Chapter 27
The door to the forbidden room closed behind me, leaving only the damp smell of rust in the air.
Shi Mingyue wrapped the trench coat around Yun Zhan's shoulders, her fingertips touching the cold handcuffs on her wrists, her movements so gentle it was as if she were afraid of breaking Yun Zhan.
"Come with me."
Her voice was low and soft, yet it echoed in the narrow corridor with an undeniable force.
Yun Zhan lowered his eyes, his eyelashes still damp with cold sweat, and trembled violently upon hearing this.
“Shi Mingyue…” Yun Zhan’s voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded, “I am a suspect now, and going out might implicate you.”
Yun Zhan tried to push the trench coat back, but Shi Mingyue grabbed his fingers instead.
Palms pressed together, her temperature was astonishingly hot, a real, living temperature.
Shi Mingyue looked up at her, her eyes under the cold lamplight like a lake ruffled by a spring breeze.
"Yun Zhan, listen carefully."
Shi Mingyue spoke each word clearly and firmly, her voice low but firm: "The matter has been investigated and cleared up. No one can arrest you. Don't be afraid."
Yun Zhan froze, his pale lips twitched, but he couldn't utter a sound.
Shi Mingyue grasped the fingertips at the edge of her handcuffs and gently stroked the bruise, as if trying to crush the pain.
"Leave the rest to me. Go home and have a bowl of hot soup."
She tilted her head, a wisp of hair slipping down behind her ear and brushing against Yun Zhan's cool fingers. "The council's order has taken effect, and the armed police won't run rampant on the Shi family's territory. As for the principal's matter..."
She paused, a faint glint of sharpness flashing in her eyes. "I will have them investigate thoroughly and clear your name."
She reached out, her fingertips slipping through the cold metal of Yun Zhan's wrist, firmly gripping her fingers.
The moment their fingers intertwined, Yun Zhan heard his own heart pounding rapidly and erratically, but the warmth of her palm soothed it little by little.
"Trust me, okay?"
She leaned closer, her forehead almost touching Yun Zhan's, her breath carrying a faint, sweet minty scent, like the only light that never went out in the snowy night.
After a long silence, Yun Zhan nodded very slightly.
Shi Mingyue smiled, her eyes crinkling, her smile gentle yet carrying an unwavering strength: "Then come with me."
When she left, Shi Mingyue ignored Pei Yanxi and simply pulled Yun Zhan closer to her.
Yun Zhan's wrists hung outside his trench coat, the bloodstains on the edges of the handcuffs appearing purple under the light.
Pei Yanxi's gaze fell on that color, her throat bobbed very slightly, and her knuckles, gripping her arm, turned white... She didn't even feel the pain in her hand.
The moment Yun Zhan looked up at her, she suddenly remembered the warmth of his touch against her neck when he was drunk last night. That feeling was so hot and vibrant, unlike the cold, pale touch of his fingertips now.
Guilt, like an avalanche, instantly crushed the last vestiges of reason.
Pei Yanxi took a deep breath, reached out, and touched Yun Zhan's cold knuckles with her fingertips, her voice so low that it was barely a whisper.
"……sorry."
Yun Zhan looked up, his amber pupils reflecting her momentary dishevelment.
Yun Zhan didn't struggle; his eyelashes trembled slightly, like a candle flame being touched by the wind.
She hurriedly said, "...This has nothing to do with you, senior. I knocked over the bucket myself and got soaked without saying anything in time. You don't need to apologize to me...you didn't do anything wrong."
Yun Zhan smiled gently at Pei Yanxi. In truth, she had never resented Pei Yanxi.
After all... he had indeed looked at those materials and deliberately investigated Minton School; perhaps there really were some shady things in that archive room...
Shi Mingyue grabbed her other hand and pulled Yun Zhan to her side: "Pei Yanxi, it's also a dereliction of duty of not paying attention to her health in time."
Pei Yanxi's fingertips were flung away, falling empty into the cold light.
She heard her heartbeat exploding into shards of ice in her eardrums, but she could no longer find a reason to stop it.
The access control was opened by Shi Mingyue using her backup permissions, and the green light came on, like a slap in the face.
When the iron gate closed, Pei Yanxi was still standing in the same spot, her palms clenched, her knuckles white.
The orderly reported through the earpiece: "The person has been taken away. Shi Mingyue brought a lot of people with her, and they probably can't stop her."
She didn't reply, but simply raised her hand and pulled off her earphones. The metal wire cut her fingertip, and blood rolled down, but she seemed not to feel the pain.
Ten minutes later, in the office.
The document that Shi Mingyue had tossed onto the table lay quietly, the kraft paper bag bearing the parliamentary sealing wax.
