Chapter 65 Burial: He spat out a mouthful of blood.

No one dared to answer yes or no.

Pei Xiaoyun forbade anyone to take the body away. He neither approached nor went far, but sat alone in the courtyard and guarded it all night.

Frost and dew dampened my robes, and all was silent.

At daybreak, he sent someone to summon He Lianqing.

He Lianqing had already heard the news of Mingying's "death," but he didn't know if it was true that she had fallen off the cliff. When he saw the body lying in the courtyard, his steps became somewhat sluggish.

He knew perfectly well how that child had died.

But he had no idea whether she was alive or dead.

He met Mingying many years ago, and even then, they were not in control of their own lives. Now, when they meet again, they are still not in control of their own lives.

Whether meeting him was lucky or unlucky for her is hard to say.

If she really dies, the murderer who drove her to her death is Pei Xiaoyun.

"You've come?" Pei Xiaoyun leaned against a pillar in the corridor, squinting as she looked up at the sky. She pointed to the corpse in the courtyard and sneered with an ambiguous tone. "I've seen this kind of trick many times. You helped her escape, didn't you? Tell me quickly, where did she go? I want to find her and bring her back."

He Lianqing walked past the corpse, his feet feeling as if they were made of lead, his eyes slightly red. He looked at the corpse's decadent and delirious appearance without saying a word.

"You know perfectly well that no one can help her."

During that time, Mingying was imprisoned by him. Who could help her?

Where could a weak woman like her run off to? Even if she refused to believe the facts before her eyes, she was probably in grave danger. It was just that some people were deceiving themselves.

Pei Xiaoyun suddenly opened her eyes, her scarlet eyes sweeping over him, but her words were unusually calm: "He Lianqing, don't think I wouldn't dare to kill you. Where did you hide her? Tell me now, and I might spare your life."

He Lianqing helped her time and time again; who else could it be but him?

He must have hidden her away, and they must have conspired to deceive him.

"Wake up." He Lianqing stared at him coldly. "You don't know how she died?"

He didn't want to tell Pei Xiaoyun about the miscarriage. He thought that a madman like him deserved to live with guilt and never have a good life.

“She won’t kill herself.” Pei Xiaoyun’s forehead veins throbbed as he spoke through gritted teeth.

"You drove her to that point, do you even understand her?"

“I’m not a good person,” Pei Xiaoyun’s dry lips trembled, “but I never thought of harming that child.”

After going through so much, he realized he couldn't live without her.

He wanted to live a good life with her. He looked forward to marrying her, to seeing her in her wedding dress, and to having a second child with her to make up for the mistake he made with the first child.

Looking at his dejected and emaciated face, He Lianqing couldn't help but sneer: "Do you really think that a child can cover up all the troubles between you and her and make up for everything?"

Everyone else was awake, but he was still asleep.

Is he truly stubborn and unyielding, or is he simply pretending to be asleep?

"Ask yourself honestly, was she willing to marry you? Was she willing to have the child from the beginning? Was she willing to let go of past grievances?"

Pei Xiaoyun was speechless. The frost filled his mouth, and as he swallowed, a chill ran through his stomach.

Yes, she didn't want to.

But she was originally his. He just wanted to keep her by his side. He could offer her all the riches and honors, forgive all her past betrayals, and even marry her.

He had retreated to the point of no return, so why was she still unwilling?

His gaze involuntarily fell on the white cloth in the courtyard. If she could still speak, he really wanted to ask her why she was unwilling.

If she gives birth safely, she's a soft-hearted person and might be willing to live a muddled life with him.

But the child is gone. It was his own doing, or perhaps it was... fate's will.

"I only had a childhood friendship with her. I understand her. You claim to have been with her for years, but have you ever truly understood her for even a moment? Do you know what she wants?"

Pei Xiaoyun felt dizzy and disoriented, with He Lianqing's voice constantly nagging in his ears, which made him feel extremely confused.

He immediately retorted, "She's just a weak woman. Even if I grant her freedom, she'll still be living a simple life in a humble dwelling. I can give her wealth and protect her, but those things are not as valuable as what she wants."

