Cypress Boat Floating

Whether Arnold wanted to tell Ye Jianqing about his identity or not, it was his own choice, and Lu Ci Qiu could only respect it. He also promised Arnold that he would never tell Ye Jianqing about this news through himself. If he wanted to tell Ye Jianqing about this, he should tell it himself.

But now that he knew Arnold's identity, Lu Ci Qiu felt calm and no longer had the inexplicable emotions he had when he saw them getting close before.

This troublesome matter has been resolved, and Lu Ci Qiu also began to think about his New Year's gift. As the New Year is getting closer, if he doesn't think carefully about what gift to give, he will really have no time to prepare it.

But what should I give?

Lu Ci Qiu glanced at the person opposite him and went through countless candidates in his mind, but those people in his memory seemed not to know Ye Jianqing well enough, and they would not go to great lengths to prepare gifts for her, except for Arnold opposite him.

But Arnold didn't know her as well as he did. Lu Ci Qiu was helpless and could only comfort himself that he should give it his all. After all, he was Ye Jianqing's biological brother, and they were related by blood, so he should know something about her.

So he asked tentatively: "Arnold, do you know what Qing'er likes?"

Although Arnold is Ye Jianqing's brother, unfortunately he has been absent from his sister's life for more than ten years and knows her only a little less than Lu Ci Qiu. He was surprised that Lu Ci Qiu had the nerve to ask him this question. Besides, didn't he claim that he had been with Ye Jianqing for many years? Why did he need to ask him such a simple question?

"You said that the New Year is coming soon, what should I give Qing'er?" Lu Ci Qiu was really distressed and couldn't find anyone to discuss with.

Arnold thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "When my sister was little, she was very happy to see people setting off fireworks during the Chinese New Year. I guess she likes it."

but……

"Fireworks?" Lu Ci Qiu pondered for a moment and shook his head: "The palace has already arranged to set off fireworks on New Year's Eve. This can't be considered a gift from me to her."

"I haven't finished yet," Arnold retorted. "I think I liked it then because I hadn't seen it often. When I was little, my family didn't have enough money to buy it. Now that my sister has grown up and seen it a lot, she may not be surprised anymore."

Lu Ci Qiu nodded, thinking that this made sense, and became even more certain that fireworks should not be used as gifts.

After the topic was over, Arnold changed the subject and questioned Lu Ci Qiu, "Haven't you known your sister for a long time? Why don't you even know what she likes?"

This question stabbed Lu Ci Qiu in the back without him knowing.

Of course Lu Ci Qiu couldn't answer his question and could only smile awkwardly. This question itself was reasonable but he couldn't explain it, not to mention that he was not that reasonable.

Although he was with Ye Jianqing every day before his rebirth, his mind was not on her at all at that time. Ye Jianqing was also taciturn at that time and rarely took the initiative to talk to him. She would only argue with him when he forced her into a corner.

However, although they had little contact, he still found Ye Jianqing very interesting. She was clearly sent by Lu Zhixing to protect him, but she was very afraid of death. She always said to him things like "Take care of yourself", "Don't commit suicide easily", "I won't risk my life for a gentleman", "I'll be the first to run away if you encounter danger", and "Don't think you can rely on me".

At that time, he just felt annoyed.

As a secret guard, she actually said such words to a prince. It was really treasonous. But she was the only one who would be the first to speak out when she found something wrong with him. She was the only one who would always stick by his side. I thought the two of them would live like this for the rest of their lives. But no one expected that accidents would always arrive before tomorrow.

On that moonlit night, an arrow pierced the air from nowhere and headed straight for his chest. He had nowhere to escape, but he never expected that Ye Jianqing, who always said that she was afraid of death and was careful with her life, would take the initiative to stand in front of him to block the arrow for him. The arrow was aimed at him and had nothing to do with her. With her skills, she could have easily avoided it, but she didn't. She rushed up decisively and stood in front of him.

He watched helplessly as the sharp arrow pierced into her chest and then passed through at an extremely high speed. The blood spurted out like a flower in front of his eyes. The sharp arrow pierced the two of them together. Ye Jianqing fell unconsciously into his arms. He felt the life in his arms, which was originally strong, gradually dissipating until he could no longer feel her breath at all.

