Chapter 70 There was once someone who hoped he…
Xie Chengyan remained unconscious for four days. During this time, he uncontrollably fell into a dream.
The dream was strange, yet strangely familiar.
Just like the serious injury he suffered six years ago before returning to Beijing.
It was during that encounter that he saw Shen Xi, whom he had never met before, in his dream.
Later, he witnessed her being forced by the crowd to jump off a cliff.
However, he never dreamed of anything else after that, and eventually forgot about it.
But this time, the coma was a continuation of the dream from five years ago.
This dream began in the military camp, and it was so similar to reality. He was attacked by the enemy and was stabbed in the chest by an enemy arrow.
Then came days of emergency treatment. After his condition stabilized and he regained consciousness, he realized that he had been on the verge of death. If the military doctor hadn't asked his old friend to come to his rescue at full speed, he might have been hiding in the desert.
Upon hearing this, Xie Chengyan naturally wanted to meet this miraculous doctor in person.
This person was none other than Wen Tingmao.
When Xie Wenlang was seriously injured by bandits, the Duke's mansion hired this same doctor.
Surprised by such a coincidence, Xie Chengyan stood up and thanked him sincerely.
But Wen Tingmao helped him up and stopped him from doing so: "General, I cannot accept such thanks."
After a pause, Wen Tingmao extended his rough hands and sighed, "I am old and my hands tremble so badly that they are no longer useful. It was actually my apprentice who cleaned the general's arrow wound. I cannot accept your thanks."
Xie Chengyan lowered his gaze and followed up with the question, "Where is Doctor Wen's apprentice?"
Wen Tingmao avoided his gaze, his eyes flickering slightly: "Recently, there have been many wounded soldiers in the military camp, so she volunteered to help treat them."
Xie Chengyan did not hide the guilty look in his eyes, but he did not expose it. He simply said, "In that case, Xie Chengyan thanks you and your disciple for your great kindness on behalf of all the soldiers."
Xie Chengyan's wound was poisoned and was healing slowly, requiring daily dressing changes and cleaning.
What's particularly strange is that every time the dressing was changed, it just so happened to coincide with Xie Chengyan being unconscious. When he woke up, the wound had been properly treated, but he was nowhere to be found.
For several days in a row, Xie Chengyan never saw with his own eyes who changed his dressing.
Moreover, having been on high alert for many years, he has always been a light sleeper. How could he possibly be unaware of someone getting close to change his dressings?
It might be a coincidence once or twice, but if it happens too often, something's not right.
He was on guard and summoned Liang Tuo to ask him what was going on. He then learned that the person who had come to change the medicine was Wen Tingmao's apprentice.
"Dr. Shen has been helping the military doctors at the wounded soldiers' camp these days. He's so busy that he can't even have a moment to spare before midnight to change your dressings."
Liang Tuo was still eager to defend the man, "General, I've been watching this man for several days. Apart from focusing on treating his injuries, he doesn't touch anything else. He's just an honest doctor, without anything unusual about him!"
Xie Chengyan narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze drifting towards the wounded soldiers' camp, his thoughts shifting.
To confirm, Xie Chengyan deliberately did not drink the medicine Liang Tuo sent that night, and lay in bed early to wait for the opportunity.
It wasn't until after midnight that Xie Chengyan heard footsteps outside his command tent, followed by a few whispered conversations.
A voice came from Liang Tuo, who was patrolling the camp: "Doctor Shen, it's so late. I thought you weren't coming tonight."
"The general's injuries require daily dressing changes, which cannot be delayed. I was not paying attention today and that's why I'm late."
This must be Wen Tingmao's apprentice. His voice is gentle and has an inexplicable scholarly air about it. He is not very old.
With a rustling sound, the curtain was lifted, and someone walked in. Xie Chengyan closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
The man walked very lightly and unhurriedly to his side, calm and composed; one could tell from his demeanor that he had been like this all these days.
The man placed the lamp he was carrying aside to illuminate the area, gradually approaching and, without the slightest hesitation, began to undress Xie Chengyan. His breath sprayed onto Xie's neck, causing a ticklish sensation.
Xie Chengyan, who was pretending to be asleep, never expected that changing his medicine would cause him such torment.
