She was well aware that they wouldn’t seek her out unless it was important.
Seeing that there were no seats left in the courtyard, Shen Jianhe ran back inside to bring out a wooden chair. He was interested in what He Sui’an was about to say next.
He Sui’an began speaking.
She told them about what Liu Yan would do in the future, claiming that she learned this from a dream. She lied, saying that since coming to Chang’an, she had suddenly started having dreams that could predict the future.
As soon as she said this, there was dead silence. Shen Jianhe’s mouth twitched; Su Yang’s usually cold face showed a hint of a crack; Zhong Huan and Zhong Kong felt like He Sui’an was playing a joke on them.
Qi Buyan casually tapped his fingers on the stone table, breaking the silence with each tap.
He Sui’an lowered her head.
She knew her words were hard to believe.
Shen Jianhe laughed a few times to ease the awkwardness, “Miss He, it’s not that we don’t want to believe you, but this is too absurd.”
Qi Buyan smiled faintly, “Belief is belief, and disbelief is disbelief. Saying you want to believe but can’t because it’s absurd is just an excuse for not believing.”
Shen Jianhe was embarrassed.
He prided himself on his eloquence, but he always seemed to be outmatched by Qi Buyan, who could use the most gentle tone to deliver the sharpest, deadliest remarks.
He Sui’an tugged on Qi Buyan’s hand, “It’s understandable that they don’t believe.” Not everyone could unconditionally believe her like Qi Buyan. Thinking of this, He Sui’an paused.
Unconditional belief in someone…
Under what circumstances would one unconditionally believe another person?
He Sui’an looked at Qi Buyan.
Qi Buyan didn’t look at her, his attention drawn to her hand holding his, observing her neatly trimmed nails.
Su Yang remained calm and clear-headed, after a moment of thought, she said, “Given the gravity of the matter, we can’t easily believe your words. Could you prove it to us through some events?”
Shen Jianhe echoed her sentiment.
He Sui’an thought for a moment and recounted what Su Yang had roughly experienced after entering the palace yesterday—Emperor Duan Jing forbidding her from investigating the Spirit Gu.
Su Yang was stunned by this revelation.
She hadn’t had the chance to tell Zhong Huan and Zhong Kong about this matter. Apart from her and Emperor Duan Jing , no one else could have known, yet He Sui’an did. It was unbelievable.
Could it be that He Sui’an really had dreams that predicted the future?
It was hard to believe.
Su Yang had no choice but to believe her.
Seeing that Su Yang had no reaction after hearing He Sui’an’s words, Shen Jianhe urgently asked, “What Spirit Gu did you enter the palace for? Did the Emperor really tell you to stop investigating?”
Su Yang nodded, “She is correct. I entered the palace yesterday because of the Spirit Gu matter, and the Emperor also told me to stop investigating.”
He Sui’an, worried that they still wouldn’t believe her, asked nervously, “Do you believe me now?”
“Yes!” Shen Jianhe replied loudly, “It’s better to believe it than not. Besides, you have no reason to deceive us. We all believe you, right, Princess?”
Su Yang ignored Shen Jianhe and looked at He Sui’an, who was several years younger than them, “Do you have any plans in mind?”
All eyes turned to He Sui’an.
She gave a negative answer.
So far, He Sui’an hadn’t come up with a good plan to thwart Liu Yan’s scheme. Sometimes, even knowing what would happen doesn’t mean one can immediately come up with a countermeasure.
Su Yang realized that asking a teenage girl to come up with a proper plan was indeed too much for her, so she told them to go back for now.
He Sui’an knew that Su Yang wanted to be alone to think of a solution.
She said, “Okay.”
Shen Jianhe escorted them out of the alley.
On the way out, Shen Jianhe kept glancing at Qi Buyan with a complex expression. He Sui’an had dreamt that he would be killed by Qi Buyan’s red snake, and he felt uneasy about it.
They had gone through life and death together, and Shen Jianhe narcissistically thought he had a good relationship with He Sui’an and Qi Buyan. But now he realized it was just his wishful thinking.
It wasn’t that Qi Buyan ordered the red snake to kill Shen Jianhe; he just didn’t stop it.
According to He Sui’an, in the dream, Qi Buyan was solely focused on eliminating Liu Yan, disregarding the lives of others and choosing not to retrieve the counter-controlled venomous gu, instead using it to drain Liu Yan’s energy.
Controlling gu consumed a lot of energy. The more gu controlled and the longer the duration, the weaker the person would become, eventually exposing a flaw.
Qi Buyan was ruthless.
He disregarded not only human lives but also the lives of the venomous gu.
If the venomous gu were counter-controlled for too long, they would die too. But his nature was cruel; he would sacrifice anything and use any means to get what he wanted, including killing those he wanted dead.
Even if they and the gu died in front of Qi Buyan, he wouldn’t bat an eye. Despite his deceptively innocent appearance, he was filled with corrosive poison, merciless.
It was his nature.
Despite Qi Buyan’s efforts to overcome his merciless nature and momentarily sense He Sui’an’s emotions, he could only perceive her emotions.
He still couldn’t empathize with others.
Except for He Sui’an, everyone else was “others.”
Shen Jianhe patted his head, deciding not to dwell on it. Qi Buyan hadn’t treated him that way now; those were just dreams He Sui’an had. They were predictive dreams, true, but until they happened, they didn’t exist.
