On Xie Tao’s eighteenth birthday, she got a boyfriend.
Just as she was glued to her phone screen, not daring to take her eyes off it for a moment.
“Okay.”
It seemed like ten minutes had passed when she saw a reply from him in the chat interface.
In that moment, Xie Tao’s breathing became cautious.
But, what did he mean by that?
Her fingers moved, Xie Tao hesitated for a moment, and then she typed back:
“What do you mean by ‘okay’?”
About two minutes later, she received his reply:
“As you wish.”
Still sparing with words as always, but in Xie Tao’s eyes, it made her lose herself in a moment.
She sat on the bed, dazed, taking a while to react. Then, her almond eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe it.
Was it… the meaning she thought it was?!
Her cheeks flushed red again, and Xie Tao held her phone, staring at the words “As you wish” on the chat interface for a long time.
Her heartbeat, loud and clear, as if it had never been so distinct before.
Ah!!!
It took a while for Xie Tao to come to her senses, and once again, she buried herself in the blankets, tossing and turning.
She spent the entire day almost in a daze, smiling foolishly.
Even when Shi Cheng called to borrow her summer homework to copy, she agreed with a foolish smile throughout.
After hanging up, she blinked and then remembered that she hadn’t finished her summer homework.
“…”
Suddenly sad.
But soon after, she opened the WeChat interface, and when she saw the message sent by Wei Yun, she couldn’t help but smile again.
At that moment, Wei Yun, who had just put down his pen and casually picked up a scroll, sat behind the desk. However, his gaze kept moving involuntarily from the pages to the copper pendant on the desk.
A certain indescribable emotion lingered in his heart, making it difficult for him to concentrate on the scroll in his hands, and causing his mind to wander again and again.
Was what he did right or wrong?
The incense burner in front of him burned with a cold fragrance, and wisps of smoke twirled out, the hazy smoke momentarily blurring his brows and eyes, hiding his deep thoughts.
Outside the window, the cicadas chirped, and the dense greenery under the blazing sun flickered with a faint light, making a rustling sound, barely audible.
Wei Yun put down the scroll, held the copper pendant in his hand, rubbing its edges with his fingertips, and walked outside.
Wei Jing bowed his head in time, “My lord.”
“Is there anything inappropriate about the identities of those Taoists selected for the Astrology Pavilion?” Wei Yun glanced at him.
“Please rest assured, my lord. I have checked one by one and found nothing suspicious,” Wei Jing replied respectfully.
Hearing this, Wei Yun nodded lightly, as if he suddenly thought of something, he laughed lightly, his expression very calm:
“Now that Prince Xin stays in Yingdu by imperial decree, I suppose the Eastern Palace must be very lively.”
“What does your lordship think is the emperor’s intention with this move?” Wei Jing did not quite understand why Emperor Qi He, who usually favored the Crown Prince, had left Prince Xin in Yingdu this time.
Wei Yun stepped down the stone steps and walked toward the pavilion in the courtyard, “The emperor is just using Prince Xin to admonish the Crown Prince.”
The corruption case involving Shao Anhe was extensive, even related to several large sums of disaster relief funds, involving many officials, including dozens from the Crown Prince’s faction.
Even if the Crown Prince did not participate in the corruption, he was guilty of sheltering the criminals.
The matter caused a great uproar, and all eyes were on Emperor Qi He, but he still allowed the Grand Tutor Xu Dian to exonerate the Crown Prince from this matter quietly, resulting in the death of those dozens of officials in prison without further evidence.
The Crown Prince’s handling of this matter was not graceful, causing Emperor Qi He to feel annoyed. Yet, in Emperor Qi He’s heart, his eldest son still held an unshakable position. Therefore, Emperor Qi He kept Prince Xin, who was supposed to return to his fief, silent and inactive, leaving the Crown Prince Zhao Zhengyun anxious in the Eastern Palace. This also led to widespread speculation among the court and the public about whether Emperor Qi He had other plans.
However, Emperor Qi He’s action was entirely meant to curb the Crown Prince’s arrogance, with Prince Xin ultimately serving as a pawn in Emperor Qi He’s hands. Ironically, Prince Xin then thought he had a renewed chance at the succession.
This was indeed… amusing.
Wei Yun tugged at the corner of his lips, a hint of inexplicable interest showing in his eyes. He was actually eager to see what expression Prince Xin, Zhao Zhengrong, would have once he realized the situation.
“So, what should we do, sir?” After pondering for a moment, Wei Jing asked.
Wei Yun shook his head, sat down at the stone table in the pavilion, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a slow sip before saying, “No need, we’ll just watch. It’s quite enjoyable to be at leisure.”
The seemingly foolish Emperor Qi He, increasingly obsessed with the so-called path of immortality, still had his own schemes. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to sit on the throne for so long. It might be better to let the Zhao father and son sort out their issues themselves.
“Have you heard that the lotus seed paste cookies in Liuyu Alley to the south of the city are good?”
With a clink of the teacup lid, he suddenly changed the subject.
Wei Jing was taken aback, then nodded.
