187 Untitled (2/2)

Zhangsun Wuji buried his head in her hair and lay there contentedly for a moment before speaking softly, ”How did you think of coming here?”

Struggling, Meng Fuyao mumbled, ”Yuan Bao forced me to come here.”

”Oh? You didn't want to come here at all?” Zhangsun Wuji smiled, his expression as warm as a flower yet to bloom in the darkness.

”I just wanted to ask you,” Meng Fuyao finally found the opportunity to breathe and took a huge breath before continuing, ”When I didn't face any problems earlier, was it because you had been adjusting my meridians?”

Zhangsun Wuji smiled without replying, instead brushing his fingers through her hair and untangling a small knot. Finally, he said, ”I'm begging you, please comb your hair before you tie it up, look at you, your hair is full of knots after it's untied.”

Meng Fuyao bit her lip as she stared at the person who refused to admit everything that he had done for her and her eyes felt slightly hot—recently, he did not look very well and his face constantly held some fatigue and vulnerability to it. She had thought it was because he was tired out by affairs of the country, yet it was actually because of her.

Just that, why would simply adjusting meridians make this invincible human so exhausted?

Meng Fuyao eyebrows scrounged together, and she was about to ask a question when suddenly, the heavy and melancholic sound of music drifted over from a distance.

The song was old and sad, its notes heavy with a kind of innocent, pure, beauty like snow drifting over an ancient road in the dark of night.

The melody was neither xiao nor flute, differing from the xiao and clearer than the flute, yet carrying a kind of aftertaste as though drinking a bitter tea and reaching straight through one's heart. It made one remember the bittersweet taste of fate and life.

Still in embrace, the two of them listened quietly. When the song ended, Meng Fuyao's eyes had already become moist.

She murmured, ”Ocarina… I actually got to listen to an ocarina piece with my own ears…”

Zhangsun Wuji seemed to have thought of something and suddenly pushed her gently, saying, ”You should go.”

Meng Fuyao got up and smiled at him before turning to go outside. After crossing the courtyard, she reached a garden. In the garden was a pavilion, and standing on the roof of the pavilion, decked in snow-white robes, a man was facing the moon as he blew on the ocarina, a golden-red artifact with dragon and cloud designs. The melody was beautiful yet melancholic, carrying the feelings that had been accumulated over a long period of time.

His white robes swayed silently in the wind, and he looked as if there were some things long buried in his heart that he couldn't bring himself to say but was instead trying to express it with his actions.

Meng Fuyao stepped onto the roof as well, sitting down silently beside him. Unintentionally, she glanced at him only to see Zong Yue immediately turn away as well, but in that instance, she caught several drops reflecting the moonlight on his face.

Those were… tears?

Meng Fuyao's heart jumped! Zong Yue was actually, crying?

She had never thought that she would ever see this warm yet proud man shed tears in her lifetime.

But Zong Yue had already silently opened his mouth.

He said, ”Today is Ru Han's death anniversary… She has been gone for seven years.”

Meng Fuyao's heart skipped a beat.

'Who is Ru Han? His… sister? Lover?'

She remained silent, not wanting to ask. Since Zong Yue raised the matter himself, then he should be the one to initiate conversation, and she was only responsible for listening.

”She was my fiancée. We had been engaged since young. Back then, I didn't like her at all; such an oddball, preferring to play with spears and sticks despite being an aristocrat's daughter. It seemed like she didn't like me either, publicly declaring that I was weak and completely useless. We had a huge fight and parted, swearing that we would never marry each other.”

He smiled drily as he fiddled with the ancient ocarina in his hands. His eyes were gazing expressionlessly into the far horizon. It was as though his feelings were a leaf which had already been pressed between an old book and withered over the years, and taking it out would cause it to disintegrate into fine powder.

”After that, that same year, my family… had a tragedy, those that died, died, and those that escaped, escaped. Under the protection of the family guards, I was able to escape death countless times as I ran for my life for 3,000 miles. Back then, our enemy was powerful, and nobody dared to vouch for the innocence of my family. Actually, that was also very normal, everyone lives for themselves in this world, so where's the wrong in that?

”Much, much later, I finally heard that, after my family was obliterated, someone did stand up to speak, and that person was her. She had gone to the ruins of my house, found the broken shards of my ancestral plaque of merit and gone to the enemy's house, throwing the pieces on the ground in front of him and cursing for all to hear, 'Just three generations ago, your family swore an oath of brotherhood before the ancestors, never to betray each other, yet now you raise your sword! Justice demands retribution for your lack of loyalty!' Back then, everyone's expressions changed when they heard her, but she remained resolute as she said again, 'I am also one of the survivors of the Yue family who should have been killed, so please kill me!' When the enemy refused, she did not back down, circling the city three times carrying the ancestral plaque as she berated the enemy. Everyone mocked her and declared, 'Nie Ru Han must be killed!”