Early the next day, Wei Yun went to the Forbidden Palace for court audience.
After the court audience, he was summoned by Emperor Qi He to the Qianlong Hall.
“I heard that you, my beloved minister, were attacked last night?”
Emperor Qi He sat on the dragon throne, holding a cup of tea in his hand.
Wei Yun slightly bowed his head. “Indeed, Your Majesty.”
“Who dares to be so bold? Have you found out, my beloved minister?”
Emperor Qi He coughed several times. His waxen complexion seemed to have aged a few more years at this moment. He wore a bright yellow dragon robe that appeared somewhat thin on him.
Wei Yun lowered his gaze. “It has not been clarified yet.”
Emperor Qi He slammed the tea cup heavily on the desk and snorted coldly. “These thieves are truly audacious!”
At that moment, the eunuch supervisor standing aside wiped the cold sweat from his forehead cautiously.
“My beloved minister, you must have been frightened.”
At this point, Emperor Qi He’s expression softened slightly again, and he casually asked, “I heard that last night, your cousin from Yecheng accompanied you?”
Hearing Emperor Qi He suddenly mention Xie Tao, Wei Yun’s expression twitched slightly, but it was only for an instant. He replied calmly, “Yes.”
“Your cousin must have been quite frightened?”
Emperor Qi He now appeared more like a gentle emperor.
“She has never seen such a scene before, indeed, she was frightened.”
Wei Yun’s response was brief and cautious.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qi He called the eunuch supervisor beside him—De Yu, and ordered him to prepare more tonics for nourishing qi and calming the nerves to be sent to the Imperial Advisor’s Mansion for Miss Xie.
De Yu received the order and immediately went to make arrangements.
“I wonder, how old is your cousin, my beloved minister?”
Emperor Qi He took the golden elixir presented by the palace maidens and fed it into his mouth, washed down with tea. As he spoke, he leaned back on the dragon throne, his eyes squinting.
Upon hearing his words, Wei Yun’s expression subtly stiffened. Still lowering his gaze, it seemed he pondered for a moment before responding, “She is sixteen.”
This was the nominal age of the young lady, matching that of Shao Liyin.
But he remembered very clearly that Xie Tao was already eighteen.
Emperor Qi He nodded at his words.
He suddenly chuckled, “Sixteen, isn’t it the appropriate age to betroth someone?”
“The Empress recently mentioned to me her desire to meet the Miss of your Imperial Advisor Mansion. What does the esteemed Minister think about this?”
The Empress?
Wei Yun’s fingers under his wide sleeves gradually tightened, the long lashes veiling a hint of coldness in his eyes.
She was quite adept at planning for her son.
“Your Majesty, forgive me. My cousin was frightened last night and fell ill upon returning home. It seems she may not be able to fulfill the Empress’s wish for the time being.”
In the end, Wei Yun bowed.
“Is that so?”
Emperor Qi He looked regretful, but a faint smile flickered in his eyes. “In that case, we’ll just have to wait.”
Clearly, he didn’t want the Empress to have her way either.
And the reason he told Wei Yun was merely another test.
If Wei Yun agreed, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty would have new plans in mind.
Exiting the Qianlong Hall, Wei Yun stood on the high steps, looking down from afar.
Tiny snowflakes fell on his shoulders, melting into deeper traces on his black cloak. Cool and crisp, a few even fell onto his neck.
In the palace behind him, there came the crisp sound of porcelain hitting the ground. When Wei Yun turned around, he saw two eunuchs hastily carrying a palace maid out.
“Lord Imperial Advisor.”
The two eunuchs, upon seeing him, hurriedly bowed before him. Then, they descended the steps with the lifeless palace maid whose throat had already been slit, gradually disappearing into the distance.
She was the palace maid who had just presented the golden elixir to Emperor Qi He.
Occasionally, the mad laughter of Emperor Qi He could be heard echoing in the hall. Amidst the opulent palace walls, there lingered a chilling aura of death.
Wei Yun descended the long steps and encountered a group of people in the long, vermilion palace alley.
Among the palace maidens dressed in apricot-colored gowns and eunuchs wearing lacquer cage crowns, there was a slender figure draped in a saffron-colored garment.
In her jet-black hair, adorned with crimson-gold hairpins embellished with jade flower carvings, golden tassels hung down, swaying and producing crisp sounds as she walked. The crimson-gold twisted branches and jade earrings beside her ears also swayed, captivating the gaze of onlookers.
On her forehead, there was a drop-shaped ruby flower ornament, and her face exuded a vibrant beauty, like a begonia in the morning mist of a spring day, both lofty and elegant, yet with a touch of charm.
“Lord Wei.”
As soon as the woman spoke, her voice was as soft and melodious as a tune by the riverside of Jiangnan, tender and charming.
With a smile and slightly lowered eyelashes, she was already an embodiment of grace.
“Princess Heyu.”
Wei Yun nodded, offering a gesture of respect.
This Princess Heyu’s name was Zhao Shuwei. Her birth mother was merely a lowly palace maid, which is why she had never been favored by Emperor Qi He.
However, because of her extraordinary beauty, she still held some fame in the city of Yingdu.
Yet, she always kept a low profile, seldom interacting with others.
“Lord Wei, I heard you were attacked last night? I wonder if you were injured?”
Zhao Shuwei’s gentle voice came softly.
“Not at all,” Wei Yun replied with just a sentence.