She immediately frowned, grabbed the hand that was messing around on his chest, and opened her eyes unexpectedly.
The man suddenly let out a low cry and looked at him.
The moment their eyes met, Xie Chengyan was also taken aback. Despite her deliberate attempt to disguise herself, Xie Chengyan recognized her at a glance.
This person looks exactly like his deceased sister-in-law.
He was the one who watched her jump off the cliff back then, and later found her skeletal remains at the bottom of the cliff, which had been gnawed beyond recognition by wild animals.
How can people who are already dead meet here?
The pressure on his hand loosened slightly, and Xie Chengyan subconsciously murmured, "Sister-in-law?"
She didn't respond, but her gaze towards him was filled with terror. After a long while, she turned her eyes away, glancing at the untouched medicine on the side, her delicate brows furrowing.
He pulled his hand out of his palm and stood up: "General, why haven't you taken your medicine? The poison in your body is not to be underestimated; you must take your medicine every single day."
Xie Chengyan, who was still reeling from her near-death experience, snapped out of it, leaned back, and looked her over: "You're quite an interesting person. You're supposed to be timid, yet you dared to add a sleeping potion to my medicine. You're supposed to be bold, yet you only dared to sneak over here in the middle of the night."
Shen Xi kept her head down and retorted, "It's not a sleeping potion. It's just that the general needs to rest, so I added a few sleeping aids."
What kind of sleeping pill could make him fall into a deep sleep, unable to even make up a lie?
Xie Chengyan chuckled and looked at this old friend he hadn't seen in a long time with great interest.
Suddenly, she thought of Xie Wenlang in the capital and couldn't help but say, "After you 'died,' my younger brother became despondent and only knew how to drown his sorrows in alcohol. He spent his days in brothels, pulling along a dancer who looked somewhat like you and calling your name. No one could persuade him or pull him away. When he was drunk, he would ask everyone he met if they had seen his 'Xi'er.'"
After Xie Chengyan finished speaking, he looked at her expression and saw that Shen Xi's eyes remained completely unmoved, as if she were listening to news from a stranger.
After a long pause, Shen Xi finally raised her eyes and met his gaze directly: "General, you've mistaken me for someone else. And..."
Xie Chengyan waited for her to continue.
But all I heard was, "It's getting late, you should change your medicine. I'll reheat the herbal decoction and bring it to you."
His voice was cold and aloof, devoid of any warmth.
Xie Chengyan finally took this person seriously.
The candlelight illuminated the face covered by black and yellow paint, yet the eyes remained clear and resolute.
It wasn't until this moment that Xie Chengyan suddenly realized that when she jumped down all those years ago, it wasn't because she was heartbroken, but simply to escape her prison.
He shook his head, sighed, but his tone was tinged with amusement: "You're quite the heartless one."
Shen Xi remained calm and said, "General, you flatter me. A doctor's heart is full of compassion."
Since her identity was exposed that night, Shen Xi has not admitted it, and Xie Chengyan has not investigated further.
Although it was inappropriate for a woman to enter the military camp, she had saved the lives of many soldiers, so he turned a blind eye and pretended not to know anything.
When the master and apprentice finally left the military camp, Xie Chengyan personally saw them off to express his gratitude.
When it was time to say goodbye, Shen Xi looked back at him from her horse, her expression as calm as ever, and said only one sentence in a low voice.
"In my humble opinion, the general's brother was not ill with grief for his deceased wife. His frequenting of brothels and seeking replacements among the courtesans in the red-light district was clearly an insult to her."
With just that one sentence, she turned and chased after Wen Tingmao, never looking back.
Xie Chengyan looked at that retreating figure and chuckled softly.
He thought this would be the last time he and she crossed paths.
But later, after he avenged his mother, he returned alone to Qingzhou, the place where his mother was buried.
He thought about it for a long time and didn't want to be buried anywhere else but Qingzhou.
So they specially found a mountain with beautiful scenery, lush vegetation, and unique landscape.
As night fell, he cut his left wrist without any regret. He had long since given up on expecting the sun to rise as usual the next day; it had been the same for years, utterly repulsive.
