After leaving Grand Tutor Manor, Lu Tong didn’t go directly back to West Street, but turned toward Official Lane.

The medical hall was missing a medicinal ingredient – yellow mallow. Miao Liangfang urgently needed it ground into powder, so he had asked the medical shop for it. Since Lu Tong would pass Official Lane on her way back to West Street from Grand Tutor Manor, she had said before leaving that she would pick it up on her return.

When she reached the medical shop, she obtained a small bag of yellow mallow powder, paid the silver, and walked back carrying the cloth bag.

It was still early, with crowds bustling all around. She walked absent-mindedly along with the flow of people. As she walked, the surrounding crowd suddenly rushed about in escape. Lu Tong paused, feeling several cool drops fall on her. Looking up, she saw thick clouds gathering overhead, with long curtains of rain suddenly arriving.

At some point, it had begun to rain.

She hadn’t brought an umbrella when she left, and this place was still far from West Street. The pattering rain quickly soaked her entire body.

Ink-black rain fell like spilled ink, endless flying droplets, hurried figures of pedestrians seeking shelter from the rain. She stood dazed, gazing toward the Imperial City shrouded in fine rain. Suddenly, someone behind her pulled her, a paper umbrella quickly covered her head, and a familiar voice sounded by her ear: “What are you doing standing there getting soaked?”

Lu Tong looked up.

Pei Yunying stood before her.

His appearance was so sudden that Lu Tong couldn’t help but feel momentarily dazed.

The young man should have just finished his duties, still wearing his official robes. Seeing her silent, he reached out to touch her forehead.

That slightly cool hand fell on her forehead like a snowflake about to melt, yet it gradually cleared Lu Tong’s previous confusion.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“Looking for you. I heard you went to Official Lane, so I came to try my luck. I didn’t expect to find you standing in the rain like you were being punished.” He withdrew his hand, frowning at Lu Tong. “You don’t have a fever, do you?”

Lu Tong remained silent. He glanced at her thoroughly soaked dress and took off his outer robe to drape over her shoulders.

“Your clothes are wet. This place is close to Commander Manor. Let’s go there to take shelter from the rain.”

Without waiting for Lu Tong’s refusal, he pulled her into the horse carriage without question.

…

Lu Tong went with Pei Yunying to Commander Manor.

Commander Manor was empty, with only two rotating guards at the gate.

Seeing Lu Tong, the guards immediately beamed with smiles, about to greet her, but after Pei Yunying glanced at them, they shrank back and focused on their guard duties.

Pei Yunying brought Lu Tong to a small room in Commander Manor, saying, “There are new guard uniforms on the table. Make do with them for now. I’ll have someone dry your dress for you.” He then explained, “Commander Manor doesn’t have women’s clothing.”

Lu Tong agreed.

“You change,” he said. “I’ll guard the door.”

Lu Tong closed the door.

The small room wasn’t large, with a wooden couch against the wall. Behind a hibiscus screen was a half-person-high wooden tub. A black silver-embroidered cloak was draped over the screen, looking somewhat familiar.

Looking at it, Lu Tong remembered – it seemed to be the cloak she had seen when she encountered Pei Yunying at Yuxian Tower that time.

This seemed to be Pei Yunying’s occasional resting place.

She glanced toward the door, then without further hesitation, removed her soaked dress and put on clean clothes.

After changing, Lu Tong opened the door. Pei Yunying turned around, looked her over, and frowned. “Has the Medical Academy been mistreating you? You’ve gotten so thin.”

She didn’t need to wear the guards’ armor, so she only wore the innermost layer of cloth garment. She was naturally slender to begin with, and the guard uniform hung loosely on her. Her hair was also let down, damp on her shoulders, her face pitifully pale.

Lu Tong stepped out. “It’s because your clothes are too big.”

He smiled without saying anything, picked up the black cloak from the screen to drape over her, and ordered someone to dry Lu Tong’s wet dress.

After doing all this, Lu Tong followed him into the study.

Xiao Zhufeng wasn’t there today, but the desk was still piled with official documents. Pei Yunying poured her a cup of tea. The tea was hot, warm to hold in her palms.

It would be excessive to light a fire in the room at this season. Lu Tong wore the guard uniform with Pei Yunying’s cloak draped over her, holding the tea and sipping it in small mouthfuls. As soon as it entered her mouth, she paused. “Sweet syrup?”

“Ginger honey water.”

Pei Yunying said, “You got caught in the rain. Drink ginger water to ward off the cold.”

Lu Tong said nothing more.

Outside the window, the sound of rain pattered, striking the paulownia tree in front of the door with a rustling sound.

Both were very quiet.

Today she was more silent than usual, always seeming somewhat absent-minded.

