The case in Pear Blossom Village came to an end. As for Sister-in-law Yang's matter, Su Yan did not intend to tell anyone. Although she had avenged herself, those painful memories would be forever etched into Sister-in-law Yang's soul, following her throughout her life until the end of her life.
If the Zhao family members hadn't been inherently wicked and morally corrupt, innocent Zhao Wushuang and Sister-in-law Yang wouldn't have had to go through all this.
What's the point of delving into who's right and who's wrong now? We have to keep moving forward.
Because the case had delayed them for quite some time, they rented a horse-drawn carriage to continue their journey.
About ten days later, the three arrived in Chang'an.
Along the way, Xiao Banxia became depressed due to Hua Hanyun's death, and her health deteriorated due to the continuous travel.
Banxia lay lazily on Su Yan's lap, looking listless. Su Yan reached out and touched her forehead, finding it burning hot.
The carriage traveled along the official road and arrived in front of a "Jufu" inn. Su Yan lifted the curtain and looked up at the sky.
Banxia had been living in the carriage for the past ten days and had not gotten a proper rest.
It was still early before sunset, and it would take about an hour to enter the city gate, so Su Yan decided to rest at the inn first.
"Lord Shen, let's rest at the inn for a while... Banxia isn't feeling well, so I can brew her some medicine."
Shen Yao nodded in agreement, tightened the reins to stop the carriage, picked Banxia up from Su Yan's lap, jumped off the carriage, and headed towards the inn.
The inn was quite crowded, so Shen Yao asked for a secluded room so that Banxia could get enough rest.
Su Yan borrowed the inn's kitchen and carefully brewed medicine for Banxia.
After taking the medicine, Banxia quickly fell asleep. Su Yan couldn't bear to let her continue her journey, so she decided to stay at the inn for the night. The main reason was that she was afraid her unfilial son would use dirty tricks to bully Banxia.
After all, Su Bao'er is a troublemaker, a cunning and scheming boy.
Su Yan was unsure how Su Bao'er would react if Banxia moved into the house.
Shen Yao, however, had an official position and needed to return to the capital to go to the yamen first, since the yamen would be in chaos without a county magistrate.
Therefore, Shen Yao did not stay overnight. After resting for a while, he drove the carriage away from the Jufu Inn and planned to send someone to pick up Su Yan and her companion the next day.
The sun set quickly, and Banxia felt much better after taking her medicine and waking up.
Su Yan brought the food into the room. Banxia was still sitting on the bed, looking dazed, as if she were in another world and ignored everyone.
Banxia's condition has remained the same ever since Hua Hanyun left, and Su Yan sees it all and feels deeply pained.
Su Yan knew that no matter how much care and comfort she gave Banxia, it would be useless; she could only rely on herself to get through the sadness.
"Banxia, let's eat!" Su Yan placed the food on the table.
Banxia didn't answer Su Yan, her eyes fixed on one spot, lost in thought.
Su Yan felt that if things continued like this, even if Banxia was perfectly healthy, she would eventually get sick from holding it in.
He walked straight up to Banxia, lifted her from the bed to the table, shoved chopsticks into her hand, and said sternly, "Eat..."
Banxia threw down her chopsticks, turned her head away, and ignored Su Yan.
Su Yan wasn't angry. She picked up the chopsticks from the ground and put them back into Banxia's hands, saying, "Eat..."
Banxia threw it again.
However, this time Su Yan didn't pick it up. Instead, she sat down at the table, picked up her chopsticks, and ate her meal by herself, as if she were treating Banxia as if she were invisible.
"You can throw these chopsticks away as many times as you want. To put it bluntly, even if you starve to death, I won't feel sorry for you. You're not my son, I won't be sad or upset for you. We're strangers to begin with, aren't we?"
"I want to go home..." Banxia said in a hoarse voice.
“A gentleman helps others achieve their goals. If you want to go home, then go. I'm not stopping you. As long as you have the courage to go back and face your master's grave, then go…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Banxia's tears streamed down her face as she looked at Su Yan with a pitiful expression.
"Why did Master abandon me..."
"I don't know either, but I have to tell you a truth today: no one will be by your side forever. Even for me, everyone has to experience life and death."
"Will you leave like your master someday?"
Su Yan smiled and affectionately patted Banxia's round head, "Yes... no one in this world can escape separation."
Upon hearing this, Banxia cried even more pitifully, "But I don't want Master to leave me..."
Seeing this, Su Yan reached out and touched her head, gently comforting her, "Banxia, if you hurt yourself like this, your master will be heartbroken in the afterlife... We don't want your master to be sad and upset because of you, okay?"
Banxia raised her tear-filled head and looked at Su Yan innocently, "Will Master really find out?"
Su Yan nodded, "Yes..."
Although Banxia didn't quite understand the meaning behind Su Yan's words, she didn't want her master to be sad for her, so she jumped off the table, picked up the chopsticks on the ground, and silently ate her meal.
Time is the most effective medicine; it can always heal the wounds of the heart.
The next morning, the people from the county government arrived early at the Jufu Inn to pick up Su Yan and Banxia.
When she saw Sun San's bruised and swollen face, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Brother Sun, what happened to you?"
Sun San looked furious and said through gritted teeth, "A 'carefree swordsman' suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the martial arts world. Under the guise of eliminating evil and promoting good, he either burns down the houses of wealthy people or beats up the spoiled sons of some powerful families who oppress the common people."
"They haven't found out who the carefree swordsman is?"
Sun San nodded helplessly, "That's right. Since they can't catch anyone, the higher-ups take it out on us. The poor brothers got a few lashes for it."
"It's alright, Lord Shenyao has returned. He should be able to catch that 'carefree swordsman' soon."
"I hope so! If this continues, my old bones can't take it anymore."
Su Yan smiled and patted Sun San on the shoulder, "Don't worry, even if you don't believe me, you should at least believe in Lord Shen's martial arts skills! His reputation as Shen Yidao is well-deserved."
Hearing Su Yan's teasing, Sun San couldn't help but smile, "That's true..."
Sitting in the carriage on the way back to the capital, Banxia's condition had improved considerably. She leaned against the curtains, curiously observing the scenery along the way.
About half an hour later, Su Yan was dozing in the carriage with her chin in her hand when she suddenly heard Banxia's voice beside her.
"Brother Su, look, wake up, there's a fight..."
Su Yan slowly woke up, her mind still hazy, when Banxia pulled her to the car window and pointed to the distance.
Su Yan looked in the direction Banxia was pointing and saw several thugs beating an old man at the intersection.
In broad daylight, how dare they blatantly bully people? Su Yan immediately told Sun San to stop the car.
He jumped off the carriage and, seeing injustice, charged towards the thugs who were beating him.
"stop……"
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