Chapter 1326: 1323: Both Believe

Chapter 1326: Chapter 1323: Both Believe

Madam Liu had also not fallen asleep, her age stealing away much of her need for slumber.

Moreover, the residence no longer needed to economize on lamplight. Hearing voices in the courtyard, she came out from her side room.

Originally, Chu Heng had told her to return to Fushou Court to rest for the night. He would watch over Ye Muyu at home.

But with the due date being within these next couple of days, Madam Liu could not agree to leave. She was somewhat concerned that her son, being a man, would not be attentive enough.

“Ah Yu, why have you come out?” Madam Liu approached, finding the scene of her lying in the courtyard quite unusual.

“Could it be that Ah Heng has angered you?”

Seeing her misunderstanding, Ye Muyu explained with a smile, “Mother, where would Ah Heng bully me? I simply couldn’t sleep at all, so I got up to spend a while watching the stars and the moon.”

“Watch the stars? What’s there to see?” Madam Liu could not comprehend such an interest.

Ye Muyu, however, let her mind wander, asking curiously, “Isn’t there any great talent who has painted the stars?”

“This, I really do not know.” Madam Liu, also unable to sleep, simply brought a chair to sit beside her and chat.

Chu Heng, worried, came out as well.

Hearing their conversation, he chimed in, “There is one, ‘Auspicious Crane Chart.'”

Ye Muyu blinked. That was a painting by Zhao Ji of the Song Dynasty.

“Ah Heng, I remember you can paint too. Why don’t you also paint a Star Chart? I recall that very few painters depict stars, let alone paint them alone.” Ye Muyu’s interest was piqued, and she playfully winked at him.

Chu Heng was somewhat helpless, “Why this sudden thought?”

“I just think it’s beautiful.” Ye Muyu smiled, counter-asking, “Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”

Chu Heng’s gaze fell on her cheeks, his voice deep, “Beautiful.”

Madam Liu found this amusing; she had never expected Ah Heng, whom outsiders considered silent and uncommunicative, to be quite talkative in front of his wife.

She joined in the fun, “I think it’s a good idea. It would be best to include our entire family in it, just paint us all watching the stars together.”

Ye Muyu clapped her hands in approval, “Exactly, exactly, Ah Heng, remember to paint it for us when you have time.”

Chu Heng’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, “Alright.”

Ye Muyu lay there comfortably, taking advantage of the cool air which was just right at this moment.

Madam Liu spoke to Chu Heng about sending gifts back to their ancestral home.

She listened quietly by their side, occasionally chiming in with a word or two.

After chatting for less than half an hour, Madam Liu stood up, “You two keep watching. I’m going back to my room.”

Once Madam Liu had left.

Only the two of them remained.

Ye Muyu could not resist reaching out to Chu Heng.

The man clasped her fingers in return. As he held her so intimately, Ye Muyu’s instinct was to retract her hands, but Chu Heng naturally wouldn’t let go, a wide sleeve hiding their hands from any outside observer.

Seeing this, Ye Muyu let him be.

“Ah Heng, do you know what stars are?” Ye Muyu took a sudden interest, teasing him deliberately.

Although Chu Heng did not understand why she was asking this, he cooperated nonetheless, “The Three Enclosures and Four Symbols, the Twenty-Eight Mansions. Look, the brightest Seven Stars of the Big Dipper. They are called Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, Yaoguang. The first four stars are called ‘Doukui’, also known as ‘Xuanji’; the last three stars are ‘the Ladle’ and ‘Handle of the Big Dipper.'”

“Do you know what shape the stars are?”

“According to the ‘Zuo Zhuan Commentary of Spring and Autumn’ and ‘Astrological Decoding’…” Chu Heng, quite the straightforward man, recited knowledge from the books for her, his expression calm, patiently answering her questions.

Ye Muyu watched him speak, and for some reason, she found listening to him to be a kind of pleasure.