Pei Yunying glanced at her and suddenly said, “I heard that Qi Yutai put his hands on you today.”

Lu Tong’s tea-drinking motion stopped.

In Grand Tutor Manor, the guard who had interrupted Qi Yutai and led her away under the pretext of Qi Huaying summoning her had a red birthmark at the corner of his eye.

Pei Yunying had once said that was his person stationed at Grand Tutor Manor.

The timing had been very fortunate.

Lu Tong said, “Your Lordship is thoughtful. I haven’t thanked Your Lordship yet.”

Pei Yunying heard the distance in her words, his expression somewhat strange. After thinking, he said, “You staying at Grand Tutor Manor all the time is still too dangerous. Even with someone watching from the shadows, it’s not foolproof.” He said, “Now that the Qi family is entangled in troubles, why don’t you wait until after the ceremony, and I’ll help you…”

“Lord Pei,” Lu Tong interrupted him, “When seeking revenge for others, one only stops at the coffin. If I were afraid of death, I wouldn’t have come to the capital in the first place.”

He frowned. “What if the guard hadn’t appeared today? What if he had done something to you…”

“No matter by what means, I must have my revenge.”

Her tone was very firm.

Outside the window, wind and rain were bleak, rainwater striking the window eaves, blurring the outside into a hazy white mist.

Pei Yunying stared at her. After a moment, he spoke: “If your family were here…”

“Don’t mention them.”

As if he had touched some taboo, she suddenly became agitated.

Pei Yunying was startled.

She rarely showed anger, her jet-black eyes bright and piercing, her tone sharp and harsh.

“What does this amount to? Lord Pei, didn’t your guard tell you about my days at Grand Tutor Manor?”

“Every day I have to bow to them dozens of times, serving the enemy who killed my entire family. I have to be respectful to them, call them ‘my lord.’ No matter how disgusting it feels, I have to bow my head, because this way they’ll let their guard down and it’s easier to strike.”

She looked at Pei Yunying. “For revenge I can do anything – no dignity, no future, no human feelings. Lord Pei, this is who I am, this is what matters most to me.”

Pei Yunying’s brow furrowed deeply.

She steadied herself. “Lord Pei, thank you for Huangmao Hill, but I was too naive then, I thought everything too simply. The me now doesn’t think kneeling makes one inferior. Never mind him putting his hands on me – even if I became his plaything, I’d know what I was doing. As long as I don’t look down on myself, no one else can ever look down on me.”

“Stop talking.” He suddenly spoke, anger hidden in his tone.

Whether it was for her profound self-deprecation or for this clear, deliberate drawing of distance.

Lu Tong looked at him. Those usually calm, untroubled eyes were not as clear as usual – turbid and murky, like anger, yet seeming like deeper sorrow.

His heart suddenly softened, and his tone became gentler.

“I said I would help you.”

Lu Tong’s heart trembled. Her fingertips hidden in her sleeves clenched deeply into her palms, the pain making her suddenly clear-headed.

“What exactly is the Commander doing?”

She spoke coldly: “The old debt from Sunan has long been repaid. Can’t you see that I’ve been using you all along?”

“I never said I wouldn’t let you use me.” He suddenly interrupted Lu Tong’s words.

Lu Tong paused.

Pei Yunying stared steadily at her.

“Lu Tong, you can use me.”

Outside the window, the rain grew more urgent, sounding bleak and mournful. The chilling cold penetrated through the window into the room. The young man sat across from her, those usually smiling eyes now devoid of laughter, their expression dark and unclear.

She suddenly shivered, instinctively wanting to pull the outer robe tighter around herself, but stopped abruptly just as it was within reach.

This garment, this garment of Pei Yunying’s was made of fine material, the silk luxurious and substantial. When draped over a person, it was like a warm cloud. The cloud enveloped her, and even the cold wind that blew in their faces when carriages raced through the rain on an afternoon didn’t seem chilly.

But cool summer nights would pass, wind leaves no trace when it blows, and beautiful warm outer garments would one day be draped over someone else’s shoulders.

Stories without endings are better not begun.

Lu Tong lowered her head, set the hot tea back on the table, and stood up.

“I should go back.”

She avoided his gaze.

Pei Yunying paused, wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing and stood up. “I’ll see you off.”

“No need.” Her answer was very firm.

Pei Yunying frowned. After a moment, he finally compromised: “I’ll have Qing Feng see you off.”

This time Lu Tong didn’t refuse again.

Qing Feng took Lu Tong away, leaving the vast study with only one person again.

On the table remained her half-finished cup of ginger honey water. Pei Yunying rubbed his temples, looking troubled.

Today’s Lu Tong was very unusual.

