When Song Yan woke up, it was already night. He covered his head and looked around, but didn't see Ye Zhiqiu.
"Director, you're finally awake," said Mo Xu's voice beside his ear. Before Song Yan could react, Mo Xu was about to give him a bear hug, but was mercilessly dodged by Song Yan.
"Where's Master Ye?" Song Yan leaned aside to avoid his hug. After coughing, he pretended to casually mention Ye Zhiqiu.
Mo Xu missed his hug and pouted, mumbling in a low voice, "Humph, as soon as he wakes up, he only knows to ask about Master Ye..."
"What are you muttering about?" Song Yan was a bit far away and didn't hear what Mo Xu was muttering. But judging from his expression, it definitely couldn't be anything good.
Mo Xu didn't dare to repeat it in front of Song Yan. He put on a smile and tried to change the subject to pretend to get away with it. "Master Ye was here just now. He should have gone out for a walk. After all, he has been taking care of you all day today..."
Song Yan didn't even listen to Mo Xu finish his sentence. He directly walked towards the door. It was already night, and there was only a crescent moon hanging high in the sky.
The lanterns by the roadside illuminated a small area in front. And in the middle of the courtyard, there sat a person.
His white clothes fluttered slightly. He was staring blankly at the crescent moon in the night sky. The moonlight was reflected in his eyes, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
Song Yan didn't want to disturb him at first, but somehow he stepped on a dry branch. The sudden sound was particularly obvious in the quiet night, making Ye Zhiqiu, who had been in a daze, instantly come to his senses.
He turned around and saw Song Yan standing not far behind him. There was no extra expression on his face. "Why did you come? The doctor said you need to rest. It's windy at night. Go back and rest first."
Ye Zhiqiu's voice came to his ears along with the wind. Song Yan just shook his head and stepped forward to stand in front of him. "I've slept long enough today, and I also have something to say to you."
There was determination in Song Yan's eyes, but his expression looked a bit hard to describe. It seemed that what he was going to say was something extraordinary.
It was the first time Ye Zhiqiu saw Song Yan showing such an expression. He raised his eyebrows. To show respect, he sat up straight and made a gesture of invitation towards Song Yan. "What do you want to say to me?"
Song Yan sat in front of Ye Zhiqiu. The words circled in his mind but he didn't know how to say them. He glanced at the wine cup on the table, didn't care about much, and drank it in one gulp.
He moved so fast that Ye Zhiqiu didn't have time to stop him. "You just woke up. Why are you drinking so much wine?"
Ye Zhiqiu's tone was a bit harsher, and there was a bit of worry on his face. Song Yan waved his hand indifferently. It seemed that because of the wine, his face was now flushed.
The wine cup made a sound when it was put down. Song Yan looked straight into Ye Zhiqiu's face and said in a low voice, "Some words can't be said when I'm sober. I have to rely on the courage of the wine. I've been thinking about this for a long time. I can guarantee that every word I say is the result of careful consideration."
Ye Zhiqiu listened to Song Yan's words with the smell of wine. He frowned but didn't interrupt. He just quietly listened to what he would say next.
"After you entered the palace, Shen Huaian said something to me. It was his words that made me completely understand what I was thinking in my heart. Ye Zhiqiu, although what I'm saying now may be sudden, but I..."
As Song Yan was speaking, he took another sip of wine. Only when he was drunk could he say the words buried in his heart. But Ye Zhiqiu interrupted him.
"Song Yan, you're drunk," Ye Zhiqiu didn't give him a chance to continue. He stood up and said this coldly.
His expression also turned cold. He didn't give Song Yan a chance to say another word and directly turned around and walked out.
This made Song Yan, who had just mustered up the courage to confess his feelings, hold back his words. He watched the white clothes gradually disappearing in front of him and drank another mouthful of wine in annoyance.
Although Ye Zhiqiu seemed extremely calm when he left the courtyard, only when he completely left Song Yan's sight did he lean against the wall, look up at the night sky and sigh.
The atmosphere just now was a bit strange. And judging from Song Yan's appearance, what he was going to say would probably put himself in a difficult situation.
He wasn't unaware of Song Yan's feelings for him, but he was a person who carried all kinds of mysteries on his body. Because of this mystery, he was always in danger and couldn't escape.
Ye Zhiqiu couldn't even guarantee his own safety. How could he accept such a heavy feeling?
So he chose to escape.
Since then, the way Song Yan and Ye Zhiqiu got along always felt a bit strange. It should be more accurate to say that Ye Zhiqiu was avoiding Song Yan unilaterally.
Every time Song Yan wanted to stop him and continue the topic from last time, Ye Zhiqiu would always find all kinds of reasons to prevaricate. After being rebuffed many times, Song Yan finally had no choice but to find an outsider for help.
"Director Song hasn't contacted me for a while," Shen Huaian walked up to Song Yan while shaking his folding fan. Seeing his frowning face, he joked.
Song Yan was now troubled by love. He didn't even have the strength to respond to his joke. He just pointed to the table in front of him to signal him to sit down.
