NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 159
Everything Li Xia did seemed natural to them. Cao Fugui and Chang'an were surprised, while Wu Hen was usually shy around strangers. Earlier, when the Fourth Prince tried to ride him, he was immediately thrown off.
"Xia Xia, you're amazing," Li Xin said admiringly. Galloping on horseback was something she longed to do but didn't dare.
"You can do it too. Let's continue. I'll take you for a ride later," Cao Fugui offered, hearing his sweetheart's admiration. Li Xin responded with a sweet smile, blushing as she nodded, "Mm-hmm."
Meanwhile, Chang'an, despite her young age, was quite good at horseback riding. The two rode slowly, chatting as they went. Although Li Hui was older than Chang'an, he had asked Li Xia beforehand about what young girls her age liked to talk about. He found topics that Chang'an enjoyed. Chang'an knew that Li Hui's attentiveness was due to her status, but she believed that he would surely come to like her for herself in the future.
Li Xia finished a lap and stopped. Lu XuanNing approached on the horse Li Xia had ridden earlier. As he got closer, Li Xia reached out her hand to him. Looking at the outstretched hand and then back at Li Xia, he thought, "What a bold girl."
The two held hands as they rode side by side. As they passed Cao Fugui and Li Xin, Li Xin called out, "Xia Xia," smiling happily. It was rare to see Li Xin so relaxed. Due to her ingrained ladylike upbringing, Li Xin was usually quite tense.
"It's best when people live life freely," Li Xia sighed.
"When you marry into the Lu Family, you can do whatever you want," Lu XuanNing, who had overheard, chimed in. In his dream, Li Xia had set sail because she yearned for freedom.
"Even if I wanted to go to the battlefield, would you agree?" Li Xia asked, recalling what Li Yao had said.
"You want to go to the battlefield?"
"No," Li Xia said, just thinking aloud. Having experienced too many wars in her past life, Li Xia didn't like battlefields. She preferred living freely.
"After we're married, wherever you want to go, I'll accompany you. I know you love reading travelogues. We can visit all the places mentioned in them," Lu XuanNing said, being someone who disliked idleness himself. The current retirement life was quite boring for him.
"Then we could write our own travelogue as a married couple, recording everything we see and hear," Li Xia mused, finding the idea quite appealing.
Lu XuanNing smiled, watching Li Xia's eyes light up as she imagined these things. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"But you'll have to write it. Your handwriting is beautiful," Li Xia added, having seen Lu XuanNing's handwriting in Li Hui's study. It was elegant and full of character. She liked it very much.
"You like my handwriting?" Lu XuanNing was surprised that Li Xia would appreciate his writing. He finally had something he could be proud of.
"I do," Li Xia didn't hide her admiration.
Hearing Li Xia's words, Lu XuanNing's ears turned red, but he felt quite pleased. "I'll write something for you when I get back."
"Wonderful. I'll carve the characters onto jade and give it to you," Li Xia suggested.
"I have plenty of jade at home. I'll give them all to you," Lu XuanNing offered, knowing Li Xia enjoyed carving.
"What kind of carving would you like?" Li Xia wondered what gift she could give Lu XuanNing in return. Having received jade, she felt she should give something back.
"I'll like anything you carve," Lu XuanNing said, thinking of the soaring roc carving in Li Hui's study.
"Then I'll carve according to the jade's shape," Li Xia said, carefully examining Lu XuanNing, wondering what would suit him best.
"I'll have to write well then," Lu XuanNing thought to himself, wondering what to write. "What kind of characters do you like?"
"I prefer wild cursive script," Li Xia's answer surprised Lu XuanNing. But he wasn't at all shocked that Li Xia would like such a free-spirited style.
"You should write something for me too. We can exchange gifts," Lu XuanNing suggested.
"Are we writing love letters?" Li Xia asked, recalling something. Her words made Lu XuanNing cough several times.
"Isn't that what it is?" Li Xia remembered what an older man had told her in her past life: that when young people write to each other, it's writing love letters.
Lu XuanNing's ears turned even redder as he nodded firmly, "Yes."
Li Xia had never written a love letter before and found the idea intriguing. "I'll write one as soon as I get back."
Lu XuanNing murmured in agreement, and their hands naturally found each other again, exuding a sweet atmosphere. Watching from a distance, Li Hui's brow twitched. These two were being far too careless. Although they were engaged, it was broad daylight, and others were present, yet they were walking so intimately together. He would definitely have to have a word with Li Xia when they got back, and with Li Xin too.
Chang'an watched enviously from the side. She wanted something like that too, but knew it wasn't possible yet.
The group returned to the capital, splitting into two. Li Hui escorted Chang'an back to the palace, while Cao Fugui and Lu XuanNing accompanied Li Xia and Li Xin back to Qingyue Street. At the Li residence, the two men didn't enter but bid farewell to their fiancées at the door before returning to their respective homes.
Upon reaching the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South, before even entering, Lu XuanNing ordered people to search the warehouse for all the jade and pack it into boxes.
Entering his study, he prepared the ink to write, but when he picked up the brush, he didn't know what to write. After much thought, nothing seemed right, so he finally wrote just one character: "Xia." At that moment, Lu XuanNing's mind was filled with thoughts of Li Xia.
When Li Xia received the jade and letter from Lu XuanNing, she opened it to find the single character "Xia." She smiled and carefully put it away. Li Xia then placed her own written character in an envelope and had it sent back.
Lu XuanNing received the letter and opened it. Li Xia had also written just one character: "Ning."
Li Xia examined and sorted the jade Lu XuanNing had sent, picking out one with a particularly unique shape.
"Qiu Chan, move the boxes to the storeroom," Li Xia instructed her maid, while she took the uniquely shaped jade back to her room. She carefully considered it, verifying her ideas one by one, wondering if she could carve what she had in mind. Once everything was decided, Li Xia used wind blades to carve out the basic shape, then carefully polished it with a carving knife.
On the grasslands, a galloping steed ran forward without hesitation. On its back, a young general held a long spear, pointing ahead with an imposing aura. Li Xia nodded in satisfaction and carefully carved the character "Xia" that Lu XuanNing had written at the bottom. She wrapped it carefully and sent it to the Marquis's mansion. Lu XuanNing, who had been eagerly awaiting Li Xia's gift, received the box and opened it to see the carved item.
Touching the character "Xia," Lu XuanNing couldn't stop smiling. He hadn't expected Li Xia to be such a skilled carver. The thought that such a wonderful girl was his fiancée, his future wife, and the mother of his children made Lu XuanNing want to see Li Xia and express his fondness for her.
Lu XuanNing had many things prepared and wrote another letter, expressing his affection.
A jade carving in exchange for gifts worth several times its value. Although Li Xia didn't care about such things, she felt she had come out ahead. The two continued to communicate through letters, finding it a charming little courtship ritual.
This type of interaction between Li Xia and Lu XuanNing also inspired Li Hui and Cao Fugui. Cao Fugui began sending gifts to Li Xin as well. Whenever he came across something nice, he would send it to Li Xin with a short note attached.
Li Xin had previously thought Li Xia's behavior was inappropriate, but after Cao Fugui started doing the same thing, she stopped criticizing Li Xia. Instead, she would occasionally come to Li Xia for advice on what to give Cao Fugui.
As for Li Hui, he mostly sent toys to Chang'an. While Chang'an was happy to receive gifts, she felt a bit dejected seeing that they were all meant for children.