Chapter 223
As the setting sun fades and night deepens, the cool moonlight falls upon the valley. In the distance, lights twinkle like stars, and a small bridge winds around the water. Under the clear night sky, Fanxin Valley at night is even more like a fairyland than during the day.
There were no lights on in the detached house.
The room was pitch black, the curtains completely blocking out the moonlight. Yin Qiu opened her eyes, and all around was dark and eerily quiet. She stared blankly for a while, and as she sat up, an arm immediately reached out from her side and hugged her.
"Are you awake?"
Using the extremely faint light shining through the crack in the door, Yin Qiu looked around inside, her expression bewildered.
Man Jiangxue got off the bed, took out a tinderbox to light a lamp, and looked back at Yin Qiu. Yin Qiu's eyes were filled with tears as she looked down at the clothes that Gongzi Fan had altered.
The dim candlelight illuminated the room, and her vision cleared again. Yin Qiu sat there lost in thought, tears dripping onto her skirt.
“It gets dark quickly here, it’s only 7 PM,” Man Jiangxue sat back down on the couch and pulled Yin Qiu into her arms. “You’ve been sleeping for several hours, are you hungry?”
Yin Qiu nestled in her arms, and after a moment of silence, asked, "I thought I'd be fine after a good night's sleep, so why do I still feel so unwell after waking up?"
Man Jiangxue gently stroked her face and coaxed her softly, "It's always sad to be apart for a while, but you'll feel better in a few days."
Yin Qiu wiped away her tears, turned over and buried her face in Man Jiangxue's chest. After a while, she asked again, "Why did you come, Uncle-Master?"
“Your father sent me a letter,” Man Jiangxue said. “He asked me to come and pick you up.”
Yin Qiu's eyes were still wet, and the corners of her eyes were red. Hearing these words, her heart ached again. She looked up at Man Jiangxue and said, "Your injuries haven't healed yet. You must be very tired from the long journey."
“I’m not very tired,” Man Jiangxue said, “but seeing you makes me feel not tired at all.”
The candlelight flickered, casting a precious warmth on the spring night. Gongzi Fan was gone, but Man Jiangxue came again. She arrived just in time, filling the void left by Gongzi Fan's departure and keeping Yin Qiu's impending loneliness at bay by the riverbank.
The warmth of the bedding lingered, and the delicate fragrance filled the room. Yin Qiu could no longer smell the bitter medicine. She was gently enveloped by Man Jiangxue's aura, which quickly calmed her down and naturally dispelled much of her sorrow.
"Get up and walk around?" Man Jiangxue leaned against the headboard and tidied Yin Qiu's slightly messy hair. "I haven't eaten all day. I'll ask Bai Ling to bring some food."
Yin Qiu raised her face and looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Man Jiangxue asked.
Yin Qiu didn't speak, but her eyes were filled with deep affection and a certain expectation.
Man Jiangxue understood, lowered her head and kissed Yin Qiu, then helped Yin Qiu up and said, "Put on your shoes, I'll get you some water to wash up."
After she finished speaking, she pushed open the door and went to the yard. When she returned with a bowl of water, Yin Qiu was still sitting on the bed.
Man Jiangxue had no choice but to squat down in front of the bed and put shoes on Yin Qiu herself. She then carried her to the dressing table and soaked a handkerchief to wipe Yin Qiu's face.
Yin Qiu couldn't help but drift off into thought, feeling empty inside, as if she was thinking about a lot of things, yet also as if she wasn't thinking about anything at all.
She gazed at the snow-covered river again.
That look in his eyes is hard to describe well. It contained too many inexplicable emotions, yet it had not been fully revealed. It only subtly and restrainedly revealed some of them, which was enough to make the viewer's heart flutter.
"What do you want to say to me?" Man Jiangxue leaned down, looking directly into Yin Qiu's eyes. "What do you want?"
Yin Qiu's lips parted, tears welling in her eyes. She looked at Man Jiangxue for a long time, then hugged her waist tightly and softly called out, "Uncle-Master..."
“I’m here,” Man Jiangxue hugged her back and kissed the top of Yin Qiu’s head. “I’m here.”
Yin Qiu finally breathed a sigh of relief, saying with a mix of sadness and relief, "It's a good thing you came, otherwise I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep at all."
“Didn’t I make a promise with you that I would go wherever you went?” Man Jiangxue said. “Of course I have to come.”
Yin Qiu finally smiled slightly, stood up and said, "I'm cooking for my uncle. I've been learning some other things from my father these past two days. He taught me how to make fish taste better. The fish I caught yesterday are still here, very fresh."
Man Jiangxue agreed with a "okay," and before leaving, she hugged Yin Qiu and kissed her for a while. The two of them turned on all the lights in the yard and went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook rice.
