Chapter 039: The Rain Of Reunion

Zhou Yinzhi left.

Yan Lin sat in the study for a long time.

Outside, Qing Feng asked, “Young Master, what about Cengxiao Tower…”

Yan Lin slowly covered his face with his hand and asked, “Has Father returned?”

Qing Feng was taken aback and replied, “The Marquis should be in Chengqing Hall.”

Yan Lin then got up, left his study, and walked briskly along the corridor filled with rockeries towards Chengqing Hall.

Outside, the heavy rain was pouring.

Even walking under the corridor, the cold wind blew the cold rain onto him.

Qing Feng was quite startled. Seeing that Yan Lin had already walked several meters away, he quickly grabbed an umbrella and chased after him, “Young Master, the umbrella!”

Chengqing Hall in the Marquis of Yongyi’s residence was where the current Marquis of Yongyi, Yan Mu, Yan Lin’s father, usually stayed.

As Yan Lin approached, the old housekeeper outside greeted him with a smile, “The Heir Apparent is here. The servants just brought two jars of good wine, and the Marquis has already opened one. He was just thinking about who to drink with on this rainy day. You came at the right time.”

Yan Lin did not respond and did not stop walking.

The old housekeeper was a bit stunned and looked back at Yan Lin’s departing figure, unable to help but ask Qing Feng, “What’s wrong with the Young Master today?”

The Marquis of Yongyi, Yan Mu, was now in his forties, with some white hair, but it was not very noticeable.

Having come from a military background, led troops, and fought in battles, even at this age, he still looked very robust. His chin had a stiff beard, and his eyebrows and eyes carried a heroic spirit unique to military men. A faint scar could be seen on his forehead.

These were all left from the battles of the past.

At this moment, as the old housekeeper said, he had just opened a jar of wine.

There were some appetizers on the table.

The freshly opened wine was poured into a cup.

The aroma of the wine and the dishes spread in the humid air.

Seeing Yan Lin come in, he laughed heartily, his voice resonating in his chest, “Didn’t you say you were going out today? Why did you come over? Just in time, try this wine.”

The Marquis of Yongyi pointed to the wine cup on the table.

Yan Lin stood still in front of the table, staring at his father, his lips tightly pressed as if suppressing something. Then he raised his hand, picked up the cup, and drank it all in one go.

The young man, almost of age, swallowed.

A cup of strong wine went down his throat, burning from his mouth to his heart and lungs!

With a “bang,” the cup was heavily placed down.

The Marquis of Yongyi knew his son very well. They usually talked about everything, even knowing how much this boy liked the girl from the Jiang family. But he had never seen him like this.

So, he realized something was wrong.

The Marquis of Yongyi looked him up and down and laughed, “What, had a fight with that little girl Xuening?”

Yan Lin did not laugh. His gaze remained fixed on his father as he asked, “Father, do you know that the Emperor has sent the Jinyiwei to investigate the remnants of Prince Pingnan’s rebel party?”

“……”

The Marquis of Yongyi’s hand, which was reaching for the wine, suddenly stopped.

He looked up and met Yan Lin’s sharp gaze. The young man’s intensity was fully revealed in his eyes, leaving no place to hide. However, upon carefully considering the meaning of his words, the Marquis of Yongyi suddenly understood something in that instant.

There was no panic.

Nor was there surprise.

He actually laughed, then burst into loud laughter, as if recalling some absurd and ridiculous past, unable to help clapping his hands and shaking his head. When he spoke, it was with a deep-seated hatred and madness—

“What is meant to come will always come! Twenty years have passed, I haven’t forgotten, and those who did wrong haven’t forgotten either! Hahaha…”

*

Why did the Marquis of Yongyi have correspondence with the remnants of Prince Pingnan’s party?

Twenty years ago, when Prince Pingnan allied with the rebel party of the Tianjiao Sect to revolt, attacking the capital and storming the palace, the Marquis of Yongyi was still a loyal minister like the Duke of Cheng, making great contributions to quelling the rebellion.

