Night Conversation

“I’ve got someone to come home to, so it’s not tough.”

The words that Zhao Zhi uttered could make one feel very emotional. It was also something that the men who fought along the border often said.

But when Song Caitang met his gaze, she suddenly felt her face redden for no reason and she felt the urge to avoid his gaze.

His gaze was simply too intense, too focused…

Was she imagining things? Was Zhao Zhi talking about her?!

When he said he had someone to come home to, was he referring to her?!

But… how could that be?!

Song Caitang felt like telling him to stop staring at her like this because it could give rise to misunderstandings, but she decided not to after giving it some thought.

This was a good man who fought for the country. How could she question his character?

She was the one who was overthinking this whole thing, so it wouldn’t be nice if she made him feel bad for it. It would make her seem really petty and overly sensitive.

She told herself not to be like this.

So, she turned her face away, calmed her heart down, then frowned. “A prince from Western Xia secretly made his way into our country? Isn’t that a big problem?”

The man had disguised himself to infiltrate a sect, so it meant that Li Yuanfeng had snuck into the country without coming with an ambassador team or a letter from his emperor. There must be a good reason why he had to conceal his identity, and since this matter required a prince to attend to it personally, it must be a very serious and significant matter.

Sneaking in Da’an was very dangerous for Li Yuanfeng, but he was also a threat to the citizens of Da’an.

Actually, Song Caitang also wanted to ask if this matter had anything to do with what Zhao Zhi had been tasked with, and whether it had anything to do with the whole treason case that still hadn’t yielded any results even after such a long time…

But she felt that this would be classified information that Zhao Zhi wouldn’t be able to tell her, so she didn’t ask.

Contrary to her expectations, Zhao Zhi answered her question directly.

“Li Yuanfeng suspects someone has framed him, so he snuck into Da’an to investigate personally.” Zhao Zhi’s voice was low, but certain, “But after today, I don’t think he’d dare to come back.”

After all, sneaking in was already difficult enough. Also, he ended up breaking an arm from it.

Zhao Zhi didn’t say much, but Song Caitang could figure the rest.

What matter would require a prince to investigate personally? It clearly had something to do with his own country’s benefits or reputation. Who would be able frame a prince from Western Xia and implicate Da’an? The answer was obvious. It had to be some group out there from another country that would stand to gain from doing this.

Western Xia was on poor terms with Da’an. Any group that would stand to gain was a suspect.

An example would be the powerful and aggressive nation of Liao, or perhaps Huihu, who had been secretly keeping tabs on the situation…

Based on the various details she got from the previous cases, Song Caitang guessed that there was really someone in Da’an who was communicating privately with another country in secret, but nobody knew who it was and which country they were communicating with.

But because some light had been shed on this matter and the royal court was now aware that there was possibly a traitor in the country, this person or their group started thinking of a way to move attention away from themselves by framing someone else. Or perhaps they had already made preparations for a time like this and had already put together evidence that pointed toward Li Yuanfeng, so they could make him their scapegoat.

They did this to mislead Da’an and to make them view Western Xia as the enemy.

Li Yuanfeng was not stupid, so after he realized that something was amiss, he began to take action to clear his name. He tracked down clues that eventually led him to Night Sanctum, but he couldn’t find any further clues and even got entangled in a murder case…

The conflict between countries and the exchanges between these big shots were too complicated and Song Caitang could neither understand it nor do anything about it, so she decided to stop thinking about it altogether. She looked back at Zhao Zhi and asked, “So, why did you come here?”

Zhao Zhi didn’t say anything for a long time.

Song Caitang realized that he was staring at her fingers.

She was gently running her fingers up and down that short bamboo flute.

The bamboo flute that he had given her.

Her face turned red instantly.

She had been somewhat nervous because of the manner in which she ended up at the Night Sanctum, and even though she had analyzed the situation thoroughly and her rational side told her that she would be fine, she still felt like she needed to do something to help her remain calm.

Something like… touching this flute.

