Qiu Che wanted
Li Qingwu to speak louder.
How could people outside believe her if she just shouted like that? They might not even hear her.
But just as she was about to speak, she saw Li Qingwu turning his head slightly to look at her, and the knuckles of her fingers covering her face with shame were pink.
Her voice was trembling slightly, as if she had suffered a great injustice, but she was still holding it in, and whispered:
"But, is it okay?"
Qiu Che looked at her jade-like slender fingers and swallowed her saliva for no reason.
Then she quickly came to her senses and felt that her reaction seemed a little strange.
But her brain was paralyzed for the most part, so she didn't think much about it, and just said slowly: "That's fine."
She propped up her hands and leaned over Li Qingwu, her hair tied in a long ponytail fell down, and the end of her hair brushed Li Qingwu's face slightly.
The other party trembled his eyelashes slightly, pursed his lips, and asked in a whisper: "What are you doing..."
Qiu Che also replied in a whisper: "Pretending to consummate the marriage."
Then he slapped the pillar of the bed with his palm.
The bed creaked vigorously as she clapped her hands from time to time.
Li Qingwu didn't dare to look at the person leaning on him. He lowered his eyes, his whole body stiff, and said stiffly: "...Does it have to be like this?"
"What?"
Li Qingwu stopped talking.
Although they didn't actually have any physical contact, the two bodies that seemed to be close together were still a long distance apart.
But this posture...
doesn't Qiu Che find it very strange?
Qiu Che exclaimed "Ah" and finally reacted.
She looked at the distance between them, and turned back a little bit slower, sitting on the inside, and said: "Sorry."
Li Qingwu: "...It's okay."
Qiu Che didn't shake the bed a few times before she noticed that the breath outside the window had quickly left.
Maybe she didn't want to keep listening to the sounds of the bridal chamber. After all, squatting in the corner was awkward.
So she stopped.
Li Qingwu saw her get up to open the bed curtain, and sat up too, and asked in a low voice: "Is the person gone?"
Qiu Che nodded.
Li Qingwu said nervously, "Will he not come back suddenly?"
Qiu Che shook his head again, "Yu Yan and the others are back. If that person squats down again, he will be discovered."
As long as he is not stupid, he will not come back again.
Li Qingwu breathed a sigh of relief and heard Qiu Che say, "Isn't the Phoenix Coronet sinking?"
Li Qingwu hesitated, not quite understanding what she meant by suddenly saying this: "It can be taken off... Do you want to go to bed now?"
How Li Shi treated her in private was one thing, and how he spoiled her in public was another. Her dowry was not to mention the red makeup, but it was enough to make people jealous.
There must be some clothes to change.
But it was late at night, and it was a bit suspicious to go out and get the clothes from the dowry.
Qiu Che thought about it and said, "Wait a minute."
This sentence seemed familiar.
Before Li Qingwu could remember where he had heard it, he saw Qiu Che turned around and got out of bed and opened a wooden box in the corner.
Lianzhu Pavilion was renovated because the wedding room was to be decorated, and her bottom box was also cleaned. Inside was piled with new clothes that Qiu Che had looted from Qiu Zhe and had never worn.
At the bottom should have been the jade pendant she had put here, hidden in the bottom of the box.
Qiu Che took out a clean single piece of clothing, handed it to Li Qingwu, and asked, "Do you want to wash up?"
Li Qingwu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll just wash my face."
Qiu Che walked to the window silently and knocked on the windowsill.
Yu Ming appeared behind the window in response: "Master."
"Bring a basin of water."
"...Yes." Yu Ming glanced behind her with a strange look in his eyes.
It was as if he was saying: How can someone consummate their marriage so quickly?
Qiu Che pretended not to see it.
She lowered her eyes and stared at the jade pendant on her waist in a daze.
Li Qingwu simply washed her face, removed her makeup, sat in front of the dressing table, and took off the phoenix crown on her head.
The hairstyle of her hair was very complicated and difficult to untie.
Li Qingwu had been pampered for more than ten years. Once he was no longer under surveillance, he began to feel uncomfortable with the feeling of doing it himself.
After untying it for a long time, it became tangled instead.
A few strands of hair fell down from her temples, making her look even more embarrassed and helpless.
Qiu Che leaned on the bed and looked for a long time, lowered his eyes and whispered: "Let me do it."
"You, can you?"
Qiu Che couldn't help but smile: "I think, better than you."
Li Qingwu was immediately ashamed: "Sorry."
