Fan Changyu stood there dumbfounded, like a silly goose.
Xie Zheng, seeing her rooted to the spot, said, "No need to be shy."
Fan Changyu shot him an annoyed glare but, mindful that they were before the graves of General Xie and Madam Xie, she restrained herself a little more.
She averted her gaze and turned to the tombstones of General Xie and his wife. The thought that she had just been bickering with Xie Zheng in front of their graves made her feel even more awkward.
She knelt down and said, "This junior, Changyu, descendant of Meng Shuyuan, pays respects to the General and Madam."
With that, she kowtowed three times.
Her maternal grandfather had once been a key general under Xie Linshan, so the ties between their families were not shallow.
Xie Zheng listened as she paid respects to his parents as a descendant of the Meng family, his expression unreadable. He simply addressed the silent tombstones in the night: "This is your future daughter-in-law."
Fan Changyu blushed furiously for the first time ever. After rising to her feet, she snapped at Xie Zheng, "Stop talking nonsense."
Xie Zheng raised an eyebrow slightly. "In this lifetime, if I don’t marry you, who else would I marry? Sooner or later, you’ll be their daughter-in-law. How is that nonsense?"
Fan Changyu decided to ignore him and turned to look back the way they had come. "We’ve delayed long enough. Let’s hurry down the mountain, or Uncle Zhong will start worrying."
The overturned lantern had long since burned out, but in the moonlight, one could faintly make out her crimson earlobes, like fiery red pyracantha berries adorning a snow-covered tree—so vivid they seemed tempting to bite.
Xie Zheng’s gaze darkened as he stared at her earlobes.
When Fan Changyu turned back after speaking, she met his unfathomable eyes. She froze for a moment, instinctively pinching her burning earlobes, and urged, "Let’s go."
With that, she strode ahead.
Xie Zheng watched her almost fleeing figure, the corners of his lips lifting slightly, before following at a leisurely pace.
Once the hour of Xu passed, the street where the Prime Minister’s residence stood fell into dead silence, with scarcely a bark from dogs to be heard.
Wei Yan’s carriage stopped at the gate of the residence. A cold wind blew, scattering withered frost-covered leaves from the elm and poplar trees lining the street, adding to the desolate scene.
As Wei Yan stepped down from the carriage using the footstool, Wei Xuan rushed out from the gate, his face anxious as he hurried forward. "Father, you’ve finally returned..."
Wei Yan’s aged yet even more imposing phoenix eyes glanced at his only son, and his first words were a reprimand: "What is this flustered behavior? Where is your decorum?"
Wei Xuan, though arrogant in front of others, had a fear of Wei Yan that seemed ingrained in his bones. Gritting his teeth, he said with sorrow, "Mother is ill. You—"
Wei Yan stepped onto the stone stairs leading to the residence and instructed the old servant following him, "Wei Quan, take my token and summon Physician Hu from the Imperial Hospital."
Wei Xuan trailed closely behind him. Seeing Wei Yan enter the residence and head toward his study, he clenched his fists at his sides and finally shouted at his father’s retreating back, "Can’t you at least go see Mother?"
This outburst was his protest on behalf of his mother.
The attending servants visibly tensed, not daring to breathe loudly.
This was the first time Wei Xuan had ever defied the father he revered. Stubbornly staring at Wei Yan’s back, he choked out, "The physician said Mother is ill from sorrow and worry. She forbade me from coming to you... She said she mustn’t trouble you. Please, just go see her..."Wei Xuan wiped his eyes somewhat awkwardly with the back of his hand. Though he acted like an arrogant tyrant in front of outsiders, before Wei Yan, he always remained as restrained as a child, no matter the circumstances.
Wei Yan halted his steps, casting only a cold glance at Wei Xuan before heading wordlessly toward the study.
The attendants hurried after him, leaving Wei Xuan standing alone in place. He curled his lips in a self-deprecating and sorrowful smile, looking more miserable than if he had been crying.