When Zhao Zhi gave her this flute, he had told her that if she was in danger, she just had to blow on it and he would come to her no matter how far away he was or how long it would take him.

The flute had become something like a security blanket to her. During her time here, she had also picked up a new habit of making sure she was always in contact with the flute…

But to be caught doing it by the person who gave it to her was rather embarrassing.

She felt her cheeks grow hot, so she tried to switch the topic. “Are you thirsty? Do you want—”

“Why didn’t you blow on it?”

Song Caitang stared puzzledly at him.

He pointed at the flute. “Why didn’t you blow on it?”

She sighed inwardly. He wasn’t going to let her avoid this question after all…

Song Caitang shut her eyes and bent her head slightly. “Because I thought through the whole thing very carefully and concluded that I will not be in any danger this time…”

“You will not be in any danger?” Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow as he tapped the table with his fingers hard. His voice grew harsh as well, “Then how do you explain what happened with Li Yuanfeng?”

He was angry.

Song Caitang was a little taken aback. Why was he angry?

And that hand on the table too. He was tapping the table so hard. Was he… going to hit her with that hand too?

Song Caitang paused to consider this matter seriously. She honestly did not expect this to happen, but it was true that she had been in danger and it was also true that she had implicated Guan Wan. She did deserve to be punished.

She had always been someone who bravely faced the consequences of her actions. If she faced difficulties, she would pick up the courage to fight. If she had made a mistake or overlooked something, she would not shirk her responsibility.

With that in mind, she shut her eyes tight.

If he decided to hit her, so be it.

Zhao Zhi couldn’t believe it. Song Caitang… was just giving up!

If she argued with him, he could patiently point out her mistakes. But now, she was admitting her mistakes without putting up a fight and was even waiting to be punished! What was he supposed to do like that?

Did she really expect him to hit her?!

This woman was really… As always, he had no idea how to handle her at all.

His gaze quivered as he swallowed hard to control himself. But he finally gave up. He placed his large palm on her head and gently patted her hair.

Forget it.

In any case, she would always have him. And since he had come back to look for her, he wasn’t going to let go of her again.

The pain that she was anticipating did not happen. Instead, she felt a warmth on her head. A hand was on her head.

She opened her eyes and met with his.

They gazed at her intensely, brightly, sincerely. There were waves of emotions in his gaze that she could not understand.

“Zhao Zhi…” Song Caitang was really puzzled and forgot that she ought to move aside. “Do you have something you want to tell me?”

He stared at her for a few seconds, then shook his head. “No.”

Some things could be forgotten and it wouldn’t matter, actually. It was harder to live knowing that there was something there, but he could not recall it no matter how hard he tried.

It was better to just go with the flow.

In any case, she would always have him.

The border was secure for at least the next ten odd years or so, so there wouldn’t be any major issues or changes. Some people would attempt to create trouble, but it wouldn’t be difficult to handle.

He wasn’t going to let such people get their way.

Neither would the emperor.

Zhao Zhi gaze went past Song Caitang’s soft earlobes, her smooth and supple chin and neck, then he forced himself to look away. “So, what’s with this case?”

Song Caitang did not notice any problem with the way Zhao Zhi was looking at her and didn’t notice that they were moving closer and closer to one another. They sat next to each other and their bodies did not touch, but the corners of their clothes overlapped each other’s well…

When it came to talking about the case, her eyes instantly lit up.

She had felt so lonely dealing with this case all by herself. She had no team, nobody to help her, and didn’t even have anyone to help her to sort through the details and analyze them. Her progress seemed so slow.

And so, she quickly went through all the details of the case with him.

“I was initially very suspicious of Xin Yongwang, because his behavior was full of contradictions. But I don’t think that’s the case anymore. The real Xin Yongwang had been switched out before Liao Xingjian was killed, so he couldn’t possibly have murdered the man. The fake one, Li Yuanfeng, would have no reason to kill him. In fact, he would have much preferred the wedding to have gone smoothly because then he would have greater access to more places and would be allowed to do more things.”

Zhao Zhi nodded in agreement. “That’s right. It’s impossible for either of them to be the murderer.”

