Although Azi still had some lingering worries, she wasn't as anxious as before. The old gentleman took her under his wing to study medicine, helping her calm down.
Azi stood in the old man's wooden house, holding a medical book in one hand and fiddling with medicinal herbs in the other.
The old man explained the pharmacology to her in fluent Yi language. Azi focused intently on identifying the herbs, occasionally answering her grandfather's questions. Suddenly, she felt unwell; something seemed to rise in her stomach.
She forced back the discomfort and suppressed the nausea in her throat, not wanting her grandfather to find out.
But as shrewd as her grandfather was, with his profound knowledge of medicine and extensive experience, how could he possibly hide Azi's little tricks from him?
The old man stepped forward and touched her slender wrist: "Still trying to hide it from Grandpa?"
Azi pouted, threw down the medical book in her hand, walked to the side and sat down, like a deflated little bun, propping her chin up as she sat at the table: "Grandpa, I didn't expect this either. Please don't let Father and Mother know, I'll tell them myself!"
The old man stepped forward and tapped her head with the medical book in his hand: "Grandpa knows, of course. But as you get older, your father and mother will find out themselves."
Azi pouted in distress. She hadn't expected that after her period ended, they had been intimate once and she would get pregnant! She didn't want to tell anyone for the time being, but her grandfather found out.
Her parents are experienced people, so they'll probably give themselves away easily.
"Alright, don't worry. Azi studies these medical books here with Grandpa every day and will take care of the pregnancy herself. Your father and mother don't come here often either."
"Grandpa, you're the best!" Azi said happily in a spoiled tone.
——Ancestral Hall
Di Jingcheng had been kneeling for half a month, and he had fainted and woken up countless times. But his Azi was still waiting for him, and he had to persevere.
Cheng Yi and Qing He supported his swaying body, tenderly wiping the large beads of sweat from his forehead. He was pale, visibly thinner, with a thick stubble on his chin, looking unkempt and extremely haggard.
However, his gaze remained clear, and his resolute expression was deeply moving.
These days, he couldn't stop thinking about Azi. Chengyi wanted to go out and look for Azi countless times, but he stopped himself each time, not wanting to cause her more worry.
He kept recalling their past life, from their first meeting to falling in love, all those sweet moments were vivid in his mind. But the unforgettable, painful memories of how he betrayed her, causing her to die tragically in the cold palace, to die alone, and to lose her child along with her, filled him with unbearable agony.
He didn't know what he had done to deserve a second chance to meet his Ah Zi, to start all over again, and for everything to be alright.
Seeing Di Jingcheng's moved and remorseful appearance, Cheng Yi and the others couldn't help but shed tears as well.
On the evening of the fifteenth day, Emperor Jingcheng's lonely figure still stood straight and stubborn in the center of the ancestral hall, his eyes quietly closed.
The ancestral hall doors slowly opened, and a group of people led by Ranlayobu walked in. Nalan Mingzhu also arrived, accompanied by three tribal elders who appeared kind and approachable, but whose eyes were piercing and full of spirit.
Shi Ge Yimeng helped A Zi's grandfather walk beside Ran Layubu, her face filled with deep worry.
"I didn't expect him to be so sincere." Ranlayobu said calmly, leading everyone to sit on the sandalwood red chairs in the hall. He sat in the main seat, facing Di Jingcheng, with Nalan Mingzhu to his right. Several elders took their seats in turn, and six strong Yi youths stood to the side.
"You've managed to survive these past two weeks, but I wonder if you'll even have the life to endure the next fifty lashes." Ranlayobu stared intently at the pale-faced Di Jingcheng, as if trying to see right through him.
Di Jingcheng raised his bloodshot eyes, still resolute: "As long as the clan leader is willing to acknowledge me, none of this matters."
"He's got guts." Shi Ge Yimeng's father, as one of the elders, couldn't help but admire the young man from the Central Plains before him.
"Come on," Di Jingcheng said calmly, puffing out his chest as if the whip was not about to fall.
In a moment of panic, Cheng Yi stepped forward: "Master, you will die!"
"Shut up and get out!" Di Jingcheng snapped. "Say one more word and you're out."
"master!"
Ignoring their deep bond as master and servant, Ranlayob pointed to Yimeng beside his father and said, "Yimeng, come here!"
Shi Geyi looked like he'd swallowed a fly. If Azi knew, she'd hate him to death! But he also breathed a slight sigh of relief. If someone else had come to beat him, they would have definitely killed Di Jingcheng!
The old man gently patted Yimeng's hand: "Go."
Yimeng stepped forward and took the whip. He was very familiar with this whip; he had been bitten by it countless times since he was a child. It was a leather whip as thick as an adult's forearm, and it was no joke to strike someone with it. His back still ached for half a month.
Emperor Jingcheng was in for a rough time, receiving a full fifty lashes after kneeling for so long. Even he couldn't bear it.
Di Jingcheng knew he was in a dilemma, and smiled slightly at him: "Let's do it."
Shi Geyi tightened his grip on the whip. He could only try to be as gentle as possible, because even if he didn't use much force, the whip would still hurt when it hit someone.
He closed his eyes briefly, then raised his hand and swung it down. The sound of the whip striking flesh echoed in the ancestral hall. Di Jingcheng groaned in pain, his body trembling, but he still did not bend his back.
His bright red blood seeped out, instantly soaking his moon-white robe. His skin was torn and bleeding, and that was roughly the scene. A piece of fabric even fell off the moon-white brocade robe along with the whip, and Cheng Yi and Qing He's eyes turned red with rage.
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