Chapter 67

Ge Quan forced a self-deprecating smile, trying to laugh, but instead coughed up more blood and foam. He struggled to turn his eyes, catching sight of his son, Ge An, lying lifeless in a pool of blood. Two blood-stained tears streamed down his face. A short while later, his head lolled to the side, and he too fell silent.

The deaths of the father and son did not affect the eerie "harmonious" atmosphere inside the hall. No one even glanced at the two corpses, as if they were just flies casually swept away.

Pei Yun smiled and patted Ling Zhouling's shoulder affectionately, his tone gratified: "Thanks to your timely arrival today, Brother Ling, you saved me from danger and relieved this urgent crisis. I have indeed been feeling unwell these past few days and was just thinking of taking a good rest. Now that you are here, with you in charge of the court and sharing the burden, I can truly put my mind at ease and focus on recovering."

"Your Majesty, you flatter me. It is my duty to share your burdens." Ling Zhouling stepped forward, his face showing just the right amount of obsequiousness. "Your Majesty, please rest and recuperate. I will do my utmost to handle the affairs of the court. Once Your Majesty has fully recovered, I will return the reins of government to you."

The two men were on good terms, speaking amicably, and in just a few words, amidst the chaos and lingering stench of blood, they finalized the arrangement. This left behind a hall of bewildered courtiers, each with their own thoughts, yet none daring to utter a word, still processing this sudden and perplexing upheaval in the political landscape, filled with shock and confusion.

*

Deep within the medicine valley, the faint sunlight filtered through the cracks in the bamboo window, casting dappled patterns of light into the room. Xi Xiao, her head still slightly fuzzy, slowly sat up, the brocade quilt slipping from her shoulders. She blinked blankly, gazing into the distance, where she saw Pei Yun propping his forehead up against the table, fast asleep with his eyes closed, faint dark circles under his eyes, as if he had been watching over her for a long time.

Just as she was about to tiptoe to bed, the person opposite her seemed to sense something, their eyelashes fluttering slightly as they immediately woke up. Their eyes met, and an almost frozen sense of unfamiliarity and uncertainty filled the air. Neither of them spoke first, only the occasional chirping of birds outside the window breaking the silence.

After a moment, Xi Xiao was the first to smile, her smile carrying a hint of bewilderment and a touch of barely perceptible indifference. She asked softly, "Senior brother... you're back?"

Pei Yun, whose body had been slightly stiff with worry about being exposed, relaxed almost imperceptibly upon hearing the word "Senior Brother." He cautiously approached the bed, forcing a gentle smile onto his face. Upon closer inspection, the expression between his brows did indeed resemble the refined and gentle Pei Yun of the past, only this mask had not been worn for a long time, and his smile now seemed somewhat forced and deliberate.

"Hmm." He let out a very soft reply, as if afraid that if he spoke even slightly louder, he would shatter this hard-won illusion of peace.

Xi Xiao didn't ask any further questions, as if it were just an ordinary morning. She threw off the covers and got out of bed, her white shoes stepping on the cool floor. She walked past Pei Yun standing to the side and headed for the door, still a bit sleepy, muttering, "That girl Yunwu is really something. Senior brother is back, and she didn't even wake me up earlier... I'm going to find her."

"Junior Sister!" Pei Yun turned around in a panic, his voice rising slightly with urgency, and repeatedly stopped her, "Don't go! Yesterday... yesterday an elderly couple came to the valley, saying they were Yunwu and Qingfeng's biological parents. They brought tokens and spoke earnestly. I saw that they had been separated for many years and couldn't bear it, so I allowed the brother and sister to go down the mountain with their parents and return home to reunite." He spoke a little faster, as if he were reciting a prepared speech.

After speaking, he stared intently at Xi Xiao's retreating figure. Seeing that she only paused briefly without much reaction, he felt slightly reassured. Then, with a hint of cautious probing, he softly added, "Since they are now reunited as a family, we shouldn't force them to stay. From now on... I won't go down the mountain anymore. I'll stay in Medicine Valley with you, just the two of us, quietly, okay?" His words carried a humble plea.

He stepped forward, gently encircling her slender waist from behind, resting his chin on her thin shoulder. The person in his arms trembled almost imperceptibly. Just as Pei Yun was wondering what was going on, a drop of cold liquid suddenly fell onto the back of his hand that was wrapped around her, spreading out in a small damp circle.

A sudden pang of pain shot through his heart, an indescribable agony that quickly spread to every part of his body. He involuntarily tightened his grip, turning her slightly stiff body around to face him.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and tiny tears clung to her long eyelashes, silently rolling down her cheeks. Seeing her like this, the coldness in Pei Yun's heart caused by jealousy instantly vanished. He tightened his arms around her again, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“Just the two of us,” he nestled in the warmth of her neck, his voice muffled, sounding more like he was the one who had suffered a terrible injustice, “No one can separate us anymore, no one can…”

For a long time, there was no response from Xi Xiao. She neither cuddled obediently nor struggled to push him away. She simply let him hold her quietly.

