“Wait! I just want to ask, have you ever appeared under the pear tree at my home!” Having been in the palace for so long, I was still not used to palace etiquette, but fortunately, Cang Lian had exempted me from all palace formalities.
I stared at him unblinkingly, not letting him have any chance to avoid me.
He was silent for a long time, his eyes showing a faint estrangement. After a while, he answered: “This servant has always been by the King’s side and has never left!” Then he turned and left, giving me no chance to catch any trace.
Originally, this was my last chance for him. Perhaps because the deep love of the man named Cang in my dream had brought me too much shock, I always hoped Shui Lian Jue was the man from my dream.
But this time, I gave him a chance, and he unhesitatingly denied my hope.
I was not made of wood. Cang Lian’s kindness, Cang Lian’s love – I was not indifferent. Bit by bit of affection had begun to sway my heart. He was starting to occupy my thoughts.
Since he was not the man from my dream, since I owed him nothing, then who my heart belonged to no longer mattered.
Finally, I slowly undid the jade at my chest, placing it on my dressing table, pushing it to the deepest part of my jewelry box.
I never thought a man’s love could be buried so deep, could give so much, but when I knew, I could only watch him leave me.
Since that day, the familiar scenes that once appeared in my dreams stopped, and Shui Lian Jue began to fade away.
A sense of ominousness began to grow in my heart. When I slept beside Cang Lian, I began to have trouble sleeping, with images of the man under the pear tree flashing through my mind.
“Ah,” that painful figure finally woke me from my dream, and also woke Cang Lian beside me.
“Ruo’er, what’s wrong? What happened to you!” Cang Lian looked at me holding my head in pain, anxiously asking.
For the first time, I saw him helplessly embracing me, holding me so tightly that even my bones ached.
