harmony
What did he mean by that?
The horrific scene of her brother's death in her previous life reappeared in Xie Lingxi's mind. The difference was that the handsome male corpse seemed to have come back to life, with nothing in its eye sockets, only blood tears flowing down, staining her white robe hanging on the ground.
This time, Xie Lingxi trembled as Liu Xu slapped her. She slowly turned her pale and eerie face, cold sweat melting down her forehead like snow, and her lips moved: "It was I who harmed my brother."
"no."
Liu Xu pulled her into his arms, gently wiping away the two lines of tears that had fallen from her eyes without him noticing. He slightly lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him: "Why would you think that?"
Under the pale moonlight, Xie San Niangzi's usual calm and self-control were nowhere to be seen. The aloofness hidden in her eyes was like a still lake suddenly shattered, with ripples floating on the surface.
The woman's tears were the essence of the rain, capable of washing away the dust and grime. Liu Xu felt that the body in his arms was so frail that with the slightest effort, her soul could fly out and she would perish.
“No matter what I try, things will still develop as they were originally intended,” Xie Lingxi said, barely able to stand with Liu Xu’s help. She tried to calm her breathing and said slowly and deliberately, “It turns out I have always overestimated myself.”
Overwhelmed with grief, he burst into laughter, "Ha... I thought everything would be different..."
The troubles surrounding her father's impeachment and her brother's attempt to lure him into battle did not end with the collapse of the Wave Terrace. Instead, they resurfaced just when she thought she was seeing a glimmer of hope, cruelly shattering her heartfelt expectations.
Does Heaven find pleasure in toying with her? It clearly granted her a new life, yet it makes her bind herself in a cage again. Is it only when it sees her lost and dejected that it is pleased?
"That's not the case."
Liu Xu wrapped one hand around Xie Lingxi's delicate hand, interlocking their fingers, and raised the other hand to straighten his wife's disheveled hair, saying gently, "What you said is wrong."
Xie Lingxi murmured, "...Wrong?"
What's wrong?
"Nothing is right."
Liu Xu gripped Xie Lingxi's hand so tightly it seemed he wanted to break it. Xie Lingxi, oblivious to the pain, clutched his clothes as if seeking confirmation, letting the pressure draw crimson blood from the back of her hand. "Something...is wrong?"
"Um."
Liu Xu smiled slightly, like willow catkins turning into snowflakes, falling on her heart. "Lingxi, you are worried about things that haven't happened yet."
"It hasn't happened yet..."
Yes, Xie Lingxi suddenly woke up—
The autumn colors are in full bloom here, and there are still more than two months until the cold winter. How can one use words of self-consolation to describe things that have not yet happened?
She has always been prone to self-pity.
Amidst the drifting wind and rain, I looked up and happened to meet Liu Xu's gentle gaze.
The night was deep, and her lover's eyes were as bright as candlelight, illuminating her small boat struggling in the lake. With such a soulmate, what more could she ask for?
Seeing that Xie Lingxi had stopped trembling, Liu Xu sighed and kissed her forehead. "Lingxi, look carefully now. Who is your husband? And who will stand by you through thick and thin?"
"I know."
In front of Yan Ji, she was a caged bird at the mercy of others, but in Liu Xu's heart, she was the swallow in front of the hall, the flowers and plants under the eaves, or even anything else.
Liu Xu did not give her any meaning.
Thinking of this, Xie Lingxi cleared away all the fear she had felt earlier and said clearly, "I was too hasty, Ah Xu, thank you."
"Um?"
The sudden "thank you" caught Liu Xu off guard. He wanted to say that such words were too formal between husband and wife, but looking into Xie Lingxi's clear eyes, he couldn't bear to say, "Just now—"
"Just now, I spoke without thinking and hurt your feelings. I apologize to you."
Xie Lingxi recalled her words, "It's no different from the previous life," and felt extremely remorseful, realizing she shouldn't have said that.