She was always calm normally. Since their recognition at Huangmao Hill, this was the first time she had spoken to him so coldly. It was as if she had suddenly wrapped herself in a layer of outer clothing, clearly separating herself from others.

Leaving no room for discussion.

The scout at Grand Tutor Manor reported that Qi Yutai had acted frivolously toward Lu Tong today, but that alone shouldn’t have caused such a reaction from Lu Tong. It seemed more like she was deliberately distancing herself from him.

What exactly had happened?

He sat in his chair, brow tightly furrowed. Just as he was pondering, Chi Jian entered from outside.

“My lord,” Chi Jian said, “Someone has come from Duke Zhaoning’s manor.”

“They say the ancestral hall caught fire and Madam’s memorial tablet was damaged. They request that you return to the manor immediately.”

Before he finished speaking, Pei Yunying suddenly looked up: “What?”

…

In the ancestral hall of Duke Zhaoning’s manor, rows of memorial tablets stood in solemn darkness.

A man in brocade robes stood before the tablets, holding long incense sticks, bowing to each one in turn.

Behind him came a crisp “bang” as the door was pushed open and someone entered from outside.

As soon as Pei Yunying entered the ancestral hall, he immediately looked toward a certain direction. When he saw the rows of intact tablets and undamaged wooden beams, his expression immediately darkened.

“You lied to me?”

“If I hadn’t said that, how would you have come back?”

The speaker inserted the last stick of incense, turned around, and revealed a face six or seven parts similar to the young man’s.

It was Duke Zhaoning, Pei Di.

“Since New Year, you haven’t come home for most of the year.” Pei Di looked at the person before him.

Pei Yunying sneered: “My lord seems to have forgotten that this place is not my home.”

He had rushed back from outside, his clothes damp from the rain, his hair tips also wet with moisture – clearly he had returned immediately upon hearing the news.

Pei Di lowered his eyes.

This son had always been like this. There was nothing about the Pei family worth cherishing, except for his mother.

Even though his mother was no longer there.

Pei Yunying glanced at him and curled his lips in a mocking smile. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.” With that, he turned as if to leave.

“Wait.”

The young man’s smile grew deeper as he turned to look at him. “My lord, speak directly. Don’t waste both our time.”

Pei Di looked at him.

The young man’s eyes smiled, but couldn’t hide the rebelliousness and coldness in his gaze.

He was completely different from his mother, different from anyone in Duke Zhaoning’s manor.

Sometimes affectionate, sometimes heartless.

After a long while, Pei Di spoke: “The Crown Prince has been confined.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Will you work for the Third Prince?”

“What does that have to do with you?”

He was so unruly that Pei Di also grew slightly angry, his tone becoming stern.

“This was done by His Majesty. His Majesty intends to change the heir apparent, but you should know that the Pei family faction has long been united with the Crown Prince.”

Hearing this, Pei Yunying laughed.

As if he had heard something extremely ridiculous, he laughed until his whole body shook, laughed until he couldn’t stop. Finally, he spoke coldly.

“His Majesty fears the Crown Prince will harm the Third Prince, so he strikes first. Confining the Crown Prince is the first step. But why does he want to confine the Crown Prince? Is it because he fears history will repeat itself?”

“Because he killed his own brother to gain the throne, so he worries the Crown Prince will kill his more beloved third son and repeat the cycle?”

Pei Di’s pupils contracted: “How do you…”

Pei Yunying sneered coldly, his tone becoming increasingly aggressive: “How exactly did the former Crown Prince die in that autumn flood? Why did the former Emperor fall gravely ill and die soon after? Doesn’t Duke Zhaoning know better than anyone?”

“He committed patricide and fratricide, disregarding human relationships. And you, to curry favor with him, to preserve your wealth and status, used your own wife as a gift of allegiance, watching her die and doing nothing to save her as she perished in the chaos!”

The ancestral hall fell silent as death.

Pei Yunying looked at the person before him, his eyes full of disgust and hatred.

Back then, he only knew the tip of the iceberg and didn’t understand why his father hadn’t saved his threatened mother at the time. He was only disappointed by the other’s cowardice. After a big fight with his father in the ancestral hall, he angrily left home, vowing to seek justice for his mother himself.

Until later when he learned everything.

The truth was more disgusting than what the world saw.

And his father was nothing but a shameless villain who climbed to power over his bedmate’s blood and tears.

“Yunying.”

Pei Di looked at him. After only brief shock, Duke Zhaoning had already regained his composure, his tone still gentle, like a father patiently explaining to an ignorant child.

“The general trend was unstoppable. The former Crown Prince was already dead. In the court, only His Majesty could shoulder great responsibility. His Majesty is suspicious by nature. Your maternal grandfather’s family had close dealings with the former Crown Prince. If we hadn’t done this, how could we have preserved the Pei family, how could we have preserved you?”