Pei Yanxi tore it open, and the papers fell out in a flurry—
[Bribery List] Leakage Tracing Report: The Conclusion Section is glaringly red.
[Through cross-referencing, Xia Ye has been identified as the suspect; the others who entered and exited the archives have been temporarily ruled out as suspects.]
The paper crumpled in her hand, then slowly smoothed out.
She raised her hand to cover her eyes, and a very light, almost inaudible gasp seeped through her fingers.
"Prepare the car."
Her voice was hoarse, unlike her usual self.
"Pack up all the warming agents, repair gels, frostbite creams... in my house."
The butler was stunned: "Now?"
"Now."
Pei Yanxi paused, then added in a voice so low it was almost inaudible: "Deliver these to Mingyue Manor personally."
As night fell again and the black SUV drove away from headquarters, she sat in the back seat with the first-aid kit on her lap.
A note was stuck to the corner of the box, the handwriting was messy:
"I'm sorry, and—take care."
She stared at those words until her eyes ached from the glare of the streetlights.
The night outside the window was vast and dark; it was the first time she had realized...
It turns out that the word "compensation" is harder to say than any bullet.
"What, did you misunderstand her?" Xue Qi came out from behind the scenes, holding a cup of coffee, and casually sat down next to Pei Yanxi.
"She was indeed wronged in this matter, but she wasn't entirely without fault either."
"After I arrested her, I had someone investigate her. She really had no connection with the principal... However, that day, she definitely didn't go to the archives to clean."
Pei Yanxi's fingertips traced the brown paper as she lowered her eyes thoughtfully.
“I do like her, but I’m not stupid.” Pei Yanxi took the coffee Xue Qi handed her.
He took a sip of coffee, the steam rising in the cold wind: "My guess is: either she was sent by a third party—whose identity I haven't yet determined—or she's someone she wants to know for herself..."
This bribery incident is just the tip of the iceberg; none of these cases can withstand scrutiny...
...
The night wind swirled snowflakes, which spun like shards of glass under the streetlights.
Shi Mingyue took Yun Zhan's hand and came out through the side door, the iron gate clicking shut behind them.
She adjusted Yun Zhan's trench coat collar, the cashmere brushing against his chin, leaving a trace of warmth.
As soon as the two turned the corner, they saw the old locust tree by the roadside—its branches were withered and thin, casting a swaying shadow.
A dark corner of clothing peeked out from behind the tree, like a secret revealed by the night wind.
Yun Zhan stopped in his tracks.
She had excellent eyesight and recognized Wen Sixue at a glance—the hood of her black hoodie was pulled down over her head, revealing only half of her pale face.
Wen Sixue shrank into the shadow of the tree trunk, her shoulders pressed against the rough bark, as if afraid of disturbing someone.
Her fingertips gripped the hem of her clothes, her knuckles turning slightly red from the force, but her eyes were unusually quiet, following Yun Zhan's silhouette without moving an inch.
Shi Mingyue followed Yun Zhan's gaze, her eyes flickered slightly, but she remained silent.
"Do you know him?" Shi Mingyue tugged at Yun Zhan's sleeve and asked softly.
"Yes, may I go see her?" Yun Zhan noticed the tear stains at the corners of Wen Sixue's eyes; she must have just been crying...
When Wen Sixue's gaze met Shi Mingyue's, it was as if she had been burned, and she quickly looked down. She bit her lower lip, and her toes unconsciously etched a shallow arc in the snow.
That was an instinct born of inferiority. The Shi family crest, the ability to produce a council order at any time... yet she had done nothing for Yun Zhan. All she had was an old hoodie and a dagger she hadn't taken out.
A gust of wind swept by, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead.
Wen Sixue instinctively hid deeper behind the tree, but only heard Shi Mingyue sigh very softly.
That sigh was like a spark falling on snow; it didn't burn her, but it stung her eyes.
Shi Mingyue released Yun Zhan's hand, lightly tapped Yun Zhan's palm twice with her fingertips, and said in a voice so low that only Yun Zhan could hear: "Go, take a good look at her."
Shi Mingyue took half a step back and stood at the edge of the streetlight's halo, leaving the two of them a dark space where they would not be disturbed.
Yun Zhan walked towards the locust tree.
The branches creaked softly beneath her feet. Wen Sixue heard the sound, looked up, and saw that her eyelashes were still covered with unmelted frost.
She didn't want Yun Zhan to worry, so she tried to smile, but only a small curve appeared at the corner of her mouth, as if she was afraid it would shatter.
"Yun Zhan, are you... alright?"