This was the first time he panicked.

It turned out that, without realizing it, he had already been attracted by the woman who would argue with him, who would not be hypocritical to him because of his identity, who said she would be the first one to run away when encountering danger but was actually willing to give her life for him.

He was extremely grateful that he was reborn and could get to know and understand Ye Jianqing again.

He had wasted the past few years and now wanted to seize the present.

"I really don't know what she likes. I neglected her too much in the past, so now I want to make it up to her." Lu Ci Qiu had a smile on his lips. Arnold couldn't see the meaning of his smile, but he only felt bitter.

Arnold was helpless, "Unfortunately, as a remiss brother, I don't know what she likes now."

"Forget it. The more anxious we are, the worse it will be." Seeing that he couldn't get an answer from Arnold, Lu Ci Qiu simply stood up and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, Arnold stopped him and said, "Remember what you promised me, don't let her know that I am her brother. Also, I want to know everything about her in the future."

Lu Ci Qiu, who had already walked out of the cell door, looked at him and nodded solemnly to express his promise before leaving. From then on, this was an unspoken secret between them.

When Lu Ci Qiu returned to the courtyard, Yuqin and others were measuring clothes for Ye Jianqing, saying that they were preparing to make new year clothes.

Ye Jianqing was not good at these things. His whole body was stiff as Yuqin fiddled with him. He was so obedient that he waited obediently to be measured.

Lu Ci Qiu waited until they finished measuring before going in to find Ye Jianqing.

Ye Jianqing was already exhausted and was lying on the table. When she heard the noise outside the door, she didn't have the energy to look up to see who it was. However, she could roughly tell who it was by listening to the footsteps.

"Isn't it just measuring clothes? Why are you so tired?" Lu Ci Qiu asked with amusement.

"I'm almost dead tired from measuring from this morning till now." Ye Jianqing cheered up and began to complain to him, "Normally, isn't it just a matter of measuring? I don't know what happened today, he measured this material, then that material, and even said he wanted to make several different suits."

"I thought it was a waste, so I asked them not to bother. But they said they should have had it in the first place, so I had no choice but to let them do what they wanted." It would have been fine if Lu Ci Qiu hadn't asked, but as soon as he asked, Ye Jianqing got the hang of things. As soon as he got the chance, he poured out all the beans to Lu Ci Qiu, and became more and more excited as he talked.

Lu Ci Qiu listened to her with a smile on his face, and unknowingly he found himself enjoying it. He always felt that they were already married. When the husband came home from work, his wife complained to him about what had happened today.

As he thought about it, he laughed out loud.

Ye Jianqing, who was chattering nonstop, stopped talking and looked at him in confusion. She was complaining so seriously, but he was actually laughing. This made Ye Jianqing a little unhappy, so she asked decisively, "Is it that funny?"

When Lu Ci Qiu heard this, he no longer dared to laugh and shook his head frantically, "No, no, I just think it's really too troublesome, but do you know why you suddenly have to do this?"

How would Ye Jianqing know? He could only shake his head and say he didn't know.

Lu Ci Qiu explained to her carefully, "Because this year is the once-in-five-years Royal Merchants Election, and this year my second brother is in charge, and he brought me along. Those Royal Merchants probably knew through some channels that you and I are on good terms, so they wanted to curry favor with me through you, and then have me say something good for them."

Ye Jianqing snorted disdainfully: "Say something nice? You say it so nicely, but you are just using me for bribery."

"Yes," Lu Ci Qiu nodded, indicating that what she said was correct, and then stopped smiling and promised her, "Don't worry, I will take care of this matter."

He looked up at Ye Jianqing again, feeling a little unsure.

He knew that Ye Jianqing was straightforward, so he hesitated whether to ask her directly for a gift. As soon as he thought of this, he rejected it. He felt that it was a bit bad to ask directly for a gift, which seemed insincere. But the only person who understood her in the world was herself, so he really didn't know who to ask.

