Reborn as the Female Lead's Counterpart Volume 2 Chapter 92 + 93
Thank you for the update votes from Wang Shi Hui, thank you yyyjean for the pink votes, thank you dsl1227_mami for two, and thank you for the safe blessing reward.
Dark clouds loomed over the city, with lightning flashing and thunder booming. It wasn't long after Shen Shi, Qing Jin's grandmother, entered the palace that the good weather suddenly turned foul.
Before long, it started pouring outside. Qingjin stood by the window, watching the sudden change in the sky, her mood as turbulent as the weather outside. Amidst the thunder and rainwater constantly seeping into the room from the window, getting her clothes wet, Qingjin remained still, staring blankly at the stormy weather outside.
In Qingjin's room, Yuanyang was not in the room. The two little maids standing outside Qingjin's room were frightened by the thunder outside and looked at Qingjin who seemed to be unconscious and unaware of the wind and rain blowing against the window, wanting to go forward but hesitating and not daring to approach.
In the distant sky, lightning flashed from time to time, and thunder rumbled in waves. Suddenly, a dazzling flash of light cut through the air, and the sound of thunder grew louder and closer. A bolt of lightning struck down, directly hitting the window where Qing Jin was standing, where a potted flower tree was planted.
A scorched smell wafted over, and at this moment, the little maid who was standing at the door of Qingjin's room, hesitating about whether to go forward, was startled by a thunderclap that struck nearby and couldn't help but let out a frightened cry.
Qing Jin came to her senses when the lightning flashed in front of her, heard the maid's scream beside her ear, turned around and swept a glance over the room, found that Yuanyang had not returned yet, and impatiently opened her mouth to the screaming little maid: "Shut up!"
The little maid who was screaming at the thunderclap heard Qingjin's cold voice and stopped abruptly, staring in terror at the direction where the lightning had just struck, trembling as she opened her mouth to say: "Miss... outside... it's raining heavily... you shouldn't stand by the window..."
Qing Jin met the maid's terrified gaze, and glanced faintly at the place where the lightning had just struck. She spoke to the little maid in front of her: "Get out!"
The maid who heard Qingjin's words wanted to say something, but a loud thunder struck down. The little maid's face turned pale and she didn't say anything. She left Qingjin's room with another little maid supporting her.
Seeing the closed door, Qingjin turned around and leaned against the window frame again, letting the wind and rain outside continue to pour in, wetting her already half-wet clothes. Looking out at the increasing rain, with occasional flashes of lightning and thunder, expressing boundless anger.
Yuanyang walked into the room, drenched from head to toe, and saw Qingjin silently facing the flashing lightning, her clothes half wet. The floor of the room was also soaked in a large area, as if the wind and rain had blown onto her body. Yet she seemed to feel nothing at all.
"Miss——" Yuanyang couldn't help but call out.
"Yuan Yang, you're back?" Hearing Yuan Yang's voice, Qing Jin came back to her senses from her daydreaming and saw that Yuan Yang was soaked from head to toe. She frowned and said, "Go change your clothes first, then come talk to me."
Yuanyang heard Qingjin seeing her drenched. Let her go change clothes, but herself was half-wet and seemed to be unaffected, feeling a warmth in her heart. Feeling a bit heartache, looking at Qingjin who was clearly distracted and absent-minded, she said: "Miss, your clothes are also wet? In such heavy rain, you're still standing by the bed, the floor is all wet... Yuanyang will be gone for a while, you don't know how to take care of yourself, why isn't anyone staying by your side to attend to you?"
When Qingjin heard Yuanyang's words, she lowered her head and saw that she was completely soaked. No wonder she had felt a bit chilly just now. She raised her head and spoke to Yuanyang: "Just now there were two little maids here, I told them off for being too noisy, so they left. You didn't mention it, or else I wouldn't have noticed. My mind was preoccupied with thoughts, and I didn't even notice that my clothes were wet."
"Let me find a dress for you, you change into it!" Upon hearing Qing Jin's words, Yuanyang tried to suppress the awkwardness that rose up in her heart and prepared to turn around to find clothes for Qing Jin.
"Alright, you go change your clothes first. I'm a big girl, I know where my clothes are. Hurry up and come over after you've changed." Upon hearing Yuanyang's words, Qingjin furrowed her brow. As soon as the person who had just delivered the imperial edict left, she called Yuanyang to go to the Junfu to find her older cousin Junmu Xiang over. Yuanyang had been glancing around restlessly since she came in earlier, it seemed...