Just as he loathed his resemblance to that person, which was only five-tenths, and hated the filthy blood that person carried on his body.
Xie Chengyan closed his eyes in relief, feeling the blood slowly leaving his body, his mind gradually losing consciousness.
But he never expected that he would open his eyes again.
It was the next morning when Xie Chengyan felt a sharp pain in the wound on his wrist, realizing that he was still alive.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw that the wound that had been bleeding was now bandaged and the bleeding had stopped. A fire was burning in front of him to keep warm, and a person was sitting directly opposite him, leaning against a tree trunk and sleeping lightly.
It is Chen Xi.
This time she didn't disguise herself; her skin was fair, and the morning light shone on her face, making her appear exceptionally serene.
Xie Chengyan was surprised; he hadn't expected to see her again.
His gaze shifted to the side and he saw the basket on her back. He guessed that she must have gone up the mountain to collect herbs and happened to meet him. Because of her compassionate heart as a doctor, she rescued him without distinguishing right from wrong.
He couldn't express his feelings; they were incredibly complex.
Just then, Shen Xi also woke up. She wasn't surprised to see him and simply asked, "Awake? Can you still walk?"
Xie Chengyan did not respond, nor did he intend to leave. He pursed his lips and looked at the wound on his wrist.
Suddenly, something was thrown at him from the other side, and Xie Chengyan caught it instinctively: "What is this?"
Shen Xi had already started packing her basket, preparing to go down the mountain, and casually said, "I got the flower seeds by chance. Although I've never seen the flowers before, I've heard they're very beautiful. If you're willing to plant them, you might be able to see them bloom."
After a moment of stunned silence, Xie Chengyan chuckled softly. She had clearly seen that his mind was still not made up, and was trying to persuade him with this clumsy method.
But what good is a packet of flower seeds?
Xie Chengyan sighed, but ultimately accepted the gift. After all, she meant well. The mountains were dangerous, so he might as well do one more good deed before he died and send her down the mountain first.
Thus, Xie Chengyan followed Shen Xi down the mountain step by step. The vegetation grew wildly, and many years later it would surely cover up the bloodstains that had seeped into the soil.
He silently followed Shen Xi down the mountain and walked her all the way back to Renfeng Hall.
Xie Chengyan watched her busy herself in the hall, and then he didn't linger any longer; it was time for him to face his own end.
But just as he turned around, someone suddenly grabbed him tightly.
Xie Chengyan was curious; it was a middle-aged woman he had never seen before.
Perhaps because he was about to die, he was now unusually forgiving of everything he saw, and asked with a smile, "What are you doing?"
But the person just stared straight into his eyes, her hands trembling violently, a few tears welling up in her eyes: "You...do you know...Xu Chan..."
Xie Chengyan's eyes sharpened instantly.
Xu Chan was his mother's given name.
He asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
But the woman grabbed his hand and burst into tears right there in the street: "Young master, it really is the young master! This old servant has finally waited for you."
Young Master.
That's truly a very, very old name.
When he was still young and living with his mother in Qingzhou, the servants in the household would call him that.
Xie Chengyan recalled the person in front of him from his distant memories; she was Xu Chan's personal maid.
He was originally going to go to the capital with the mother and son to find Xie Yi, but his father happened to pass away, so he had no choice but to return to his hometown, thus escaping a disaster.
I never imagined that she would still be alive after all these years, and still be in Qingzhou.
She stared into Xie Chengyan's eyes for a long time, unable to hold back her tears: "Young Master's eyes are exactly the same as Miss's."
It was from her that Xie Chengyan learned that his mother had actually left him a house at the end of this street.
Because this house was secretly left to him by his mother behind his uncle's back then, no one knew about it except for this personal maid. Therefore, when she was cleaning up Xie Yi's mess at the Xue family back then, she was not found out and was able to survive.
Over the years, the maid had been helping to clean the house, finding solace in it. She never imagined that in her lifetime she would meet the young master who was supposed to perish in the fire with his mistress.
Xie Chengyan stepped into the house.
The incident happened suddenly that year, and his mother left him with no mementos. Whenever he misses her, he can only recall the past over and over again in his mind.
He never imagined that many years later, he would receive the things his mother left him.
