How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Hongyu cleared her throat, trying hard to recall, "Raising my head to gaze at the bright moon, lowering my head..."

"Lower your head..." Hongyu lowered her head for a long time without saying anything. Qingru couldn't help but laugh and reminded her, "Missing your hometown."

"I bow my head and think of my hometown."

Hongyu finally blurted it out, then said embarrassedly, "This time doesn't count, you helped me, I'll drink it."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, before Qingru could stop him.

With a soft sigh, Qingru raised her cup to Hongyu and said, "But you read it out loud, so it's a tie. You drank, so I have to drink too."

Qingru also took a sip. The fruit wine was not as spicy as the white wine, it was smooth and mellow, with a faint grape aroma.

Hongyu was quite surprised by her righteousness and clapped her hands, laughing loudly, "Good, a heroine among women."

Qingru rarely drinks, but today she did so to relieve her depression. She poured herself another glass of wine and wished the bright moon, "May we all live long and share the beauty of the moon, even though we are thousands of miles apart."

Hongyu listened blankly, somewhat puzzled, "You don't have a moon here."

Qingru came to her senses and explained, "'Chanjuan' means the moon. The ancients used it to refer to the moon."

Hongyu still didn't understand. "Why? 'Chanjuan' sounds like a girl's name. What does it have to do with the moon? Isn't Chang'e on the moon?"

Qingru was once again stirred by her past memories, and imitating her father, she told Hongyu a story, "What I just read was Su Shi's 'Prelude to Water Melody'. The word 'Chanjuan' originally refers to a beautiful woman, but here it refers to the fairy Chang'e."

This poem describes Su Shi missing his younger brother who was far away on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, so he used the moon as a metaphor to express his longing.

There's also a line that I like: "People have sorrow and joy, separation and reunion; the moon has its phases of waxing and waning, and nothing in this world is ever perfect." It's just too sad, so I didn't mention it.

Hongyu stared at Qingru's face, looking her up and down. "My goodness, you speak so sweetly, but I don't quite understand."

Then it suddenly dawned on me, "You've improved! You don't even have a regional accent anymore."

Qingru was taken aback. Fortunately, only Hongyu was by her side at the moment, so there was no need to worry about word getting out. Besides, secrets can't be kept forever, and she was afraid that the truth would be exposed sooner or later. Therefore, she had already prepared an explanation and said sarcastically:

“I’ve been learning from you for so long, I should have made some progress by now.”

Hongyu, flattered, stopped worrying about Qingru's accent and said smugly, "Don't flatter me. No matter how well you speak, you're not as good as Yue. You're the one who lost."

Qingru chuckled, finished her drink, and turned the glass upside down. "Look, not a drop is left."

"Ha ha…"

The two girls drank quite a bit, taking turns toasting each other.

Hongyu had never been to school, so she would usually lose in drinking games. But she was good at cheating, and Qingru didn't mind. Besides, Qingru herself wanted to drink, hoping that all her misfortunes would be swallowed down like this wine, and that the road ahead would be smooth.

When Guo Zixing arrived at the villa, the two women were already quite drunk. The other servants didn't dare to come over to help them, and when they saw the young master arrive, they all secretly watched the show.

Guo Zixing was filled with joy, so why would he care about such things?

They called for people to come and take Hongyu away, but the girl was still shouting, "Miss Cui'er, I can still drink. I've played many more drinking games than you."

Guo Zixing was puzzled. Hongyu could count the number of characters she knew on her fingers, yet she could play drinking games.

Qingru's drunkenness was much better, clearly showing she had excellent drinking manners. Although she had also drunk quite a bit, she simply lay on the table, neither making a sound nor causing any disturbance, seemingly asleep.

The courtyard was locked, leaving only Qingru and Guo Zixing inside.

He couldn't help but walk towards Qingru, intending to test whether she was truly drunk.

"This is?"

Guo Zixing seemed to have noticed something, a suspicious look on his face. He reached out and touched Qingru's cheek. He saw that her originally yellowish-black skin had several white marks, revealing her originally delicate skin.

A slight smile unconsciously crept onto his lips, a playful glint in his eyes. Guo Zixing took Qingru's handkerchief, poured some wine on it, and gently wiped her face.

Before long, a patch of white skin appeared on the face that had been wiped with fruit wine, and Guo Zixing suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."