"No need to apologize."
Qiu Che said: "You are a princess, it's normal that you can't untie your hair."
After she said that, she lowered her head and carefully untied Li Qingwu's tangled hair.
I don't know if it's because her hands are particularly beautiful and slender, she smoothed it out in a few strokes, and then picked up the wooden comb on the table and slowly combed the other person's long black hair. The slender
white jade-like hair went straight through the black long hair, with an inexplicable decadent and noble beauty.
Li Qingwu looked at the person behind him in the mirror and was slightly stunned, not knowing what he was thinking. But
the more Qiu Che combed, the more familiar the comb in his hand looked.
After a long time, she was shocked and trembled all over.
She remembered.
There is an unwritten rule in Daxia that on every wedding day, a wedding comb must be placed on the dressing table in the new room of the newlyweds.
The Qiu family had no money, so they had to rummage through boxes and drawers and make do with a half-new sandalwood comb.
In the previous life, they also got married in such a hurry, and on such a wedding night.
It was also her who asked Li Qingwu to change his clothes, and it was also her who took this comb and combed Li Qingwu's hair.
The only difference at that time was that she did not wear a jade pendant, did not get clothes for Li Qingwu, and even when combing his hair,
she was a little impatient. During that period of time, she was extremely gloomy and depressed. She
was upset about being tricked and suffered for dragging innocent people into the water.
After drinking a few more glasses of wine, she looked even more intimidating.
Li Qingwu probably didn't know why she was like this, and he spoke and moved carefully. He silently found a simple piece of clothing to wear.
Because the atmosphere was too quiet, Li Qingwu broke the silence by making small talk: "This jade pendant, isn't it worn by Mr. Qiu?"
Qiu Che was very sleepy, so he lifted his eyelids and glanced at the jade pendant she had taken out. His eyes paused slightly when they touched the lotus carving on the jade pendant, and he lowered his eyes listlessly: "I don't know when you bought it for fun, it's not an important thing."
"If you like it, take it yourself."
Li Qingwu was silent for a moment, but didn't say anything. He just tightened his fingers holding the jade pendant and put it back silently.
Li Qingwu smiled: "Things from old friends cannot be given to others."
Qiu Che sobered up a bit and frowned: "Old friend?"
"Sir, this jade pendant should be more than ten years old," Li Qingwu paused, lowered his eyes, and his sight fell on the jade pendant that was already covered with dust, and said softly, "Maybe you just don't remember it... not, I just bought it for fun."
Qiu Che said "Oh" dryly.
But for some reason, the other party's sad and lost expression always lingered in Qiu Che's heart.
Not long after, she found the jade pendant again, washed it clean and put it on.
Maybe, there really is such an old friend?
... Although even she herself didn't remember it.
Qiu Che also thought about whether this jade pendant had any connection with Li Qingwu?
But at that time, she saw that Li Qingwu was indeed the same as herself, and they were not familiar with each other.
If the jade pendant belonged to Li Qingwu, how could it fall into Qiu Che's hands for no reason?
So she quickly rejected this fleeting thought.
When Li Qingwu was combing and tangling her hair, he hesitated for a long time before he asked her shyly, "Can you help me?"
Qiu Che was silent for a moment, and stood up to take the comb from her hand.
Because she was in a bad mood, she was often absent-minded. In addition, she had never done such a thing for others, so her movements were not gentle and slow, and she didn't know how to use the comb.
Li Qingwu's hair was hurt by her pulling several times, but he didn't say anything.
When she put down the comb and said, "Okay."
Li Qingwu stretched out his hand to smooth his long hair, lowered his eyes to look at the messy hair on the wooden comb, and smiled with pursed lips.
Qiu Che felt guilty because of her smile, and his voice lowered: "... This is the first time I comb someone's hair, sorry."
Li Qingwu shook her head, but suddenly said: "Comb it all the way to the end, and lift the case to the eyebrows."
"I heard that on the wedding night, a husband combs his wife's hair, which is a symbol of living together forever."
She held the comb, without looking back, and her voice was very soft.
"Qiu Che."
"Can we?"
Qiu Che's mind went blank for a moment.
She thought, is Li Qingwu crazy?
How could two women live together forever?
At that moment, Qiu Che didn't even know what she was thinking.
Could it be that Li Qingwu didn't remember the chaotic affair clearly, so he still thought of her as a man?
This was the only explanation she could find.
Qiu Che didn't say anything, her thoughts were in a mess, and she sat back on the bed.
