It looks like three years
As winter approached, even faster than Xun Wang's journey to the capital, Zhen Jiao brought the person back.
When Xu learned of the news, Fan Lingzhang was still at home playing with Yue Nu.
"I made you a new ball. You stay home and don't go out looking for Huang Mao. What kind of kittens could you possibly have?" Fan Lingzhang stroked Mimi's head and purred.
"Meow~" Yue Nu's tail swept across Fan Lingzhang's wrist and patted it slightly, seemingly displeased.
"Why do I feel like you've gained weight recently?" Fan Lingzhang grabbed Mi by the armpit and lifted her up, while her hind feet were still on the ground.
"You weren't pregnant a long time ago, were you?" He put Mimi down and reached out to touch Mimi's belly, which was bulging, he couldn't tell if it was from fat or something else.
Meow~
Fan Lingzhang felt like the sky had fallen. "Afu, go and call your mother over to see if Yuenu is pregnant. Your mother has experience with this."
Moon Slave was a kitten born to the big cat of his former business partner. The litter had five or six kittens in total, and the owner, seeing that there were so many, was thinking of giving them away.
At that time, he and A-Ling had been married for almost a year, so he picked out a strong one to take back to A-Ling to keep her entertained.
After raising her for a year, she was taken by a local orange cat and gave birth to a chubby kitten, which now spends its days by its mother's side worshipping Buddha.
I never imagined I might get taken advantage of again.
It was Mother who noticed it last time; he and A-Ling thought it was because Yue Nu was too fat.
"Little Hibiscus!"
As soon as Xu stepped through the door, she pulled him along.
Yue Nu, quick as a flash, jumped down from Fan Lingzhang's arms and ran to Sui Zhixu's feet, rolling around in circles.
When Xu was stopped by her, he reached out and touched her, saying, "I won't play with you now. I'll come find you when I have time."
"Doctor Chi has arrived. Please come with me quickly," she said, turning to Fan Lingzhang.
"Wow~" Yue Nu continued to call out sweetly.
Knowing that Xu was concerned about the Gu worms on Fan Lingzhang's body, he grabbed Fan and took him away, using his lightness skill to leap over the rooftop.
When Afu invited Madam Fan over, only Yuenu, who was lying on her belly, was left in the room.
Afu scratched his head, "Where has my lord gone?"
Madam Fan smiled and greeted Yue Nu, reaching out to touch her belly. "Oh dear, you're pregnant again? I wonder where your father has gone. That troublesome little boy, Yue Nu is much better."
Afu chuckled awkwardly, "The person was just here a moment ago."
—
Sui Zhixu was moving very fast, so fast that Fan Lingzhang was a little dizzy. When he came to his senses, he was met with an old face.
His forehead was covered with wrinkles, his slanted eyes were cloudy, and his sharp gaze was quite intimidating.
Fan Lingzhang was startled and subconsciously took a step back, but the newcomer grabbed his hand and deftly stuck a gold needle into his fingertip.
"Ouch."
A drop of blood fell into the bowl that Dr. Chi was holding, which looked like clear water, and just like last time, bubbles kept forming and disappearing.
"It's difficult to solve." He stroked his flowing beard repeatedly, his words carrying a profound meaning.
Sui Zhixu frowned and looked at him with displeasure.
"Hey, don't rush me, let me think. I'm getting old, my mind doesn't work as fast as yours."
Sui Zhixu sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes seemingly covered by a layer of ice, beneath which lay endless, bone-chilling water.
Zhen Jiao: "Ah Xu, don't be anxious. Let's hear what Chi Gong has to say first."
Fan Lingzhang slipped his hand into her crossed hands, their fingers intertwined, his eyes peaceful and gentle.
He was at home today, and his clothes were not as exquisite and bright as usual. He was wearing a slightly worn jasmine yellow robe with a fur collar around his neck.
He replaced the white jade pendant with a jasmine pattern at his waist, making it a pair with the one he had given to Sui Zhixu.
"It's not easy to handle," Chi Gong muttered to himself as he rummaged through his medicine chest.
“This! The scales of the python from Nanzhao, the red cap of the arsenic, and the live scorpions from the Western Regions—I’ll crush those.”
He instructed Zhen Jiao to do something, handing him a scorpion that was constantly crawling out of his pocket, and told him to "separate the scorpion."
Danhong took the scorpion. She usually enjoyed making poisons and was very skilled at dealing with scorpions. The master and apprentice worked together very well.
