After Rebirth, My Aloof Husband Can Hear My Inner Thoughts [Transmigration & Rebirth] - Chapter 9

The spring breeze blew, willow tendrils swayed, the sky was overcast, carrying a dampness in the air.

Lin Shengshen rose from the reclining couch, stretching and yawning as she said, “Peilan, it’s about to rain, let’s go back inside.”

Leaving the octagonal pavilion, Peilan hesitated before finally speaking.

“Miss, shall we still prepare the carriage to fetch the young master?” In the past, whenever rain approached, Lin Shengshen would personally take the carriage to fetch Xie Zhizhou.

But Xie Zhizhou had never responded or shown any appreciation.

Yet Lin Shengshen persisted relentlessly, always going to fetch him whenever rain came. Recently, Peilan had noticed her young mistress had cooled considerably toward Young Master Xie, and wondered whether she would fetch him this time or not.

“Why fetch him?” Lin Shengshen didn’t immediately understand.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she said with realization, “No.”

The roads were slippery in rain, carriage travel was dangerous to begin with, plus the streets would be crowded with carriages, making the journey extremely long and leaving one sore and exhausted afterward. Let whoever wanted this thankless task take it.

The sky grew increasingly dark, until finally with a rumble, rain poured down in sheets.

Just as Lin Shengshen entered the rooms of Tangli Residence, she watched through the lattice window as the green bamboos repeatedly bent low in the rain.

“Oh my, what heavy rain. Time for bed.”

Lin Shengshen closed the window and let Peilan assist her with changing clothes and washing up. Soon, she was wrapped in brocade quilets and fast asleep.

The sweet, delicate fragrance and the stormy afternoon were perfect for spring drowsiness.

–

Xie Zhizhou happened to emerge from the palace just as the downpour began. Watching the rain pour down like strings of pearls, he waited quietly beneath the Zhonghua Gate.

He had come on horseback today, and Yuan Qing had already returned to the residence to fetch the carriage.

The eunuch following him looked up at the sky and said very respectfully, “Lord Xie, with such heavy rain, shall this servant fetch a carriage for you?”

Xie Zhizhou replied, “No need. The residence has already sent a carriage.”

The eunuch suddenly understood. Every time there was a palace discussion and he saw Xie Zhizhou off in the rain, there would always be a carriage waiting outside the palace gates early on.

After many such occasions, the eunuch had glimpsed the person in the carriage a few times—it was Prime Minister Lin’s youngest daughter, that peerless beauty of Yunjing, Lin Shengshen.

“This servant had forgotten. You and your wife share a deep bond… With Miss Lin coming to fetch you, my lord certainly won’t get wet.”

……

Xie Zhizhou ultimately didn’t offer any explanation and simply nodded.

Did she often come to the palace gates to pick him up? Xie Zhizhou hadn’t paid attention.

When she came to fetch him, what was Lin Shengshen thinking? Cursing this wretched weather under her breath, or cursing him?

Probably both…

Before long, Yuan Qing arrived with the carriage.

Xie Zhizhou boarded the carriage, lifted the curtain, and gazed through the heavy rain toward the end of the palace road. After a long silence, he asked, “Has anyone else left the residence today?”

“No,” Yuan Qing replied. While preparing the carriage, he had glanced at the entry-exit ledger. With the heavy rain today, no one from the residence had gone out.

Letting the curtain fall, shutting out the damp air, Xie Zhizhou said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”

The carriage moved slowly. Passing through the bustling market, they saw chaos everywhere.

Street vendors who had been hawking their wares had all rushed to take shelter under the eaves of shops along the street. Those hurrying on their way were drenched to the bone, even with umbrellas.

At a street corner, a woman stood holding an umbrella, craning her neck in anticipation. When she spotted her husband, she ran to meet him.

Her steps splashed through puddles, sending water flying.

The woman took out a silk handkerchief to wipe her husband’s forehead and cheeks, chiding, “I told you this morning it would rain, but you insisted on not bringing an umbrella. Now look, you’re soaked! See if you dare do this again.”

Under the small shelter of the umbrella, amidst the surrounding commotion, the man wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and said gently, “With my wife here to fetch me, I fear nothing.”

