It was three days later when Shi Yue fully regained consciousness.
He only felt that this sleep had been exceptionally deep, and vaguely, it seemed he had even caught a glimpse of his A’Yao.
Shi Yue gave a bitter chuckle, thinking that his mind must truly be muddled by illness to dream something so vivid how could A’Yao possibly be here?
A’Yao had never been willing to enter his dreams; he must still be furious with him.
“Young master, you’re finally awake! This illness of yours was so dangerous!” The young servant who usually tended to his daily life in the room said with a joyful expression. “This servant will go tell the Prime Minister!”
Shi Yue pulled him back. “No need. I’ve been lying down for several days and am a bit hungry; help me bring something to eat.”
The servant was slightly startled, then immediately replied, “Alright, please wait a moment, this servant will go right away.”
Shi Yue gazed blankly at the ethereal roof beams for a moment.
The servant knocked and entered carrying a bowl of porridge and a few small dishes of side dishes.
Shi Yue looked at the exquisitely prepared dishes.
I must build up my physical strength, then clear the name of the Marquis of Anding’s estate, vindicate my father, and investigate who was pulling the strings behind the scenes to frame us.
While pondering the suspicious details, Shi Yue absentmindedly shoveled food into his mouth, completely failing to notice the strange look in the servant’s eyes.
Shi Yue took a large gulp of the porridge, thinking that the chef here at Pei Xuan’s place wasn’t bad; it tasted quite good, carrying a faint, subtle fragrance.
Suddenly, the servant rushed forward, knocking the table over with a single blow. His voice was extremely shrill as he screamed, “Don’t eat it!”
The bowl in Shi Yue’s hand was knocked to the ground, splashing all over him. Looking at the servant’s panicked expression and hearing his desperate cries, a sense of dread welled up from deep within.
“What do you mean?” Shi Yue asked somewhat flusteredly. Before the servant could answer, he felt a violent churning in his stomach, as if his internal organs were twisting together.
Suddenly, Shi Yue couldn’t help but vomit a mouthful of dark, bloody fluid. The intense pain caused his entire body to curl up uncontrollably onto the floor.
He looked at the panicked servant, the agony making it impossible for him to speak a complete sentence. “You… why did you poison me… Who sent you…”
The servant shook his head with a pale face, standing frozen and terrified nearby. “Not… not me… Someone threatened me, I didn’t mean to!”
The severe pain broke Shi Yue out in a cold sweat, his entire internal organs writhing in agony as if someone were pulling and tearing at them.
He felt that his life was coming to an end.
Who wants to kill me? Shi Yue thought.
The Emperor? Pei Xuan? Or is there someone else?
No.
It shouldn’t be Pei Xuan; he has no reason to kill me.
Then who could it be?
However, Shi Yue no longer had the strength to ponder this. He could clearly feel his consciousness slipping away.
This sickly body of mine has finally reached its end.
It’s not bad to die; I can go accompany my father, mother, and elder brother.
That way, our whole family can be reunited and never separated again. That’s quite nice.
The only regret is not being able to see A’Yao one last time.
If A’Yao was still alive in this world, Shi Yue hoped he would live a safe, smooth life. Fortunately, they hadn’t met again, otherwise he would have been dragged into these matters.
His A’Yao should live freely and unrestrainedly for his entire life, never troubled by such vexing affairs.
Shi Yue slowly closed his eyes. In his final, blurring vision, he saw the door being violently flung open, and a man in deep purple formal attire rushed in with hurried footsteps, his expression showing a fluster Shi Yue had never seen before.
Pei Xuan? Why does he look so panicked?
Turns out you didn’t want me to die?
However, Shi Yue no longer had the leisure to dwell on this. Amidst the excruciating pain, his consciousness slowly faded into nothingness.
“Spring lingers late in the pleasure quarters. The daylight passes in solitude; to arrange one’s hair and dress feels too much a lazy chore. Suddenly, one hears the crows crying and orioles warbling, stirring up boundless new sorrows. Remembering the past year, when I secretly cast my spring heart, seeing you from afar through the mist-shrouded flowers.”
The wind chimes at the corner of the eaves rang softly. Shi Yue vaguely heard a chaotic commotion around him, accompanied by melodious and winding Wu dialect ditties, their ending notes hooked with a honey-like sweetness.
What is going on? Can you even listen to little tunes down in the underworld?
Such a life of luxury.
Shi Yue slowly opened his eyes, only to see several dim yellow lanterns hanging from the roof beams, and the tassels hanging from the bed canopy dyed a dark red, resembling crushed rouge.
