Fu Zhiyu kept holding the needle in his hand, feeling a little complicated.
The Lord God had promised that he would never cheat him, and he didn't say anything more. He had seen a silver needle turn black, but why would it be so strange to see it turn red
There was a distance from the Embroidery Room to the Glazed Palace. When Fu Zhiyu was passing through the Imperial Garden, he saw from afar three people who looked like guards walking past in front.
He narrowed his eyes and saw something was wrong at a glance.
The guards in the palace are also divided into ranks, from the lowest palace gate guards to the highest imperial guards. The clothes they wear, the swords they use, and the tokens they carry are all very different. The three people walking in front are the highest-level imperial guards. They wear black clothes, and in the sun you can see golden dark patterns on the cuffs, collars, and lapels. The swords they wear are made of excellent cold iron blades. The best craftsman can only make three of these swords a year at most.
The imperial guards have official ranks and are legitimate fourth-rank military generals. Being in the emperor's presence, they are more useful than some second- and third-rank officials. All of these people come from aristocratic families, are young, and have unlimited prospects.
There are no more than ten imperial guards in the palace now. Quality is more important than quantity. Fu Zhiyu knows all of them, but he seems to have never seen the first three before.
Especially the one in the front, why does he look so... familiar
Unfortunately, by the time Fu Zhiyu recognized who the man was, it was too late for him to turn around and take another route.
It’s Xie Ke.
It was no wonder that he didn't recognize him at first. The paths in the Imperial Garden were winding, and the figures in the distance were obscured by some tree branches. It was also the first time he saw Xie Ke in a guard's uniform, so it was normal that he didn't recognize him at first.
Fu Zhiyu couldn't help but wonder, when did he become a royal guard? This didn't happen in his previous life.
He was puzzled, but then he saw three people, led by Xie Ke, approaching him, bowing to him and saying, "Greetings, Prince Zhao."
After receiving Xie Ke's greeting, Fu Zhiyu took a step back inconspicuously. He wrapped his cloak more tightly and just wanted to leave quickly to see what was abnormal about the blood on his body.
Unexpectedly, Xie Ke refused to let him go. After he finished his greetings and stood up, he asked Fu Zhiyu, "Prince Zhao... do you remember me?"
Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know. I have never seen you in front of my father before. Are you a new imperial guard?"
He saw that Xie Ke was obviously stunned for a moment after hearing this, with some disbelief in his eyes.
Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to take advantage of his stunned moment to leave quickly, but before he had taken a few steps, Xie Ke came up and blocked his way.
"How dare you!" The eunuch beside Fu Zhiyu shouted, "You are just a guard who doesn't know the rules of the palace. Who gave you the courage to block the way of King Zhao?"
The eunuch wanted to go forward and push him, but was immediately stopped by Fu Zhiyu. First, he certainly couldn't push Xie Ke, and second, this was the protagonist after all, and Xie Ke always held grudges, so it was better not to offend him.
Xie Ke lowered his head and looked at him closely, not caring about the eunuch who was yelling. His eyes were indescribably complicated, his lips moved, and he whispered: "I... I am the one who saved King Zhao on that day in Binghu."
"Xie Ke, young master Xie?" Fu Zhiyu took another step back, with a polite smile on his face. "It's you. Sorry, I was sick and don't remember many things clearly. It was my mother who told me that it was Xie Ke from General Xie's family who came to the rescue. But I haven't been feeling well recently, so I didn't go to thank you in person for saving my life. I didn't expect to meet you here."
"King Zhao, don't you remember?" Xie Ke seemed unable to maintain his expression, his eyes blank for a moment, "I have been waiting at Longquan Temple for a long time, I..."
"I know," Fu Zhiyu said, his smile unchanged, "but I have urgent matters to attend to right now, so I can't delay. If Master Xie needs anything, just ask someone to send a message to the Liuli Palace, and I will do my best to satisfy you."
"I... I don't want that." Xie Ke seemed to want to hold his hand, but halfway through, he felt something was wrong and quickly withdrew his hand, as if trying to suppress his emotions. "King Zhao promised to pay a visit."
