Chapter 62 Heartstrings "I have never left you."...

Xie Qinghe's words were like a raging storm in the quiet night, startling Ning Lu so much that her brain went blank and she fell silent.

She blinked slowly, her lips twitched, and it took her a long time to squeeze out a complete sentence.

"I have never left you."

What came out of his mouth were facts about the past, but Xie Qinghe's eyes clearly showed that there was more to it than that.

not enough.

He wants far more than just these things.

The man remained silent, but his eyes shone brightly, revealing his undisguised affection.

Knowing she was outmatched, Ning Lu shifted the focus and changed the subject, trying to steer the discussion back on track.

That's not what I meant.

She just wanted to ask if he would no longer have to go through all this trouble if he simply found the list of traitors and confirmed that Prince Jing's name was on it?

After weighing his options for a long time, he took out the jade pendant that Xie Qinghe didn't care about from his pocket and handed it to him. His focused expression just a second ago suddenly turned into a helpless chuckle.

What are you laughing at?

"Isn't this what you've been looking for?"

"The journey is bumpy and makes me dizzy."

Xie Qinghe's long eyelashes trembled, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and the arm around her waist tightened slightly, no longer looking at the broken stone she had used as a shield.

He seemed genuinely exhausted.

With eyes lowered and breaths shallow.

The warm breath brushed against her neck, sending a tingling sensation down Ning Lu's spine, and her fingertips gripping the reins trembled silently.

Suddenly, he was transported back to that snowy night when they sat around the fire, and he looked at her, his face flushed and his heart pounding.

In the cold, dark dungeon, where the sun, moon, and stars were nowhere to be seen, the regret was not that they hadn't found their way home, but that they hadn't been able to be unrestrained and bold with that ascetic yet wicked Ji Amin.

Ultimately, all the fear stems from accidents and chance encounters.

Her arrival was unexpected; who knows when fate will bring us together? Who knows when our parting will come?

Ning Lu dared not think any further and focused on continuing her journey.

Squeezing the horse's flanks to increase speed, I heard the unconscious groan of pain from the person behind me.

He tightened the reins again and walked slowly.

Xie Qinghe fell asleep.

He was sleeping so soundly that she was worried he might have fainted. Fortunately, he gradually woke up when they arrived at the entrance of the inn, and slowly straightened up, his forehead resting on her shoulder.

Ning Lu didn't turn around, gripping the reins tightly and not daring to move.

Only after the man dismounted and stood still, reaching out his hand to her, did she hesitantly flip down.

She jumped down ignoring his hands, but he still caught her steadily the moment she landed.

"I can do it myself."

Her whisper went unanswered, and Xie Qinghe politely stepped back half a step, not approaching.

Thinking he was upset because of a blow to his pride, I secretly glanced over and saw that the man had a calm demeanor, and was quite aloof.

Noticing her gaze, he silently slowed his pace, tilted his head, and met her gaze with a smile.

He was the one with a heart condition, but her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

Upon reaching the north courtyard, the room was brightly lit, and the candlelight under the eaves cast a faint glow on Xie Qinghe's face.

Ning Lu then noticed that his lips were tinged with a light purplish-red, and the weariness between his brows was almost impossible to conceal.

He used to be a very easy patient to take care of.

The long-forgotten thought rushed into his mind again, and the words about the "scumbag woman" that he had prepared for half a day suddenly became impossible to say. His eyes darted around aimlessly.

As servants carried hot soup in and out of the copper kettle beside her, she suddenly noticed that a screen and bathtub had been set up in the rarely used clean room next to her bedroom, where steam was rising and mist was rising.

"It's so late, are you going to take a bath?"

"It's unclean if it's stained with blood."

"If you have heart discomfort, don't soak for too long."

As the few remaining medical facts in her mind popped into her head, Ning Lu kindly offered her reminders.

"If you're worried, just wait for me here."

Um?

When did she say she was worried?

"I won't go in. You should wash up and get some rest. Even if it's a big deal, it'll be tomorrow..."

As he turned to leave, the rope around his waist was grabbed.

The person behind him suddenly took half a step forward, their shoulders bumped, and he coughed softly, almost imperceptibly.

Her long eyelashes, like fans, fluttered around her ears.

She doesn't know if she was faking it before, but this time she definitely was.

"I haven't received the jade pendant yet."

"Don't you want to see what secrets the jade pendant holds?"

Of course she wants to!

Ning Lu gritted her teeth, making a grinding sound: "Fine—"

A gentle smile and a light breeze stir the lantern tassels under the eaves.

The candlelight flickered, illuminating Xie Qinghe's bed, wardrobe, cloak...

The calming incense burning on the candlestick by the window...

Ning Lu was already more familiar with the layout and furnishings of this room than with the east wing.

Sitting at the round table, rubbing my knees with my palms, I suddenly felt my cheeks burning and my mind in a jumble.

The room was quiet, yet she could always hear Xie Qinghe's voice.

His questioning, his teasing, his whispers, his promises…

Truth and falsehood intertwined, falsehood and truth intertwined.

"I won't let you leave me..."

Ning Lu suddenly realized why the sentence sounded so familiar.

Upon arriving in Ying County, he had a persistent high fever and stared at her with bloodshot eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately, as if in a dream.

So back then...was he telling the truth?

He was like that back then...

I sprang up from the chair as if I'd been electrocuted, my hair standing on end, my nose stinging and my eyes burning.

Ning Lu looked around but couldn't see Xie Qinghe. In a panic, she took the jade from her bosom and threw it on the table, almost running out the door.

Suddenly, Wei Chun was heard whispering outside the door, seemingly reporting matters to that person, before turning and going to the window.

Immediately afterwards, the dormitory door was pushed open from the outside.