He looked down again at the brocade quilt wrapped around him the bright red quilt face was embroidered with mandarin ducks, and several vibrant peony flowers looked vividly lifelike.
This was precisely the floral pattern commonly used in the Pingkang Quarter of the capital.
Does this style happen to be popular down in the netherworld too?
“Young Marquis~ You’re finally awake.”
As he was pondering, a melodious and enchanting voice rang out as sweet as honey.
Shi Yue looked up and saw a courtesan with half-exposed attire walking slowly toward him, making a move to help him up.
Shi Yue instinctively dodged her hand.
The courtesan looked at her avoided hand and asked in bewilderment, “Young Marquis, is somewhere making you uncomfortable?”
Wait.
Why does this courtesan look so familiar?
The more Shi Yue looked, the more familiar she seemed. He then asked cautiously, “Are you Tinglan?”
Tinglan asked doubtfully, “It’s me. What’s wrong with you, Young Marquis?”
Why are you dead too?
Shi Yue desperately wanted to ask this, but it felt a little disrespectful.
Tinglan was a courtesan he had quite liked before she died—this liking was strictly platonic.
He had merely crossed paths with Tinglan by chance and discovered she was a very broad-minded girl who didn’t pander to the powerful and wealthy. Therefore, in a place of debauchery like the Pingkang Quarter, he had looked after her a bit more.
Shi Yue furrowed his brows, agonizing over it for a long time, unable to figure out why the netherworld looked like this.
Tinglan felt the Young Marquis was acting like a fool right now, so she gently pressed her hand against his forehead to check if he had a fever.
It was only when Shi Yue felt the temperature on his forehead that he was struck by how strange this was.
Can people still have a sense of touch after passing away?
Shi Yue grabbed Tinglan’s arm it was warm, possessing actual body heat.
Not a ghost?
Shi Yue said to Tinglan, “Slap me across the face.”
Tinglan felt Shi Yue’s brain must truly be broken; how could she dare hit the young master of the Marquis of Anding’s estate?
“Young Marquis, this slave wouldn’t dare hit you. If I break you, my little life will be gone.”
Shi Yue didn’t force her. He pinched his own thigh hard with two fingers.
“Hiss.”
That hurts like hell!
Shi Yue frowned, wincing in pain.
What on earth is going on here?
Could it be that the heavens felt he was too miserable and sent him back to the mortal realm to exact revenge?
Shi Yue knitted his brows and asked, “What year is it now?”
Tinglan smiled. “Young Marquis, you truly are a noble person who forgets things easily. This is the sixth year of Qiyuan.”
“Then what month and day is it today in the sixth year of Qiyuan?”
“The seventeenth day of Huaiyue.”
Huaiyue was the fourth month.
At this time, his father and elder brother should still be at the borders, and within a few days, they would return triumphantly to the capital.
His poisoning and the execution of his entire family clearly happened in the second year of Taihe, when he was twenty-four years old.
Now, in the sixth year of Qiyuan…
That was five years in the past, which meant he should be nineteen years old right now.
In a panic, Shi Yue got out of bed and picked up Tinglan’s usual small peony-patterned bronze mirror.
At this moment, he was dressed in a light cyan cloud-patterned long robe; even the fabric showed it was immensely expensive.
His face exuded a youthful air, his bright red lips curved upward slightly, his complexion was as flawless as jade, and a pair of peach-blossom eyes—capable of looking both resentful and alluring formed an appearance that people found exceptionally endearing.
Realizing that he had truly been reborn, Shi Yue widened his peach-blossom eyes in shock.
For a long time, Shi Yue let out a low laugh.
The internal organs poisoned by the medicine still seemed to ache faintly, yet when he opened his eyes once more, he had unexpectedly been reborn back to a time before any of it had happened.
As Shi Yue laughed, a few tears slipped down his cheeks.
His father, his elder brother, and all those tragedies had not happened yet.
This time, he would definitely protect his family well.
In Shi Yue’s mind, the deep purple figure that had run toward him right before his death abruptly flashed into view.
Pei Xuan.
Who on earth are you?
If you are not A’Yao, why do you possess a face indistinguishable from his?
And A’Yao, where on earth are you?
Shi Yue rubbed his face fiercely, tidying up his expression which, having alternated between crying and laughing, truly looked like a madman’s. In the blink of an eye, he resumed his usual demeanor, holding a folding fan in his hand and radiating effortless charm and elegance.
