I am the villain in the book

The hour of Chou.

By the time Wei Changtian returned to the palace, everything that had happened here had settled.

“Husband.”

Yang Liushi had been waiting outside the palace, and immediately greeted him upon seeing him, saying: “It was Lü Hongji. Half an hour ago, he led people to find the hiding place of Miss Xu, intending to kidnap her.”

“However, Li Zimu disguised herself as Miss Xu at the time, and Lü Hongji failed to distinguish her.”

Yang Liushi's tone was very soft in the last half of her sentence, and she was observing Wei Changtian's expression as she spoke.

However, the surprised look that was expected did not appear on the latter's face. Wei Changtian just sighed softly.

“Alas, I knew it... Continue.”

“Yes.”

Yang Liushi nodded gently: “Later, Chu Xianping rescued Li Zimu. Lü Hongji realized something was wrong and wanted to escape, but it was too late. He was trapped by a formation used by the people Chu Xianping brought.”

“By the way, although I didn't see it with my own eyes, according to Li Zimu's description, it felt like that formation was somewhat similar to the one Yan Huanwen used on White Spirit Mountain. I don't know if it's the same.”

“That's not important.”

Wei Changtian didn't care about such small details: “Then what about Lü Hongji? Is he dead already?”

“I don't know. When I arrived, there was no one at the place where the two sides had fought.”

Yang Liushi answered truthfully: “All of this was learned after asking Miss Xu and Li Zimu.”

“Hmm... Is Chu Xianping still in the palace now?”

Wei Changtian asked again: “Or has he already left?”

“He hasn't left, he's still in the palace.”

Yang Liushi answered truthfully, and then had time to ask about the situation outside the city: “Husband, has the battle outside the city ended?”

“It's over.”

Wei Changtian looked up at the moon, which was no longer flickering due to the Moon-Picking Sword: “After you left, a inexplicable explosion occurred in the enemy's formation, and its power was much stronger than black gunpowder.”

“Then the enemy army fled.”

“This...”

Yang Liushi's eyes stagnated, and she asked blankly: “What's going on?”

“What else could it be?”

Wei Changtian smiled bitterly: “It must have been arranged by Chu Xianping. Who else could it be besides him?”

“...”

After a sentence fell, the two of them were temporarily silent.

With her embroidered eyebrows slightly furrowed, Yang Liushi was silent for a long time before tentatively whispering:

“Husband, does that mean that Chu Xianping is really pretending to rebel?”

“Who knows.”

Wei Changtian shook his head: “Perhaps he is, or perhaps this is still just his calculation.”

“Never mind, anyway, he's helping us no matter what. Let's talk about everything after I see him.”

“Hmm.”

Yang Liushi nodded gently upon hearing this, and it could be seen that she also felt that it would be better to make a judgment after Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping met and talked.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but speed up her pace slightly, and the two quickly walked outside Jinhua Hall.

Through the window, it could be seen that the hall was brightly lit, but no sound could be heard.

Stopping outside the hall door, Wei Changtian exchanged a glance with Yang Liushi, and was just about to push the door open.

However, at this moment, Yang Liushi suddenly remembered a trivial matter.

“By the way, husband, Tang Chen was seriously injured in order to save Li Zimu, and Miss Xu saved him with mica fungus.”

“Oh, I know.”

Nodding without much care, Wei Changtian obviously didn't have the time to care about how Tang Chen was doing.

After he responded, he retracted his gaze, took a light breath, and then pushed open the hall door.

The Jinhua Hall was as bright as day, layers of gauze curtains fell from the sky, fragrant wind and jade mist, carved beams and painted pillars, all the furnishings could be considered luxurious.

However, everyone sitting or standing in the hall at this time was very silent, and their expressions only changed after Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi pushed the door open and entered.

“You... the battle outside the city is over?”

The first person to greet him was Xu Sui, she obviously originally wanted to say something else, but in front of so many people, she ultimately couldn't say it.

“Yes, it's over.”

On the other side, Wei Changtian also simply answered, his gaze swept over Han Zhao, Li Zimu and others, and then...

“Young Master.”

Bowing his head and cupping his hands, Chu Xianping's demeanor and tone were as always, no different from before.

Wei Changtian silently looked at him, and didn't say a word for a long time.

“...”

The candlelight flickered, and the hall was silent.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping, and their expressions were very complicated.

From the time Chu Xianping left to go to Qingzhou, to now, there has been a gap of almost a month.

During this month, some people only had a superficial understanding of what happened, while others knew the whole picture.

But no matter how much they knew, everyone understood that the relationship between the two men in front of them could never return to what it was before.

“Let's talk alone.”

Calmly staring at Chu Xianping, Wei Changtian only said these words after a long time.

Chu Xianping also didn't say much, and equally calmly cupped his hands.

“Yes, Young Master.”

“...”

In this way, after a dozen breaths, the two of them walked around a screen one after the other, and entered the side hall under everyone's gaze.

The reaction of the two after meeting again could be said to be both normal and strange. Although everyone was very curious about what they would say, all they could do at the moment was wait.

You look at me, I look at you, with worry, doubt, and apprehension in their eyes.

In fact, the great battle outside the city had just ended, and there should be many things that these people needed to deal with at this time.

However, everyone tacitly chose to wait in Jinhua Hall, waiting for the outcome between Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping.

And besides that, there were also some relationships that had now reached a time when a decision needed to be made...

“Young Master Tang...”

Not long after Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping entered the side hall, Li Zimu, who had been hesitating for a long time, suddenly walked to Tang Chen's side and said softly:

“Let's go out for a walk...”

“...”

As if he had a premonition, Tang Chen's expression was very calm at this time.

Although Xu Sui used the “cure for all diseases” mica fungus to heal his injuries, he still didn't have much color on his face due to excessive blood loss, and his voice was also a bit weak.

Looking at Li Zimu, who was lowering her head and not daring to meet his eyes, a trace of pain flashed in Tang Chen's eyes, but it quickly disappeared again.

“Okay, let's go.”

“...”

Standing up, he walked out of Jinhua Hall with Li Zimu.

The cool night breeze carried a bit of the lingering chill of late spring, and a bit of the hidden fragrance of crabapple.

The two walked side by side down the long steps outside the hall, walking in the long corridor immersed in the night, neither of them spoke.

For Li Zimu, she probably didn't know how to open her mouth.

For Tang Chen, he probably didn't know what to say.

Past events are pondered for a long time in vain, the bright moon is ruthless, and tonight the smoke is hazy.

On this night of flower and moon rendezvous, and the end of the great battle, the starlight in the sky seemed to be a bit brighter than usual.

However, this starlight was particularly heavy for the two of them now.

Although sometimes silence is better than sound, many words don't need to be said and are already self-evident in silence.

But since the story has a beginning, then there must be an end.

“Young Master Tang, I can't deceive myself anymore...”

“I'm... I'm sorry...”

“I'm sorry...”