Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw

Chapter Sixty,
Sudden Change

Liu Fang Rui thought that once He Xuan left, He Heng would send his words over, but she waited around in Han Yuan Palace up until the lanterns were up all around, He Yang couldn’t wait any longer and first went back to his residence, yet He Heng’s words had not come yet.

“My Lady, Lord Liu has sent this.” Lan Yi brought in a food box from the outside, and spoke. Liu Fang Rui’s heart jumped, she took that food box, and as expected, there was a paper slip in between the layers.

It was Liu Guang Yi’s handwriting, saying that Old Lady Meng was unsatisfied with his Majesty’s arrangements, and planned on connecting with Tong Province’s other fellow countrymen to come to the capital to make a plea.

“Wolves that can never be full.” Liu Fang Rui’s fine features slightly wrinkled, she lightly stroked the nail protector embedded with gems on the right pinky finger, and coldly said, “Send someone to watch them, don’t let them make things bigger.”

Liu Fang Rui paused, then added, “Send someone on watch over Tong Province too.”

“This servant understands.” Lan Yi understood tacitly, “My Lady hasn’t even had dinner yet, would [you] like the kitchen to send in something to eat?”

“No need.” Liu Fang Rui slightly wearily rubbed her brow ridge, she leaned on the cushion and slightly closed her eyes, and pulled a blanket from the side to cover with, then said, “Ibg am a little tired, step down.”

“Yes.”

❀

These days, He Xuan was busying with the matter of He Yang. Each day, he wouldn’t stay at home, he would hurriedly come back to stuff in two mouthfuls of food, then be hurriedly called away. Xiao Zuo looked at this table full of dishes he liked eating, yet the seat beside him was empty, and was a bit unaccustomed to it for the time being.

“I cannot eat that much, don’t make it next time.” Ling Xiang was at the side grabbing dishes for him, when she heard him say this, she smiled instead of agreeing, “His Highness was the one who had us prepare it, it is all things that Duke likes eating.”

“Is his Highness not coming back to eat today either?” Though He Xuan mentioned it to him last night, when Xiao Zuo took up the chopsticks and looked at this table of dishes covered in chili oil, he couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.

“Who said that?” Xiao Zuo froze, the chopsticks he was holding up were still suspended in midair, and blankly watched He Xuan lean on the side of the door against the light, while the evening warm light fell onto his tall and risen profile, with the statue-like outline melting into the evening wind. His phoenix eyes were smiling, and curled his lips while coming in, and stroked Xiao Zuo’s head by the way, with his voice all lax, “Miss me?”

Xiao Zuo was too stubborn to admit it, and turned his neck to deny it, “No, I just didn’t want to waste some good food was all.”

“Is that so.” He Xuan hung his eyes down like he was baffled, while his tone was seeping with despair, “I missed you a lot these few days.”

He Xuan bent down, and reached out to hold up Xiao Zuo’s flushed face, then smiled as he came down with a lust-less kiss onto his lips, and sulked, “Li Nu being this heartless makes me very hurt.”

“I……” How could Xiao Zuo be He Xuan’s opponent- after a few times, he got defeated, his inner heart was struggling between continuing to be stubborn and just letting things be, but in the end, He Xuan was the one who came out on top. He quickly picked up a boiled slice of meat and stuffed it into He Xuan’s mouth, and gave a kiss guiltily by his mouth like a little cat before He Xuan could open his mouth, then softened his voice, “I miss you too.”

He Xuan narrowed his eyes, he swallowed the slice of meat in his mouth, then leisurely sat down beside Xiao Zuo, “It will be autumn soon, there isn’t much time left for you to eat chilies anymore.”

Xiao Zuo was eating to his heart’s content at this moment- unknown if it had been scalded or it was just the spice, his lips were particularly bright red, and at this time, he lifted his head up to gulp down water, but when he heard this, he widened his eyes at He Xuan, “Ah…… I completely forgot, in the past at this time, our Nan Liang is considered to have just passed through the hottest times, and is still very early before autumn comes.”

When Xiao Zuo said this, he recalled the last autumn where winds and rains swayed around again. At that time, he was escorted from the richly-decorated jade halls of Jiang Nan’s romances to the rustling autumn Shang An’jing, in a northern country where there was no one he was familiar with, he self-deceivingly sunk into that flourishing dream of old with jade trees and soft thin screens, so the few fragmented impressions he had of autumn were merely when he got startled awake in the middle of the night, where the clothes were cold and the pillows were frosty, and listened to the autumn night rains fall onto the plantains, and counted the sound of rain until daylight. Probably like how the poems write, one sound of the willow leaf brings one of autumn, one drop on the plantain drops one on one’s concerns, only dreams made in the depth of the night bring one past the night[1].

