CH 21

The guards knew that the master was going to see Xie Ke, so they didn’t draw their swords but only took a vigilant posture, waiting for Fu Zhiyu’s instructions.

Fu Zhiyu, taken aback, raised the curtain and glanced out.

Xie Ke was riding a bay horse; he stopped in the middle of the road, blocking the way. There were official residences on the left and right of the road and ordinary people couldn’t get in there. At this point, there was no one around. Only his carriage and Xie Ke, a man on a horse, were facing each other. The scene was indeed a bit awkward.

When Yuan Mingdao heard the name, he was stunned for a moment and immediately stopped crying. His memories surged in an instant and his eyes turned red.

“Don’t be afraid,” Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, put the curtain down again and patted Yuan Mingdao on the back, comforting, “In this life I won’t be like before. Wait for me in the carriage for a while, I will be back after I finish solving it, okay?”

Yuan Mingdao sniffed. He felt a little aggrieved but still listened to what Fu Zhiyu said, so he loosened his grip on Fu Zhiyu’s placket finger by finger. But his eyes were still locked on Fu Zhiyu.

Fu Zhiyu lifted the curtain and went out. Xie Ke was sitting on the horse, and he had to look up at him.

“Young Master Xie, what does this mean?” Fu Zhiyu put on a formal smile, “This wang was about to visit the Xie residence.”

When Xie Ke saw him coming out, he immediately got off his horse. He walked up to Fu Zhiyu and stared at him for a while before performing the courtier salute.

“The person who saved Wang Zhao was this servant alone. As for the Xie residence, it has received the emperor’s reward earlier, so there is no need for Wang Zhao to bother with it,” Xie Ke said. What he said was a bit blunt, “Can Wang Zhao… just say a few words to me?”

His tone was somewhat pleading, but his eyes never left Fu Zhiyu. 

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“How can it be possible? This wang has already sent the message to the general’s mansion. Wouldn’t it be a missed appointment if I didn’t arrive?”

“I have mentioned it to my father, and he agreed,” Xie Ke said and took another step forward. “It’s just a few words. Does Wang Zhao not want to talk to me?”

Fu Zhiyu really didn’t want to be alone with Xie Ke. He originally delayed his visit till this time and thought he was going just to show up symbolically and leave after a cup of tea at most.

But now that he was stuck here with Xie Ke, it was no good; the nearby mansions were all inhabited by court officials, and just because there was no one in the street now didn’t mean there always wouldn’t be. If anyone saw them and speculated, it would be troublesome.

“Fine,” Fu Zhiyu looked at the sky and thought for a moment, then nodded decisively, “Let’s go somewhere else, this is not the place to talk.”

Let’s finish talking as soon as possible and leave as soon as possible, he thought. There was no point in arguing with Xie Ke, it was just a waste of time.

When Xie Ke heard this, he seemed to relax all at once. He showed a gentle smile and said, “Wang Zhao, please come with me.”

Probably to save time to talk to Fu Zhiyu for a while longer, Xie Ke found a place not far from here. It was a small inn. Naturally, it wasn’t as gorgeous as the Fengyue House in all aspects, but there were fewer people and the melaleuca cake made by the owner here used to be Fu Zhiyu’s favourite snack.

Fu Zhiyu still let Yuan Mingdao stay in the carriage, comforted him with a few more words, and took the guard to the private room with Xie Ke.

The private room was actually very well decorated. It was a small room but the incense burning was Fu Zhiyu’s favourite incense. The wine on the table was his favourite peach blossom brew. A few small snacks were also favoured by him. A plum blossom was inserted in the vase on the table, and the pruned branch was also the way he liked to see.

The owner of the inn didn’t know these things; they should’ve been placed by Xie Ke himself.

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But now was not the time to enjoy them. Fu Zhiyu just had too much to eat at the Yuan residence. He didn’t want to drink the wine and didn’t want to eat the snacks. The fragrance he used to like made him feel a little nauseous.

He spent a lot more effort on Xie Ke in his previous life than this, wishing he could pick the stars in the sky for him. Now that the positions had been reversed, he could see it clearly: it turned out that if you didn’t want someone, no matter how much they tried, it was useless.

If someone asked him how he felt about Xie Ke now, there was no hatred and there was not a trace of love left. There was just emptiness. All the things he had struggled with in his previous life, whether it was loving or not being loved, disappeared long ago after he got to know the truth.

Xie Ke was an actor. His only purpose was to complete his mission in this world to earn points. All those things he did, in Xie Ke’s opinion, were just deviations from the plot, a huge hindrance to his completion of the mission.

The things he had been giving desperately should have just been troublesome for Xie Ke.

As to why Xie Ke repeatedly slept with him and then rejected him… God knows, Fu Zhiyu was too lazy to think about it. Maybe Xie Ke felt happy by making him sad at that time. Or maybe, Xie Ke was used to playing with the world and felt it was okay to play with someone so unquestionably in love.

So Fu Zhiyu was actually still confused about what happened last night. He only knew that Xie Ke had some plan but he couldn’t understand the meaning of it.

What was the point of Xie Ke’s regret?

The Lord God told him that although the task of “His Name Will Live On in History” was very important, for an actor of Xie Ke’s level, if the task failed, at most his points would be deducted but it would not cause any actual damage to him personally. 

What’s more, Fu Zhiyu’s line only accounted for one-fifth of the full text and his role was not even considered a major supporting role. Even if Xie Ke’s task deviated in this one-fifth of the plot, it wouldn’t be enough to fail the mission; a final rating of 60 or more would have been a passing grade.

This was what Fu Zhiyu didn’t understand. In his previous life Xie Ke felt that Fu Zhiyu wasn’t worth some of his points; so why bother to come back to do these things now?

What kind of person expresses his love like this? Fu Zhiyu felt ridiculous even thinking about it.

As he thought about this, he sat down at the table by the window.

No matter what Xie Ke was thinking, Fu Zhiyu’s only expectation now was that he would recognise his identity as soon as possible, be the protagonist honestly like in his previous life, and follow the plot, so as not to disturb Fu Zhiyu’s escape plan anymore.

Xie Ke saw Fu Zhiyu look around after entering and thought he must have liked the place. After they sat down, he carefully poured a glass of wine for Fu Zhiyu.

The fact that it was only the two of them sitting opposite each other now made Xie Ke particularly happy, and even though there was an unsightly guard standing at the entrance of the private room, he ignored it.

He was submerged in an ambiguous and gentle atmosphere, eager to reach out and touch Fu Zhiyu, who was so close, touch his cheek and kiss his pale lips, as if only in this way could he really let his heart settle and make sure that this person had not disappeared.

But Xie Ke didn’t dare now.

It would scare him. Zhiyu was still young. Xie Ke suppressed his urges, only softening his voice, and saying to Fu Zhiyu: “Try it. It’s the wine I brought from the general’s mansion. If Zhi… if Wang Zhao likes it, I will send some more to Liuli Palace in the future.”

“No need,” Fu Zhiyu glanced at the glass full of wine without reaching out to touch it, “This wang is recovering from a serious illness and it is not suitable to drink. Besides, the diet in the palace has its own rules, and food from outside is generally not allowed. Imperial Guard Xie has just entered the palace, so it’s better to be cautious.”

Xie Ke suffered from Fu Zhiyu’s cold expression without getting angry. He cherished every moment now. Every word Fu Zhiyu said, he felt his heartstrings trembling when he heard it, even if it was cold and made him feel uneasy.

After being back for so long, he hadn’t talked to Zhiyu properly.