It’s not him?

Qi Yue stared at him in shock.

“Then, then…” she stammered, unable to speak.

What was going on?

Chang Yuncheng pulled her toward the tomb passage.

“I don’t know either, but I know it’s not me, because I haven’t died,” he said. Their footsteps echoed in the dim tomb passage, one after another reverberating.

What was happening?

They had now walked into the tomb chamber, where the white bones in the glass case were clearly visible.

White bones!

Chang Yuncheng couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly.

What was going on…

At that time, it was about half a year after Yueniang’s death.

“Lord, Lord, please listen to me…”

A’Ru pounded on the door forcefully, sobbing as she called out.

The door was suddenly yanked open, and Chang Yuncheng strode out in full military dress.

“Lord…” A’Ru rushed forward, calling out.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t even glance at her.

“Lord, the young marchioness asked me to tell you something. You must believe what she said, you must live well,” A’Ru caught up, choking as she called out.

Chang Yuncheng reached outside in a few steps, mounted his horse, and without looking at A’Ru from beginning to end, spurred his horse and galloped away.

A’Ru cried as she chased after him, but how could she catch up to a horse?

“Lord, if you don’t stop for a day, this servant won’t leave for a day,” she shouted hoarsely.

Horse hooves kicked up dust as the cavalry disappeared from sight.

The camp soldiers outside the government office looked at A’Ru with some sympathy and pity. Hu San, who had been standing aside, finally came forward to help support A’Ru.

“Let’s go back,” he said.

A’Ru wiped her eyes with her sleeve without saying much, obediently walking away.

“A’Ru…” Hu San hesitated to speak.

Before he could say anything, A’Ru interrupted him.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get married in another month. I’ve already sent word to Yuan Bao, he’s on his way here,” she said, sniffing. “The mistress is gone, but we still have to live as we should, no, we have to live even better, otherwise she won’t rest in peace even in death…”

Hu San sighed.

“A’Ru, that’s not what I meant,” he said, squeezing her hand. “The master passed away not long ago, and the Lord is still… don’t come here every day like this…”

A’Ru pressed her lips tightly together without speaking, lifting her feet to walk forward.

Hu San stopped talking and slowly followed behind.

They walked along the street for a short distance and saw a shop with three large characters “Qianjin Hall” hanging above it, with smaller characters “Liaodong Branch” beneath. People were constantly going in and out, mostly wounded soldiers and townspeople from the garrison.

“Miss A’Ru,” someone at the door saw her approaching and hurriedly called out, “There’s a patient here. Can you check if we need to clean the wound again before injection?”

A’Ru responded affirmatively and quickened her pace, running into the shop.

Hu San sighed behind her, looking up at the banner fluttering in the wind.

By then, we’ll have Qianjin Hall branches everywhere. Chief Steward Hu, you’ll have your work cut out for you.

That woman’s smiling face appeared before his eyes.

Cool snowflakes hit his face.

“Really, this place, it’s already spring and still snowing,” Hu San touched his face, muttering, shaking his hand as he went inside.

Near evening, a cavalry team galloped down the street, making the ground tremble.

This was Chang Yuncheng returning from patrol.

A’Ru, who was organizing medical records in the room, put down her pen and ran outside.

Hu San had been watching for this and stepped forward to stop her.

“A’Ru, stop making trouble!” he shouted.

“Let me go,” A’Ru shouted.

“I won’t let you go. What exactly are you trying to do? You surround the Lord every day, saying strange things. What will people say…” Hu San said.

A’Ru looked back at him and laughed coldly.

“I know what they say – that I want to use my position as the young marchioness’s maid to get close to the Lord, to become his concubine,” she said, her eyes reddening as she bit her lower lip. “What they say is none of my business! I just need to know what I have to do.”

“A’Ru, what exactly do you want to do?” Hu San shouted. “You go to bother the Lord every day like this…”

“The only thing the mistress asked me to do before she died is what I have to do! You don’t need to worry about it, none of you need to worry about it. You don’t know either, I just need to go find the Lord…” A’Ru shouted, struggling to break free from Hu San’s grip.

Just then, someone coughed lightly outside the door.

“Looking for me? What’s the matter?”

A man’s voice came through, and the two people arguing in the room paused, turning to look.

At the doorway, a man wearing plain brocade robes with a bright red cloak and a jade crown was looking over with a smile.

A’Ru felt momentarily dazed.

She seemed to see the young Chang Yuncheng.

“Miss A’Ru, were you looking for me?” the man continued, walking in. “I heard you calling ‘Lord’ from outside the door.”

A’Ru came back to her senses.

“Third Young Master?” she called out, very surprised.

Chang Yunqi looked at her with a slight smile.

“Third Young Master?” he asked back.

A’Ru lowered her head and bowed.

“Lord,” she called softly.

Chang Yunqi’s position as heir had been confirmed. Now he was the Lord of Marquis Dingxi’s household, while Chang Yuncheng was just a young master of Marquis Dingxi’s household.

Hu San had no feelings whatsoever for the people of Marquis Dingxi’s household, but rather carried deep disgust.

If it hadn’t been for the divorce, how could today have happened…

Just thinking about this, if not everyone, at least everyone in Qianjin Hall hated Marquis Dingxi’s household with gnashing teeth.

Though it was somewhat forced, natural disasters and human calamities were merciless, but everyone’s grief and anger ultimately needed somewhere to rest.

Marquis Dingxi’s household was perfect for this.

“Is the Lord here for medical consultation?” Hu San asked.

Chang Yunqi smiled faintly, ignoring Hu San and looking at A’Ru instead.