In the previous life, some mysteries remained unsolved.

The appointed time had long passed, and Yan Lin still had not appeared.

Jiang Xuening’s heart slowly sank.

If she hadn’t been selected to enter the palace as a companion reader, she would have told Yan Lin a few days ago. But this group of people got involved and disrupted all her plans. In the palace, with so many people around, she had no chance to speak clearly.

And now, Yan Lin should already know, right?

Standing by the window of the private room on the second floor, she gazed at the rain outside.

It had been raining for a long time.

Raining heavily.

The sky had gradually darkened, and lights were lit all over the capital. The warm yellow light illuminated the windows of each house and the distant buildings, but in the splashing rain and mist, the outlines were blurred.

The wind was gradually becoming biting.

Tang’er and Lian’er, who were following her, saw the strong wind and couldn’t help but worry. They stepped forward to close the window and couldn’t help but complain, “The young master hasn’t come so late. Maybe something has delayed him. Miss, should we go back first?”

Jiang Xuening only said, “Don’t close it.”

Her voice was light, and her gaze did not shift, still falling on the bright lines of rain outside the window.

Lian’er and Tang’er exchanged a glance.

Today felt unusual.

The girl who never took the initiative to invite the young marquis out had invited him, and the young marquis, who was never late, had not yet arrived.

But they did not dare to ask more.

Jiang Xuening said not to close the window, so they had to withdraw their hands and tried to persuade her not to stand by the window. “Why don’t you sit inside? We will watch for you, and let you know when the young marquis arrives. The wind is so strong by the window, and your health isn’t the best. If you catch a cold, we can’t bear the responsibility.”

Jiang Xuening acted as if she hadn’t heard, not moving at all.

Lian’er and Tang’er dared not persuade her further.

The private room suddenly became quiet again, with only the sound of the rain outside and occasionally the clinking of glasses from nearby taverns.

The sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels broke through the rain.

Lian’er and Tang’er were startled.

But looking out the window, they saw that the carriage was not from the Marquis of Yongyi’s residence and did not stop at Cengxiao Tower but at Xichen Pavilion across the street. A servant got out first, respectfully holding an umbrella to welcome someone from the carriage.

Dressed in a dark blue robe, with a frown, seemingly disliking the rainy weather.

His features were decent, but his eyes were too deep.

His lips always seemed to hold a smile, but it wasn’t sincere, even carrying a natural coldness.

Jiang Xuening stood by the window and recognized him almost immediately—

It was Chen Ying!

A notorious harsh official of this dynasty, now the Assistant Minister of Justice, and the one who almost took Zhang Zhe’s life in the previous life…

Why was he here?

Jiang Xuening was stunned.

She saw Chen Ying being welcomed into Xichen Pavilion, and soon there was a lively chatter from the second floor, even through the rain, people warmly calling him “Lord Chen.”

At this moment, the waiter came in to change Jiang Xuening’s tea.

She asked, “It’s so late and raining heavily, yet Cengxiao Tower has no guests, while Xichen Pavilion is bustling.”

The waiter glanced out the window and laughed, “Oh, over there? I heard that Lord Chen from the Ministry of Justice is hosting a banquet. All the guests are officials from the Ministry of Justice, so it’s normal they’re not here. Last time, right after Lord Chen left, Master Xie was attacked here. Lord Chen thought it was unlucky and has been dining at Xichen Pavilion ever since.”

“Is that so?”

Jiang Xuening’s gaze remained on the window across the street where shadows moved.

She could see someone approaching.

Then the window outside was pushed open, and the smell of alcohol and laughter filled the room. From where Jiang Xuening stood, she could easily see the people inside, each with a flattering and fawning expression.

She frowned, knowing that if she could see them, they could see her too. She was about to turn around and ask Lian’er and Tang’er to close the window.

But just as she turned and was about to speak—

The scene from the open window of Xichen Pavilion flashed back in her mind, fixing on a quiet corner.

