RPDPHW Chapter 56

The crescent moon hung in the sky, but it was obscured by thick fog, making it impossible to see its full form.

The weather these past few days has been rather unpleasant.

“Moon-gazing? With a moon like this?”

On the rooftop, Gu Qingyin’s lips twitched slightly.

Zhong Shujin’s expression also stiffened. She cleared her throat, quickly masking her awkwardness, and pulled Gu Qingyin down to sit beside her.

“Just wait a bit—we’ll definitely see it!”

Earlier, Zhong Shujin had spoken candidly in the room, bringing the two of them closer.

After dinner, when the Yun siblings invited Gu Qingyin for a stroll, Zhong Shujin immediately suggested moon-gazing instead.

Without hesitation, Gu Qingyin naturally chose her.

Filled with joy, Zhong Shujin brought Gu Qingyin up to the rooftop—only to find that the moonlight utterly failed to cooperate.

A cold breeze swept through, making Gu Qingyin shiver.

She glanced at the swaying branches in the distance and listened to the eerie rustling of the wind. Helplessly, she asked, “Ah Jin, are you sure? You really want to sit here in the cold wind with me?”

“Are you cold?” Zhong Shujin grinned triumphantly. She spread her arms wide and winked at the person sitting beside her. “Then come here! Your dear leader’s embrace is warm!”

Seeing the eager anticipation on Zhong Shujin’s face, Gu Qingyin couldn’t help but feel a little better.

What did it matter if the wind was cold or the moon was dim?

As long as the person beside her was the one she cherished, anywhere could be a perfect scene.

Huddled together, the two were indeed much warmer than sitting alone.

Not to mention that at this moment, Zhong Shujin was still holding Gu Qingyin’s hand, continuously transferring her internal energy to her.

Before long, Yun Huitong, who had been secretly peeking at them from below, was taken away by Yun Yifei. Seeing this, Zhong Shujin felt quite satisfied.

“Qingqing, do we really have to travel with them on this trip?”

“Yes.” Gu Qingyin lay comfortably in Zhong Shujin’s embrace, her eyes half-closed as she gazed at the rather unremarkable night sky. She explained, “They have invitation letters. If we follow them and sneak into Qingyang Sect, it’ll save us a lot of trouble.”

Zhong Shujin rested her chin against Gu Qingyin’s soft hair and affectionately nuzzled her.

“At an event like this, Canglang Pavilion would surely receive invitations too, wouldn’t they? Why not go through San Niang instead?”

Gu Qingyin patiently explained, “Feiyun Manor is a distinguished guest of Qingyang Sect. If we go with them, even if the people of Qingyang Sect discover our identities, they won’t make too much of a fuss about it, since they wouldn’t want to easily offend Feiyun Manor. But if we go with San Niang and something unexpected happens, Qingyang Sect wouldn’t be so polite to us. Worse yet, we might even drag San Niang into trouble, which would be a loss rather than a gain.”

Hearing this, Zhong Shujin furrowed her brows slightly.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that Gu Qingyin’s words implied that she didn’t want Liu Sanniang involved in this matter at all.

But if this were just an ordinary affair, Qingyang Sect wouldn’t be so quick to disregard Canglang Pavilion’s status either.

For Gu Qingyin to deliberately avoid involving Liu Sanniang, it could only mean that what she planned to do at Qingyang Sect was far from ordinary.

“What exactly do you want to do at Qingyang Sect?”

At that moment, Zhong Shujin couldn’t see Gu Qingyin’s expression—nor could she see the faint, cold smile on her lips.

“You’ll find out when the time comes.”

A wave of disappointment washed over Zhong Shujin. “Can’t I know now?”

Gu Qingyin tilted her head slightly, meeting Zhong Shujin’s gaze. The cold smile on her lips had already been replaced by a gentle one. “You want to know?”

“Mm!” Zhong Shujin nodded vigorously. “I want to know! Hurry up and tell me!”

“Hmm…” Gu Qingyin deliberately dragged out the sound. When she saw the light gradually brightening in Zhong Shujin’s eyes, she suddenly flashed a mischievous grin. “Then I’m not telling you!”

At those words, Zhong Shujin’s face immediately fell. She pouted, looking pitifully at Gu Qingyin. “How could you be like this…”

Gu Qingyin laughed heartily, adjusted her posture, rested her chin on Zhong Shujin’s shoulder, and pinched her cheeks. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you—some things just aren’t meant to be said right now. Do you understand?”

Zhong Shujin pursed her lips and muttered, “Oh.”

One look at her expression, and it was obvious she wasn’t happy.

