CHAPTER 116: 094 FACING THE SHADOW, WE BECOME 3 (TWO-IN-ONE)_2

They were all bought in Beisang City.

"Ding."

After the clear clink of glasses, Xu Chang’an and Yun Qian each took a sip.

Yun Qian drank the slightly spicy Jade Dew, with a hint of sweetness following it, rich in flavor, something she had long grown accustomed to.

Xu Chang’an swallowed his fiery drink and sighed.

It was called a strong drink, but the alcohol content wasn’t actually high.

Xu Chang’an looked at Yun Qian and said, "Miss, do you understand wine?"

"Wine?" Yun Qian was drinking slowly, so she wasn’t tipsy. She said, "I don’t know if I understand, I only know wine shouldn’t be drunk alone."

"Shouldn’t be drunk alone? Who says?" Xu Chang’an shook his head, stood up, and pushed open the window, saying, "Look at the moon... Oh, there’s no moon now."

Outside, the sound of rain drizzled, the sky was covered with dark clouds, where would the moon be?

This weather was strange.

The clouds were clearly under Chaoyun Sect, but now up in the sky, there were clouds of the High Heaven.

"What’s wrong with the moon?" Yun Qian cradled the warm cup, sipping slowly.

Xu Chang’an was about to speak when he suddenly froze.

He saw the clouds in the sky slowly moving, and then it seemed as though the entire patch of clouds fell from the High Heaven to his eye level, transformed into a breeze that swept past his ear and rushed into his embrace.

The moon also appeared.

"Is the rain going to stop?"

Xu Chang’an looked up, his eyes reflecting a deep starry sky, the light of the waning moon draping a layer of rosy glow on the cliffs of Celestial Bright Peak.

Accompanied by the falling drizzle, the night view was particularly beautiful.

He didn’t think much, sat by the window, and said to Yun Qian, "With the bright moon, echoing shadows, shouldn’t one toast with the moon and shadows and enjoy the moment?"

Amidst the bright moon and clear shadows, seizing this beautiful scene and auspicious time to celebrate.

"Three people?" Yun Qian tilted her head, feeling a bit flushed, yet she still gently kicked Xu Chang’an under the table with her embroidered shoe and then rested her foot on his leg, saying puzzledly, "Isn’t it just you and me drinking, where’s the third person?"

"..." Xu Chang’an’s eye twitched, thinking the poetic mood he had painstakingly brewed was scattered by Miss Yun’s kick. He helplessly said, "Miss, think about the meaning of the poem, don’t always look at the surface."

"?" Yun Qian blinked.

Clearly, there were only two people, yet Xu Chang’an wanted her to find a third?

Was she to find it in the poem?

"Inviting the moon to drink... Inviting the moon? Are you talking about Lady Yao Yue?" Yun Qian took a sip of her drink, blushing, "You say you like Miss Aqing, won’t let me imitate Lady Yao Yue, yet you always think of her."

Yun Qian looked at the bright moon in the sky, mystical light sparkling in her eyes, thinking if Xu Chang’an truly liked to mention this lady even when drinking with her, she could drag Lady Yao Yue into this world to accompany her husband to drink.

"What’s with the invitation to the moon." Xu Chang’an listened to Yun Qian’s words and nearly choked on the fiery drink in his mouth, looking helplessly at the innocent-faced Miss Yun in front of him, saying, "It’s the moon, just the moon."

"Chang’e? Changxi? Or Wang Shu." Yun Qian looked seriously at him and said, "The myths in your books are too chaotic, I don’t know who exactly is the Moon God."

"..." Xu Chang’an covered his face with one hand and sighed, "I truly don’t know if I should let Miss read more books... or fewer books."

With Xu Chang’an acting like this, if Yun Qian still didn’t know she was mistaken, then she really would be a silly girl.

"So I was wrong." Yun Qian nodded, her eyes losing some of its sparkle, she took a bite of food to ease the taste of the drink in her mouth, and said: "Three people... three people, if it’s not the moon, is it about wanting a child?"

Yun Qian recalled how Xu Chang’an intentionally touched her slightly bulging abdomen after dinner, thinking he indeed wanted a child.

With a child, then when drinking, wouldn’t they be three people?

"...This hurdle is one I can’t get past." Xu Chang’an felt a headache, at this moment starting to suspect this could gulp-like fiery drink might truly get him drunk.

