Chapter 46 "She's not qualified to enter the Duke's mansion..."
As Shen Xi watched Xie Chengyan's retreating figure, her knuckles unconsciously tightened, and she lowered her eyes slightly, her mind a jumble of thoughts.
She didn't even notice when Wen Tingmao walked up to her.
How did things get to this point?
Shen Xi's eyelashes trembled, and she forced a smile: "Dr. Wen."
Wen Tingmao could easily see the unspoken tension between the two. His gaze fell on Shen Xi's neck, and he guessed something. His brow furrowed: "This is utter nonsense! He did this injury?"
A low rebuke made Shen Xi feel guilty, and she subconsciously covered her wound: "It wasn't him, it was just my own carelessness."
Wen Tingmao remained silent for a moment, then thought about Xie Chengyan's character. Although he wasn't exactly gentle, he wouldn't lay a hand on his bedmate, so he finally felt relieved.
But he couldn't help but grumble a bit about the trouble these younger generation had caused: "Look at you two, arguing and even drawing blood. Anyone who didn't know better would think you had some deep-seated grudge."
Shen Xi lowered her eyes, not intending to continue the topic: "I invited you here today because there are some things I want to tell you."
Wen Tingmao sighed: "Let's put aside everything else and let me take a look at the wound on your neck first."
The two then moved into the hall. Wen Tingmao opened the medicine box and skillfully removed the gauze from her neck. He could tell something was wrong at a glance.
The wound on Shen Xi's neck was clearly a knife wound.
He stared at the wound, frowned, and asked her, "What did you use to inflict that wound?"
Shen Xi hesitated for a moment before handing the short blade to him and saying, "This."
Wen Tingmao glanced at it, his face instantly darkening: "You're quite capable, aren't you?"
He said that, but his hands didn't stop moving as he rummaged through the medicine box and took out a bottle of wound medicine.
Shen Xi held the hairpin-shaped short blade in her hand, her eyes flashing, and said softly, "This was left to me by my mother. I used to wonder how she could have such a thing. Later, she told me that it was a gift from her master when she became an apprentice."
After speaking, Shen Xi paused, looked up at him, her eyes clear and bright, revealing a rare childlike innocence.
"Dr. Wen, you are my mother's teacher, right?"
Not expecting her to ask so directly, Wen Tingmao paused slightly in treating her wounds before replying, "I already guessed it, why ask?"
Seeing that he had seen through her, Shen Xi just smiled.
Once their identities were clear, the two were finally able to let down their guard and have a proper chat.
Therefore, Shen Xi asked curiously, "What was my mother like when you first met her?"
Wen Tingmao paused slightly in his work: "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
Shen Xi stroked the hairpin in her hand and sighed softly, "I want to know more about my mother. But what happened before she married my father is something only you should know."
Upon hearing this, Wen Tingmao was momentarily stunned. In the past few decades, many things had become blurred and forgotten with time, while some people remained vivid and young.
Perhaps seeing the shadow of an old friend in the face before him, he was momentarily moved.
After a long silence, he sighed and began to recount the events of that year: "It was an accident that I took your mother in as a disciple, but it was just a chance encounter. Now, many years later, looking back, I realize that perhaps I shouldn't have taken her in at all."
“Arong was someone I found while I was traveling around providing free medical care. That year, war broke out everywhere. When I entered that city, the enemy army had just been driven back, but everyone inside was dead. Corpses were strewn all over the place, and no one survived. Only Arong was an exception. At that time, she was just a five-year-old girl. Her parents and clansmen risked their lives to protect her and hide her tightly, which is how she barely escaped the disaster.”
“I found her in a pile of corpses and took her away. But I was only in my early twenties at the time, never married, and never had children. I only thought about saving her life, so I just randomly found a family to adopt her.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Xi's eyes flickered slightly.
She had never heard Lin Anrong mention these things.
Just then, Wen Tingmao turned around to get a new gauze, pausing in his speech.
Shen Xi then blurted out, "But in the end, you still kept her?"
Wen Tingmao sighed, shook his head, and continued, "No family wants an extra mouth to eat when there are natural disasters or man-made calamities."
“I thought about abandoning her, but in that world, even a strong, able-bodied man could go hungry. If I were to let a five-year-old girl fend for herself, it wouldn’t be about seeking survival, it would be about seeking death.”