“What happened four years ago is very important,” said Zhao Zhi after giving it some thought. “There must be something else that you still don’t know about.”

Song Caitang frowned. “I think so too… but I haven’t been able to get anyone to say more.”

He lowered his gaze slightly to digest the details she had told him earlier, then suddenly asked, “Wait. You said that when you were in the library, Li Yuanfeng accused Ye Nan of letting Liao Xingjian down. Did she defend herself?”

“Nope,” Song Caitang shook her head. “Ye Nan was completely paralyzed, so she couldn’t speak and she couldn’t defend herself.”

Zhao Zhi’s gaze burned as he stared at her, as though there were sparks flying in his eyes. “Even if she couldn’t move or say anything, it doesn’t mean she couldn’t express herself at all, right? Tangtang, I’m sure you know if she defended herself or not.”

Tangtang?

Song Caitang glanced at Zhao Zhi because she felt that he had crossed the line. But he had a perfectly straight face, as though he hadn’t said anything wrong at all. Then again, her colleagues used to call her that very often. And even after she arrived in Da’an, Qi Yan had called her Tangtang so many times…

So, it was only normal for Zhao Zhi to call her that too?

She didn’t stop to think too much about this because her attention was still focused on the case. She paused to recall Ye Nan’s expression at that time…

“She didn’t defend herself. She looked more like she was trying to avoid this topic, and she looked sorry too…”

In other words, Ye Nan had really done something to let Liao Xingjian down?

That really surprised Song Caitang.

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes as he rotated the teacup with his fingers. “What happened four years ago is the key to this case.”

Song Caitang said, “Could it be that something else happened while Liao Xingjian was missing?”

Zhao Zhi responded, “Ye Nan was already old enough to start thinking about taking over the sect from her father, but Liao Xingjian was nowhere to be found and nobody knew if he was dead or alive. Would she have thought about marrying someone else instead?”

“I don’t think so,” Song Caitang was very certain of this, “Ye Nan seems to love Liao Xingjian very much. Her love for him is real.”

When he heard the word “love”, Zhao Zhi’s gaze dimmed for a moment and he clenched his fists, but that expression disappeared almost immediately. “You’re so sure? Maybe she’s just pretending and trying to fool you?”

Song Caitang stopped to think about this possibility for a long time, then shook her head. “No, I’m sure.”

“She told me that life is only complete if one likes someone… She said that love is precious not because it doesn’t last long or because it’s lost easily, but because it’s rare. To be able to meet someone you can open your heart to and love and get the same in return is luck that you can only receive once in several lifetimes. It’s an incredible luxury to her. Life could become bumpy or amazing, it could be filled with great upheavals and pain. It might not be pleasant all the time, but she preferred that to an uneventful, ordinary life. Even if it’s painful, she said at least she would feel alive. And she also said…”

“I would understand once I meet someone I really like.”

Song Caitang chuckled and her eyes curved into little crescent moons. “Her love life was so painful, but when she heard that I don’t have anyone I like, instead of saying “great, you’re so lucky”, she actually said that it was a pity.”

“I think… someone who could say something like that must have experienced true love.”

“Ye Nan definitely loved Liao Xingjian. She loved him very, very much.”

After she gave her conclusion, she stared seriously at Zhao Zhi with her clear eyes. “What do you think?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time.

Song Caitang felt like there was something wrong with Zhao Zhi. There was something… cloying about his gaze.

It was like the wind blowing lightly across the surface of the lake where the moon was reflected. The ripples blurred the reflection, making it foggy and unclear, as though it was shyly trying to hide the brightness. But the moon was shining brightly in the sky all along.

No matter how tough or awkward the humans at the scene might be, that gentle moonlight in the rippling water said everything already.

Song Caitang subconsciously rubbed her own forehead. She seemed… to be reading in between the lines a little too much today.

But Zhao Zhi broke his silence at this juncture. “She’s right.”

He used his low, slightly hoarse, perfect baritone voice to say these eight words, “Love between two people should be like that.”