Chapter 72, like flowers and leaves...
Shen Xi stopped fooling around with him, pushed him away, turned over, and wrapped herself in the quilt.
"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, go to sleep."
Xie Chengyan rested his forehead on his hand, seeing her eyes tightly closed, clearly exhausted from a busy day, and swallowed all the questions he wanted to ask.
He leaned closer and gently kissed her forehead: "Sleep."
The next day.
Shen Xi got up early and, after tidying herself up, went to find Sun You. He seemed to be testing her, or perhaps giving her some pointers. These days, whenever she encountered any difficult wounds, she always had to handle them herself.
Just as she was about to leave, Xie Chengyan grabbed her arm. Only then did she notice his displeased expression. Shen Xi asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"
Xie Chengyan said calmly, "I am also a wounded soldier."
Shen Xi nodded, puzzled. "I know."
"Then why do you ignore me? Do you even know about my injuries..."
He deliberately left the second half of his sentence unsaid.
Shen Xi was startled. For him to bring up his injuries, it must be something serious. So, she instinctively reached out to lift his clothes to check.
"It's only been a few days, and your wound has worsened? Let me take a look."
But before she could move, Xie Chengyan grabbed her wrist. Shen Xi looked up in confusion, only to see Xie Chengyan say meaningfully, "You're in such a hurry?"
Shen Xi realized the teasing in his words, pinched his waist, and couldn't help but feel angry: "Thank you, Cheng, Yan."
But his eyes were deep, and he suddenly pulled her closer, lowered his head, and pressed his lips to hers, their lips and teeth rubbing together, conquering and plundering.
After a kiss five years apart, Shen Xi almost immediately trembled, her eyelashes fluttering. She initially struggled a little, but Xie Chengyan held her firmly by the back of her head.
Before long, she closed her eyes, completely immersed in the familiar atmosphere.
Until Xie Chengyan took the initiative to let her go.
Shen Xi's eyes were still hazy and she didn't understand, but Xie Chengyan chuckled and wiped the water off her lips with his fingertip.
The next moment, someone rushed in hurriedly: "Your Highness..."
Shen Xi froze, subconsciously turning her head to meet Xiao Wu's gaze.
Instantly, a faint blush rose behind her ears, and she quickly took two steps back to keep her distance from Xie Chengyan.
But Xie Chengyan's voice rang out indifferently: "Are you still so reckless?"
It exudes an invisible pressure.
Xiao Wu immediately admitted his mistake and lowered his head, but the image of Xie Chengyan, disheveled and struggling with Doctor Shen, lingered in his mind.
For a moment, neither leaving nor staying seemed like an option.
Feeling embarrassed, Shen Xi turned and left, saying, "I still need to find Doctor Sun. Xiao Wu, remember to change the general's dressing."
Regardless of whether he agreed or not, she fled in a disheveled state.
After walking a hundred steps in a row, the north wind blew away the blush on her face, and Shen Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down.
It snowed again last night, piling up thickly on the ground and covering the yellow dust.
As she crunched through the snow, trying to calm herself, something suddenly came to mind.
It was the same dream as before.
In fact, in that dream, the Youzhou military camp was not the last time she saw him. Later, she met him again on the mountain in Qingzhou.
They devised a plan to lure Xie Chengyan, who had inexplicably cut his wrists, down the mountain.
But that meeting only lasted two or three days, and she never saw Xie Chengyan again after that.
But she knew that he was actually right around her.
If she accidentally falls asleep on the small table in the courtyard, someone will quietly drape a coat over her; if a heavy rain comes and she can't get back to the clinic in time, someone will always help her collect the herbs that are drying.
Because she had consumed a lot of cold medicine during her years at the Duke's mansion, she developed a chronic illness that caused her unbearable pain during her menstrual period.
In the middle of the night, she would be delirious with pain, but someone would take advantage of her half-awake state to slip a warm hot water bottle into her hand and then stay by her side all night.
At first, Shen Xi was puzzled and even suspected that it was someone from Renfeng Hall, but after asking around, no one knew.
It wasn't until it happened many times that she gradually realized it.
He didn't show himself, so she pretended not to know, and the two of them maintained this delicate situation tacitly.
Over time, it's impossible not to be moved, but neither of them dared to break the unspoken understanding, and they tacitly endured a lifetime together.
Until the very last moment, when they were both over sixty and Shen Xi was bedridden with illness, Xie Chengyan finally appeared and saw her one last time.
His cloudy eyes reflected that no longer young face, and Shen Xi smiled with relief: "I thought you would never see me, not even in death."
He approached slowly, but didn't say a word.
The resentment, hatred, love, and hate that were once greater than the sky are now so insignificant in the face of death.