“That’s good then.” Zhao Shuwei tightened the cloak around her, her lips slightly curved with lipstick.
With such a brief conversation, Wei Yun nodded in acknowledgment and headed towards the end of the palace alley.
As Zhao Shuwei watched Wei Yun’s gradually receding figure, her eyes still held a smile, but with a hint of deeper meaning for no apparent reason.
“Princess…”
“Dismiss.”
The palace maid beside her spoke, only to be interrupted by her.
She glanced lightly at the palace where her father, the emperor, was located, and for a moment, her expression became particularly cold, as if beneath all the gentleness and calmness, there was supposed to be a hidden undercurrent.
When Wei Yun returned to the Imperial Advisor’s Mansion, it was close to noon.
Sheng Yueqi was waiting for him in the courtyard with warmed wine.
“My lord, care for a drink?” Sheng Yueqi raised the wine cup in his hand when he saw Wei Yun.
Wei Yun didn’t want to pay attention, but the events of last night were still tangled in his mind like a mess, making it difficult for him to hide his restlessness.
He simply climbed the steps and sat down in the pavilion.
Sheng Yueqi poured wine and handed it to him, “I heard that when you were attacked yesterday, Prince Xin was also there?”
“Yeah,” Wei Yun responded with a sip of his wine, noticing the white bandage wrapped around his palm.
It was the one Xie Tao had wrapped for him before leaving last night.
“My lord, who do you think tried to kill you this time?” Sheng Yueqi asked.
Wei Yun came back to his senses, took another sip of wine, lifted his gaze to glance at him, and said, “Do you even need to ask?”
Sheng Yueqi held up his wine glass, shaking his head. “Master, you’re really in a difficult spot. The Crown Prince has you in quite a tight bind… But on another note, Master, don’t you want to do something in return?”
“He is the Crown Prince, he can move against me, but I cannot do anything to him.”
Wei Yun poured himself a glass of wine and casually took a sip.
“Don’t play innocent, Master Wei. You’re saying you have no plans? Didn’t you order Wei Jing to deal with Li Tianheng?”
Sheng Yueqi’s tone was somewhat airy.
This morning at court, someone submitted a report to Emperor Qi He, accusing the commander of the night patrol, Li Tianheng, of neglecting his duties.
That person was Grand Tutor Xu Dian’s man.
He was helping the Crown Prince Zhao Zhengtan clean up his mess.
Before Wei Yun could investigate this matter, Xu Dian had already taken the lead.
“One Li Tianheng, whether dead or alive, makes no difference to the Crown Prince.”
There was a faint smile on Wei Yun’s lips.
Sheng Yueqi chuckled and shook his head.
Even though the life or death of Li Tianheng didn’t matter to the Crown Prince, Wei Yun still killed him.
It seemed that last night, Li Tianheng had run into trouble.
—
After finishing lunch in the cafeteria, Xie Tao and Shi Cheng returned to the classroom where the air conditioning was warm, dispelling much of the chill from her body.
Sitting down at her desk, within minutes, she felt drowsy.
Resting her head on the table, Xie Tao soon closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream, the lanterns hanging from the eaves illuminated the pitch-black sky, but in the next moment, they fell like shooting stars, bursting into a massive flame.
The crowd pushed her, distancing her from the young man in crimson robes.
A chilling cold light gleamed on the blade as Xie Tao struggled against the crowd, trying to run back to his side.
“Wei Yun!”
She called out to him again and again.
Suddenly, a splash of crimson blood sprayed onto her face, leaving her standing there dumbfounded. After a moment, she reached up to wipe it away, only to find her hand covered in sticky blood when she lowered her gaze.
At some point, everyone around her had vanished, leaving behind dozens of corpses lying on the ground, blood seeping from their bodies and pooling at her feet.
He stood amidst the flickering flames without the smell of gunpowder, a long sword in his hand. The golden crown had fallen to the ground unnoticed, and his crimson headband fluttered in the wind, obstructing her view as it fell before her eyes.
Trembling, she reached out to remove it, only to see him with his hair loose, advancing towards her step by step, holding the bloodstained sword.
Xie Tao jolted awake.
Instinctively, she sat up straight, quickly checking her palm.
No blood.
Her fingers curled, and she stared blankly at the workbook on her desk, feeling somewhat dazed.
After school that afternoon, Xie Tao went to the dessert shop as usual to make butter heart candies.
She only went to the tavern during holidays; she didn’t visit during the school term.
At eight o’clock in the evening, Xie Tao returned to her rented house.
She sat at her desk, untied the red string from her wrist, and started practicing the flower ropes again.
Golden threads scattered from the red string, forming various shapes in the air.
When would she be able to learn more spells like Xie Lan, using this red string?
Thinking of Wei Yun, memories of everything that happened by the moat last night inevitably flooded her mind.
As he said, the world he was in, and her world, were completely different.
All the casually depicted scenes in television dramas were real and bloody battles there.
And those people were all out to kill him.
Lost in thought, Xie Tao was suddenly enveloped in a mysterious light fragrance, and a faint golden light surrounded her. When she lifted her eyes again, she found herself standing in Wei Yun’s study.
The young gentleman, dressed in a dark purple patterned brocade robe, stood at the desk. He had just extinguished the tinder in his hand, and as he looked at her, his slightly pale eyes seemed to gain a hint of warmth in an instant.