Steward Wei Quan approached only after everyone had left. "Young master, don't fret," he said. "This old servant has already sent someone to fetch Physician Hu from the Imperial Hospital. The Prime Minister has been swamped with matters recently and truly has no energy left to deal with household affairs."
A vein bulged at Wei Xuan’s neck as he clenched his jaw tightly. "Is it because I’m not as promising as Xie Zheng that Father dislikes me and takes it out on Mother as well?"
Wei Quan quickly replied, "Young master, don’t speak recklessly. If these words reach the Prime Minister’s ears, you’ll be punished again."
Wei Xuan burst into laughter, his eyes brimming with resentment. "Punished, then so be it. All these years, the only time he truly looks at me is when he’s reprimanding me for my mistakes. I can’t compare to Xie Zheng, nor can I match his prized disciples. What about me, aside from sharing his blood, is worth his attention?"
Wei Quan looked at Wei Xuan, whose expression hovered between laughter and tears, with a complicated gaze. "Young master, don’t belittle yourself. From the Prime Minister’s position, the matters he must consider are endless. It’s only natural he has no time for the household. Let this old servant escort you back."
Wei Xuan knew Wei Quan’s words held truth.
Sometimes, he didn’t know whether he resented Wei Yan or himself.
Wei Yan had no concubines besides his mother, the principal wife.
But for as long as Wei Xuan could remember, Wei Yan only visited his mother’s courtyard for the New Year’s Eve dinner and never stayed the night. For over a decade, he had resided in his study.
The servants of Wei Mansion were exceedingly proper; none dared to slight his mother. She enjoyed all the dignity befitting a first-rank lady of Imperial decree of honor.
Yet, the older Wei Xuan grew, the more he grieved for his mother.
Wei Yan had never had eyes for his mother. It seemed he was born indifferent to women, caring only for power.
But his mother’s family was unremarkable. It was only through Wei Yan’s support that his maternal grandfather attained a fifth-rank position in the capital, finally securing a foothold in the city.
In the past, to gain Wei Yan’s attention, Wei Xuan had repeatedly acted out—frequenting brothels, keeping singing girls—all the disgraceful deeds one could imagine. Even now, his courtyard was filled with a flock of beauties. He knew all too well the affairs between men and women.
He couldn’t understand why, if his father cared only for power, he had married his mother, who had no connections. The Wei family was a centuries-old noble house. In his youth, Wei Yan had even been hailed alongside Xie Linshan as one of the "Twin Jewels of Civil and Military." Had he wished to marry, the capital was full of noble daughters for him to choose from.
Yet, having married his mother, Wei Yan had never taken another woman by his side all these years. Wei Xuan thought perhaps his father had once held some affection for his mother in his youth.
It was only because he, Wei Xuan, had disappointed him that Wei Yan had grown cold toward his mother as well.
Wei Xuan was usually unruly in front of others, but before Wei Quan, his father’s longtime servant, he revealed a childlike side. Sitting on the stone steps, he covered his eyes with his hand and said bitterly, "If only I were Xie Zheng. With such an outstanding son, perhaps Father would be happy, wouldn’t he?"His mother was a devout vegetarian who spoke of Wei Yan with great reverence. The most frequent advice she gave him was to study hard, practice martial arts diligently, and become a capable person so he could be of use to his father...
But Wei Yan seemed to dislike children. From a young age, Wei Xuan feared him, yet due to the respect his mother and others showed Wei Yan, he also harbored a deep admiration for him.
As a child, he had tried his best to excel in everything, hoping to earn a word or two of praise from Wei Yan.
Before Xie Zheng arrived at Wei Mansion, Wei Yan would occasionally treat him kindly. Though strict when tutoring his studies, he never overly reprimanded him.
After Xie Zheng's arrival, Wei Xuan never saw Wei Yan smile at him again. Xie Zheng lived and ate with him, yet every time Wei Yan saw them together, his face would darken.
