C92

In the blink of an eye, it was late autumn from midsummer. The scorching heat turned into sadness and desolation.

Young Marquis Qi, who had achieved the crown, was no different from before. He was still hugging the rattan chair, with his long hair scattered on his clothes like thick ink. His slightly pale face was still clearly outlined, and his long eyelashes hid his thoughts in the depths of his eyes. Lazy and at ease, apart from worldly affairs.

As usual, Ran Hao was sitting by the window in his study room, holding a scroll of gossip and reading with his eyes closed. He was as quiet as a statue. Sunlight shone through the window and onto the book on his face. His handsome face appeared pale and calm, and his long hair was neatly tied up. His snow-white long robe was neat and tidy, and he was clearly two extremes away from Zhao Qingyan.

As for Jiang Wuyan, who had a short coat on, she was lying at the table across from him with a plate of sparkling grapes on her hand. She was half leaning against the table, as if she was just waiting for someone to take a seat. His left hand was constantly holding grapes, while his right hand was holding onto a novel that depicted ghosts and monsters, which he was reading with relish. Every time he flipped to the next page, he would nimbly flip the page with his finger, not obstructing him in the slightest as he deliberately picked up grapes with his free hand.

The three of them stayed in the study room for about two to three hours. During this time, other than Jin'er who came in and changed the dishes a few times, there was no other sound. Ran Hao had already read the three books in his hands two or three times. Jiang Wuyan had also read most of the more than twenty books he had bought on purpose. On the other hand, Zhao Qingyan was drying his clothes on the rattan chair that he brought over from the study table. In his hand was a half-swallow shaped mechanical beast.

For the past six hours, these three people hadn't said a single word. Those who were familiar with Zhao Qingyan would not find it strange. However, if it were anyone else who was unfamiliar with him, they would definitely be smothered to death by Zhao Qingyan.

The most common thing that Young Marquis Qi did was to stay in a daze. In spring, summer, autumn, and winter, dusk in the morning, in the pavilion in his study, regardless of the time or place, Zhao Qingyan was in a daze. Zhao Qingyan did not have much sleep. In the past few years, she had been resting for four to six hours. However, he would occasionally take a nap.

Ever since he was young, Zhao Qingyan did not like to talk much. Coupled with his physical inconvenience, it made his temperament even more peaceful. Only someone like Ran Hao, who was indifferent and treasured words like him, would be able to stay by Zhao Qingyan's side. Even the personal maid who had served him for so many years wished that she could stay far away from him.

In the morning, Zhao Qingyan would wake up to wash and change his clothes, eat breakfast, and read in the shade of a tree by the lake or in a pavilion in the middle of the lake. It was called reading, but in reality, he would be in a daze for most of the time, maintaining the same posture and not flipping the pages. After several hours of daydreaming, he curled up in a boat by the lake and took a nap before returning to his study. Eat a few pastries, drink a few bowls of tea, practice calligraphy, draw a few paintings, copy a few poems that you like, and play a few chess games yourself.

Occasionally, when he was in a good mood, he would take out an instrument and sit in a wheelchair or lean against a tree. He would casually blow on the surface of the lake and sing a few words in a low voice. Perhaps he could invite Lu Sobbing to the mansion, sit in the pavilion in the middle of the lake and feed the fish, watching the fish snatch the food with a gentle smile, and chat about things that had no purpose. He went to the kitchen and cooked two dishes for himself. Whenever he sat down, he would carve a knife and a piece of wood for several hours. He would even be able to create all sorts of funny things from time to time with a handful of dried grass. Afterwards, he would pat his clothes and get up. With a smile that didn't care, he would let the maid divide up the small things.

Every once in a while, he would go to the palace to take a stroll around to fulfill his duties as a secret envoy, and every once in a while, he would go to the bamboo garden to recuperate. Every once in a while, he would ride a horse out of the mansion with Ran Hao to play around and visit his master.

This was Young Master Qi. Young Marquis Qi was a quiet, lazy, and uninhibited medicine. He had his sharpness, his considerations, and his arrogance and indifference. But in the end, in everyone's eyes, the young prince was a quiet, docile, gentle, kind, and without any desire to fight.

Jiang Wuyan thought so as well. In other words, he knew that Zhao Qingyan was the only one who would do so. In the past few months, he had been too impatient and panicked. He frequently exposed his weakness and lost his cool. Suspicion, uneasiness, fear, anger, calculation, had become his nightmare. Zhao Qingyan no longer looked like him.

Jiang Wuyan could see it, Ran Hao could see it, Lu Sobbing could see it, and tears of blood could be seen. These people who were aware of the situation had seen through it, but they had no way of persuading him.

Now that Zhao Qingyan had finally returned to normal, Jiang Wuyan and Ran Hao heaved a sigh of relief.

"Young master, the East Palace has sent something over." Pyle came in with a wooden box and broke the silence.

"The East Palace?" Zhao Qingyan placed the half-filled mechanical swallow to the side and asked in a curious tone, "What's in it?"

Pei'er placed the box in front of Zhao Qingyan. "I don't know. I didn't say anything when the item was delivered. I only said that I would give it to Young Master directly." It was just an ordinary box and two palm sized boxes. There was nothing special about it.

Zhao Qingyan nodded and said, "I understand. You can leave now." He opened the box and was stunned for a moment.

A few unremarkable things, brown and bearded like ginseng, plus a bunch of light yellow fruit cores were placed inside, and there was nothing else in sight.

Ran Hao saw that Zhao Qing Yan's expression was not right, and asked: "What's inside?"