Although it is said that gifts are meant to show one's heart, some gift givers rely on this fact and give gifts carelessly, which is disrespectful to the recipient. If a gift is given with a lot of money and thought, but it does not meet the recipient's heart, it is a waste of the gift giver's heart, and this is wrong.

After hesitating for a long time, Lu Ci Qiu finally made up his mind and gritted his teeth, and chose to ask directly: "It's almost the New Year, is there anything you want?"

Ye Jianqing was completely unaware of his inner struggle, and didn't listen carefully to what he was saying, just staring blankly outside the house. From this angle, you can see Lu Ciqiu's study across the street. The gardenias that she had carefully taken care of during this period of time were growing quite well in front of the study door.

"The gardenia outside your study door has been growing really well lately."

Lu Ci Qiu followed her gaze and saw that indeed, the branches and leaves of the gardenia looked much stronger than before she came, and there were signs that they would continue to grow upwards. It was estimated that they would bloom around May next year.

"Do you want gardenias?" Lu Ci Qiu asked.

"Ah?" Ye Jianqing finally came back to his senses and blinked his big eyes, looking at him puzzledly: "What did you say?"

"Do you want gardenias as your New Year's gift?" Lu Ci Qiu continued to ask.

"Why give me flowers? I have no place to plant them here. Besides, we are moving to the palace, so why plant flowers now?" Ye Jianqing didn't understand what was going on in his mind.

Uh......

"Then I just asked you what New Year's gift you wanted, and you said gardenia."

Ye Jianqing sighed, deeply worried about the straight man's brain circuit, and could only explain to him: "I just said that the gardenia at your door is beautiful."

But then again... Ye Jianqing cunningly stood up and came closer to him, which made Lu Ciqiu feel a little embarrassed. Then he asked with a smile: "Are you planning to give me a gift?"

Because she has been recuperating recently, there is always a smell of herbs on her body, a green and pure herbal smell. This smell is intertwined with her own sweet fragrance, creating another smell, a sweet and astringent smell that drifts towards Lu Ci Qiu's nose because of her approach.

Lu Ci Qiu's heart was not sure whether it was the smell or her inexplicable closeness that made him excited. He took a deep breath and dared not relax, standing straight with his body stiff.

He nodded and replied stiffly, "Because the New Year is coming, I want to give you a gift."

Ye Jianqing noticed his stiffness and thought he was just nervous about asking about the gift. He secretly laughed at how serious he was and simply ignored it. He smiled and returned to his seat before slowly answering, "What gift? Why should we be so polite? No thanks."

As soon as Ye Jianqing stepped back, Lu Ciqiu regained his senses. He scratched his head and said sincerely, "You've saved me so many times, I think it shouldn't be too much to give you a gift."

Ye Jianqing sat on the chair, propped up his chin with his hand, tapped his cheek unconsciously with his index finger, and said awkwardly: "But I don't seem to have any needs."

"Well, do you have anything you particularly like?" Lu Ci Qiu asked tentatively.

Ye Jianqing shook her head. She had never wanted anything, always lived a day-to-day life, and had a big heart. There was nothing she particularly liked.

"Then..." Lu Ci Qiu wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Ye Jianqing.

"By the way, Gongyang Junyu's soft sword is quite interesting."

"Do you like it?" Lu Ci Qiu asked.

"I can't say I like it, I just think it's convenient. It's more advantageous to have a longer weapon when fighting outside. But I can't use a sword, so forget it." Ye Jianqing shrugged. She was telling the truth.

But obviously, Lu Ci Qiu didn't think so. He felt that Ye Jianqing was hinting at him, playing hard to get. She first said that Gongyang Junyu's sword was interesting, and then said that she didn't like it. If this was the case, then shouldn't he find a way to find a suitable long sword for her to use?

With this idea in mind, he found an excuse to leave Ye Jianqing's room. It was easy to get a long sword, but it was not so easy to find a long sword suitable for Ye Jianqing. However, Lu Ciqiu had a brother. Lu Zhixing had collected hundreds of various weapons, if not thousands. A long sword was not such a troublesome thing. Anyway, he could ask his brother to solve the problem when he was in doubt.