Chapter 266: Camphor tree and swing set.

Wen Yu, who had been silent in the past, did not notice the strangeness that flashed by in Yu Chang. She listened to the noise of Chen Zhizhi and others and suddenly became dazed.

"Aunt." Wen Heng came over with a teacup in his hand and said softly, "Aunt still likes Jingting Luxue."

"Song Xuechuan! Can you please make the fire burn brighter?" Wen Bao held the chestnut wrapped in a dark brown coat tightly in his fair and tender hands. While urging, he frequently looked at Wen Yu.

"Wen Fusheng." Song Zhuo's movements intensified, but his tone remained unhurried. "You're so disrespectful."

"Hey—what do you mean by disrespectful?" Wen Liangyi half-crouched, stirring the charcoal fire, and glanced up at Song Zhuo. "Who allowed you to treat your unmarried young wife like this?"

Originally, everyone was laughing and joking, not taking the matter seriously, let alone getting angry.

But when Wen Liangyi said this, Song Zhuo jumped up and immediately refuted: "Wen Liangyi! Stop talking nonsense!"

Compared to the calm and relaxed bickering he had just had with Wen Bao, Song Zhuo's tone at this moment was clearly tinged with displeasure.

After saying that, Song Zhuo subconsciously looked towards Wen Yu.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Wen Liangyi hadn't yet realized the danger. "Aren't you going to wait until Xiaobao reaches marriage age for the two of you to..."

Wen Yu's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he glanced at Wen Liangyi who was still half-squatting on the ground.

Wen Bao was seen scattering chestnuts and beating Wen Liangyi's shoulders with his hands and feet. Wen Liangyi dodged and sat on the ground.

"Who wants to marry him?" Wen Bao didn't look embarrassed, but rather a little annoyed.

Wen Liangyi picked up the scattered chestnuts and quickly begged Wen Bao for mercy, "Okay, okay, I won't marry you."

He just said this in vain.

Wen Yu tried hard to suppress her smile, but turned away and didn't know why Song Zhuo was looking at her.

After a moment, Wen Yu looked at Wen Heng beside him and suddenly understood.

It seems that the person Song Zhuo was looking at was not her, but Wen Heng.

"Sister Heng." Song Zhuo's eyes flickered, as if he felt that he had said something wrong, "I..."

He shouldn't have said such words in front of everyone on such an occasion. Not only would it hurt Wen Bao's reputation, it would also displease the Wen family and make Sister Heng... embarrassed.

Wen Heng sighed lightly, and ignored Wen Bao and Wen Liangyi who were making a fuss, nor did he blame Song Zhuo for a single word. He just turned around and explained to Wen Yu.

"Aunt, you don't know that Xiaobao and Xiaozhuo... are indeed engaged." Wen Heng felt an indescribable headache when he thought of this matter.

In the past, the elders of the Wen and Song families made an agreement for the second children in the family to marry each other, but they didn't expect that many years would pass before she got a little sister like Wenbao, and Song Er was already a young boy.

There is a seven-year age difference between the two, so it is indeed not appropriate for them to get married.

However, this matter has been shelved and has neither been resolved nor discussed in detail.

But... Xiao Zhuo never seemed to react as strongly as he did today. I never mentioned it before, but I didn't realize that he didn't seem happy about it.

Wen Heng was a little confused. The Wen and Song families had always been close, and Xiao Zhuo often took Xiao Bao to study and learn to read, and to play together. How could he... not be happy?

"Child betrothal is not counted." Wen Bao let go of Wen Liangyi and rushed towards Wen Yu with her skirt lifted up. "Now that my aunt is here, I want my aunt to make the decision for me!"

And Xiaobao, who always used to pester Xiaozhuo and often came to the Song residence, why did he have such a big reaction?

"Xiaobao, stop making trouble." Wen Heng paused and hugged Wenbao in his arms. "We can discuss this matter later."

"Sister..." Wen Bao mumbled and wanted to say something, but Wen Heng took him to the fireplace.

"Sister Heng..." Song Zhuo called hesitantly, looking at the two people in front of him, feeling a little at a loss.

Wen Liangyi simply lay on the ground and refused to get up, using the stove to keep warm and to see how Song Xuechuan would end up.

