the fireflies immediately surrounded her, their light clinging to the hem of her dress.

Wei Zhen spun in a circle, the fireflies drifting with the wind. She was so mesmerized by the sight that she found it hard to return to reality. Staring in awe, she asked Qi Yan, “You brought me out of the palace just to see this?”

Qi Yan replied, “Yes. When I first discovered this place, I thought of you immediately. I guessed you would love it.”

Wei Zhen did love it. She hadn’t expected him to remember her words for so long. Turning to him, she saw his handsome features illuminated by the floating firefly lights.

He took her wrist. “There’s still one more place I want to show you.”

He led Wei Zhen toward the edge of the slope. Their robes fluttered in the wind, the grass and trees swaying around them. He placed his hands over her eyes again from behind.

Yet when they reached the edge, he did not remove his hands for a long time. Instead, he spoke softly, “Wei Zhen, today at the banquet, I saw you sitting alone. Do you know what I was thinking?”

Wei Zhen slowly placed her hands over his. “What?”

“I thought—such a wonderful girl, how could she spend her birthday alone? She deserves everything beautiful in this world. The moon in the sky, the vast stars, the grandeur of mountains and rivers. But at night, she cannot see the scenery clearly. She once wished to see the night clearly, and I—I wanted to make that wish come true for her.”

His voice carried on the gentle night breeze, slipping into her ears. Wei Zhen’s heart pounded rapidly.

At last, he removed his hands. “Happy birthday.”

Wei Zhen lowered her gaze. Below the slope was a dense forest, and suddenly, patches of bonfires lit up, illuminating the woods.

The leaves reflected the golden light, appearing translucent under the glow. The trees shimmered with a warm brilliance, their golden leaves swaying gently in the night.

Golden light spread continuously. At first, it was only in one spot, but soon, it expanded in all directions, lighting up the entire forest like a dazzling gemstone.

Wei Zhen widened her eyes.

She lifted her gaze to the stars and moon above. For the first time, everything before her was so vividly clear.

Qi Yan turned to her, seeing her eyes illuminated, as clear as a pool of pristine spring water.

Wei Zhen’s dimples appeared faintly at the corners of her lips as she turned her head and said, “I never thought you would prepare these for me.”

She had never imagined that there would be a man who would be so attentive to her, who would prepare such a special gift for her on her birthday.

Perhaps he had no idea how overwhelmed she felt, because at this moment, she found that even the blades of grass around her seemed exceptionally clear.

Qi Yan asked, “Can you see the stars in the sky clearly?”

Wei Zhen smiled and said, “I can.”

A few strands of loose hair brushed against her face, and Wei Zhen’s heart pounded as if it would leap out of her chest. The Milky Way flowed across the sky, but no matter how radiant its light, it could not compare to the brightness in the eyes of the person before her. His eyes were the brightest stars in the entire world.

Qi Yan took her hand and led her aside. Wei Zhen followed him and sat down on the ground, her dress spreading out over the grass.

She tilted her head back to gaze at the night sky, propping herself up with her hands behind her. As her fingers brushed against the back of his hand, she gently touched it with her fingertips and chuckled, “I thought no one would care about my birthday.”

“How could that be?” Qi Yan said, “I care.”

The boy’s lazy voice slipped into her ears, carrying a tingling warmth that spread from the roots of her ears through her entire body. Wei Zhen’s heart was flooded with a sweet emotion.

He leaned closer, so near that she could even see the soft down on his face, glowing faintly under the light.

He said, “It’s not just me. There’s also your maidservant, and Wei Ling, far away in Chu, and your mother. They all care about you. Liang Chan even wanted to cook you a bowl of longevity noodles today—it was she who told me about your birthday.”

Qi Yan took out a wine jar he had brought along and removed the two wine cups hanging from its mouth. “Since we’re outside today, we can’t have longevity noodles, but we can still drink a little wine. In Jin, people drink wine on their birthdays—it symbolizes a long life, health, and prosperity.”

Wei Zhen accepted the wine cup he handed her. Watching the clear liquid pour into the cup, she smiled and said, “Alright.”

She raised the cup to her lips and drank it down in one go.

Qi Yan stopped her, saying, “If you can’t handle alcohol, drink less. Just a symbolic sip will do.”

The girl shook her head. Her cheeks, illuminated by the firelight in the forest, turned a warm shade of orange-pink. She held out her empty cup for a refill. “Can’t the young general see that I’m in a great mood? The mountain moon is bright and clear, the stars are shining above—this is a night for drinking.”

She lifted her cup in a toast to Qi Yan. “I offer a toast to the young general.”

Qi Yan clinked his cup against hers in the evening breeze. “Then I shall accept with gratitude.”

Before Qi Yan could even bring his cup to his lips, Wei Zhen had already emptied hers once more.