Zhao Qingyan took out a pen from the pen holder and turned it over and over, poking at a few items in the box. It should be the Pear Core, right? "

Ran Hao was puzzled, "What does that mean?"

Zhao Qingyan held her face up as she continued flipping through the contents of the box with a slightly absent-minded look on her face. "Try to guess?"

Ran Hao lightly wrinkled his brows and muttered to himself, "Pear core clearing away heat, it should have a warm nature. It's already autumn now, so Riko is probably useless. Dang Gui may be able to relieve the headache, but the medicinal effect is not obvious, so it is not suitable for Young Master to use. "These two medicinal ingredients together do not have any special effects, but there shouldn't be any poison …"

Zhao Qingyan's eyes revealed a faint smile. "You're right, but you guessed the wrong direction from the very beginning. Hao, Pear Core, also known as Pear Heart. Pear heart, centrifuge, how can royal brother not see that I am born and gone? "If I'm not wrong, it's …" He tapped the pen holder above the pear core and pointed it at Angelica.

Ran Hao suddenly realized: "Centrifugal, Angelica."

Zhao Qingyan lowered his eyes and sighed, "Dang Gui, Dang Gui..." I should probably be relieved by now. This half a year is truly like a year. "

Ran Hao who was watching silently also heaved a sigh of relief. His stiff face also softened a little. The book in his hand fell to the ground as he relaxed his fingers, but Ran Hao didn't notice it. He just stared at Zhao Qingyan blankly. It had been five months of suffering, and every step of the way, but not only Zhao Qingyan had suffered, it had also been Ran Hao. What Ran Hao had to bear might be even worse.

"Is it over?" Jiang Wuyan put down the book, stood up and stretched her body. Then she walked up to the table, picked up the box and shook it a few times. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Zhao Qingyan threw up his hands and said, "That's not certain." His pale face revealed the fluctuations of his emotions under the feigned calmness.

Jiang Wuyan looked at him, then looked at Ran Hao and smiled faintly: "Congratulations."

The corners of Zhao Qingyan's mouth widened into a smile. Her chest was stuffy, but she could not even squeeze out a smile. She could only lie on the table and cover her face. The half of a swallow that he had finally managed to put together fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

Jiang Wuyan froze for a moment before calling out softly, "Yun Mo …"

Zhao Qingyan said in a low voice, "Don't say anything. Let me take it slowly." His voice was still trembling even though he could still suppress it.

Jiang Wuyan swallowed her words, turned to look at the struggling Ran Hao and said, "You can leave first, I'm here."

Ran Hao gently coughed twice, and said with a hoarse voice: "Sorry for troubling you." He pushed the door and left as if he was running away.

Jiang Wuyan sighed silently as she looked at Ran Hao's sorry figure. Then she walked over and closed the door. He did not return. Instead, he stood by the door and looked at Zhao Qingyan who was trying her best to control her emotions. He looked at her with a comforting look in his eyes.

Jiang Wuyan was older than Zhao Qingyan by a dozen years. Ten years ago, she was the same age as Zhao Qingyan, but Zhao Qingyan was still a child. The first time he entered the Light Wind Palace, he was shocked when he saw the three children. The same exquisite appearance, the same clean and tidy clothes, the same docile and quiet. The only difference was his temperament. The son of the Ran Tong Xuan was more warm and humble, while the son of Ran Hao was filled with the cold and arrogant attitude of the Ran Tong Xuan. The child sitting under the tree looking up at the sky through the leaves looked sad and weak at first glance. He would only retreat, and humility and cowardice.

After the introduction at the Ran Tong Pavilion, he found out that the child he didn't know was the child who had once frightened him, the only son of the Qi King, standing in the dead bodies on the ground in the pavilion a few months ago.

Over the next few months, Jiang Wuyan had clearly seen the deeper layer of Zhao Qingyan and Ran Hao's bodies — loneliness, sensitivity, patience, and insanity.

One was driven mad by the shocking bloodstains on the West Lake.

One had gone mad because of his master's unfathomable injustice.

At that time, Jiang Wuyan was just an ordinary young lord who had yet to achieve anything in Bewitching Butterfly Town. While the Light Wind Palace was recuperating, he would often see the Ran Tong Xuan silently gazing at the three children. After a few months, his injuries had fully healed. Jiang Wuyan was standing behind the Ran Tong Pavilion, looking at the child in the distance under the tree's shadow. They really were very sensible.

To a child, being sensible was a type of sorrow. Only parents who are unable to provide support and shelter for their children can make their children "sensible". The Qi King did not come to see his lonely and helpless son, and the Ran Tong Xuan didn't stop Ran Hao from almost cutting himself off in his training. The Ran Tong Pavilion looked on silently from afar, and the Qi King was sure to be worried for his son.

Jiang Wuyan didn't understand why they let these two kids face such fear alone.

They had learned to cure themselves, so they could survive. What if they failed? Jiang Wuyan dared not imagine.

Zhao Qingyan was dazed as she filled in the empty space in her heart.

Ran Hao trained his sword to defend against the fear in his heart.

Ten years went by one day.

Zhao Qingyan was not as calm as he appeared on the surface, and neither was Ran Hao as tough as he looked. They were simply making up for each other's flaws in order to maintain that pitiful disguise. No matter which side falls, the other will reveal his true weakness along with it.

Jiang Wuyan watched them grow up, and he understood very well how big the wounds in their hearts were. They were so big that if they weren't careful, they would swallow themselves whole.