Seeing Song Yan's appearance, Shen Huaian became interested. He had known Song Yan for so long. Every time he saw Song Yan showing such an expression, he must have been frustrated somewhere.
And the other person was very likely Ye Zhiqiu.
"What's wrong? Why do you look so frowning?" Shen Huaian took a sip of tea, fanned Song Yan with his fan, and stopped joking. He seriously asked.
Song Yan sighed and briefly told him about his repeated setbacks in confessing his feelings recently.
Shen Huaian stroked his chin and finally came to a conclusion.
"I think either he's not interested in you, or he has a knot in his heart that hasn't been untied."
Song Yan thought his words made sense. Thinking carefully, Ye Zhiqiu carried too many things on his body. And he wasn't the kind of person who would want to drag others into danger. If it were himself, he might not agree either.
But Song Yan thought very simply. He just wanted to express his feelings. He was also afraid that if he didn't say it this time, he would never have the chance to say it again.
He still remembered that it was because of what Shen Huaian said to him that he first realized that his brotherly love for Ye Zhiqiu had changed.
It was a week after the Qinlou incident. Shen Huaian came to Song's Mansion to find him early in the morning. He looked like he had lost his soul.
"What's wrong with you?" Song Yan looked at Shen Huaian's appearance. It was the first time he saw him like this. It seemed that he had been hit by something.
Shen Huaian sat down on the wooden chair slowly. After sitting down, he frowned. Looking at Song Yan, he said pitifully, "I seem to be... abnormal."
"When have you ever been normal?" Song Yan thought that something had happened to Shen Huaian's private treasury when he saw him like this. He didn't expect it was just this matter. So he waved his hand and said mercilessly.
But Shen Huaian wasn't joking. He then said, "Do you know that Jinghong is a man?"
"I suspected it. So he really is?" Song Yan wasn't interested in this matter. After the Qinlou case was over, he also cut off relations with Jinghong. He responded slowly.
"Yes, I like him."
"You like...?" Song Yan was originally just perfunctorily answering, but after he reacted, he looked at Shen Huaian's face. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Shen Huaian also thought this matter was a bit absurd. He originally fell in love with Jinghong at first sight, but it was the face when she was a woman. But in the subsequent interaction, he unconsciously didn't just like her face.
He would think that every micro - expression of Jinghong was so cute. On the days when he didn't see her, he would can't help but think about her. Later, he found that he liked the person herself.
Originally, this wasn't a big deal. But the last time he went to the Qinlou to visit her injury, Jinghong pulled him into the room. After her clothes were taken off, Shen Huaian found that something seemed a bit wrong.
"You... are actually a man?" Shen Huaian looked at her flat chest and let out this exclamation.
At that moment, he felt weak, pitiful and helpless.
Jinghong didn't have much reaction. She propped her forehead with one hand and winked at Shen Huaian's discovery. "Does love have a gender?"
Shen Huaian was blocked by Jinghong's justifiable words and didn't know what to refute. In the end, he just fled in a hurry.
Later, he locked himself up and thought for a long time. On the days when he couldn't see Jinghong, he felt stuffy in his heart. Although he knew that the other person was a man, he still couldn't restrain his love.
Love was just love. There was no gender distinction at all. He just happened to fall in love with a person of the same gender as himself.
"So did you come today to show off your love?" Song Yan looked at Shen Huaian who had already figured it out. He had been thinking about what to say to comfort him just now. He didn't expect that he had already sorted it out by himself.
Shen Huaian shook his head and stepped closer to Song Yan. He said very seriously, "I'm only telling you this because we're brothers. I have experience and can tell that your relationship with Master Ye is not ordinary."
"Shen Huaian, don't assume that everyone is like you just because you're gay. Master Ye and I are just friends. Don't say this in front of him and cause misunderstandings," Song Yan was immediately unhappy when he heard this. He clearly clarified the relationship very uprightly.
Shen Huaian didn't expect that his few words could make Song Yan suddenly understand. As the saying goes, the on - looker sees most clearly. As an outsider, he could see clearly about their relationship.
He just wanted Song Yan to recognize his own heart earlier in this relationship.
"It doesn't matter if you don't believe it. You should sort out your relationship with Master Ye yourself. It's good for both you and him to figure it out earlier," Shen Huaian said and didn't say another word. He stood up and walked out.
Song Yan was left alone to digest what he had just said.
If he hadn't said that, maybe Song Yan wouldn't have reflected on their relationship so quickly. He didn't know if it was because of Shen Huaian's words, but Song Yan had a dream that night.
In the intimacy, he saw clearly who the person in front of him was.
As soon as Song Yan saw clearly who the other person was, he immediately sat up. He covered his forehead with his hand. Because of the great shock, he broke out in a cold sweat.
He turned his head and looked at the moonlight pouring in from outside the window. He murmured in a low voice, "This is really an... extraordinary dream."
It was because of this dream that he began to re - examine the relationship between himself and Ye Zhiqiu. He thought for a long time and finally came to a conclusion.
Maybe, as Shen Huaian said, his relationship with Ye Zhiqiu was more than just friendship.
When he came to this conclusion, he escaped for a while. At that time, Ye Zhiqiu happened to enter the palace to be the tutor of the Seventh Princess. He had enough time to deal with this feeling.
