Cage (14)
Qinglan lowered her eyes and said, "No."
Upon hearing this, Feng Siji supported himself on the ground with his elbows and slowly sat up.
He leaned against the incense table where the spirit tablet was placed, and could feel the pain in his spine from the hardness of the incense. He lowered his head, and his gauze-wrapped hands clumsily stroked the spirit tablet in his arms. He asked in a hoarse voice, "Why don't you go?"
Qinglan sighed and lowered her head, saying, "The fire burned all the wood in the house to ashes. I'm afraid... even if we search for it, it will be in vain."
Feng Siji knew it very well, he knew it all. If someone died in a sea of fire, it would be lucky if they could leave any trace, let alone a corpse.
He knew even more clearly that if Li Qi hadn't died, she wouldn't have let him find her so easily. She was determined to leave and wouldn't leave any trace.
And if she really died, died in that sea of fire, there would be no trace at all, even her ashes mixed with the rubble and difficult to identify...
He couldn't accept any of them. The pain in his chest was unbearable, and it seemed as if blood was dripping in his heart. The blood kept bubbling up and rushed to his throat. He couldn't hold it in, and his body suddenly leaned forward and fell to the ground, vomiting a large pool of black blood.
There was a red spot on his chest, and the blood splashed onto the spirit tablet in his arms, just covering up the two words "Li Qi".
He looked around with tear-covered eyes, and all he saw were the four words "Spirit of my beloved wife". The last bit of defense in his heart was completely shattered. The sobs he had been holding back for so long suddenly choked out of his throat, and he sobbed mournfully and softly.
The black smoke in the ancestral hall dimly enveloped his prostrate figure. His eyebrows and eyes could not be seen, and his breathing could not be heard. There was only sobbing that became louder and louder.
Qinglan had never seen him like this before, and she was so scared that her face turned pale. She hurried out of the ancestral hall and got Yeshu.
When the two returned to the ancestral hall, they saw Feng Siji sleeping in a pool of blood he had vomited. He no longer sobbed, but just lay motionless, without even blinking.
Ye Shu was so panicked that his hands and feet went numb. He thought he was dead, so he quickly walked over to him and squatted down. He put out his finger to feel his breath. When he felt a weak breath, he let out a sigh of relief.
He pulled Feng Siji up from the ground and carried him on his back. Feng Siji was limp, but he refused to let go of Li Qi's spirit tablet. The tablet was very unstable on his back and wobbled a lot.
Seeing this, Qinglan hurried over to help steady Feng Siji, frowning and saying, "Your injuries haven't fully healed yet. Will you get hurt again if you carry him like this?"
Ye Shu lifted the man up and stood up, bouncing him a bit to get Feng Siji higher to prevent him from falling. He gasped and said, "I can't worry about it anymore. It's just a laceration. How could it be as serious as the adult is now?"
He lowered his eyes to look at the pool of black blood on the ground and said to Qinglan, "Go get a doctor. The blood he vomited doesn't look right to me."
After saying this, he strode into the main room with Feng Siji on his back.
Ye Shu put Feng Siji on the bed. Feng Siji lay flat on his back stiffly, staring at something above his head, motionless.
Ye Shu wanted to change his clothes and reached out to take the spirit tablet out of his arms, but he was holding it so tightly that he couldn't pull it away.
Ye Shu sighed and stopped being stubborn. He turned around to find a pair of scissors, cut all of Feng Siji's clothes into rags, and then took them off and threw them away.
He stripped Feng Siji naked and pulled the quilt over his body when Qinglan led the doctor in.
The doctor sat down on the edge of the bed and took Feng Siji's pulse.
As he was talking, his brows furrowed deeply. He raised his eyes and asked Ye Shu doubtfully, "I remember that Master Feng got married, didn't he?"
Ye Shu was slightly stunned: "What does this mean?"
"Last time, he carried a veiled girl off the carriage. I and many others saw it. He said that was the wife he married in Qianzhou."
The doctor frowned and said, "Since he's already married, why would he take sperm-killing drugs? Is he intentionally trying to avoid the responsibility of continuing the family line?"
It took Yeshu a while to react. He exchanged awkward glances with Qinglan and said, "Just tell me what's going on with our master."
"Oh, oh, Lord Feng has only been taking sperm-killing drugs for a long time, which has damaged his internal organs and caused imbalances in his five internal organs. In addition, he is overly depressed, which is why he vomited blood. His illness is not serious. As long as he stops taking those poisonous drugs, he will slowly recover."
The doctor said, "Men nourish their spirits with their essence. Taking poison that kills their essence is like killing their spirits. Over time, something bad will happen. Also, you have to make sure he cries when he wants to, not hold it in. Otherwise, he'll damage his internal organs, his brain, and even his lifespan."
