Chapter 65
"It's warmer inside."
As soon as she entered the house, Wei Luo huddled beside the charcoal brazier and refused to move. The red glow of the fire illuminated her face, making her features appear delicate and beautiful.
Shen Yao poured him a cup of tea and asked, "What brings you here so late today?"
"Of course I missed you, so I came to find you."
Wei Luo took the tea, his eyes filled with a smile—a smile that seemed to invite a beating.
Shen Yao met his gaze and said, slowly and deliberately, "Tell the truth."
“That’s the truth.” Seeing that she still looked unconvinced, Wei Luo sighed heavily and said with a wronged expression, “It’s so dark and the dew is so heavy. If I didn’t miss you so much, why would I have made a special trip?”
He took a sip of tea, calm and composed.
Shen Yao snorted, "I think you're just too idle."
She turned her head, picked up the fire tongs and poked at the embers, saying, "I have something to tell you."
"Hmm?" The man's voice was a little hoarse. Shen Yao glanced at him and saw that his playful and teasing eyes had long since disappeared, and he was listening to her very seriously.
"Xu Xuan and I have divorced."
Wei Luo was stunned for a moment, his mind clearly not processing it, so Shen Yao repeated, "I said, Xu Xuan and I are divorced."
She stood up abruptly, and Wei Luo saw a piece of paper taken out of the cabinet and handed to her.
Shen Yao said, "Let's take a look."
He took it and read it word by word until he saw where the two had signed and sealed their fingerprints. Only then did he shift his gaze from the paper to the woman's face.
Her face was flushed, and her eyes were sparkling. She possessed an unprecedented clarity and intelligence, and Wei Luo actually saw the carefree joy of "breaking free from the cage and returning to nature."
At that moment, he felt it was unreal, ethereal, like a dream, "How...how did you do that?"
After a long while, he finally managed to utter a bland and incoherent sentence.
Shen Yao replied, "At first, I proposed a divorce, but Xu Xuan disagreed. But later, for some reason, Liu Ru said she wanted to return to Jiangnan, and Xu Xuan finally agreed."
"Then, with Deng Yan as a witness, we signed the divorce papers. After that, I was free."
Shen Yao was very excited, and even her words revealed a soaring passion.
Wei Luo looked at her, happy for her too, but unlike her, he was much more rational. Looking again at the divorce papers in his hand, Wei Luo sighed almost imperceptibly.
It was a very soft sigh, but the night was so quiet that the sound of the sigh clearly reached Shen Yao's ears.
She frowned and asked him, "Why are you sighing? Aren't you happy for me that I'm getting a divorce?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Luo looked up at her and smiled, "I'm naturally happy that you're getting a divorce. But—"
He changed the subject, and Shen Yao felt a surge of anxiety.
"This divorce agreement is legally invalid."
Without official approval, they are still considered husband and wife in the eyes of the world, something Shen Yao should know.
Shen Yao seemed to see his confusion and explained, "Although the government doesn't approve, Xu Xuan does! He said I can be with the man I like, and he won't interfere. As for the law, if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate, so I'm not afraid."
"This..." Wei Luo was speechless for a moment.
He couldn't tell if he felt disappointed or relieved. He stood up, hugged her tightly from behind, and kissed the tip of her ear. "Don't be afraid, I will protect you, forever, for a lifetime."
Like a warm, mellow current rippling through her chest, Shen Yao couldn't help but chuckle, "Your Highness, how old are you? Do you even know how long a lifetime is, yet you dare to make such a promise?"
Wei Luo chuckled and retorted, "You talk as if you know everything?"
"Of course I know, I know a lot. I know that a person's life can be condensed into a few short sentences, and those few sentences are their whole life."
Her voice was very soft, as if it came from her throat, but rather from the depths of her heart, gently probing his most vulnerable spot.
Wei Luo hugged her even tighter. "What about A Yao's whole life? Life is a long journey. Do you want to walk it with me?"
It seems to be a promise.
Shen Yao was taken aback, then smiled bitterly, "That is, if the Shen family were still around, and I were still alive. But now—"
He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
Wei Luo pressed, "What's wrong?"
“My older brother has been missing for several days, and there has been no news of him. I am very worried about him.”
Wei Luo froze, his heart beginning to pound.
What should he say and do about this?
His affection for Shen Yao was one thing, but political maneuvering was another. To prevent the Shen family from causing trouble, he secretly detained Shen Fan for several days, just to give Master Shen something to do and prevent him from interfering.
For him, nothing was more important than the throne, nothing was more intoxicating than seizing power, but it was her, it was the daughter of the Shen family.
A moment of silence.
The sound came again when the curtain was lifted and Liu Heng walked in carrying a gift box.
Seeing the two embracing, he assumed they were being intimate, and his face immediately turned red. He retreated hastily, but unexpectedly knocked over the incense burner, startling all three of them.
Wei Luo was about to reprimand him when Liu Heng, seeing the situation was turning bad, quickly put down the gift box, made up an excuse, and slipped away.
The two looked at each other and smiled helplessly.
As the night deepened, the night watchman wandered through the streets and alleys, striking his clapper. As midnight approached, the signs of fatigue began to creep into his body from the soles of his feet.
Shen Yao yawned, walked to the bed, and prepared to take off her shoes and go to sleep.
Wei Luo quickly stopped her, saying, "Wait a minute."
"Um?"
While he was still in a daze, Wei Luo had already opened the gift box that Liu Heng had brought in. A piece of fine white jade bracelet was wrapped in a green handkerchief. It was as smooth and warm as cream and as white as snow.
"Is this a gift for me?"
Shen Yao was greatly surprised, and her drowsiness vanished instantly.
Wei Luo gave a soft "hmm," and said, "Tomorrow is not only the Laba Festival, but also your birthday."