Her brows curved into a bright crescent moon as she said, “Qi Young General, since you’ve brought me here to celebrate my birthday, does that mean I owe you another favor now?”

After speaking, she casually placed her cup on the grass, stood up, and took a few steps forward.

The drifting fireflies circled around her skirt. She twirled lightly, and it seemed as if her dress was infused with their luminescence, lifting in a graceful arc.

Qi Yan propped his chin on his hand, watching the girl lift her dress slightly as she danced freely on the grass.

“You’ve already celebrated your birthday—why are you still worrying about repaying favors? Besides, didn’t you also give me a fine sword? That should be enough to settle the debt.”

Wei Zhen walked over and pulled him up by the wrist. Qi Yan rose, following her lead as they spun around in the grass.

The fireflies, startled, fluttered in all directions, tracing streaks of silver light through the air, encircling them in a shimmering halo.

Wei Zhen laughed and said, “I’m truly happy tonight. If only time could stop at this moment, then I would be able to see everything in the night so clearly.”

She was tireless, pulling him around in circles. The wind roared past her ears as their fingertips brushed against each other. Before, they had hesitated to draw too close out of shyness, but now, their hands were tightly clasped together.

Qi Yan said, “Zuo Ying says your eyesight can be cured. He has already found a method in the medical texts. Not just tonight—one day, you’ll be able to see everything clearly every night.”

Wei Zhen was incredulous. “Really?”

Qi Yan nodded. The curve of her lips grew even brighter. She immediately let go of his hand, strode over to the wine jar, picked it up, and poured wine into both cups.

She handed one to him and said, “Then for my next cup, I shall toast Zuo Ying.”

She drank it down in one gulp. Qi Yan, sensing that she was reaching her limit, reached out to take her cup, but Wei Zhen shook her head and poured herself another.

Wei Zhen said, “Who should I toast for the third cup? Oh, right—Ji Wo. If he hadn’t arranged to meet Gongsun Xian, providing us with a cover, we wouldn’t have been able to come out so smoothly.”

She finished her third cup and asked, “Who should the fourth be for? Let’s toast my younger brother. Though we are separated by a thousand miles, I am sure he would toast to me as well.”

Qi Yan drank with her and sighed helplessly. “That should be enough. You’ve even toasted Wei Ling.”

“Not enough!” The girl shook her head and gazed at the moon high in the sky. “How could it be enough? There’s still my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather… So many, so many people.”

Seeing her so uninhibited, Qi Yan knew she was truly drunk.

She raised her cup once more. “Then let’s toast to the heavens and earth, to the vast and boundless universe, to the sun, moon, and stars. I thank them for accompanying me through this birthday.”

Qi Yan chuckled and said, “Alright, let’s toast to the heavens and earth, to the sun, moon, and stars.”

“I also want to toast to the long wind across the four directions, to the mountains and rivers, to the vast land.” She raised her cup—”To the long wind! To the mountains and rivers! To the land!”

Qi Yan also lifted his cup. “To the long wind, to the mountains and rivers, to the land.”

She drank cup after cup, completely intoxicated, yet the smile on her face never faded.

With a loud “bang,” there was a sudden explosion behind them. Wei Zhen turned her head and saw that the candles in the forest had gone out, but in the sky, new flames were rising—fireworks blooming one after another, like trees of fire and silver blossoms spreading across the heavens.

The young man and woman looked up to see the river of stars flowing across the night sky, dazzling with endless brilliance. Fireworks constructed a celestial palace in the heavens.

The fireworks continued, the Milky Way vast and boundless.

She watched the fireworks, but Qi Yan watched her.

Suddenly, two clear tears slipped from her eyes, falling like dewdrops onto the grass.

Qi Yan asked, “Why are you crying?”

The last time Wei Zhen had also shed tears in front of him was after getting drunk.

Wiping her tears, she choked, “I’m crying because I’m happy.”

She kept dabbing at the corners of her eyes, but the tears kept falling, like pearls from a broken string. That kind of crying, as if carrying a hidden grievance, made one want to step forward and embrace her.

Qi Yan thought, she had left home alone—deep down, she must have cared about whether someone would be with her. She had wanted someone to celebrate her birthday with her, hadn’t she?

“You played a tune for me in the carriage last time. Could you play it again?” She leaned closer to him, her lashes still damp with mist.

She whispered, “The one called ‘A Girl Rides With Me’.”

Wei Zhen walked to the edge of the forest, picked up a leaf, and handed it to him.

Qi Yan had never expected her to recognize it. He softly said, “Alright.”

He sat down in the grass and brought the leaf to his lips. A gentle, flowing melody emerged from that small, fragile leaf.