“Your shoes and socks are wet. Let me carry you home on my back.” So saying, the man bent down and hoisted his wife onto his back.

The woman let out a surprised cry, then laughed and tightened her arms around his neck, steadily holding the umbrella with her other hand.

Their figures gradually disappeared around the street corner.

Xie Zhizhou’s gaze withdrew from the vanishing couple.

Inside the carriage, incense was burning, its warm, gentle fragrance driving away the chill dampness.

Xie Zhizhou reached out and stirred the slender, lingering trails of incense smoke.

The warm fragrance curled around his long, elegant fingers, like fine mutton-fat jade complementing his knuckles. For a moment, it was unclear whether the warm jade enhanced his beautiful fingers or his fingers enhanced the delicate jade-like mist.

This incense wasn’t what he usually used.

As the rain softened, some previously unnoticed memories inexplicably surfaced in his mind.

That was back when he and Lin Shengsheng had just received the marriage decree from His Majesty.

The rising nobles held great power, and the Lin family was His Majesty’s weapon to suppress the old aristocratic families—with the Xie family being the foremost among them.

Xie and Lin were like fire and water, sworn enemies, and could never be star-crossed lovers.

Lin Shengshen clung to him with relentless persistence.

He treated Lin Shengshen as a complete stranger.

One rainy day, as he emerged from the palace gates with his colleagues and His Majesty’s close attendants, he happened upon Lin Shengshen waiting by the side, holding an umbrella.

“Brother Zhizhou, I’ve brought you an umbrella,” the young girl timidly yet boldly offered the umbrella in her hand.

Xie Zhizhou frowned and walked past Lin Shengshen, ignoring her completely.

In the end, it was the eunuch behind him who took the umbrella from Lin Shengshen and smoothed things over, saying, “How thoughtful of you, Miss Lin! Once you and Lord Xie are married, you will surely be a harmonious couple!”

And then?

Then Xie Zhizhou did not take the umbrella from the eunuch, nor did he glance back even once. He boarded his carriage and departed.

Yet, for some reason, the fading memories suddenly became vivid again.

Like the scent of cold plum blossoms on her as he walked past her, like the tears welling in her eyes at that moment, like the inexplicable smiles of his colleagues beside him.

Like… her shoes, socks, and the hem of her skirt, soaked just like that woman’s.

All these details suddenly seared into his faint memories like a branding iron, leaving an ugly scar.

“Young Master, we’ve arrived.”

The heavy rain came and went quickly. In front of the Xie residence, several pearl plum trees had been battered, their petals scattered across the ground.

Xie Zhizhou stepped over the fallen petals and returned to his study.

Yuan Zhen was already waiting there, but upon seeing Xie Zhizhou, he hesitated.

“Speak,” Xie Zhizhou said as he removed his rain-soaked outer robe.

“Your subordinate followed the maid from the Young Madam’s quarters and saw her discard these items.”

Xie Zhizhou handed his outer robe to Yuan Qing, leaving only a frost-colored inner garment on his body.

Without the loose outer robe to conceal it, the form-fitting inner garment clung to his powerful muscles, his shoulders and arms tensing and relaxing with each movement, radiating strength.

“What items?”

Yuan Zhen had initially thought they might be sinister objects, secretly retrieved in hopes of fulfilling Xie Zhizhou’s earlier order to investigate the Young Madam’s connections with skilled individuals.

However, when he opened them in a secluded spot, he discovered…

Yuan Zhen remained silent. Xie Zhizhou strode forward with a darkened expression, stopping before the jumble of items scattered on the ground.

At a glance, there were letters, calligraphy and paintings, and… silver notes?

The air around them grew tense. Yuan Zhen swallowed nervously, sensing that Xie Zhizhou was staring at these objects with the fury of one discovering evidence of an illicit affair.

“Leave.”

Yuan Zhen obeyed and withdrew, while Yuan Qing stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

“I said, leave.” The voice was calm, yet it sounded like a vengeful spirit demanding a life.

Yuan Qing hastily scurried out.

Xie Zhizhou bent down to examine the pile of items.

First, she inquired about Wen Lingzhou’s whereabouts, and now she destroyed letters and silver notes…

In just a few days, had Lin Shengshen dared to go this far?

