Chapter 35
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Almost a week had passed since the absurd and unseemly incident in the main hall.
During this week, Fu Nian had obediently followed palace regulations and done his work. Except for the time he secretly sneaked into the study once to take a few scrolls of unused silk, sprinkled some ink to give it an aged appearance, preparing to report back, he had been unusually well-behaved the rest of the time.
Of course, during this week… Chu Zhaoyi hadn’t summoned him again.
There were a few times they crossed paths during duties, but both acted like strangers. Even if they accidentally made eye contact, Chu Zhaoyi still looked at him with the same disdain as always.
After that sudden incident, Fu Nian had realized that his death in the previous life must have struck Chu Zhaoyi to some extent. It wasn’t just the simple sorrow of a guard dog dying. There might also be the grief of losing a compliant… bed partner. Otherwise, it was truly inexplicable. A fake person in the sleeping hall, and he ordered him to not make a sound and not show his face. He could only use a “pleasant” silhouette to…
In any case, Fu Nian had figured it out. As long as that silhouette remained, Chu Zhaoyi would be quite lenient towards his usual behavior. This was a good thing; he could exploit it to gain the information he wanted. If necessary, Fu Nian might even mimic his previous self from the last world to gain more advantages.
As night fell, Fu Nian had just changed out of his attire from the day and was about to lie down.
Suddenly, he heard a sound by the window.
Fu Nian opened the window and found a black bird pecking incessantly at the windowsill. He quickly realized that it might be Fu Zhen looking for him. Disregarding sleep, he quietly retrieved the fragments of the imperial decree he had been collecting over the past few days, tucked them into his clothing, and left his room.
With autumn approaching, there was a chill in the air at night. The sound of the wind rustling through the leaves could conveniently mask most of his footsteps.
Following the claw marks of the black bird, Fu Nian discreetly made his way out of Chengyuan Hall.
The claw marks eventually stopped in front of a rockery. Fu Nian hastened over and, at the pavilion on top of the hill, indeed spotted the familiar figure. Just like before, Fu Zhen preferred moon-white robes, his hair tied low. At first glance, he appeared gentle and bright.
However, this time there was a faint smell of alcohol around Fu Zhen, not unpleasant but still distinctly detectable from a few steps away.
“I’ve seen the Lord.” Fu Nian performed the customary salutation and quickly took out the results of his efforts over the past few days, handing them over. “I’m incompetent. I’ve only managed to find some fragments, without much of His Majesty’s own handwriting, and no complete scrolls.”
Handing over the results of several days’ work, Fu Nian continued to keep his head down, waiting for the other party to accept them.
After a long while, he saw Fu Zhen turn around.
To his surprise, Fu Zhen didn’t take what he was holding out. He sighed, “Not only incompetent, but practically useless.”
Fu Nian didn’t argue, maintaining his posture of presenting the items.
Even if Chu Zhaoyi wasn’t a good person, he wouldn’t steal from Chu Zhaoyi to satisfy another, even worse entity.
“Wasn’t your performance quite impressive when you broke into my residence last time? Your actions were unstoppable even with a broken arm. So, why are you afraid to do the same here in Chengyuan Hall? Or is it that you think I’m easy to deceive and never even considered this matter seriously?”
“I followed the Lord’s orders. It’s just… I’m truly incompetent,” Fu Nian tried to feign helplessness, “Last time, it was mere curiosity on my part. I had never come across such daring books before… That’s why I took the liberty to touch your belongings. It wasn’t my intention to steal.”
As he spoke, Fu Nian couldn’t help but recall the trouble caused by that forbidden book, furrowing his brows in response.
After he finished speaking, he heard Fu Zhen chuckle, “Since it wasn’t theft, I won’t hold it against you. Read through them and then return them.”
“That book… is no longer here.” After saying this, Fu Nian clenched his teeth, “It was discovered during a search and reported. The books were burned, and I nearly ended up in the Department of Punishment.”
“I see.” Fu Zhen mumbled thoughtfully.
After a prolonged silence, Fu Zhen sighed again, “Forget it, I wanted to test your abilities this time. I didn’t expect not only for your abilities to be lacking but also for your sincerity to be lacking.”
“I’m absolutely loyal—”
“Cut the cr*p. You can’t fool me. It’s clear you didn’t want to steal, you didn’t take the task I assigned you seriously, and you had no intention of being loyal to me. You didn’t even take to heart what I told you earlier about not getting too close to that old fox, right?”
Fu Nian:…
“With that old fox’s character, if he received such an intimate item from a servant’s hand, he’d at the very least have them expelled from the palace. However, you didn’t face any punishment. Being rewarded so greatly… truly, there’s no need for you to ally yourself with someone powerless and without influence like me.” Fu Zhen’s face was rare without a hint of a smile. After speaking, he sighed again, his gaze lowered as he looked at the uneven porcelain tiles on the ground, “It’s also my fault for always leaving notes in every forbidden book, mainly because of my previous… curiosity about these forbidden books.”
Fu Nian still didn’t say anything, quietly taking back the fragments of the imperial decrees.
So, every volume had them? That means he inadvertently took the wrong book through his rash theft.
