Chapter 66 "Xie Chengyan, I hate you."...
However, in the blink of an eye, the snowfall intensified.
That thin, frail figure, like a withered branch, stood stubbornly amidst the swirling snow.
He actually saw Shen Xi standing at the end of the long street.
Clinging to the last shred of clarity in his mind, Xie Chengyan suddenly remembered that Shen Xi had long since left the capital, and he had personally seen her off.
When she left, she had already lost all hope in him and was completely despondent.
That wasn't Shen Xi, but merely a hallucination he had after exhausting himself.
Xie Chengyan closed his eyes and struggled to sit up, but because he had already exhausted his strength, every movement felt like a piece of flesh being sliced off by a knife, as he clung to his last bit of life.
His vision was obscured by blood. In that instant, he thought of many things, yet also of very few. Many thoughts spanned his past and present lives, while few thoughts were fixed on a single person.
Once again, Xie Chengyan opened his eyes.
The hallucination persisted, but the wind and snow were too heavy for him to see the emotions in those eyes.
Perhaps it was hatred, he thought.
She should hate him; it was his despicable scheming that led to this marriage, allowing them a brief period of legitimate time together.
But in the end, he only cared about revenge, pushing her away with his own hands. He never asked her what she wanted, one thing after another. He was simply a bastard whose crimes were beyond description.
Hate is actually a good thing, at least I can still curse him every time I recall the name Xie Chengyan, which is better than having nothing to do with him anymore.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. Xie Chengyan did not go forward, nor did he dare to blink, for fear that the illusion would shatter at the slightest touch.
In the hallucination, Shen Xi still looked the same as before. Through two lifetimes and countless sweet dreams, she was always there.
Suddenly, a loud clatter of hooves echoed through the night. Xie Chengyan chuckled, thinking that the guards he had led away earlier had noticed something amiss and were about to turn back to deal with them.
But he was already exhausted. Finally, Xie Chengyan closed his eyes, his consciousness gradually blurred, his body swayed, and he collapsed.
"Xie Chengyan!!"
This was the last sound he heard before he collapsed. Looking through the half-open crack of his eyes, he saw that the figure was actually stepping through the wind and snow, heading straight for him.
Even though he knew it was an illusion, Xie Chengyan still opened his arms without hesitation.
Suddenly, a soft, warm body threw itself into his arms, and Xie Chengyan, who was swaying precariously, caught her steadily.
Finally, he collapsed and lost consciousness.
"Thank you, Chengyan!"
Shen Xi quickly tried to support him, but Xie Chengyan was a man after all, and his full weight pressed down on her, causing her to fall down as well. She could only barely kneel on the ground, holding his shoulders with both hands.
She had been standing far away and hadn't been able to see Xie Chengyan's condition clearly amidst the wind and snow. Only now, as she got closer, did she realize that he was covered in blood, with countless wounds of all sizes, and blood was slowly oozing out.
His plain clothes were stained crimson, except for his chest, which was undamaged, a stark contrast of white against the blood-stained fabric.
Shen Xi frowned, and as if possessed, reached out and touched his chest, which was bulging.
She took it out of Xie Chengyan's arms. The moonlight was serene, and the firelight was dazzling. She could see the whole thing clearly.
Dark blue with bamboo pattern.
It was a sachet that she had painstakingly embroidered stitch by stitch.
The sachet should have been burned to ashes in the brazier.
He was a disheveled mess, covered in blood and grime, but the sachet was spotless. He kept the gift she had given him in the warmest and cleanest place in his heart.
Shen Xi's heart skipped a beat, and an endless wave of soreness washed over her. She gently wiped away the bloodstains from Xie Chengyan's face with her fingertips, revealing his pale and tired face.
"Xie Chengyan, in your entire life, have you ever truly trusted anyone?"
In the end, even she had to scheme to push him away.
But this wasn't the time to settle scores with him. Shen Xi tucked the sachet into his pocket, the sound of horses' hooves growing closer and closer, closing in on the Duke's mansion.
Shen Xi's expression darkened slightly. She couldn't take Xie Chengyan away with her strength. She had tried to come back from outside the city without telling anyone. Right now, no one could help her.
Looking up, he saw a large group of people riding towards him, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the person in the lead was none other than Chu Chengji.
Although this person had once allied with Xie Chengyan to discuss matters, Liang Tuo had just told her at the city gate that Xie Chengyan had come to the Duke's mansion alone today, deliberately avoiding Chu Chengji and not asking for any support.