Yuanyang heard Qingjin's words and lowered her head back to her own room to change into a dry set of clothes before returning, while Qingjin also changed into a new set of clothes.
Seeing the Mandarin ducks come in, Qingjin asked: "How is it?"
"Yuan Yang couldn't find Young Master Biao, and there's no one at the mansion." Hearing Qing Jin ask out loud, Yuan Yang could no longer drag it on and spoke to Qing Jin.
"Really?" The mandarin duck thought Qing Jin would be very angry, but unexpectedly, Qing Jin listened to her words and was surprisingly calm.
But Qing Jin's calmness made Yuanyang feel anxious in her heart, "Young Master Bai is really too much, how can he disappear without a word? Even if something happens, he should give the girl a clear explanation. This is not finding any trace of him at all... Yuanyang was really wrong about him..." Yuanyang complained uncontrollably and then looked at Qing Jin.
Qing Jin seemed to have not heard Yuanyang's words, she just sat quietly, her eyes a bit dull.
"Second Master is really not a good thing, he clearly has an engagement with the young lady, but now he can't be found anywhere. And as for the Emperor, the young lady clearly has an engagement with Second Master, but now he's issued such a ridiculous imperial decree, actually designating the young lady to be the secondary consort of the Third Prince. Although it's a titled position, the Third Prince already has an empress, so in the end, being a secondary consort is just being a concubine! Seeing Qingjin's stunned expression, Yuanyang finally couldn't help but burst out in anger."
Qing Jin listened to Yuanyang's scolding, her face turned even paler. Seeing Qing Jin like this, Yuanyang finally couldn't bear it and urged, "Miss, please say something! If you're uncomfortable in your heart, speak out, you can even scold or beat me if you want. And besides, Miss, if you don't want to marry the Third Prince, we'll go tell Madame about it. Old Madame is still in the palace, she will definitely explain things to Her Majesty, maybe the Emperor made a mistake..."
"Swan goose, where can brother go?" Qing Jin muttered to herself.
"Miss, don't be sad, maybe Young Master is just out playing and got stuck somewhere because of the heavy rain. I'll send someone to find him right away and he will definitely give you an explanation..." Yuanyang heard Qingjin's lifeless question and immediately stood up, wanting to go find Junmu for her again.
Yuan Yang was about to hurry out when Qing Jin looked at her and said, "Yuan Yang, don't bother looking!"
"Miss, don't worry, I'll definitely find Young Master for you. If I can't find Young Master, Yuanyang will..."
"What's going on? Is she not coming back?" Qing Jin looked at Yuanyang and said faintly.
Yuanyang heard Qingjin's words, looked straight at Qingjin with a stubborn expression, and Qingjin knew that Yuanyang must have thought of this. A faint warmth in her heart, she said: "Some things are yours if they're meant to be yours, and not yours no matter how hard you try. You don't need to look for them. If he wanted to appear, he would have appeared long ago. If he's deliberately hiding and doesn't want to see you, what can you do even if you force yourself to find him?"
"Miss?" Seeing Qingjin's smile, Yuanyang was taken aback.
"Alright, you just got rained on, go and get the kitchen to simmer some ginger soup for you to drink, lest you fall ill!" Qingjin said anxiously to Yuanyang.
"All right, I'll tell the kitchen to cook more porridge and you can have some too, miss."
Qing Jin nodded towards Yuanyang.
Seeing Qingjin's expressionless face, Yuanyang walked out of the room.
Watching the Mandarin ducks leave, Qingjin looked in the direction of the house door, the smile on her face disappeared, must she really resign herself to her fate? She was really unwilling!
Just as Qingjin was thinking about what to do, the door was suddenly pushed open. She looked up and saw Yuanyang returning, asking: "Is the ginger soup ready?"
"No, not that matter, young lady. I just thought of something. A few days ago, the person we sent out reported something to me, which was supposed to be told to you earlier, but I forgot due to being busy. Just now, I suddenly remembered and rushed back."
"Oh, what's going on." Qingjin's interest was somewhat low.