Wen Tingmao is no longer alive. In this world, the only people who still know about her past, besides Shen Xi herself, are this distant yet familiar person in front of her.
Memories flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern, each and every one of them playing back in my mind.
Shen Xi sighed, "What a pity... If only there were an afterlife."
Xie Chengyan walked to the bedside and finally took her hand. This was the only time in their lives that the two of them crossed the line.
"If there is an afterlife, what will you do?"
Her gaze fell on the distant horizon, and Shen Xi grasped his hand again: "If there is an afterlife, as long as you are willing to enter my dreams, I will certainly not miss you."
A single tear, heavy as a thousand pounds, fell onto their clasped hands, leaving a trail of water.
The life force in his arms was gradually fading away, and Xie Chengyan tightened his arms around her.
In the end, he agreed to the promise of the next life.
"good."
It seems that those subtle thoughts from their past lives, hidden from the light of day, silently carried the love and affection that two people could never have in their entire lives.
But everything in the world follows the middle way. The emotions were suppressed for too long and too severely in the past life, and with nowhere to go, they could only be vented in the dreams that permeate this life.
It is delusion, it is anger and ignorance.
It is to desire but not to obtain.
*
Inside the commander's tent.
While listening to Xiao Wu's report on the military situation, Xie Chengyan slowly straightened the collar of his clothes, which had been wrinkled by Chen Xi earlier.
Although Xiao Wu was talking, his eyes kept glancing at Xie Chengyan's face.
After reporting on military affairs, he stood silently in place, awaiting Xie Chengyan's decision.
The tent fell silent for a moment, and his thoughts drifted away involuntarily.
As they drifted along, they spontaneously imagined a dramatic scene of their prince forcibly seizing and plundering respectable women, which was truly heartbreaking.
To preserve Shen Xi's reputation, and for the sake of the princess he had never met who was reportedly recuperating in Qingzhou, he secretly resolved to offer himself as a sacrifice.
So he mustered his courage and asked, "Your Highness, do you know anything about Lady Shen from Qingzhou and her deceased husband?"
Why bring up something you shouldn't talk about?
Xie Chengyan paused, giving him a cool glance.
Xiao Wu didn't grasp the deeper meaning and even buryed his head in the sand, saying, "It's not Doctor Shen, it's that fairy lady from Qingzhou."
Xie Chengyan rubbed his fingertips together: "What do you want to say?"
"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered," Xiao Wu said, forcing a smile. "I heard that Madam Shen was deeply devoted to her deceased husband, and the two were very loving and harmonious. She came to Qingzhou to get away from the place of her husband's death..."
The fifth child is still young and honest, but unexpectedly, he made up stories with exceptional ease, as if he had witnessed everything firsthand.
If Xie Chengyan hadn't been the person involved, he might have actually been fooled by his fabricated story for a while.
After talking for a while, Xiao Wu got more and more into making things up, completely unaware that Xie Chengyan was staring at him meaningfully.
"Hmm, and then what?"
Xiao Wu stopped talking when his throat was dry, but Xie Chengyan calmly continued to press for answers.
Seeing his calm demeanor and lack of reaction, Xiao Wu was taken aback, wondering if she had been too tactful in her advice.
After a moment of silence, just as he was about to speak again, Xie Chengyan spoke slowly.
"You're right, the couple is indeed deeply in love. However, there's one thing: her husband hasn't been in a good mood lately, so you should avoid mentioning him."
"Oh..." Xiao Wu was about to respond instinctively, but then suddenly realized who Xie Chengyan was referring to as being in a bad mood, and her eyes widened immediately. "Huh?!"
Xie Chengyan didn't think he had done anything wrong, and raised an eyebrow: "Is there a problem?"
Xiao Wu touched her nose and stammered, "Your Highness, isn't that man already a deceased husband? How would you know if he's in a good mood or not?"
Xie Chengyan lowered his eyes, his face darkening, and his voice deliberately took on a somewhat ethereal tone: "He told me in a dream that if you say too much about him, he will definitely turn into a ghost in the middle of the night and come to settle accounts with you."
Xiao Wu immediately shuddered: "..."
He chuckled twice, no longer daring to fabricate these rumors. Taking advantage of Xie Chengyan's wave of his hand to allow him to leave, Xiao Wu immediately mumbled a few words in response and then hurriedly ran away.
Compared to the ghost of his deceased wife, who came to haunt him in the middle of the night, he still found Xie Chengyan more terrifying.
Xie Chengyan watched the stumbling figure running away and suddenly chuckled.
Shen Xi wasn't the type to gossip around. He figured those words were mostly made up by Xiao Wu in his own cleverness, and he didn't take those few childish words to heart.
