589: Chapter 589: Confidence Gained (5)_1 589: Chapter 589: Confidence Gained (5)_1 âGuan Qingshu, are you alright?â Yang Ruxin saw Guan Qingshu standing motionless, not even blinking, and immediately grew worried.
She feared an excessive shock might send this esteemed scholar into despair, and if he did something extreme, that would be troublesome.
Finally, Guan Qingshu lifted his eyes and stared deeply at Yang Ruxin, then let out a wry smile before sadly turning around and staggering home, each step uneven.
âGu Yao, follow him and make sure nothing happens,â Yang Ruxin said, glancing at Gu Yao.
Without waiting for his older brotherâs command, Gu Yao nodded and trailed far behind Guan Qingshu.
âXinxin, do you regret it?â Gu Qingheng held Yang Ruxinâs hand.
âRegret what?â Yang Ruxin looked at Gu Qingheng.
âRegret rejecting such an outstanding manâŠâ
âGu Qingheng, donât tell me youâre feeling insecure,â Yang Ruxin said with a laugh.
Gu Qingheng honestly nodded.
âYouâŠâ Yang Ruxin sighed.
âYou know what?
Just now, you shook my confidence.
Guan Qingshu must feel like his heart is shattered to piecesâŠ
Honestly, I donât even want you to regain your sight.
Iâm afraid that once you can see and walk, just how outstanding youâll be?
Then you might not find this country girl attractive anymoreâŠâ
âSilly girl,â Gu Qingheng laughed.
âAre you trying to comfort me?
Alright, I accept your comfort.
Iâm confident now, I wonât be so insecure anymoreâŠâ
âHahaâŠ
Gu Qingheng, I find myself liking you more and more, what should I do?â
âThen just keep liking me, I wonât let you regret falling for meâŠâ
Yang Ruxin glanced around, quickly pecked Gu Qingheng on the lips, then stood up and pretended nothing happened as she began to push the wheelchair outward, saying, âLetâs hurry home.â Her face was already blushing.
Gu Qingheng also touched his lips with a hand, a flush spread on his handsome face, after being momentarily stunned.
If this wasnât in the middle of the street, he really wanted to pull her into his arms, and thenâŠ
For the rest of the way home, neither of them spoke.
Their pace wasnât quick, but both their hearts rippled with a faint sweetness.
It was a weird silence, yet surprisingly harmonious.
By the time they reached home, Gu Yao had caught up with them, saying he saw Guan Qingshu enter his yard before returning.
Yang Ruxin was then reassured.
Feeling cheerful, Yang Ruxin decided to showcase her culinary skills again for dinner.
However, her specialty was Sichuan cuisine; in the past, no meal was complete without some heat.
Unfortunately hereâŠ
she gazed at the zanthoxylum and sighed.
Chilies, she remembered, were introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty.
Yang Ruxin had inquired about the historical events from Gu Qingheng.
Normally, after the humiliation of Jingkang led to the fall of the Northern Song, the trajectory of history should have seen King Kang Zhao Gou ascend to the throne in the Southern Song at Yingtian Prefecture, Nanjing, followed by the defeat at the hands of the Yuan Dynasty after the Battle of Yamen, which then lead into the Yuan Dynasty.
The Yuan Dynasty lasted barely over a century before Zhu Yuanzhangâs uprising overthrew it, ushering in the Ming Dynasty.
However, in this timeline, after the fall of the Northern Song, history forked.
Zhao Gou did not establish the Southern Song, but instead, a man named Zhao Cheng appeared, who was said to also be a relative of Zhao Kuangyin, albeit from a collateral branch.
He had always been by King Kangâs side, had long since marginalized the king, and used him as a puppet to start an uprising under the banner of overthrowing the northern invaders; he quickly rallied forces and soon unified the country.
Then, he expelled the invaders from the Central Plains Region and established the Great Qian Dynasty.