Wei Caitao, known as Master Xu of the North City, was always gentle and refined, but at this moment his face was cold, and his eyes seemed to contain ice shards.
"You unfilial son! She is your mother!" Her voice wasn't loud, but she spoke each word with difficulty, and her slightly trembling hand revealed her anger.
Wei Tingsi closed the book, turned around, and looked directly at his father, his expression not changing much. "She is your second wife, not my mother. My mother lies in the ancestral mausoleum!"
The two men bore a resemblance, but Wei Caitao looked furious while Wei Tingsi remained much more composed. After speaking, he picked up the sword from under the trumpet vine tree, walked past Wei Caitao, and strode away.
Wei Caitao had heard those words many times before, but each time he heard them, his anger only grew stronger. He turned around, pointed at Wei Tingsi's back, and roared, "You unfilial son! Don't come back after you leave. I'll pretend I don't have a son like you!"
Wei Tingsi paused for a moment, his expression remaining unchanged, but his throat moved slightly. In fact, he cared about those words. The next moment, he left the Wei family without looking back.
Under the bright sunshine and with the air filled with fragrance, he watched the endless stream of people and slowly walked down the street. As he walked, he arrived at the Prince Yong's Mansion.
The new Prince's Mansion was actually only two streets away from the Wei family's residence; they were very close.
The gatekeeper was ready to greet him, but when he didn't go in, they communicated with each other using their eyes.
Left Gatekeeper: General Wei looks unhappy; his face is quite frightening.
Right Gatekeeper: I heard that Lady Wei was injured. It's normal for the General to be unhappy. But does the General want to come in or not?
Left doorman: Why don't you go and ask?
Right gatekeeper: No need to ask, they're here.
Wei Tingsi hesitated for a moment, but still went into the Prince Yong's residence.
Zhao Shu was engrossed in reading the "Lin Shi" that Luo Hu had given her, which contained his notes and annotations. When Chu Chun arrived, she said, "Princess, General Wei has arrived."
Zhao Shu put down the book. "Take me there."
Upon arriving at the front hall, Wei Tingsi stood with his sword in front of a traditional Chinese ink painting of a shepherd boy with cattle and a pine tree. It was unclear whether he was looking at the painting or lost in thought. His back was to the door, so his face was not visible.
Zhao Shu instructed Chu Chun to wait outside, then entered the front hall alone, saying, "Brother."
Wei Tingsi turned around, his gaze falling on Zhao Shu. The fierceness in his eyes quickly faded. It had been a long time since he had heard her call him "brother." Although it wasn't the title he wanted, hearing it now still made him smile slightly.
"Brother, is there something you need from me?" Zhao Shu asked when he didn't speak, and as she spoke, she poured him a cup of tea herself.
"Please sit down, brother."
Wei Tingsi sat down as instructed, but his gaze was fixed on Zhao Shu, as if trying to discern something from her.
Feeling a little embarrassed by being stared at like that, Zhao Shu asked again, "Is my brother alright?"
"It's nothing." He smiled faintly, took a sip of the pre-rain Longjing tea in his cup, and gently placed the sword on the high table. "The Emperor ordered me to set up a workshop, and there are a few things I don't quite understand, so I wanted to come and ask you."
He was clearly lying. A taciturn person's eyes would dart away when they suddenly lie. Zhao Shu asked suspiciously again, "Brother, are you sure you came to see me about this?"
Wei Tingsi nodded, but he felt a little guilty. He didn't look at Zhao Shu when he nodded, but turned his head away. A strong sense of guilt flashed across his face, but he quickly regained his coldness.
“Brother, if there’s anything you don’t want to tell me, you can refuse, but please don’t lie to me. Your lying skills are terrible; I saw through it immediately,” Zhao Shu said bluntly, exposing his lie.
Wei Tingsi was taken aback and quickly looked at her. He saw Zhao Shu smiling at him, her bright eyes and white teeth making her very cute. "I won't force you."
“I came to see if you were angry. Now I’m relieved. I didn’t say anything because I knew you knew I didn’t do it, and I didn’t lie. There are indeed many things I don’t understand, but I knew you knew I didn’t do it, and I wanted to explain to you. Between the former and the latter, I think the former is more important. I didn’t say anything because I haven’t done anything for you, and you’ve even been blamed because of me.” He finished speaking word by word, and then waited quietly for Zhao Shu to reply, feeling that staring at Zhao Shu was very presumptuous.
But he couldn't help but stare at her, waiting for her to speak. Looking at her beautiful face, her bright smile, and her spirited eyes, he felt at ease, and all the unpleasantness he had just experienced at the Wei family vanished.
Time seemed to pass very slowly; it was as if he had been waiting for a very, very long time.
Zhao Shu smiled freely, "Is this what you came for, brother? You don't need to come all this way to explain. I know you didn't do it. Thank you for your concern. My status and yours are different, the things we do are different, and the goals we want to achieve are different. So, you don't need to do anything for me, and you don't need to feel guilty. This is not your fault. If I need your help, I will ask. I won't hide it. Thank you, thank you."
She repeatedly bowed in gratitude, her smile clean and bright, without a trace of the shyness or sweetness that Wei Tingsi had hoped to see.
"You're welcome." He felt a tightness in his chest. In the past, when he was out and about, if he saw a child fall down, he would help the child up, and the child would smile sweetly at him and say, "Thank you, brother." He would be very happy. When someone shouted, "Stop thief! Stop thief!" he would catch the thief as quickly as possible and return the money bag to its owner. When others thanked him profusely, he would smile knowingly.
He neither does good nor bad, and he is rarely thanked, but each time he is happy. However, this time, he felt incredibly heavy-hearted. The repeated thank yous left him speechless, and no words seemed to be able to express his helplessness and disappointment at this moment.
After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a sentence, "I'm leaving now." He swallowed back the words, "Come again another day."
Zhao Shu stood up to see him off, but he walked away very quickly. Zhao Shu didn't have time to speak, nor did she know what to say. She could only watch him leave.
When they discovered the sword was still on the high table, they sent Chuchun to chase after him, but he had already disappeared.
Wei Tingsi arrived quickly and left just as fast, like the wind. Before long, he appeared at the place where the army was encamped outside the city. Li Zhuo, Zhang Chang, and the others, who were returning from hunting, immediately lost their smiles. The general was clearly in a bad mood.
"General, you're back." Yan Zelu, being rather oblivious, asked first, dismounting and taking the reins to Wei Tingsi's side. "General, the brothers are getting restless. When are we going back? The rules in the capital are so boring."
Wei Tingsi glanced at the three of them. "Go do me a favor."
"General, please speak," Yan Zhilu asked.
However, Wei Tingsi didn't say anything more, and Yan Ze Lu asked again, "General, what do you want me to do?"
"Nothing," he said, then went into his tent, his private tent. Zhang Chang and the others exchanged glances, shrugged, and indicated that they didn't understand.
Wei Tingsi took down the brocade box from the bedside, opened it, and found it full of letters. The handwriting on the letters changed from crooked and scraggly circles and crosses to fairly neat ones, and then to a certain style. The letters were stacked thickly and filled the brocade box.
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