Extra 2
As expected, You Shu did not return to the palace that night. He was outside drinking with Xie Feiyuan.
"None of these bastards has a conscience!" Xie Feiyuan cursed as he drank, "Now is the time to hire people, but none of them stayed. I've kept them for nothing!"
You Shu took the wine pot and poured him some wine, but he smiled and said, "Master Yingshou, you can't change your stubborn habit after all."
"Aren't you the happiest person to let them go free?"
No one was more eager to give freedom to the children under his command than Xie Feiyuan. They were all brought up by him. He was indeed the strictest with them over the years, but Xie Feiyuan knew what each of them was like in private. He had spent a lot of effort to raise each of them, so it was impossible to say that he had no feelings for them.
"Humph." Xie Feiyuan was hit on the point, but he still said unforgivingly, "Why should I be happy? Don't go out and embarrass me when the time comes!"
"I was well-known in the martial arts world back then. If anyone dares to embarrass me..."
You Shu lowered his head and chuckled as he continued to pour him wine. The Prince Ling's Mansion was now deserted, and the two of them could only squat on the roof and drink facing the moon, with some peanuts placed in the middle as snacks.
These days, Xie Feiyuan finished dealing with the last pile of things on hand and cleared up everything for Xiao Weixin, leaving no trace for people to notice. He handled it ruthlessly. You Shu knew that he would never make any mistakes, and slowly began to talk to him in confidence.
"I once said that I would take care of Master Yingshou in his old age, and that was not a lie."
Xie Feiyuan drank the wine in one gulp, but he didn't rush to reply. After a long while, he said, "Your status is different now. Even if I come to you, I have to kneel down and salute you. Do you still remember that I am a lonely person?"
"What are you talking about?" You Shu knew that he was teasing her on purpose, but he was not angry. "You were the one who brought me back and fed me, and raised me for so many years. Your kindness is no less than that of a father."
Xie Feiyuan lowered his head and smiled, his tone softened: "I've always wanted to ask, all these years... do you hate me for not being here?"
"In fact, even without me, you wouldn't be living a bad life with your personality. You might even be living freely outside. You wouldn't have to endure these hardships. My whip is not vegetarian."
You Shu shook his head, "Without Lord Yingshou, I just know that I would have starved to death."
"Besides, if I hadn't joined the Shadow Guard Camp, I might not have met the Emperor at all. Besides, I am very satisfied with my current life."
"I have never resented you in the past, and I never will in the future."
Xie Feiyuan was silent for a while, took a sip of wine and then said, "When I first saw you, I knew that this kid's character was definitely right. I can't let him live alone in this poor alley. He will be eaten alive."
"It turns out that you have lived up to my expectations."
You Shu himself didn't drink much, but he poured him a glass from time to time. With the moonlight overhead, he looked down at the pitch-black courtyard that originally belonged to Prince Ling's mansion, and said, "Now that the world is at peace and Lord Yingshou's mission has been completed, do you have any plans?"
"Didn't you say you would take care of me in my old age?" Xie Feiyuan glared at him unhappily, "Are you trying to drive me away now?"
You Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "That's not what I meant."
"I just want to say... after all these years, do you really want to live alone forever?"
"Have you ever thought about finding someone caring to live with?"
Xie Feiyuan was stunned, probably because he didn't expect You Shu to care about his lifelong affairs, and he was stunned for a long time.
You Shu said carefully, "I know about your relationship with Consort Xian, but she is gone now. Do you intend to live your whole life with memories and regrets?"
He had once listened to Xiao Weixin's detailed story of the two of them, and after hearing it he felt that it was just fate that played tricks on him.
Before Empress Xianfei entered the palace, she was still a beloved lady in the family. She was innocent and naive, with a gentle and kind personality. She was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was the best among the famous ladies of that generation.
At that time, Xie Feiyuan was a killer who had just made a name for himself in the underworld. He was treacherous and ruthless, taking people's lives for commissions and daring to take almost any job.
The two people who seemed to have no intersection and could never have any intersection met unexpectedly at a Lantern Festival.
It didn't have a thrilling beginning. There were just a few hooligans who intended to do something bad to a young lady who was accidentally left alone while watching the lanterns. The young and energetic assassin happened to be taking a nap on a tree. After hearing the girl's crying, he became very impatient, so he simply took his sword and killed them all at once.
The young lady at that time was so frightened when she saw someone die in front of her that her face turned pale. However, her years of upbringing prevented her from losing her composure and screaming. She just hid behind a tree in fear.
When he was young, Xie Feiyuan had an even more irritable temper than he does now, and he loved to act cool. He knew clearly that the girl had hidden herself, but he pretended not to know and was about to leave.