"Not right again?" Yun Qian looked at him: "You know I’m not a clever person, yet you still have me guess."

"It’s my problem." Xu Chang’an said helplessly, "The poem earlier explained that with the moon and my shadow facing each other, it becomes three people, carrying a sense of a poet’s solitude and some carefree sentiment, with a unique flavor and realm."

Yun Qian shivered upon hearing his words, her thumb and forefinger interlinked.

"Do you want to drink alone?" she asked.

"No, it’s just that the poet’s realm is somewhat enticing."

"Alone... I don’t like it." Yun Qian said, picked up the wine cup and downed the remaining half in a gulp, then leaned over the table, using the force of the drink to stare at the boy opposite.

He spoke of longing for solitude, also saying it has a unique flavor.

If he were alone, wouldn’t that mean she would be alone again?

Yun Qian had many things she wanted to experience, but only this she didn’t like.

People cannot bear darkness, unless they have never seen light.

——

"Miss, what’s wrong." Xu Chang’an captured a hint of discomfort on Yun Qian’s face, paused slightly before lightly grasping Miss Yun’s ankle on his leg, saying: "I didn’t mean to leave you, just admire those who write poetry... I don’t like drinking alone either, or I’d need you to accompany me for a drink."

Yun Qian felt the warmth transferred from Xu Chang’an’s hand to her ankle and looked at him earnestly: "You knew, yet you still said such things to tease me."

"I was just caught up in the moment, it’s you who are thinking too much." Xu Chang’an was at a loss for words regarding Yun Qian’s sensitive and easily anxious nature.

The Miss Yun from his family is sometimes aloof, sometimes like a cat afraid of being abandoned.

And typically, cats that fear such things have probably been abandoned before.

Xu Chang’an won’t let Yun Qian feel uneasy, so he moved to sit beside her from the opposite, saying: "Forget the poem just now, Miss. After all, it’s not a good poem."

To soothe Miss Yun’s emotions, Xu Chang’an forced himself to say the insincere words.

"Mm."

The two of them were very close, Yun Qian could smell a pleasant scent which made her feel a bit easier.

To switch topics, Xu Chang’an pushed a pot of wine to Yun Qian, saying: "Miss, this wine is also bought in Beisang City... It’s considered strong, but the taste is okay, want to try?"

"Me?" Yun Qian glanced at the Jade Pot, the label wrote three words.

[A Cup of Spring]

"Didn’t you say I shouldn’t drink strong wine." Yun Qian asked.

"Just a sip to try the taste, it doesn’t count as drinking." Xu Chang’an reminded Yun Qian: "This is the wine I like."

"You like it?" Yun Qian suddenly showed interest.

If Xu Chang’an said he liked it, she wanted to try.

A trickle of water flowed with the aroma of wine, the cup was filled to eighty percent, Xu Chang’an gently raised his hand and, turning the wine pot slightly as he lifted it, allowed the wine droplets on the bottle mouth to naturally flow as he poured it for Yun Qian too.

"Try it."

"Mm."

Yun Qian picked up the cup, drank a sip, and immediately frowned.

It smelled quite fragrant, but it tasted not good at all.

Really not good at all. Perhaps the texture was nice, rather smooth, but the taste... Yun Qian couldn’t taste anything, only felt the strong spicy sensation bothering her throat.

She put down the cup, the fine wine didn’t lose a bit.

Yun Qian’s face flushed, and she said earnestly, "Not good, but... not that spicy."

At least she wasn’t teared up by the spiciness.

Listening to the name A Cup of Spring, Yun Qian thought she could taste the flavor of spring, now was quite disappointed.

Xu Chang’an put down his cup, his cup had lowered by more than half, he said calmly: "It’s alright."

"Alright?"

"Mm, after drinking it, my body feels warm."

"But I don’t like it."

"If you don’t like it, don’t drink it." Xu Chang’an said: "If Miss doesn’t drink, I won’t drink either."

"Then don’t drink it."

After saying that, Yun Qian set the cup aside, but Xu Chang’an took it up and finished it in one gulp.

Yun Qian thought of the spiciness and asked: "Why did you finish it, didn’t you say you wouldn’t drink?"

"Because you drank from it." Xu Chang’an replied.

"..."

Looking at Xu Chang’an, Yun Qian felt something strike her heart, she said: "I think I’m beginning to understand what A Cup of Spring means."