Chapter 55 Others come and go, only we…
Shenfu.
"I'll be leaving in the next couple of days, so you won't be coming tomorrow." After class that day, Shen Guitang said this to Hengbo, who was quickly tidying up her pens and ink.
Upon hearing this, Hengbo's eyes lit up. He quickly rolled up the things in his hand, turned around, and prepared to make a run for it.
Seeing that she didn't want to stay even a quarter of an hour longer, Shen Guitang couldn't help but rub her forehead, then asked with a hint of resentment, "Aren't you even a little bit curious about where I'm going?"
Hengbo paused in his steps, turned around and asked in a routine manner: "Where are you going?"
Shen Guitang held an official position, so it was normal for him to go on business trips, and she didn't think it was anything to question.
Shen Guitang could see through her perfunctory attitude, but knowing that this was just her nature, he didn't press the matter further. "Quzhou experienced a flood more than ten years ago, and now the counties have been experiencing torrential rain for two days. The court is worried that the same thing will happen again, so it has arranged for us, the officials of the Ministry of Works, to go and inspect the river canals, sluice gates and other projects built back then."
After explaining to her, he lowered his head and sighed almost imperceptibly, "The road ahead is fraught with peril, but I hope that one day I will return to marry you."
His voice was low and plaintive, as if he were a young wife whose husband was about to be drafted. Hengbo felt like he was being overwhelmed by goosebumps: Isn't Heifeng with you?
Shen Guitang looked up and stared straight at her, her gaze seemingly filled with reproach: "This is different."
Hengbo:……
If she didn't know what Shen Guitang was up to before, what doesn't she understand now?
"Fine, it's only natural if you don't want to come with me because you think it's too dangerous." Shen Guitang turned her head, revealing only her stubborn jawline. "But you know, I will never let you get hurt."
What else could he do about transverse waves? He could only promise himself that he would seriously consider it.
Hei Feng at the door sighed for the umpteenth time: his young master really had no shame in trying to abduct the little princess from under the wise prince's nose.
Shen Guitang had a one-hour lesson with Hengbo every day after dinner. Even though it ended a little earlier today, it was already dusk.
Hengbo, as usual, drifted to the inn where the young master was staying. The young master was her first friend after coming down the mountain, and also a rare source of unreserved warmth in her life.
Therefore, she didn't want this barrier to remain between them forever.
In a room on the third floor of the inn, Ah Cai almost shouted into the ear of the person next to him, "Young Master, Miss Hengbo is here again."
The young master, also leaning against the railing: ...
"I am neither deaf nor blind."
Ah Cai wasn't angry even after being rebuked by him. "We're leaving tomorrow, young master. Are you really not planning to have a final talk with Hengbo?"
Seeing that the young master did not answer, he continued to persuade him earnestly: "If you ask me, this cannot be entirely blamed on Miss Hengbo. It's your wishful thinking to decide who gets to judge..."
He was about to continue speaking when he suddenly sensed the murderous aura emanating from the person beside him, so he quickly shut his mouth. But he kept thinking to himself: Honest advice is hard to hear but beneficial. Young Master Ah Cai will understand Ah Cai's good intentions in the future.
The young master, whose sore spot had been touched, initially wanted to drive the man away, but after thinking about it, he realized that what Ah Cai said wasn't wrong. Moreover, he had actually regretted leaving impulsively that day.
He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally making up his mind: "You stay here and keep watch. I'll go out for a bit and come right back."
"Huh?" Ah Cai was still lost in his own mutterings when, in the blink of an eye, the young master had already disappeared like a wild horse.
“I knew it,” Ah Cai finally dared to speak his mind, “He just wanted to save face…”
Seeing that there were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the road, Hengbo couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"Yokobo!" Just as she turned to go back, she was stopped by a breathless shout from behind.
Looking back, she saw the young master's unusually flustered and nervous face. However, the warm yellow light from the surrounding houses illuminated his handsome face, just like that night in Changzhou when he ran so hard to find her that he was covered in sweat.
At that time, he said she was a naive young girl who was unfamiliar with the place and people and was the kind of girl who was most easily deceived.
But now, it is he himself who has traveled all the way from Jiangnan to Zhongzhou as if he had been tricked, just for a letter.