The grand fireworks lit up the sky, while Qi Yan watched the girl dance. She danced without any strict form or pattern, just moving freely. The moonlight traced her graceful figure, and the glowing embers of the fireworks seemed to chase after her movements. Her skirt fluttered like a celestial maiden running under the moon.

But she was, after all, a noble lady raised with the finest education—how could her dancing be anything less than exquisite?

Qi Yan switched to another tune—

“In the fields, the creeping vines grow, covered in dewdrops;
There is a beautiful maiden, with a gentle and bright countenance;
If I should chance to meet her, it would fulfill my heart’s desire.

In the fields, the creeping vines grow, glistening with dew;
There is a beautiful maiden, graceful and radiant;
If I should chance to meet her, may we be together forever.”

She stopped dancing and walked to his side.

The night wind rustled the grass, and the hem of her dress drifted toward him.

Suddenly, an indescribable emotion surged within Qi Yan.

The girl’s smile was bright and radiant, her gem-like eyes blinking lightly. “Since you’ve celebrated my birthday today, I want to tell you three secrets.”

Qi Yan raised an eyebrow. “If they are secrets, how can you tell me? Besides, you’re drunk. If you speak them now, you’ll surely regret it when you sober up.”

Wei Zhen cupped her face in her hands, laughing. “The young general is a gentleman. How could he ever reveal my secrets? At worst, after I tell you, you can just pretend you never heard them and forget them by tomorrow.”

She stood up and walked forward. “The first secret—I rarely drink, and when I do, I get drunk easily and start rambling. Once I’m sober, I forget everything.”

Qi Yan remarked, “Is that really a secret?”

She turned back. “The second secret—I hate anyone who makes me drink.”

Qi Yan paused for a moment. Wasn’t it him who had brought this jar of wine tonight?

With the first two secrets revealed, only the third one remained.

Wei Zhen walked toward the slope and stretched her arms toward the sky. “I like spring, the vibrant days of spring, the sky, and all the boundless landscapes that make me feel free, as if I can cast all my worries away in this vast world.”

She turned back and squinted. “What I just said seems to be more than one secret. Let’s count it as two then…”

Qi Yan leaned back lazily. “You’re already over three.”

“Let me finish. While you were away from the capital for most of this past month, many young men came to see me, inviting me to go out with them, but I refused them all. I don’t want to interact with them, but on the surface, I always smile and politely decline.”

Qi Yan frowned. “That many people came looking for you while I was gone?”

“Yes…”

She gazed into the distance with a smile, her lips curving up slightly. But after smiling for a while, she suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Qi Yan.

“I rarely interact with young men. I am actually very shy, and I am easily moved. If someone treats me well, I always remember it and will surely treat them well in return. That is also one of my secrets.”

Her tone dropped, no longer as bright as before.

She took a step toward him, then another, slowly closing the distance.

Qi Yan felt her gaze on him. The hand that had been supporting his cheek gradually lowered.

That same soft, unspoken emotion surged within him again, washing over his entire being.

She knelt before him, slowly lowering herself. “My next secret.”

“Recently, I seem to be troubled by an inexplicable feeling. It makes me hesitate, unsure of what to do. When I face him, I feel afraid, wanting to get closer yet wanting to stay away. What is this feeling?”

Qi Yan froze.

The clear ripples in her eyes reflected his face. “I feel like… I might have fallen for someone.”

“Who is it?” Qi Yan’s voice was soft, as if he already knew the answer.

She gazed at him. “But I feel that there is no possibility between us.”

Qi Yan asked, “Why?”

“Because he can’t give me enough security. My grandfather always said that if I were to be with someone, I should choose a man who makes me feel safe. But he cannot give me that, because his situation is precarious, surrounded by danger and threats. My own future is also uncertain. I feel like we cannot last long. I don’t know if I should hold on. Should I trust him?”

“How many secrets have I told now?” Wei Zhen asked.

Qi Yan had lost count.

“Then this will be my last secret.” She leaned in, and Qi Yan saw her long eyelashes tremble, glistening with the soft glow of firelight.

Her warm breath brushed against him, and her gaze lifted and fell as if she was making a momentous decision.

“I like that person—it’s you.”

And then, he felt a soft touch on his lips.

Her lips pressed gently against his.

Qi Yan’s body trembled slightly.

“In the fields, the creeping vines grow, covered in dewdrops…”

 

The last line, “野有蔓草，零露漙兮……”, is a quote from the Book of Songs (Shijing), specifically from the poem “鄭風·野有蔓草” (Zheng Feng: In the Wilds, the Creeping Vines).

It means:

“In the fields, the creeping vines grow, covered in dewdrops…”

This line evokes a sense of natural beauty and longing, often associated with admiration or love for someone. In the context of the scene, it ties into Qi Yan’s emotions, hinting at his growing affection for Wei Zhen.