The new emperor's first decree upon ascending the throne was to forcibly take his cousin as his

Imperial Prison.

Xie Chengli looked out the window, the smile gone from his lips, but he seemed quite relaxed.

He looked at the person who had arrived. "You've come?"

Xie Chengming moved a stool and sat outside the railing. Looking at him, he suddenly laughed out loud, "Everyone says you're popular, but at this time, I'm still the only one who came to see you."

Xie Chengli leaned against the wall, and the younger brother felt relieved. "Isn't there still Second Brother? Look, you've been with me for so long that you've even learned to smile."

Xie Chengming stopped smiling and took out the food he had brought. "You still have the mind to joke around."

Xie Chengli understood. "Here to see me off on my way?"

Xie Chengming lowered his head. "If you had wanted that position in the first place, you should have known this day would come."

"I can't help you, and no one can help you."

"What about the Meng family?" he asked.

"The entire Meng family has been imprisoned and sentenced to beheading yesterday."

"Looks like I'm the last one," Xie Chengli chuckled. "She doesn't want to see me."

"It's right that she didn't come to see you," Xie Chengming said.

"If she had come to see you, you wouldn't have died like this. She has the Prime Minister's mansion behind her. I told you long ago she wouldn't come."

Xie Chengli sighed, "I know, but she will never forget me in her lifetime."

"Even if I die, even if she stays by my brother's side, I am a dead man and he cannot replace me."

He is actually the same kind of person as Xie Chengyan, who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

He never lived for himself in his entire life. As a child, he lived the way his mother liked him; as an adult, he lived the way the Meng family liked him; and later, he lived the way his father liked him.

If he could, he would like to leave Kyoto and go to a place where no one knows him, to farm and pick mulberry leaves, living a carefree life.

I don't have to think about anything. I just paint and write poetry every day and never have to please anyone again.

Unfortunately, she was born into the Meng family, and the Meng family raised her. She became a pawn of the Meng family, and she could not escape this fate until her death.

He longed to leave Kyoto and live a free and unrestrained life, which was exactly what he wanted.

Unfortunately, it was destined never to happen.

However, since Niannian remembered him in her heart, and even on her deathbed she wanted to cause her elder brother some trouble, it was all worth it.

He took a bite of the pastry, his gaze falling on Xie Chengming's back, a provocative look on his face.

So what if he dies? Nian Nian still doesn't like him anyway, so he hasn't lost.

*

Two days later, Ruan Xianrong had a dream all night.

My dream was a jumbled mess; I don't remember what happened.

She wasn't feeling well when she woke up in the morning, so Yinque brought her a message.

Xie Chengli is dead.

This morning, when the guards from the imperial prison went to deliver his meal, they discovered his body.

Ruan Xianrong was going to the imperial prison, but he stopped at the door.

What's the point of going to see him now that he's dead if I didn't even go when he was alive?

Actually, she wasn't saddened by Xie Chengli's death; she just found it unbelievable.

She had been here for over a decade and never imagined what it would be like for someone to leave her.

When someone you grew up with suddenly dies, the feeling isn't just sadness, it's an indescribable emotion.

It's like a fine needle pricking your heart; it doesn't hurt, but it's still unpleasant.

She stayed in the mansion all day.

I read for a while, but couldn't concentrate.

For the first time ever, she was asked to embroider a handkerchief, and the needle pricked her fingertip, drawing a tiny bead of blood.

She put her fingertip in her mouth and tasted a faint metallic taste of blood.

The wind picked up again at night, making the paper windows rustle.

She didn't turn on the light and sat alone in the darkness.

In a daze, it felt like I had returned to many years ago.

She was still young then, watching the princes compete in archery in the crowd.

Xie Chengli was dressed in a moon-white robe with arrow-sleeved sleeves. His posture was upright, and his profile as he drew his bow was clean and neat.

He hit the target with one arrow, drawing cheers from the crowd.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping through the crowd, seemingly searching for someone, a familiar smile playing on his lips.

After an unknown amount of time, Yinque gently pushed open the door and entered, lighting the lamp.

"Miss, it's getting chilly, you should get some rest."

The candlelight flickered, and Ruan Xianrong blinked, her eyes feeling a little dry.

She spent several days in a daze at home, then gave instructions to Yinque.

"We'll head out tomorrow."

"Where to?"

She handed over the note, "Go here."

The next morning, before anyone in the family had gotten up, Ruan Xianrong left the mansion with Yinque.

The carriage stopped on the street. She bought a few steamed buns at the morning market and, ignoring the cold weather outside, ate them as she walked, amidst shouts and calls.

Finally, after finishing the steamed buns, they returned to the carriage.

The carriage stopped outside a house in the outer city, and the door was opened with the key given to me by Xie Chengming.

It was an ordinary house, spotless and clean, without a speck of dust.

There is a lake in the courtyard, and a pavilion has been built on the lake. There is also an unfinished painting on the table, with a large patch of ink on it.

This house must be frequently inhabited, as it is fully equipped with all the necessities for daily life.

She recognized the painting on the wall; it was Xie Chengli's work.

Unlike previous figure paintings, this painting depicts mountains, rivers, insects, birds, and the vastness of the world, expressing a deep longing.

She laughed out loud, "You said you could only draw people, but aren't you drawing them pretty well?"

She said to Yinque, "If he really had become a painter, he would have been famous in Kyoto by now, wouldn't he?"

It was as if he were talking to himself, "What a pity, such a beautiful painting, hanging here with no one to appreciate it."

Finally, it stopped at the door of that dark room.

"I'll go in myself. You just wait for me outside."

Silver Sparrow responded, "Yes."

She slowly walked in and lit the candles.

All the paintings that Xie Chengli showed her are here.

Now that they have a face, the two under the tree look like a pair of affectionate confidants.

Her hairpin from when she turned fifteen, the skirt she lost at fourteen, the ugly purse she was forced to embroider by her mother at sixteen... it's all here.

Inside the dark room, there was a huge painting, hidden by a curtain, and even a sculpture of her, placed in the most conspicuous place.

There are countless versions of her.

Different ages, different expressions, sometimes smiling, sometimes angry, sometimes sitting quietly, sometimes walking, and even the image of her taking a nap at her desk, chewing on pastries.

Each stroke is exquisitely detailed.

The wall was so full of things that it was almost overflowing, so full that it made one's heart clench.

Should we say he's crazy, or should we say he's pathetic?

Everything she's ever wanted or lost since childhood is here; there are even some things she can't remember.

Looking around, these paintings were like his eyes, watching her all these years from a place she didn't know.

She picked up a painting that was next to her; it was the one she had seen on the ship last time, and she still remembered the words on it vividly.

Flowers bloom on one wall, and romance unfolds in two separate places.

The needle in my heart pricked me again.

She put the portrait back in its place, blew out the candle, and everything inside was hidden in the shadows.

She stepped out and gently closed the door.

After a long while, the tears in his eyes cleared, and he cursed under his breath, "Xie Chengli, it's no exaggeration to say you're heartless. You were scheming against me until your death."