Turning around, Xie Chengyan was about to retrieve his cloak when he glanced at it and inadvertently noticed a small object lying on the couch.
It looks somewhat familiar.
Xie Chengyan approached and picked up the object.
Dark blue with bamboo patterns, it already shows signs of age.
It was the sachet that Shen Xi had given him, but which he could no longer find.
Xie Chengyan immediately realized what she meant and couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that she had deliberately teased him.
He clenched his fist and squeezed it, but then realized there was something inside.
Xie Chengyan didn't think much of it and casually opened the sachet.
Inside, there were only two simple items: a lucky charm and a flat letter folded into the shape of a sparrow.
Over time, the letter has turned slightly yellow, indicating that it must have been written a long time ago.
Curious, he opened it; inside was only one line of text—
Like flowers and leaves, year after year, they share the spring breeze.
Those were the words she never said when she gave him the sachet.
A corner of the curtain was lifted, revealing a graceful figure standing tall in the sunlight. Sunlight streamed down, and she was enveloped in dazzling gold trim, like the sun itself.
That was the last ray of sunlight at the end of Shenyuan.
A gentle breeze quietly swept across the land of Youzhou, and in the blink of an eye, another spring arrived.
[End of text]
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Author's Note: Hehehe! Xiao Xi and Xiao Yan finally achieved their happy ending before the end of 2025~ There will be a few more bonus chapters coming up [droopy-eared rabbit head]
Achieved! Thank you so much to all the lovely angels for your continued support and companionship. I love you all so much! Every click and comment makes me feel so accomplished! See you in the next game! [Go for it!]
My next novel is a contemporary romance called "My Blind Date's Brother is My Ex." If you're interested, please add it to your favorites! (Please, just add it to your favorites! [Please])
[A long-awaited reunion | A broken mirror mended | A bittersweet tug-of-war]
1-
In her first month back in China, Qin Sui was pressured to attend a bizarre and awkward blind date.
As soon as he opened the door, he was unexpectedly met with Zhou Tingxu's dark eyes.
The man had refined features and long, slender, pale fingers that held the water glass. He sat indifferently to the side, listening to people talking and laughing.
Qin Sui then realized that what was even more embarrassing than running into her ex looking unkempt and disheveled was—
She bumped into her ex-boyfriend, whom she had dumped abruptly, during a blind date.
In particular, this ex-boyfriend was the older brother of her blind date.
Their eyes met, but the man looked away after just one glance.
His indifferent gaze was as if he were looking at a stranger.
The blind date, however, was incredibly oblivious: "You and my brother went to the same university, did you know each other before?"
Years later, Zhou Tingxu glanced at her, his voice extremely indifferent: "Do you know me?"
In full view of everyone, her first words to him were only two words: "Not familiar with each other."
The man gave a slightly indifferent sneer and did not refute.
After the banquet, the two brushed past each other unintentionally, and Zhou Tingxu sneered: "So, in Miss Qin's eyes, sleeping together doesn't mean you're not close."
Qin Sui's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she forced herself to remain calm: "Otherwise, would it be considered half-cooked?"
2-
Nobody knows.
That summer, as the cicadas sang, they passionately embraced and kissed.
Qin Sui nestled in his arms, her body damp with a light sheen of sweat.
Despite his refined and aloof appearance, the man continued to make demands without restraint, lewdly biting her earlobe and chuckling, "Sui Sui, you're trembling."
Even if it was tender and beautiful at the beginning, the ending was still miserable.
Qin Sui dumped him without hesitation or reason.
Zhou Tingxu left her only a voice message, its tone unreadable:
"Playing with me? Qin Sui, if you're so capable, then don't ever show your face in front of me again."
3-
When they met again, Qin Sui thought Zhou Tingxu would treat her like a stranger.
But when he opened the door, his neighbor across the hall was him.
Zhou Tingxu replied coldly, "Why I moved is none of your business as my ex-girlfriend."
After the dinner party, he became the designated driver.
Zhou Tingxu casually remarked, "I've been scammed, so I'll start a side hustle to cover the losses."
Looking at her persistent ex-boyfriend who had ruined her blind dates multiple times, Qin Sui couldn't help but grit her teeth: "What happened to our promise to never appear in front of each other again?!"
Zhou Tingxu: "I forgot."
Qin Sui: "..." Shameless!
One day, as Qin Sui was packing her luggage, Zhou Tingxu suddenly burst into her home and, without saying a word, half-embraced her.
The once arrogant man lowered his head and let out a sigh in her ear.
"Sui Sui, you can do whatever you want with me, just don't leave again, okay?"
He was always utterly defeated in her presence, yet he was willing to submit to her.
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