If you were cold and aloof in your past life, why are you crying in this one?

After the tasting, the Wang family prepared a late-night meal for everyone.

The banquet was held in a side hall next to the flower hall.

The elders had a separate seat, personally attended by Grand Commandant Wang, in the Suqing Pavilion in front of the study.

The younger people stayed in the side hall, accompanied by Wang Jue. The Wang family, of course, did not neglect their guests, and dishes and wine were served in a continuous stream.

Everyone took their seats, clinked glasses, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up.

After three or four dishes were served, a middle-aged man who looked like a manager walked respectfully to Xi Lingxian's table with a red lacquered tray.

There are two things on the tray.

Purple-gold wolf-hair brush, pine soot ink.

The steward bowed slightly, speaking in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for those around to hear: "Miss Xi, this was sent on the orders of our master. The Grand Commandant said that your calligraphy is excellent, and this brush and ink stick are a small reward for today's appreciation event."

A moment of silence fell over the room. All eyes turned to the tray.

Purple-gold wolf hair ink and pine soot ink—either one is quite valuable.

I dare not refuse a gift from my elders.

Not only could she not refuse, but given Wang Taiwei's status, she should personally go and express her gratitude.

This is a matter of etiquette.

"Miss Xi, my father's Suqing Pavilion is in the backyard. If you wish to go and express your gratitude, I can show you the way."

Wang Jue sat in the main seat, his demeanor composed.

Xi Lingxian had no other choice. She couldn't refuse; it would be against custom for an unmarried young woman to go alone to the banquet of her elders to express her gratitude.

"Then it will be hard work."

Wang Jue put down his wine cup, stood up, and nodded slightly to everyone at the table: "Excuse me for a moment."

The two walked out of the side hall one after the other, through a moon gate, and along the corridor deeper into the space.

Wang Jue walked ahead, with Xi Lingxian following behind him, keeping a few steps away.

"It's really not easy to see you alone these days."

"There was no need for us to meet in the first place."

"What happened before was my dereliction of duty."

"What?" she asked, glancing sideways.

"It is my dereliction of duty as a husband to let you be assassinated right under my nose."

Xi Lingxian paused for a moment, then said calmly, "The people who harmed me were Yu Shi and Xi Yao. You are neither the main culprit nor an accomplice, so it has nothing to do with you."

Wang Jue paused for a moment, recalling his past life.

When he learned from the maid named Taozhi that her stepmother had bribed someone close to her to poison her, causing her personality to change drastically and her heart meridian to be damaged, he was shocked to learn that her stepmother had bribed someone close to her to poison her, causing her to die.

He felt it was incredibly ironic.

He held the highest position in the court, wielding immense power, and even the emperor had to show him deference.

But his wife died right under his nose, betrayed and murdered by someone else.

His negligence and dereliction of duty are self-evident; avenging her is his duty.

Therefore, he quickly uprooted the Yu family, and the once extremely illustrious family of the emperor's maternal uncle collapsed and was destroyed in an instant.

After that, he continued to do his job as the head of the family and the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Wang Jue never felt that he was particularly saddened by her unexpected death.

After all, their already shallow marital bond had long been worn away by countless arguments.

Until a monument was erected and an epitaph was written for her.

He was the one who wrote the epitaph for the Wang clan's matriarch.

This was no difficult task for the highly talented second son of the Wang family.

It describes her background and character, and her virtue and gentleness after marrying into the Wang family, even though it's all fabricated.

Neat and upright, meticulous in every detail.

He suddenly stopped writing the last line.

Her birth and death dates should be written there.

He knew his birth year and his death year.

He picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and wrote down the year she was born and the year she died—

In that instant, his hand suddenly stopped there.

He stared at the two years and suddenly felt a buzzing in his head.

Between his birth and his death, the number he was about to write down was—nineteen.

She was only nineteen years old.

She had been married to him for three years, and he still thought of her as an adult.

She is his wife, the matriarch of the Wang family, and should be sensible, virtuous, and help him support the family.

He forgot that she was only nineteen.

In an instant, the pen felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

A sudden, indescribable soreness welled up inside him, as if something was slowly swelling in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

He realized he hadn't done a good job.

Even if he didn't love her, he had at least promised the Xi family father and son that he would treat her well.

His failure to take her life so unexpectedly and suddenly was his fault.

……

Xi Lingxian looked at his handsome profile, but her heart remained completely undisturbed.

"What's the point of saying this now? If you have any conscience at all, you should stop bothering me for the rest of your life."

Wang Jue remained silent.

A breeze blew in from the end of the corridor, carrying the sweet fragrance of osmanthus and the coolness of late autumn, causing her skirt to flutter slightly and his clothes to rustle.

She suddenly strode forward quickly.

He followed behind her, watching her back the whole time.

Suqing Pavilion is a separate courtyard located to the north of the study.

Two servants stood at the courtyard gate. Upon seeing Wang Jue, they bowed respectfully and said, "Young Master."

Wang Jue nodded.

The two stepped across the threshold, one after the other.

The main hall of Suqing Pavilion is decorated with great elegance.

Several exquisite dishes and warmed wine were laid out on a long table made of rosewood, and several important officials of the court sat scattered around it.

Grand Commandant Wang sat in the main seat.

The door opened, and everyone inside fell silent, their eyes fixed on the two figures at the doorway.

Xi Lingxian walked ahead, wearing a pale yellow dress, with a butterfly hairpin swaying slightly in her hair; her skin was as fair as snow and her face as beautiful as a flower.

Wang Jue walked beside her, dressed in a black casual outfit, tall and slender, with a face as handsome as jade.

The two walked in side by side, the lamplight falling directly on them.

One was dressed in dark robes, handsome and upright, like a pine tree in the mountains; the other was dressed in pale yellow robes, bright and beautiful, like a magnolia on a branch.

The two walked together, like people who had stepped out of an unknown ancient painting.

Their steps carried an inexplicable tacit understanding, as if they had been walking side by side like this for many years.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Several high-ranking officials who were drinking stopped what they were doing and their eyes all fell on the two figures in the hall.

Xi Lingxian bowed and thanked him from below the hall.

Grand Commandant Wang put down his wine cup, his gaze gentle. "Miss Xi, there's no need to be so polite. These are just some inexpensive little things; I'm glad you like them."

The elders in the hall were all important officials in the central government. They looked at them with gentle and loving eyes, as if they were looking at their own children.

Grand Commandant Wang beckoned.

Xi Lingxian walked to the Grand Commandant's side under everyone's watchful eyes.

"Xi family girl, who did you learn calligraphy from?"

Xi Lingxian's heart tightened.

A father must know his son well. Could it be that the Grand Tutor saw Wang Jue's shadow in her handwriting?

"In reply to Uncle, I didn't do it with anyone; I just collected some famous calligraphy works for my own enjoyment."

"To be able to practice copying to this extent on your own truly shows exceptional talent," the Grand Tutor said with a smile.

"Grand Tutor, you flatter me. I dare not presume to teach you my humble skills in front of you, my esteemed uncle."

"Do you enjoy practicing calligraphy?"

She wrinkled her nose, finding it hard to lie, and said, "It's alright."

The Grand Tutor laughed loudly, "Why practice so diligently if you don't like it?"

She said, "If I don't learn it, people will use it to slander and look down on me; whether I like it or not is another matter, it's never a bad thing to learn something to have something to rely on."

"Hahaha."

"You really dare to say anything, girl."

Wang Dun had only heard that the Xi family's daughter was arrogant and spoiled, and he thought she was domineering and fierce.

Unexpectedly, the person I met turned out to be a very understanding and empathetic person.