Fu Zhiyu was stunned. In fact, what he said was just an excuse. People who understood would naturally understand that it was just a matter of a word from the nobleman. It was not certain whether he would come or not. The gift had already been given, so it was considered as a token of his gratitude.
Xie Ke didn't know what was wrong with him, he just kept saying this, as if he was trying to gain something.
Fu Zhiyu couldn't understand the look in his eyes. He only felt that there was some sadness and disappointment in them, as well as some things that he couldn't understand and didn't want to understand at all. But why
In his previous life, Xie Ke clearly regretted saving himself from the icy lake and not saving Miss Xue who was supposed to be there. He also wished he could forget everything so that this favor would not have haunted him for so many years and disrupted so many plots.
Why are you bothering me here now
I really don't understand him. The protagonist's heart is like a needle in the sea.
Fu Zhiyu thought for a moment and said, "After the ceremony of my mother and the Imperial Noble Consort is completed, I will go to visit her."
"I will certainly prepare the bed to welcome you." Xie Ke lowered his head, restrained all his expressions, bowed to him again, and added word by word, "But now I am in the imperial court, and in the future, I will have many opportunities to meet King Zhao."
After saying this, he looked at Fu Zhiyu deeply, turned around and left. Fu Zhiyu felt his arm brushing against her shoulder. Xie Ke was nineteen years old, three years older than him, but a whole head taller than him.
Although he was only a fourth-rank imperial guard now, Fu Zhiyu did not dare to underestimate Xie Ke. At that moment, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end.
He wanted to try his best to escape from this net in his life. He wanted to stay as far away from the royal struggle and Xie Ke as possible. No matter whether it was the emperor or his old rival Fu Lingxiao, all these things did not make him uneasy, but now he felt a little uneasy.
I felt as if I was about to be pulled back into this web again.
Fu Zhiyu calmed his mind for a while and slightly quickened his pace. He secretly told himself not to be anxious and to figure out what was happening to him first.
After Fu Zhiyu left, the three imperial guards continued to move forward, but they couldn't help whispering to each other.
"Boss, is this the Ninth Prince you rescued?" The second guard couldn't help but pull at Xie Ke's collar and asked, "Wow, if I had to risk my life I wouldn't have jumped in to save him. He's so handsome. I think the little daughter of Prime Minister Xue's family is so beautiful, but she's not even half as pretty as this one."
"Don't talk nonsense," the third guard interrupted, reminding, "He's not the Ninth Prince anymore, he's Prince Zhao. Now that you've entered the palace, you have to be careful with what you say. Don't say anything nonsense like before."
"What's wrong with just a few of us talking about it? Besides, don't you think he's not good-looking? Isn't he pretty?"
"Yeah, it's pretty nice."
"I'm right, Boss, you say..."
He fell silent halfway through his words because Xie Ke turned around and looked at him with sinister eyes, his words conveying a warning.
"Don't look at him," Xie Ke said, "Just do your own thing."
There was one more thing he kept in his heart and didn't say it out loud - he is mine.
Sooner or later, Xie Ke recalled the face hidden in the white cloak and couldn't help but licking his cracked lips with his tongue.
No one knew how much he wanted to hold Fu Zhiyu in his arms at that time, shut his mouth and stop him from saying those angry words.
It would be fine if you could forget the bad memories from your past life, but how could you forget this
Xie Ke clenched the knife in his hand. It was undeniable that he was feeling very emotional because of this incident.
Zhiyu had said many times in her previous life that she fell in love with him at first sight. And the reason for this so-called love at first sight came from the life-saving grace of Binghu.
If he really forgets even that this time, will he still fall in love with me
Xie Ke was uncertain for a moment.
In his previous life, no matter what he did, he had never seen such an expression on Zhiyu's face, distant and polite, as if he was no different from other people and the flowers and plants in the imperial garden.
He didn't know if this could be considered a punishment for himself, but he had finally seen Zhiyu again, and he would not give up no matter what.
We will fall in love again, he thought, and this time, it will be true love between us, and no one can stop us.