Chapter 1 A Sudden Turn of Events Upon Entering the Capital A sudden gust of cold wind swept in, about to engulf the young man…
In the third year of Yongjing's reign, in winter.
The snow fell in the capital for three days and three nights. The usually bustling Chang'an Street was deserted. Even the old man who usually sold roasted sweet potatoes was nowhere to be found. Only the soldiers guarding the city stood upright in the wind and snow.
Suddenly, the city gate in the distance creaked open and then slammed shut again, the sound of which was particularly clear in the icy and snowy landscape.
The snow was still falling softly, and two women could be seen walking through the thick snow from the city gate toward Chang'an Street.
They wore hats, thick scarves, and their cloaks were soaked with snowmelt; even their eyelashes were covered in frost.
Gu Xi hugged the bundle in her arms tightly. Inside was a wooden box containing medicine for her mother's illness.
Three days ago, she and Zhuyin secretly set off from Medicine King Valley without telling their families. After traveling at high speed for three days, they finally returned to the capital. After returning their horses at a nearby post station, they hurriedly entered the city.
Within the capital city, ordinary people are not allowed to ride horses on the streets unless they have the Emperor's special permission. Now, they can only walk back step by step.
But the heavy snow showed no sign of stopping, and every step in the snow was difficult. Gu Xi could clearly feel that her body was not able to take it anymore.
After three days of continuous travel, coupled with her anxiety, Gu Xi felt her body growing heavier and heavier. Suddenly, everything went black before her eyes, and she collapsed straight onto the snow.
Zhu Yin hurriedly reached out to grab it, but missed. She only heard a "thump" in her ear.
"Miss, Miss, what's wrong? Don't scare me!" Zhu Yin hurriedly dropped the bundle in her hand, knelt on the ground, and hugged Gu Xi in her arms, calling out in a panic.
"Is anyone there? Help me..." Zhu Yin shouted for help into the street, but there wasn't a single pedestrian on the entire street.
Zhu Yin tried to carry Gu Xi on her back, but they soon fell to the ground in the snow. At that moment, she only regretted that she did not practice martial arts with the young master, so that she would have the strength to take the young lady home.
Gu Xi, who had already fainted, let out a soft gasp from her throat in pain, her face showing an expression of agony. But she still managed to say in a weak voice, "Back...back...to the Gu family..." Before she could finish speaking, she lost consciousness again.
Zhu Yin panicked immediately.
She knew her mistress was worried about the madam and wanted her to take the medicine back to the Gu family first, then find someone to rescue her. But she couldn't leave her here alone; what if...?
She dared not think about it.
The young lady had been frail since childhood, and her health had only recently improved after recovering at Medicine King Valley. Now, she had suddenly fainted, and she was truly terrified…
Thinking of this, Zhu Yin quickly took off her cloak and covered Gu Xi with it, then hugged her tightly and shouted towards the surrounding street corners, hoping that someone would pass by and save them.
How long had passed was unknown. Zhu Yin was shivering from the cold. Just as she gritted her teeth and was about to leave Gu Xi there and go back to get help, a carriage slowly drove from the direction of the imperial city and finally stopped in front of the two of them.
"What is it?" A deep voice came from inside the carriage, unhurried and with a calm and deliberate quality.
"Young master, there is a woman who has fainted in the snow ahead. Judging from her clothes, she should be a young lady from an official family. There is also a maidservant beside her," the driver of the carriage replied.
In this freezing weather, the two girls look quite pitiful. I wonder how long they've been unconscious. Will you help them, young master?
Upon hearing this, Bai Xingzhi lifted the carriage curtain and peered out. He saw a woman in the distance, completely wrapped up, lying motionless and lifeless in the snow.
He lowered the curtain and sat back in the carriage. He looked up at the swirling snow outside the window, snowflakes landing on the carriage's windowpanes. This winter was exceptionally cold. The plum blossoms in the old house should be in full bloom by now.
He hesitated for a moment before getting off the carriage and walking towards the two women, accompanied by his bodyguard Lu Feng.
He walked slowly through the snow to the two women. He saw that both of them were half-submerged in the snow, their clothes covered with a thick layer of snow. The upper body of the unconscious woman was tightly protected, while the woman next to her was muttering, "Save my young lady," her eyes red, whether from crying or from the cold, it was hard to tell.
When Zhu Yin finally saw the black boots that were standing in front of her, she looked up and realized that there were two tall men standing in front of her!
Her eyes suddenly lit up.
When she first heard the sound of the carriage, she thought she was hallucinating because she had been frozen for too long. She never expected that someone would actually appear!
Great! Miss is saved!
Bai Xingzhi met the woman's expectant gaze, bowed slightly, and asked, "Miss, have you encountered any difficulties?"
What he really wanted to ask was why the two of them were out on the street in this freezing weather.
This is unusual.
Zhu Yin quickly explained, "Young master, we just returned from outside the city. The lady at home is ill, and my young lady and I traveled for three days to get back to the capital. Perhaps the journey was too tiring, because my young lady suddenly fainted, and it's been almost an hour. Please, young master, save my young lady!"
After Zhu Yin finished speaking with a sob in her voice, she kowtowed three times to Bai Xingzhi.
Bai Xingzhi glanced at the woman lying on the ground, barely alive, checked her breath to make sure she was still alive, and said, “Miss, my surname is Bai, and my residence is not far ahead.” He pointed in the direction of the old house, “There is a doctor in the residence. If you don’t mind, you can come with me to the residence to treat your young lady.”
