Chapter 79 [VIP]

"The rain seems endless. Three days of heavy rain have washed away the riverbanks."

The entire Wei Palace was shrouded in dark clouds. Wei Ning's carriage was parked outside the palace. She turned her head to glance at the young man in the carriage. The young man didn't seem so frail these days, but he was worried about her entering the palace and insisted on coming with her. When they arrived at their destination, he naturally couldn't enter. He seemed to have something to say, but he was unwilling to speak.

Wei Ning: "Cui Ruhao, if you have something to say but don't, you can write to me after I leave the palace. We'll contact each other then."

Cui Ruhao remained silent upon hearing this, glancing at the rain outside the window. Since the Emperor awoke, he had become even more diligent, and even though it was past noon, people were still arriving one after another outside the Golden Palace.

His eyes reflected Wei Ning's face, the scar on his cheek growing ever more prominent, like a shimmering spot on a beautiful jade, far from being a flaw, but rather becoming increasingly striking and captivating. The noble ladies of the capital, their hearts were not moved by him.

“I…” Cui Ruhao began, but he only managed to utter one word; the words hidden in his heart remained unspoken. He could only smile at Wei Ning and then lower his head.

"If you see Changyou, please give him my regards."

Wei Ning frowned, stared at the person for a long time without responding, and followed the guards into the palace.

She entered the palace this time because Xue Yi wanted to travel south after waking up, and he told her father that he wanted her to go with him. She didn't know the true extent of Xue Yi's illness, but she saw that Xue Yi was obsessed with his own life and was determined to ruin himself.

Inside the Golden Palace, Wei Ning had just stepped inside when Xiao Qi came out, and the two faced each other. Veins bulged at Xiao Qi's temples; it was unclear whether she had argued with a court official or something else. Seeing her, Xiao Qi quickly stopped her.

“Miss Wei, were you summoned to the palace by His Majesty? Is it not absurd for him to travel south to the capital at this time?! I tried my best to persuade him, but I think Song Zhao is too lenient with His Majesty. His Majesty has just recovered from a serious illness, how can he endure the bumpy journey? You must persuade him!”

“I came here on my father’s orders,” Wei Ning said. “General Xiao is worried about the Emperor’s health, so I will naturally convey that to His Majesty. As for other matters… if His Majesty has already made up his mind, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help.”

"General Xiao, you should take care of your health and not get upset." Wei Ning saw Xiao Qi's eyes widen, patted Xiao Qi's arm, and walked past her into the room.

The court officials then dispersed; the memorials had been mostly processed. Xue Yi, seated at the head of the table, gazed at the rain outside the window, while Song Zhao remained silent beside him. Only when she entered did Xue Yi look at her; her frail, sickly body appeared even more delicate, as if it could be blown away by the wind and rain.

Wei Ning: "Greetings, Your Majesty. How has Your Majesty been feeling lately?"

“Much better,” Xue Yi said, pulling his thoughts away from the rain. He glanced at the spread-out documents and looked at her with his dark, inscrutable eyes, his emotions unreadable.

"Old Master Wei has already made it clear. Pack your bags... The departure date has been set."

Wei Ning was momentarily stunned, gazing at the man in the distance. The last time they traveled together was when they were sixteen, the three of them heading to Shousui Mountain to search for strange beasts. She watched as the man in her line of sight gradually reverted to his youthful, sickly self.

"What will happen to the court if His Majesty leaves?" she asked.

Xue Yi glanced sideways and said, “Song Zhao is in the court. You and I should go and bring Changyou back. I’ve been having dreams about him being injured lately, and I can’t stop worrying about him. I must go and see him… He hasn’t written to me recently either. I have no news of him, and my heart has gone with him.”

She heard the sound of raindrops falling from the eaves. The raindrops soaked Xue Yi's body, blurring his face into a chaotic blob of ink. The ink grew thicker with each cough, staining the entire Golden Palace. The emperor was depressed, and the palace was shrouded in a gray mist.

Not writing a letter means he doesn't want to contact me again. Not returning immediately after delivering the official silver means he doesn't want to return. Why go and lose face? Why lose affection? Why endure the pain of a weak heart?

From the moment he left the palace, their connection was severed. Such a simple truth, why can't he understand?