Suddenly, a picture of Qingru's fair skin flashed through my mind...

"Ahem," Guo Zixing coughed lightly, covering his lips with his hand. That day was just a test, but now it was practically confirmed.

Cui'er is Lü Qingru, and Lü Qingru is Cui'er. As if to verify his thoughts, Guo Zixing carefully wiped Qingru's face until her face was fully revealed.

Under the bright moonlight, Qingru's jade-like face was fully revealed to Guo Zixing.

Her slender, jade-like hands rested on the stone table, supporting her head. Her willow-leaf eyebrows and deep-set eyes were tightly closed, revealing a heroic spirit and an unyielding pride in her high nose and deep eyes. Truly…

The moon rises brightly, and there are outstanding people.

So graceful and charming, yet my heart is troubled and anxious.

Qingru was fast asleep and her body felt heavy, so Guo Zixing easily picked her up.

When he put her on the bed, she was unaware of it, but Guo Zixing was mesmerized by what he saw.

My first impression was of an ugly, dirty village girl; later, a fleeting glimpse while she was bathing; and now…

Seeing Qingru's true face, I felt that the photos didn't capture even a tenth of her beauty.

It's only natural to have a reaction to such a beautiful woman.

Guo Zixing knew he had never been moved by love, which was ridiculous; he attributed it to lust.

Since I still have my hands on the Lü family's ancestral property, I don't mind using it. After all... it doesn't necessarily have to be killed. If I can coax her into willingly handing it over without losing a single soldier, wouldn't that be even better?

After thinking it over, Guo Zixing covered Qingru with a blanket, closed the door, and left.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Qingru slowly awoke, staring in the direction Guo Zixing had gone.

"Phew... thankfully, he finally came to the villa. Without breaking the current deadlock, how can we take the next step into the Marshal's Mansion?"

It turns out that Guo Zixing hadn't been visiting the villa often in the past month. Apart from keeping Qingru under control, he had been serving her good food and drink.

However, Guo Zixing's lack of urgency did not mean that Qingru was not anxious. She knew even less than Yanru, and therefore was even more eager to find out about Lü's father's situation.

The Marshal's Mansion is the local tyrant of this city. If one can gain the Marshal's favor, then the chances of Father Lü being exonerated will be much greater.

Qingru isn't stupid. Guo Zixing's continued confinement of her clearly indicates his suspicions; she just doesn't know how far Guo Zixing has gone.

She simply changed her appearance, so even if Guo Zixing found out that there was no one named her in Jiuhuang Village, he couldn't immediately suspect Qingru.

Therefore, she decided to reveal herself to test Guo Zixing's reaction.

But seeing that Guo Zixing was neither surprised nor pleased after seeing his true face, Qingru felt somewhat depressed. It seemed that Guo Zixing had indeed guessed it.

Qingru herself was on tenterhooks just now. What if Guo Zixing had done something wrong? Luckily, he still had a conscience.

Qingru was completely unaware that the troubles of the Lü family all stemmed from the Guo family's schemes, and she still wanted to clear her own family's name.

Now that he has appeared before Guo Zixing without making a move, does this indicate that he also has compassion, and there is still room to salvage the situation?

Qingru thought too much for a moment and couldn't help but feel hopeful. She was only three-tenths drunk, but now she was eight-tenths drunk, and finally she fell asleep.

Guo Zixing returned to his room, did not turn on the light, leaned against the tatami, and pondered his future in the darkness.

Before leaving the mansion, Commander Guo gave him a photograph of three sisters, each with their own unique beauty and charm, clearly indicating that he should choose one to marry.

Guo Zixing had never looked forward to marriage, but now that the matter was being brought up, he had no intention of refusing.

As expected, what he wanted most was power, to make a name for himself, and to escape his idle state.

As long as he can escape a life of constant comfort, it doesn't matter whether he gets married or goes to war.

Guo Zixing weighed the options in his mind: what standards should a wife meet if he were to choose one? Gentle and virtuous? Capable and shrewish? No, no.

After thinking about the women in his backyard, Guo Zixing decided to find a generous and gentle wife who, like him, had no expectations for marriage, and was someone he was doing business with based on each other's conditions, someone he would partner with to live together.

As for Qingru's fleeting figure, it was nothing more than a wild goose leaving a trace, but water leaving no trace. After a brief ripple, the goose flew away, and the water remained water.