Her voice was terribly hoarse, but her gaze first fell on Yun Zhan's wrist, which was covered by his trench coat. She didn't see any bruises, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Yun Zhan didn't answer, but simply reached out and brushed her hat off.
When his fingertips touched Wen Sixue's cool earlobe, she trembled slightly, as if she had been electrocuted by snow.
"I am fine."
Yun Zhan's voice was low and steady, like parting a crack in the night, "Thank you for coming to see me, don't worry."
Wen Sixue nodded, then shook her head, her fingertips digging into the bark behind her back, leaving wet marks.
She wanted to say a lot to Yun Zhan, to ask her if she was cold or if she felt unwell, but what she wanted to say most was—would you like to come home with me? I want to take good care of you.
But all that came out of his mouth was a very soft "That's good."
Shi Mingyue watched from a distance without urging them on.
The streetlights cast her long shadow, like a quiet barrier.
The nightlights silently cast a silvery river between the three of them.
The lights fell silently, cutting the halo of light under the streetlights into tiny silver flakes.
Wen Sixue was still squatting in the shadow of the tree, her fingertips red from the cold, clutching Yun Zhan's sleeve.
She looked up, her gaze timidly following Yun Zhan's figure, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of disturbing the night breeze.
"...Shi Mingyue, do you like me?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Wen Sixue regretted them. Her fingertips unconsciously dug into her palm, leaving crescent-shaped white marks.
Yun Zhan paused, the leaves being crushed little by little beneath her feet.
Yun Zhan didn't turn around, but turned his face to the side and chuckled: "What are you thinking? I'm not a banknote, how could everyone like me?"
After saying that, Yun Zhan herself was stunned for a moment. She seemed to sense the subtle atmosphere between Wen Sixue and Shi Mingyue, a feeling that was... hard to describe.
Wen Sixue's eyelashes trembled, and the dark, anxious look in her eyes suddenly brightened.
She slowly stood up, her knees making a soft "click" sound, like frozen branches finally stretching out.
One step, two steps, she stepped on her own shadow to get closer, finally stopping half a step in front of Yun Zhan.
"That……"
Wen Sixue's voice was even lower, with a hint of nasal tinge after her initial hesitation, "Can I hug you?"
The words almost disappeared into the wind, yet stubbornly pierced Yun Zhan's ears.
Yun Zhan looked down at her—
Snowflakes fell on her hair, turning into water droplets that slid down her temples and into the collar of her sweatshirt.
Yun Zhan raised his hand, the movement was very light, but when his fingertips touched her shoulder, he suddenly exerted force.
Wen Sixue was pulled into his arms, her forehead bumping against the button of his trench coat, making a very soft "thud". She froze for a moment, then relaxed completely, like a frozen bird finally finding a warm nest.
Night continued to fall.
Yun Zhan tightened his arms, and even through two layers of clothing, he could still feel Wen Sixue's shoulder blades trembling slightly.
Wen Sixue buried her face in Yun Zhan's shoulder, her voice muffled by the fabric, carrying a hint of grievance that she was finally willing to admit.
"I'm a little tired today... so I'll hold you a little longer."
Yun Zhan didn't speak, but simply placed his palm on the back of her neck, the warmth of his fingertips seeping in little by little, like melting snow.
Wen Sixue took a deep breath, swallowed back the words "Come home with me," and replaced them with an awkward smile.
"Be careful on the road."
Wen Sixue took a half step back, her back pressed against the rough tree trunk, as if she were nailing herself back into the shadows.
Yun Zhan raised his hand and gently touched the top of her head, as if soothing a frightened cat.
"See you tomorrow, Wen Sixue. I'm really happy that you came to see me..."
Yun Zhan touched her cheek, then turned and walked towards Shi Mingyue in the halo of light.
Wen Sixue stood there, the coolness of the tree bark still lingering on her fingertips.
She watched their figures recede into the distance, leaving two parallel sets of footprints on the snow.
Her footprints remained in the shadows of the trees, like a confession she dared not utter aloud.
The wind blew her hat upside down, but she didn't reach out to press it down.
She just slowly squatted down, hugged herself tightly, as if holding onto the last bit of warmth.
Author's Note:
Each of the three female leads has her own shining qualities.
Shi Mingyue is as gentle as water and as resolute as steel.
Wen Sixue, who would give you everything and be fearless.
As for Pei Yanxi, her birth environment is very complicated. As I mentioned before, she was born abroad, and her family made their fortune in jewelry and military industry. As the future pillar of the Pei family, her personality will definitely be more suspicious and sensitive.
However, the fact that such a calm and rational young lady can fall for you, knowing that what you do will harm her interests, still likes you, indulges you, and even keeps you by her side, is also a shining point.
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