Seeing the lights from the other side of the bridge, Shen Wang realized that the person had woken up and instructed his disciples to send the prepared food to Man Jiangxue and Yin Qiu. Bai Ling, however, stopped them, saying, "No need to trouble yourself. Look, the smoke is already rising over there. Xiao Qiu must be cooking for her master herself. We shouldn't disturb them. Xiao Qiu might still be sad."
Shen Wang thought it made sense, so he ordered his disciples to step back and looked at Bai Ling, saying, "Miss Yin is skilled in martial arts. I wonder how your swordsmanship is? Our two sects have never had any interaction before. Since you have brought your fellow disciples here, why don't you have a match with the disciples of our Fanxin Valley?"
Bai Ling glanced at him and laughed heartily: "Great, that's exactly what I was thinking too."
After saying that, they drew their swords, chose a spacious clearing in the forest, clasped their fists in greeting, and began to exchange sword techniques in front of the disciples of Yunhua Palace and Fanxin Valley.
Seeing the sword light flashing in the distance and hearing the cheers of many people, Yin Qiu put the cooked rice into the steamer, tied her apron, and peered through the doorway for a while before saying, "It must be Young Master Shen sparring with Bai Ling. I've been fighting with him quite a bit these past few days."
Man Jiangxue followed her gaze and asked, "Then who is better?"
Yin Qiu asked, "What does Uncle-Master think?"
Man Jiangxue smiled without saying a word.
She sat on a wooden chair, picking vegetables in her hands. A lamp on the wall stood above her head, casting a warm candlelight that enveloped Man Jiangxue like a damp mist. Yin Qiu looked at her for a while and asked, "Does Martial Aunt know how to pick vegetables? You've already picked off the tender leaves, so let me do it."
Man Jiangxue paused for a moment and then said, "Then where should we pinch?"
“Here,” Yin Qiu squatted down in front of her, “the root is a bit old and doesn’t taste good. We have to throw this one away.”
Man Jiangxue focused intently, following Yin Qiu's instructions. Her arm injury hadn't healed yet, making her movements a little clumsy, but she did it very seriously. Her hands were fair and slender, and when the cuffs were slightly rolled up, a section of her snow-white wrists was revealed. Even when she was picking vegetables, it was as pleasing to the eye as when she was wielding a sword and picking flowers.
Yin Qiu couldn't help but smile, her eyes sparkling with a gentle light.
"What are you laughing at?" Man Jiangxue glanced at her. "Was it because I didn't do a good enough job?"
Yin Qiu said, "No, you did a great job." She rested her chin on her hand and looked at Man Jiangxue with a smile. "I heard my father say that when he and my mother were together, he was the one who cooked, and my mother couldn't. Now that I'm with my uncle, he can't cook either. We're the same as them."
“There is still a difference,” Man Jiangxue said. “At least my senior sister can make some desserts, but I can’t even make desserts.”
“No need for you to know, Uncle-Master,” Yin Qiu said. “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
Man Jiangxue laughed: "That's great, she's a virtuous woman, I've struck gold."
Yin Qiu smiled as she heard this. Seeing her smile, Man Jiangxue looked pleased. She put the selected vegetables into the bamboo basket, reached out and pulled Yin Qiu to sit on her lap, saying, "The palace is still in chaos. Wan Shu and your Uncle Wen have been extremely busy lately. We should go back as soon as possible, don't you think?"
Yin Qiu nodded: "Of course," and then said, "Let's leave the day after tomorrow. It's rare for my uncle to come all this way. Tomorrow I'll take you around here. Also, my mother's cenotaph has been erected. Let's go and offer her some incense. My father has taken me to the mountain to see the stars quite a few times these past few days. The night is beautiful tonight, and the moon is bright too. After dinner, I'll take you to see it as well. How about that?"
Man Jiangxue said, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say."
The two sat by the door, cuddling for a while. After the rice in the pot was cooked, Yin Qiu stir-fried some vegetables and fried some fish. As in the past few days, they set up a small wooden table in the corridor and had dinner with Qingfeng Huayu and Man Jiangxue. After dinner, Man Jiangxue offered to wash the dishes. Yin Qiu couldn't refuse her, but he stayed by Man Jiangxue's side the whole time.
Perhaps because they had just gone through a separation, and Man Jiangxue had arrived at such a crucial moment, Yin Qiu was unusually clingy to her tonight, doing everything next to Man Jiangxue, and leaning against her as if she had no bones at all.
After cleaning up the dishes and kitchen, the two took lanterns and headed up the long ladder to the top of the mountain. To digest their food, they walked slowly. After the rain, there was water everywhere in Fanxin Valley, and the stone steps were slippery and difficult to walk on. Before long, Manjiangxue picked up Yinqiu and used her lightness skill to climb to the top of the ladder.
Concerned that Man Jiangxue's injuries had not yet healed, Yin Qiu dared not move while climbing the steps. As soon as he stopped, Yin Qiu couldn't wait to examine Man Jiangxue's wound. Seeing that the gauze was seeping with a faint blood, he couldn't help but say with a bitter face, "Uncle, please don't carry me. I can walk by myself. Your injury is not easy to heal. Look, it has reopened."
