Chapter 24 He wrapped his forearm around her waist, steadying her...
The dark clouds hanging over the Shen family's head had lingered for many days, completely obscuring all gaps in the light, and had not yet dissipated. The entire mansion was shrouded in gloom and despair, and even the New Year's Eve celebrations were not in the mood for anything else.
Now, Shen Wangchen's madness shows no signs of improvement. Despite seeking help from many famous doctors, there has been no progress. Jiang spends her days by her son's bedside, weeping constantly.
After Jiang woke up that day, she immediately had a big fight with Shen Guangjun. After much provocation, Shen Guangjun finally told the truth in a moment of desperation.
It turned out that when he was sent to Qingzhou that year, he learned from Jiang's letter that Shen Wangchen's strange illness was incurable. He was extremely anxious while he was far away from home, but he could not return to the capital because of the unresolved Qingqu matter. He could only search for doctors and inquire about them in Qingzhou.
It was then that he learned the truth.
He knew it from the very beginning.
Shen Guangjun pretended to be unaware of the situation. Jiang was his lawfully wedded wife, and such behavior was too disgraceful for him. He would never allow the Shen family to be talked about behind their backs.
He thought that as long as he didn't say anything, the matter could be treated as if it had never happened, and the Shen family would remain prosperous and harmonious.
Even now, with the whole truth laid bare in the sunlight, Shen Guangjun still keeps it a secret.
Shen Wangchen is still the eldest son of the Shen family, and can only be the eldest son of the Shen family.
Upon learning this, Shen Xi was not surprised at all. Maintaining the dignity of the Shen family was an instinct ingrained in Shen Guangjun's bones, even though it was already rotten to the core.
She didn't care about Jiang Shi and Shen Wangchen. No matter how much trouble they caused in the Shen family, as long as it didn't affect her, Shen Xi would just stay in her own courtyard and ignore it.
On the Lantern Festival, Xie Wenlang invited her to visit the lantern festival as usual, and Shen Xi, having some free time, naturally accepted.
After everything was settled, just before she was about to leave, she was greeted by an unexpected person.
Shen Wan peeked out from the doorway, her eyes red and her voice slightly hoarse, clearly having been crying.
Can I talk to you?
Although it was a request, Shen Wan dragged herself in before she could answer, listlessly slumping onto the table, burying her head in her arms, leaving only her eyes peeking out as she timidly stared at Shen Xi.
Faced with such a sudden change, her parents and brothers seemed to have changed overnight. Shen Wan has been enduring these days all by herself, with no one to confide in.
If you tell the nanny next to you, she will only tell you to be more obedient and not to anger the master and mistress at this critical moment.
After much thought, I still didn't know who to tell, so I shamelessly came to Chen Xi's place.
Seeing that she was reluctant to leave, Shen Xi sighed softly and sat back down: "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Upon hearing this gentle and calm voice, Shen Wan felt a lump in her throat, and the tears she had just managed to suppress welled up again.
In the past, her mother wasn't very kind to Shen Xi, and Shen Wan also disliked her. But now, she was the only one left by her side.
She suppressed a sob and said in a muffled voice, "Tell me, what are we going to do with the family like this?"
He's still just a child.
Shen Xi lowered her eyes, but her tone was indifferent: "There's nothing to worry about. Things in this world are never black and white. No matter what, he is still your brother and the eldest son of the Shen family."
These words made Shen Wan glance at her a few more times.
Sunlight poured down, casting interplay of light and shadow on Shen Xi's brows and eyes, like a tranquil spring under the sunlight, strangely calm, without ripples, yet with a deep, still flow.
Upon hearing this, Shen Wan realized what was happening and sniffed, "You actually knew all along that brother wasn't father's biological son, didn't you?"
Shen Xi did not deny it, but only responded with silence.
If the grudges between the older generation are not spoken out, the younger generation will naturally have no way of knowing about them, such as Shen Wan and Shen Wangchen.
Shen Xi, however, was an exception.
Her birth mother, Lin Anrong, was a doctor before marrying into the Shen family. When she was young, Lin Anrong often talked to her about those days, sometimes reminiscing, sometimes feeling guilty.
She remembered her mother saying, "I've been studying for so many years, but I only know the basics. My master is a miracle doctor who can diagnose all kinds of difficult and complicated diseases."
“During the years I studied medicine with him, I saw many illnesses, but I remember one case most clearly. A man came to my door seeking medical help, saying that his young son had hair growing in his ear, making him look strange. It was frightening at first, but my master said that it was not a serious illness, except that it was hereditary and would be the same for generations to come. It was truly pitiful.”
Lin Anrong only mentioned it casually when she was bored, and Shen Xi naturally remembered it as well.