As the doctor spoke, he had already written a prescription for nourishing the body and replenishing the spirit. He told Ye Shu to get the medicine and give it to Feng Siji to boil on time, then he picked up the medicine box and slowly left.
Yeshu was going to get some medicine, so he followed him. Before leaving, he asked Qinglan to cook porridge.
Qinglan cooked the porridge over a low fire for a long time, and then learned to make the side dishes that Feng Siji often made for Li Qi, and brought them into the house on a food tray.
She put down the food tray and called Feng Siji, "Sir, please have something to eat."
Feng Siji was silent.
She had no other choice but to pull a bench and sit on the edge of the bed, saying:
"Your Excellency was gone for two days, during which time many things happened in the capital. Chen Hu and He Rucheng teamed up to release He Zhangjing. They hadn't noticed Ye Lan, so they didn't take action. I was worried that they might remember Ye Lan and harm her, so I released her without authorization.
"Ye Lan has returned to Ping'an Village. The Prime Minister's residence has been emptied. Ye Shu said that Zhang Zhouzhu escaped and took the property with him before fleeing. Because He Zhangjing was released, the Empress has now lifted the house arrest. She has begun to suppress Jiao Lan. Who knows, one day Jiao Lan may not be able to stay in the palace.
"Eunuch Li has passed away, and the position of Privy Councilor is vacant. Before he left, he left a seal, saying that you should take over."
During the turbulent years, the power of the Privy Councilor had already surpassed that of the Prime Minister. The more ruthless eunuch Privy Councilors in the previous dynasty even made decisions on the dethronement and enthronement of kings.
Li Ke did not depose Emperor Liang, but only appointed Feng Siji, which was considered not too greedy.
Qinglan sighed, but seeing how Lord Feng looked now, she saw that he had no interest in the position of Privy Councilor, which everyone envied. She continued:
"My lord, I know the county lady is gone and you are heartbroken, but I don't know where Zhang Zhouzhu has fled to. If he returns, there will be another bloody storm. The culprit who caused the fall of Yunzhou is still at large, and the whereabouts of Concubine Li are still unknown. If you lie there like this, who will take care of these people?
"The county lady's greatest wish in her lifetime was to recapture Yunzhou. Now that she's gone, everything depends on you, sir."
Feng Siji blinked his eyes, and seemed to relax a little. Qinglan sighed and said, "My lord, please think about it carefully."
She was about to get up and leave, but saw Feng Siji struggling to sit up from the bed.
Feng Siji raised his bloodshot eyes and looked at Qinglan: "Go find some clothes, bring some food, and then ask Ye Lan to come see me. I have something to ask her."
Seeing that he finally responded, Qinglan was delighted and almost cried with excitement. She found a short cross-collared robe and brought a food tray, placed it on the small table beside the bed, and then left.
After the people left, Feng Siji got up with difficulty and sat on the edge of the bed to get dressed.
I've been feeling depressed these past few days, and I have no strength at all. It's a little difficult for me to get dressed, and my collar is crooked, but I don't care anymore.
He figured it out. He had too many things to do. Besides all these, he also had to go find Li Qi.
Dead or alive, he would find her.
If the person is dead, I must see the body; if he is alive, I must see the person. I will not give up until I see them all.
If she was still alive but didn't come to find him, and was hiding and escaping from him, causing him so much torment, he would never let her go.
He bent down and put on his boots, then stood up, picked up the food tray on the small table, placed it on the long table under the window, and slowly picked up the bowl of porridge.
Outside the window in front of him, the spring weather was bright and beautiful. From time to time, birds flew over and landed on the branches, chirping.
The leaf buds of the grape vine have grown bigger, and new leaves will sprout in a few days.
He thought of Tingzhu Garden in Qianzhou, where there was a tall plum tree planted in the yard. It bloomed red flowers in winter and grew green leaves in spring.
After Li Qi left, he led Yeshu and Qinglan to continue living in Tingzhu Garden. Every year when the season came, the plum blossoms would bloom on time, and the cold and subtle fragrance filled every corner, as if she were still there.
When she was mending his clothes, she said that she was the red plum blossom on his collar.
Later, when they moved here, Yeshu found him several rare plum trees and asked him if he wanted to plant them. He self-deceivingly refused, and now he actually missed the red color of the plum trees.
Thinking about the past, Feng Siji slowly finished the porridge and side dishes. He put down his chopsticks, picked up a clean towel beside him and gently wiped the corners of his mouth.