“In my early years, a master once said that I had little chance of having children and that I was destined to bring misfortune to my wife and children. I had no intention of becoming someone else's parent, so I only took her as my apprentice and taught her medicine and herbs, thinking that in this chaotic world, at least she would have a way to make a living. That's why I kept her.”
Shen Xi clenched her fists, then looked up and asked, "Can learning medicine and herbs really save a person's life?"
Wen Tingmao's slightly somber expression brightened instantly, and he raised an eyebrow: "Of course, I've lived for so many years, relying on this medical skill to travel all over the country, establish myself, and later open Renfengtang."
As he spoke, he had already bandaged her wound. Wen Tingmao turned around and packed his medicine box: "You might not believe it, young lady, but my family was once a lineage of imperial physicians. Unfortunately, we declined in later years, and by my generation, we had become wandering doctors. Otherwise, back in the day, you probably wouldn't even have been able to see me, let alone ask me to treat your illness..."
But before he could finish his boast, he heard a "thump" behind him.
Wen Tingmao was startled and turned around.
But then Wen Tingmao saw that Shen Xi had already knelt down straight. Wen Tingmao was surprised and hurriedly went to help him up, saying, "Why are you kneeling? Get up quickly."
Shen Xi refused to get up, and pleaded earnestly, "Dr. Wen, please, teach me this way too."
Wen Tingmao wondered if he had misheard: "What did you say?"
Shen Xi repeated herself once more, her back ramrod straight, her head slightly bowed: "Shen Xi begs you, just as you taught my mother back then, to teach me the art of medicine."
Wen Tingmao heard this clearly, his eyes darkened slightly, he took a step back and looked her over, and after a long while he said: "What are you doing learning this kind of thing, you esteemed lady from a high-class family? If you're in a good mood, go find something else to pass the time, don't come here to amuse this old man."
Seeing that he didn't believe her, Shen Xi said sincerely, "Shen Xi's words are not just a passing fancy, but come from the heart."
“You’ve just had enough of a leisurely life and want to find something to amuse yourself.” Wen Tingmao turned his back and waved his hand. “If you came to me today just for this matter, then let’s leave it at that and there’s no need to say anything more.”
"I promise I will never treat this as a pastime, and will take it seriously. But why are you unwilling to teach me?"
Wen Tingmao casually said, "I'm getting old and my strength is failing me. I stopped taking on disciples twenty years ago."
Shen Xi, however, exposed the truth: "But that boy named Wangyou is clearly also your disciple."
Wen Tingmao was taken aback, looked at Shen Xi with a serious expression: "You have no worries about food and drink now, why bother learning this kind of thing?"
"I want to learn."
Shen Xi became even more determined, "You took my mother as your apprentice back then to save a life. Now I beg you to teach me the art of medicine, also to save my life."
Wen Tingmao understood her words even less: "What do you mean by 'help'?"
Shen Xi looked up at him, her gaze intense: "Doctor Wen, I can't stay in the General's Mansion forever. Just as you said, in this world, if you want to make a living, you have to have a skill to earn a living."
Wen Tingmao's eyes widened suddenly: "What did you say?"
“I beg you to teach me how to establish myself.”
Shen Xi finished speaking without hesitation and bowed deeply.
Wen Tingmao was quite surprised and quickly squatted down to help her up, asking, "Please clarify what you just said. What do you mean by never staying in the General's Mansion for the rest of your life?"
Shen Xi spoke clearly and without changing his expression: "Not only the General's Mansion, but sooner or later I will leave the capital, and this ambition has not changed to this day."
Wen Tingmao frowned and stood up, thinking she was daydreaming. He took two steps back and ruthlessly shattered her illusion: "What do you have left if you leave the capital? Here you are Xie Chengyan's lawfully wedded wife, the undisputed daughter of the Shen family. Outside of here, you are nothing."
I thought that by revealing the truth so clearly, she would back down.
Unexpectedly, Shen Xi exhaled very lightly, as if releasing years of pent-up emotions, her voice calm but exceptionally firm: "Only when I leave here can I truly be Shen Xi."
Wen Tingmao gave her a deep look and reminded her again: "There is no fine clothes and delicacies outside, nor is it a place of debauchery. You are a pampered young lady who has been raised in the boudoir since childhood. You don't know anything. You won't live long if you go out."
Shen Xi noticed the softening in his tone and bowed again, his forehead touching the cool ground: "That's why Shen Xi has the audacity to ask you to teach me how to establish myself."