This only shows that Xie Chengyan didn't actually trust him.
Shen Xi unconsciously tightened his grip on the protective blade in his hand.
As they approached, the soldiers indeed surrounded the two of them. Chu Chengji dismounted and walked forward.
His gaze first swept over Xie Chengyan on the ground, then he clicked his tongue and shook his head: "Are you satisfied now that you've made yourself into such a mess?"
After saying that, she glanced at Shen Xi, her eyes clearly showing some surprise: "Why are you back?"
Actually, when Xie Chengyan burned her sachet that day, Shen Xi had already guessed that he was forcing her to leave. Although she didn't know the reason, Shen Xi did as he said.
Right under Xie Chengyan's nose, they planned to leave the capital step by step, according to his wishes.
But after disappearing from his sight, Shen Xi immediately turned back to the city. Fortunately, the person guarding the city was Liang Tuo, who saw Shen Xi and, while pretending to comply, let him in.
This was the first time she had successfully fooled him.
But Shen Xi frowned, wondering whether she should answer, since Liang Tuo was involved.
Chu Chengji didn't insist that she answer, and said to himself, "It's quite unexpected. Cheng Yan went to a lot of trouble to send you away, but you came back on your own. In that sense, he's quite lucky."
In the distance, the sound of clashing armor suddenly came from afar.
A soldier trotted forward and reported to Your Majesty: "The remnants of the rebel army are heading this way."
His Majesty?
Shen Xi's eyes widened slightly. Although Liang Tuo had mentioned that the Crown Prince intended to seize the throne tonight, she did not expect that Chu Chengji would ultimately reap the benefits.
Chu Chengji stroked his sword, not much of a surprise, and ordered: "Annihilate them all, leave no one alive."
"yes!"
After giving the instructions, he sent someone forward to help Xie Chengyan up, but Chen Xi tightened his arms and looked at Chu Chengji warily.
"Your Majesty, where are you taking him?"
Chu Chengji scoffed casually, "You two are really alike. I've never seen Chengyan let his guard down with anyone in your life, and you still don't trust me now."
Seeing Shen Xi's furrowed brows and unmoved expression, Chu Chengji said helplessly, "Don't worry. If you want him to die, why bother bringing troops to rescue him? Let him bleed to death here and just wait to die."
As she finished speaking, Shen Xi's mind stirred slightly. Xie Chengyan's wounds were bleeding profusely, and if it wasn't stopped quickly, he would bleed to death.
Thus, Shen Xi finally lowered her guard briefly and, escorted by guards, led Xie Chengyan away.
Chu Chengji did not bring the imperial physician. After waiting for a while, seeing that Xie Chengyan was pale and barely breathing, Shen Xi made a quick decision and personally took action to stop the bleeding.
After a flurry of activity, the night was drawing to a close.
The sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn.
Shen Xi stayed by Xie Chengyan's side all night, managing to escape death.
He was lying quietly in bed, completely isolated from the bloody battles.
Shen Xi held his hand, stared at him for a long time, and finally couldn't help but scold in a low voice: "Xie Chengyan, you are too arrogant. Who do you think you can fool like this? Aren't we all just playing along with your act?"
"Xie Chengyan, I hate you."
"Xie Chengyan, I hate you."
Xie Chengyan remained lying quietly, breathing slowly, without opening his eyes or responding to her.
Shen Xi lowered her eyes, the scenes of the two of them together flashing through her mind again and again.
Suddenly, she remembered the question she hadn't answered during last year's Lantern Festival, which Xie Chengyan had been pressing her for an answer to just two days ago.
Why do I want to know his birthday a day in advance?
Shen Xi chuckled softly to herself, took his hand and placed it on her face, rubbing it against him. Only when he was oblivious did she dare to murmur a few words.
"Because I don't know when it started, but I think I've fallen in love with you."
They had hated and resented each other, but they had never truly loved each other.
A layer of mist suddenly welled up in her eyes, making it almost impossible to see the person in front of her.
Xie Chengyan remained lying motionless, unresponsive.
Shen Xi wrinkled his nose, wiped away his tears with his hand as if venting his anger, and flicked it back lightly.
Seeing Xie Chengyan's brows furrow slightly and him let out a muffled groan, Shen Xi gasped softly, suspecting that she had aggravated his wound. She quickly leaned over, straightened his hand, and tucked it back into the quilt.
Outside the window, it was already bright daylight.
Chu Chengji, who had been busy all night, came in specifically to see Xie Chengyan.
