A Figure on Jade Steps in the Wind and Snow 73

Chapter 73: Rumors

Jiang Yu stood with her hands behind her back, with the boundless sun and clouds behind her.

She was quiet for a moment, as if she were thinking, and after a moment, she suddenly asked, “Why?”

“…” Shen Zhishu was a little helpless with these two words. “Does Your Highness really not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

“I really don’t know.”

Shen Zhishu: …

Shen Zhishu asked in a roundabout way, “Then let me put it this way. If Your Highness’s sweetheart knew that I and Your Highness have had rain and clouds many times, would she still accept Your Highness’s confession?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Yu said. “Whether she accepts it or not is not up to that. I don’t think she will mind these things.”

Shen Zhishu: …

Shen Zhishu completely lost her temper, and a sense of melancholy rose in her heart.

So it was obvious, she thought. Jiang Yu had not considered her feelings at all.

—She didn’t care, but what about me?

Was she so sure that I would be willing to be tangled up with her in such a vague, ambiguous, and unclear way?

The reality was so absurd that Shen Zhishu couldn’t get angry, and instead felt a little amused.

She stood with her hands on her hips, brewed for a while, and opened her mouth, “I’m not willing.”

“Hmm?”

“Your Highness has someone else in your heart, but you still want me to help you relieve your desire, as if… I’m that person’s substitute.”

After her voice came out, Shen Zhishu suddenly felt the clouds disperse and the sun appear. The originally unclear melancholy was pieced together into a clear outline.

So that’s how it is, she thought. She was upset because she was being used as someone’s substitute, and not because of anything else.

—Anyone who was suddenly and inexplicably treated as another person would not feel good in their heart.

But Jiang Yu said, “No.”

“Hmm?” Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

“The General is the General, and she is she. I will not mix them up.”

Shen Zhishu’s brow furrowed slightly, “Then it’s even more inappropriate. Your Highness, lustful matters should be done with a sweetheart. I originally thought that Your Highness had no sweetheart, so when I helped Your Highness relieve your desire, I just treated it as mutual help between friends. But now that Your Highness already has a sweetheart—”

“Then I’ll just forget her,” Jiang Yu said in a faint voice.

Shen Zhishu’s eyes widened, “Is Your Highness being a little too casual? Is this something that can be forgotten just by saying it?”

Jiang Yu spread her hands, “But she doesn’t like me, and I can’t do anything about it.”

“If Your Highness doesn’t try, how do you know there’s no way?”

Jiang Yu said curiously, “How do I try?”

“You’ve come to the right person for that,” Shen Zhishu said with a serious air. “I have also read some storybooks—Xie Jin forced them on me, I didn’t deliberately look for them to read—now I’ll teach Your Highness a few tricks, how about it?”

“I’m all ears.”

Shen Zhishu cleared her throat, “Firstly, maintain a good image in front of the other person; secondly, be considerate of the other person; thirdly, provide the other person with a lot of help, and if necessary, you can use the trick of a hero saving a beauty.”

“The General seems to know a lot.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I know a lot. After all, I’ve never pursued anyone,” Shen Zhishu had a flash of inspiration. “Hey, Xie Jin has pursued someone. She said that her late wife was pursued by her. Why don’t you have her tell Your Highness?”

“…” Jiang Yu said in a faint voice. “If the General has General Xie bring up her wife, wouldn’t that be rubbing salt in her wound? I find what the General said above to be very reasonable, and I am willing to try my best.”

“That’s it. There is nothing in the world that is definitely impossible,” Shen Zhishu patted her chest, and her words had the force of a mountain. “If Your Highness encounters any problems, just come and find me. As Your Highness’s friend, I will definitely help you!”

Jiang Yu gave her a deep look and said with her sleeves tucked in, “Then I’ll thank you in advance, General.”

“Your Highness is being too distant. Why talk about thanks between friends?” Shen Zhishu said tentatively. “Why don’t you tell me who this person is, so I can analyze her personality and characteristics, and thus formulate a more complete battle plan.”

Jiang Yu only said, “No need.”

Shen Zhishu continued to test her, “To be able to win Your Highness’s favor, this person must be of extraordinary character.”

