A faint chill wind blew in, causing the copper bells under the eaves of the corridor to sway and emit clear sounds.
In the courtyard, only Wei Yun and Xie Tao remained, though they hadn’t noticed when everyone else had left.
When he released her, his sleeve accidentally brushed against the back of her hand. He then heard her let out a “hiss,” her fair little face crinkling slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
Perhaps from sitting outside for too long, his voice now carried an unexpected hoarseness when he spoke.
His gaze moved downward, landing on the reddened mark on her neck, and then in the next moment, he noticed the swollen area on the back of her left hand, which even had a few small blisters by now.
“What happened?” Wei Yun grasped her wrist, his brows and eyes suddenly turning colder.
Xie Tao pursed her lips and blew on the back of her hand, about to say something, when Wei Yun pulled her to turn around and walk onto the corridor.
—
Sitting in the study, Wei Yun held Xie Tao’s wrist, applying the burn ointment brought by Wei Bo bit by bit on the back of her hand, his movements always gentle and careful.
“Does it hurt?” He looked up, asking her softly.
Xie Tao looked at him, seeming a bit dazed, and took a while to shake her head, even giving him a smile.
The cool ointment on the back of her hand indeed reduced the burning sensation a lot, and even the pain seemed to gradually lessen.
Wei Yun dipped the bamboo spatula in the ointment, “Turn your head.”
Xie Tao obediently tilted her head to the right, bringing her neck forward.
And when he leaned down towards her, the warm breath sprayed on her neck made the swollen spot on her neck hurt a bit more.
Until Wei Yun’s fingers holding the bamboo spatula gently approached, applying the cool ointment bit by bit on her wound.
At that moment, the distance between them was very close.
Xie Tao could almost smell the faint cold fragrance on Wei Yun.
Finally, after applying the ointment, Wei Yun put the bamboo spatula and the porcelain jar of ointment on the table.
“Who did this?” Wei Yun picked up a brocade handkerchief from the table to wipe his fingers, his voice cold as he lowered his eyelids.
Xie Tao glanced at his profile, stuttering for a moment before softly saying, “It’s all because of you…”
“Me?” Wei Yun’s action of pinching the handkerchief paused, and when he turned his head to look at her, his cold and white jade-like face showed a hint of confusion.
Xie Tao told him all about what happened in the plum garden today, in detail.
“That Miss Sun is really strange. It was you who rejected her, not me, yet she keeps pestering me…” Xie Tao muttered.
She didn’t quite understand Miss Sun’s logic.
“But Wei Yun, let me tell you, don’t think I was bullied by her,” Xie Tao said, unable to help but laugh, “You know the little trick I have for setting off fireworks, haha… I burned her hair, haha!”
“You didn’t see it. Her hair almost completely burned up, and her maid even poured hot tea on her, scalding her so badly she jumped up, hahaha…”
Xie Tao had been holding back her laughter, but now in front of Wei Yun, as she recounted and remembered the humorous scene, she finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Laughing so hard that her eyes were slightly moist.
“…”
Wei Yun couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling at that moment.
As if just a moment ago she seemed like a pitiful creature being bullied, but now she was lifting her chin, looking proud.
The clouds of worry in his heart from seeing her burn seemed to finally disperse a bit.
So, the corners of his eyes finally showed a few traces of a smile.
“So it seems, it really started because of me. If I hadn’t refused, such an incident wouldn’t have happened.”
He suddenly said this, with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
Upon hearing this, Xie Tao straightened her back, looking at him with her round, almond-shaped eyes, “You did well to refuse decisively!”
She even got a bit anxious, “Do you regret rejecting her?”
Hearing this, Wei Yun suddenly chuckled.
At that moment, as he lowered his eyelids to look at her, the smile on his lips was light, and his flawless face became even more charming and radiant.
Like a spring breeze blowing through, opening pear blossoms everywhere, white as frost and snow, dazzlingly beautiful.
She was actually a bit anxious, “Do you really regret rejecting her?”
Wei Yun laughed lightly upon hearing this.
At this moment, as he lowered his eyelids and looked down at her, the smile on his lips was light and shallow, adding a bit more brilliance to his flawless face.
It was like a spring breeze blowing overnight, opening up pear blossoms on every tree, white as frost and snow, moving and bright.
Xie Tao’s breath hitched, and she blinked repeatedly.
Suddenly, he pinched her cheeks.
The next moment, Xie Tao heard his clear, diffuse voice, “Why should I regret?”
Hearing this, Xie Tao looked up at him, and couldn’t help but feel her mind sway.
Suddenly, she reached out to cup his face.
Just as she was about to look up, Wei Yun held her by the shoulders.
The young gentleman in front of her lifted his eyelids, looking a bit more vigilant, “What do you want to do?”
His fingers were still pinching her cheeks.
Xie Tao pouted, the lustful thoughts she had just entertained were completely extinguished by now.