Xie Zheng was always brilliant, mastering whatever the tutor taught him in no time.
Even when Wei Yan tested them on their studies, Xie Zheng, though nervous, could extrapolate and answer correctly. In contrast, whenever Wei Xuan faced Wei Yan's questions, the moment those sharp phoenix eyes shifted from the book to him, he would tremble uncontrollably, unable to utter a word.
He resented Xie Zheng for making him look foolish and for overshadowing him so completely that Wei Yan's gaze no longer held any approval.
More than once, he wished Xie Zheng had never existed.
So in his childhood, he spared no effort in bullying Xie Zheng. On the rare occasions Wei Yan found out, he was punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall. Afterward, he only intensified his cruelty toward Xie Zheng, who soon became too afraid to even complain.
But it brought him little joy. At first, stuffing snakes and insects into Xie Zheng's bedding would make him scream in terror. Later, Xie Zheng would simply crush them without blinking.
In the bitter cold of winter, he doused Xie Zheng's bedding in freezing well water. Xie Zheng would toss the soaked bedding aside and sleep on the bare wooden planks in his clothes. The next day, even with a high fever, he would still outperform him on the training grounds.
At the academy, he led a group of sycophantic officials' sons to pour ink over Xie Zheng's desk. Behind the rock garden, he and his lackeys beat Xie Zheng mercilessly, grinding his face into the muddy water while sneering, "Xie Linshan's spawn is just trash."
He wished Xie Zheng would stay that way—broken and worthless.
But Xie Zheng never begged for mercy. Even when pinned down by his cronies, with his face pressed into the mud, his gaze remained cold and unsettling, sending shivers down their spines.
Later, Xie Zheng joined the army. When they met again, Xie Zheng returned from the battlefield covered in glory, making him seem even more insignificant by comparison.
On another rainy day, Xie Zheng broke several of his ribs and ground his face into the torrential mud, coldly mocking, "Wei Yan's spawn is nothing special either."
Everything he had once inflicted on Xie Zheng was now returned in kind.
From that moment, his hatred for Xie Zheng grew even fiercer. When news arrived of Xie Zheng's death on the Chongzhou battlefield, no one knew just how overjoyed he was.
But even with Xie Zheng "gone," his own stint in the northwest was a disaster. Instead of successfully taking over Xie Zheng's forces, he plunged the entire region into chaos, giving the Li faction new grounds to impeach Wei Yan.
After all these years, Wei Xuan finally admitted the truth: he had always been jealous of Xie Zheng—so jealous that he hated himself for not being him.Wei Quan listened to his words and simply said, "The Marquis is the Marquis, and the young master is the young master. There is no need for the young master to compare himself to anyone."
Wei Xuan lowered his head with a bitter smile, gazing at the bamboo shadows cast on the ground. Unwilling to embarrass himself further in front of Wei Quan, he stood up and said, "I’ll go back to accompany Mother."
Wei Quan nodded respectfully as he watched him leave.
When Wei Xuan arrived at the courtyard where Madam Wei resided, he heard heart-wrenching coughs coming from inside before even entering the room.
The memory of Wei Yan’s cold, retreating figure made his chest ache even more. Seeing a maid carrying a freshly brewed medicine from the small kitchen, he said, "I’ll take it to Mother."
The maid, clearly intimidated by him, dared not refuse and handed him the tray with the medicine bowl respectfully.
Wei Xuan, thick-skinned and unbothered, picked up the blue-and-white porcelain bowl with its gilded rim and strode into the room.
"Mother, time for your medicine," he said as soon as he entered. A servant promptly brought a round stool and placed it by the bed.
Madam Wei, weakened by illness, looked far from well. She was not a beauty in the conventional sense—her features were plain, but years of vegetarianism and Buddhist devotion had lent her a gentle, compassionate air.
She comforted her only son, "It’s just an old ailment, nothing serious. A few days of rest, and I’ll be fine."