"Xiao Zhuo." Wen Heng's expression remained calm, without a trace of anger. "You've caused trouble, so you'll have to pay for it by roasting more chestnuts."

After saying that, she pushed Wen Bao to Song Zhuo's side and asked them to stand side by side. Seeing that their cheeks turned red immediately, Wen Heng seemed to be thinking about something.

Maybe... Xiaobao and Xiaozhuo are just young and superficial?

What they just said might not be what they meant.

"Sister Heng..." Song Zhuo opened his lips slightly, wanting to say something, but in the end he just said "hmm" softly.

Wen Liangyi rubbed his palms slowly, his eyes flicking between Song Zhuo and Wen Heng with a playful expression. He couldn't help but let out a sound, "Hiss—"

How does he feel...

Unexpectedly, Wen Bao and Song Zhuo turned around at the same time as if they had agreed on something, and shouted at Wen Liangyi, "Shut up!"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay." Wen Liangyi rolled his eyes again and again, muttering under his breath, "If we're not from the same family, we won't enter the same house."

As the younger generation played and joked, the sweet aroma of chestnuts gradually emerged from their shells. Wen Yu withdrew her gaze and couldn't help but lower her eyes and chuckle.

The scene of Xiyan, Azhu and Abai baking persimmon cakes under the corridor seemed to naturally appear in her eyes.

My hometown is still there, but where can I find my old friends?

Wen Yu's smile froze, and she looked up at Yu Chang who was sitting opposite her.

He was wearing a black robe and had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes.

The person who used to sit in this position was Song Linsheng.

He often wore a moon-white robe and a cloak with twisted silver threads, holding an unfinished book in one hand and fiddling with the fruit on the clay stove with the other, and occasionally adding tea and water for her.

Through the mist of tea fragrance, she could always see Song Linsheng's gentle eyes.

He is like a cedar tree in the mountains, isolated from the world yet green and lively.

He and Yu Chang... are two completely opposite types of people.

Song Linsheng also wouldn't sit still like Yu Chang. Sometimes he would lean against the window frame, and sometimes he would talk to her across the table...

"Splash--" The sound of boiling water pouring into the teacup dispersed the leaf buds, and along with it, dispersed Wen Yu's thoughts.

Wen Yu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yu Chang holding a teapot and adding new tea to her cup.

As the cup became fuller, the sound gradually subsided.

Yu Chang withdrew his hands and waved his sleeves. Although he did not say anything, there was a hint of tenderness in his calm eyes.

When their eyes met, Wen Yu somewhat refuted the conclusion the other person had just made.

The complete opposite of Song Linsheng is the former Yu Chang. The current Yu Chang has long lost the sharpness he had three hundred years ago, and has become inexplicably tolerant.

Add more tea for her? That would never have happened before.

Wen Yu let out a barely perceptible breath, clearing her chaotic thoughts. "I used to like sitting here. Do you know why?"

Yu Chang's eyes flickered. He wasn't interested, but...

"I don't know." He still answered.

Wen Yu held the teacup and took a sip. Warmth immediately spread throughout her body. She was not surprised by Yu Chang's answer.

After all, the person sitting here with her that day was Song Linsheng, not Yu Chang. How could Yu Chang know the mystery of this place?

"There are several windows in this room, but this is the only one—"

Looking at the tightly closed window in front of her, Wen Yu suddenly felt a surge of emotion. For some reason, she ignored the falling snow outside and simply raised her sleeve to push open the window.

"Wen Yu!" Yu Chang spoke coldly, with a hint of haste in his voice.

But before he could finish his words, the window opened.

A snowy winter night should be misty blue.

Because he clearly saw the warm yellow light in Wen Yu's eyes dim in an instant and was replaced by a cold color.

"You can just see the camphor tree and the swing in the yard..."

Looking at the empty Guanwu Courtyard, Wen Yu's voice became lower and lower, until it almost sank into the snow.

She had never felt so much as she did at this moment, the vast snow was so dazzling.

"Song Zhuo, Song Zhuo." Wen Yu called out subconsciously.

She wanted to ask what was going on, why, why...

Accompanied by a flurry of footsteps, Song Zhuo and others hurried over, all looking confused.

