They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Peeking

Silence returned to the room. Leng Licí sat cross-legged on the bed, attempting to meditate to calm his mind, but a lingering restlessness swirled within him, refusing to dissipate.

After tossing and turning for a while, he suddenly opened his eyes, looking at the teapot on the table with slight annoyance.

As the sun peeked out, the early morning light began to seep in, creating a faint glow through the window. However, this faint light stopped at the couch, leaving Leng Licí, who was sitting on the bed, submerged in shadow.

After an unknown duration, the person on the bed finally stirred. Feeling that the dim, ambiguous environment was too suffocating, Leng Licí got up, pushed the door open, and walked out of the room.

At this hour, night and morning were equally mixed. The entire Cui residence was still steeped in the stillness of the night, and Cui You, who had been in the courtyard, had also returned to his room.

Leng Licí’s heart was restless, and he wandered aimlessly through the courtyard purely by instinct, hoping to dissipate his agitation.

He walked until he reached a spot where continuous, intermittent weeping abruptly broke the silence of the surroundings. The crying was suppressed and not obvious, but Leng Licí’s hearing was too keen, making it impossible to ignore.

He frowned and followed the sound to a tightly closed room. The room was dark, with no lights on.

He lost interest in continuing to pry and turned to leave.

“Yóu’er, Yóu’er, I have failed you, my son.”

Leng Licí recognized Cui Ming’s voice. He stopped his raised foot and turned to look at the closed room.

The person inside continued to murmur, “After today, you would be thirty years old. This year, your father has collected many interesting books. I have transcribed them all and will burn them for you as your birthday gift this year.”

Hmph, what an unnecessary effort, Leng Licí scoffed inwardly. This Cui You has probably already been reincarnated and is likely back in school by now.

But the next moment, he concealed his figure and walked straight into the room.

He wanted to see clearly what exactly Yun Qingwu thought he had done wrong.

The room was divided into an outer study and an inner bedroom. Cui Ming was kneeling before a memorial tablet in the study, wiping tears while tossing a copied manuscript into a brazier.

Leng Licí surveyed the study. It was spotless. The books, already aged, were neatly arranged on the shelves. A copy of Shǐ Jì (Records of the Grand Historian), Volume 1, lay open on the desk. The opened page was yellowed, indicating it had been left there for a long time. Next to the book lay a dry writing brush, still waiting for its owner to return and continue the unfinished annotations.

This room had been uninhabited for a long time, yet it also felt as if it had never been empty.

“Yóu’er, your father… your father misses you so much. Why… why won’t you ever… look at your father in a dream…” Cui Ming choked up again, tears already smearing his face, mixed with fine ashes.

Leng Licí felt nothing inside, even a slight disdain in his eyes.

Among all emotions, tears were the most incompetent expression, doing nothing and accomplishing nothing, leaving only useless tears.

He turned to leave. The breeze created by his sleeve unintentionally moved the pages of the book on the desk. The person who had been sobbing immediately quieted down, his voice cautious. “Yóu’er? Is that you?”

Leng Licí paused, then wanted to leave even faster, but he saw the man who had just been weeping quickly wipe his tears dry, forcing a smile onto his face. “Yóu’er, your father was just kidding. Your father… your father just got ash in his eyes. Your father is doing very well!”

Leng Licí turned back to look at Cui Ming, who was a completely different person from a moment ago. Tear tracks were clearly visible on his face, and the forced smile was clearly false, yet, for some reason, Leng Licí’s heart inexplicably fluttered.

He was reminded of Yun Qingwu on the execution platform that day.

Cui Ming awkwardly wiped his hands, maintaining an artificially cheerful tone. “Yóu’er, don’t worry. Your father adopted a son these past few years. He is very filial and treats your father very well. Your father… your father won’t be alone, so you don’t have to worry about your father. It’s okay even if you are not by your father’s side, as long as you are well.”

As if to prove his words, Cui Ming immediately walked quickly to the bookshelf, took a volume, and flipped through it page by page, displaying it to the empty space. “You said you wanted to go to many different places someday. Your father has already gone for you. These are the feelings your father recorded. That beautiful scenery you mentioned, the one that goes ‘The rapid current falls three thousand feet, suspected to be the Milky Way dropping from the ninth heaven’—it is indeed spectacular. And, and…”

Cui Ming choked up again but forcefully restrained himself. “The business at the tavern is also improving under Little Yóu’s management. The poetry gathering you wanted to organize has been held for five years now. Many scholars like you have come, drawn by its fame.”

Cui Ming talked on and on about the wishes that the real Cui You should have personally realized but could no longer participate in.

A subtle, hard-to-pinpoint prickling sensation gradually arose in Leng Licí’s otherwise unmoved heart. This feeling had also appeared during the time Yun Qingwu was unconscious. He still didn’t know exactly what his mistake was, yet he seemed to understand something faintly.

He stood in place, listened to Cui Ming ramble for a while longer, and then turned and left the room.

Leng Licí wandered aimlessly. When he finally regained his senses, he found himself outside Yun Qingwu’s door. At the same time, the closed door suddenly swung open, and Yun Qingwu appeared in his field of vision.

Yun Qingwu was momentarily stunned when he saw the person outside his door. After returning to his room, he had reconsidered and thought he shouldn’t have handled the issue that way. He had been about to go back and talk things through with Leng Licí, only to find the person already at his doorway.

Caught off guard, neither spoke, merely staring at the other.

After a long moment, Yun Qingwu took the initiative to take Leng Licí’s hand and pull him into the room. “Why are you spacing out? Why didn’t you come in when you arrived?”

Leng Licí pulled his hand away from Yun Qingwu, sat on the bed, crossed his arms, and adopted a righteous demeanor. He said in a deep voice, emphasizing, “This Lord just hadn’t gotten around to pushing the door yet.”

Yun Qingwu raised an eyebrow, not challenging him, and sat down next to him. “Mhm. About Cui You’s matter—”

“I agree.” Leng Licí interrupted coldly. He stared straight ahead. “He can stay if he wants to.”

Yun Qingwu looked at Leng Licí with some surprise. He had thought he would need to spend some effort persuading him. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Leng Licí was silent for a moment. He quickly kicked off his boots, lay down sullenly, and turned his back to Yun Qingwu. “If you don’t go to sleep now, the sun will be up.”

Yun Qingwu looked at Leng Licí’s back, a slight smile playing on his lips. He knew this was Leng Licí’s way of trying to understand him.

He took off his shoes, got onto the bed, reached out to pull the person into his arms, and whispered, “I was actually planning to come find you just now.”

Leng Licí was silent for a moment, then gave a muffled “Mhm.” He turned over to face Yun Qingwu, pinned him down, and kissed him.

Neither of them said anything more, but everything that needed to be said was conveyed.