In the study of this house, he also found something else: a hundred letters written by Xu Chan to him, from his birth to his centenary, written to him at each age, with a birthday gift for each year.
One letter after another, Xie Chengyan opened all the letters and read them one by one.
He stayed up until dawn, and all the grievances that had been building up in his heart for years finally dissipated.
It turns out there really was someone who hoped he could live a peaceful and joyful life for a hundred years.
Xie Chengyan dared not stay any longer and fled the house in a disheveled state.
As he walked down the long street, he saw Renfeng Hall again, and Shen Xi, who was busy getting up early, so he stopped.
The sun rose as usual today.
Shen Xi also saw Xie Chengyan. Seeing that he was in a daze, she had no choice but to walk up to him and take his pulse on the spot.
At the same time, deliberately ignoring his thoughts of suicide, she gently advised him: "You are injured, so you should rest and recuperate. Thinking too much will harm your health."
Xie Chengyan lowered his eyes, looking at her long, strong fingertips resting on his wrist, and whispered something.
"You saved my life again."
Shen Xi didn't care and casually said, "I've saved many people. The general is neither the first nor the only one. There's no need to take it to heart."
Suddenly, Xie Chengyan looked up, and in a daze, he remembered her name—
Xi means dawn.
Once, that fire trapped him on his first night at the age of six. The towering flames under the pitch-black night were permanently etched into his pupils, and everything he could see turned to ashes.
He wandered endlessly in the darkness, accompanied by an inextinguishable flame, with no origin and no way out.
Now, the sunlight shines down, gilding Shen Xi with a narrow golden edge.
The shimmering light and shadow transformed into threads, sliding down Xie Chengyan's eyes and into his very bones, eventually coursing through his entire body and tightly wrapping around his heart.
The darkness that had lasted for more than a decade was finally torn open by a sudden ripple.
As the morning light streamed in through the crack, it suddenly grew wildly, and he felt as if he had fallen into an endless surge, stirring up a piece of memory that had been hidden in a corner and long forgotten by him.
That was six-year-old Xie Chengyan, who had just survived the fire and was taken away and placed in an inn.
At the time, he did not know who had killed his mother. As soon as he opened his eyes, he thought of running away and rushing to the government office to report to the authorities.
The six-year-old child was suddenly struck by a terrible disaster, and was not in a very clear state of mind. He stumbled and ran out of the inn.
At that time, he accidentally bumped into a young woman.
When she saw Xie Chengyan bump into her leg, she didn't scold him, but exclaimed in surprise, "Whose child is this?"
After saying that, she squatted down to look him in the eye, and then gently took out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt off his face.
Xie Chengyan was focused on reporting the crime to the authorities and finding the real murderer to avenge his mother, so he impatiently pushed her away and ran outside.
After leaving the house, he anxiously tried to find his way, and vaguely heard the conversation between the woman and her husband who had chased after him.
"Rong'er, he bumped into you, are you alright?"
“Chen Lang, I’m fine, but that child seems a little off.”
"Who cares what he's doing? It's probably just some little rascal who's sprung up and is running amok. He's nothing like our baby in your belly."
The woman chuckled and stroked her belly: "Yes, this child is so well-behaved, not making a fuss at all. Chenlang, I've thought of a name for the child."
"Oh, what is it?"
"Last night, I dreamt that I was carrying a girl, so well-behaved and clever, truly adorable. When I opened my eyes, I saw the sky outside the window about to brighten, full of life, so I named her Xi. What do you think?"
“Xi, Chen Xi. Rong’er is a good name, so let’s call her Xi’er.”
Chen Xi.
It turns out that they had brushed past each other in a fleeting moment when no one was paying attention.
Unfortunately, Xie Chengyan was preoccupied with revenge at the time and never paid any attention to it.
"Xi'er..."
A faint murmur, almost blending into the night, escaped from Xie Chengyan's chapped lips. After being unconscious for several days, Xie Chengyan finally slowly opened his eyes.
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Author's Note: Xiao Yan: Did you see clearly? The other one is the one who came later.
Xiao Xi (slaps him): Why are you making all this noise again? Are you even coming back for dinner?! [Question mark]
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