Chapter 80 Change of Face Xie Qingyu's cold expression instantly melted away. ...
The procession moved quickly, and it wasn't long before it was Yue Yining's turn.
With the deceased before her, Yue Yining gathered all the distracting thoughts in her mind, lowered her head and bowed, holding a stick of incense in her hand. After respectfully bowing, she placed the incense stick on the incense stand.
She looked at Xie Qingyu beside her, her voice lowering involuntarily, becoming exceptionally gentle, "Lord Xie, please accept my condolences."
Xie Qingyu bowed deeply to her, her voice slightly hoarse: "I am deeply grateful that Your Excellency has taken the time to come and offer condolences for my father."
She always felt that Xie Qingyu was particularly solemn when he bowed to her, even the curve of his waist when he bent down was deeper.
Yue Yining didn't think too much about it. There were still many guests waiting to pay their respects, so she simply touched his arm and said briefly, "If there's anything I can help with, just send someone to the Princess's residence to find me. Don't worry too much."
Given her current situation and position, it wasn't really appropriate for her to say these words, but looking at his slightly pale face, she felt sorry for him, and so her considerate words flowed out involuntarily.
Xie Qingyu gazed at her, his eyes filled with affection and moistened with tears.
He responded softly, in a volume only the two of them could hear: "Ayu thanks you, Miss."
Yue Yining was stunned for a moment. By the time she realized what had happened, she had already walked several meters away. She was still somewhat dazed when she came to her senses.
It had been a long time since he last referred to himself as Ayu in front of her. Looking at him today, Yue Yining felt a strange unease, and she finally understood why.
Because he was wearing mourning clothes today, all white, it reminded her of the days when he was still by her side.
After returning to the Prime Minister's residence, he rarely wore white clothes anymore. Every time I saw him, he was always dressed in black robes and a hat, a stark contrast to his former attire.
Of course, with his status changing from a servant to the high-ranking son of the prime minister, his clothing and appearance naturally differed from before. But Yue Yining couldn't quite put her finger on where that strange feeling in her heart came from; she only vaguely sensed that it wasn't just his status and clothing that had changed in Xie Qingyu.
After the mourning ended, Yue Yining followed the flow of people from the west wing to the Siqi Zhai, where guests were received, and casually found an empty seat to sit down. A maid served her tea, which Yue Yining blew on to cool it down and slowly drank, her eyes scanning her surroundings.
Xie Zhi was the head of the Xie family and held a high-ranking official position, so his life and death were of great importance. Therefore, members of the Xie family's collateral branches had also come. She glanced around and saw that everyone was dressed in plain black robes. Some familiar officials from the capital were talking with members of the Xie family.
Yue Yining did not believe that they were grieving for Xie Zhi's death. Most of them were people with vested interests who were spying on him and trying to predict the direction of the court. Even the slight grief they deliberately put on was fake and slippery.
After finishing her tea, Yue Yining could still see the same group of people. Her fingers tapped the teacup rhythmically, one tap after another.
Fu Yao leaned closer and whispered to her, "Miss, we've finished our tea and paid our respects. Shall we leave now?"
Yue Yining was brought back to her senses by the question. "...Okay, then let's go."
"What are you thinking about, Miss? You seem a little absent-minded today."
Yue Yining smiled and stood up with her, walking towards the outside of the study. "No, it's just those annoying political matters, isn't it? What else can I think about besides those?"
The master and servant had only walked a few meters when a guard in silver robes followed them from outside.
He called out to them, "Lord Yue, please wait."
Yue Yining turned around, stopped in her tracks, and asked in surprise, "It's you?"
She had some impression of this silver-clad guard, because he always appeared with Xie Qingyu and seemed to be Xie Qingyu's personal bodyguard.
Yin Yi respectfully cupped his hands: "Yes, this humble servant is Yin Yi, and is Young Master Xie's personal guard."
"Young Master sent me to deliver a message. He said there are too many mourners at the moment and he can't spare the time. If Lord Yue has nothing urgent to do today, you can wait for him at the other courtyard. He will be closing up in half an hour, and he will have the Second Young Master see the guests off in the front courtyard. Since you have come all this way, he would like to personally receive you and also has some things he would like to say to you."
Fu Yao pursed her lips, thinking that this person was being overly helpful and had ulterior motives. Just as she was about to refuse on behalf of her young lady, she heard Yue Yining reply with a smile: "I see. Very well, then I'll trouble you to lead the way."
Fu Yao: ?
On the way to the villa, Fu Yao asked in a low voice, "...Miss, didn't you just say you were going back to the manor?"
