That Taoist temple
"I'm leaving." Sui Zhixu took Fan Lingzhang's hand and stepped into the carriage, bidding farewell to Mingyi.
The atmosphere between Mingyi and Cheng Zhijie was really strange, sometimes intimate and sometimes distant, and it was all one-sided on Mingyi's part.
"The north is dangerous, while Qianzhou is relatively safe. If anything unexpected happens, senior brother, you must protect yourself. If all goes well, I will come back to visit you."
Mingyi took her hand through the car window. "I'll wait for you here."
Mingzhuo, who was excited, was glared at by Mingyi and then looked maliciously at Cheng Zhijie, who was standing behind Mingyi.
Their eyes met, but Mingyi ahead remained completely unaware.
Jiang Li mounted his horse and told Jiang Yun, "Keep an eye on this spot."
After saying that, she glanced at Wu Shanyue beside him and said, "Take good care of your pregnant wife. I don't want to raise a scoundrel like your father."
“Nephew will keep Aunt’s teachings in mind. May you and Aunt have a safe journey. We will be waiting for you to return from Miao territory.”
Chu Ke remained silent and lonely until his departure, when he left behind the words, "If I die, remember to collect your brother's body."
The carriage wheels began to turn, with Chu Ke riding ahead, his gyrfalcon neighing across the vast sky, prompting Sui Zhixu's gyrfalcon to also neigh.
He strode away.
"Hey." Mingyi tugged at Cheng Zhijie's clothes.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Zhijie withdrew his gaze, looking at Mingyi with tender eyes, his affection almost overflowing.
Mingyi coughed lightly twice, her ear tips slightly red, "Are you... are you alright?"
“I’m not a three-year-old who can’t be left alone. If my cousin has important business to attend to and needs to leave, I will not stop him.” Cheng Zhijie took Mingyi’s hand. “Thank you for your concern, Mingyi.”
"Who cares about you!" Mingyi brushed his hand away, and Cheng Zhijie just smiled, watching her figure disappear behind the door frame.
He turned around and looked again at the departing figures of Sui Zhixu and his group.
The teacher suggested that he be placed in an outlying area. Is this factor really not involved?
—
"I sent Alu back to Chang'an ahead of time to gather information." He wrapped his arms around Sui Zhixu's waist, lowered his head and rubbed against her shoulder, his manner quite affectionate.
She gave a soft "hmm," her delicate, affectionate peach blossom eyes meeting his ingratiating gaze.
She said softly, "I really should kick you out; you're interfering with my practice."
"I can help you apply the medicine." Fan Lingzhang wrapped his arms around her body, and the numerous, crisscrossing wounds on her body turned into pale pink scars.
He lifted the clothes on her shoulder, his fingertips tracing that inch of skin. This was the most serious wound; Xin Yi's longsword had pierced through her shoulder blade. As expected of a sword passed down through a lineage, it was incredibly powerful.
He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder reverently, which made the already slightly itchy scars even more irritating. Sui Zhixu turned her head and leaned against his chest, pursing her lower lip.
"Stay with me a little longer, you're about to embark on another solo journey, aren't you?" Fan Lingzhang's words were enticing, yet his pitiful voice made people unconsciously lower their guard.
"I'm confident." Sui Zhixu couldn't stand his shallow breathing, so she turned around in his arms to face his face.
Fan Lingzhang was dissatisfied. "You always say the same thing, you little liar."
Su Zhixu felt a little guilty. There was one thing she had lied to him about, but nothing else.
Seeing her in a daze, Fan Lingzhang bumped his forehead against hers, quite angry. "What are you thinking about? Did you really lie to me?"
"There's just one thing I haven't told you, it's all minor details, but I haven't told you anything else, including my past."
"Hmph, yet you still kept it from me." Fan Lingzhang raised her head, her phoenix eyes sparkling on her beautiful face. "Perhaps I can ask for some compensation?"
He nodded slightly, the meaning clear.
Xu slapped him across the face; it didn't hurt, but it was enough to intimidate him.
She leaned coldly against the carriage wall and said indifferently, "As you said, if I tell you what happened, I don't need to compensate you."
"You said I need to think about it, after all, I'm the victim."
"Hmph, someone would probably cry if I told them." Sui Zhixu glanced at him, then crossed his arms.
"……What?"
"It's nothing much, as you can probably guess. I died in battle with Xin Yi back then, and my soul was reborn in Sui Zhixu's body, but I have amnesia. All the sweet words I said to you at the beginning were fake, and it wasn't that I was pretending not to recognize you, it's just that I... don't remember you at all."