"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!" Zhu Yin said thank you several times and kowtowed to Bai Xingzhi a few more times. At this moment, she couldn't care about anything else; nothing was more important than her young lady's life.
After Zhu Yin finished kowtowing, she prepared to get up and help Gu Xi into the carriage, but as soon as she stood up, she swayed and almost fell. Fortunately, Lu Feng quickly supported her, preventing her from falling to the ground.
Having been frozen in the snow for too long, Zhu Yin's body was stiff, and she could barely stand on her own, let alone help Gu Xi.
Seeing this, Bai Xingzhi said, "Let me do it." He then bent down and picked up Gu Xi in his arms, saying, "Miss, please forgive me." Even though she couldn't hear him.
The moment he pulled the person into his arms, Bai Xingzhi felt as if he were hugging an iceberg. The chill instantly seeped into his bones, freezing him to the point of pain.
He couldn't help but glance at the woman in his arms. Her eyelashes were covered with fine white frost, and her breathing was barely audible. He didn't know if she could make it through.
The sudden warmth made Gu Xi whimper comfortably, but her whole body was still in so much pain that she couldn't move. With the little strength she had left, she slightly opened her eyes and vaguely saw a man looking down at her, with a faint scent of pine lingering around her nose.
She tried to see the person in front of her clearly, but she couldn't open her eyes no matter what she did. In the end, she couldn't resist the weariness and fell into the boundless darkness once again.
Seeing that the woman had just woken up and then fainted again, Bai Xingzhi quickened his pace. Just as he was about to mount his horse, a gust of cold wind suddenly swept in, carrying frost, rain, and snow, blowing the scarf covering the girl's face off.
He instinctively reached out to grab her, and inadvertently caused the hood of the woman's cloak to fall off, her long black hair fluttering in the snow.
Zhu Yin was shocked and hurriedly broke free from Lu Feng, staggering over to Gu Xi to tidy up her clothes and hat.
******
On the way to the Bai residence.
Lu Feng and the charioteer drove outside, leaving only Bai Xingzhi and the two women inside the carriage.
Bai Xingzhi kept his eyes tightly closed, recalling the scene he had just witnessed. The wind blew off the woman's face covering, revealing her true appearance.
How should I describe it?
Her skin was as white as snow, her eyebrows as dark as ink, her nose as delicate as jade, and her lips as red as rouge—these superlative words seemed insufficient to describe her beauty. Even though her eyes were closed, he could imagine how captivating her beautiful eyes must be.
A beautiful woman suddenly appearing in the freezing cold, and then coincidentally on his way back to his old house, inevitably sparked speculation.
Given his current position, it's possible that someone might try to take advantage of the situation... However, his return to his old residence today was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and there's probably no one in the court who has the connections to know his every move.
Could it really be as her maid said, that she just happened to faint here on her way back to the capital?
Whose daughter could this be?
He knew roughly what the most beautiful and talented daughters of officials in the capital were: the only daughter of Grand Tutor Yu, the daughter of the Minister's family, and the one in the palace. These were the three beauties of the capital that the common people always talked about.
I've heard that the daughter of Grand Tutor Yu has been fond of martial arts since childhood, so her body would naturally be healthier than that of ordinary women. I don't think it could be her. I've met the one from the Minister's mansion and the palace.
He went through all the possible people in his mind, but still couldn't guess the woman's identity.
If not from the capital, could they be from elsewhere?
Bai Xingzhi frowned slightly, pondering whether he should send Lu Feng to investigate.
Zhu Yin had been on edge ever since she boarded the carriage. Ignoring the presence of others, she took off Gu Xi's wet cloak, covered her with a blanket in the carriage, and slowly fed her some warm water. Only when she saw Gu Xi's complexion gradually improve did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Young Master Bai kept his eyes closed the whole time.
Zhu Yin knew that this young master Bai must have seen her young lady's appearance when they were outside the carriage.
The Gu family and the Bai family are located in the east and west of the city, respectively. Originally, she wanted to ask Young Master Bai to send the medicine for the lady to the Gu family first, so that the young lady could be saved without delaying the lady. However, she dared not ask for permission now, for fear of causing the young lady a lot of trouble.
From the age of eleven or twelve, the young lady rarely interacted with people in the capital. This was not only because she was frail and needed to be cared for year-round in Medicine King Valley, but more importantly, because her husband and wife disliked her having too much contact with outsiders and even more so, disliked her appearing in front of prominent figures in the capital.
She wasn't quite sure of the reason either. Every time the young lady wanted to find out the reason, the master and mistress would always give vague answers or use the excuse that the young lady needed to rest.
But the young lady said those weren't the real reasons. She didn't understand, but the young lady was always wise, and what she said was surely correct.
The young lady didn't ask any more questions after that.
Fortunately, Miss always listens to her master and mistress. In order to avoid some trouble, Miss has been "tidying up" her face every time she goes out over the years. Not to mention others, even she herself almost did not recognize her when she first met her.
Over time, the rumors about the Gu family's daughter were mostly that she was just an ordinary young lady with nothing special in terms of talent and looks. Apart from Yu Xinyao, the only daughter of Grand Tutor Yu, who grew up with Gu Xi, and the Sixth Prince Xiao Che, no one else knew about her. The Gu family was happy to see this happen.
The young lady had been wrapped up tightly in the snow, thinking that no one would notice her in the wind and snow, but unexpectedly, such a change occurred.
They wondered what kind of person this young master Bai was, and whether any further changes would occur after they arrived at the Bai residence.
What will the young lady do if she finds out after she wakes up?
A note from the author:
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The female lead and the second male lead have arrived!
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