There were things Tang Chen was curious about, but when Wang Yanzhou recalled his mother, his eyes, though soft, gave off a strange glint of loneliness and sadness. After swallowing the many questions in his mind, Tang Chen asked a question that wasn't really a question: "So, how did she die?"
After a moment of silence, Wang Yanzhou said, "...missing."
"Missing?"
As expected, the history book Tang Chen had read contained many inaccuracies and even errors. According to the historical records, Queen Wang must have died of illness in the palace. After her death, her only son was made a prince and sent out of the palace. That year, Prince Qingliang was only a child under the age of fourteen.
Seeing Tang Chen's eyes full of doubts and his head full of questions, Wang Yanzhou repeated: "Yes, he disappeared in a fire."
After thinking for a moment, Tang Chen raised his eyes and said, "...Maybe, it's not missing. But, returning home?"
Wang Yanzhou didn't know the answer to this question, nor did he want to know, especially after Tang Chen was born. After the fire, his mother's body was never found. As for Yao Chen, who also died in the fire, he didn't realize until he saw him not long ago that the person buried there was actually a scapegoat.
Putting aside other things, if it is really as Tang Chen said, it means that one day in the future, she will disappear from the world like her mother, leaving only these lifeless objects.
Wang Yanzhou didn't respond to Tang Chen's question, but forced the topic to a strange angle: "Achen, who is more important to you, Xihe or me?"
Tang Chen smiled and replied, "Only children make choices. For us adults, everything is important."
Wang Yanzhou pressed on, "What if I have to make a choice?"
Tang Chen folded his hands and began to think: "How do you want me to choose? Although she has Black Crow to take care of her, we are also close friends..."
Tang Chen's words meant that he was struggling with whether to give up Xihe, not Wang Yanzhou: "Okay, with your words, I have an answer."
Tang Chen was confused and asked, "What's the answer?"
Wang Yanzhou still chose to avoid the question and asked instead: "What if one day you have to choose between me and your hometown, you..."
Tang Chen stood up from the stool, walked to Wang Yanzhou, and kicked his clean white shoes: "What's wrong with you today? You're talking nonsense. Did that old man Lin Qinghui say some nonsense to you again?"
Wang Yanzhou looked down at the dust on his shoes, then looked up and smiled. "Nothing. Didn't you say earlier that the kitchen had made a piece of pastry to give to Xihe? It's been a while now, so it should be ready."
Tang Chen snorted and said, "I thought you were really in a daze and didn't care about anything."
Wang Yanzhou hugged Tang Chen gently and said, "I just want to go out for a walk and sort out my thoughts. You can go play with the pipa for a while."
Tang Chen nodded and said, "Xihe's health has improved recently. It's a good opportunity. I also want to ask her what happened during the time she ran away from home."
"Go ahead."
So, Tang Chen went to the small kitchen to pick up a slightly cold pastry and headed to the nearby Pipa. When he arrived, Xihe had just woken up. Black Crow was struggling with what to talk about with her, and her arrival just happened to break the awkward atmosphere.
Tang Chen moved a small table onto the couch, and the three of them ate snacks and sipped tea, beginning today's tea party. As the initiator of the tea party, Tang Chen took the lead in asking the question that set the tone for the entire event: "Before, you weren't feeling well, so I didn't dare ask you. Now that you're back safely, you should finally tell me everything, right?"
Xihe simply said, "If you want to know something, just ask."
Tang Chen and Hei Ya, in unison, asked Xihe why she left them and ran away, where she went, who she met, how she got herself into this state, and what happened in the six months since she disappeared.
Faced with such a dense stream of questions, Xihe answered each one with ease, but only gave vague answers to each question. It seemed she didn't want to reveal too many specific details to them.
Tang Chen didn't know if Heiya had noticed it, but she had noticed it anyway. Xihe seemed a little different from before. "So, you went back because you realized that the person who had detained you in the ancient tomb had come out to look for you?"
"Um."
Just as Hei Ya was about to speak, Tang Chen interrupted her: "Shut up, you ask too many questions. Girls all have their own little secrets. It's not gentlemanly to ask too many questions!"
Black Crow rolled his eyes at Tang Chen and said, "Alright, alright, alright. You're a gentleman and I'm a villain. Is it okay if I don't ask any more questions?"
Tang Chen nodded in satisfaction, then cleared the table and the things on it. "Alright, that's enough for today. I think Xihe is tired, so let's go out first."
"Okay."
When Tang Chen left, he still repeated, "Go to sleep and have a good rest. If you have anything to say, just talk to me. There are people guarding outside."
"Um."
After leaving Pipa Lane, Hei Ya took the food box from Tang Chen, and the two of them went to the garden to talk in private.
"What do you think?"
Tang Chen shook his head helplessly: "What else can I say? She must have encountered something bad, so she kept it secret and said half of it, ah."
Black Crow was still somewhat concerned about who Xihe was controlled by, both in the past and now. "How about I go check out the situation in that ancient tomb?"
Tang Chen said, "I don't think it's necessary. Judging from the way Xihe came back this time, it must have taken a lot of effort to escape. We don't need to investigate, someone will naturally come to find us."
Black Crow smiled and said, "Oh, you've been with Wang Yanzhou for so long that your thoughts are so clear sometimes."
Hearing this, Tang Chen immediately puffed out his chest, raised his head, and raised his butt, saying arrogantly, "I am extremely smart, handsome, and good-looking, okay!"
Black Crow said, "In that case, tell me what you have learned in the past few days. I will also pay my respects to you, the great god."
Tang Chen said confidently: "I can't say I'm a great goddess, but goddess is more in line with my image."
It was not known if Tang Chen's proud look had touched a nerve in Hei Ya, but it immediately ignited the soul of complaint in him, and he started to complain: "You are no longer the 24 or 25-year-old kid you were last year. Can you be a little more mature?"
Tang Chen's mouth suddenly drooped from its upward trend to his non-existent double chin: "Can we not talk about age?"
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