Why did she want to commit suicide?

He Lianqing sighed softly, her eyes filled with icy coldness, and even the breath she exhaled was cold: "Don't say it here, or she'll hear it and it will chill her heart even more."

"If you have any conscience left, let her rest in peace as soon as possible."

As her voice faded into the distance, He Lianqing reluctantly left.

Pei Xiaoyun was greatly shocked. His words echoed in his ears, as if something had collapsed. No matter how unwilling he was to believe it, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

He sat in the courtyard and stayed with her for many more days, drinking and murmuring to the air as if calling her name.

Many people came to persuade him to bury the person as soon as possible, but he seemed not to hear them and sat alone from dusk till nightfall.

On the morning of the fifth day, he finally got up from the stone steps and gave the order: "Bury him."

On the day of the burial, it rained heavily.

He watched helplessly as the yellow earth gradually covered her body, his eyes dimming until finally, everything went black.

"My lord, please accept my condolences." Kong Qing supported him, her voice deep.

Pei Xiaoyun's face twisted for a moment, then she suddenly laughed: "Could she be lying to me? Just like three years ago, making me feel sad in front of a fake corpse?"

"master……"

Kong Qing didn't know what to say. Now that the body was here, although the face and skin were rotten, those of them who had seen Miss Ming knew that the figure and clothes were exactly the same, and they were all convinced that it was her.

The master's suspicion is merely a result of his grief and unwillingness to believe.

"Stop!" Pei Xiaoyun shook his head and suddenly spoke up, stopping those who were closing the coffin.

He would not be fooled by her again; this was not her, this was not her at all.

Enraged, He Lianqing threw down his oil-paper umbrella. Rain poured down, soaking his shoulders. He cursed, "Pei Xiaoyun, you bastard! Just let her rest in peace."

“What do you know?” Pei Xiaoyun turned her head and stared at him coldly. “She’s always lying to me. She’s probably off somewhere having fun, using a fake corpse as a smokescreen.”

"May you be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!" He Lianqing tried to rush forward, but was restrained by his men.

Pei Xiaoyun ordered that the coffin not be closed and that no soil be laid on it.

For some reason, a force in the darkness told him that the person lying here was not her.

In the distance, the clatter of hooves echoed through the green hills, as the riders plunged into puddles, splashing up muddy water.

The newcomer was dressed in a sleek outfit, with his black hair tied up high, his face covered in raindrops, and he sped along in the rain.

Pei Xiaoyun recognized the person who came, and for the first time, she felt a little flustered and afraid.

Shen Mingshu traveled day and night and finally returned to the capital from the Northwest. His black clothes were soaked with sweat. He threw down his whip and dismounted, his eyes filled with a suppressed, almost explosive, crimson light.

With a "whoosh," a bright white light scattered, and he drew his sword and thrust it at Pei Xiaoyun: "Pei Xiaoyun, you'll pay with your life!"

The guards around him immediately went on alert and surrounded him.

Shen Mingshu swung his sword and repelled several people in succession. The sound of the pattering rain and his words echoed loudly in the mountains and forests.

"When I went to the Northwest, what did you promise me? Every time you said you would protect her, but when did you ever do it? Every time I saw her, she was more and more injured than the last time. And this time? How am I supposed to see her? How am I supposed to see her?!" He spoke with almost blood in his eyes, and in a fit of rage, the blade plunged directly into a man's chest.

Pei Xiaoyun stood blankly in the distance, listening to his words, her vision blurred, and a metallic taste rose in her throat.

Shen Mingshu fought off the guards who were entangled with him and slashed at him with his sword.

Pei Xiaoyun's eyes flashed, and he gripped the sword blade with his palm, managing to block the fierce force of the blow. The snow-white sword was stained red with blood.

He ignored the pain, but with a hint of madness, he looked at Shen Mingshu and said, "She's not your sister. Go and see for yourself. You can't possibly not recognize her!"

Shen Mingshu's neck and ear tips were flushed red, his expression filled with a ruthless desire to tear the person in front of him to pieces.