The strangled scorpion's juices accumulated in small pools at the bottom of the dish, next to which were powdered snake scales and arsenic.
After settling everything, Chi Gong slowly woke up, holding an unsealed wine gourd in his hand. He smacked his lips, as if he had dreamed of fine wine, one that left a lingering aftertaste.
"All done?" He stood up and walked over to them, praising, "Well handled."
"Girl, I remember you're immune to all poisons, right?"
Dan Hong looked around, pointed to herself, and asked uncertainly, "Should I speak to you?"
"Yes, yes, it's you. You drop some blood in."
Dan Hong shook her head and questioned, "No, that won't do. The other day, Young Master Fan got so sick because he took a Qingxin Pill that contained the blood of a servant."
He had this episode many times, always clinging to his wife and whimpering, until his wife eventually knocked him unconscious with a blow.
Fan Lingzhang coughed twice, his ears turning red, and the image of him hugging A Ling flashed through his mind.
"Ah Ling, Ah Ling..."
A cool touch traveled down their foreheads, and a tender breath lingered between them. They were intimately familiar with each other's breath and affection.
As Xu nestled in Fan Lingzhang's arms, or rather, as a small lotus flower imprisoned her, an ambiguous atmosphere permeated the space between them.
The threads wrapped tightly around her hand, their fingers intertwined.
"Don't pressure me, calm down."
The only response she received was Ah Ling's repeated calls.
Sui Zhixu couldn't stand him anymore, broke free from his restraints, and slapped him on the back of the neck.
The man who had been supporting himself at the head of the table suddenly collapsed limply onto his wife.
"Can you be like me? If I say yes, then yes."
Dan Hong was skeptical, but only agreed to take action after receiving a signal from Sui Zhixu.
Chi Gong mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl, and then took out a sachet from his medicine box.
Chi Gong used a silver dagger to make a cut in Fan Lingzhang's palm, then picked up a sachet and gently shook it above the cut. Soon, a white-pink worm crawled out, stretching and contracting. Chi Gong quickly picked it out with a gold needle and threw it into a bowl.
Its body writhed violently, struggling as if in convulsions, but after a short while, it became still.
"Is this all right?" Sui Zhixu stared at its demise, still feeling heavy-hearted, with Gu Qingyi's words still echoing in his ears.
"I guess so."
He remained calm and collected, but her heart sank, and a bad premonition began to form.
"What do you mean?"
Chi Gong: "The Holy Maiden's Gu technique is superb, and the Gu worms she has researched are also strangely shaped. He has not been infected with Gu for long, and this old man is not sure if the Gu worms on his body have been completely removed. If he does not relapse in the future, that's fine. But if he does relapse, then this old man is helpless."
Sui Zhixu gripped Fan Lingzhang's hand tightly, speaking as if he were experiencing a final burst of energy before death.
She rubbed her brow and sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do.
After Fan Lingzhang's hand wound was bandaged, she asked everyone to leave. Dan Hong tried to speak, but was pulled out by her master.
Zhen Jiao: "Give your wife some peace and quiet."
"Don't worry about it, cheer up, A-Ling." Fan Lingzhang stroked Sui Zhixu's face with a smile.
Sui Zhixu grabbed his hand to stop him, saying, "It looks awful."
"It's nothing. To die under the peony is to die romantically, even as a ghost." He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. That figure, as steadfast as a pine tree, the woman who gave him jasmine, had finally stopped for him.
"Nonsense."
“I’m not talking nonsense. I would rather it be me than my wife getting sick and having an accident. Seeing you getting thinner and thinner in bed is more painful than killing me.”
"Besides, so be it. I can't become a tool for Sima Xian to threaten you. I don't know what's going on between you and him. You used to respect him a lot, but now you're at this point where it's like you're fighting to the death."
"But, did you suffer a lot during those three years?"
"Don't say anymore." Sui Zhixu turned around and hugged him, burying her head in his shoulder, her tears wetting a small patch of her clothes.
Fan Lingzhang blinked and held the person firmly in his arms. "My father once said, 'What is there to fear in death? Life is short, and we must face it one day. Until then, we should live each day to the fullest so as not to waste this life.'"
Sui Zhixu looked up, her eyes reddening at the corners, like the unique color on a peach blossom. "And what about you?"
“I have always kept his teachings in mind. Since we know that fate is inevitable, we need not be sad about the end. When I was a child, I traveled with him all over the mountains, rivers and lakes. I heard him catch wild geese in the reeds to propose to my mother, and I learned about his various adventures in the world. He never hesitated to tell me his embarrassing stories, and I inherited his frankness. So when he passed away, my mother and I were very calm.”
