"You said there were burning ashes at the end of the bed," Du Jiaming, who had just returned from sending Yu Chunxiao home, said with a puzzled look on his face, "Who set it on fire?"
After asking, Du Jiaming shook his head and said, "Forget it, go ahead."
After his aunt came downstairs, Du Jiaming sat behind his desk with a thoughtful look on his face, lost in thought as he stared at the photo of a family of four on the table.
"Du Jiang, Hongniang, Xu Zhizhou, Huo Yang, Yingying"
A series of names came out of Du Jiaming's mouth. When he thought of the books that Du Yingying had liked and the words his mother had said before she died, a magical yet absurd idea was born in Du Jiaming's mind.
Then Du Jiaming shook his head, thinking it was too absurd. How could a story from a thousand years ago be happening today? However, Du Yingying's series of deeds made him doubt. Although they were too weird and unbelievable, they made him feel that they were consistent with the series of things Du Yingying had done.
But Du Jiaming was very curious about what role he played a thousand years ago.
But before asking, Du Jiaming decided to review the story first.
Du Jiaming, who acted as soon as his heart moved, found a book about the story the next day. After reading it, Du Jiaming fell silent. It was a typical story of a poor scholar falling in love with a rich lady, and then embarking on a glorious life of success. The rich lady's maid also fell in love with a young and promising general while running around for the lady's love, but unfortunately the war was ruthless and she became a widow early.
Although not much is written about the maid, combined with the information of that era, Du Jiaming can imagine how difficult life would be for a widow. Moreover, the main line of the whole story is the rich lady and the poor scholar, so who would care about other characters who are just supporting characters.
Thinking of this, Du Jiaming combined Du Yingying's drunken words and speculated on Hongniang's ending. Rumors are the most hurtful, not to mention that she is a widow who is despised and depends on others. It seems that Hongniang's ending is nothing more than an untimely death.
Du Jiaming scoffed and retracted his thoughts. So that's how it was. From the initial shock to the calm acceptance at this moment, Du Jiaming took very little time, as if the incident didn't happen to him. "No wonder Auntie spoiled Yingying so much since she was a child. If you consider her past life, it makes sense. It's just that her fate in this life doesn't seem to be so good. She didn't become the wife of the mansion and enjoy the wealth and glory like in her past life."
Then Du Jiaming shook his head again and muttered to himself, "When water is too clear, there are no fish. I guess the Prime Minister's Mansion in my previous life wasn't too clean either. It's just that no one dared to investigate because of its overwhelming power. But now it's different, with the addition of Wuchuan."
Du Jiaming, who had been troubled by this question for several years, was a little confused at this moment, but more relieved. Although he knew that his parents had done something wrong, he had been resenting Du Yingying all these years. He always felt that if Du Yingying had not married Xu Zhizhou willingly and been used by the other party to tell outsiders about family affairs, his parents would not have been in trouble. Although he knew that such anger was useless, Du Jiaming, who could not find a way to let go, could only deceive himself in this way, so that he did not dare to speak out when he liked someone, and he has wasted time until now.
Shaking his head, Du Jiaming lowered his eyes to look at the books on the table and smiled bitterly, "Dad, Mom, if you knew, would you regret it? I don't think Dad would regret it. After all, power is the most attractive thing to people. Dad has been flaunting it all his life, and it would be impossible for him to stop in the end. But Mom, why did you do that? Is it worth it to risk your life for those little things?"
Is it worth it? Du Jiaming asked again, recalling the loving memory of his parents. He had to admit that at least in his mother's eyes, it was worth it. After all, in her eyes, her husband and children were above everything else.
A faint sigh echoed through the room. For the first time, Du Jiaming felt completely exhausted. Even the joy of exchanging feelings with Yu Chunxiao couldn't help him break free from this drowsy feeling. It was also the first time that Du Jiaming couldn't distinguish between reality and fantasy. If Yingying's story was a book, then was his... a code name in the book? Or did it really exist?
Perhaps it was too unbelievable, and Du Jiaming was in a daze for a long time before he could distinguish between illusion and reality.
As Du Jiaming's immediate superior, Huo Yang was the first to discover his condition. Although he was puzzled, Huo Yang was not a person who cared about others, not to mention that he and Du Jiaming did not have a close relationship. However, for the sake of Yu Chunxiao, whom Du Jiang always talked about, Huo Yang still asked a few questions indirectly. Although it was only a few words, with Huo Yang's intelligence, these short words were enough for him to connect all the things.
Looking at Du Jiaming who was still distracted, Huo Yang was calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. However, after returning home in the evening, he couldn't wait to tell Du Jiang about this.
"Really? That's impossible." Du Jiang, who was applying oil to her face, turned back in disbelief. Huo Yang leaned against the pillow, flipping through the book in his hand nonchalantly. "Believe it or not, that person should be able to guess it anyway. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so absent-minded all this time."
"It's too unreal. How could he believe it?" Du Jiang was still a little unconvinced. "Yingying couldn't have said that. If she had, she would have said it long ago."
"Didn't you guys drink last time?"
After Huo Yang's reminder, Du Jiang suddenly remembered, then froze for a moment before continuing his actions. "Forget it, things will work out when the time comes. Anyway, Yingying and I haven't been very close in recent years, so he probably won't bring us up. Besides, he's already half buried in the ground, so I have nothing to be afraid of."
"Don't worry," Huo Yang took a moment to look up from his book at Du Jiang. "He won't do that. He never does anything without confidence. Besides, we're all guessing about you and me. I'm worried about Xu Zhizhou now. Although he was unintentional and was tricked, Du Jiaming has been brooding over it all these years. Plus, he later divorced Du Yingying. I'm afraid Du Jiaming won't show any mercy."
"Whatever," Du Jiang said, looking at it indifferently. "Although the old village head and his wife were wrong, I don't think that Xu Zhizhou's mistake was an unintentional one. You have to know that the money Aunt Cui and Yingying used to buy things was used to improve his life. He was worried about being implicated and threw someone down afterwards. He is truly the most heartless scholar."
"What you said is really enough to knock down someone who has already hit the target." Huo Yang shook his head. "Just wait and see. A soft knife is the most painful. Du Jiaming has endured it for so long, just wait and see."
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