Jiang Yu nodded, “She’s alright.”

“Then… compared to me, how is her appearance?”

“About the same.”

“What about her figure?”

“Also about the same.”

Jiang Yu was watertight, and Shen Zhishu was a little discouraged. She muttered in a low voice, “You treasure her so much that you’re not willing to reveal a single thing about her to a friend?”

Jiang Yu blinked and suddenly raised her hand and put it on Shen Zhishu’s shoulder, “The General is as important as her.”

“How can you compare?” Shen Zhishu said. “One is a sweetheart you’ve been thinking of for many years, and the other is a friend you’ve just met.”

“Affection is not judged by time,” Jiang Yu’s tone had no fluctuation. “And although I have only known the General for more than half a month, it feels as if we have known each other for years. I can always completely relax in front of the General, more carefree than at any other time in the past twenty years.”

Shen Zhishu’s originally melancholy mood improved a lot because of these words.

Jiang Yu is still quite conscientious and will not forget her friend for a lover, she said in her heart.

“Then what about her?” Shen Zhishu asked again.

“What?”

“Your Highness’s sweetheart. Isn’t Your Highness carefree when you are with her?”

Jiang Yu said, “Oh,” and her gaze flew to the red tiles on the wall, as if she were recalling carefully.

She recalled for half a day and came up with four words—I don’t remember.

“I don’t remember,” she said. “Perhaps I was very carefree, but it was really too long ago.”

“It’s been so long, and Your Highness still has her in your heart,” Shen Zhishu nodded with emotion. “It seems Your Highness is a person of long-lasting affection. Since you haven’t seen each other for a long time, when will Your Highness meet her next?”

Jiang Yu stared at Shen Zhishu intently, and when their eyes met, she lowered her eyes and shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Shen Zhishu smiled, “If you can’t even meet, how can you pursue her?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know this and you don’t know that. What does Your Highness know?”

“I only know to live in the present,” Jiang Yu withdrew her gaze from the green bricks in the corner and said with a blank expression. “At this moment, I only have the General by my side, so in my heart and eyes, I only have the General.”

The north wind suddenly rose, carrying the scent of arbor vitae.

Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes in the sunlight.

If these words were said by someone else, she would definitely take them as a heartfelt confession.

But the person in front of her was Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu could not be judged by common sense.

Whether it was a joke or not being able to grasp the propriety, it would definitely not be that kind of meaning… right?

“Since Your Highness already has a sweetheart…” she paused and continued as if nothing had happened. “Why do you always say such unclear and misleading things?”

“Where is it unclear? I thought I had made it clear enough.”

Shen Zhishu let out a “Tsk” and, without a second thought, said harshly, “Yes, it’s very clear, but it’s a little too clear—’in my heart and eyes, I only have you.’ Isn’t that a confession to me?”

Jiang Yu stood quietly and shook her head, “If the General understands it that way, I can’t do anything about it.”

Shen Zhishu was angered into a laugh, “Jiang Wuya, are you being a rogue?”

“I have said all I can. How you understand it is the General’s business.”

Shen Zhishu said angrily, “I’ll just understand it that way.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll just understand it as Your Highness is in love with me. What about it?”

Jiang Yu’s voice was still without a ripple, “As you wish, General. The brain is on the General’s body, and I cannot control it.”

Shen Zhishu looked down at her with a slightly lowered head. Jiang Yu happened to raise her head at this moment, and their eyes met unexpectedly.

The north wind and their gazes rushed to meet.

Perhaps it was because she was a little guilty after her harsh words, or for some other reason… Shen Zhishu’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Can’t control it? she thought. But this is clearly something that can be explained in a few more words.

She calmed her breathing and, as if nothing had happened, put her arm around Jiang Yu’s shoulder, “Just kidding. Your Highness can’t possibly like me.”

Jiang Yu’s clear and light gaze came over from the corners of her eyes, “Why?”

Shen Zhishu said frankly, “We’ve only known each other for half a month, and I’ve repeatedly mentioned in front of Your Highness that I don’t want to get married—I’m not so sentimental as to think that Your Highness would fall for a rough person like me.”

Jiang Yu said, “Mm.”

After a moment, she said, “Maybe?”