Water Reflects Peach Blossoms

I woke up earlier today than any other day.

Gong Yunzheng discovered something different about his body.

The late spring cold made the valley as cold as if it had returned to winter. She put on a fox fur coat and went outside. She saw countless small buds on the peach trees.

Her delicate white fingertips touched the flower bud, and she almost murmured, "What a pity, I can't wait until the flower blooms."

Gong Yunzheng stood under the peach tree for a long time, then she slowly walked through all the rooms of Zheng Gong, and finally took down the bow that her brother had placed at the head of her bed from the wall of her room.

……

Gong Yuanzheng brought the freshly boiled medicine to his sister's room. When he found no one inside, he asked Qinglan who was standing outside the door, "Where is my sister?"

Qinglan's lips trembled, and he said with some repression: "In the backyard."

The backyard of Zheng Palace is where the former Palace Master of Zheng Palace, as well as the father of Gong Yunzheng and Gong Yuanzheng, practiced martial arts. When Gong Yuanzheng was a child, he learned martial arts from his father in the backyard and was taught archery by his father here.

Most of his memories with his father are about this scene.

After his father died, he rarely stepped into the backyard. Today, when he hurried to the backyard, he saw his sister with her back to him, wearing a thick fox fur coat but still frail.

Gong Yuanzheng walked lightly to his sister's side, looked at the bow in her hand, and suppressed the sob in his throat: "Sister, are you missing Dad?"

"Yes." Gong Yunzheng looked at the target in the distance. "When I was little, I sat here and watched Dad teach you archery all day long."

"At that time, I wanted my father to teach me archery someday."

Gong Yuanzheng also recalled: "At that time, my sister was very angry with Dad because Dad would not let you run or jump, let alone learn archery. He would not even let me give you a bow."

"Mother loves my sister and often makes snacks for her."

"I was greedy and secretly ate the snacks you used to suppress the bitter medicine. I lied to you that my poisonous insects ate them."

"Sister believed me when I told her. I kept using this excuse, and she kept believing me..."

As he spoke, the boy's eyes were red, and his hands at his side couldn't stop trembling. But his voice was the same as always, advising Gong Yunzheng: "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's cold today, and standing in the cold wind for a long time is not good for your health. I've prepared some medicine in the room, let's go back."

"Brother sent a message yesterday saying he would be back soon. Sister, you haven't seen him for a few days, right?"

"Brother Shangjiao has worked hard these past few days. Please thank him for me when he comes back." Gong Yunzheng did not move. Her calm eyes stared at the target in front of her. She rarely spoke to her brother in a willful manner: "...I don't want to drink the bitter medicine anymore."

"I added dendrobium," Gong Yuanzheng said, unwilling to accept the truth. "This time the medicine isn't bitter."

"Then I don't want to drink anymore."

Gong Yunzheng picked up the bow in his hand, took an arrow from the side, put the arrow on it and pulled the bow.

Unfortunately, with her current physical condition, she couldn't draw the bow at all, even though it was the bow that Gong Yuanzheng used to practice archery when he was seven years old.

Gong Yunzheng tried harder but still couldn't pull it open. Finally, she smiled bitterly and said, "I couldn't pull this bow open when I was a child, and I still can't pull it open now."

A warm hand held her bow hand, and with the other hand, he pulled the feather arrow in her hand back and easily pulled the bow open, which she couldn't pull open no matter how hard she tried.

"Pull it open." Holding his sister in his arms, Gong Yuanzheng's voice choked with sobs.

"It's open." Gong Yunzheng looked at the target in front of him, with joy in his weak voice.

As the cold air entered her body, she felt her vision gradually blurring.

Izumo Juren is losing its effectiveness.

Gong Yunzheng's hand on the bow remained steady. She said, "Looking back on my life, I was loved by my parents when I was young, my family was happy, and my younger brother protected me. I never suffered the slightest injustice. Now that I have my revenge, I have no regrets."

I only hope that I can be reunited with my parents in the next life and still be able to be Yuanzheng’s sister.

She hadn't even seen her brother's coming-of-age ceremony yet. She still wanted to continue caring for him, wanted to see the peach blossoms bloom in the Zheng Palace, and wanted to live like this forever...

After all, she wanted too much and was too greedy.

There are so many people and things that she cares about in her life, and she may have accomplished only one thing. How can she say that she has no regrets?

It's just to reassure the people around me.

Gong Yuanzheng was already in tears when he heard this from behind. He couldn't see his sister's expression. If he could see it, he would know how reluctant her face must have been when she said she had no regrets.

Big tears rolled down the boy's fair cheeks. He cried silently in sadness, but he tried hard to hold back his sobs: "Since my sister has no regrets, I have no regrets either."

If his sister didn't want him to suffer, he would pretend to believe her.

If his sister wants to reassure him, he will also reassure her.

However, his parents were brutally murdered by Wu Feng ten years ago, and his sister is willing to sacrifice herself for revenge, so he will be the only one left for the rest of his life.

There will be no light in his life anymore...

"Sister, if you have time in the future, come and see me."

He didn't know what kind of strength it took for him to say this to his sister in a calm tone.

It’s as if my sister is just going out to play for a while, and when she’s had enough fun, she will come back and they will be back to normal.

But why?

He had clearly been very obedient, but why was fate still so cruel to him...

"Okay." Gong Yunzheng agreed gently.

After that, there was no sound for a long time.

Neither of them spoke anymore.

In the end, it was Gong Yunzheng who said, "The time has come...it's time to let this arrow fly..."

Gong Yuanzheng didn't say anything. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from sobbing.

If his sister wanted him to send her off with peace of mind, he would do so.

Both the brother and sister want each other to feel at ease.

Gong Yunzheng wanted her brother to live well after her death and not be immersed in grief.

Gong Yuanzheng wanted his sister to know that he would live well after she left and would not be immersed in grief.

There was no response from behind her, and her hand holding the bow tightened even more. It seemed that if he loosened his grip, the breath she was holding on to would be gone.

The world in Gong Yunzheng's eyes became increasingly blurry. She called out, "Yuanzheng."

"Sister, I'm here." After Gong Yuanzheng finished speaking, he released the hand that was holding Gong Yunzheng's hand holding the arrow feather.

The bowstring suddenly loosened, making a tense sound, and the sharp feather arrow broke through the air and hit the red heart of the target.

"Did you win?" Gong Yunzheng asked.

"I got it." It was her father's voice that answered her.

"Hit the bull's eye! You're truly a good daughter!"

"She's also a good daughter to me."

My mother’s hands are so soft, and they feel so warm when they touch my cheeks.

Gong Yunzheng smiled: "I knew I was right when I asked Dad for that bow."

"Hit the bull's eye." Gong Yuanzheng held Gong Yunzheng's fallen body, sat on the ground, and said to her: "Sister, look, this is my first time shooting an arrow, I have to see the result..."

By the time he finished speaking, he was already sobbing.

“…I saw it…” Gong Yunzheng murmured.

She saw the arrow hitting the bull's eye behind her parents.