Yue Yining looked away: "Ah, since we're already here, I just remembered that I have some things I need to ask him. Anyway, I don't have any other business to attend to, so it's fine to go back to the manor later."
Fu Yao believed her and was worried about her health: "Miss is so busy every day, she should take a few days to rest. Even an iron woman can't work like this."
"I know, we just finished the first case, and His Highness also told me to rest more these few days."
After leading them to the other courtyard, Yin Yi left, seemingly having other matters to attend to. The courtyard was filled with apricot blossoms, one tree after another blooming in a delicate, crystalline pink, making the serene garden scenery appear even more beautiful and vibrant.
Yue Yining originally intended to pass the time by telling fortunes on a copper plate, but after a short while, a maid brought over a chessboard and chess pieces. They were made of fine purple jade, which felt warm to the touch in this still chilly season.
She played chess with Fu Yao, and time passed quickly. During this time, the maids kept bringing out pastries, which were exquisitely presented and almost filled the remaining space on the square table.
Nearly half an hour later, Yue Yining noticed someone had arrived outside and whispered a few words to the maid guarding the door.
A moment later, the maid stepped forward and said apologetically, "Lord Yue, my young master suddenly has some urgent business to attend to. He sent someone to tell you that he would like to ask you to wait a little longer."
Yue Yining nodded: "I understand. By the way, I'd like to go out to use the restroom."
"Yes, I'll take you there right away."
Once outside the courtyard on the path, Yue Yining, who had been here several times before, recognized the way she had come. She said to the maid who was leading the way, "I know how to get there. You can go back to your room. I can get there by myself."
The maid obediently stopped, "Yes, sir. Please take care."
Yue Yining walked forward along the path. The courtyards of the Prime Minister's residence were connected by gardens, and the overlapping corridors and the endless flowers and trees all carried the quiet and solemn atmosphere unique to a high-class mansion.
She didn't really need to use the restroom; she was just a little tired and wanted to get some fresh air, so she made up an excuse to go out.
As you turn the corner, the garden scenery becomes more lush and vibrant.
A familiar, chilling voice suddenly rang out, "A bunch of useless trash."
Yue Yining suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Through the flowering trees and artificial rocks, she saw several figures standing not far away. Two servants knelt tremblingly on the ground, and in front of them stood a person wearing a familiar white linen robe, with a slender and delicate figure.
The man was no longer the gentle and warm person he used to be in front of her; his face was frosty, and his gaze was icy and piercing.
Xie Qingyu's voice was low and his tone became gloomy and cold, "If you can't even take care of one person, what use are you to me?"
The reprimanded servant trembled and begged for mercy, "Young Master, please calm down! It's all my fault, I deserve to die!"
"Go and bring him back. It's rare that Consort Duan trusts him, and we still need him to handle things over there. It would be too much trouble to replace him. If you can't catch him alive, then bring me back a corpse."
The kneeling maid's eyes lit up with joy, and she exclaimed, "Yes! Yes!"
Yue Yining stood motionless in place for a long time before she came to her senses.
Prior to this, Yue Yining had always thought that Xie Qingyu spoke gently, giving people a feeling like a spring breeze.
Unlike ordinary people from Yanjing, his voice was clear and melodious, without any nasal tone, and his intonation was pleasant, gentle yet not drawn out. However, while his voice always made her feel exceptionally comfortable, it also felt subtly unnatural.
Only when she first heard his tone of voice when he spoke to the servants did Yue Yining finally realize the source of that unnatural feeling.
He seemed to have deliberately softened his voice when he spoke to her before. But what she heard now was his normal, genuine voice.
Her thoughts raced, and she paused involuntarily. Realizing she might have overheard something she shouldn't have, she tried to quietly back away, but her foot slipped, and she accidentally broke a dry branch.
Hearing the noise, the guard immediately shouted, "Who's there?!"
Yue Yining sensed something was wrong, so she could only suppress her expression and casually walk around the rocks to get out.
Upon seeing Xie Qingyu, she looked surprised, feigning ignorance as if she hadn't heard anything as she passed by: "So it's Lord Xie."
The coldness on Xie Qingyu's face melted away instantly, like snow being illuminated by the sun.
He strode forward, and when he reached her, his eyes were full of gentleness, and his voice had returned to its usual softness. He whispered, "Why did you come out? Have you been waiting too long?"
"No, not long ago. Your servant said you had urgent business to attend to, so I couldn't sit still and came out for a walk. I didn't expect to run into you like this." Yue Yining smiled and changed the subject, "By the way, where are you all...?"