Why worry about something that hadn’t happened yet?
Knowing in advance meant they could change it. Shen Jianhe relaxed a bit and even had the mood to joke with He Sui’an.
As he continued, Shen Jianhe realized his jokes weren’t very funny. Feeling embarrassed, he scratched his nose. At that moment, they reached the alley’s entrance, so he stopped talking and just told them to be careful.
He Sui’an stood at the alley’s entrance, “Senior Shen, you be careful too.”
Shen Jianhe retraced his steps back.
She didn’t linger either, pulling Qi Buyan along. They walked side by side, their shadows slanting. He Sui’an occasionally looked up at him.
When telling Su Yang and the others about what would happen in the future, He Sui’an omitted her time-traveling and instead said it was a dream. She also omitted that Qi Buyan chose not to save them in the end.
It wasn’t that He Sui’an wanted to hide it from them.
She was worried they would harbor resentment and be unable to trust Qi Buyan or join forces with him.
However, He Sui’an didn’t make the decision alone but left the choice to Qi Buyan. After all, it involved him, and he should decide whether to hide it or not. She would respect his decision.
Qi Buyan chose to reveal it.
That was indeed something he would do, and he might make the same choice in the future. He had always been used to acting alone and never considered teaming up with them to deal with Liu Yan.
It was He Sui’an who wanted it, so Qi Buyan went along with her. Agreeing to join forces didn’t mean he had to ensure their safety. If they could deal with Liu Yan, he didn’t care about their lives.
Because Qi Buyan wouldn’t care about their lives, nor did he need them to care about his.
He could only guarantee not to kill them.
He couldn’t guarantee he would save them.
Qi Buyan’s sense of morality was very weak, almost non-existent. If they agreed, they could join forces; if not, there was nothing he could do. After all, they would face the risk of death trying to stop Liu Yan on their own.
He Sui’an knew what kind of person Qi Buyan was, so she wouldn’t ask him to promise to protect them. Qi Buyan agreeing to join forces was already a small step toward changing the outcome.
But He Sui’an had another matter to attend to, requiring her to leave Qi Buyan for a while.
She hooked her pinky finger around his hand.
Qi Buyan stopped walking.
He Sui’an also stopped, looking up at him, who was a head taller than her. “Have you really not considered letting me leave you for a while?”
Qi Buyan caught the ribbon on He Sui’an’s robe that was lifted by the wind. Once the wind passed, he slowly released it, letting the ribbon slip from his palm, leaving only a soft touch behind: “No, I haven’t considered it.”
“Alright, if you haven’t considered it, then you haven’t considered it,” she seemed to give up.
They walked along the long street back to the Princess’s Mansion.
He Sui’an walked quickly.
She was angry. Over the past two days, she had talked until her lips were dry, yet Qi Buyan remained indifferent. He Sui’an was silently fuming, not holding his hand as she usually did.
What made He Sui’an even angrier was that her quick pace was merely a slight increase in speed to Qi Buyan. When she looked back, he was right behind her, very close, with the sound of his silver accessories seemingly ringing in her ears.
He Sui’an lifted her skirts and began to jog.
After only a few steps, a hand gently pulled at the back of her clothing—it was Qi Buyan’s hand. He Sui’an turned to look at him again. Qi Buyan didn’t say anything, just extended his hand toward her.
He Sui’an pretended not to understand Qi Buyan’s intention: “What?”
His hand remained in mid-air.
The hour was getting late, and He Sui’an didn’t want to waste time with Qi Buyan on the street. She temporarily conceded, hanging her head as she took his hand back.
Half an hour later, they returned to the Princess’s Mansion. The first thing He Sui’an did was roll back into bed, seeking a moment of seclusion, but Qi Buyan pulled her out of bed and helped her remove the ribbon.
He Sui’an knew that lying on the bed with the ribbon on would be uncomfortable, so she didn’t resist.
She propped her chin up, lost in thought.
Once Qi Buyan finished removing the ribbon, He Sui’an called for the servants and asked them to prepare several basins of ice, claiming the recent weather was too hot.
The Princess’s Mansion was well-stocked with ice, and the servants promptly brought several basins of ice. She then asked them to place the basins around the bed, saying it would make the room cooler.
The servants did as instructed.
Qi Buyan leaned by the window, feeding his gu.
He knew He Sui’an couldn’t stand the heat and sometimes wouldn’t sleep holding him because of it. Seeing her ask the servants for ice didn’t strike him as unusual.
With the basins of ice set up, He Sui’an lay on the bed reading to pass the time. After finishing feeding the gu and washing his hands several times, Qi Buyan dried them thoroughly, then sat next to her, leaning over to see her book.
He Sui’an made room for him to read.
Qi Buyan lay down as well, his slim, well-proportioned waist partially sinking into the bed.
The book was a popular love story from the common folk, and He Sui’an didn’t mind him seeing it. The sound of her turning pages intermittently filled the room.
The basins of ice beside the bed emitted cold air, gradually lowering the surrounding temperature.
Qi Buyan’s eyelids drooped slightly, and the grip on He Sui’an’s long hair loosened. Low temperatures could make him fall into a deep, unbreakable sleep, while slightly cooler temperatures induced a temporary drowsiness.
This was her second plan.
He Sui’an had already packed her bags.
There’s no time like the present.