Wei Yun let go of her, then stretched out his hand to ruffle her hair.
After a while, he suddenly drew the girl sitting beside him into his embrace.
“Tao Tao.”
Xie Tao heard him call her softly again.
Whenever he called her tenderly like this, Xie Tao couldn’t help but be mesmerized.
His voice was like the most enchanting sound in the world, a tender call that was the most affectionate and gentle to her ears.
How could she not be moved by this?
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have involved you in these matters.”
His voice was low, with a heavy mood, almost like a gentle sigh, “You didn’t have to face all this; it’s my fault for not protecting you well…”
At the moment when Qi Ji stopped him and went to the plum garden to pick her up, he sat in the Songhe Tower, always restless.
This emotion, which had been absent for many years, found him again, making him unavoidably more bewildered.
In his life, the most reckless thing he had done was to accept her affection when he heard the girl’s drunken words that day.
At that time, he was trying to uncover the truth.
He couldn’t deny that when he first faced this girl, he indeed had the intention of using her.
Yet he was unguarded, for when he grew more patient with her, when he began to accommodate her more, all of it had already become not so simple.
A person who has been wandering in the frosty wasteland where eternal night prevails, the moment he feels warmth again, will naturally want to grasp it at all costs.
But this is ultimately not the world she lives in.
The barrier between the two timelines is far more complex than just the barrier of time and space.
“Wei Yun,”
Xie Tao was held in his arms, unable to see his expression at that moment. She could only lay in his embrace and say, “What happened today was just an accident.”
The dangers surrounding Wei Yun were something Xie Tao could never estimate.
Living in such an era, facing all sorts of schemes and intrigues, Xie Tao dared not think about how he had step by step reached this point.
Xie Tao also deliberately avoided asking about his past.
For someone like her, living in a peaceful era, facing such deceit was particularly difficult.
“I’m just…”
Her voice suddenly became muffled, “Always afraid of causing trouble for you…”
Upon hearing her words, Wei Yun seemed to pause for a while before suddenly tightening his hand around her waist.
He closed his eyes, his chin resting on the top of her head, and gently said, “Don’t be afraid,”
He said, “From now on… such things will never happen again.”
It was as if he was speaking to her, and also to himself.
All those who schemed to use her, to drag her into deep waters, he would eliminate them one by one.
Close to noon, Xie Tao’s figure was gradually enveloped in pale golden light, becoming increasingly hazy.
When she returned to the small house she rented, the first thing she did was to send a video to Wei Yun.
“Wei Yun!” Xie Tao couldn’t help but smile when she saw him on her phone screen.
The young master still sat at the desk, but the girl who had been in his arms moments ago was now separated by the distance of two timelines.
The copper astrolabe in his hand turned, and the girl suddenly appeared on the screen, making him look up into her clear eyes.
His previously heavy mood, upon seeing her bright smile, suddenly cleared up a bit.
Then he slightly curved his lips, softly instructing, “Remember to apply medicine, and don’t get it wet.”
Xie Tao nodded quickly, “I know!”
The two talked for a while longer, until Xie Tao lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
She had gotten up too early today, and after a morning of tension and fright in the plum garden, she relaxed and soon felt sleepier.
Wei Yun sat at the desk, always watching the girl’s sleeping face on the screen.
After who knows how long, he suddenly stretched out his hand, lightly touching the screen with his fingertip.
The astrolabe extinguished, and in an instant, the screen shattered.
At this time, Princess Heyu, Zhao Shuwei, who had just finished attending the poetry meeting in the plum garden and returned to the forbidden palace, was helped by her maid Yishuang to lie down on a couch in the palace.
Yishuang immediately served her a cup of tea, “Princess.”
Zhao Shuwei took it, and when she lowered her eyes, she brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.
Every gesture, somewhat languid, but from beginning to end, utterly elegant.
Her slender fingers gently massaged her temples, and as she smelled the fragrance of the incense burning in the gold furnace, her brow finally relaxed a bit.
“Did Miss Xie return to the Imperial Advisor’s Mansion?” she suddenly asked.
This does not resemble her usual gentle smile and delicate voice in front of others. At this moment, when she spoke, her voice unexpectedly carried a bit of indifference.
“Yes,” Qi Shuang lowered her head in response.
Hearing this, Zhao Shuwei gazed at the newly applied henna on her fingernails for a long time, discarding the superficial smiles and gentleness, her demeanor tranquil as water.
At this moment, her expression was somewhat gloomy, adding a layer of complex and indiscernible meaning.
Intercepting Miss Xie’s carriage today was indeed her deliberate action.
She was well aware that doing so would surely arouse the suspicion of the Imperial Advisor Wei Yun, and perhaps even make him see through her years of patience and planning.
But Zhao Shuwei now had no other choice.
Only by doing this could she know what her next move should be.