A draft swept through the room, and amidst intermittent coughing, Xie Qinghe's hoarse voice could be heard: "Ning Lu..."

Perhaps because he had been soaked in warm water, his voice was soft and gentle, making her feel weak in the knees.

Caught red-handed, he awkwardly turned around and closed the window behind him.

Upon seeing this, Wei Chun's lips twitched, and he quickly closed the door from the outside.

Only the two of them remained inside.

Her long hair fell to her shoulders, and water droplets still clung to her temples. The purple tinge on her lips and fingertips faded slightly as the hot water diluted it.

He stood by the door with his hands hanging down, dressed in plain clothes and a light fur coat, as thin as paper.

Their eyes met, and Xie Qinghe tried his best to maintain a steady posture as he stepped forward. Ning Lu saw only that he was unsteady and staggering, which made her tremble with fear.

She picked up a hot water bottle from beside the charcoal brazier and put it in his arms, then helped him sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Zhao Yue returned to Prince Jing's residence."

He relayed what Wei Chun had said to her.

"The guards at the post station will be reinforced soon; do not force your way in or out."

Ning Lu responded sullenly, then turned around and poured herself another cup of hot tea from the table.

Her eyes fell on the jade pendant that she had tossed on the table, and after hesitating for a moment, she pushed it toward the center of the table.

He was busy from early morning, spent half a day in meetings, and then faced an assassination attempt at night.

There's no need to discuss even the most important matters now.

"Take a sip of water to moisten your skin."

Xie Qinghe noticed her subtle movements, and a smile gradually spread across his eyes. He leaned his head against the bedside and spoke with conviction.

"Ning Lu, you care about me."

"Lord Xie, has anyone ever told you that your way of speaking is greasy?"

What does "greasy" mean?

“It’s just…” Ning Lu racked her brains and found a suitable alternative word: “frivolous.”

"That day... that's how you taught me." Xie Qinghe blinked slowly, the mist in his eyes dissipating, revealing a clearer look: "Use fewer rhetorical questions, use more statements."

"That's not how it's used."

"You can teach me slowly, I should be a good student."

Does he even know what he's saying?

Ning Lu felt her cheeks burning again. Helplessly, she took the teacup from his hand and put it back on the table. She took a deep breath and then exhaled deeply.

"You must be tired today. Let's talk about the jade pendant tomorrow. It's getting late, I need to go back and rest."

"In other words, you will be here on time tomorrow."

"Thank you, Qinghe!"

What triggered him?

Why is it that in my memory he wasn't such a pushover, always pushing and shoving?

She bit her lip and glared at him, meeting his focused and serious profile.

He insisted on a promise.

Suddenly, he felt dejected, at a loss, and fled in panic.

Ning Lu dashed back from the north courtyard to the east wing in the blink of an eye. Before she could catch her breath, she saw Qinghuai and Qingzhi leading a room full of maids kneeling on the ground. When they saw her return, they didn't dare to raise their heads and prostrated themselves even lower.

What happened?

The scene before her startled her. Still shaken, she couldn't bear any more fright. Her legs went weak, and she couldn't decide whether to kneel or stand. So she squatted down and tilted her head to ask.

“Miss, we are guilty, we…we…we failed to keep it from you, sir.”

So that's what it was about.

Before she left, she instructed these two people to help her keep it a secret from Xie Qinghe.

If it's just for this reason, then it's fine.

Ning Lu breathed a sigh of relief and helped the two of them up, one on each side.

"What's wrong with that? You're all his people anyway, isn't it normal that you can't hide it from him?"

Not to mention them, even she wouldn't dare to do anything underhanded in front of Xie Qinghe.

Unexpectedly, the two men misunderstood her words and immediately knelt back down after standing up.

"Miss, we know we were wrong. Please punish us, but please don't abandon us."

Qinghuai was the first to bow and kowtow, then said, "Although we servants are from Lord Xie's household, we understand that once we come to serve you, we are now your people. We would never do anything to spy on or inform on you."

"Yes, the young lady treats us very well. We would rather die than betray our master. We... we don't know how Lord Xie found out."

Ning Lu was completely bewildered by their back-and-forth chatter, but she understood one thing clearly.

They were explaining to her that they were in cahoots with her.

"Are you saying that you weren't sent by Xie Qinghe to spy on me?"

She rephrased the meaning of the green locust and green branches.

“Young lady, our master has instructed us to serve you with utmost respect, and to treat you as our master in all matters. You are our mistress.”

"Today, after Commandant Guo left, Lord Xie sent someone to invite the young lady. I told him that the young lady was too tired and had gone to sleep. Lord Xie believed me at first, but then, for some reason, there was a noise coming from the main room, so he rushed out alone."

Qinghuai recounted the events that had occurred that evening.

"We only found out they were heading towards the mass grave after we went out to inquire."

With that said, Ning Lu understood.

She always remembered that Xie Qinghe had sent three shadow guards to her side, and she found it strange that she only saw two today.

Turning to look at the girls with tears streaming down their faces, Pingbai's eyes welled up with tears, but he couldn't help but smile.

On several occasions before, she went out at night, climbing in and out of the window. Qinghuai and Qingzhi, who were on night duty, never asked her a question, and Xie Qinghe never came to question her.

Today was the first time she openly asked them to cover for her, but it was just something she said casually.

After all, Qinghuai and Qingzhi were from the Xie family. She, a stranger in a foreign land, had never dared to dream of the perfect harmony between master and servant depicted in those TV dramas.

It was at this moment that, in a hazy state, I felt a sense of security, as if there were two more of my own people in this world.

Holding the girl's soft hands in his left and right hands, he warmed her body, which had been tossed and turned all day.

I couldn't help but think of Xie Qinghe again.

She, whom others called a being from another world, was actually bound to this world under the name Ning Lu because of him.