Chapter 38 Chapter 38 I dare not remember.

As the sun set in the west, an inconspicuous carriage slowly drove towards the street not far from the Li Mansion.

Ji Sui leaned back in the carriage, resting his eyes.

Shi Zhu sat at the bottom and was silent for a long time before he bravely said, "General, I recently found a medical genius. Why not let him—"

Shi Zhu specially asked someone to test Bai Ce. As he expected, the blind man was really an amazing doctor. Although the man was caught by him when he was following Lin Yue and his behavior was not very decent, he did not care. As long as he could cure his master, he would treat him as a guest of honor.

Shi Zhu was so painstaking, but before he could even finish a sentence, Ji Sui interrupted him impatiently, "I will leave for Beijing in two days."

"Two days later? Is that what Lord Meng meant? But your injury..."

Yesterday, the master received a letter from the capital. He knew without hesitation that it must be Meng Liangyu.

But he was really worried that his master would not be able to make it to the capital due to the exhaustion of the journey.

He was not exaggerating. His master now looked like a broken puppet.

He didn't even want his master's revenge to end so quickly. If the line broke, all that would be left would be a pile of rotten wood.

"The old man wants me to return to the capital as soon as possible to discuss the matter of appointing a crown prince," Ji Sui slowly opened his dark eyes and continued with a sneer, "He's simply worried about the Divine Martial Camp remaining in my control. He's anxious to establish a new crown prince so he can legitimately hand the Divine Martial Camp over to the Third Prince."

Shizhu was very angry after hearing this. It was really a good plan!

"Don't even think about it!" Shi Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "The general just dealt with the Yong'an Marquis for him, and now he wants you to hand over the Shenwu Camp, which you risked your life for. How can this be justified?!"

"Even if he did save the general's life back then, after all these years, he should be repaid!"

"Besides—"

Shizhu talked to himself for a while, then looked up and found that his master's hand was half-lifting the curtain of the sedan chair, but his eyes were fixed on the sedan chair, as if he didn't hear what he said at all.

"...General?"

Ji Sui came back to his senses and slowly put his hand that was lifting the curtain back on his knees. Unconsciously, his hands were shaking.

“Stop… stop!”

Ji Sui shouted so urgently that before the driver could stop the carriage, he had already taken a big step forward and jumped off the shaft.

He looked around and saw unfamiliar faces everywhere. The surroundings seemed to be silent for a moment, and the only sound in his ears was the beating of his heart.

The air seemed to become thinner, and he couldn't even breathe. He felt dizzy.

"Master!" Shi Zhu quickly caught up and supported the unsteady man. He glanced around cautiously and asked in a low voice, "Master, is there anything unusual?"

Ji Sui rubbed his forehead and chuckled: "Nothing."

It was just God playing a joke on him.

Ji Sui was helped back to the carriage by Shi Zhu and continued to move towards Li Mansion.

Less than a hundred steps away from them, a graceful figure in white slowly passed behind the sign curtain of a dessert shop, pushed a wheelchair, and entered a drugstore.

"What medicine would you two like to take? Do you have a prescription?"

Qi Yushi said, "One ounce of Eucommia ulmoides, four ounces of costus root, and one ounce of cinnamon bark, grind them all into a fine powder."

The shopkeeper agreed and ordered the waiter to prepare the medicine according to the prescription. Then he took out a notebook and asked, "What are your symptoms, sir?"

He saw the two of them were silent for a moment, then smiled and explained, "It's just a routine inquiry. Sir, please give a brief explanation."

Qi Yushi exchanged glances with Lin Zhen, who was standing beside him. The latter said, "I didn't get enough rest last night, and my waist hurts."

The shopkeeper paused, his eyes involuntarily glancing towards the wheelchair, then he coughed lightly to clear his throat. As he wrote, he instructed, "My dear, your health is so poor, you should take good care of yourself."

Knowing he would misunderstand, Lin Zhen frowned and corrected him: "It's me."

The shopkeeper didn't even look up, but said, "Madam, you should pay more attention."

“…”

At this time, the waiter had already packed the medicine. After Qi Yushi took it, he smiled and pulled Lin Zhen's sleeve, and the two of them walked out of the pharmacy.

There was a scholar on the street who made a living by selling calligraphy. His calligraphy was indeed very good. The two of them stopped at the same time.

Qi Yushi and Lin Zhen's calligraphy were both inherited from Lin Yunfeng, belonging to the same school, and naturally they appreciated the same style.

Qi Yushi smiled and bought a pair at a high price and gave it to her, saying, "Just consider it to appease Madam's anger just now."

Lin Zhen was immersed in the characters that were as elegant as clouds and smoke, and had put aside what had just happened. His eyes were full of admiration.

Qi Yushi looked at the woman in front of him with bright and passionate eyes, and suddenly thought of the talented little sister whom his teacher often talked about involuntarily when he was a child.

If it weren't for the disaster five years ago, perhaps they would have met on a clear and cloudless afternoon...

*

In the afternoon, Zuixin Pavilion.

There was a stove on the stone table, with a pot of hot wine warming on it. Ji Sui and the Provincial Historian Li Puhe were sitting around the stove.

Li Puhe asked, "May I ask what will be done with the Marquis of Yong'an after the general returns to the capital?"

Ji Sui said casually: "Remember to give him a sip of water. Let him die, but don't let him die too easily."

Easy, so easy?