Pei Yun didn't care, indulging in this illusory sense of satisfaction. He slowly released her, raised his hand, and gently wiped away the tears on her cheeks with his fingertips, his tone more patient and comforting than ever before: "Alright, don't cry. You've slept for so long, you must be hungry, right? I'll go make you some food. What would you like to eat? Or you can lie down a little longer, and I'll call you when the food is ready, okay?"

Xi Xiao stopped her soft sobs and looked up at him through her blurry, tear-filled eyes. However, although his image was reflected in her eyes, they lacked their former sparkle and were instead filled with an unfathomable coldness.

"Senior brother..." Her voice was still slightly hoarse from crying, "But... what happened? Why do I feel like... I can't remember many things clearly, and my mind feels empty?"

Pei Yun was already prepared. Upon hearing this, his expression remained unchanged. He naturally took her slightly cool hand and led her to sit on the low couch by the window. His tone was gentle: "You just accidentally hurt your head, and there are some things you can't remember for the time being. It's alright, you'll get better slowly." He paused, his gaze seemingly unintentionally sweeping across her face, and asked softly, "Then do you still remember... that Pei Yun from the Marquis of Wenyuan's mansion?" As soon as he asked the question, he subconsciously looked into her eyes, not wanting to miss any subtle changes in her emotions.

Xi Xiao's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, like the wings of a startled butterfly.

Pei Yun's heart had just begun to stir with a slight tension because of her subtle reaction, but it was immediately extinguished by her casual and even teasing words.

"Pei Yun?" She tilted her head slightly, as if trying to recall, then suddenly realized, "Oh, isn't that the sickly old man from the Wen Yuan Marquis's mansion who's supposedly terminally ill? It seems like it was a while ago... um, I can't remember exactly when, did his family send you an invitation, asking you to come and take his pulse? I think I kept the invitation, but I was busy with something and forgot about it." As she spoke, she even had a playful smile on her face, looking up at Pei Yun, "Senior brother, are you testing me with this? Afraid I'll secretly go down the mountain? I've been staying in the Medicine Valley the whole time!"

Pei Yun felt a dull ache in his heart, as if struck by a heavy hammer. The pain was mixed with an indescribable sense of loss and a complex feeling of being completely forgotten. His words carried a sharpness he himself didn't understand: "You have the nerve to say that! You ran away from the mountain, and not only did you go, you fell and broke your head, fell unconscious, and almost met your end! And here you are, grinning and joking! How do you think you've become so forgetful? You were unconscious for a whole year before you were brought back from the brink of death!"

Upon hearing this, Xi Xiao was so shocked that her mouth dropped open. She stared at him blankly, speechless for a long time, her face full of disbelief. After a long while, she seemed to accept this "fact," lowered her head in frustration, unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers, and whispered a few words of apology and begging for forgiveness in a flattering tone.

Seeing her like this, Pei Yun's pent-up frustration dissipated somewhat, replaced by a twisted sense of satisfaction. His expression softened, and he smiled gently again, trying to change the subject, saying softly, "Alright, let's not talk about the past. In the front yard, that girl Yunwu, having nothing to do, has tidied up a small vegetable garden. I think the vegetables there are growing quite well. How about I cook some for you to try at noon today?"

"No!" Xi Xiao stopped him without thinking, almost blurting it out.

This swift and resolute opposition caused the air between them to freeze instantly. They stared at each other in silence, one with incomprehension and growing doubt in his eyes, the other with unwavering insistence on his word.

Just as Pei Yun's gaze began to deepen, Xi Xiao suddenly moved. She quickly walked over, wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her face in his chest, and said in a muffled voice with a hint of awkward coquettishness, "Senior brother, you know Yunwu is always clumsy! That vegetable garden of hers is mostly just for fun, to pass the time. How could she actually eat it? Besides..."

She looked up, blinking her seemingly innocent eyes. "If she comes back one day and sees that we've ruined the garden she's worked so hard to take care of, she'll definitely pester me and make me pay for this and that! Her pestering skills are deadly! I'm not going to mess with her!"

These words and actions, tinged with a charming naiveté and undeniable dependence, instantly pleased Pei Yun, shattering the doubts that had just arisen in his heart. He couldn't help but smile indulgently, the gloom between his brows vanishing. Just as he was about to pull her closer, the person in his arms, like a slippery fish, suddenly let go, turned around, and walked to the table beside him, sitting down and casually pulling out a thick medical book.

She flipped through a few pages, then turned to look at him, her expression serious, as if she had really encountered a problem: "By the way, senior brother, what did you teach me before? After peeling open the seeds of the water chestnut and taking out the kernels, how many hours do they need to be dried?" As she spoke, she touched the back of her head somewhat embarrassedly and said awkwardly, "Perhaps... perhaps because I bumped my head, I can't quite remember."