“Even if your mother were alive, she would have wanted me to do this.”

“Shut up!”

Pei Yunying roared: “Don’t mention my mother.”

He stepped back two paces, his gaze sweeping over the rows of neat tablets in the room, speaking mockingly.

“Lord Pei, you place my mother’s tablet in the ancestral hall and worship her regularly. Have you never felt guilty for even a moment?”

“I forgot,” he smiled, “you have no heart at all.”

Pei Di paused: “No matter what you think, I did everything for the Pei family.”

“All these years, I know you resent me, hate me, but you still carry Pei family blood. If the Third Prince ascends to the throne in the future, he won’t tolerate the Pei family, and he may not tolerate you either. In the royal family, you’ve surely heard of disposing of useful tools once they’re no longer needed.”

He reminded: “You still bear the Pei surname. If the Pei family falls, you can’t escape either.”

Pei Yunying chuckled: “I don’t care.”

Pei Di was stunned.

“I don’t care whether others can tolerate me or not. Even if I die, that’s a matter for the future. From the first day I entered the Palace Guards, I swore that I and the Pei family would have no more connection.”

He stared steadily at Pei Di, his lip curl contemptuous. “Lord Pei, since you made your choice, you should be able to accept losing.”

“Back then you made your choice and enjoyed wealth for twenty years. Now that you’ve discovered you chose wrong, don’t act desperately – that will only make people look down on you.”

“Accept your losses gracefully. You taught me that.”

Pei Di stared at him in a daze.

It seemed that only at this moment did he clearly realize that this son had completely broken free of his control, and with his mother’s death and Pei Yunshu’s divorce, there was no longer anyone in this world who could bind him.

He truly had no concerns.

“Do you know that when His Majesty ascended the throne, some people suggested not sparing your life?”

After a long while, Pei Di spoke.

“His Majesty ultimately harbored some suspicion of you. It was I who vouched for you with all my might, saving your life. Otherwise, you wouldn’t exist in this world today.”

Pei Yunying feigned surprise: “Is that so?”

“Then it’s even more remarkable that I now have His Majesty’s deep trust.” He smiled carelessly. “Besides, how does Lord Pei know that no one wanted my life back then?”

“Your illegitimate sons, your concubines, your second wife, your enemies…”

“I’m alive because of my own efforts, not because of your incompetent protection, Lord Pei.”

Pei Di frowned: “What are you saying?”

Pei Yunying said indifferently: “The blood ties and family affection between me and the Pei family disappeared completely after my mother’s death. Lord Pei need not try to bind me with this – it’s useless.”

“As for the future, Lord Pei can save himself.”

“After all,” he curled his lips, “that’s what I did back then.”

Having said this, he nodded and turned to leave the ancestral hall. Just as he exited, he ran into someone face-to-face – his half-brother Pei Yunxiao.

Pei Yunxiao didn’t know what had happened, only saw that Pei Di’s expression was unpleasant, and having vaguely heard of past events, he tried to mediate gently.

“Big brother, you and father are blood relatives. Now that the Pei family is in trouble, you should work together…”

“Second Young Master Pei,” Pei Yunying interrupted him, “now you’re the ones asking for help. Rather than lecturing me here, you’d better read more books and develop some real abilities.”

Pei Yunying looked at him mockingly: “After all, without the Pei family, you Second Young Master Pei are nothing. But without the Pei family, Pei Yunying is still Pei Yunying.”

Pei Yunxiao froze in place as Pei Yunying turned and left.

He walked away without any reluctance. In the courtyard, palace lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind and rain, their colorful tassels soaked by rainwater, no longer floating but sticking together dampiy.

The young man glanced at them, his expression momentarily dazed.

He still remembered how much his father had favored him in his childhood. He was the eldest son and legitimate heir. Pei Yunxiao was taciturn and weak, while he was cheerful and loved to laugh – his father loved him most.

The lantern festival at Jingde Gate was always lively. His mother, afraid of the dangerous crowds outside, wouldn’t let him go, but Concubine Mei agreed to let Pei Yunxiao attend. When evening came, seeing Pei Yunxiao return home with a lantern in hand, he refused to eat out of spite and cried alone in his room at night from grievance.

Pei Di came in from outside, handed him a rabbit flower lantern, held him on his knee, and said to him: “Shh, next time father will take you. Don’t tell your mother.”

Young Pei Yunying held the rabbit flower lantern and smiled through his tears.

The rain was misty, the palace lanterns beaten wet, their patterns gradually blurring in the moisture.

Pei Yunying didn’t look at the palace lanterns again and walked past them indifferently.

After all, that was a very, very long time ago.