"It's like this, the other day we accidentally got a message that said Young Master Bai had been searching for a period of time for Emperor Xian's former favorite concubine, Lotus Concubine. I don't know if this has anything to do with Young Master Bai suddenly disappearing?"
Qing Jin was originally somewhat absent-minded, but when she heard Yuanyang's report, she couldn't help but stand up. She seemed to have grasped some clues, and suddenly thought of the Lantern Festival that day. She and her cousin Junmu Xue had met Long Han at the side of a person who handed over a lotus flower lantern. At that time, she was somewhat bewildered, and afterwards, she thought about the meaning of the lotus flower, but couldn't figure it out. Now, hearing Yuanyang's words, she felt that the lotus flower lantern that day might be referring to Lotus Concubine. That's right, the lotus flower lantern must have been referring to Lotus Concubine. But why did her cousin want to investigate Lotus Concubine? Or what was the relationship between her cousin and this Lotus Concubine?
"Swan goose, you accompany me, we are going to our mother's place now."
"All right, miss. I'll go with you to see the mistress." After speaking, she fetched rain gear and a cloak, followed Qingjin out, and walked towards Madame Jun's courtyard together.
However, Qingjin and Yuanyang went to Junshi's place afterwards, but unexpectedly disappointed. No matter how Qingjin asked indirectly, Junshi was not clear about this Lotus Concubine. From Junshi's words, it can be seen that the Jun family had no relationship with this Lotus Concubine. Even when Qingjin mentioned the Lotus Concubine, Junshi did not have any special expression.
After returning from Jun's house, Qingjin couldn't help but feel depressed. Had she guessed wrong? But Jun shouldn't deceive her. According to what Jun said, the Jun family should have no relation with Lotus Concubine either.
Since your family and Lotus Concubine have no relation, why are you still investigating her? At this time, Qing Jin suddenly realized that she seemed to not understand Jun Mu at all. Moreover, Jun Shi was also looking for Jun Mu. The emperor had bestowed a marriage on his daughter, but the fiancé he had found for his daughter, his own nephew, was nowhere to be found in the capital. Jun Shi was extremely angry and worried.
Thinking of the Lantern Festival, Long Han's distant person handed over to Jun Mu Xue's lotus flower lantern. Long Han must have known about this matter. Today, Ming Emperor's decree of granting marriage also has a high probability of being related to Long Han. She doesn't understand why Long Han would say such clear words that day. According to her understanding of Long Han, he absolutely wouldn't force someone who didn't want to be with him together.
Thinking of this, Qingjin felt that she needed to see Long HanYuan once. She didn't think that Long HanYuan liked her that much, and she didn't want to repeat the life of her past incarnation.
But how can I see Long Han Yuan? Qing Jin couldn't help but furrow her brow, she had to see Long Han Yuan today and clear up some things, yet he wasn't that easy to meet.
Qing Jin rubbed her brow, and suddenly a bright light flashed in her mind. She thought of someone, and her eyes lit up. Qing Jin immediately stood up excitedly and said to the swan beside her: "Swan, let's go! We're going out for a trip!"
Yuan Yang heard Qing Jin's words and didn't ask anything, just followed Qing Jin out of the An Ji Hou Fu. It wasn't until Yuan Yang and Qing Jin got into the carriage that was leaving the mansion that Yuan Yang asked Qing Jin: "Miss, where are we going?"
"Banruo Temple." Qing Jin gazed out at the rain outside the carriage curtains and softly spoke to Yuanyang.
The mandarin duck heard Qingjin's words and was puzzled for a moment, but she didn't ask anything.
In the wind and rain, the carriage of the Anji Marquis's mansion headed towards the outskirts of the city.
As soon as they arrived at the gate of Bōrě Temple, Qingjin and Yuanyang got off the carriage and hurriedly entered the temple. The rain had gradually subsided. When Qingjin led Yuanyang into the temple, they almost collided with a monk who was walking in the opposite direction. After asking the monk, they found out that Shuǐjìngchén was meditating in his own chamber. Qingjin thanked the monk and headed towards Shuǐjìngchén's chamber with Yuanyang.
Qing Jin and Yuanyang arrived at the meditation room of Shuijing Chen, but were stopped by a young monk standing outside. "Master is currently meditating and it's not convenient for outsiders to disturb him!" The little monk said to Qing Jin and Yuanyang.
