"Are you feeling depressed when you are with me?" Fu Yueli thought so and asked.
Depressed? Shi Mingyue was puzzled: "What are you talking about? Why do you feel that I am depressing when I am with you?"
"You joke with Ling Yan and tease him, but you don't do that with me. I rarely see you smile. I know I'm not as cheerful and humorous as Ling Yan, so do you feel depressed?"
His question stumped her. Shi Mingyue thought carefully. Indeed, she had never joked with Fu Yueli. She was reserved in his presence. Just as she had thought before, she had failed him in her previous life, so she placed herself in a lower position, not daring to cross the line or offend him.
"If you want an answer, then I'll tell you, there's no repression. The reason may be that we don't know each other well enough. I think you have a calm personality and probably don't like others' frivolous words and actions. It was my words and actions that were inappropriate to cousin Lingyan. Don't worry, I won't speak to him like that again in the future."
Fu Yueli shook his head. It was not like that. He had not thought of interfering with her normal interactions with others. "No, I don't doubt that there is anything between you and Ling Yan, because I trust him and I trust you. Don't feel burdened by my words. Just continue to get along with him the way you did before. Today I realized that you and I know too little about each other. As you said, I really don't like others to be frivolous, but this frivolity does not refer to external behavior, but inner character. You are my wife, and I hope that you will be at ease in front of me, not worried. I hope that we can be honest with each other."
These words touched Shi Mingyue deeply. Every word Fu Yueli said was in her heart. She promised him, "I understand. I will."
As for later, not long after dinner, Lu Lingyan wanted to compare the two paintings, but was shocked to find that his painting had been destroyed. He glared at Fu Yueli and asked, "Did you do this on purpose?"
Fu Yueli answered frankly: "Yes, I will draw another one for you."
Lu Lingyan immediately expressed his extreme refusal: "No, with your painting skills, I can draw better than you with my left hand."
Shi Mingyue was puzzled by this statement. She had seen Fu Yueli write before, and his calligraphy was vigorous and full of charm. Generally, people with good handwriting are also good at painting. But Lu Lingyan said that Fu Yueli's painting skills were not good. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with Yueli's painting skills?"
"You haven't seen it. He doesn't use a brush to paint, only charcoal. The lines he draws are completely beyond the imagination of ordinary people. He draws a normal person to look like a ghost. The eyeballs are not round, but square. Once I copied the "Auspicious Crane Picture" with him. Wow, what he painted was not auspicious cranes, but a sky full of crows..." Lu Lingyan couldn't stop talking about Fu Yueli's "ugly deeds".
Shi Mingyue was extremely curious after hearing this. She really wanted to see Fu Yueli's paintings with her own eyes to see if they were as exaggerated as Lu Lingyan said.
Lu Lingyan scolded Fu Yueli, finally letting his resentment fade. Fu Yueli, who had remained silent throughout, finally explained, "Painting styles from ancient times to the present are fixed, but I don't want to try to make a circle out of nothing. As the saying goes, change is the root of everything; without innovation, how can there be progress? Just because you can't appreciate my paintings doesn't mean my skills are inferior to yours. Since you don't want my paintings, I can only apologize."
"No need to apologize. If your painting is also destroyed, we're even." Lu Lingyan always wins when arguing with Fu Yueli.
Mentioning the painting Mingyue had made for him, Fu Yueli felt both guilty and regretful, and immediately lost the mood to talk to Lu Lingyan. It was already late, and Lu Lingyan teased him again, calling him a "jealous person" before leaving.
Shi Mingyue felt that the two men, with their quiet and active personalities, truly made a pair of good brothers. It was still early for bed, so she went to retrieve the "Yu Lou Chun" book from the table and flipped through it by candlelight. This was the only book that had survived the water disaster that day.
When Fu Yueli saw her pick up the book, he remembered what he had wanted to say to her, "I flipped through this book during the day, and it's not very interesting."
Shi Mingyue looked up and smiled at him, "How could it be boring?"
At this moment, her face was soft and beautiful under the candlelight. Fu Yueli was stunned for a moment and said, "Pei Jun only used sweet words to coax Su Yulou's heart. In the end, Su Yulou died because of him, but he was content to marry and have children, and his family is happy. What's the point of reading this book anymore? It will only make me feel depressed."
Indeed, it did add to her frustration. Shi Mingyue smiled faintly and said, "Actually, this is my second time reading it. The first time, I only felt that Pei and Su's love was bitter and touching. This time, I have a new feeling. Just as you saw through Pei Jun's true nature at a glance, a woman like Su Yulou was blinded by love and never saw the truth until her death." So she read it again to reflect. She felt pity for a woman as naive as Su Yulou, and was also grateful that she was not blind when she died in her previous life.
"Stop looking at her," Fu Yueli noticed that there was a hint of melancholy in Shi Mingyue's eyes. He thought that she sympathized with Su Yulou's experience and felt sad when she thought of her ending, so he could only persuade her softly.
Shi Mingyue also realized that her state was not right. She lowered her head and forced herself to control her emotions. She wiped away the melancholy in her eyes, then looked up and returned to normal. "Well, I won't watch it anymore." She would not watch it again in the future. Today was of great significance to her. It was a new beginning.
Meanwhile, Fu Baiheng and his companions returned to the government office, convinced that Xu Ziling was as stubborn as a rock and they feared they would never find a way to break through her. Fu Baiheng was determined. Du Ruzhen had dared to play tricks on him, and because of his status, he couldn't openly force a confession from her. But that didn't mean he couldn't pry something out of her. So he devised a plan: a play.
All investigations into Xu Ziling were conducted in secret. Ever since Du Ruzhen was nearly killed that day, Fu Baiheng had placed him under house arrest in the mansion, presumably to protect his safety. Consequently, Du Ruzhen had no access to any outside information. These past few days, he'd been at home with his wife and children, barely blinking, wanting only to see them more.
After coaxing their four-month-old son to sleep in the afternoon, the couple finally had some time alone. Du Ruzhen's wife, Jia, looked at her husband distressedly: "You have lost a lot of weight recently, and your face has become much paler."
Du Ruzhen looked at Jia Shi, feeling reluctant to let her go. "I'm fine, but you've worked hard taking care of the child."
The couple was talking in private when they heard a servant announce that the second prince had arrived. Jia hurried into the inner room to look after the child.
Du Ruzhen stood up to greet them. Seeing Fu Baiheng, Qin Zheng, and Yuan Daixu enter one after another, he bowed and asked, "Your Highness, why didn't you tell me you were coming? I'm so disheveled and unkempt. It's really rude."
Fu Baiheng shook his head, not paying any attention to his words. He paced around the room, paused, and then said ashamedly, "You were frightened a few days ago, but I still haven't found any information about the criminals. I'm really sorry for you."
Du Ruzhen was flattered and said, "Your Highness, thank you for taking such trouble. In the past, I have offended many people in my judgments, and many of them wanted to kill me. It is indeed not easy to investigate."
Fu Baiheng expressed his inner thoughts: "I will never let that villain go, don't worry."
Du Ruzhen didn't know whether Fu Baiheng was sincere or not. He just hoped that he would leave quickly. He had to solve his own problems by himself.
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