Chapter 58 Admiration Changes Her Fate
The setting sun melts into gold, and the evening clouds merge like jade.
Yue Yining took her leave and Xie Qingyu saw her off, but the two of them ran into another person at the courtyard gate.
The person who arrived was in a hurry, her bright red dress fluttering behind her like a raging fire, almost bumping into Yue Yining and Xie Qingyu who were about to walk out of the courtyard.
Yue Yining looked closely and recognized the person at a glance, somewhat surprised: "Second Miss Xie?"
Xie Yunying barely managed to stop herself from falling into Yue Yining's arms. Seeing Yue Yining emerge from Xie Qingyu's courtyard, she looked even more shocked than Yue Yining.
Xie Yunying was speechless, frozen like a stone, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them: "You, what are you doing...?"
Before she could finish speaking, she received a sinister look from Xie Qingyu and quickly shut her mouth.
Xie Qingyu said calmly, "Yun Ying, you mustn't be rude."
"This is Lady Yue from the Princess's residence. You were rushing around and almost bumped into her. Aren't you going to apologize to Lady Yue right now?"
Xie Yunying quickly lowered her head and stammered, "I was very rude, please forgive me, Your Excellency."
Yue Yining had no intention of blaming Xie Yunying. She waved her hand and smiled, "Second Miss, there's no need to blame yourself. I'm fine."
"The last time I saw the Second Miss was at the Hundred Flowers Welcoming Spring Banquet. We strolled together for a while. I wonder if the Second Miss still remembers?"
Xie Yunying: "I remember, of course I remember!"
Upon hearing this, Yue Yining smiled and said, "That's good. I've been very busy lately and haven't had time to inquire about your well-being, Miss. I was afraid you might have forgotten me."
Xie Yunying gave a dry laugh, but a bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
She noticed Xie Qingyu, who had been staring at her, narrow his eyes.
Even though Xie Qingyu neither glared at her nor threatened her, Xie Yunying already had a vague premonition that disaster was about to befall her.
Xie Yunying nervously exchanged pleasantries with Yue Yining, while Xie Qingyu watched from the side without saying a word.
Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Xie Yunying breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, a tall figure appeared before her. It was a cold-faced guard in silver robes. He bowed and said, "Second Miss, the eldest young master just sent word that you should wait for him to return in the side room in the courtyard. He has something to say to you."
Xie Yunying stood frozen in place.
It's over.
Xie Qingyu escorted Yue Yining to the main gate of the Xie residence. Maids and guards stood on both sides, all bowing their heads respectfully. The carriage of the Princess's residence was parked outside the gate, its canopy gleaming.
Seeing that Xie Qingyu seemed to intend to escort him to the carriage, Yue Yining quickly stopped, indicating that he could stop there: "That's enough. I am very grateful for Lord Xie's kind offer to see me off."
Xie Qingyu slowly stopped. The hem of her dark brocade robe swayed gently, bathed in the setting sun and turning a rich, deep red.
After Yue Yining finished speaking, she saw him stop and was about to turn around when she felt a sleeve covering her eyes.
Feeling the hairpin on her head being lightly touched, Yue Yining was stunned for a moment. When she looked up, a pair of well-defined fingers flashed before her eyes.
Xie Qingyu casually withdrew her hand, looked down at her, and said gently, "Your Highness's hairpin was a little crooked just now."
Yue Yining paused for a moment: "...I see, thank you for reminding me."
Xie Qingyu smiled and said, "It's alright. I'll leave you here."
"Mr. Yue, be careful on the road."
The carriages and horses of the Princess's residence gradually disappeared into the distance, vanishing at the end of the long street. Xie Qingyu, who had been standing at the gate watching them go, finally turned around and walked into the residence, her clothes shrouded in twilight.
The inner courtyard was filled with bamboo, cypress, and spring flowers, with mountains and water intertwined. Xie Qingyu pushed open the door and immediately saw Xie Yunying, who looked like she was sitting on pins and needles.
Xie Yunying looked at him, raised her hand, and gave an awkward smile: "Hi."