She was audacious and unruly—her true nature was entirely different from the docile, delicate facade she usually presented. It was not beyond her to do such things…

Recalling how he had seen Wen Lingzhou from afar a few days ago in front of Baoxiang Tower, that restless, determined air about him was no illusion of Xie Zhizhou’s.

For no reason, Xie Zhizhou thought again of the mockery and teasing directed at Lin Shengshen by Yin Wei and the others on the street that day, and of those past moments—her reddened eyes and the dampened hem of her skirt as she rushed toward him.

Two years ago, he had presided over a case where an official’s wife, after an unsuccessful attempt to elope with her lover, murdered her husband.

The official drowned himself in drink day after day, frequented pleasure quarters, and subjected his wife to constant abuse—both physical and verbal. Bruised and battered, the wife endured his tyranny for a long time until she developed feelings for the physician who cared for her daily. When the two attempted to elope, they were caught by the official.

The lover was beaten to death on the spot, and the wife was crippled and imprisoned in her own home.

Later, the official was poisoned by his wife.

At that time, Xie Zhizhou had advocated for a reduced sentence for the woman.

“Husband and wife are one. If one acts without benevolence, they cannot blame the other for acting without righteousness.”

“The official brought this upon himself.”

Without benevolence… without righteousness… brought it upon himself.

The sunlight streaming through the window was glaring, casting a bright, white glow over a pile of letters. Xie Zhizhou’s thoughts drifted back to that day in Tangli Residence, to the pale, moonlit skin visible through the butterfly-patterned gauze curtains.

Had Wen Lingzhou seen it too?

He picked up a torn piece of silk, on which a pair of bluebirds in flight had been meticulously painted, only to be slashed apart by a sharp blade. Every feather was rendered with such care, as if dancing in the wind—a testament to the painter’s heartfelt effort.

Beside it lay two crimson coral beads, glossy and dazzling, clearly chosen with great expense and care.

Next to them were several letters.

Xie Zhizhou, who had never feared anything in his life, found himself strangely reluctant to open those letters.

Was it fear, or something else?

He shook off the sudden question. Fear? What was there to fear from a few wretched letters?

The courtyard was silent, the room so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Only the faint rustle of paper could be heard as he opened the letters.

[Brother Zhizhou, the weather is turning cold—remember to add more layers. I know these are trivial words, but I still want to say them to you.]

[Why didn’t you accept the fan pendant I sent you? I thought you would like black jade… But it’s alright, I’ll send you a green jade one next time.]

[Brother Zhizhou…]

He flipped through the letters faster and faster. Each one, every word, revolved around three characters—

Xie Zhizhou.

Longing and sorrow poured from the pages like a mournful song. Words that had once irritated him now flowed through him like a clear, gentle stream.

Xie Zhizhou suddenly looked up, his eyes falling once more on the items before him… and an unexpected sweetness seeped into his senses, catching him off guard.

It was the very sweetness he had always disliked, the very persistence he had found tiresome…

It was Lin Shengshen.

Everything became clear.

The sudden ability to hear his wife’s inner thoughts had been an accident—not a deliberate scheme, nor a sign of duplicity.

The gentle devotion she had shown him in the past was genuine. It was he who had been stubborn, distant, and cold, wounding her heart.

The tears and sorrows of a young girl’s infatuation had now transformed into silent grievances and…

Other thoughts.

Xie Zhizhou rolled up the torn silk, placed the two crimson coral beads that should have been his into the tray on his desk, and finally gathered the dozens of opened letters.

Since Lin Shengshen wanted these things, he might as well give them to her. His Majesty intended to ease tensions between the established families and the newly risen nobles—there was nothing unreasonable about that.

It was for the peace of the Xie residence, and also for…

Xie Zhizhou did not dwell on the thought further.

Husband and wife were one. He ought to gradually accept Lin Shengshen.

“Yuan Qing.”

By the time Yuan Qing entered, the inexplicable tension in the room had dissipated, and the chaotic mess on the floor had been tidied away.

He looked up, puzzled, at Xie Zhizhou, who sat at the desk holding a dossier, and heard him ask nonchalantly—

“How should an ordinary married couple behave?”