Xie Qingyu said apologetically, "My servant was ignorant of the rules, so I scolded him. I never expected that Lord Yue would see this. I'm truly sorry."
"No, no. You keep going, I'll go back first—" Yue Yining waved her hand and was about to turn and leave when Xie Qingyu grabbed her wrist.
Yue Yining paused for a moment. The skin touched for only a moment, and after successfully preventing her from leaving, Xie Qingyu let go of her hand, and their sleeves were loosely overlapped.
He looked down at her and said gently, "It's all over now. I've told them to go back to work. Let's take a walk around here."
Xie Qingyu gave a few instructions, and the servants all left. The garden returned to its usual tranquility. Xie Qingyu smiled at her, her eyes bright and clear, "Miss, let's go."
The two walked side by side, slowly strolling around the garden.
Yue Yining didn't know what to say. In fact, she felt a little uncomfortable, probably because she had accidentally witnessed another side of Xie Qingyu.
He was always gentle and kind in front of her; she never imagined that he might also have a stern and fierce side.
She had never seen him angry. She wondered what he was like when he was angry and furious.
"Miss," Xie Qingyu's voice broke the silence, "Do you like these apricot blossoms?"
Yue Yining snapped out of her daze and exclaimed, "Ah!" "It's alright, it looks pretty good."
"I noticed you were looking at the flowers, so I thought you particularly liked these flowering trees."
Yue Yining felt a little embarrassed. She cleared her throat and said, "I was thinking about something else and got a little lost in thought."
"By the way, you left Suyang because of family matters, and the case wasn't solved. Did His Highness the Seventh Prince make things difficult for you?"
"No, His Highness the Seventh Prince is very understanding of me, after all, it was the death of a close relative."
Yue Yining said, "That's good. Luckily you left a day early. If you had left any later, you might have been placed under house arrest with us."
She sensed that Xie Qingyu's pace had slowed down.
"I never expected something so dangerous to happen," Xie Qingyu said in a low voice. "If I had known, I would have left the Xie family's guards behind to protect you."
Yue Yining was taken aback, and that strange feeling in her heart resurfaced.
"...I'm fine, aren't I? Suyang is Jin's territory. They have so many people. Even if you leave behind soldiers, it won't make any difference. I will still be placed under house arrest by Jin Yuanxiu."
To lighten the mood, she joked, "I'm already very surprised and delighted that you've put in this effort."
"We are, after all, adversaries with different stances. Perhaps I will continue to sabotage your plans in the future. I thought you would want me to die there."
It was just a harmless joke.
She hadn't expected Xie Qingyu's reaction to be so strong and intense.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks. Yue Yining was slightly taken aback and turned her head to see his distorted face.
He seemed to genuinely connect her words to the scene of her death before his eyes, and his expression instantly turned extremely horrified. But that only lasted for a moment, quickly turning into a pitiful look of lingering fear.
With just that one glance, Yue Yining knew things were going badly.
This joke seems to have gone too far.
She stopped in her tracks and quickly reached out to grab his arm. "I'm sorry, I know you wouldn't think that way. I was just joking."
Xie Qingyu seemed extremely hurt, her drooping eyelashes still trembling incessantly.
His voice also became low and hoarse: "...Miss, please don't joke about this anymore, I'll take it seriously."
"It was my fault, I won't say it again."
Xie Qingyu reached out and grasped her hand in return. Yue Yining was stunned by the heat of the touch before she heard him say, "Please don't say 'death' anymore, okay?"
“Miss may not feel it, but every time you talk about life and death, it makes me feel that you don’t care about yourself at all. I’m scared, scared that it’s true, that you could give your life for something at any time.”
Yue Yining was stunned, somewhat surprised by his keen insight.
"......How could that be? Of course I value my life too. I was just saying it casually." She looked away.
"Besides, everyone dies eventually. What difference does it make whether you die sooner or later?"
Since she was going to die anyway, she just hoped that her death would be worthwhile.
Xie Qingyu gazed at her and said softly, "Miss will live to be a hundred years old."
Yue Yining stared at him blankly, suddenly remembering the wooden box hidden under the table and the tortoise shell inside that had been used.
She was surprised by the certainty in his voice, which went far beyond the scope of prayer and vow; it was more like a poisonous curse.
"...Living that long is meaningless. I have no obsession with longevity. I'm content with living long enough."
Xie Qingyu noticed her evasiveness and slowly loosened her grip. "Then let's put it another way."
"I hope that as long as Miss lives, she can live as she pleases, without having to force herself to do things she doesn't like, or sacrifice herself to please others."
"As long as one enjoys happiness and health, one can avoid turbulent times and live a life as one wishes."
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