She was lost in thought for a long time when Xue Yi's cough interrupted her. Looking at the blood, she couldn't bring herself to speak, so she turned her gaze away and replied, "I understand. I'll go with you."

"I will trouble you, Lord Song, with matters concerning the palace."

Wei Ning and Song Zhao exchanged glances; she noticed Song Zhao's expression was suspended beneath the beams. Na Hui's face was similarly shrouded in shadow, whether from the departure of the monarch or from a premonition of tragedy, she didn't know.

Why be fixated on one person? Why must it be that person? What's wrong with any man or woman in the world? Your Majesty is too stubborn. Leaving the palace means abandoning your own Wei Palace and giving up the power you once possessed. If you lose even that power, why would anyone respect you?

Song Zhao remained silent, only saying to Wei Ning, "This matter is of utmost importance. You will go with General Xiao. If the Ninth Prince is found in Lidu, and Miss Wei shows him mercy, it would be putting His Majesty's safety at risk. You must make a careful choice."

He did want to go along; the place needed him more. He needed to guard the Wei Palace until the monarch returned. He needed to be the most reassuring figure here.

Wei Ning smiled upon hearing this and replied, "Look at what Lord Song is saying. I will naturally protect His Majesty."

Everything unfolded as expected. Every cause has its consequence. When Lu Xuejin left the palace, the Emperor followed. When Lu Xuejin returned, the Emperor returned as well. As long as the obsession remained, that obsession manifested as misfortune that clung to the Emperor. Even wealth, honor, and supreme power could not erase the calamity brought by that misfortune.

Illness, disaster, floods, gloom, drought, calamities, death, divergent paths, weakness of heart, and great fire will follow one after another, causing the monarch to suffer greatly and ultimately leading the Wei palace to its demise.

Though the rain poured down outside the window, Song Zhao seemed to see again the great fire that had consumed the Wei Palace that day. The boy with the pig-faced mask, hidden in the night, seemed to be laughing gleefully, the wicked curse already coming true. The fire had not destroyed the Wei Palace, but it had burned away the monarch's mind, leading him toward certain death.

He was powerless to change any of this. Even if he could see the ending of the story, what difference would it make? He was already part of the story, appearing as an insignificant character, with no choice but to express his gratitude to the monarch.

He was trapped within the walls, unable to reach the monarch. Even after crossing numerous walls to reach the monarch's side, the monarch remained closed-minded and never looked at him or the court officials.

As he emerged from the Golden Palace, the rain poured down on the trumpet creeper flowers along the palace wall. Winter was fast approaching, but the trumpet creeper flowers were still blooming despite the unusual weather and heavy rain. Whether affected by the temperature or touched by the lingering warmth of the fire, they stubbornly continued to bloom in this early winter, stretching out their warm orange branches like sunshine.

Although it was meant to be auspicious, he still felt something was off about it. He paused for a moment or two, then walked away from the flowering branch.

Song Zhao went to the library, a place Lu Xuejin used to frequent. When the late emperor was alive, Lu Xuejin was the only student authorized to come here; he would often stand outside the Zhizhang Hall and follow others here. Now, he could browse the books here.

He wasn't looking at policies for governing the country that would benefit the people; instead, he would read every book the other person had read. He would delve into any field of knowledge the other person had touched upon, any area he wasn't familiar with. He had already perused the texts left behind by the other person before leaving, attempting to decipher their meaning.

The densely packed, enigmatic script held the secrets of the Divine Fate Society. He spent half a month in the library, neither eating nor drinking, and only found a fragment of a scroll recording the witchcraft of the Hu people. Hu witchcraft was skilled in performing sacrifices, connecting animals with the will of heaven, and possessing the ability to foresee the future through divination.

The library was utterly quiet, its walls concealing countless scrolls. He sat there for days on end. Sometimes he tried to understand the Hu script using existing Han Chinese characters, but found them difficult to reconcile. In Han Chinese characters, each character corresponds to a specific thing. For example, "dog" refers to an animal, and more specifically, a type of obedient servant. However, in Hu script, each character became incredibly complex. The character for "dog," for instance, required context; it could refer to a newborn puppy, an adult dog, or even the soul of a deceased canine. Their script fused the past, present, and future into one, with different symbols dissociating from one another, becoming mysterious and unpredictable.

