Chapter 564 Background
At that moment, the wind stopped.
The entire street fell into a deathly silence, a silence so profound that even heartbeats seemed to stop.
I just don't know if it's because of that address "Miss Yu" or because of that phrase—"the real origin."
After an unknown amount of time, Shang Ruyi heard a soft laugh coming from inside the carriage. But this time, the laugh no longer contained the confidence of having everything under control or the haughty arrogance of facing ants. Instead, it was mixed with a trace of bitterness and helplessness that was not easily detected but was clearly felt by Shang Ruyi.
After laughing, the man asked, "What did you call me?"
Shang Ruyi slightly raised her chin and calmly and clearly repeated, "Miss Yu."
The other party chuckled again: "If you were well-informed, you would know that Madam Yu has already taken Miss Yu back to her parents' home because of the rampant plague in the city."
Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "Of course I know that Madam Yu and Miss Mingzhu have already left."
"oh?"
"So what I call her is—Sister Yu, Big Sister!"
She enunciated each word carefully, emphasizing the word "big," and that word, like an invisible hand, instantly gripped the other person's throat, rendering them unable to utter another word.
But Shang Ruyi didn't say anything more, just quietly looked at the carriage, as if waiting for the other party's reaction.
After a long while, the voice rang out again.
This time, however, her light and melodious voice was now husky and deep, as if it were being forced out of her throat, as she asked, "How did you know?"
Shang Ruyi smiled faintly.
She said, "Actually, I didn't know at first because you are indeed very cautious; but no matter how cautious you are, you still can't appear alone, so whether you are at Dayan Temple or outside Hanguang Gate, I can see the shadow of the Left Valiant Guard General."
"..."
"And I do care a bit about people's faces."
"..."
“I think, since I feel that a person has a cold and unkind appearance, and the people around him also say that this person is mean and ungrateful, then has this person really done something heartless and ungrateful?”
"..."
"Furthermore, this is my first time with Miss—"
At this point, Shang Ruyi paused, a slight, almost imperceptible tremor appearing on her face. But she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and said in a deep voice, "The meeting took place on the river at the foot of Banyan Temple Mountain."
This time, Shang Ruyi clearly heard the other person gasp.
And this proves once again that her guess was correct.
So, she pursed her lips and continued, "Therefore, I sent people back to Luoyang to investigate whether there was anything related to the Left Guard Army near Banyan Temple. And I actually found something!"
The other person took another deep breath, their voice even lower: "Oh? What did you find out?"
Shang Ruyi said, "I found out that more than ten years ago there was a young man who practiced martial arts since childhood. He was smart and eager to learn, and he had great ambitions. Even though he had already married and his wife was pregnant, he was unwilling to stay at home to take care of his wife and children because he was determined to make a name for himself and become a superior person."
"..."
"So he left home and his pregnant wife to seek a way out in Daxing City."
"..."
"Later, he actually found a way out—he joined the Left Valiant Guard Army, and because of his meritorious service, he was valued by the commander. In the end, the commander betrothed his daughter to him."
"..."
"In order to curry favor with the powerful, this man did not hesitate at all and wrote a letter of divorce, divorcing his wife on the grounds that she had no children. His wife had only given him a daughter, and for a man who wanted a son to inherit the family business, this reason seemed sufficient."
"..."
"Later, the man did indeed rise to prominence and achieve great success; but his wife and daughters lived in poverty and hardship; especially his first wife, who was divorced shortly after giving birth, nearly died from a heart attack caused by the stress. Although she survived, she was left with chronic illnesses and was bedridden for many years. The mother and daughter could only rely on the charity of the kind people in the neighborhood and do some needlework to barely make ends meet. In the end, the first wife also did not survive past the age of forty."
"..."
"When she left, she left behind her daughter, a daughter who was not yet eighteen..."
At this point, Shang Ruyi could clearly hear the heavy breathing coming from inside the carriage, but it was not the pain of recalling the past, nor the torment of having her wounds reopened.
Rather, it was a complex and tangled emotion, as if it were suffocating one.
Shang Ruyi continued, "Then I found out that the helpless daughter, one day, accidentally fell into the water..."
"..."
"That day was in the middle of May in the eleventh year of the Dazhi reign."
"..."
"On that very day, I took a boat across the river to pray at Banyan Temple, but halfway there—"
"Enough!"
Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a slightly shrill gasp from the other person. Shang Ruyi could even hear the other person breathing heavily, and the entire carriage trembled slightly because of that gasp.
It seems that for her, that was also an unbearable and even more terrifying memory.
Shang Ruyi readily agreed and shut her mouth.
She stared silently at the carriage. Although she was only a few steps away from the final truth, the same fear mixed in with the low gasp was also troubling her. She could only manage to utter these words with all her might, but she couldn't take another step.
She could only watch quietly.
After an unknown amount of time, the other person finally calmed down and stopped breathing. When they spoke again, their pleasant voice was now tinged with a cold indifference as they said, "It seems I really underestimated you."
"..."
"Although I almost died at your hands back then."
"...?"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi frowned and said coldly, "I think I should be the one saying that."
"..."
“Miss is sitting comfortably in the car right now, and I am still standing here, which is my way of being polite; but if I were to force my way into the car and pull you out, wouldn’t you fight back?”
"..."
"Humans are the most intelligent beings, and they know how to be polite and uphold moral principles. They would never do something like a cuckoo taking over a magpie's nest."
"..."
Perhaps Shang Ruyi's words were too sharp and had struck a nerve with the person inside the car, because the person suddenly sneered and said, "You don't need to act like you're so innocent."
"oh?"
"If I'm not mistaken, Madam Yuwen—no, back then, I should have called you Miss Shang, why did you go to Banyan Temple? Besides praying for blessings, what else was it for?"
"...!"
Shang Ruyi's tongue froze.
A feeling of something stuck in her throat welled up inside her. Shang Ruyi's lips parted slightly, but she couldn't utter a single word. The other person then said coldly, "If I remember correctly, not long after that, you suddenly changed your mind and refused to marry him, instead marrying Yuwen Ye instead."
"..."
"Why...do I really need to say more?"
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