After Xie Tao finished speaking, she went straight upstairs.
Zheng Hejia stood still, watching Xie Tao’s figure gradually disappear at the turn of the stairs, without moving his gaze for a long time.
Today is Saturday, no classes.
When Xie Tao was doing her homework at the desk, she heard a slight pattering sound and looked up to find that it had started raining outside at some point.
At this moment, Wei Yun was standing in a dark room in another time and space.
Behind a table with several sticks of incense burning, there were two spirit tablets, one for his father Wei Changning, and the other for his mother Shen.
Another year on June 13th.
His mother’s death anniversary, his father’s death day.
It was also the day the Wei family suffered a great tragedy.
How laughable that such a prestigious family, a centuries-old clan, could collapse overnight, buried under the yellow soil.
With a hint of mockery in his eyes, Wei Yun straightened his sleeves and took another stick of incense to light.
The swirling smoke blurred his cold brows and eyes, as if he had always been so detached and indifferent.
Whether the members of the Wei family were alive or dead, he did not care.
After all, although such a large clan once appeared flourishing, it had actually rotted at the root.
In the Wei family, the only ones Wei Yun cared about were his weak and incompetent father and his early-deceased mother.
As the son of a concubine from the Wei family’s third branch, his father Wei Changning was the most inconspicuous leaf in such a deeply rooted tree.
And as the son of a son from the third branch, he, Wei Yun, was born even more insignificant than dust.
But ironically, he was the only one from the Wei family who survived.
How ironic.
When Wei Yun came out of the dark room, Wei Jing had already been waiting outside the door.
“Sir.”
Seeing Wei Yun emerge from the dark room, Wei Jing bowed his head and called out softly.
“How is it?”
Wei Yun casually wiped his hands with a brocade handkerchief, his voice cool and indifferent.
“Just as you predicted, His Majesty did not question the crown prince.”
Wei Jing bowed his head, replying respectfully.
Hearing this, Wei Yun’s expression remained calm, with a slight tug at the corner of his mouth, “The Crown Prince may be impulsive and quick to anger, but behind him, there is a competent Imperial Tutor.”
“Xu Dian must have gone through a lot of trouble to extricate him from this affair.”
How could Xu Dian have such great ability?
Wei Yun couldn’t understand. Without the Emperor’s tacit approval, it would have been impossible for the Crown Prince to completely extricate himself from this corruption scandal.
Almost everyone related to the Crown Prince in that list had died in the prison.
This was the best proof.
It seems, then, that the Emperor, who had personally raised his legitimate son for six years, had a bit more partiality towards him.
But it is unknown how much more tolerance this Emperor, who is now wholeheartedly pursuing the path of immortality, will have for his legitimate son.
Wei Yun silently chuckled, his eyes like amber dimly lit.
“The men sent by the Crown Prince need not be kept alive anymore.”
“Kill them all.”
His voice remained steady as he spoke, with a hint of detachment and nonchalance, unmarred by any emotional turmoil.
“Yes.”
Wei Jing bowed his head in response and then turned to leave.
After Wei Jing left, the room returned to silence. Only then did Wei Yun hear what seemed to be the patter of rain outside, with the rain’s intensity seeming to increase.
He looked out the window from afar, his gaze heavy.
Walking slowly to the window, Wei Yun reached out, and as the raindrops fell, they wet his dark red sleeves, adding spots of darker shade.
A familiar burning warmth emanated from his chest.
Wei Yun paused, and when he took out the copper pendant from inside his clothes, a pale golden light condensed into a letter, lightly landing on the windowsill, instantly wetted by the rain.
Wei Yun picked up the letter, his fingers curved, casually opening it.
The slightly moist letter was inscribed with a row of upright ink characters:
“Wei Yun, it’s raining.”
For some reason, at that moment, as he read such a line, the corners of his mouth hooked slightly. When he looked up at the swaying tree shadows outside the window, his expression suddenly became detached and distant.
Yes, it’s raining.
Though they are worlds apart, at this moment, it’s as if the boundaries of time and space were breached, raining in both worlds.
The rain grew heavier, its sound clear and tinkling.
Just as years ago, the sound of rain extinguishing the great fire at the Wei family’s home continues to echo.
That father, whom he looked down upon for his cowardice, did the only courageous thing in his life on that day.
“Yanchen, you must live well.”
This was the last sentence he said to Wei Yun.
Once, his father’s teachings were always, “You don’t have to excel in everything, never stick your head out.”
Even in naming, he was given the name “Yun,” with the courtesy name “Yanchen.”
Meaning to blend in with the light and dust.
His father’s lifelong wish was for him to be the most ordinary person, just like a speck of dust.
This was so-called survival strategy in the Wei family, a prominent clan.
How laughable.
At that moment, Xie Tao, sitting at the desk with a smartphone in hand and the other supporting her chin, watched the raindrops fall one by one on the glass window, sliding down trace after trace.