Wen Tingmao was stunned by her bold words and pressed his throbbing temples, unable to understand why the child had suddenly changed her personality.
Such stubbornness, and utter ignorance of one's own limitations.
She resembles neither Lin Anrong nor Shen Guangjun.
After a long silence, Wen Tingmao calmed down, placed his aged hand on her shoulder, and slowly sighed, "Get up first."
After helping the man up from the ground, Wen Tingmao hesitated for a moment before managing to squeeze out a sentence: "Do you...he...does he know?"
The "he" here naturally refers to Xie Chengyan.
Shen Xi first shook her head, then hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Does he know or not?"
Shen Xi blinked, her eyes flickering slightly: "I've never told him, but he should have guessed."
Wen Tingmao glanced at her and said, "No wonder that boy wanted to keep you under house arrest in the mansion."
"Dr. Wen, you..."
Before Shen Xi could finish speaking, Wen Tingmao seemed to have made up his mind. He turned his face away and flicked his sleeve fiercely: "Fine, fine, fine, I'm really afraid of you. Maybe your mother sent you to collect a debt from me."
"Dr. Wen?"
Wen Tingmao's face darkened, feigning anger: "Still calling me Doctor Wen?"
Shen Xi understood immediately and solemnly changed her address to "Master".
Looking at such a similar face and calling out that name, Wen Tingmao was overwhelmed with mixed emotions and let out a long sigh.
She is different from Lin Anrong.
Lin Anrong hated medicine back then, and he could only read two or three pages by forcing her to look at it. Even after following him for more than ten years, she still didn't learn much.
In the end, she left Qingzhou with Shen Guangjun without looking back, severing all ties with her master.
Unexpectedly, years later, her daughter grew up and, after going through many twists and turns, came to him again, earnestly saying that she wanted to study medicine.
It is truly some inexplicable fate at work.
He shook his head and sighed, "The generational hierarchy is really messed up now."
*
The Duke's Mansion, Study.
Duke Xie Yi of Wei sat firmly in his seat, glancing at the secret letter in his hand twice before slamming it on the table.
"These barbarians are so rampant! They dare to openly kill a princess sent for a marriage alliance; they have utterly trampled the dignity of our dynasty underfoot!"
Xie Chengyan's eyes remained calm, showing no surprise: "With the contract broken and war reignited, isn't this exactly what Father wants?"
Xie Yi suddenly stood up, paced around the study with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed with annoyance: "I advocate war for the sake of the nation, not to let the barbarians take advantage of me!"
After saying that, he looked at his calm and composed son beside him, and became even more indignant: "At such a critical moment, the Emperor has ordered you to set off tomorrow to investigate the military supplies of Mozhou. It is clear that he wants to strip our Duke's mansion of its military power."
Xie Chengyan didn't seem to mind, and said in a calm tone, "The imperial edict has been issued, and I will obey it. There are many talented people in the court, and I don't need to guard the border."
Xie Yi frowned, quite dissatisfied with his nonchalant attitude: "You're so easygoing! Mo Zhou is a dangerous place, and you're bound to offend people. It will take at least several months. Before you set off, remember to take care of everything in the capital."
Xie Chengyan nodded slightly, impatient to hear him say any more, and stood up to leave: "Father is absolutely right, I will go back to the manor to take care of things now."
"etc!"
Xie Yi suddenly shouted to stop him.
Xie Chengyan turned around expressionlessly: "Is there anything else, Father?"
Xie Yi pondered for a moment, then, disregarding any subtle reprimands, sighed and said earnestly, "Father knows that you married her to spite Erlang. Before, when I was away, you arranged the marriage with the Shen family on your own, and I indulged you and let you do whatever you wanted."
"Now that Erlang can no longer marry that woman, you should quickly find a reason to divorce her after you've vented your anger. She's not qualified to enter the Duke's mansion."
After he finished speaking, the study fell into a deathly silence.
After a long while, Xie Chengyan didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, only letting out a very soft laugh from his throat: "My wife, whether to divorce her or not is a matter of the General's Mansion, and you don't need to worry about it."
Xie Yi's face darkened: "Xie Chengyan!"
This time, Xie Chengyan didn't linger. He strode out, the sunlight shining on his face, and said only, "The Duke's mansion has high thresholds, Father can guard them himself. As for my General's mansion, she can't get out, and no one else can even think about getting in."
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