Fan Lingzhang lowered her head, looking quite like she was about to cry again. Sui Zhixu lowered her arm; her tone had been deliberately cold just now—was she really about to cry?
A flash of regret crossed her eyes. She should have known better than to argue with him; she had accidentally said something too harsh.
She reached for Fan Lingzhang's clothes, but he grabbed her instead. He looked up, and his phoenix eyes were indeed wet. He pulled her into his arms.
She sniffed. "They're hard to soothe."
"Are you scared? You don't remember anything, you don't know anyone, and you have to live in the perilous city of Chang'an. I'm such a fool, I can't see anything."
Tears stained Sui Zhixu's cheek as she sighed, "You're such a sweetheart, your thoughts are so different from everyone else's."
She turned her head and pressed her lips to his. His eyes were red, whether from crying or from being overwhelmed by emotion, she couldn't tell.
The kiss ended, and Sui Zhixu kissed his cheek again, holding him tightly. The scenery outside the window changed step by step, and a certain scene in her memory kept replaying in her mind. She knew that the Taoist temple was almost here.
He raised his bloodshot eyes and took out a token from his pocket. "The Fan family's business spans the world. This is the patriarch's token. Only this one can mobilize the entire Fan family's lifeline. Take it. If anything happens, hand it to him, and he can save your life."
Fan Lingzhang lifted the carriage curtain, and the Taoist temple was right in front of her. Groups of people had been waiting to greet her for a long time.
Sui Zhixu: "I don't..."
“If you don’t accept it, I’ll change my mind. I’m not a particularly noble person, but you are. You would fight for morality, responsibility, and the people of the world.”
"You are my love, and I am willing to dedicate everything to you to help you accomplish everything you want to do. Even if you say you want the dragon throne, I will do my best to pave the way for you."
“But I can’t watch you put yourself in danger again and again. This is the last time. If you get hurt again, I will take you to live in another country while you are still seriously injured. With my wealth, we can live a life of comfort for the rest of our lives. You don’t need to worry.”
“…I accept.” Sui Zhixu vaguely felt that he had driven the fair-skinned little hibiscus crazy.
Upon seeing her subordinates, Fan Lingzhang smiled faintly, a smile that was quite unlike his former arrogant and unrestrained self.
"You should praise my acting skills." She tried to ease the tension by saying something, but the man's face only darkened further.
She shut her mouth and stopped talking.
Fan Lingzhang held her in his arms and sighed softly, "I shouldn't have made up for you every time."
She always ignored him, and he was so focused on making her happy that he neglected many things. Now, looking back, he realizes how many flaws he had cleverly concealed.
"It's not you who lied to me, it's clearly me who lied to myself."
Sui Zhixu was a little disappointed. Well, it turned out that it wasn't because of her good acting skills, but simply because she was deceiving Xiao Furong.
"Don't cry anymore, I'm actually fine. Compared to some less pleasant memories, I still really like those days. My adorable little Furong always puts in a lot of effort for me, wearing a different colored dress to see me every day, like a little peacock, and she still does now. My parents are doing well too, and my baby is doing well. I'm not really facing everything alone."
The two embraced quietly, with Sui Zhixu resting her chin on his shoulder, snuggling together like small animals huddling together for warmth in winter.
Outside the carriage, Liu Lü's voice rang out, "Wife, we've arrived at the Taoist temple."
"knew."
Sui Zhixu patted Fan Lingzhang on the back, "They've gotten off the bus, it's A-Lian and the others."
"Ah Ling".
The moment she got out of the car, Pei Qinglian grabbed her hand and looked her up and down, her expression anxious. "I heard you were injured. How are you now? Are you healed?"
Xu Dao glanced at Sui Chuke, thinking it must be that big mouth of his.
Chu Ke touched his nose and looked into the distance, looking both nonchalant and guilty—it was definitely him.
Pei Qingzhu greeted each person with a bow, saying, "Greetings, Young Master; Greetings, Young Master Fan; Greetings, Young Master Sui."
He then returned the greetings with several others.
She then grasped Pei Qinglian's hand, "I'm fine. I didn't expect it would be you who came this time."
Her tone was heavy; the situation in Chang'an was not to be underestimated.
Pei Qinglian nodded slightly, and seeing that she was really alright, she resumed her usual aloof demeanor.
“The Prince of Wei secretly left the northern lands and hid outside Chang’an City, joining forces with Gu Qingyi to launch a rebellion. He took control of the palace and the major nobles first. I was arranged to be a matchmaker by my family a few days ago, but I happened to be away from the palace, so I escaped this disaster.”