"Little Master. We are acquainted with Master Shuijingchen, would you please inform him for us? At least let the master decide whether to see us or not!"
"No, Master Shu is meditating. No one can disturb him."
"You little monk, the master hasn't even decided whether to see us or not, and you're already blocking our way here. You just need to report to him, that's all. If he doesn't want to see us after your report, we'll naturally leave."
Xiao He Shang heard Yuanyang's words, thought for a moment, but after half a response, he still didn't move, facing Qingjin and Yuanyang again, repeating: "Shifu ordered that no one can disturb."
Hearing Xiao He Shang's inflexible words, Yuanyang felt a bit exasperated: "What's wrong with you, little monk? Our family's young lady really has an important matter to discuss with Master Shuijingchen. How can you..."
Just as Qing Jin couldn't help but furrow her brow, the door across from her quietly opened and Shui Jingchen's pure and clean figure walked out of the room.
That little monk looked at Shuijingchen's figure and said, "Master Uncle."
Shuijing dust nodded slightly at the little monk and said, "You go first!"
Xiao He Shang heard Shui Jing Chen's words and didn't look at Qing Jin and Yuan Yang, instead he respectfully bowed to Shui Jing Chen and then turned around and left.
"Gu Shi Zhu, come on in!" Shui Jing Chen said softly to Qing Jin.
Qing Jin heard Shui Jing Chen's words and handed over the rain cloak on her body to Yuanyang, following Shui Jing Chen into the Zen room.
After entering the Zen room, Shuijingchen poured a cup of hot tea from the table and handed it to Qingjin. Qingjin took the hot tea, elegantly sipped a mouthful, looked at Shuijingchen opposite her, and her mind inexplicably calmed down.
"Master Gu must have some urgent matter!" Water Mirror Dust said with a faint scent of tea.
Qing Jin nodded slightly.
"Whatever Master Gu has in mind, just speak directly and I'll definitely help if I can."
"I have something I want to see the Third Prince about, but it's a bit inconvenient, so I was wondering if I could ask you..." Qing Jin started to say, but then didn't know how to continue, or why she was so naturally troubling Water Mirror Dust.
The water mirror dust heard Qing Jin's words, and there was a moment of silence. Qing Jin did not raise his head to look at the gaze of the water mirror dust. Half a beat later, the water mirror dust faintly opened its mouth: "Good, I'll call someone..."
"It's fine." The words were cut off by a sudden cold male voice.
Qing Jin turned around and saw Long Han Yuan appearing behind her, with a moment of surprise.
"What would you like to ask?" Long Han Yuan spoke up as Qing Jin turned around.
"Where is my brother Junmu?" Qingjin asked bluntly upon hearing his words.
"I don't know."
Upon hearing Long Han's response, Qing Jin sarcastically spoke up: "What a wonderful ignorance. Very well, what about the imperial edict for the arranged marriage? I recall making it clear to His Highness, the Third Prince, that day - this humble woman has no interest in you whatsoever. Your Highness... oh, this humble woman forgot, now she should address you as Duke Jing, shouldn't she? Duke Jing shouldn't be someone who takes pleasure in forcing others into difficult situations, so why would he deliberately sabotage this humble woman's marriage?" Qing Jin could no longer conceal her anger.
"Presumptuous, it's an honor for you that the master of my house has taken a liking to you. The Anji Marquis Manor is nothing but a place where Gu Huaiyi was born. If not for Gu Huaiyi, Miss Gu, do you think..." Just as Qing Jin's words were filled with anger and fire, Long Han Yuan had yet to speak. Instead, it was Long Jingyun behind him who couldn't help but step out first.
"What an honor? This kind of honor, I really can't bear it. Besides, people have different aspirations, what you think is precious in your heart might just be a weed to others!" Qing Jin retorted mercilessly when she heard Long Jingyun say that being favored by her master was the luck of eight lifetimes.
"What's on your mind?" Long Han Yan looked at Qing Jin and repeated what Qing Jin had said before.
"Isn't it?" Qing Jin asked back.
"Miss Gu is really confident in herself, Miss Gu thinks she has what it takes to make our master worry? It's truly a case of 'a dog biting Lu Dongbin, not recognizing good intentions'. The Anji Marquis Manor can't even figure out who their own relatives are, if it weren't for our master stepping forward, the Anji Marquis Manor and your family might have been surrounded by the Imperial Guards long ago!" Long Jyun Yun said disdainfully to Qing Jin.