Hengbo suddenly smiled and stepped forward, slowly gesturing to him as she had done before: "You're unfamiliar with the place and people, so you're most easily fooled. How about I take you to visit the night market in Yujing?"
The young master was taken aback for a moment, then the awkwardness on his face vanished, replaced by a relaxed and cheerful smile: "Alright, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
...
"This roasted lamb leg tastes pretty good, Yokomura, would you like one?"
"Ah! This is so spicy! What? You think it's okay??? I don't believe it, boss, give me three more skewers!"
"This plum soup is so-so, not as refreshing as the ones from Jiangnan."
...
The two ate and drank their way along the street, and somehow ended up on the street where the Shen family mansion was located.
Realizing that parting was imminent, the young master's mood sombered again: "Hengbo, can we ever go back to how things were in Changzhou?"
Hengbo stopped and looked down at the potholes left by the previous night's heavy rain on the road. Both of their robes were stained with mud from the journey.
However, the human heart is different from cloth. Cloth stained with mud can be washed clean again, but the human heart cannot. Some things, once they happen, will leave a mark on the heart.
Hengbo silently shook his head. Seeing this, the young master felt a lump in his throat and quickly closed his eyes.
However, his hoarse voice still betrayed the bitterness in his heart: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things. I was too selfish. I..."
Hengbo waved her hand to interrupt his flustered explanation and self-blame, then smiled and shook her head, saying to him: I forgive you.
We won't go back to the way things were, but compared to before, what we have more of is growth, not estrangement, and that's enough.
The young master understood her meaning, and while he felt relieved, he also felt a sense of loss. The tears he had been holding back slipped from the corners of his eyes, but he quickly smiled through them.
He smiled as if he were speaking to Yokobo, but also as if he were speaking to himself who had fled in panic a few days earlier: "Yokobo, I have never regretted coming to find you."
Hengbo straightened up slightly, with a hint of pride: I've always known.
Seeing that she was serious about what she was doing, but her eyes had unconsciously narrowed into crescents, the young master didn't expose her, but just smiled slightly.
"I will be setting off back to Jiangnan tomorrow."
Hengbo was somewhat surprised. She knew he wouldn't stay in Yujing for long, but she didn't expect him to come so early.
The young master grumbled, "Now that I'm the master of Hidden Sword Manor, I can't be gone for too long." Actually, he was joking. He had entrusted the affairs of Hidden Sword Manor to some trusted confidants, so it didn't really make much difference whether he was there or not.
The reason he wanted to go back so quickly was because of Shen Guitang.
Recalling the matter of repairing the heart meridian that Shen Guitang mentioned when she came to see him the day before, the young master looked at Hengbo with some worry in his eyes, and the reason he returned early this time was to resolve this hidden danger for her as soon as possible.
"Next spring, whether in Yujing or Jiangnan, promise me we'll meet again." The young master, who could already see the gates of the Shen family mansion in the distance, suddenly became serious and solemnly instructed.
Hengbo didn't know why he suddenly became serious, only assuming it was the sadness of impending separation, and nodded accordingly.
The young master felt he still had countless things to say. He wanted to suggest that if things really didn't work out, he should go back to Jiangnan with him. He wanted to tell him to write to Shen Guitang if he treated her badly. He wanted to express his unfulfilled feelings...
There was so much I wanted to say, but when it actually reached my lips, I swallowed it all back down.
In the end, only the words "Take care" escaped from his lips.
After seeing the young master off, Hengbo felt a mix of emotions, both happy and melancholy.
She walked towards the Shen residence with her head down until a figure that almost blended into the darkness emerged from under the locust tree and blocked her way.
"Ayu," Wen Jie said with a smile, "have you found a better playmate now?"
He was clearly smiling, but Hengbo felt as if he were about to shatter.
Hengbo raised her hand and then lowered it. She wanted to tell him that no one can stay in the past, but she also knew that she was the one who abandoned him first, even though it was not her wish.
Sensing Hengbo's silence, Wenjie took two more steps forward. The road was muddy, yet he remained spotless, as if even the moonlight favored him; his face, fully revealed before her, was whiter than frost and snow.
