Young Master Yi bowed solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, I, Yi Junhao, hereby swear that we will meet again in the south, and the flowers will bloom in time. I am willing to dedicate my entire life to helping you forget all the pain you have suffered in the past. For the rest of my life, I will only have happiness and joy. I will be with you through thick and thin, sharing every meal and every season, year after year, never betraying you. If I break this vow, may all my desires in this life be denied me."
At that moment, Yi Shangyun stared blankly at his back, motionless.
"In this situation... why is it him?"
Flowers bloom in all seasons, but no one asks when they will return; fallen petals pile up on the ground. If they bloom again next year, they will be just like the flowers of the past, but the feelings... will not be the same!
She was filled with sorrow and thought to herself.
Before I knew it, tears had already filled my eyes, swirling silently for a long time before finally, like beads from a broken string, they slipped down my cheeks one by one.
Young Master Yi got up and walked to her side, gently wiping away her tears. Then, with his large, well-defined hands, he turned her body around to face him and held her shoulders tightly.
He looked into her eyes with tenderness and earnestness, and said softly, "Girl, believe me, I will do it. I will never let you suffer any harm again in this life, not even the slightest bit."
Yi Shangyun looked up and met his sincere and captivating eyes. Suddenly, her nose stung, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.
"The man before me is clearly born free-spirited and unrestrained, someone who doesn't like to be bound by rules. Yet, he is always so gentle and considerate towards me, treating me with utmost kindness. His noble status and position—clearly, he should be the kind of ideal man that every woman in the world would consider a perfect match. But time and time again, what am I hesitating about?"
She was truly moved, but after finally regaining her senses, she still tearfully rejected him.
"Third Young Master, I'm sorry, I can't, I don't deserve you treating me like this."
After saying that, she turned around, wiped away her tears, and ran away.
The sky cleared after the rain.
The canyon is filled with the warm breeze of early summer, carrying the fresh scent of rivers, grass and trees.
The stream flows gently, accompanied by the mountains.
The bees and butterflies once again flew out of their hive and began their busy work among the flowers.
Everything before my eyes exudes a unique and vibrant, mellow fragrance.
Everything here seemed undisturbed, so quiet and peaceful.
It's as if the appearance of every life is perfectly timed.
After escaping from the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon, Yi Shangyun wandered aimlessly along a mountain path.
In fact, he still doesn't know how he should hate Xuanyuan Han.
But she knew with absolute certainty that she could never accept Young Master Yi.
This is very unfair to Young Master Yi, and it was not his intention.
She didn't know why she had become like this, so indecisive, putting herself in a dilemma time and time again.
She thought that after her last meeting with Xuanyuan Han, it would be time for her to shed all her weaknesses and leave Xiqin and Dongning alone.
The world is vast, I'll go anywhere; I'll find a quiet place to stay, where I know no one, and I'll do anything...
But now, he has learned that he has implicated the entire Yi family because of him, thus adding another burden to his life.
In this life, it seems I will never be able to live according to my own heart again.
As I pondered, in a daze, I suddenly seemed to hear someone around me making intermittent and extremely weak cries for help: "Help, help..."
Then, she slowly came to her senses, wiped the tears from her face, and looked around.
Only then did they notice a small grove of trees not far ahead, from which the faint cries for help seemed to be coming.
So he quickened his pace, hurriedly following the sound, searching and shouting as he went:
Is anyone there?
Is anyone there?
...
As the cries for help drew closer, he finally found an elderly man in his sixties lying on the ground beside a rock by a stream at the foot of a small hill in the woods.
So she rushed over to him, squatted down and helped him up, leaning him against a large rock, and asked, "Uncle, what happened to you? How did you end up here all by yourself?"
The old man's face was contorted with pain. He weakly pointed to his leg and said with great effort, "Young lady, please help me, my leg..."
"Your leg...is your leg injured somewhere?"
Yi Shangyun was extremely anxious and hurriedly began to examine his legs.
When you lift up the trouser leg, you can see a large patch of red and swollen skin on the old man's calf.
After a moment's thought, Yi Shangyun looked at the old man's face in surprise and asked, "Could it be... a centipede?"
The old man nodded weakly, and he was already showing signs of weakness and even some convulsions.
Seeing that there was no one around, they must have been poisoned and had been calling for help for a long time.
Seeing that the poisoning was severe, if timely rescue was not provided, his life would likely be in danger.
Clearly, she couldn't find any other tools to use for drug use at that moment.
The situation was critical, and there was no time to think further. She took a deep breath and quickly bent down to suck out the poison with her mouth.
...
Time passed second by second.
Finally, the large area of redness and swelling began to subside slowly.
A while later.