The young lady was afraid that he would leave her alone in the dark suburbs, so she hurriedly followed him carefully, but she did not dare to say a word.
Although the young man found her annoying, he still took her back to the city without a care, and happened to meet the servants who were looking for her. When the young lady looked back, she could only see the moonlight reflected in the river outside the city, but could not see the indifferent young man at all.
The story that followed was a bit like a storybook. Xie Feiyuan accepted the task and had to stay in the city for some time. At that time, the Li family was a famous and scholarly family in the local area. When he was scouting the area, he saw the young lady again.
It was still hard to see clearly in the night, but when I looked again in the daytime, Miss Li was truly stunning. Xie Feiyuan had never seen anyone more beautiful than her in his short 19 years of life. Her eyes seemed to be able to speak. It is said that young people admire Ai, and Xie Feiyuan is just an ordinary teenager, even if he is a killer.
After a while, the two of them secretly developed some kind of inexplicable friendship with each other. After all, Xie Feiyuan was also a handsome young man, and his cold temperament could deceive young girls.
Although they were in love, they had never done anything that violated etiquette and laws. Xie Feiyuan had thought about retiring from the underworld, earning a fortune, and winning his beloved cleanly. But things are unpredictable, and God is not on his side.
That year, the emperor went on a secret visit and fell in love with Miss Li at first sight. He ordered to bring her back to the palace.
That imperial edict shattered all the young people's dreams.
Xie Feiyuan broke the rules for the first time that night and secretly climbed through the window into the young lady's boudoir, wanting to take her away at all costs, and from then on they would become a pair of wild mandarin ducks on the run.
But Miss Li was more rational than him. Behind her was the entire Li family, a total of 200 people. It was an ancient and famous family that had existed for 300 years since the previous dynasty. If the whole family was wiped out because of her, this sin would never be redeemed even if they went to hell.
She knew clearly that she could never destroy her entire tribe for her own selfish desires.
So Xie Feiyuan left crying.
Yet he reluctantly followed the emperor's carriage all the way from that small border town to the unfamiliar and prosperous capital city. He watched with his own eyes the wheels of the luxurious carriage rolling into the huge palace. The vermilion gate blocked his sight, and he could never enter that gate.
Later, Xie Feiyuan found a way to sneak into the palace and became an ordinary gatekeeper guard, thinking that he could secretly watch his sweetheart live. But he heard that the newly brought Miss Li was made a concubine, but she fell out of favor after only two years, and the people who served her were not attentive. How heartbroken he was at that moment, probably only he knew.
"I wanted to kill that damn emperor many times." Xie Feiyuan drank too much and his words began to blurt out. "He took Qingye away from me and never treated her well. When I finally became the chief of the imperial guards, she was so thin."
You Shu sighed deeply, "Of course it's not easy to be with someone you don't love."
Especially since the old emperor was very romantic, he would get tired of any kind of beauty. Moreover, the virtuous concubine never bothered to compete for favors or submit, and she had no support from her natal family, so her life in the palace was even more difficult.
"If I hadn't taken care of everything at that time, I don't know how many times they would have been bullied." Xie Feiyuan said this with great hatred, "I waited so long for that dog emperor to die, and I, I just left to deal with things."
"It was just a short while..." He raised his hands to cover his eyes, as if he was reluctant to recall the past, "Just one night."
When he came back, Concubine Xian had already been murdered.
You Shu gently held his hand, "Don't blame yourself, sir."
He once heard Xiao Weixin say that he had already made plans. When he turned eighteen, he would set up a residence outside the palace. Then, when Xiao Weishen came to power, he could naturally bring his mother out of the palace to live with him. They would no longer have to worry about being bullied.
He even thought that Xie Feiyuan had given up everything he had ever gotten in order to protect him over the years. He would never forget this kindness, and he would feel relieved if he could leave his mother to him.
Everything was arranged properly, but who could have imagined that the night before she was to leave the palace, Concubine Xian was strangled to death.
She died the day before dawn.
Who dares to say that this is not fate
"The emperor did have good intentions, but..." You Shu didn't know how to comfort her, because those words had no meaning anymore.
Xie Feiyuan finally couldn't hold back and cried quietly with his hands covering his face. This poor and infatuated man sacrificed his entire life for a love in his youth, but he had to live alone for the rest of his life.
You Shu looked up at the sky. The lonely moon hung in the sky coldly and desolately, without any sadness or joy. Just like many years ago, it watched the joys and sorrows of the world but without any sympathy.
He really hoped that Xie Feiyuan could forget the past and move on. Maybe he would fall in love with someone again.
Unfortunately, he eventually trapped himself in the past and would rather die with his memories than start over.