Although Shen Xi didn't know the exact nature of their relationship, judging from what happened that night, there seemed to be no hostility between them.
Chu Chengji approached, saw Xie Chengyan's bloodless face, and asked, "How is he?"
Shen Xi: "The bleeding has stopped, but he still needs to rest. I don't know when he will wake up."
Chu Chengji didn't understand and bluntly asked, "Can you still breathe now?"
Shen Xi choked for a moment, and after a long pause, she finally managed to squeeze out a single word with a dark expression: "Yes."
Chu Chengji waved his hand reassuringly: "He's lucky. As long as he can breathe, he can live. It's not a big problem."
Shen Xi remained silent, only looking at Xie Chengyan with concern.
After surviving, he caused such a commotion last night, and he will inevitably face a lot of trouble when he wakes up.
But she couldn't help with any of that.
She didn't say these things, but Chu Chengji could tell: "Don't worry, with his abilities, if he dares to do it, he'll naturally have a plan for how to handle the aftermath."
Shen Xi frowned: "But last night, he clearly didn't intend to come out alive."
Xie Chengyan was determined to die; everyone could see that. He went there with the mindset of certain death, and he didn't care about any aftermath.
Chu Chengji had no rebuttal and fell silent for a long while before finally saying, "That's alright. With me here, what is there to be afraid of?"
"But if the charges of patricide and matricide are suppressed, can His Majesty really protect them?"
Chu Chengji was much more optimistic than her: "Since they dared to mobilize the Imperial Guards, I have naturally thought of a way to deal with it. Don't worry, Cheng Yan trusted me and that's why he put me on the throne. I will not let him down."
Shen Xi remained silent for a long time, then finally bowed solemnly to Chu Chengji: "Thank you, Your Majesty. My husband trusts Your Majesty, and so does I."
*
Xie Chengyan awoke seven days later.
He remained unconscious for so long that he had a somewhat surreal feeling, as if he had been in another world.
Having walked alone in the eternal night for many years, Xie Chengyan had thought about dying together with others, about failing at the last hurdle, but he never thought about living.
He sat on the bed in deep thought for a long time, never expecting that the first person to come to see him would be Chu Chengji.
Before he could say anything, Chu Chengji looked him over and spoke meaningfully, "You're awake? You've waited so long, it's good to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Xie Chengyan didn't notice the meaning behind his words. Now that he was injured and unable to get out of bed, and knew that his death was imminent, he no longer cared about such formalities.
"What does Your Majesty intend to do with me?"
After speaking, Xie Chengyan paused and earnestly advised Chu Chengji, "If Your Majesty kills me now, you will not have to worry about your power in the future. I, Xie Chengyan, have disregarded imperial authority and disobeyed imperial orders. Killing me will serve as a warning to others."
Seeing his magnanimity, Chu Chengji shook his head and smiled: "You barely escaped with your life and you're still thinking about dying? Don't you even care about your wife?"
Sure enough, Xie Chengyan's expression stiffened, sensing the hidden meaning in his words: "What's wrong with her?"
Chu Chengji didn't answer, but just smiled and looked at him, deliberately keeping him in suspense.
After a long while, he flicked his hand and pointed at him from a distance: "He left a long time ago! You can't even keep your wife."
Hearing that Shen Xi had left safely, Xie Chengyan breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall.
It turns out that what I saw that night was really just an illusion.
Why did she come back?
Looking up at the ceiling, he slowly began to speak: "She is not a caged bird that I keep. I cannot keep her, nor should I. It is already a blessing that I can protect her for a moment."
His deep voice sounded particularly hoarse due to weakness, and when it fell silent in the room, it did not resonate.
Chu Chengji stood up and gave him a disdainful look: "Stop with your sour talk."
Having said that, he turned and left.
Xie Chengyan hurriedly stood up and called out to him, "Your Majesty, my crimes are unforgivable, but I beg..."
He had only spoken halfway when Chu Chengji approached again, his face gloomy, and punched him in the shoulder without any hesitation.
The blow struck the wound squarely, and Xie Chengyan gasped.
Then, Chu Chengji's voice, filled with gritted teeth, finally fell.
"You've slaughtered half the military officers, had your fill of killing, and now you want to quit?"
"No way! Once you've recovered from your injuries, get out of here and head to the border."
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Author's Note: It's Christmas Eve! Little Yan is finally safe tonight!
But... it seems Xiao Xi doesn't want you anymore. Go after her slowly. [droopy-eared rabbit head]
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