Zheng Xiao Mistake: The Mistake of Rebirth Provoked the Cold Master

A thunderstorm night seems both quiet and noisy.

The occasional lightning outside the window illuminated a hall where a dozen incense burners were burning, with green smoke curling up.

There were no candles in the hall, and it soon fell into darkness. A figure was slumped on the couch in the middle, holding a large wine bottle in his arms. There were several empty wine bottles on the tea table, stacked neatly, one next to the other.

His white nightgown was half open, and his eyes were covered with a semi-transparent gauze ribbon of the same color. His handsome face was stained with the red of drunkenness, but it still couldn't hide his pale and lonely sickly complexion.

While he was drunken and dreaming, the door of the palace was suddenly pushed open, and the sound of wind and rain outside was instantly heard, and the green smoke in the room was suddenly shaken away.

The crookedly sitting person barely straightened up, and struggled to identify the person through the gauze. After a while, he finally shouted doubtfully, "Ayan?"

The incense mixed with various spices exuded a pungent aroma. Rong Yan frowned subconsciously and stopped at the door.

"I haven't replied to any of the letters I sent." Gong Yihao staggered to his feet and said, "I thought he wasn't going to come back."

He walked up to Rong Yan, opened his eyes wide and was shocked when he saw Rong Yan's appearance. "What kind of style is this? It's raining, but you don't know how to hold an umbrella? If you don't know, you would think it's a ghost from the river that has climbed ashore."

Rong Yan did not respond, nor did he pay attention to Gong Yihao's staggering hand that was trying to help him up. He walked into the hall and raised his hand to extinguish a few incense burners to dissipate the heavy air in the room.

Gong Yihao followed behind him and staggered back to lie down on the couch.

Rong Yan glanced at the wine bottles scattered on the floor, then looked at Gong Yihao's frivolous gait, and said coldly, "Stop pretending, I know you are not drunk."

Gong Yihao's shaking body suddenly stopped and he smiled, "Nothing can be hidden from Ah Yan. It's all because you broke my 'good brother's' hand. I can't rest in peace. I can't even sleep well at night because of the pain."

"Take medicine if it hurts." Rong Yan said.

Gong Yihao ignored him and took another sip of wine. "If medicine works, there will be no such thing as wine in the world."

The smell of alcohol mixed with incense was like a burning sensation in the mouth and nose. Rong Yan frowned and raised his hand to take away his bottle of wine.

Gong Yihao did not resist. He half-reclined on the couch and jokingly complained, "You feel uncomfortable when you don't care about anyone. Sooner or later, you will lose your courage. I'm waiting for you to call me brother-in-law in the future..."

Rong Yan stopped what he was doing, his face was calm and he could not tell if he was happy or angry, and he whispered, "The person is with you indeed."

Gong Yihao's expression changed for a moment, but he soon regained his smile, "Who is it?"

Rong Yan said solemnly, "Send the person back."

"What is A-Yan saying?" Gong Yihao sat up straight again, "I don't understand."

The door of the hall was not closed, and the wind blew up the curtains on all four sides of the hall, making them full of wind. The green smoke from the incense burners looked like ghostly shadows.

Rong Yan stood beside the couch, looking down at Gong Yihao, and said in a calm voice, "I said, don't separate them."

The rain outside the window was noisy, but the palace was eerily quiet. After a moment, Gong Yihao finally stopped laughing, and there was no trace of the joking expression on his face. "Didn't you take the person away too?"

Rong Yan asked coldly, "Why should I take her away?"

As soon as he showed up, his face was as gloomy as a cold pond. Gong Yihao realized later that Rong Yan seemed to be settling scores later. He was silent for a while, "Don't blame me for his grudge. He and I have never been on the same side."

"Is that so?" Rong Yan put the bottle of wine in his hand on the table and said coldly, "Indulging in selfish desires and being greedy, isn't that what your Gongyi family has always done?"

"No, A Yan... I'm not doing this for my own selfish desires. Qingqing and I are in love with each other." Gong Yihao seemed to have been touched on a sore spot, and explained repeatedly, "In Sihai Academy... you know, she liked me. She liked me first."

Rong Yan glanced at him with his eyelashes drooping, his eyes dimmed slightly, as if he felt pity for him.

"You chose the wrong path," he said.

“Why do you say I made the wrong choice…” Gong Yihao was hurt by his words, and even more embarrassed by his look. He stood up suddenly in anger and said, “A Yan, I really envy you. You can judge and ridicule me so mercilessly. You just don’t know what it means to be in love and to suffer from insatiable desires…”

"I know."

Rong Yan's eyes turned cold, and he interrupted him with his brows furrowed.

His expression was as calm as a jade sculpture, and he said calmly without any ups and downs, "That's why I said you chose the wrong path."

Gong Yihao froze, his face showing a look of both crying and laughing. He grabbed Rong Yan's sleeve without saying anything, "Don't say I was wrong again. I can't make the same mistake again... I won't make the same mistake again..."

Rong Yan opened his hand and nodded to the side, "Tanyu, take your prince to sober up."