Sometimes, he would fall asleep in the overwhelming quiet. When he awoke, he would see the densely packed characters sprouting eyes, and as he peered into the secrets of the heavens, it seemed as if mysterious beings were also peering into him. He saw the faces of Xue Yi and Lu Xuejin within them, and was transported back to his school days. In the Zhizhang Hall, he first met Lu Xuejin and realized that she was an insurmountable chasm for them.

Why this feeling? It was merely an intuition. When one beholds a quality rarely encountered in daily life, found only in sage texts or before a candlestick, an indescribable feeling always arises. That feeling permeated him, causing him to watch helplessly as his friend walked down another path of misfortune.

This person's pursuits were not merely about fame, fortune, and wealth; having shed these superficial things, they were born into powerful families and influenced by religious beliefs. But upon meeting this person, everything that existed within them seemed to vanish, as if stripped of all external possessions, becoming something akin to the bones of the dead. If anyone were to attempt to obtain or alter the other's original character, at that time, he didn't know what would happen. Now, he gradually began to see the ending. At night, alone in the library, he gradually began to see the remnants of the palace after it had been destroyed by fire.

The past gave rise to the present, and the present gives birth to the future. Looking back, it's just a road laid out before us. Before meeting him, all his ambitions, like others, were simply to pass the imperial examinations, marry, have children, and live out his life like all famous officials.

The impact on him now goes beyond that. He has no self-awareness regarding marriage; who he actually marries and who he lives with seems less important upon closer reflection. There are more important things, things he is doing now, witnessing the birth of something called destiny, observing the irreversible changes on a known path. He realizes he is experiencing it, verifying it all. He had such confusion when he went to the temple, but now it is gradually becoming clearer.

Humans are caught in the web of their own destiny, unaware of the consequences of their every tiny action. The answer lies within the power held by gods and Buddhas. Destiny itself can bring forth endless rewards through even the slightest thought.

He saw many reflections. Xue Yi, himself, Lu Xuejin, Wei Ning, Xiao Qi, the Ninth Prince—these were figures he had seen before. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the characters changed with each passing day, taking on different meanings. Although he didn't understand their original meaning.

Sometimes, he wondered, even if he could decipher the secrets of these words, what then? If he saw the prophecy from the Hu people, the Wei palace was destined to collapse, and everything would be beyond repair. At that point, it would merely confirm the truth he already knew; what could he possibly change because of it?

If he could change anything, he wouldn't still be sitting in the library. Because neither the monarch could relinquish his past overnight, nor could the ninth prince die of illness overnight; these two most improbable events forged the inevitable outcome.

There was one thing he really wanted to know: Did that person also have similar confusion? Compared to him, Lu Xuejin was far more intelligent; had she already seen through everything and was about to change the course of the game?

A gentleman's demeanor, a perfect subject, a character as pure as jade, like a clear candlestick before the Buddha. While he seemed to sense something, did Lu Xuejin already know everything? Faced with one collapse after another, what would that person do?

"cough--"

A dark patch of blood, as black as ink.

Xue Yi's teeth chattered as he looked down at the blood in his palm. He had read the letter several times, knowing every word so well he could recite it from memory. Touching the letter, the blood in his palm became clean again, the filthy color washed away. Healthy flesh grew from deep within the bones, spreading towards the young man.

Lately, he doesn't know if it's just his imagination, but he always feels that Changyou is still by his side. The red-clad boy from his memory appears in his mind, always watching him with worry around him.

"Brother, are you alright?" the boy in red asked him.

The boy in red said to him with concern, "I've already read today's report. Just take your medicine. Don't worry about the journey ahead. I'll accompany you south. You'll definitely find me."

Upon hearing the boy's words, he couldn't help but ask, "Changyou... how can you be so sure? Do you not want to see me?"

“Of course not,” the boy in red laughed. “It is precisely because I wanted to see my brother that I came here. Even if I am not by his side, I am worried about his health. My father and mother told me to take good care of him, and I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

"No matter where I am, my heart is still with my brother." The boy in red moved closer to him and leaned against him.

The crimson light reflected their two figures, like twins, nestled together, forming a complete piece of blood jade.