Wei Xuan lowered his head, stirring the dark-brown medicinal brew with a spoon. "Father was very concerned when he heard you were ill. But with the court situation being so uncertain, he had many ministers discussing affairs with him and couldn’t get away. That’s why he hasn’t come to see you yet. But he’s already sent for a royal physician from the Imperial Hospital."
At these words, the calm in Madam Wei’s eyes flickered. She asked, "You went to see the Prime Minister? Didn’t I tell you not to trouble him with such trivial matters…?"
Wei Xuan replied, "I didn’t seek him out. The estate isn’t that big—how could we hide the fact that you’re ill and needed a physician…?"
Madam Wei coughed harder, struggling to speak as she looked at her son. "Don’t lie to me. How could you…?"
She sighed, sounding almost resigned. "Why won’t you listen to your mother?"
Caught in his lie, Wei Xuan lowered his head in shame, his grip tightening around the medicine bowl. "Mother, is it because I’m useless that you feel too ashamed to ask Father for anything?"
Madam Wei covered her lips with a light cough and said weakly, "Silly child, what nonsense are you saying?"
Wei Xuan raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed. "It’s my fault for being so incapable, for not earning Father’s favor, that you’ve been neglected because of me."
Madam Wei paused, a complex emotion swirling in her gaze before she spoke gently, "Don’t think such things. The Prime Minister is a man of great responsibilities. A true gentleman doesn’t dwell on sentimental matters. You mustn’t say such words in front of him."
Wei Xuan retorted bitterly, "But all these years, Father only comes to dine with you during festivals. Don’t you feel wronged, Mother?"
For a fleeting moment, a shadow of melancholy crossed Madam Wei’s face, as if recalling something from the past. She merely said, "Silly child, don’t think like that. Your mother has never felt wronged. The Prime Minister is my benefactor. You must strive to be worthy, like your cousin Xie Zheng, and help shoulder his burdens."
Unaware of the rift between Wei Yan and Xie Zheng—as a woman who stayed out of household affairs, she assumed Xie Zheng was simply stationed in the north and hadn’t returned home in years.
Wei Xuan keenly caught one phrase in her words and asked, "Mother, why do you say Father is your benefactor?"Madam Wei lowered her eyes and did not answer immediately. Covering her lips, she coughed for a long while before saying, "Being born a woman, marriage is like a second rebirth. When I was a maiden, as a concubine-born daughter in the family, I had to endure others' disdain for every piece of clothing and every meal. In the more than twenty years since I married into the Prime Minister's residence, the Prime Minister has treated me well. I am content."
Wei Xuan knew his mother had always been a person who avoided conflict. Silently, he helped Madam Wei drink her medicine and refrained from asking further questions.
By the time Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng returned from the Xie family cemetery, it was nearly Hai hour (9–11 PM). The city gates had already closed, so Fan Changyu had no choice but to wait until they reopened the next morning before returning to the Office of Presentations.
Fortunately, she had already instructed Xie Qi before leaving. Even if she didn’t return for the night, there shouldn’t be any major issues.
Xie Zhong drove the carriage back to the estate outside the city. As soon as the carriage arrived at the gate, a member of the Blood-Clad Cavalry was waiting outside and presented a letter: "Master, a message from the Grand Princess, sent from the palace."
Xie Zheng reached out to take it. After tearing open the envelope, he quickly scanned the letter under the lantern light by the gate, his eyes instantly turning icy.
Fan Changyu found it strange that he had correspondence with the Grand Princess, but seeing his grim expression, she asked, "What’s wrong?"
Xie Zheng handed her the letter, gritting his teeth as he spat out a few words: "Wei Yan once had an illicit affair with a consort!"
Before Fan Changyu could even read the letter, her heart skipped a beat at his words. If Wei Yan had indeed been involved with a consort, did that mean there was now a trail leading to his orchestration of the Jinzhou case seventeen years ago?
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