“Go buy some and come back,” Wei Yun said, his expression unchanged.
“…Yes.”
Wei Jing felt that his master had been acting somewhat strange lately, but he dared not speculate and could only nod in agreement, turning to leave for the main courtyard.
Eventually, the box of lotus seed paste cookies ended up in Xie Tao’s mouth.
They were so delicious that she frantically typed: “Wei Yun, these are too delicious!!”
Seeing the golden lettering on the paper, Wei Yun slightly curved the corners of his lips, not replying to her, and took out a sealed letter Wei Jing had just delivered, looking down at it.
In the following days, Wei Yun noticed that ever since he accepted the girl’s affections, she seemed to become more talkative, bombarding him with countless minor details.
“Wei Yun, Wei Yun! What are you doing?”
“How am I going to finish my summer homework… It’s making me bald.”
“I really want to eat braised pork, Wei Yun…”
“Beep, countdown to school start: one day. This is truly a sad event.”
“Can you say a bit more each time you speak, Wei Yun?”
…
All of these were mostly her casual remarks.
And to stop her mouth, Wei Yun would often order Wei Jing to scour all of Yingtou for snacks or pastries, pressing them all under the copper pendant to send to her.
But later on, from some point onwards, he treated her as if he had more patience than before, a patience even he himself hadn’t noticed.
Sometimes he would even ask her, “What do you want to eat today?”
“Sugar-steamed cheese!” Xie Tao answered very decisively.
“You’ve eaten it for three days in a row.” He tried to remind her.
“Tasty!”
Her reason was always the simple one word.
…
In the end, Wei Yun had no choice but to call Wei Bo to order the kitchen to make a bowl of sugar-steamed cheese and bring it over.
Lately, the servants of the Imperial Advisor’s mansion had clearly noticed that their lord seemed to have become overly fond of sweets?
But on this day, right after Xie Tao got back to the residential area from school, she saw a notification on her phone and excitedly ran to the parcel locker to pick up her package.
She happily opened the locker, but upon opening it, she saw… a pile of books?
They were books with either blue or red plain covers, neatly bound with twine, just like the ones she had seen in historical dramas.
???
Where’s the tasty stuff?
Xie Tao rummaged through the locker but didn’t find anything edible.
She had no choice but to carry the pile of books to her apartment building.
“Wei Yun! Why are you sending me books?” Back home, Xie Tao put the stack of books on the table and then took out her phone to message him on WeChat.
His reply was still slow:
“Read more, talk less.”
Xie Tao blinked, as if she only realized after a moment, and quickly typed:
“Do you think I talk too much?”
When Wei Yun saw this message on the paper, his brows furrowed slightly, not knowing why, but suddenly had a slightly uneasy feeling.
After pondering for a moment, he finally wrote:
“Not at all.”
Xie Tao pouted, huffed, and then sat down at the table, casually picking up a book with a blue cover titled “Stone Springs Record”.
As soon as Xie Tao opened it, she was deterred by the classical Chinese on the first page.
“….”
Were these books he sent to help her fall asleep?
“I don’t understand it,” she texted him.
Who would have thought that Wei Yun’s reply to her would be:
“I chose these for you, which even seven or eight-year-old children can understand, and you cannot?”
“…”
Xie Tao felt like she was being mocked?
Angrily, she opened the book “Stone Spring Records” again, holding high aspirations to go through it line by line, but she didn’t understand the first sentence.
Xie Tao started searching online for translations of “Stone Spring Records” on her phone, but strangely, she couldn’t find a trace of the book.
Not to mention translations, not even the original text was available.
What’s going on? Xie Tao frowned.
She had no choice but to hold her phone, looking up any words or phrases she didn’t understand one by one, but it still left her confused. She managed to translate a few sentences but couldn’t read any further.
“Excuse me, I better get back to my homework.”
Xie Tao felt deflated and tapped on her phone screen to send him a message.
She moved the stack of books to one side of the desk and took out the homework she hadn’t finished during the day to work on.
But then, her phone on the desk suddenly vibrated.
The screen lit up with a WeChat message from Wei Yun:
“Which book are you reading?”
Xie Tao didn’t know what he meant but honestly replied:
“The ‘Stone Spring Records’ one.”
At that moment, when Wei Yun saw that line on the paper, he paused for a moment.
“Stone Spring Records”?
As if he remembered which book it was, he went to the bookshelf, stretched out his hand, and pulled out a book with a blue cover, on which “Stone Spring Records” was clearly written.
He actually took a pen and translated the extremely short story from the first volume of “Stone Spring Records” into plain and understandable language on the paper.
The golden light surrounding the paper instantly turned into nothingness, and Wei Yun stood behind the desk with a straight back, holding the pen in his left hand, his eyes momentarily showing a warm smile.
It was fleeting.
He stood there, his expression on his face inexplicably blank for a moment, as if lost in thought.
What was he doing?
Wei Yun frowned, loosened his fingers, and threw the pen into a pen wash beside him, looking down at the wolf-hair brush as it bloomed a blot of ink in the clear water, spreading out like sudden clouds covering the sky, extending freely, coloring at will.