Seeing Xie Qingyu sit down, Xie Yunying felt even more apprehensive. The smile on Xie Qingyu's face was long gone. How radiant Xie Qingyu was in front of outsiders and Yue Yining, how cold and indifferent she was in private.
Xie Qingyu didn't even lift her eyelids, and only asked, "How did you and Yue Yining meet?"
"I was wandering around the Hundred Flowers Welcoming Spring Banquet when I happened to run into her and struck up a conversation..." Xie Yunying said guiltily.
Xie Qingyu cut to the chase: "How do you know what she looks like?"
"I have a system. It alerts me when I encounter special people," Xie Yunying retorted. "You still haven't told me when you met Yue Yining! I've wanted to ask you for a long time, did you two have a relationship before?"
Xie Qingyu remained unmoved: "We are both government officials, so what's so strange about us meeting and talking occasionally? She came to discuss matters with me today."
Xie Yunying: "Meeting for business? You see so many court officials every ten days, how come I've never seen you bring other officials to your courtyard for meetings?"
Xie Yunying's words were loaded with meaning and she pressed on relentlessly. Xie Qingyu wasn't stupid, so she naturally understood.
He didn't speak again, but instead asked with a subtle look in his eyes, "What do you want to say?"
Xie Yunying gritted her teeth and said in one breath, "I heard you call her 'Miss'."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Xie Qingyu, who had been casually glancing at the hem of her dress, immediately looked up upon hearing this.
He repeated, "Did you hear that?"
"Yes." Xie Yunying bravely admitted under pressure, "Including when I pretended to bump into Yue Yining just now, that was also intentional."
If she didn't do this, Xie Yunying wouldn't even be able to find a suitable opportunity to talk to him face to face—of course, she didn't deny that she wanted to take the opportunity to say a few words to Yue Yining.
Xie Qingyu was too busy. Although he said that if she needed anything, she could notify the silver-clad guard and have him come to him, even if she asked someone to pass on a message, Xie Qingyu would not pay any attention to her unless it was something important.
“I overheard this by accident, and I didn’t mean to threaten you,” Xie Yunying said. “It’s just that I’m on your side now, right? But I feel like you’re keeping me in the dark. You never tell me things on your own initiative. You asked me to help you, but I don’t really know what I can do.”
Actually, she doesn't want to do anything! Lying down is fine!
Xie Yunying shut down the deafening inner voice in her head and continued to appeal to her emotions and reason: "This makes me feel very frustrated. Even something as important as the Xie family supporting the Seventh Prince, you never told me about it."
Xie Qingyu suddenly laughed: "You know that?"
"Your ability to gather information is somewhat beyond my expectations."
Xie Yunying maintained her composure on the surface, but inwardly she thought, "Of course, she has the system as a cheat code."
As long as the store continues to sell live-streaming props, she can monitor and investigate the people she wants to track and understand anytime, anywhere.
Xie Qingyu said the next second, "Let me guess. Did your system help you again?"
“When we first started dealing with you, you often exposed your whereabouts and had no idea how to cover them up.” Xie Qingyu said thoughtfully, “If your system could do things for you for free, you wouldn’t have been in such a mess at the beginning, making so many mistakes in each and every task.”
"It seems you made some kind of deal with the system to get this information, right?"
Xie Yunying: "..."
Xie Yunying: "Damn! Can you read minds?!"
Xie Qingyu laughed and said, "There's no need to use such methods to guess what you're thinking."
Xie Yunying: "......."
System: It seems its host has been subjected to harsh ridicule and sarcasm.
Xie Yunying suddenly said, "Was it you who suggested to Xie Zhi that he take sides with the Seventh Prince?"
Xie Qingyu admitted it quickly this time: "Yes."
Xie Yunying didn't understand: "Why? In the original book, the female lead supported the Third Prince, and it's the same now. If you support the Seventh Prince, aren't you just going against her? You know that the Third Prince will ascend the throne in the end, so why waste your energy assisting the Seventh Prince?"