Pei Xiaoyun's wrist bones twisted, blood dripped into the puddle, staining the ground crimson. He channeled immense strength into his arm, resisting the force of the other man. "Aying ran away. She's not dead. The person lying in the coffin isn't your sister!"

"Where could she run to? Have you let her go?" Shen Mingshu was speechless.

In that instant, only the sound of rain could be heard between heaven and earth.

Pei Xiaoyun was experiencing severe, sharp pain in her heart, so intense that she couldn't speak.

Yes, she was all alone, where could she have gone that he couldn't find her anywhere in the city?

It can only be...

"You drove her to her death, and you refuse to admit it." Shen Mingshu's chest heaved as he unleashed a barrage of deadly moves. "If I don't kill you, you beast, I'll be unworthy of being a brother! I will avenge her."

"You also think that's her? You also think that's her?" Pei Xiaoyun was incredulous and lost in thought when he struck her arm. He acted as if nothing had happened, lowered his head, and sneered.

As they spoke, the nearby guards arrived and engaged Shen Mingshu in combat, resulting in a stalemate. Red and white sprays flew everywhere, filled with murderous intent; it was impossible to tell whether it was rainwater or blood.

Pei Xiaoyun's vision blurred, as if countless awls were piercing her brain, the pain causing her internal organs to spasm.

"Stop! Stop!" he shouted.

As the fighting ceased, he looked at He Lianqing, then at Shen Mingshu, and murmured to himself, "Why, why don't you all believe me!"

Could it be that she really...

He tilted his head back, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed, losing his strength.

When I opened my eyes again, the sunlight outside the window was dazzling.

In the depths of winter, as soon as the warm sun shines out, the ice and snow on the eaves melt away.

"Ouch... hiss..." Mingying, who was hanging lanterns, shrank her neck as snow water dripped from the eaves onto her neck, making her shiver from the cold.

He got up and went outside. He saw that she was dressed the same way she did in Yangzhou: a plain pink dress, a double bun hairstyle, and a sweet, youthful smile on her lips.

"Young master, you're awake? It's almost New Year's, so I'll hang up a lantern to make it more festive." She waved the large red lantern in her hand. "Young master, isn't this fish-dragon shaped lantern pretty?"

Pei Xiaoyun was stunned and bewildered, her voice trembling as she said, "It's...it's beautiful."

Was he dreaming? It turns out it was all just a dream.

They were still in Yangzhou.

"Aren't you cold wearing so little?" Only then did he notice how her clothes could possibly keep her warm.

Mingying rubbed her reddened hands, shook her head with a smile, and picked up a small basket to go out.

"Aying, where are you going?" He ran towards her, but there was always a long road between them that seemed to stretch on forever.

So close, yet so far.

He couldn't hear what she said, only her last sentence: "This time I'm leaving, and I won't be coming back."

"Why?" He reached out his hand to her, afraid that if she walked away, he would never see her again. "Aying, don't leave me."

Mingying stared at him, murmuring each word, the faint smile gone from her face, her voice filled with desolation and resentment: "Why, don't you know? The bottom of that cold pool is so cold... I wanted to swim to shore, but I had no strength left. Why did you push me in? Why did you kill my child? I hate you!"

Pei Xiaoyun was covered in sweat, and the scene of her falling off the cliff and into the water that he had dreamed of before kept replaying in his mind.

"No—" he shouted, suddenly sitting up and realizing that he was still holding the pearl hairpin he had given her.

It was summer, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the pomegranate blossoms outside the window were ablaze with fiery red.

The maid guarding the gate exclaimed in surprise, "Master, you're awake!"

Pei Xiaoyun rubbed his throbbing forehead. The scene in his dream was so real yet so unreal. He glanced at him coldly and said, "Who are you? Get out."

Just as the maid was about to curtsy and leave, he called out again, "Where is the young lady? Go and call her here. I have a gift for her."

The maidservant knelt down with a thud, whether from crying or fright, she cried out in tears, "Master, please accept my condolences. Miss Ming has already been laid to rest."

Pei Xiaoyun's eyes widened in horror, and her mind went completely blank.

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Author's Note: [doge]