During the silence, he suddenly noticed Fu Zhen in front of him wiping at his eye corner with his sleeve. His breathing was uneven, and even though he was trying to suppress it, the sound of sobbing couldn’t be concealed.
Senior brother… why is he crying?
Fu Nian was taken aback. In his memory, senior brother had always been strong and had never shed a tear over anything. So why was he suddenly crying?
“I’m sorry. About the money… truthfully, I never intended to take your money. It’s just that I saw you resembling my former junior brother, the one who used to be the lapdog of that old fox… the previous complaints about him, the aversion to him, were all fake,” Fu Zhen’s tone had a hint of a sob by this point, after catching his breath, he continued, “He, the short knives, prosthetics, and books he used when he was young, I… I’ve kept them. I never thought he would become someone else’s lapdog. I never thought we would truly part ways, and back then, in a fit of anger, I gave him a blow… I never imagined he’d be exposed to the wilderness as a corpse, without even a grave. Our final clash turned out to be a final farewell…”
Fu Zhen didn’t finish the last part of his sentence. He slowly crouched down, initially sobbing strongly, then crying openly, muttering “I’m sorry” while sobbing, “After he died, I found out he tried to find me while he was alive. But I was beyond the borders at that time, and I never got the chance to apologize to him, to tell him that Senior Brother was wrong, that the blow didn’t seek forgiveness, even if I got stabbed in return…”
Fu Nian tightened his fists.
In his previous life, he had never seen senior brother lose control like this, nor had he thought that senior brother would regret giving him that blow. And to think he was still keeping the items from his childhood, and even after his death… crying as if for a child.
For a brief moment, Fu Nian almost wanted to admit it, to admit that he had returned… to tell senior brother that the blow was his punishment for betraying the sect, that he deserved it.
But reason stopped Fu Nian from doing so.
At the very least, he had to find the person who placed him with a gu first, investigate the regrets from his previous life within the palace, before he could reveal his identity to senior brother. As long as he continued to live within the palace, he had to live as “Lian Nian.”
Otherwise, everything he had done before would be in vain.
“Lord… please don’t cry anymore.” Finally, Fu Nian spoke in a bitter tone, awkwardly trying to console him.
Fu Zhen ignored his words completely. His crying grew louder, and he curled up on the ground, resembling a helpless and pitiable small animal. The gentle expression he usually wore was now tainted by tears, even making people feel a bit sympathetic.
Fu Nian turned his head and didn’t look again. But the scenes from his childhood with Senior Brother kept emerging in his mind.
So, after they went their separate ways, Senior Brother also regretted it.
Watching Fu Zhen curled up on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, Fu Nian hesitated for a moment before finally crouching down and pulling a clean piece of gauze from his sleeve, handing it over.
“Please stop crying.” In the end, Fu Nian could only offer weak comfort.
Fu Zhen, while sobbing, mumbled thanks and took the gauze from him.
“I will take my leave, Senior.” After saying this, Fu Nian left in haste.
Seeing Senior Brother in that state… if he stayed longer, Fu Nian couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t do something irrational, like revealing their identity right then and there.
Back in his room, Fu Nian changed out of his clothes that smelled of alcohol and sat on the bed, unable to sleep.
Even if Fu Zhen scolded him a bit more as a waste, he would accept it.
It was just that he was crying on one hand, apologizing to him, and on the other hand, talking about the deceased “Fu Nian”…
Seeing the bright moon overhead, the night had already passed halfway, and Fu Nian was restless and couldn’t sleep. The image of Senior Brother crying until he couldn’t breathe, along with the unnamed annoyance and self-blame, occupied his thoughts and prevented sleep.
The next morning, he had duties to attend to, so despite the fatigue and irritability from not sleeping all night, he got up, went to the courtyard, and splashed cold water on his face.
During the early morning duties, Fu Nian struggled to stifle yawns, but his mind couldn’t help but revisit the events of the previous night.
Finally, when his shift changed, he allowed himself to yawn.
As he walked back to the courtyard of his residence, he coincidentally bumped into Chu Zhaoyi who had just come out of the court.
He was still dressed in court attire, talking with the stern expression on his face to Ze Wang, and the eunuchs and guards behind him kept their distance of five steps, indicating that it was a serious matter.
Fu Nian halted his steps and leaned against the wall to listen.
Having undergone deliberate auditory training since childhood, he naturally had better hearing than most people. As long as there were objects that could conduct sound nearby, it wasn’t difficult to eavesdrop on a conversation conducted at a normal volume.
“……”
“……”
However, Chu Zhaoyi was naturally suspicious, and his voice was low. Ze Wang’s replies were also soft. After listening for a while, Fu Nian only caught a mention of “Distant Moon Sect,” his sect.
Fu Nian could only feel anxious.
Suddenly, Chu Zhaoyi’s voice grew significantly louder, his tone unsatisfactory as he angrily said, “Suddenly fell ill? It would be even better if that person surnamed Fu died. That Distant Moon Sect, a lingering and pestering place, should have disbanded a long time ago. Do you think writing a letter would get medicine from the palace? Or do you think I’ll send him a funeral banner?”
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