He deliberately softened his tone, his eyes filled with tenderness and affection, "Happy birthday, Ayao!"
For him, the first nineteen years were like sand slipping through his fingers; the harder he tried to hold on, the faster and more silently it flowed away. In the end, all that remained in the palm of time were a few tiny grains of sand, broken and fragmented.
Now, he wants to preserve some beautiful memories, on the upcoming Laba Festival, on the last starry night of her eighteenth year and the first dawn of her nineteenth year.
Spend time with her!
The night is long, and while some experience boundless joy, others are filled with sorrow.
Xu Xuan suffered another setback with the same woman.
At first, he thought that as long as he divorced Shen Yao, Liu Ru would change her mind. So when he dragged his injured body home full of expectations, he found the house empty.
She repeatedly challenged his bottom line. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he went to the Duke of Xin's residence to find Liu Ru.
I never expected to see that scene.
The woman he loves is having an affair with another man.
At that moment, dark clouds loomed overhead, the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, and Pangu swung his axe to shatter the chaos, also breaking open his own head in the process.
In my twenty years of life, I have never felt so suffocated and desperate.
Enraged, he burst through the door and swung his fist at Zhao Lian's face. The force of his fist painted a picture on Zhao Lian's face—red, purple, blue... a colorful mess.
"What a beautiful ink painting!"
After beating Zhao Lian, Xu Xuan looked at Liu Ru, who was standing there in a daze. At that moment, all the words he wanted to say were condensed into a few sentences. He asked her, "Is this the reason?"
The reason for his betrayal.
A tear silently slid down her cheek. Liu Ru buried her head in her kneecaps and remained silent for a long time, as if the question did not exist.
A deathly silence spread through the room, extending out the window and to the horizon.
As dusk falls deep in the forest, weary birds return to their nests, silence deepens into a profound darkness, and the inky black night descends heavily.
"It's getting dark, you should go home."
A puppet-like voice rang out, except that puppets don't shed tears, but Liu Ru does.
Xu Xuan also shed tears, his throat tightening, and asked, "Aren't you going home?"
That's your home, not mine.
That night, neither Liu Ru nor Xu Xuan went back.
For him, a home without Liu Ru is not a home.
*
The next morning, the sky was clear and bright, and birds were already fluttering their wings and chirping noisily.
Shen Yao was woken up by the noise. She got up and rubbed her eyes, only to find that there was no one beside her. No wonder the bed felt so cold.
Biluo walked in, and Shen Yao asked her, "When did His Highness leave?"
"Around 5 AM."
"Why get up so early when there's no court assembly to attend?"
After muttering something, Shen Yao got up to wash and dress, while Bi Luo continued to make the bed and fold the quilts as usual.
While tidying up, Biluo said, "Miss, may I ask you a question?"
Shen Yao was taken aback. She turned around and saw that she was staring at her intently, her eyes filled with undisguised curiosity and gossip.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, "No, don't ask, I don't want to answer."
It was obvious that it was about matters between men and women, and she decisively refused to let anyone inquire, not even the original owner's closest maid.
Upon hearing this, Biluo gave an "Oh," her expression filled with deep disappointment. Shen Yao quickly changed the subject, asking her, "What are we eating later?"
"Eat breakfast."
Shen Yao: "..."
Biluo continued, "Miss, before His Highness left, he left you a message: There is a banquet in the palace today for the Laba Festival, and you must attend. Also, you must go alone and not take Xu Xuan with you."
Shen Yao was stunned.
What kind of talk is that?
Xu Xuan is still in bed recuperating!
Even if I wanted to bring it, I couldn't!
She couldn't help but chuckle, inwardly cursing him for being petty.
However, speaking of entering the palace, she remembered something. A few days ago, she begged the Consort to help Zhao Xian enter the palace. She wondered if it had been done yet. She couldn't keep putting it off.
Shen Yao decided to take Zhao Xian to the palace to explore the situation today.
As the two were discussing their plans to enter the palace, a voice suddenly came from the courtyard, as if someone was calling for someone to return in the cold wind.
Shen Yao hurriedly got up, opened the window, and saw Miao Niang waving at her, "A Yao, hurry home, your brother is back."
*
The horse's hooves broke through the cold wind and stopped at the entrance of the Shen residence.
Shen Yao lifted the carriage curtain and rushed through the gate without waiting.
"Brother, brother..."
The sound pierced the stillness of winter, and even the birds on the bare branches fluttered away into the distance.
When Shen Fan returned from washing up, he coughed and said, "Don't call me, I'm right here."
The person was fair-skinned and had all his arms and legs intact, and didn't look like he had suffered. Shen Yao was relieved and hurriedly went over to ask, "Brother, where have you been these past few days? We've been looking for you for so long, we've practically turned the whole capital upside down."
Aside from worry, there was also resentment in his voice.
Shen Fan touched his nose and suddenly sighed, "I'm in jail at the Military Command!"
"……ah?"
Seeing her sister's shocked expression, Shen Fan simply found a stool to sit down, took a sip of water, and continued, "It's in the Zhongcheng Military Command Prison. It's just my bad luck that I happened to be caught up in the Crown Prince's arrests these past few days. Commander Xiao was afraid that someone would take advantage of the chaos and escape from prison, so he didn't dare to release anyone, and that's why I've been here until today."
For a moment, Shen Yao was both amused and exasperated.
Shen Fan was both amused and exasperated.
Fortunately, he returned on Laba Festival, and the family was able to reunite.
Shen Fan stood up, came to Shen Yao, and said with a doting smile, "Happy birthday, little sister!"
"Family reunion is the greatest birthday gift!"
Not far away, Wei Luo lowered the curtains, gently knocked on the carriage door, and the carriage headed north into the chilly wind...
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