Pei Qinglian briefly explained her situation and then took her hand as they entered the Taoist temple.
“Our two families are separated by only a wall. Upon hearing the news from you, we decided to send Sanlang and me out of the city through a secret passage to meet you.”
"Chaoyang is about to give birth, how is she doing?"
"Before Awan had the accident, she went to the palace to stay with her for a while. Now they are both trapped in Chaoyang Palace. Don't worry, Awan is acting with discretion now and she will protect the princess."
Pei Qinglian was blunt, and her words were probably about 80-90% true.
"Where's Ayan? Why haven't you mentioned her?"
She frowned slightly, glanced at Pei Qingzhuo's solemn expression out of the corner of her eye, and shook her head.
"The Ning family was also completely surrounded, and they couldn't get any news about Ayan."
"No news is good news too." Pei Qingzhuo suddenly spoke up. He clenched his fists tightly, his brows were furrowed, and there were dark circles under his deep eyes, showing that he had not rested properly for many days.
Sui Zhixu raised her head, her gaze firm, "Don't worry, we'll be fine."
"Did you bring the city defense map? And the officials I emphasized, they are all Sima Xian's men, so the court must be on guard."
They caused trouble in the previous life, and we will definitely not make the same mistake again this time.
"Yes, it's with Sanlang."
Pei Qingzhuo took out a city defense map. "Currently, the military camps are short-handed, the Imperial Guards are doing their best to guard the palace, and troops from all directions are being mobilized."
Sui Zhixu nodded slightly, "They are focusing on protecting the safety of Chaoyang and the Emperor, and must ensure that there are no problems with Chaoyang's delivery. Everything will proceed as soon as Chaoyang gives birth to the imperial heir. The Chu family is guarding the western border and cannot be easily mobilized, otherwise, internal and external troubles cannot be delayed."
"Willow green".
"This servant is here."
"You will immediately infiltrate Chang'an through the secret passage, contact your master, and prepare all available troops. First and foremost, protect the people of Chang'an, and also send messages to various households, keeping an eye on the Ning family. Also, remember to protect yourself. Without my orders, you are not allowed to act on your own, understand?"
Liu Lü suddenly looked up and replied, "Yes!"
"Protect Danhong and the others well, otherwise no one will heal you if you get hurt. You guys have always worked together very well, haven't you?"
A hint of a smile appeared in Xu's eyes; this time, she couldn't let anyone leave again.
"Thank you, young master." Pei Qingzhu bowed and expressed his gratitude.
"Of course, A-Lian should contact the governor of Luozhou as soon as possible to prepare for the next steps. As for San-Lang and Sui-Chu-Ke, go and contact the heads of the aristocratic families."
Sui Zhixu said to Sui Chuke, "Especially the Zheng family of Xingyang. Try to get the old master of the Zheng family to come forward. The current head of the Zheng family is conservative and cautious, and it will be difficult to persuade him."
Most aristocratic families prefer to protect themselves; unless forced to act, they are unlikely to make a move.
"They should weigh their options carefully. They chose the late emperor back then, and now that the Sima family has resurfaced, will they have a good outcome?"
She turned to look at Fan Lingzhang, whose eyes were red, and said to them, "Let's arrange it like this for now. If there are any important matters later, I will discuss them with you."
Pei Qinglian nodded slightly, gave her younger brother a look, and the two went out of the house.
Sui Chuke responded, and before leaving, he turned back to look at her, saying, "I will definitely bring you good news."
"I'll go prepare some food for you."
Jiang Li could tell that Sui Zhixu had something to say to Fan Lingzhang, so she made an excuse to leave. Only the two of them remained in the side hall of the Taoist temple. They were exhausted from the journey, and Sui Zhixu was also a patient. She sat weakly on the couch in the inner room.
"How are you?" Fan Lingzhang knelt down in front of the bed, his face full of worry.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired." Sui Zhixu touched the corner of his eye with her fingertip.
Is there anything I can do to help you?
Sui Zhixu smiled and said, "Of course, my patriarch is richer than a country. Please use your countless riches to buy all the grain from the grain merchants."
He immediately agreed, "I understand, I'll send Afu right away."
Not only do we need food supplies for fighting, but the people in the city also need them. The government granaries must be opened, but we must also prevent grain merchants from taking advantage of the national crisis to make a fortune.
"in case."
As Xu looked at Fan Lingzhang's departing figure, his dark blue robes fluttering, making him appear even more composed.
She lowered her head and murmured to herself, this time she had to save more people, she absolutely had to.
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