"Aunt, what?" Song Zhuo's hands were still stained with the crumbs of his light brown chestnut coat, and his eyes were filled with confusion, as if he didn't even know what Wen Yu was calling him to do.

"Why is the window open?" Wen Heng followed and put a thicker cloak on Wen Yu's shoulders. "Auntie, be careful with the wind."

Wen Yu's eyes widened, her pupils dilated in shock. She didn't bother to respond to Wen Heng, but chased after Song Zhuo and asked, "There used to be a camphor tree and a swing in this courtyard. What's going on?"

When writing about it, didn’t Song Zhuo say that the furnishings in Guanwuyuan had never been changed?

Just now, when she was surrounded by people and entered the house, she didn't notice that Song Linsheng's camphor tree and her swing were gone. How come?

"Camphor tree, swing set?"

Song Zhuo's eyes were clearly confused. He paused and answered truthfully, "Aunt, I have never... never heard of it."

"Since I took over, Guanwuyuan has remained the same. Nothing inside or outside has changed."

He continued to explain, but seeing his aunt's incredulous look, he gradually realized that this was not the answer she wanted.

Song Zhuo is a mortal, only fifteen or sixteen years old now, so it's normal for him not to know, right, right...

Zhizhi was born into the world at that time, so he must have some impression of it.

Wen Yu turned to look at Chen Zhizhi, who was standing to the side, and placed her hopes on her. "Zhizhi?"

Amidst the crowd's confused and curious gazes, Chen Zhizhi bit her lip and answered hesitantly, "I know for myself that the camphor tree and swing set that Auntie mentioned don't exist..."

She didn't know why her aunt asked this.

Ever since she accompanied her father to the Song residence, she had always been received by Uncle Xiyan, and he had never mentioned this matter.

She had passed by the gate of Guanwuyuan several times, but had never seen any camphor trees... or swings...

The noisy sounds around her faded away, and Wen Yu seemed to be in an endless wilderness. There was only bursts of roaring in her ears, which almost made her collapse.

Have you never even seen Zhizhi?

What happened after she left Jiang Yang? How could it be...

The chaotic thoughts were like a bursting dam, completely destroying Wen Yu's psychological defenses that had been worn down by the torrent of time for three hundred years.

She was like a lone boat, drifting around and losing her direction.

Only the rustling of falling snow outside the window added sporadic sounds to her ears.

Wen Yu had no idea when Yu Chang and the younger generation left. At this moment, she seemed to have lost even the most basic sensitivity of an Immortal King.

Snow falls on the white tiles, and the soup boils red.

The inside and outside of the house, separated by a window, are a contrast of cold and warm, and the dividing line between change and constancy.

Inside was the inner room she was extremely familiar with, but outside was the Guanwu Courtyard she was completely unfamiliar with.

Wen Yu lost all his strength and slumped over the table in a daze.

The heat from the teacup still lingered, and the residual warmth that touched her palm formed a sharp contrast with the night breeze blowing on her cheek.

But Wenyu seemed unaware.

For three hundred years, she has never returned to Guanwuyuan. She is afraid of being blamed by others, afraid of the truth that is hard to face, and even more afraid of the separation between people and things that have changed.

But now that it was right in front of her, she realized that even keeping the "thing" unchanged was not easy.

Even gods with the power to change the world and move mountains and fill the sea will sometimes be helpless when faced with the vicissitudes of the human world.

An unknown amount of time passed until the last wisp of heat in the inner room was melted away by the broken snow. Wen Yu's shoulders moved slightly and he raised his head.

She didn't know what she was thinking about, but she got up from the couch without hesitation and hurried out of the yard.

There was a "creak" sound and the door opened.

Leaving the warm yellow candlelight in the room behind, Wen Yu plunged into the misty blue night.

At the corner where she couldn't see, Yu Chang stood behind the half-open window with his arms folded, like a silent statue, watching her snow-white figure passing through the cold and pear blossoms.

He could hear clearly the low sobs and suppressed grief just now.

Not until the corner of her clothes disappeared did Yu Chang finally lower his eyes and hide the expression in his eyes.

He wanted to catch up, but he didn't.

Wen Yu...