But on the days when he couldn't see Ye Zhiqiu, he missed him more and more. He would always wonder how Ye Zhiqiu was doing from time to time. Sometimes he would be so absorbed in thinking that he even put aside the case.
This wasn't like himself at all.
It was also because of this that Song Yan could completely recognize what he was really thinking in his heart.
Maybe, he really liked Ye Zhiqiu.
After realizing this feeling, he thought about telling Ye Zhiqiu, but no matter how many times he met him, he couldn't say the words.
After that, he thought that there would be a lot of time in the future to say it. There was no need to be in a hurry. But after the incident in the cold palace, he was really scared.
He was afraid that he would never see Ye Zhiqiu again. Song Yan wanted to tell him all his feelings, so that Ye Zhiqiu might think that he wasn't alone before doing things.
This way, there would at least be a glimmer of hope.
"What are you thinking about? So absorbed," Shen Huaian knocked on the table and pulled Song Yan's thoughts back.
Song Yan came back to his senses and said seriously to Shen Huaian, "I'm just thinking about how to deal with this kind of thing."
"You just need to have a good talk with him. Actually, it's not that difficult. After you talk it out, everything will be fine," Shen Huaian took a sip of tea and analyzed like an experienced person.
Song Yan put the tea cup back on the table. He nodded in agreement with Shen Huaian's method. "Okay, I'll go and talk to him now."
After saying that, he stood up and turned to leave, leaving Shen Huaian looking at his back in a daze.
He didn't expect this matter to be solved so hastily.
But actually, it was just that Song Yan wanted to see Ye Zhiqiu right now. That's all.
If Shen Huaian knew the truth, he would probably say that Song Yan was forgetting his friends for the sake of his lover again.
Song Yan rushed back to the mansion but didn't see Ye Zhiqiu anywhere. After asking, he found out that Ye Zhiqiu had already returned to the private school.
Needless to say, the other person was avoiding him. But this kind of thing couldn't be solved by just running away.
Song Yan had already made up his mind. This situation wasn't good for them. Only by having a good talk could this matter be solved.
When Song Yan arrived at the private school, he saw Ye Zhiqiu trimming the flower branches outside. After hearing the sound, Ye Zhiqiu turned around and saw Song Yan standing not far away.
Ye Zhiqiu wasn't very surprised by his arrival. And this time, he didn't plan to escape anymore.
For some things, escaping was ultimately not the best solution.
Song Yan and Ye Zhiqiu sat in the courtyard. Ye Zhiqiu poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. "You can say it. I'm listening."
"I know you've been avoiding me recently. I also know that it's a bit inappropriate to say these words now, but anyway, I still want to tell you that I like you," Song Yan was afraid that the other person would run away again, so he quickly got to the point.
Ye Zhiqiu took a sip of tea. His expression didn't change at all in this situation. He had already expected that Song Yan would say these words to him.
"Last time at Song's Mansion, I had a premonition. I've been avoiding you all this time because I haven't thought about how to answer. Song Yan, you know that I'm different from ordinary people. There's danger all around me. It's not good for you to be too close to me. Moreover..."
He paused for a moment, lowered his eyes and looked at the teacup in his hand. "I don't even know why I have this ability. All I want in my heart is to find out the reason. Besides that, I don't have other thoughts."
Ye Zhiqiu's words were very euphemistic, but at least he didn't clearly reject Song Yan. Song Yan finally put down the heart that had been raised.
"It doesn't matter. I also know that you're only focused on finding out the reason now. You don't have to answer me so soon. I'll wait for you to find out the reason and then respond to me," Song Yan smiled. His voice became much gentler. He had expected this result. He also knew the uneasiness in Ye Zhiqiu's heart.
The timing wasn't right now. It wasn't too late to respond after the incident was over.
Ye Zhiqiu looked at Song Yan's face. He didn't say anything. He just showed a smile in his direction.
This was a tacit response between the two of them.
This matter came to an end. Song Yan wasn't idle when he returned to the Investigation Department. He had sent people to investigate the matter of the imperial concubine, and finally, there was a clue recently.
There was an abandoned villa outside the city, and inside it was the cause of all the incidents.
But this matter was investigated too smoothly. Maybe it was a trap. But now they had no other clues except this one.
If they didn't go because they were afraid it was a trap, they might miss the opportunity to find the truth later.
"This matter is very dangerous. It was originally my own business. I'll go by myself," Ye Zhiqiu thought the same as Song Yan after he knew this clue.
The clue came too easily. Maybe someone deliberately released it. The other person was only targeting himself. There was no reason to drag Song Yan into it again.
He originally wanted to push the other person out of this situation, but Song Yan wasn't happy. "We agreed to face it together. Having one more person means one more helper."
"But..." Ye Zhiqiu wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Song Yan.
"There aren't so many buts. I'll always stand by your side," Song Yan said this seriously, which made Ye Zhiqiu not know what to say.
Moreover, even if he said something to refuse again, the other person knew where the villa was and would definitely follow. He couldn't stop him anyway. Forget it