Gu Qingyin chuckled, then reassured her, “Don’t overthink it. It’s just that the timing isn’t right—it’s really not that I don’t want to tell you.”

Zhong Shujin half-heartedly responded with another “Oh.”

“Still upset?” Gu Qingyin poked Zhong Shujin’s cheek, laughing. “Such a big temper, huh? If you keep sulking, I won’t give you your gift.”

At that, Zhong Shujin’s mood shifted instantly.

Though excitement bubbled inside her, she suppressed it and feigned indifference, asking casually, “What gift?”

Seeing this, Gu Qingyin couldn’t help but smile even wider.

She reached into her robes and pulled out an object, keeping it tightly wrapped in her palm. Then, she extended her clenched fist in front of Zhong Shujin’s eyes.

“Take a guess!”

Zhong Shujin glanced at the clenched fist a few times, furrowing her brows as if deep in thought.

“Hmm, let me think…”

Gu Qingyin assumed that Zhong Shujin was genuinely trying to guess what was hidden in her palm. Letting down her guard for a moment, she was completely unprepared when, at the next instant, Zhong Shujin suddenly grabbed her hand.

And she did it with the same hand that had been draped over Gu Qingyin’s shoulder.

At the same time, Zhong Shujin’s free hand reached over, attempting to pry open Gu Qingyin’s fingers.

Just like that, Gu Qingyin found herself pulled tightly into Zhong Shujin’s embrace.

“Hey! That’s cheating! No snatching!”

Gu Qingyin gasped in surprise, immediately clenching her fist even tighter, refusing to let go.

The two of them wrestled playfully—one trying to snatch the object, the other stubbornly resisting.

Though they were technically fighting over something, their voices were filled with laughter.

“I don’t care! What if I guess it is wrong, and you don’t give it to me? If I grab it first, then it’s mine!”

Warm breath, carrying a familiar, comforting fragrance, brushed against Gu Qingyin’s cheek.

She suddenly stopped struggling. Tilting her head slightly, she found herself face-to-face with Zhong Shujin, their noses just barely touching.

Zhong Shujin froze in shock.

Caught up in the playful scuffle, she hadn’t realized how close they had gotten.

She hadn’t expected that, in an instant, there would be barely any space left between them.

At this distance, all it would take was the slightest movement forward—just an inch—and their lips would meet.

A tremor ran through Zhong Shujin’s heart.

She swallowed hard, awkwardly withdrawing both hands from Gu Qingyin’s wrist. Forcing a laugh, she muttered, “Alright, alright, let’s stop playing… let’s just go back to moon-gazing…”

However, just as Zhong Shujin was about to pull back and create some distance between them, Gu Qingyin’s lips brushed against hers.

It was nothing more than a fleeting touch—light like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water.

Yet, before Zhong Shujin could even react, the soft pressure against her lips began to shift, a gentle caress that sent her heart racing.

She stared blankly into the eyes before her, momentarily forgetting how to respond.

“Ah Jin, close your eyes.”

Gu Qingyin cradled the back of Zhong Shujin’s head, giving her no chance to retreat, and deepened the kiss.

Obediently, Zhong Shujin closed her eyes, forgetting all about the little trinket they had been fighting over. Her hands lightly rested on Gu Qingyin’s shoulders as she parted her lips slightly, welcoming her.

This kiss was nothing like the passionate entanglement they had shared in the room earlier.

It was soft—delicate, unhurried.

There was no urgency, no sense of possession. Just gentle touches, careful tasting, as if savoring something precious.

A kiss like this was both soothing and reassuring.

By now, the thick fog that had obscured the moon had dispersed. Though the night’s moon was not as flawless as a full moon, its unobstructed glow was bright enough to be called “luminous.”

Under this moonlight, the two figures entwined on the rooftop were bathed in a soft radiance.

Black and white, intertwined.

Dark hair against white robes. Black garments frame a fair face. The contrast was striking, yet at that moment, those distinctions blurred—black melting into white, white blending into black.

You are in me, and I am in you.

“Don’t open your eyes yet.”

As the kiss ended, Gu Qingyin rested her forehead against Zhong Shujin’s, whispering, “Open them only when I tell you to.”

With her eyes still closed, Zhong Shujin couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile, playfully chiding, “Why are you making such a mystery out of this?”

A few heartbeats later, she heard a voice laced with laughter beside her ear.

“All right, open your eyes.”

Only then did Zhong Shujin slowly lift her eyelids.

The first thing that met her gaze was the crescent moon, now free from the thick fog.

Its glow was soft, not blinding.

And beneath that moonlight, equally luminous, was a piece of white jade.

From her angle, the jade seemed to merge perfectly with the crescent moon, as if they were one.