She has always been an open and honest person, and now that she and Liu Xu are deeply in love, she has changed her habit of being taciturn and speaks her mind freely.
Liu Xu said gently, "What does it matter? Even if you scold me, I will never talk back."
"true and false?"
"real."
Liu Xu patted her shoulder and lowered his head, acting coy. "Although I won't talk back, I might need to collect some interest on other matters."
Before Xie Lingxi could react, Liu Xu lowered his head and bit her lips, his tongue squeezing in slightly, licking and nibbling gently, ignoring the trembling and struggling of his wife in his arms, until she was breathless and her eyes were filled with tears, before finally pulling away.
Xie Lingxi's lips were numb and painful. Just as she was about to scold him, she saw that the lights in the room had gone out, leaving only the sound of the wind.
"He's resting."
“Yes,” Liu Xu replied, “I’ll go closer and take a look.”
While the two were talking, they had already hidden in the bushes a few feet away behind the fence, and would have been difficult to find unless someone was searching for them. Now that the owner of the house is asleep, they are left to "stir up trouble."
Inside the room, Cui Jue had already lowered the long curtains, the red gauze billowing to the ground rising and falling with the wind, causing the tassels and precious ornaments to jingle.
The two then threw in some sleeping gas and waited patiently for a while before sneaking into the room through the window.
Liu Xu lifted the layers of beaded curtains and saw that the man was fast asleep. He grabbed Cui Jue's collar and pulled it open, revealing a large expanse of his chest. Several precious pearls were tied to his bright red jade pendant and hung around his neck.
Xie Lingxi took a closer look, and her heart pounded wildly as if a drum had been pounding.
Just then, the person on the bed suddenly opened their eyes—
"!"
In the blink of an eye, Xie Lingxi, who had been repeatedly frightened throughout the night, was now in a state of shock and almost fainted. Fortunately, her body acted before her consciousness, and she quickly pulled out her hairpin, drew out a silver needle, and was about to stab it into Cui Jue's vital point.
Liu Xu was still checking other things at his desk when suddenly, the pages in his hand fluttered down from mid-air, resembling withered butterflies. Someone grabbed him by the back of his collar, and they flew through the roof tiles into a room in the Cui residence.
There was only one candle lit in the room, casting a dim yellow light. The furnishings were quite old, and the bed was covered with a layer of dust, as if it had been abandoned and had not been cleaned for a long time.
Xie and Liu had barely stood still, before they could even catch their breath, when a man at the table suddenly turned around and began to curse sharply:
"What's wrong with you guys? You went to Cui Jue's room to steal things, do you think you have enough lives to live?!"
"Pei Yuanjing?"
Liu Xu held the candle up to Xie Lingxi's eyes, and now she could finally see him clearly. "What are you doing here?"
Pei Qian scoffed, "You're actually trying to tell me what to do, Xie Lingxi. It's one thing if you're just saying nonsense at home, but you two are crazy enough to go to Cui Jue's door to talk about love. What were you thinking?"
“If it weren’t for me today, and you two had been caught red-handed by Cui Jue, things would have been much more complicated than just Xie Heng hitting Cui Sanlangjun.”
He followed the two from the front courtyard to the back courtyard. In a moment of carelessness, he only missed the brief moment of their conversation. When he went to Cui Jue's room again, he saw Xie Lingxi holding an embroidery needle, ready to kill someone.
Pei Qian was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly knocked Cui Jue unconscious and carried him out of the courtyard.
Xie Lingxi nodded after hearing this: "So that day, when Liu Xu was drunk, it was you who hid outside my window and spied on him?"
Pei Qian: "So what if it is?"
Xie Lingxi: "Are you sick?"
Suddenly remembering an old friend, she stared intently at Pei Qian, "Did Yan Ji send you?"
These days, Prince Jin has been staying quietly in his residence: he doesn't clash with others during court sessions, nor does he cause trouble for her and Liu Xu after court, as if the past has been wiped clean.