Li Qingwu seemed to understand her answer.
She didn't ask any more questions, still with a slight smile on her lips, she silently wiped the comb with a handkerchief and put it away.
That night, the two of them had their own thoughts and didn't talk anymore.
The conversation ended without any result.
But many years later, when Qiu Che had forgotten the existence of this comb, Li Qingwu took this shabby comb that was somehow broken in half and committed suicide in front of her grave.
Yes, the comb that Qiu Che found familiar at that time was the one she used to comb her hair on their wedding night.
Why could Li Qingwu hide such an ordinary wooden comb quietly and close to her body for ten years? She
even carried
it with her when she died. Now that she thought about it, the emperor did not come to the wedding in person that night, and they did not pretend to consummate the marriage.
If she wanted to untie her hair, Fuling was outside and could come in at any time.
Why did Li Qingwu only ask Qiu Che for help?
Why did she say that?
Why did she commit suicide?
Why... when she committed suicide, she had to carry the comb with her?
Thinking of this, Qiu Che suddenly came back to her senses.
She remembered that after she asked for the imperial decree to grant the marriage that day, it was Fuzi, the chief eunuch in front of the palace, who sent her away.
The other person had a respectful smile on his face, but he could not hide the trace of surprise in the depths of his eyes.
When Qiu Che asked, Fuzi smiled and said, "Your Excellency may not know that some time ago, in order to marry you, the princess contradicted His Majesty and knelt in front of this palace for three hours. His Majesty loves his daughter dearly and is afraid that she will be confused for a moment, so in a fit of anger, he punished her to reflect on her mistakes outside the palace."
"What is the name of that place..." Fuzi thought about it and suddenly said, "By the way, Ganyu Temple - is this also the place where your Excellency went a few days ago?"
Seeing that Qiu Che was silent, Fuzi did not ask any more, but said meaningfully, "In this case, now that His Majesty has granted you and the eldest princess a marriage, it can be regarded as a...good marriage with a beginning and an end."
In fact, according to the answer Li Qingwu gave Qiu Che, she urgently needed someone she liked to marry and get rid of Li Shi's surveillance, so it was normal for her to find Qiu Che.
But now Qiu Che remembered some details of her previous life and suddenly became uncertain.
How could Li Qingwu be sure that marrying Qiu Che, a man she had only met once, would not lead to worse consequences?
Seeing Li Qingwu staring at him in a trance, Qiu Che paused, leaned forward slightly, stared at Li Qingwu's fair and pink cheeks in the mirror, and suddenly said, "Your Highness."
Li Qingwu's eyelashes trembled, and he came back to his senses half a beat late.
"Hmm?"
She was extremely beautiful, with a rich and gorgeous appearance, and the teardrop mole at the end of her eye added to her charm.
At first glance, gentleness and coldness intertwined and lingered on her, with a sense of mystery that made people want to delve deeper.
Qiu Che opened his lips and looked at her in the bronze mirror.
He whispered, "The Miss Yue in Ganyu Temple. Is it you?"
The atmosphere suddenly froze.
Li Qingwu's whole body froze, and he quickly reacted from his trance: "...What did you say?"
Qiu Che raised his hand and touched Li Qingwu's neck in the mirror with his fingertips like a dragonfly touching water.
Then he moved up and landed on the tip of her nose.
Li Qingwu seemed to be really touched by her, and her body trembled slightly in panic.
"Here, and here," Qiu Che slowly withdrew his hand and said lightly, "Exactly the same."
"The Miss Yue who came out of the palace and was under strict guard...Princess Lehe," Qiu Che said, "If I already know that you are not favored, and I still can't guess who 'Miss Yue' is, wouldn't it be too stupid."
Li Qingwu bit her lip subconsciously. She
really didn't expect Qiu Che to guess it so quickly.
She thought about what she had done when she took advantage of the other party not knowing who she was, and felt that her actions were really not worthy of being in a high-class place.
It was not worthy of her status.
Li Qingwu avoided Qiu Che's sight for a long time before whispering: "...I'm sorry to embarrass you."
"It doesn't matter." Qiu Che responded calmly.
Anyway, she knew it a long time ago.
Li Qingwu just breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
Then she heard Qiu Che slowly say:
"Your Highness."
Li Qingwu's breath was stuck in her throat, and she couldn't get it out for some reason.
Her eyelids jumped and she said, "What?"
"Have we met before?"
I came late today, I kneel down to everyone orz
* Modified some details