All of this made his eyes appear exceptionally dark and deep, as if an indescribable ferocious beast lurked within them, waiting to devour everything: "It doesn't matter. Others come and go, but we will eventually come back together."
He must have truly believed it, at least now he could finally piece himself together fairly well. "Ayu, I've come here to tell you that Quzhou is a very complicated matter, and both I and my former subordinates hope that you will not get involved."
...
"You're back?"
Hengbo was surprised to find Shen Guitang waiting for her at her room door.
Noticing the surprise on her face, Shen Guitang snorted coldly, "If Black Wind couldn't detect such a big person standing outside, he wouldn't need to stay here."
Hengbo smiled, but she also knew that the reason Shen Guitang was waiting here was not because there was someone guarding the gate of the Shen residence, but because that person was Wen Jie.
"So, what did he want to say to you by waiting there?" Shen Guitang asked casually, but the fact that he would wait there so late at night to ask such a question showed how much he cared.
Hengbo looked at him, but suddenly remembered the words Wen Jie left before he left.
"Back then, the Zhennan Army was accused of treason in Quzhou, and Ji Heng's attitude toward Quzhou in recent years has been quite intriguing. Something must have happened in Quzhou that we don't know about back then."
"Furthermore, Princess, have you ever doubted Shen Guitang's identity?"
Wen Jie wouldn't mention Shen Guitang's identity without a reason. He must have found some clues, which should point to Shen Guitang as the Zhennan Army that was completely wiped out back then.
So, should we ask him?
Seeing her conflicted expression, Shen Guitang almost immediately guessed that Wen Jie's visit to Hengbo was related to him. His expression instantly turned cold, and a murderous aura emanated from him. "Oh? It seems he's been slandering me in front of you?"
Hengbo: ...Let's just ask him directly, so he doesn't overthink things every day.
She sighed, carefully considered her words, and asked in an extremely tactful manner: Do you know about the Zhennan Army?
The murderous aura surging outwards from Shen Guitang paused for a moment, then dissipated outwards at an even faster and more frantic speed.
Sensing the danger, Hengbo's brows furrowed and his core muscles tensed instantly.
This is a posture of full alert, ready to fight at any time.
The moment she reacted, Shen Guitang's heart, which had been pounding, suddenly felt as if it had been squeezed tightly. Under the intense pain, his killing intent could not continue and then vanished into this world without a sound.
“I’m sorry,” he said, coming back to his senses. He placed her hand on his heart, as if disarming her or warming her. “I scared you.”
Hengbo glanced at him suspiciously, and only relaxed when she saw that he showed no signs of going astray again. However, when she tried to remove her hand, it was held tightly by her.
He placed her hand in his palm, guiding her hand to trace every callus and wrinkle on her palm.
"General Xiao Pingjiang, the General Who Guards the South, possesses unparalleled marksmanship. After pacifying the four directions with the late emperor, he protected the coastal areas for more than ten years. His son, Xiao Huai'an, has surpassed his father, his silver spear proving invincible on the battlefield, striking fear into the hearts of countless enemies. As for me," he smiled self-deprecatingly, displaying the deep lines on his hands that even the passage of time could not erase before Hengbo, "perhaps only these things can be considered similar to them."
In fact, Hengbo already had the answer in his heart without him having to answer. That overwhelming murderous aura could only appear on someone who had emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
She slowly closed his hand and gazed at him intently: "One day, let me learn a thing or two about the Xiao family's spear techniques."
Two days later, on a ship slowly sailing south, Yokobo stood on the deck with his arms crossed, enjoying the breeze. The damp air mixed with the cool wind rushed towards him, making even the summer heat seem much less intense.
Shen Guitang came out of the room, her brows still furrowed, and couldn't help but ask Hengbo the same question for the third time: "I have a feeling that Wen Jie must have said something else bad about me. What is it?"
Hengbo sighed inwardly for the third time. Wen Jie had indeed told her not to go to Quzhou with Shen Guitang...
But as she looked at the dock, which was getting further and further away and was now just a black dot, she wondered if it was really necessary to tell him this.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Mini-Theater:
Wen Jie: I'm going to break.
Shen Guitang: I want to chop him into pieces!
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