The Crane of Bygone Years - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Before my mother died, she took out a portrait and told me to go to the capital to find my elder brother.

She said my brother was a high-ranking official and would surely be able to protect me for the rest of my life.

Halfway there, the rain blurred the portrait, and I happened to be terrible with faces.

After wandering around the capital for half a month, just before I ran out of travel money, I finally found the man with the red mole between his brows.

He was holding a longsword across his neck, about to slit his own throat.

I dropped my bundle, sat down on the ground, and burst into tears. “Brother, you can’t die! If you die, who’s going to take care of me? My stepfather wants to sell me to the prefect’s idiot son as a concubine!”

The handsome man’s brows drew together slightly, his expression carrying the displeasure of someone who had just been interrupted.

The evening glow fell over his face at that very moment.

A cinnabar mole sat between his brows, so red it was almost dazzling.

He looked exactly like the man in the portrait.

“Are you insane?” he asked in a low voice.

I scrambled up from the ground, pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the dirt from my face, and happily sidled up to him. “Brother, even if you don’t remember me, you must remember Mother, right?”

I took half a white jade disk from inside my clothes and handed it over.

This was the family heirloom Mother had left behind.

Back then, my brother and I had been twins, one boy and one girl. When we were three, a flood struck our hometown. Father died in the flood, and we fled with Mother.

On the road, we met a nobleman distributing porridge to refugees. He took a liking to my brother’s fine looks and bearing, and to his exceptional intelligence.

So he gave Mother an ingot of silver and asked to take him away.

“Mother thought that if Brother followed that nobleman, he could live a good life. It was better than starving to death with us…” As I spoke, my eyes reddened again. “Before they parted, she smashed our ancestral jade disk in two. One half was given to Brother, and the other half was left with me. She said that if fate allowed it in the future, we could use them to recognize each other.”

When Xie Yun saw the jade disk, he seemed to remember something. His pupils constricted slightly.

He reached out and took it.

Then he lowered his head and studied my face carefully, his gaze darkening inch by inch. “You do… bear some resemblance.”

His tone was rather emotional.

Wiping my tears, I nodded again and again. “Of course! How could real siblings not look alike? Brother, I finally found you…”

Xie Yun’s lips curved faintly.

The meaning behind his smile was hard to read.

Chapter 2

My brother told me the name he used now.

He had followed that nobleman since childhood and changed both his name and surname. That was only natural.

After we acknowledged each other as siblings, Xie Yun put away his sword and brought me back to the Dingyuan Marquis Estate.

Vermilion gates, towering walls, majestic stone lions-just getting inside required passing through three gatehouses.

Standing inside the vast and imposing Marquis’s Mansion, I was utterly dumbfounded.

Mother had not lied to me. My brother really was a high-ranking official!

From the servants, I heard that Xie Yun was the current dynasty’s first marquis of a different surname. He had rendered meritorious service in helping the emperor ascend the throne, and imperial favor toward him was at its height.

My brother had done this well for himself?

Didn’t that mean my own days from now on were going to be very, very comfortable too?!!

I was settled in the warm chamber of the west wing.

When I pushed open the window, I could see a courtyard full of red plum blossoms.

I was extremely satisfied.

By chance, I overheard Xie Yun’s personal guard, Shishu, speaking to him with some concern. “This woman is of unknown origin. If she was planted here by the Empress Dowager’s side…”

Xie Yun calmly took a sip of tea. “We’ll observe for now.”

Shishu nodded. “Indeed. Given enough time, she’ll reveal her true colors on her own.”

After hearing that, I was also extremely worried.

A woman of unknown origin absolutely could not be kept. What if she affected his career?

I had to find an opportunity to talk to my brother and make him rein in his lustful thoughts.