Separated by two different times and spaces, two people, at the same moment, seemed to be looking at the same rain.
After Xie Tao’s knee injury finally healed, she started working part-time in a dessert shop every afternoon after school.
During this period, Xie Tao kept in touch with Wei Yun.
The kind of contact where they would chat about what she ate, drank, and did today.
Of course, most of the time, she was the one talking.
If it weren’t for asking Wei Yun’s real age, Xie Tao might really think he was an old grandfather with the demeanor of a regular old cadre.
After all, which 22-year-old young man in this era would like to drink tea, practice calligraphy, and read “Zhi Lun”?
And speak in such a literary manner.
Xie Tao felt that chatting with him made even learning classical Chinese in her language class seem a bit easier.
As they contacted each other more, Xie Tao gradually found that he seemed to be an especially outstanding person.
He knew a lot of things she didn’t, was well-read, could play chess, practice calligraphy, paint, and even had methods that could help her better understand and memorize classical Chinese texts.
The dry and difficult texts, after his explanation, seemed to become much more pleasant to the eye.
But at the same time, she also found that he seemed to be unfamiliar with many modern social terms.
This couldn’t help but start to make her suspicious.
“Wei Yun, tell me the truth, are you actually an old man living in the mountains with a very poor signal, right?”
“That’s not right either, if your signal was bad, you wouldn’t be able to receive my messages.”
“Are you really an old man?”
When Wei Yun saw these words on the paper, his brows slightly furrowed, feeling somewhat perplexed.
But over such a long period, his patience had already been worn thin by her daily, unpredictable letters.
So he picked up his pen and replied:
“If you find yourself bored, you should read more books.”
It was another statement that was emotionally choking.
Xie Tao and Wei Yun’s conversations were mostly about particularly trivial matters.
But over this long period, Xie Tao had gradually become accustomed to talking to him every day.
She would tell him everything, the good and the bad, the happy and the unhappy.
Even though he was always sparing with his words.
Perhaps even she hadn’t noticed that she had developed an excessive curiosity, and even some unfamiliar emotions, towards this person she had never met.
The peak of summer quietly arrived, and the semester’s courses finally ended.
Xie Tao, having started her summer vacation, took a part-time job at a dessert shop in addition to finding a job distributing flyers.
The hottest time of the day was around one or two in the afternoon. Xie Tao persevered for a few days, but one day at noon, it was so hot that she felt dizzy and then lost consciousness.
That day, Wei Yun found his desk to be the cleanest it had ever been.
From morning till night, the little chatterbox didn’t send a single letter.
A hint of an unusual color appeared in his amber-like pupils.
Why had she finally learned what the word “quiet” means today?
How strange.
When Qi Ji arrived at the Imperial Advisor’s mansion, he saw the young Imperial Advisor, dressed in a dark red brocade robe and a silver crown with a jade belt, exuding a bright and dashing appearance but always with an indifferent and cold demeanor, sitting in the pavilion in the courtyard, rubbing a copper pendant in his hand, seemingly lost in thought.
“When did Brother Yanchen get such an item?”
Qi Ji stepped onto the pavilion’s stairs, reaching out to take the copper pendant from his hand, but as soon as he made a move, he was hit on the back of his hand by the lid of a teacup that flew over.
The force was not light.
Qi Ji, holding his hand back, said, “Wei Yanchen, you’re actually using such force? Is this how you treat your lifesaver?”
“Didn’t the prince say you’re not the type to seek repayment for a favor? If so, why bring this up again and again?”
Wei Yun put away the copper pendant and looked up at him.
Qi Ji straightened his back, “I suddenly remember again.”
“…”
Wei Yun diverted his gaze, reached for the teacup, and took a sip.
“Wei Yanchen.”
Qi Ji sat down opposite him, “I always feel like you’re harboring a lot of things in your heart.”
“Did the prince forget my advice?”
Wei Yun’s eyelashes did not lift, his voice was faint, “Don’t be overly curious.”
As soon as his words fell, he sensed the temperature of the copper pendant he had tucked into his sleeve suddenly become scorching hot.
Wei Yun’s expression remained unchanged, but he stood up, turned around, and walked down the stairs toward the direction of the study.
Indeed, she could never stay quiet.
“Where are you going, Wei Yanchen?” Qi Ji stood up and shouted.
“Your Highness, please return.”
Wei Yun did not look back.
When he returned to the study holding that letter, he stood by the window sill and opened the envelope.
There were three lines of ink on it, revealing a young girl’s embarrassment and annoyance:
“Wei Yun, I swear today is the most embarrassing day of my life!”
“I fainted on the street today, and then a crowd of people surrounded me to look, they called an ambulance, and I woke up just as they were lifting me onto the stretcher… Oh my duck, I even paid for the ambulance!!!”
“This is so hard for me…”
