Chapter 89 Chapter 89 "Ah Xian, you can't blame me." ...
This one sentence aroused Zhang Rushan's guilt.
He knew that from the moment he was taken away from the village, Ah Xian's life had taken a turn under his influence.
During the few days of traveling, Zhang Rushan did not deliberately ask about Ah Xian's life in the past four years, but in fact, he had already gotten a glimpse of most of it through her few words.
She was supposed to live with her parents, but ended up living next door to Uncle Liu and his family.
Uncle Liu's family lived in the most remote part of the village, close to a mountain pass, and were often harassed by wild animals. Ah Xian had moved there alone, and one could imagine that she could no longer stay in their old home.
She did not mention how she found Jiang Yuan, but she had traveled from Wuyang County to Jiankang City and then to Ying County, spanning several states and counties, and she must have suffered a lot along the way.
She had to bake wheat cakes, cook wild vegetable soup, and fill the water bag with water all by herself.
Now, because of his negligence, she was in danger and fell into a coma. Zhang Rushan's heart felt heavy in his chest.
Then Xie Shijun's cold words "I can't protect you" made him feel so ashamed that he felt as if his back was being pressed down by an invisible object and he couldn't straighten it up.
However, he soon realized that Ah Xian was a woman, and it was not proper for her to stay in the arms of a man like Xie Shijun, and that Xie Shijun was going to get married soon.
"Your Excellency, Ah Xian is my sister. Please leave her to me." Zhang Rushan had been with Ban Jiang for four years and knew that one should not casually refute the words of a noble. He said tactfully, "Your Excellency, your arm is injured and needs bandaging."
After saying that, he pretended to stretch out his arms to pick up his cousin who was tightly covered in his arms.
Xie Yun's eyes passed over him, giving Zhang Rushan a heavy, stagnant feeling of oppression. "You are not worthy of being her brother."
He wasn't there when she was kicked out of the house, and he wasn't there when she was in danger. On the contrary, as her brother, he asked her to do everything in her power to rescue her.
Zhang Rushan's arm froze in mid-air.
Xie Yun's face was slightly cold. He held the person in his arms tightly and walked straight ahead. However, his heart was not as calm as he appeared on the surface. The boiling blood rushed to his body again and again, forcing him to question the peasant girl.
Why should she be dependent on such a mediocre and useless man? Why should she deceive herself for him?
However, Xie Yun felt the warmth and softness of her chest, and a faint smile appeared on his sharp thin lips. Now, he no longer needed her answer.
Why listen to those hurtful words? He just wants to get what he wants and achieve his goal.
She was right. He was cruel and ruthless, and this time, she gave him the opportunity with her own hands.
"Ah Xian, you can't blame me." Xie Yun lowered his eyes and gently stroked her long hair with one hand. The green hairband wrapped around his fingertips, getting tighter and tighter.
He carried her into a carriage.
Zhang Rushan reacted and chased after him, only to see the carriage door being closed slowly.
He took a deep breath and said loudly, "Lord, please hand Ah Xian over to me."
This time, Zhang Rushan's tone was no longer tactful. He couldn't just sit there and watch Ah Xian being criticized, and he didn't know whether Ah Xian was injured or not.
Through the carriage door, Xie Yun ignored Zhang Rushan and directly ordered the soldiers guarding outside the carriage to set off.
They were preparing to return to Changling.
Seeing this, Zhang Rushan was horrified. Ah Xian didn't want to go to Changling at all. They wanted to return home. So, he tensed all his muscles and made a move to stop them.
Zheng Qi and his men arrived at the right time and saw this scene. They gritted their teeth and went to help him even though they knew they were no match for him.
Outside the carriage, Xie, Wei and others looked at each other and did not fight with these people. No matter what, there was always a shallow friendship between Madam Zhang and them.
"Everyone, this place is no longer safe. The enemy is attacking. The envoy and Madam Zhang are both injured. We should leave quickly and settle somewhere else." Yi Yu, who had been silent for a long time, persuaded them not to block the road, but to leave together for the sake of the overall situation.
"But Ah Xian is a woman. It's not appropriate for her to ride in the same carriage with the envoy." Zhang Rushan insisted. Envoy Xie was about to get married. If Ah Xian got too close to him, Ah Xian would be the only one who would get hurt in the end.
"But we only have one carriage on this trip." Gong Chengyue came slowly from behind, holding a wooden cage in his hand. The little yellow bird in the cage had its eyes wide open.
It was blood. It smelled the scent of blood from humans.
The bird cried uneasily, and Gong Chengyue took the opportunity to smile and explain the reason for the attack in a gentle voice.
He looked at Zhang Rushan and said that they were also in danger. "Remember that Madam Ban in Jiang Garden? She was not just a dancer. The eldest son used her to communicate with a nobleman behind the scenes many times. Now that the eldest son is seriously ill and can no longer hold power, how could that nobleman sit idly by and wait for death?"
Zhang Rushan was slightly stunned. He was the one closest to Ban Jiang among these people, and even knew the identity of the other nobleman mentioned by Gong Chengyue.
A true royal family member, the emperor's younger brother, the King of Donghai.
"He's worried about Madam Ban and everyone who comes out of Jiang Garden. Killing you to silence you is what that nobleman must do. Today's attack is just the beginning. If you want to be safe, you have no choice but to follow us to Changling."
"Changling is a place that nobleman can't reach. What do you think?"
Gong Chengyue sighed, took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket and handed it to Zheng Qi, who had a wound on the back of his hand. "Apply some. There are only a dozen of you. You are no match for that noble man."
Zheng Qi took the medicine but didn't open it immediately. Instead, he looked at the person next to him and said, "Ashan, tell us what to do next. We'll listen to you."