As she grew older, she discovered Shen Wangchen's unusual behavior by chance, and by combining the two, she gradually deduced the truth of the matter.
"So you all kept it from me, and I was the only one who knew nothing."
Shen Wan clutched her fingers, her head bowed, large tears falling onto her knuckles.
Shen Xi handed her a handkerchief: "Now that you know, are you happy?"
Shen Wan thought for a moment, then shook her head, suppressing a sob, "Then I still hope I never knew."
"Now that things have come to this, there's no point in hoping anymore. We might as well focus on living well in the present."
Throughout, although Shen Xi was comforting her, he remained extremely calm, showing no emotional fluctuations whatsoever, revealing a blatant lack of intimacy.
So, Shen Wan wiped away her tears hastily and looked at Shen Xi with teary eyes: "But why aren't you sad at all? Brother is so good to you."
Shen Xi was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly curled her lips slightly, as if she had heard something extremely funny: "It seems you've been crying for too long lately, and your mind isn't quite clear. Go back and get some sleep and rest."
"What?! How can someone be so cold-blooded?"
Shen Wan persisted, her eyes, red from crying, widening slightly as she raised her voice and glared accusingly.
“Brother has always been so good to you. A while ago, you had a high fever and were unconscious. It was brother who specially found a doctor in the middle of the night. You were unconscious in your room all night, and he waited outside all night, without sleeping, just to wait for your fever to break. After dawn, he didn’t even rest and went straight to court.”
"But... my brother didn't dare let mother know, so he had to do all this in secret, and in the end, even you didn't know about it. It's one thing that you're ungrateful, but now that my brother's situation is uncertain, why aren't you worried at all?"
The sudden accusation caught Shen Xi off guard. Faced with Shen Wan's anger and protectiveness towards her brother, she opened her lips, but swallowed all the words she was about to say, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
After a long silence, she sighed, then looked up and said seriously, "Chen Wan, I really don't know what you're talking about, but I do know that he almost killed me, more than once."
Shen Wan didn't believe it at all and immediately retorted angrily, "My brother wouldn't! He's the best brother, and you're standing right here, aren't you?"
Shen Xi chuckled lightly, her voice still calm, but what she said was astonishing: "The reason I'm still standing here unharmed isn't because Shen Wangchen is so kind, but simply because I value my life and can't die so soon."
Upon hearing this, Shen Wan was speechless. She had never imagined that Shen Xi and her brother harbored so much resentment, to the point of wanting to kill each other.
Shen Xi didn't say anything more and politely saw him off: "Alright, go back. If you keep talking, Shen Wangchen won't be able to be a good older brother to you anymore."
After having the servants see off Shen Wan, who was struggling with whether her brother was good or bad, Shen Xi left the mansion with Qing Qiu.
The lanterns illuminate the night market, stretching for miles.
When Shen Xi arrived, she did not see Xie Wenlang. However, his clever servant spotted her at a glance and went to greet her.
“Miss Chen, please wait a moment. The young master just saw a lantern and said you would like it. Unfortunately, the seller wouldn’t sell it and insisted on winning a riddle before giving it to you. There are too many people over there, and the young master was worried that you might feel uncomfortable, so he asked me to wait for you here.”
Upon hearing this, I looked in the direction the servant pointed and indeed saw that familiar figure, racking his brains to solve the riddle before him.
Shen Xi chuckled: "Alright, then I'll wait for him here."
The market was bustling with crowds.
Suddenly, a ball of flame exploded behind him, the scorching heat brushing against his hair. Shen Xi turned around and saw that a group of acrobats had just passed by.
For a moment, her vision was engulfed by the raging fire. After the fire died down, through the crowd of people, Shen Xi unexpectedly spotted a slightly familiar face.
A carriage was parked not far away, adorned with gold and jade, exuding extreme luxury.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a person leaned out, her slender fingers lightly touching the door frame, her forehead adorned with a floral ornament, and her clear, round almond-shaped eyes looking directly at Shen Xi.
The moment their eyes met in the air, the man raised an eyebrow, slowly got out of the car, and walked straight toward Shen Xi.
This person was none other than Chu Yi.
As Chu Yi gradually approached, his gaze swept over her several times before finally stopping in front of her: "You are Chen Xi?"
The ending note was slightly raised, which was not very pleasant to listen to.
Shen Xi didn't understand what his relationship with her was, but still curtsied: "Fifth Prince..."
"No need. I'm traveling incognito today, so there's no need for such a grand display."
Chu Yi interrupted her directly, then looked her over again and scoffed, "Only now have I finally realized what's wrong with him."
Shen Xi was taken aback by her seemingly random remark.