But Xie Lingxi felt that this person was definitely harboring evil intentions.
After listening to Pei Qian's sarcastic remarks, he retorted, "Yuan Jing is a proper young master with official rank, yet he lowers himself to come and eavesdrop on us lowly officials. What are you thinking?"
As he was about to fall silent, the candle in Liu Xu's hand burned out, and the wax dripped down, burning his hand and causing it to turn slightly red without causing any pain or itching. He pulled Xie Lingxi back and said, "Shut up."
Pei Qian shut his mouth.
After the figure outside carrying the lantern walked away into the distance, the dim light once again enveloped the three people with different expressions. After a long while, Pei Qian said, "Brother Chengzhi."
"May I come to your house for a chat?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingxi and Liu Xu exchanged a complex glance.
Pei Qian had always disliked Liu Xu's aloofness and purity, which seemed to contradict his background.
Now that you're taking it so seriously... you've really changed your ways.
...
late at night.
The three sat cross-legged around a small stove, the steam from brewing tea obscuring the moonlight in the courtyard. Each harbored their own secrets and remained silent.
Pei Qian looked at Xie Lingxi, then at Liu Xu, and began to regret whether he had been too impulsive. Xie Lingxi was no pushover, and her husband was even more of a hypocrite. But the die was cast, so he had no choice but to speak: "As you can see, there is going to be a war in the Northern Border. This is not just hearsay."
“My family prospered through military achievements. If war breaks out, the generals in our clan will surely leave Chang’an and head to the northern border.”
He hadn't finished speaking, but Xie and Liu understood that by then, the Pei family would only have women, children, and weak scholars left. If anything happened, they would be doomed.
However, "these concerns are ultimately unfounded. We all understand that the situation you described is extremely rare."
Pei Qian shook his head: "The situation is very different now."
He abruptly changed the subject, turning his attention to Xie Lingxi, his eyes darkening, "Xie Lingxi, didn't you foresee this? You went to the Cui family precisely for this matter?"
The Cui family.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xu looked at Xie Lingxi with concern.
What did Cui Jue's wife see in his room that caused her to have such a broken expression?
So he said, "At the end of the year, the Eastern Li will come to our dynasty to pay tribute and discuss the way to prosperity. Could this disaster be hidden in the middle of it?"
Pei Qian clapped his hands and laughed, "As expected of a fine young man handpicked by His Majesty, Cheng Zhi is right. Today I can reveal a secret to you—"
Do you really believe that the King of Dongli can safely reach Chang'an?
"King Dongli?"
Those who came to offer tribute in their previous lives were clearly not—
Recalling this, Xie Lingxi frowned, her voice becoming somewhat somber: "Are you sure?"
Pei Qian: "Absolutely no mistakes or omissions."
This means the desire for cooperation.
Pei Yuanjing's message was like a thunderbolt: instead of seeking out Yan Ji, he came to find them, who seemed to be alone and weak. Something extraordinary must have happened.
Xie Lingxi was uneasy, her face ashen. "I don't understand. If you have something to worry about, you could go find Yan Ji. Why are you following us?"
She paused, then continued, "We will be forever grateful to Yuan Jing for saving us today, and we will repay him in kind. However, if we are to be friends, there are some things that need to be made clear."
"ha……"
Pei Qian chuckled. Xie Lingxi was truly no different from before, still incredibly domineering, while he himself had undergone a complete transformation. He said:
“The Prince of Jin is becoming increasingly capricious these days. In his eyes, someone like me is nothing more than a useful knife, a mere accessory when necessary. When a crisis comes, tell me, will he discard me like trash for the sake of his own grand ambitions, or will he wholeheartedly help my Pei family?”
He warmed his exposed hands by the stove in front of him, took a sip of hot tea, and said, "I understand. What you seek is different from what the Prince of Jin and the Cui family ask for. Uncle Xie has been claiming illness and refusing to serve since the end of last year—"
What exactly happened in Jingzhou that day?
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