“I’m going to see my brother. Since Miss A’Ru also wants to go, why don’t we go together?” he said.

“We’re not going,” Hu San said ungraciously.

A’Ru didn’t speak either, but lowered her head and turned to organize the medical records, using her actions to show her attitude.

“I want to go talk to my brother about Yueniang,” Chang Yunqi suddenly said.

A’Ru’s hand paused.

“Good, Lord. Qianjin Hall isn’t far from Master Chang’s government office. If you get injured, our treatment will be very timely,” Hu San said sarcastically.

Chang Yunqi had already turned around and walked two steps before looking back.

“A’Ru, tell me, when did Qi Yueniang die?” he asked, as if remembering something.

Hu San snorted and was about to say something when he heard a “thud.”

The medical records that A’Ru had been holding to stack fell heavily onto the table.

In others’ eyes, there was only one Qi Yueniang, but A’Ru knew that there were two Qi Yueniangs in the world…

When did Qi Yueniang die? This was something everyone knew.

What everyone didn’t know was the death of the other Qi Yueniang…

Third Young Master, how could he know?

A’Ru turned around, looking at Chang Yunqi with terror all over her face.

In the government office, Chang Yuncheng, who had not yet removed his armor, turned around to look at the two people before him.

“What did you say?” he asked.

Since Qi Yueniang’s death, apart from necessary military affairs, he rarely spoke in public or private, hardly speaking at all. After more than half a year, even when he did speak, it sounded somewhat strange.

Chang Yunqi in front of him was taking off his cloak, while A’Ru kept her head down, seeming to tremble slightly.

Chang Yunqi didn’t look at him, but looked toward A’Ru instead.

“What kind of person was she?” he asked again.

Still these questions without beginning or end…

Just like him as a person, just like those people in the family, all inexplicable, without beginning or end…

Chang Yuncheng said nothing more and ignored him, slowly washing his hands in the copper basin.

“She wasn’t Qi Yueniang, was she?” Chang Yunqi asked again.

Chang Yuncheng’s scrubbing motion paused slightly, but he quickly continued washing his hands.

“From the day she entered our marquis’s household, I was with her almost constantly, sitting, lying, walking, stopping,” Chang Yunqi continued. “What kind of temperament she had, I think, in this household, apart from grandmother, only I knew best.”

At this point, he looked toward A’Ru.

“Medical skills?” He laughed, then sighed. “She didn’t know any medical skills at all.”

Chang Yuncheng finished washing his hands and took a towel to dry them. His movements were very slow.

Chang Yunqi finished this sentence and said no more.

The room fell silent.

Chang Yuncheng slowly dried his hands, again and again.

“When did she come?” Chang Yunqi suddenly said, looking at A’Ru. “Was it that time, when she hanged herself?”

A’Ru raised her head, her eyes showing complex emotions.

Chang Yuncheng also stopped drying his hands.

“Yes,” A’Ru said.

The room fell silent again.

Chang Yunqi suddenly laughed.

“So my Qi Yueniang had already died at that time,” he said, his laughter somewhat muffled and hoarse. “So she was already dead then…”

By the end, his laughter had become hoarse and turned into choking sobs.

His Yueniang, his moon, had ultimately been unwilling to leave Qiutong Court, dying without accepting even the slightest bit of his feelings…

That woman who walked out and smiled at him slightly was not his Yueniang.

“Then who was she? Who exactly was she?” he suddenly raised his voice and roared.

“She was Qi Yue, she was a doctor, she was a wandering lonely soul who had met with an accident,” A’Ru also said loudly. “She said she wasn’t from here, but from another… another world…”

At this point, she knelt down and grabbed Chang Yuncheng’s clothes.

“Lord, the young marchioness said she was going back, you must live well, live well, otherwise she won’t be at peace…” she cried. “She said she had a man and would live well. If she died, it wasn’t death, she could go back. Lord, at that time, when she first came, she tried to hang herself more than once, saying that if she died she could go back, and she insisted on staying in Qiutong Court because she came from there, thinking that she could go back from there…”

At that time…

“Chang Yuncheng, after I go back, I absolutely won’t bother you anymore. I’ll just live in Qiutong Court, won’t manage the household anymore, won’t care about anything, won’t want anything, just let me live there, I guarantee I’ll be obedient and peaceful.”

That woman had grabbed his sleeve and pleaded, her eyes full of terror.

So the terror wasn’t about him not wanting her, but about leaving the place where she could return.

At that time, the great fire at Qiutong Court had driven that woman to madness…

Someone was shaking his arm forcefully.

Chang Yuncheng suddenly came back to his senses.

“What are you doing? You scared me to death!” Qi Yue cried, reaching out to hug him.

He had been staring at those white bones as if his soul had left his body, making her think he was about to disappear, to vanish…

“Let’s go, let’s go, we won’t look anymore,” she cried, trying to drag him outside.

Chang Yuncheng felt both amused and heartbroken. He reached out to embrace her, comforting her in his arms, nuzzling her head.

“Yueniang, I was wrong before,” he said.

Qi Yue looked up at him.

“You’re not a coward,” Chang Yuncheng said. “I know now, you’re very brave. A lonely soul inexplicably came to a strange, completely different world, facing us strange people, strange rules and customs. Even I, a man, would feel nervous and uneasy, constantly vigilant, careful with every step, but you could still laugh, still make trouble, still save lives, still do so many things…”

Qi Yue looked at him, and the tears that had stopped began to flow again.

Chang Yuncheng reached out to touch her face, wiping away her tears.

“Yueniang, no, Qi Yue, I love you,” he said.