Chu Yi withdrew her gaze, turned to the crowd to find the person she wanted to see, and said indifferently, "From what I've heard these past few days, Wen Lang is good in every way, but there's one thing: his taste is really terrible."
Shen Xi realized what Chu Yi's provocative words were coming from and found it somewhat amusing.
"Forgive my ignorance, I do not understand your meaning."
Chu Yi snorted coldly upon hearing this, raised her chin, and a disdainful look flashed across her eyes: "I didn't want to say anything harsh, but you're so stupid that you can't even understand nice words, so I'll just say it bluntly. You should stay as far away from Wen Lang as possible, otherwise, I wouldn't mind using you for amusement in my spare time."
The words, which sounded almost threatening, caused Shen Xi's pupils to shrink almost imperceptibly. She didn't respond, but simply pursed her lips slightly.
Chu Yi was quite satisfied with her silence, a smile playing on her lips. She finally looked her over and said, "A concubine's daughter, does she even deserve to compete with me?"
Before she left, that contemptuous remark reached Shen Xi's ears completely.
Then, Chu Yi fearlessly plunged into the crowd and stopped Xie Wenlang, who was halfway through guessing the riddles not far away.
"This Fifth Prince is really..."
Shen Xi stopped Qing Qiu, who was indignant on her behalf: "Alright, you know that she is a princess. What good will it do for us to rush over like this?"
"But Young Master Xie is still waiting for you."
Under the lanterns at night, Chu Yi and Xie Wenlang's figures approached each other amidst the noise. They seemed to be saying something joking, and Chu Yi immediately smiled brightly.
Shen Xi stared blankly at the scene, but suddenly slightly raised the corners of her lips and smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes, which were filled with turbulent emotions.
Seeing this, Qingqiu asked in confusion, "Miss? What's wrong?"
Xie Wenlang must have guessed another riddle correctly. Chu Yi was clapping and cheering beside him, her eyes shining.
Shen Xi's gaze remained fixed on the two of them, her voice extremely soft, like a sigh coming from a distant place: "I'm just wondering, is what I've believed in for so long really right?"
She once saw Xie Wenlang as her lifeline, believing that as long as she married him, she could leave the Shen family and everything would go smoothly and without worry.
Despite all her scheming over the years, when she knelt in the snow that day, she was still all alone.
The biting cold completely jolted her awake. Could this lifeline really save her life?
As this thought arose, she was suddenly enveloped in a thick fog, so dense that she could not see her own hand in front of her face. It mercilessly swallowed up the path she had once thought she had taken for granted. All around her, the white fog spread, leaving her all alone in the world.
Qingqiu was completely baffled by her words: "Miss, what do you mean by right or wrong?"
Another soft, seemingly random sigh escaped her lips: "All I relied on was his 'I like you,' but how long can 'I like you' last?"
Even though she used to love birds the most, she now feels disgusted by them unexpectedly. If she feels this way herself, how can she expect others to remain unchanged?
That being said, she has no other choice but Xie Wenlang for now, and for the time being she can only go down this path to the bitter end. If it really comes to that... then she can make plans then, and she will eventually find a way out.
Shen Xi sighed softly, then turned around with Qing Qiu: "Let's go. You accompany me to wander around here for a while. I'll go find Erlang after he's finished exchanging pleasantries with His Highness."
But as soon as she turned around, she unexpectedly bumped into a warm chest. She suddenly stopped, lost her balance and staggered back two steps. Fortunately, the person raised his hand in time, and with a light but firm touch, wrapped his arm around her waist and steadied her.
"Be careful."
A deep, cool voice, as cold as snow, fell into my ears.
As Shen Xi looked up, their eyes met, and suddenly, fireworks burst into the sky, followed by countless others.
A dazzling burst of light erupted behind Xie Chengyan, but he paid no heed. He stood gracefully amidst the clamor of the crowd, wearing a dark blue cloak, his eyes deep and unfathomable, the dim light reflecting off them. In the center of his deep pupils, only one figure was clearly visible.
Shen Xi was momentarily stunned.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the world, human voices seemed to pass through a misty fog, while only the bursts of fireworks could be heard, their loud "bangs" drowning out the subtle sounds of melting snow and ice.
Only when the fireworks display, which had lasted for an unknown period of time, faded into the long night did Shen Xi come to her senses, lower her eyes, and take two steps back: "Brother."
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Author's Note: Shen Wangchen's illness is called hypertrichosis of the external auditory canal, a Y-linked genetic disease; if the son has it, the father will also have it. This is used solely for plot purposes. The author's biology level is only high school level; I am not a biology or medical professional. Any errors are welcome to be pointed out! (bows) (pity) (kiss) (stretches his head again) (hugs and kisses) [heart]
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