Looking out the window at the courtyard, Qinglan came in from outside, walked around into the house, stood beside him and said, "Sir, there is no one left in Ping'an Village."
Feng Siji paused after putting down the towel, then glanced sideways with a deep gaze: "Is the building deserted?"
Qinglan lowered her head, acquiesced, and whispered, "If I had known this was the case, I wouldn't have let Ye Lan go back so early."
Feng Siji pursed his lips and said, "It's none of your business. Bring your people and follow me."
He stood up from the table and stepped out the door.
When I walked to the corridor, I saw a pile of dirty clothes on the ground. A red plum blossom embroidered on the fabric was so dirty that it was difficult to see clearly.
Feng Siji paused and stood in the corridor looking at it for a long time. He had been wearing this dress since Qianzhou. It had faded and turned white due to washing. It was indeed not worth keeping it.
He averted his gaze, walked slowly to the stable, and pulled the horse out.
Qinglan led the others to follow behind him.
A group of people and horses rushed out of the city quickly. In the deserted suburbs, the horses' hooves kicked up a cloud of yellow earth, covering the sky and blocking the green trees and wild flowers on both sides of the road.
They rushed all the way to the mass grave. Feng Siji was the first to jump off his horse and ordered half of the men to bury the bodies after the war.
If they had families, they would be sent home along with the compensation money. If they had no families, they would be buried there and their nameless graves would be erected.
He led some others to the burned-down theater.
No one knew what happened in the theater that day. All they knew was that Li Qi and Shengxiang were trapped inside and didn't come out.
Feng Siji, dressed in a white robe, stood in the ravaged ruins, his eyes scanning every piece of ashes left by the fire, and instructed: "Dig three feet underground and search for me. Whatever you find, bring it to me."
A group of people started to take action, some collected the bodies, and some dug the ashes.
Feng Siji's hands were still wrapped in gauze. He did not dig impulsively again, but just walked aimlessly in the ruins, looking back and forth in the ashes, trying to find any clues.
A blackened wooden board was lying in front of him, blocking his way. He lifted his robe and was about to step over it when he suddenly saw a peach wood hairpin under the board.
Half of the hairpin was pressed down by the wooden board, while the other half was exposed. The exposed half was covered with soot and was so dirty that its original appearance could not be seen.
Feng Siji bent down, stretched out his hand wrapped thickly in gauze, and clumsily picked up the hairpin.
The hairpin felt hard and a little cold in my hand.
He raised his sleeve and wiped off the soot on it, and the hairpin slowly revealed its original appearance: a peach blossom made of sandalwood, the curve of the hairpin presented a shallow wavy arc, and the flower on the head of the hairpin seemed to still emit a faint sandalwood fragrance.
Everything here was burned to ashes, but the wooden hairpin was intact. The only possibility was that it was left here after the fire had died down.
Who else but her would have left it behind?
Feng Siji's breathing suddenly became rapid, and his fingers slowly tightened around the hairpin.
The wound on the palm of his hand split open, bleeding and staining the gauze with a light red color.
But he seemed not to feel the pain, his palms were still gathering strength, tightly gripping it.
He was shocked but also a little bit unbelieving. What if she was really gone, and she just fell into Qingsong's hands, and the hairpin was left on him, and it was accidentally dropped when he followed Zhang Zhouzhu back to search for survivors?
The thought just came to his mind and then disappeared. Feng Siji couldn't find any suitable reason to let the hairpin fall on Qingsong.
He pinched his brows to make sure she was not dead. The sadness and despair he had felt before disappeared in the blink of an eye, and a huge rage surged in his heart, his chest heaving with anger.
She was actually lying to him again.
She was not dead but she did not come back to find him. She did not care whether he was alive or dead.
There was a lot of panic outside. Even if she didn't dare to come, she should at least give him some news, at least to let him know that she was safe and there was no need to worry or be anxious.
But there was nothing.
He had no idea whether she was planning something again, plotting against him secretly, or whether this defeat had anything to do with her.
The anger in his heart was about to burst out, and his face was tense.
He hadn't even forgotten how he spent those years looking for her, and now he was back on the same days looking for her again.
He was so angry that his teeth were itching. He stared at the hairpin tightly clenched in his palm. His eyes were as dark as the night, pressing down heavily.
There was a click.
The hairpin shattered in his palm.
He raised his head slightly and looked at the distant sky. The sunlight pierced deeply through the clouds and struck the earth. The light from the golden sea of clouds spread all over, dyeing the top of the mountain with a shocking golden light.
This time, he would not look for her again. He wanted her to come back in person, even if she was injured or disabled, she had to crawl back to find him and beg him, and he would never show mercy.
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