AYE! 1510 words? ARE YOU SERIOUS! That just means twice the romance (Ooh XD) This chapter ended up much better than I thought!
May Huang Yue Ying and Zhuge Liang romancefics live forever! The same day ZLxYY romancefics dies out is the same day they will come back claim present China for the Shu dynasty! The Peoples Republic of China'll hate that! LOL

Ru Ying Sui Xing – Chapter 9 – Peach Garden pt 3 – Missing Fragment

Think, Yue Ying. Who could that be? When I asked Liang if he liked me, he didn't say yes...or no for that matter. I looked up at Liang.

"Who do you think that is?"

He hesitated. "That's not important right now, Ying."

"Yes it is." I said as I got up and sat in front of him. "Who do you think that is Liang?"

Liang grinned. "I think we both know who that is."

I lied back down on his chest. Maybe it was he, but he didn't know about me. Or he had he knew about what I thought before I even met him. Or maybe he had figured that out in the way I was acting before and after I met him.

None of these are really rational. Aye yah.

Liang rested his head on my head. I could feel his breath over my head. We stayed there for like two seconds that was actually half an hour.

I looked up at him, and realized he was staring at the sky. When I saw his eyes, they twinkled along with the stars he was looking at.

"What are you doing, Liang?"

"Reading the stars."

"How do you do that?"

"That's a secret. Books, scrolls, and my parents taught me how to read the stars."

"What are your parents like? I've never met them."

"They died when I was a little boy. Never had a chance to really know them well."

I silenced myself and looked up very slowly. After a while, I inched myself closer to Liang and asked, "What do they say?"

"They say that someone will get in an argument with a family member...?" The confusion in his tone was more than enough for me to figure out. "What kind of fortune is that?" I asked him back in a more normal tone. "It's not a fortune Ying. This is reality. The stars tell the future, not caring if it is for better or for worse."

A typical response would be, yes Liang. I suppose you are right. But I am not an everyday person.

"Aye. I hate evil fortunes," I murmured, and then rested back on Liang's chest...falling into a deep sleep...

When I woke up, it was still night but Liang wasn't there; I was resting on layers and layers of flower petals. Chances are he made it, because petals cannot fall beneath my head.

But still. Where is Liang?

"Liang!" I called. "Liang this is not funny!"

I crawled on my hands and then sat up, waiting for a response. While I was waiting though, I took a flower that had fell from a tree and examined it. Who knew how long you could stare at a flower? Then I saw his figure come from in front of me. He was holding about twenty of maybe thirty flowers in his arms and a straw basket attached to his waist by a waist sash.

"Aww..." he said, lowering himself to the ground. He untied the basket from his waist and added, "You woke up. I really wanted to surprise you." Liang emptied the flowers into the straw basket and started arranging them.

"Surprise me...?" I asked. Well, that proved he is fairly a catch. Depending on what his surprise was. It's right in front of you, Yue Ying! You complete idiot!

"Where'd you get the basket in the middle of the night?"

"What this? I made it just before."

Wow. Crafty.

"What about the flowers?"

"Hold on..."

As soon as Liang was done arranging, he handed the basket to me and said, "Call it a gift from me.

"I grew the flowers here last spring, my Lady."

That meant he was planning to meet me for a full year now. What could I do to repay this?

He handed it to me, but when I looked up I gave him a miserable look.

"But I...I-I have nothing to offer you!" I said, still gasping at the gift he had given me.

He took my hand we both stood up.

"Do not worry. You already given me something you cannot find local merchants selling, or something you would be handed as a gift by anyone but you, Huang Yue Ying."

"Oh?" I asked, peeking curiosity out of me. "What might that me Liang?"

He held my shoulders and answered, "Your love."

Shifting his hands from mine to my waist, he leaned toward me and kissed me, straight on the lips. Sure, I was very surprised, but hey, what's to argue with? I am falling for him! From his stong calm nature to his knowledge. For a couple, this was normal, regular, standard behavior. But with Liang and I – this is a whole new situation. Had he knew, maybe we could have been in fact, we could have just become much more than we were now. What a shame, I had less bravery than I expected, and I could not tell him now.

We did this for quite some time; I knew because when I felt light – sunlight hit my eyes. Perceptibly, Liang noticed this too and he said, "I must leave, Lady Huang. Farewell!"

Hearing this, I couldn't bear to have him leave me immediately yet. "Wait!" I said. "Liang! When will I see you again?"

Liang answered me bluntly, "Soon. Talk to me through messages. Ask any of your maids or servants to send your responses to the Zhuge brothers. Here, take this."

Liang removed his hat and handed it to me. At that moment I realized that something had to be given to him. Forget about the headdress? "Please," I said taking off my headdress. "Accept my gift." I held it out to him.

Liang shook his head and pushed it back to me. "Ying, I cannot accept such a gift."

"Please."

Liang sighed. "Ying, this is a very expensive headdress. It is yours to keep, not mine. I must decline your offer."

I pushed it to him. "Does anything have an actual price tag, Liang? Not everything has a cost..." I started. "Does happiness have a true cost? If it did, do you think it would have cost more than this headdress?"

He smiled and then answered, "Happiness has but one cost. Just that you are doing or being with something or someone that you truly – uh..." Liang hesitated for the longest time.I knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to say,someone you truly love or something in that sort. " – cherish. Besides, your father gave you this as a present. I do not deserve to have it; it is yours to keep."

"How did you know that father gave this to me?" This puzzled me and gave me a good reason of why I should stare straight at him. Too bad that wasn't the true motive of why I was gazing.

"There are some things I figured out myself." Liang said, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I raised my headdress. "It is also my choice to keep it, throw it away, hock it for thousands of yuan (Yuan was the present currency in China; I do not know if it was the actual one in the three kingdoms era, but let it be for all of my fics) I choose to give it to you, Zhuge Liang."

Liang chuckled and then responded, "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Keep it. I could get something like this in less than a day's work. How long would it take you, Liang?"

"Ying," he said. "Price – you said there is in fact no cost for happiness, no?"

"Liang the only cost of this headdress from me to you is happiness, joy and – " Couldn't continue. There had to be something I could make up. "uh ... "

I could see a smile slowly forming on Liang's face. "Yes, Ying?" he asked.

"H-Happiness, and joy!" This sounded really stupid, but I had nothing to cover with. "When father bought this, it had a price tag alright. And it cost him almost four or five thousand gold. How long will it take for you to make that much?"

Liang hesitated. "Please just keep it. This headdress is yours."

"How long, Zhuge Liang?"

He sighed. "Aye, Yue Ying this would have took me four or five years, not counting food, crop destruction, sickness, top sale of years and working 24/7."

"Oh," said I in empathy. It would take him that long to make so little? But then again, I was used to such high treatment, I didn't understand how life being a peasant would be.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck. "One day," I said. "I wish to meet your brother and see how farm life is, Liang."

He gave me a confused look. "How did you know I had a brother?"

"You said to send messages to the Zhuge brothers. Duh."

"No problem," he said.

"As a gift for a wonderful night," I said. "That okay? Acceptance?"

He chuckled. "Thank you, Yue Ying." He whispered.

He kissed me once more and then when I watched him leave, his figure disappeared in the sunlight.