Wei Yun did not sleep well last night.
Because half asleep and half awake, he seemed to hear the voice of Xie Tao.
When he blurredly opened his eyes, he saw the copper amulet he had placed by his pillow rotating its star disc, emitting faint golden glimmers.
He seemed to hear her muttering something in her dreams.
Upon closer listening, it turned out to be the article she had been busy memorizing recently.
“……”
He felt that she must have been obsessed with memorizing that article, to the extent that she couldn’t even rest in her sleep.
Later, a drizzling rain started outside the window, which Wei Yun disliked the most in such a night.
In the dead of night, hearing it too clearly made him even more irritable.
Thus, the next morning when Wei Jing came to call Wei Yun to court, he saw a faint blue under his eyes.
“Did my lord not sleep well last night?” Wei Jing asked cautiously.
“Hmm.”
Wei Yun responded with a hum, showing little desire to speak.
After washing up and changing into a dark red silk robe, tightening his belt, Wei Yun tidied up the jade pendant of his hair crown, then stepped out the door.
At court, the Prime Minister, Song Jiannian, and the Grand Tutor, Xu Dian, couldn’t help but start to tease Wei Yun with sarcasm, which was quite grating to the ear.
Wei Yun never liked to engage in verbal spats with these two old men, but today, feeling particularly irritable, he retorted a few words, causing the two men’s faces to turn a mix of green and white, looking quite unpleasant.
And Emperor Qi He always enjoyed watching such dramas.
It was only at the end that he stopped the two old ministers who wanted to continue arguing.
After court, Wei Yun did not leave the palace but first went to the Astrology Tower.
The Astrology Tower had just been completed, and there were too many matters he needed to attend to, having been busy for many days in a row.
Perhaps because he had not slept well the night before, today the Imperial Advisor appeared to have a lower aura about him in the eyes of everyone, and no one dared to approach him.
Entering the room on the top floor of the Astrology Tower, Wei Yun took a glance at the documents on the desk and then asked Wei Jing, “Has Wu Fuqing made any moves?”
“He requested the alchemists’ archives, and beyond that, no other improprieties have been discovered so far,” Wei Jing replied truthfully.
Wei Yun tugged at the corner of his lips, his brows unmoved, yet his expression was somewhat mocking, “Let him investigate then.”
After all, alchemy was something Wei Yun had no desire to take on.
That Wu Fuqing could take on this task was indeed a relief of some burden for him.
Even though Wu Fuqing was, in fact, a troublemaker placed by Emperor Qi He at his side.
At that moment, an eunuch wearing a lacquered silk hat and dressed in dark clothes bowed deeply as he entered. Upon seeing Wei Yun, he bowed even lower and said, “Great Imperial Advisor, Prince Xin has come to visit.”
Prince Xin, Zhao Zhengrong?
Wei Yun was slightly startled, then his eyes showed a deeper meaning.
“Dismissed,” he nodded to the eunuch.
The eunuch responded with a yes, hastily saluted, bowed, and backed out to the door before turning to leave.
“Sir, for Prince Xin to come to you so openly… it’s likely his intentions are not pure,” Wei Jing furrowed his brows.
How could Wei Yun not know what game Prince Xin was playing?
How many eyes were watching in this vast palace? And in such a sensitive period, for Prince Xin to appear so openly in the Astrology Pavilion, how could it not provoke deep thought?
Emperor Qi He and Crown Prince Zhao Zhengtai would not tolerate any sand in their eyes, and they must have already received the news by now.
Once the seed of doubt is planted, it’s not so easily eradicated.
It seems Prince Xin wants to drag him into the water.
Wei Yun stood up and said, “Let’s go meet His Highness Prince Xin.”
Around the Astrology Pavilion was a pond of azure blue water, like a mirror, with the pavilion in the middle looking like a broken piece in the mirror.
At the end of the floating bridge, by the flowers and trees, Wei Yun saw His Highness Prince Xin sitting in the pavilion.
He was dressed in an indigo brocade robe, sitting there, his whole being exuding an air of solemnity often seen on battlefields.
His features did not resemble Emperor Qi He’s but were strikingly similar to his mother, the current Empress You.
“Subject Wei Yun, greets His Highness Prince Xin,” Wei Yun approached and slightly nodded to Prince Xin as a form of greeting.
With Emperor Qi He’s decree in place, aside from Emperor Qi He himself, Imperial Advisor Wei Yun did not need to perform grand salutations to anyone else.
Thus, when Prince Xin Zhao Zhengrong saw him do so, he had no faults to find.
So, he said, “This prince has come uninvited, disturbing the Imperial Advisor.”
Wei Yun’s expression remained neutral, his voice was mild, “Your Highness is too polite, may I know the purpose of your visit?”
“Just wished to have a casual chat with the Imperial Advisor.”