The moonlight filtered through the jade, making it appear even more translucent, revealing faintly intricate carvings on its surface.

Above the jade was a red woven cord.

One end was looped through the jade, while the other was held in Gu Qingyin’s hand.

Zhong Shujin’s heart stirred at the sight, but beneath that emotion, a faint bitterness lingered.

She took the jade in a daze, her fingers tracing the engraved character Jin on its back. With a complicated expression, she murmured, “Isn’t this my jade? Back then… didn’t I already give it to you? Why are you suddenly returning it now?”

Her eyes stung slightly. She blinked a few times, discreetly hiding the moisture threatening to surface.

That night—New Year’s Eve—it was still vivid in her memory.

Gu Qingyin had given her this jade, her eyes filled with joy, treating it as a New Year’s blessing.

Back then, this person’s heart and gaze had been entirely, solely hers.

But what about her?

Yet in the blink of an eye, she had let go of this person—had let go of this jade as well.

She had failed the passion Gu Qingyin once held for her, failed the deep love that had been given so earnestly.

“Qingqing… I… I’m sorry…”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to start over?” Gu Qingyin, of course, understood why Zhong Shujin was feeling so guilty at that moment. She pinched Zhong Shujin’s cheek and curved her lips into a smile. “If you don’t want this token of affection, then just give it back to me.”

Hearing this, Zhong Shujin immediately hid her hands behind her back and, shaking off her melancholy, firmly refused. “This was mine to begin with! No way am I giving it back to you!”

Seeing that Gu Qingyin wasn’t actually trying to take it from her, Zhong Shujin finally brought the jade back in front of her and examined it closely.

From the way she toyed with the red cord, a smile playing on her lips, it was clear she liked it.

The red cord hadn’t been there before—Gu Qingyin must have added it later.

Zhong Shujin liked it very much.

Even so, she still grumbled, “You know, giving me my own jade as a love token is pretty insincere. But… since the red cord you braided is actually to my taste, I guess I’ll just reluctantly accept it.”

“Yours?” Gu Qingyin let out a soft laugh. “This was mine in the first place, you know?”

Zhong Shujin blinked in confusion. “Isn’t this mine?”

In response, Gu Qingyin pulled out another piece of white jade from her robe—identical in design, also tied with a red cord.

The same red cord. The same white jade.

Zhong Shujin’s eyes widened in surprise. “Huh? Why do they look exactly the same?”

She quickly snatched the jade from Gu Qingyin’s hand and placed them side by side, carefully comparing them.

Only then did she realize—the two pieces fit together perfectly, forming a single, complete jade.

“Do you remember where this jade came from?”

Zhong Shujin blinked blankly. “I remember… my master gave it to me!”

Gu Qingyin shot her a resentful sideways glance. “Looks like you’ve forgotten everything from when we were kids, huh?”

Though Gu Qingyin herself didn’t remember much from their childhood, she still had faint memories of that domineering little troublemaker who loved to bully others.

But this person—this completely clueless person—was sitting here with a bewildered expression, making it obvious that she had no recollection of Gu Qingyin at all!

Even after all these hints, she still hadn’t remembered! Gu Qingyin was really—!

“Forget it, forget it. If you can’t remember, then just leave it be.” With an exasperated sigh, Gu Qingyin snatched back the jade she had given Zhong Shujin, looped the cord around her neck, and then pinched her cheeks with a feigned fierceness. “This is the last time! If you lose it again, I’m not giving you another one!”

Only then did Zhong Shujin finally react. “Wait… we knew each other when we were kids?”

Gu Qingyin, now thoroughly annoyed, shouted, “NO, WE DIDN’T!”

“Qingqing, don’t be mad!” Zhong Shujin clung to Gu Qingyin excitedly, eyes sparkling as she glanced at the nearly identical white jade in her hands. “I really don’t remember! Tell me about it! I can’t believe we actually knew each other as kids! Tell me, tell me—what were we like?”

Having something identical to the person she loved, sharing memories with them—it really was something worth being excited about.

Unable to resist Zhong Shujin’s persistent pestering, Gu Qingyin sighed in defeat. “There’s probably nothing much to tell…”

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten too?”

“Ridiculous! How could I forget? I still remember… a little bit…”

“Then hurry up and tell me!”

Left with no choice, Gu Qingyin began recounting the fragments of memories she still held onto.

As the night deepened, the surrounding lights gradually went out. The people, exhausted from the day, chose to retreat into sleep.

Yet, the two of them remained, still perched on the rooftop, still letting the cold night wind wash over them. Beneath a moonlight that was far from ideal, they eagerly reminisced about hazy, half-forgotten childhood memories, as if the night would never end.