"What does it mean?" Qing Jin heard this and frowned, asking back.
"What does it mean? Miss Gu should go home and ask her mother, doesn't she even recognize her own nephew?" Long Jyun sneered.
"Speak clearly." Qing Jin heard Long Jing Yun's words and stared at him intently.
"Alright, I'll tell you clearly. The Junmu of your family has never left Lingnan."
Upon hearing Long Jingyun's words, Qing Jin shifted her gaze to Long Han Yuan's body and saw his silent expression. She widened her eyes in disbelief, how could she not have thought of such an answer?
"...Miss Gu had always thought that her brother-in-law's true identity was the young leader of the Nanjiang Wu tribe, which had a feud with Da Jing during the previous emperor's reign..." Seeing Qing Jin not speaking, Long Jinyun continued to reveal even more astonishing words.
"It's impossible. I don't believe it." Qing Jin said, when her brother Jun Mu Xie came to the capital, their mother Jun Shi had received a letter from their grandfather, if it wasn't really her brother... then was it representing the Jun family... betraying the country? No, this is absolutely impossible!
"What about Lotus Consort?" Qing Jin hadn't forgotten this matter, she raised her head and looked at Long Han Yuan.
"It's this matter, I'm telling you." The one who spoke was unexpectedly Shuijing Chen.
Seeing Shuijing Chen open his mouth, Long Han Yuan raised his head to glance at Shuijing Chen, then turned to Qing Jin and said: "This king will go next door." Then he took Long Jingyun and left.
After Long Han left, Qing Jin turned around and looked at Shui Jing Chen, saying: "Shui Jing Chen..."
"Lotus Consort is my mother consort."
"Then you and Long Han Yuan..." Although she had long known that Shui Jingchen was a member of the imperial family, Qing Jin pretended to have just heard it for the first time, opening her mouth in surprise to ask.
"I am his imperial uncle." Water Mirror Dust said calmly.
"So you and my cousin... no, I guess I shouldn't call him that anymore. What's your relationship with him?" Qingjin didn't know what to call the elegant man who was as refined as a bamboo.
"He is called Shui Wuqing, and my empress dowager is Shui Wuqing's aunt."
"Oh, so that's how it is!" Qingjin didn't know what else to ask, today had been too overwhelming, she couldn't digest it all. The only thing she could think of was, if the man who made her call him "brother" for a long time wasn't really her brother, then who exactly was she engaged to? Or did this engagement even exist at all?
"Water mirror dust, I'm a bit confused..." At this moment, Qing Jin was somewhat at a loss, somewhat fragile, her cyan-colored clothes, like a fragile butterfly.
Shuijingchen looked at Qingjin like this, stood up, turned his back to Qingjin, and gazed out the window with a faint smile: "Actually, Han Yuan is quite good, he's just a bit cold in nature."
Upon hearing Shui Jingchen's words, Qing Jin seemed even more perplexed. She stumbled to her feet and spoke towards his back: "No, it's absolutely impossible for me and him. If it were him, I'd rather believe what you said earlier - that we have a connection with Buddha."
Upon hearing Qing Jin's words, Shui Jingchen turned around and said, "Master Gu Shi, why must you do this?"
"You don't understand, I absolutely won't marry him, nor am I willing to..." Qing Jin stared at Shui Jingchen and said.
"Amitabha!" Water Mirror Dust greeted the resolute thought in Qingjin's eyes with a Buddhist chant.
"I'm leaving!" Qing Jin stood up from the Buddha's name in Shui Jing Chen and walked towards the outside. Shui Jing Chen saw her off, Qing Jin stopped her footsteps when she was about to step out of the door, turned around and asked Shui Jing Chen: "If I really have nowhere to go later, can I come find you?"
Shuijing Chen heard Qingjin's words, the Buddhist beads in his hand under his sleeve almost slipped out of his grasp, but his face remained calm and serene as he murmured a Buddha's name: "Amitabha!"
Qing Jin heard the Buddha's name "Shui Jing Chen" and looked at Shui Jing Chen deeply. She already understood what Shui Jing Chen meant. It was her who had been too demanding, or perhaps she had been struck dumb today?
She turned around, her green dress fluttering, and stepped out of the Zen room, leaving without looking back!