As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten eyes were focused on Zhang Rushan. It seemed clear whether he had to choose to confront the powerful nobleman in the dark or to go to Changling under the protection of Envoy Xie.
This disaster was caused by Jiang Yuan, and it was indeed difficult for them to escape.
Zhang Rushan felt a sense of powerlessness that his fate was not in his own hands. Just like being conscripted, just like being kept in Ying County, their lives were never decided by themselves, but were dominated by those nobles who were high above them.
He clenched his fists and remained silent.
"Ashan, just say it, time waits for no one." Zheng Qi saw the sadness and struggle in his eyes, and spoke slowly, his expression gloomy.
This is a reality that Zheng Qi has long seen through. As long as a commoner has no power or influence, he will always be bullied and despised.
"Mr. Gongcheng, we are willing to follow Envoy Xie to Changling, but Ah Xian cannot be in this carriage." Zhang Rushan bowed to Gongcheng Yue, his resolute face revealing a hint of worry.
"It's okay. Everyone here knows that Madam Zhang is the envoy's savior. Riding in the same carriage together is forced by the situation and has nothing to do with anything else." Gong Chengyue understood what he was worried about and nodded calmly.
He also cited the example of Zhang Jingxian giving acupuncture to Xie Yun's injured leg to reassure Zhang Rushan.
"Yes." Zhang Rushan loosened his clenched fists, and then in a deep voice, he asked Liu Xie and others to set up the ox cart.
They want to make sure they can keep up with this team.
-
When you can't wake up.
Zhang Jingxian's consciousness seemed to be floating in the air, vague and illusory.
There is no difference in time, no passage of years.
She couldn't hear what the person next to her was saying, but she could feel the burning breath, sometimes light and sometimes heavy, tugging at her soul.
She didn't know where she was, but she was wrapped tightly, as if she was in an absolutely safe and stable environment, where she would not be hurt or treated coldly.
In a daze, a hand soothingly brushed her cheek, stopped at the tip of her nose, touched the cute little mole, and then stayed at her lips, rubbing out a thin slit.
"Ah Xian, it turns out you're thirsty. Otherwise, why would your lips be open?" A soft laugh echoed around her, and Zhang Jingxian's fingertips trembled slightly.
She wanted to wake up, but her consciousness kept floating and could not return to her body.
Are you thirsty? Her lips moved, but it was unclear.
The next moment, warm, sweet honey covered her lips, blocking her breath. It was still that person, and he tried to suppress his satisfied sigh.
Xie Yun tasted her and did what he wanted without restraint. He was in a very good mood, and his strength went from gentle at first to brutal later.
Staring at her straightly, her cheeks flushed, and he slowly loosened his long fingers that were pinching her chin and even her neck.
When her breathing calmed down and she looked up at him with half-opened blurry eyes, Xie Yun couldn't help but move closer, untie the green hairband, and cover her thin red eyelids with it.
"You can't look at me like that. The Book of Rites says, 'Respect and caution are the key to proper wedding rites.' I should have taught Ah Xian etiquette first, not the Book of Songs. This was my mistake."
He poured a glass of water and fed it to her gracefully.
Seeing her finish her drink obediently and snuggle softly beside him, Xie Yun couldn't help but feel a little sad. "I really wish Ah Xian would always be so obedient, but it's a pity that it's only at this time."
The last word was lost in his thin lips, and his eyes became cold and strong again. It was she who gave him the opportunity to treat her like this.
Originally, he wanted to give her more time, until next summer, that long.
So tolerant.
…
Day and night alternated, and Zhang Jingxian didn't know how long she had slept.
In her drowsiness, she only felt as if she had come out of a tightly wrapped environment into a more spacious and open place.
Before she opened her eyes, the back of her hand was pecked hard by the yellow warbler.
"It hurts a bit," she thought, and slowly sat up. Before her was an ordinary room, with simple tables and chairs, bed curtains, and dim candlelight.
Strange, yet strangely familiar.
Zhang Jingxian leaned against the thick bedding, and several images appeared intermittently in her mind. She was waiting in the grass for the geese flying south. She caught two of the geese flying down from the sky, and then what?
Then, a long arrow pierced the goose's body, and Xie Yun stepped on the blood and put the letter she wrote to Prime Minister Xie back into her hands.
Zhang Jingxian suddenly woke up, remembering where she was. She had once stayed overnight at an inn outside Changling City. It was in this ordinary room that she wrote down her request to Prime Minister Xie.
They had clearly left Ying County and were heading for Wuling County, but how come they were back to the post station outside Changling City now?
Zhang Jingxian's heart was beating violently as she desperately searched for her memories of that period, but the last clear image she remembered was when she was catching wild geese for Xie Yun.
What about my cousin and the villagers?
The huge sense of time and space confusion made her confused. Regardless of the discomfort of being unable to use her strength, she got up from the bed, hurriedly found her bow and arrow, and went out the door.
With a creak, the door opened.
Behind the door, her worried cousin saw her wake up, his face full of surprise, and said, "Ah Xian, you finally woke up!"
"Brother." Zhang Jingxian murmured, and it was at this moment that she realized how hoarse her voice was.
"Come, drink this bowl of medicine quickly. You just woke up from a coma and your body is very weak now." Zhang Rushan saw that she was in poor condition and hurriedly helped her back to the house to sit down.
He held a bowl of steaming tonic soup in his hand and asked her to drink it quickly to replenish the energy she had consumed in recent days.
"Brother, why are we here?" Zhang Jingxian stared blankly at the gray-brown medicine, her mind dull for a moment, wondering what on earth was happening to her.
Shouldn’t we go back to Wuling County?
This is outside Changling City!
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The author has something to say: Muah, the red envelope has been sent, there will be a long delay~
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