*

With mixed feelings of fear and worry, Zhu Zheng fell asleep quickly.

But her sleep was not sound and she woke up soon. She remembered where she was lying and could not fall asleep again. She stared at the graceful white cranes embroidered on the bed curtains and listened to the lightning and thunder until dawn.

When daybreak came, the heavy rain that had been falling all night had stopped.

The sky was clear and the spring breeze after the rain blew away the last thin clouds.

When Zhu Zheng was sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, she heard a knock on the door, followed by the sound of Liu Feng.

"Fourth Miss, you can go to the side door to pick someone up now."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zheng's heart began beating rapidly in her chest. She didn't remember how she put on her clothes and rushed out the door. She ran out wildly, her heart almost jumping out of her throat.

When he saw the carriage, his mind went blank and he climbed onto it using his hands and feet.

The person I had been thinking about day and night suddenly appeared before my eyes, lying in the carriage with his hands and feet intact, his eyelashes tightly closed and his breathing shallow.

Zhu Zheng called out softly, "Sister..."

Liu Feng heard this outside the carriage and quickly explained, "Don't worry, Fourth Miss. Third Miss just drank some tranquilizing tea and fell asleep. She's fine."

Zhu Zheng nodded repeatedly, unable to utter a word, fearing that this was just a dream before dawn and that a loud noise would wake her up.

Liu Feng continued, "The Zhu Mansion has already sent someone to notify us in advance. Today, the third young lady is returning to the capital from Fanlin Temple. You were called away by the master last night to meet her. It was raining heavily and it was difficult to travel. You were delayed on the way, so you are returning now."

Zhu Zheng listened to it once and memorized it silently in her heart.

Liu Feng then said, "There are two sets of clothes prepared by adults in the car. If the fourth girl wants to change, she can change them, or you can give them to the third girl."

Zhu Zheng then noticed the clothes on the square table. There were two silk skirts, one of which was exactly the same as the one that was torn last night.

Such a meticulous arrangement made Zhu Zheng feel indescribably relieved. She calmed herself down and asked, "Where is the master?"

Liu Feng said, "My Lord originally wanted to send the girls back personally, but he had some things to deal with, so he specifically asked me to send you back."

Zhu Zheng hummed, and subconsciously wanted to say thank you, but then she remembered that she should thank Rong Yan the most, and she should thank him in person.

Zhu Qing was wearing a blue wide-sleeved shirt, which was an unusual style and looked unfamiliar. Since Rong Yan had specially prepared two sets of clothes, he must have had his reasons. Zhu Zheng thought about it and decided to help Zhu Qing change her clothes.

After changing, she sat next to Zhu Qing and held Zhu Qing's hand tightly, fearing that she would disappear again.

The carriage started moving, and when it was approaching Zhu's residence, her hand was suddenly held back. Zhu Zheng sat up straight abruptly, but her voice was extremely low.

"Sister...are you awake..."

Zhu Qing slowly opened his eyes, still a little sleepy. He looked at the person in front of him and was stunned for a moment, "Zheng'er?"

"It's Zheng'er... Sister, Sister... Zheng'er misses you so much..." Zhu Zheng curled her lips, threw herself over and snuggled into her arms. The worries, concerns and fears of the past few days finally turned into real grievances. Her eyes turned red and she burst into tears.

Zhu Qing quickly hugged her and took out a handkerchief to wipe her face. "Why are you crying like this? Did someone bully you?"

Instead of asking her, Zhu Zheng wanted to ask if her sister had been bullied, but she was so upset that it took her a long time to calm down. She suddenly remembered something and checked her sister carefully. Her hands and feet were fine and her complexion was very good, unlike the last time they parted, when she was depressed and her eyes were full of numbness, as if she was at the mercy of others.

Before she had the chance to ask her what happened, Liu Feng reminded her that they were almost at the Zhu Mansion. Zhu Zheng quickly wiped her tears and reviewed Rong Yan's words.

"Sister, if grandma asks you later, just say you came back from Fanlin Temple. You have been praying in Fanlin Temple for the past six months."

"Fanlin Temple?" Zhu Qing was obviously confused. "...What is that place?"

Zhu Zheng decided to briefly start from the beginning, "It's a long story, because after I was injured, I was..."

"Are you injured? Where are you injured? Is it serious?" Zhu Qing's face immediately became worried.

Zhu Zheng suddenly paused and swallowed her words. It seemed that her elder sister didn't know that she was shot by an arrow. There was no need to mention it specifically. She had recovered now anyway. Talking about it again would only make her elder sister sad.

The carriage was getting closer and closer to the Zhu residence. Zhu Zheng could only give a general answer, "Anyway, there was some trouble during the autumn hunt. Our whereabouts became a mystery. I couldn't explain it clearly to grandma at the moment, and I was afraid she would worry. So I just told her that we just came back from praying at the Fanlin Temple."

Zhu Qing frowned slightly, looking at Zhu Zheng's expression which was still dazed and confused, "When is the autumn hunt you mentioned?"