"It's just a minor injury," Man Jiangxue said. "It'll be fine in a couple of days."
The evening breeze was cool, and all was quiet. The two chose a sheltered spot to sit down and looked up at the star-studded night sky. Yin Qiu nestled in Man Jiangxue's arms and whispered, "This place is so nice. I've lived in Yunhua Mountain for so many years, and I thought the starry sky there must be similar to this one, but I never thought of looking at the stars. It's strange."
“If you like it here, you can stay a couple more days,” Man Jiangxue said. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back next time.”
Yin Qiu turned her head to look at her, her smile gentle: "Then after we go back, Uncle-Master, please take me to the residence in Xifeng Mountain for a few days. It's been so long since I've been there, and I've been thinking about it ever since."
Man Jiangxue touched her face and agreed, "Okay, you can go wherever you want."
A mountain breeze swept by, carrying the fresh scent of mud and grass. The night dew grew heavy, dampening her skirt. On the way back, Yin Qiu didn't ask Man Jiangxue for a hug. The two returned to the valley hand in hand. The firewood in the kitchen was still burning, and the boiled water was still warm. Yin Qiu carried the hot water into the bathhouse, sprinkled some flower petals that had been dried a couple of days ago, and helped Man Jiangxue undress. After Man Jiangxue sank into the water, Yin Qiu then undressed herself and carefully slid into the bath.
Man Jiangxue's right hand was still too wet to be touched, so extra care had to be taken when bathing her. Yin Qiu placed a towel by the pool and had Man Jiangxue place her arm on it before patiently and meticulously wiping her down. Petals covered the water's surface, partially obscuring the view, but the exposed fair skin was still very eye-catching, impossible to ignore. Her fingertips traced along her shoulders, neck, and collarbone, the graceful lines flowing smoothly and clearly, as if drawn by a paintbrush, carrying a familiar fragrance.
My uncle is so handsome.
Yin Qiu was secretly amazed.
She couldn't resist moving closer to Man Jiangxue, but paused abruptly just before kissing her neck, lifting her head. Man Jiangxue met her gaze, her expression questioning. Yin Qiu's cheeks flushed slightly, and she said in a barely audible voice, "This is my father's private hot spring..."
Man Jiangxue chuckled softly and kissed Yin Qiu. Yin Qiu was both delighted and shy, and the thought that this was Gongzi Fan's residence made her feel uncontrollably guilty. Her little thoughts never escaped Man Jiangxue's notice, so Man Jiangxue didn't pester her too much. She simply kissed Yin Qiu, and then the two dried themselves off, changed into clean clothes, and walked through the courtyard back to their room.
The past few days had been arduous, and Man Jiangxue was quite exhausted. Coupled with her numerous injuries, the journey had only made things worse. Although she had slept with Yin Qiu for a few hours after arriving here, she was still weary as night fell. So, Man Jiangxue fell into a light sleep shortly after lying down on the bed, and by the time Yin Qiu returned after extinguishing the fire in the kitchen, Man Jiangxue was fast asleep.
The dim, enchanting light, combined with the clear moonlight, streamed into the bedchamber, illuminating Man Jiangxue's peaceful sleeping face with a soft, beautiful glow. Noticing that she had lost some weight recently, Yin Qiu felt a tender pang of tenderness, along with an irrepressible sense of joy and relief—if Man Jiangxue hadn't come, she truly didn't know what to do on this quiet, lonely night without company.
Yin Qiu pursed her lips, smiled silently, and carefully changed Man Jiangxue's dressing by loosening her clothes and wrapping her with new bandages. Then she extinguished the candle, gently lay down beside Man Jiangxue, and fell asleep peacefully in her arms.
The next day was another sunny day, with bright sunlight that bathed the earth in its radiance. As usual, Yin Qiu got up first, prepared breakfast, and only after everything was in order did she wake Man Jiangxue. After the two ate, they took the joss paper and incense to the apricot blossom grove. Three cenotaphs stood side by side, two old and one new, bathed in the warm sunlight, silent and peaceful.
Man Jiangxue lit incense and burned paper money, standing silently amidst the swirling petals. Yin Qiu asked her, "Do you have something you want to say to my mother?"
"The Tomb of My Beloved Wife Mandong"—Man Jiangxue looked at these words and slowly nodded.
Yin Qiu said, "Then I'll wait for you outside."
As she spoke, she picked up her bamboo basket and was about to leave when Man Jiangxue grabbed her arm and, holding Yin Qiu's hand, said to the grave, "I promised you that I would take good care of Xiao Qiu for you. If you see this in heaven, please rest assured. For the rest of my life, I will do my best to protect her."
Hearing the gentle yet firm words, Yin Qiu's heart involuntarily quickened, and she stared blankly at Man Jiangxue.
"I hope you are doing well over there," Man Jiangxue said. "Senior sister, we will meet again after a hundred years."
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