Li Puhe had seen the unrecognizable Yong'an Marquis in the dark room before. Feeling the cold sweat on his back, he smiled and nodded repeatedly. Then he respectfully poured two cups of wine, took up one cup himself and said respectfully, "I wish General Ji a happy return to the capital. May he soar like a dragon into the water!"

After he finished speaking, Li Puhe realized that he had been too eager to flatter and had gone a little too far, which seemed disrespectful. His hands trembled for a moment and he dared not say anything more.

On the other hand, Ji Sui's expression remained normal, with even a slight smile on the corner of his lips. He touched Li Puhe's raised wine cup with his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Puhe was stunned for a moment, then quickly drank it all, laughing and echoing the smile on Ji Bai's face.

Today the sky finally cleared up, so Mrs. Li took several ladies to the yard to enjoy the snow, and the maids and nannies walked towards the Moon Gate in a mighty procession.

Lin Zhen is now the wife of the fifth-rank prefect, Qin. She has the lowest rank here, so she follows at the end. Today she is wearing a lotus-colored brocade skirt with cloud patterns, a bun on her head, and a few delicate but simple hairpins on her hair. This outfit is very suitable for Qin's role, and there is no trace of Lin Zhen's previous appearance.

By the time Ji Sui, Li Puheye reached the Moon Gate, only their backs were left.

Even so, he was still fixed by that quick glance.

He followed uncontrollably as if he was being led by a string.

"General, please come this way." Li Puhe thought he had taken the wrong road and hurried forward to give directions.

Hearing this, Ji Sui finally stopped, but his eyes were still fixed on the figure.

"These are the wives of officials who were invited to attend the Lantern Festival banquet two days ago. I believe that Madam brought them here to enjoy the scenery because the weather has improved today. If they have disturbed the general, I apologize on Madam's behalf." Li Puhe bowed and saluted.

Ji Sui frowned deeply, and said in a deep voice, "Official wife?"

Li Puhe was confused by Ji Sui's question and answered hesitantly, "...Exactly."

Ji Wei didn't say anything else until they completely disappeared from his sight, then he walked away.

Li Puhe attributed his unusual reaction to his own mistake. Although the general brought his concubine into the mansion, for a hero, the more beauties the better.

Otherwise, he would not have gone to Wangchun Tower.

What a mistake!

After sending Ji Rui back to his room, he turned around and asked the housekeeper to settle the matter.

The night is getting deeper.

The beautiful lady lying on Ji Sui's couch did not come back for a long time.

The person she was waiting for was currently sitting by the back window of the west wing, looking up at the sky in a daze.

From time to time, I could hear the woman's unbearable moans.

"Hmm...lighter, lighter..."

It was a voice he was familiar with, but with an unfamiliar tone.

She had never felt this way in his arms.

He had longed so much for her to be alive, to hate him while alive, and to be hated by him while alive. They should be like two intertwined vines, endlessly entangled, forever and ever.

At this moment, Lin Zhen was only separated from him by a wall, but he felt that she had never been so far away from him.

It is a distance even further than death.

She lived well in a world without him.

Ji Sui was in the darkness where the moonlight could not penetrate, and his expression was difficult to discern.

After Qi Yushi massaged Lin Zhen's waist, he fumigated him with mugwort for a long time before applying medicine.

By the end, Lin Zhen had fallen into a deep sleep.

Qi Yushi looked at the woman lying on the brocade pillow and couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't expect that the girl who was always proud and strong-willed would be so afraid of pain.

It was his fault after all. He should have firmly refused her suggestion to sleep on the floor last night.

The candlelight at the bedside was burning brightly, and Lin Zhen's snow-white waist was reflected as if it were made of solidified fat. However, Qi Yushi did not have a trace of desire in her heart at this moment. He seemed to be her real husband who shared joys and sorrows with her. After settling his wife down, he lay quietly beside her.

*

On the day before the Lantern Festival, Lin Zhen got up early in the morning to greet Li as usual.

Because tomorrow was the Lantern Festival, Li still had many things to arrange, so after a few greetings, she sent Lin Zhen away.

Qi Yushi was summoned to the front hall early in the morning, so Lin Zhen walked alone in the back garden.

The weather has warmed up a lot in the past two days, and the snow on the ground has almost melted, with only a thin layer still covering the trees and grass.

Lin Zhen always gets up early, and at this moment she is the only one in the huge garden.

The morning was bright, warm and windless, but she could hear the rustling sound of falling snow from time to time. When she looked back, there was no one around.

Suddenly feeling panicky, Lin Zhen hurriedly touched his chest.

Perhaps it was the plan they were going to carry out tomorrow that made her particularly nervous. In the past two days, she had always been feeling confused and flustered.

The back garden of the Li Mansion is quite large. Lin Zhen sat in the pavilion beside the pond. Although the water surface was frozen, it added a kind of interest.

Looking into the distance, the white garden scenery gradually calmed her mind.

The white snow on the branches sparkles in the morning light, birds chirp in my ears, everything is so peaceful and beautiful.

Even a little unreal...

Ever since she fled the capital, she has been living such an unreal life.

She is still Lin Zhen, but she seems no longer to be Lin Zhen.

She left the broken Lin Zhen and the unbearable memories in the capital.

As for him, she never dared to remember him.

Next to the ancient tree behind the water pavilion, an inky figure stood in the snow like a pine or cypress, its dark eyes fixed on Lin Zhen.