“What is it?”

Xiao Zuo silently shook his head, He Xuan guessed he recalled something, and did not pursue the question, then picked up a piece of spicy diced chicken and placed it into his bowl, and diverted the topic, “In two days, the matter with Old Fourth can be finished, at that time, I’ll bring you out for a stroll.”

“How is it?”

He Xuan typically did not hide from Xiao Zuo, and told him as it was, “We’ve contacted the leader of that bunch of refugees, an.old lady of a declining family- she is old, and does not ask for much, but only wanted to look for shade for her grandson. I purposefully had someone go to Empress Liu’s place and let out some fake information, then let someone use an excuse to delay Sun gong’gong for a bit, Empress Liu would definitely not be patient.”

“As expected, she sent people to surround the inn that the old lady and the rest were staying at.” He Xuan paused, “We only added a fire for her.”

“That old lady?” Xiao Zuo seemed to have thought of something, and slightly couldn’t hold it in.

He Xuan sighed, he lifted up the jar of wine and poured a cup for himself, then indifferently said, “That is the path she chose herself.”

Xiao Zuo hung his eyes down, he looked at the red oil in his bowl, and felt full for the time being.

“I’m finished.”

He Xuan swept his eyes at him, “What? Angry?”

“No.”

“I am originally this type of person, using all the means possible to achieve a goal.” He Xuan lightly laughed, he lifted his head up and drank the wine in the cup in one gulp, the forefinger lightly swiped past the corner of the lips, and got stained with a few drops of wine, “Xiao Zuo, do you still not understand it?”

“I’m not angry.” Xiao Zuo got irritated by the ridicule in He Xuan’s eyes, he abruptly stood up, and looked at He Xuan from up high, then said every word clearly, “I am not some small child who does not understand anything, nor am I some hero who would take up a fight because I witnessed the hardships of the common realm. I am merely a sinner who can’t even keep his own life, with no qualifications, nor the free time to cry for another person’s choices.”

Xiao Zuo said it all in one go, then took in a deep breath. His voice softened a lot, but He Xuan could clearly hear it, “I know you aren’t this kind of person either.”

After finishing, Xiao Zuo then turned and walked towards the back garden. He Xuan blankly watched his distant back, and after a long while, he then pulled at the corners of his lips like he was mocking himself, bearing a sliver of unknown dejection.

❀

Over on Empress Liu’s side, she constantly did not sleep well these past few days, and always felt uneasy, like something was going to happen. Liu Fang Rui absentmindedly held up a porcelain bowl, and picked around the breakfast the small kitchen sent over, then casually picked a few cakes with bean paste filling and placed it into the bowl, her hand was unsteady for a bit, and that porcelain bowl fell onto the ground, spreading the floor with broken porcelain fragments.

“My Lady.” Lan Yi worriedly looked at Empress Liu, the other servants hurriedly took a dustpan and cleaned up the porcelain pieces, with this, Liu Fang Rui lost her appetite too, and she knitted her eyebrows and stood up, “It’s nothing, take it away.”

Lan Yi followed Liu Fang Rui into the hall, then stood behind her and massaged her shoulders, and asked, “Is there a concern, my Lady?”

“En.” Liu Fang Rui said, “The heart feels uneasy, anything happen over at that Old Lady Meng?”

“People have been sent over to watch her, nothing much.”

“Then that’s good.” Liu Fang Rui sighed, “Let’s hope Ibg am just overthinking it.”

Just as her words fell, a small servant girl from outside pushed the door in and reported, “My Lady, Lord Liu has sent a tally asking for an audience.”

“Big Brother?” Liu Fang Rui’s heart jumped, “Have him come in.”

When Liu Guang Yi came in, his face was all dark and sunk, he silently bowed, then got hurriedly lifted up by Liu Fang Rui, impatiently asking, “What happened?”

Liu Guang Yi’s eyebrows were tightly knit, gathering with constant and unceasing tight mountain peaks, deeply imprinting on his slightly yellowed glabella, making him look to be older than he really was. He slightly hunched his back, and sat in front of Liu Fang Rui, and opened his mouth, “Old Lady Meng died in the inn this morning.”

“Died?” Liu Fang Rui widened her eyes in disbelief, she opened her mouth, with her voice a bit shrill, “Ibg only had them watch her, how could she die?”

“The murderer escaped, they didn’t catch him, should we……”

“Send someone to search.” Liu Fang Rui’s long nail protector dug into the flesh, yet she stared at the floor without feeling it, and coldly said, “We must find them before the crown prince does.”