Her heart trembled slightly, and her body seemed to stiffen for a moment. With a strange sense of hope, she turned back and looked at the window again!

Inside Xichen Pavilion, a banquet was laid out, with exquisite dishes on the table and court officials sitting around.

Chen Ying was immediately invited to the head of the table.

Among these people, he held a high rank and was an official of the Ministry of Justice. Amidst the laughter and toasts, he stood up and sat down repeatedly, making the scene very lively. Thus, the quiet corner seemed out of place.

Partially obscured by the carved window, Jiang Xuening could only see a partial profile. Dressed in a dark blue round-collared robe commonly worn by lower-ranking officials, with slightly wide sleeves, his long but bony hands rested lightly on his separated knees.

Sitting on a round stool, his back was straight.

Zhang Zhe looked out at the continuous rain.

The bustling socializing behind him seemed not to touch his calm and solemn demeanor, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Even though it was just a glimpse of an incomplete profile, Jiang Xuening was certain—

It was him.

No one else.

This quiet posture of watching the rain, after so long, was still deeply etched in her memory, unable to be erased.

Master Zhang still liked watching the rain…

At this moment, Jiang Xuening felt a surge of warm tears in her eyes.

All the memories of the past life came flooding back.

Under the pavilion in the heavy rain, he stood at the bottom of the steps, tearing off the corner of his official robe that she had deliberately stepped on, then looked up at her with raindrops on his eyelashes;

In the afternoon at Qianqing Palace, he stood with his head bowed, lowering his gaze in front of her, his hand slowly clenching in a stiff arc;

On the muddy post road, he covered his injured shoulder, reaching out to her with a sprained ankle, his Adam’s apple moving slightly, and the blood winding on the ground;

…

Why did she have to provoke such a good person?

Perhaps there was a devil in her heart, wanting to stain the pure, to muddy the clear, to pull those high on the altar down into the struggles and pains of the mortal world…

Only then did she feel satisfied.

In the previous life, what she owed Yan Lin, he had repaid tenfold and a hundredfold; but what she owed Zhang Zhe, even if she gave her life, she could not repay.

She was the obstacle Zhang Zhe could never overcome in his righteous and austere life.

And Zhang Zhe was the last untainted corner of her heart, covered in dust.

There were moments when she thought: if she were not the Empress, she would marry this man at all costs. From then on, she would brush away every speck of dust from his clothes, pick up every stumbling block in his path, become a good person, and enjoy his kindness to her with a clear conscience.

But she was the Empress after all.

A heart obscured by worldly matters harmed both herself and him.

Jiang Xuening looked across, her vision slowly blurring, not knowing whether it was because of the pouring rain or the tears welling up…

Someone hurriedly went upstairs from Xichen Pavilion.

Zhang Zhe, who had been sitting by the window for a long time, finally moved.

The person said something to him, and he nodded, got up to bid farewell to the others, and without looking at their expressions, walked out of the open door.

He went downstairs.

The waiter at Xichen Pavilion handed him an umbrella at the door. He took it, opened the dark green oil-paper umbrella, and held it up.

As the umbrella lifted, his sharply defined face appeared under it, from the cold jaw to the tightly pressed thin lips, the straight nose, and the calm, narrow eyes with slightly furrowed long eyebrows…

As if sensing something, his gaze lifted.

And so, their eyes met.

Through the curtain-like rain and the long street, she was by the window upstairs, and he was at the steps downstairs.

A tear fell from Jiang Xuening’s eye without warning.

A drop of cold rain lightly fell on Zhang Zhe’s hand.

He felt as if he had been branded.

The bright girl, washed of all her makeup, without the faint obsession, stood clean and gentle behind his beloved rain, looking at him with eyes that were also raining.

At this moment, the fingers holding the umbrella tightened.

But he did not walk over, nor did he show any unusual expression. After a long gaze, he lowered his eyes, walked down the steps, and let the open umbrella hide all his secrets, gradually walking away from her sight.

Jiang Xuening thought: It’s good, nothing has happened yet.