He chuckled softly, as if recalling the joy of listening to his father chat as a child.
He paused for a moment, then continued.
“I was twelve years old then, not old enough to support the family. It was my mother who took over the family business. It was then that I realized how capable my mother, who always seemed so peaceful, was. My mother taught me a lot. She was different from my father. She was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, and she had her own unique insights and ways of handling many things.”
"Gradually, I began to stand on my own. I was no longer like a child who was protected by his parents. Similarly, I no longer longed for the kind of love that my parents had, until I met you."
“Ah Ling, I never imagined what my future wife would be like. When Sima Xian tried to set me up, I didn’t care. I had a thousand or ten thousand ways to refuse, but fate made me agree to it. I thought I’d just meet her anyway.”
He lifted the person up a bit and laughed, "She looks like Yue Nu, so cute."
"I fell in love at first sight." Their eyes met, and she seemed to see a layer of mist covering his eyes.
“But it seems you didn’t. I thought things would be better after marriage. But our marriage was short-lived. When you were sick, I often thought that our fate as husband and wife was so shallow. When I held your funeral, I realized that I had not learned my mother’s composure. I couldn’t do it.”
His tears finally fell, dripping onto Sui Zhixu's collarbone. The warm teardrops made her tremble slightly. She had previously only thought that the tears of a lotus flower were beautiful.
I never imagined that one day my heart would ache so much.
Unlike the chilling pressure from Gu Qingyi's every word, this feeling was bittersweet, inexplicable, and bewildering.
"A year later, I witnessed your death once again."
Sui Zhixu remembered that he had said that after searching high and low, he only found a bloated corpse.
"So, when you mentioned Tianque Tower, I wondered if you were related to Tianque Tower, or if you were the assassin who betrayed Tianque Tower in the legends of the martial arts world."
Sui Zhixu's voice was calm, "You guessed it?"
"I'm not stupid." He buried his head in her neck, his warm breath brushing against her skin.
It's a little itchy, but within tolerable limits.
"Yes, Little Hibiscus is very smart."
But she couldn't say anything. What could she say? That she had actually lied to him at first and treated him like a fool who couldn't recognize his wife?
She closed her eyes, her annoyance reaching its peak. Why was she involved with Sima Xian? Why did Jiang Li's Gu worms travel from the distant Miao region to Chang'an?
She pressed her forehead against his and stroked his face with her hand. "What if... maybe things will get better."
She heard herself say this: Fan Lingzhang's love was too intense. She was different; she was selfish and heartless, unwilling to go back to that place to find Jiang Li and save him. She could only place her hopes on an uncertain fate.
She couldn't control her fate; fate was too unpredictable and too convoluted.
Outside the door, Dan Hong blocked Cong Lan's way, "My lord, you cannot go in."
"Get out of the way. She's naive and easily misled. You're all being foolish and letting her do as she pleases."
“My lord, before the master left, he instructed me that if the young master decides to make a choice, I only need to ensure that the young master’s life is not in danger, and I must not obstruct him in any other way.”
Dan Hong glared at Pu Yangkai behind Cong Lan. "If anything happens to Young Master Fan, Madam will worry even more. My lord, you should understand the head of the family's good intentions. Young Master Pu Yang is indeed someone you have personally nurtured, but the young master is the young master. She has her own wishes. As a member of the Medical Clan, I only need to follow the young master's arrangements."
Every word Dan Hong uttered referred to the young master, and every sentence pointed to Puyang Kai.
Puyang Kai smiled but remained silent.
Cong Lan was speechless. "But a man and a woman alone together in a room shouldn't be like that."
"When you were rescued by the head of the family and stayed at the Sui family, why didn't I see the phrase 'a lone man and woman alone in a room'?" Zhen Jiao leaned against the door, blocking it completely.
“That boy saved Xu Quanwei’s wife, Lu Kou, from the cliff. She’s Sima Xian’s niece. How can I be at ease? Who is Sima Xian? He’s become increasingly paranoid. He used to have some principles, but now…”
Cong Lan took a breath and continued, "If he had even a shred of conscience now, he wouldn't have caused such a huge uproar three years ago. How could Xie Yu and Xie Xian, brother and sister, have died?"
“Father.” Sui Zhixu pushed open the door and faced him. “I have something to tell you.”
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