Xie Qingyu smiled gently and said, "That's right. In the previous ending, the Third Prince ascended the throne, and the Fourth Prince seized it."
"But the plot is completely different from the original book now. There are so many uncertainties, why can't I give it a try? Why are you so sure that the Seventh Prince won't be the one to ascend the throne in the end?"
Xie Yunying: "But why are you doing this? Pushing the Seventh Prince to the throne, and then what? What is your purpose?"
"What good will you get from doing this?"
As Xie Yunying spoke, she was startled by the look in Xie Qingyu's eyes.
Xie Qingyu suddenly smiled: "Of course there are benefits."
“If the Xie family supports the Seventh Prince, and the Seventh Prince eventually ascends the throne, even if the Fourth Prince later seizes the throne with his army and is purged by the powerful families and the new emperor, it will only affect the Xie family. The blame will fall on me, who has been plotting for the Seventh Prince all along. The one who will die will be me.” Xie Qingyu spoke these terrifying words in a light and gentle tone. “In this way, Yue Yining can escape her original fate.”
"I came here to change her fate."
Xie Yunying fell silent for a moment. She was terrified, because for the first time she had seen the madness and stubbornness in Xie Qingyu's eyes. Even though it only appeared for a moment, she had just caught that emotion, a shocking and earth-shattering turmoil.
Xie Yunying said in a trembling voice, "You...you could it be...?"
Xie Qingyu looked at him with a smile, her tone gentle: "What do I mean?"
Xie Yunying suddenly fell silent. She said weakly, "...It's nothing."
But Xie Qingyu still looked at her and said, "Speak your mind."
Xie Yunying had no basis for her suspicions, but suddenly had a bold guess. She didn't want to speak, but Xie Qingyu's gentle, smiling eyes clearly said, "Try not to speak."
After considering it carefully, Xie Yunying cautiously asked, "Do you... like Yue Yining?"
"Like?" Xie Qingyu repeated herself before slowly speaking, "No, I don't like her."
Xie Yunying was so embarrassed she almost fell to the ground. She gave a dry laugh, "I'm so sorry, I was overthinking it—"
Xie Qingyu: "I admire her."
Xie Yunying's body trembled, and he froze upon hearing the sound.
She repeated those two words blankly: "...You mean, admiration?"
Xie Qingyu's smile faded slightly, and her long eyebrows furrowed: "You don't even know Jingyang?"
Before Xie Yunying could explain, Xie Qingyu preemptively asked, "What level of education have you reached?"
Xie Yunying could no longer contain herself. Her anger flared, and she snapped, "What do you mean? Are you implying I'm uneducated?! Don't you know my educational level? I clearly told you I'm a university student!!"
Xie Qingyu said calmly, "I forgot."
The two words, "light and airy," pierced Xie Yunying once again. Already weakened, Xie Yunying still relentlessly pressed on, "You still haven't explained it clearly. You said you admire Yue Yining, doesn't that mean you like her?"
“My feelings for Yue Yining are not romantic feelings, as you have described,” Xie Qingyu said. “The admiration I’m referring to is longing and reverence.”
He didn't quite remember when he started to find himself unable to let go of the girl who existed in the books.
He was initially drawn to her from the story, and through daily exploration and understanding, he gradually realized that everything about Yue Yining had seeped into his bones and invaded his heart. For days on end, he would think of her whenever he closed his eyes, and she was the only one in his dreams. A person whose face he didn't even know, someone who was only contained in fragments of paper, yet he was haunted by her.
He wept for her, tossed and turned, unable to sleep, because of her suffering, but he didn't want to possess her. He only wished for her to have a lifetime of freedom, to be able to live the life she wanted as she pleased, and no longer be suffocated by the torrent of fate.
Before, he could only watch her suffering from afar, accepting her fate from behind black and white, unable to change anything. But now, he could actually do something for her. He couldn't express how fortunate and blessed this was for him.
He thanked God for this beautiful dream, and even though he would wake up from it tomorrow, he was still deeply grateful.
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