The elderly man, still dazed, gradually began to open his eyes and regain consciousness.
Tears streaming down his face, he sobbed, “Young lady, this is unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable! The centipedes in this canyon are incredibly poisonous. My life is worthless, but you are so young. If you were poisoned because of this, and we are complete strangers, what would become of me?”
However, Yi Shangyun didn't say a word, and just kept her head down to carefully detoxify him.
The old man was so moved that he couldn't stop crying.
After an unknown amount of time, Yi Shangyun finally stopped after spitting out the last mouthful of foul blood.
He carefully examined the wound again, then smiled and said, "It's alright, it should be fine now."
Seeing that she had finally stopped, the old man asked with concern, "Young lady, are you alright?"
"It's alright, don't worry, old man," Yi Shangyun reassured him.
The old man felt extremely guilty and kept saying, "Young lady, how can I ever repay your life-saving grace?"
"Uncle, please don't say that. It was just a small favor. You don't need to take it to heart."
As Yi Shangyun spoke, he got up and walked towards the weeds beside him.
Soon, she returned, crushing some herbs as she explained, "Applying these crushed dandelions externally has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, which will help remove the residual toxins from your wound, sir."
"I'm so lucky to have met this young lady today, otherwise, I'm afraid I'd be left to rot in this desolate wilderness..."
As the old man spoke, he couldn't help but shed tears again.
Yi Shangyun tore off a corner of her skirt and applied medicine and bandages to his wounds, comforting him with a smile: "Uncle, you are very lucky and have a long life ahead of you. You mustn't say such unlucky things again."
The old man looked at her face and was deeply moved by her kindness, and he didn't know what to say.
After bandaging his wound, Yi Shangyun noticed that he had difficulty moving around and said, "Uncle, where do you live? Let me take you home!"
The old man thought about it and realized that he was indeed unable to go home alone in his current situation, so he agreed, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you, young lady."
So, with Yi Shangyun's help, the two of them walked along the stream and embarked on their journey home.
After walking and stopping for about half an hour, and having just turned a corner, the old man suddenly stopped and pointed to the stone gate ahead: "Miss Yi, we've arrived just ahead."
Looking ahead, Yi Shangyun was surprised to find that the old man's place was a place she had visited before.
No wonder I had a vague feeling that this place was somewhat familiar along the way.
Then she said in surprise, "So you're from Xiqin Academy, sir?"
The old man asked in surprise, "Miss Yi also knows about Xiqin Academy?"
Yi Shangyun nodded.
The old man then invited her, saying, "Since we've come to this familiar place, Miss Yi, you should come in with me and take a look!"
Looking at everything familiar before her, Yi Shangyun suddenly recalled the scene when she came here with Xuan Yuan Yue last time.
At that time, they had only known each other for a short time in the palace, and it was also the most innocent time of their lives.
That day, the weather was fine, the sound of horses' hooves filled the air, and laughter echoed throughout...
"Miss Yi...Miss Yi..."
Suddenly, a call pulled her back from her thoughts.
The old man asked in surprise, "Why is Miss Yi crying all of a sudden?"
Yi Shangyun quickly wiped away her tears and explained, "It's nothing, I just... I just suddenly thought of an old friend."
The old man asked, "Is that old friend of Miss Yi's perhaps in the academy? If so, why not go in and meet him, and catch up?"
Yi Shangyun suppressed her longing and said, "No... that old friend, she is not in the academy now. She is thousands of miles away. Perhaps, we will never see her again in this lifetime."
The old man sighed and comforted her, saying, "Things change and people change, which is a very common occurrence in this world. Don't be too sad, young lady. If the two of you are truly destined to be together, you will surely meet again, even if you are at opposite ends of the earth."
If only life could be like our first meeting... But if I had known things would turn out this way, I would rather we had never met...
In the end, tears welled up in Yi Shangyun's eyes once again, uncontrollably.
For a moment, I didn't know how to hide it. Suddenly, I remembered what Xuan Yuanhan had once taught me: "When you're sad, look up at the sky."
So, as if possessed, she hurriedly raised her head high, trying to hold back all her tears, but when she thought of Xuan Yuanhan, the tears could no longer be hidden.
So she hurriedly said goodbye: "Now that you have arrived home safely, I will take my leave. Take care, sir, until we meet again!"
The old man wanted to say something more, but before he could, Yi Shangyun slipped away like a wisp of smoke, and after turning a corner, she disappeared from sight.
Watching her suddenly disappearing figure, the old man felt helpless, but then a question suddenly arose in his mind: "This girl, why does she look so familiar, like I've seen her somewhere before?"
"Tap tap...tap tap..."
Just then, the sound of hurried hoofbeats broke the old man's thoughts...
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