“Lady Tinglan, I have matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.” As he spoke, he casually unhooked the money pouch hanging from his waist. Weighing it momentarily, finding it neither too heavy nor too light, he tossed it in a perfect arc through the air, and it landed right in Tinglan’s hands. “Take this and buy yourself a few new dresses.”
Shi Yue’s dark hair was tied high, secured with a white jade hairpin, with a few stray strands falling against his cheeks, making his brows and eyes look all the more like a painting, his gaze bright and clear.
Tinglan hurriedly caught the money pouch, looking at the youth’s tall, straight retreating figure as she murmured, “The Young Marquis is acting so strange today.”
As soon as Shi Yue stepped outside, his personal attendant, Stone, hurried over to welcome him. “Young master, are we heading back? Calculating the time, the Marquis and the eldest young master should be arriving soon.”
Stone was an orphan the Marquis of Anding had taken in from a village while fighting away on campaigns. Seeing that he had no one to raise him and that Shi Yue lacked someone to attend to him, the Marquis had brought him back, raising him by Shi Yue’s side since childhood.
Shi Yue was momentarily stunned. “Today?”
“That’s right, young master! Word came by letter a few days ago saying they were returning to the capital. Judging by the carriage pace and distance, they should be entering the city today.”
Shi Yue hadn’t expected to be reborn precisely on the day his relatives returned to the capital.
He was about to see his elder brother and father soon.
Shi Yue strode toward the carriage, happily saying, “Let’s head back quickly!”
“You got it, young master!” Stone deftly drove the horse back toward the Marquis of Anding’s estate.
The Marquis of Anding’s estate was situated within the bustling residential ward close to the imperial city. Being adjacent to the imperial palace reflected the Marquis’s status while also facilitating court audiences and discussions of state affairs.
Before long, Shi Yue arrived back at the estate.
Outside the Marquis of Anding’s estate, a group of soldiers had gathered, and Shi Yue immediately knew he was still a step slow his father had already arrived ahead of him.
“Young master.” A slightly older soldier, dressed in dark armor, exuded a stern, killing aura.
Seeing Shi Yue, he immediately bowed in salute.
Shi Yue hurriedly helped him up. “Uncle Yu, you mustn’t do this. Where is my father?”
Yu Shishu did not stand on further ceremony with such empty formalities, looking at Shi Yue with affectionate eyes. “Your father and elder brother went to have an audience with the Emperor first.”
Seeing Shi Yue grow as tall and straight as a pine tree, Yu Shishu’s smile widened even further as he teased, “A’yue truly takes after your mother’s looks. I wonder how many young ladies’ hearts this appearance will bewitch in the future.”
“Why is Uncle Yu teasing me the moment you get back?”
“Hahahahaha.” Frontier soldiers were all straightforward people. At this, Uncle Yu laughed without standing on ceremony. “Go on inside; your father should be back shortly.”
“And what about you?”
“I’m heading back to see my wife and my disobedient son.” With that, Yu Shishu waved his hand to signal that he didn’t need to be seen off, turned around, and departed unburdened.
Although told not to escort him, Shi Yue still followed a few steps behind, proactively holding the horse’s reins so Yu Shishu could mount and settle into the saddle before letting go.
“Then I won’t see you off any further, Uncle Yu.” Shi Yue performed a junior’s bow and said.
“Go on back!” Yu Shishu said with a smile, a few strands of white hair mixed into his locks, yet making him look all the more high-spirited. He turned and whipped his horse into a gallop, displaying the dashing bearing of a great general. “Hiyah!”
It would be a lie to say Shi Yue wasn’t envious.
Which youth at the time did not harbor a dream of campaigning across the battlefield and sacrificing their life for the country?
“Better to be a centurion than a mere scholar.”
This was the truest portrayal of the Yong Dynasty.
Everyone around him practiced martial arts since childhood, yet only he dragged around this sickly body to become a scholar, falling slightly ill every three to five days.
Now, in mid-Huaiyue, the weather was caught between the warmth of spring and the lingering chill of winter, the air still carrying a slight coolness.
Shi Yue coughed appropriately a couple of times, holding his fan and casually batting away the floating dust drifting in the air.
Stone asked with concern, “Young master, let’s go inside the rooms to wait instead; you’re dressed a bit too lightly.”
Shi Yue couldn’t help but inwardly complain about this wretched body: “How can it be delicate to this degree?”
To prevent himself from constantly falling into high fevers and losing his life before he could exact his great revenge, Shi Yue nodded and entered the estate in Stone’s company.