Prince Xin took a sip of tea and then said, “It has been many years since I last returned to Yingdu. I’ve almost forgotten everything here. I had never seen the Imperial Advisor before, so out of curiosity, I came over.”
Prince Xin had left Yingdu for his fief five years ago, while Wei Yun became the Imperial Advisor of the Great Zhou Dynasty more than two years ago. This was indeed the first time he had seen this young Imperial Advisor, who was deeply trusted by his father, the emperor.
Hearing his words, Wei Yun nodded, “May I know what Your Highness wishes to discuss with me?”
“Please sit down, Imperial Advisor,” Prince Xin gestured, pointing to the stone bench opposite.
Wei Yun sat down, and the time passed as if three cups of tea were consumed.
Indeed, as Prince Xin had said, it seemed like he really came for a casual chat, discussing nothing but the local customs and people of Yingdu.
“Is that really all Your Highness wishes to talk about with me?” Wei Yun asked indifferently at last.
Prince Xin paused, his gaze towards Wei Yun gaining depth.
“This time, just talking about these is enough,” he said, his words ambiguous.
Wei Yun nodded calmly, without replying.
Yes, it was enough.
Enough to arouse suspicion between Emperor Qi He and the Eastern Palace.
In a sense, Zhao Zhengrong, this Prince Xin, was much smarter than Crown Prince Zhao Zhengtan.
The Crown Prince had Grand Tutor Xu Dian, while Prince Xin had the current Empress You Shi behind him.
She was not a simple woman either.
Wei Yun had originally wanted to sit back and watch the tigers fight, but now it seemed he could no longer do so.
Prince Xin was gradually dragging him into the center of this whirlpool.
After Prince Xin left, Wei Yun returned to the top floor of the Astrology Tower. At that moment, the copper pendant he had been holding in his hand suddenly emitted a familiar scorching temperature.
The astrolabe moved, making turning sounds.
A girl’s voice, as if cutting through the boundary of time and space, suddenly came: “Wei Yun, good morning.”
“It’s almost noon,” Wei Yun reminded.
“Is it?” The girl yawned slowly, her voice a bit groggy, “I have the day off today, didn’t have to work this morning, slept a bit more.”
“Work?” Wei Yun was momentarily puzzled.
Xie Tao had never really mentioned her life situation to him, so he did not know about her having to work several jobs whenever she had a day off.
“Are you sure you’re not an old man? You don’t even know about working, which means going out to work for others to earn money, do you understand?” Xie Tao explained.
She suddenly became puzzled, “Wei Yun, where do you actually live?”
Why did it seem like he was so ignorant about many common modern things?
Xie Tao felt increasingly strange.
She exclaimed in surprise, “Your village hasn’t got internet access yet?”
“…”
Wei Yun couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind her words.
He didn’t plan to respond, but instead asked, “Are you in need of money?”
Xie Tao turned over in bed and then voiced a question about life, “Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t need money?”
Wei Yun fell silent, as if pondering something.
Did she seem to be living too frugally?
The astrological chart disappeared without a trace, and Wei Yun sat there, tapping his knuckles on the table surface. After a while, he called for Wei Jing, who was standing guard outside the door.
While Xie Tao was eating instant noodles, she received a delivery notification message.
When she went downstairs and arrived at the delivery locker, she entered the password and opened it, only to find a wooden box inside.
When she reached out to take it, she found it quite heavy.
As she went upstairs, she opened the box.
Then she was dazzled by a bunch of shiny gold ingots inside.
???
Xie Tao widened her eyes in astonishment and took in a sharp breath.
She quickly ran back home and then picked up her phone to message Wei Yun:
“Wei Yun, Wei Yun???”
The reply from the other side was especially slow, so slow that she had already bitten into several gold ingots.
“Hmm?”
He finally replied.
“I, I, I received a box of gold!! Really!!”
She typed with a bit of trembling, “I even bit into a few pieces just now! It’s real!! Oh my god! There are more than twenty!”
“…”
Wei Yun found it hard to imagine her biting into gold ingots.
After a moment, Xie Tao came back to her senses. Who would send her gold??
Could it be…
She widened her eyes.
Hastily typing:
“Was it… you??”
The reply from the other side was very brief:
“Yes.”
“Isn’t this actually fake? If I take a few more bites, will there be chocolate inside?”
Xie Tao couldn’t help but grab another piece of golden ingot from the box and took a bite, only to hit her tooth hard.
As she covered her mouth, she saw the shiny tooth marks on the golden ingot.
“Watch out for toothache.”
Seeing Wei Yun’s reply, Xie Tao, who already had a toothache, suddenly felt her teeth ache a little more.
Was she dreaming???
Real gold?
How could that be possible?!
Xie Tao was completely dumbfounded.
I too wish for some random ancient man to give me a box of gold ingots with nothing in return.