Chapter 144 The Warmth of Jade Ripples, an Endless Bond
After bidding farewell to Bai Ming, Yang Xiao returned to the camp under the glow of the setting sun.
As he dismounted and walked toward her bedchamber, he saw someone leaning against the doorway in the setting sun. Her plain robe shimmered in the glow of the sunset, and her cascading black hair was adorned with a jade hairpin. Her vacant eyes held no trace of melancholy, only carefree joy and contentment.
Yang Xiao looked at the person, smiled with relief, and walked towards her. "Well, you didn't speak to me properly in front of the palace, but waited for me here."
"The love between this loving couple is as deep as the sea, how could I bear to disturb them?" Xiao Yan leaned against the door frame, smiling as he looked at Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao chuckled and sighed, her gaze falling on the already packed luggage not far away. She frowned slightly. "Are you leaving now?"
The setting sun cast a warm glow on Xiao Yan's smiling face, and Yang Xiao realized that this was the most relaxed smile she had ever given since she met Xiao Yan.
"Yes, I'm leaving." She looked back at every blade of grass and tree in the Chang'an Formation, then sighed reluctantly, "I originally wanted to leave without saying goodbye, but I couldn't bear to part with you, so at the risk of being scolded by you, I still came to say goodbye."
Yang Xiao looked at Xiao Yan, who seemed so at ease, with a sense of relief. "Congratulations! You've finally broken free from your constraints and responsibilities. From today onward, you can truly live for yourself and pursue what you truly love." She paused, a smile appearing in her eyes, "Just like I did back then."
A tear flashed across Xiao Yan's eyes. She held Yang Xiao's hand and laughed heartily, "Thank you for everything along the way. Whether it was facing Xiao Yun in the past or standing here in the hall today..." Xiao Yan sighed softly, calming her emotions, "Perhaps it was the moment you appeared in my life that I was truly able to pursue freedom. Without you, 'Xiao Yan' would never have become the real 'Xiao Yan' I am today."
"So, where do you plan to retire to?" Yang Xiao asked with a smile, taking her hand in his.
"It appears turbid when viewed in stillness, but clear when reflected in the sun. Wherever such jade exists, I will live there."
Yang Xiao was taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a light laugh. "Alright," she sighed with a smile, took something out of her bosom, took Xiao Yan's hand, and placed it in her palm.
A warm yet scorching touch landed in Xiao Yan's palm. She looked down and saw a crystal-clear jade chess piece burning in her hand. On the white jade was a sharp, black "General" character.
She looked at the chess piece and chuckled softly. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with the excited and joyful look on Yang Xiao's face when she first beat her.
"Let it go into seclusion in the mountains with you for now. I will go and retrieve it again in a while." Yang Xiao raised her hand and tightly grasped Xiao Yan's outstretched palm. The warm white jade chess piece was burning hot in her palm. "When you are enjoying the scenery, don't forget me."
"Forgot you?" Xiao Yan looked at Yang Xiao with a smile. "That's too difficult. Let's talk about it in the next life." She held the chess piece to her chest, paused, and then changed the subject, "However..."
"but?"
"I've always wanted to take you somewhere, but I haven't had the chance."
"Oh?" Yang Xiao tilted her head with interest. "What holy land is it?"
Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head, "It's not exactly a holy land, but I really like the local customs."
"Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me."
“Come find me on the fifteenth of the first lunar month next year, and I’ll take you there,” Xiao Yan said with a smile, patting Yang Xiao’s shoulder. “Then you will know.”
Yang Xiao frowned and nodded at Xiao Yan, then smiled and sighed, "If you dare to break your promise, I will send troops to capture you."
"Alright, General." Xiao Yan smiled and tilted his head. "Then we'll meet again. Farewell."
Yang Xiao nodded and watched Xiao Yan walk out of the camp gate. She saw a figure flash past the gate, pause and stare at Xiao Yan for a few seconds, but before Xiao Yan could say anything, she walked towards her.
"Tongxi?" Yang Xiao greeted her with a mixture of surprise and delight. "What brings you here too?"
“Also?” Cen Xun walked to Yang Xiao’s side, then looked back at Xiao Yan’s back, sighed and shook her head. “Although you have a good relationship with her and she really cares about Anmin, I just…” She crossed her arms indignantly, “I can’t feel any good feelings towards her.”
Yang Xiao chuckled and sighed, pulling Cen Xun into the tent. "Just follow your own heart. Why must you conform to what others think?"
“Very well,” Cen Xun said with a smile as he sat down and looked up at Yang Xiao. “Now it seems that Xiao Yan has found a good home.”
As Yang Xiao poured tea, she nodded gently. "Yes, she's never had a peaceful day since birth. Now that she's retired, it's a way of following her own heart." She handed the teacup to Cen Xun. "The banquet just ended, why are you in such a hurry to find me?"
“I…” Cen Xun paused slightly, holding his teacup, then looked up at Yang Xiao earnestly, “I want to go back to Jizhou.”
"Want to see Yude?"
Cen Xun lowered her eyes and nodded, her eyes still misted by the steam from the hot tea. "I have already carried his will and witnessed the magnificent scenery of Chang'an for him. It is time to go back and report to him." She looked up at Yang Xiao. "Moreover, we two have one last wish."
Yang Xiao frowned slightly upon hearing this, but was interrupted by Cen Xun before she could speak.
“Although this may seem unbelievable to others, but…” Cen Xun looked at Yang Xiao firmly, “I am willing to dress up and keep the appointment to completely make up for this last regret.”
Yang Xiao held the cup, her eyes lowered, remaining silent. After a long while, she nodded earnestly to Cen Xun, "Jizhou, I'll go with you."
"Really?" Cen Xun looked up at Yang Xiao and chuckled. "I came to find you, not to coerce you into coming with me."
“You’ve lived in his place for so many years, I think it’s time to find your true self.”
"But after so many years, his thoughts and will have been engraved in my heart. How can I just let go of them?"
Yang Xiao took a sip of hot tea, looked up at Cen Xun, and asked, "You say you want to let go, but are you willing to?"
"Lingyu." Cen Xun glanced at Yang Xiao angrily, then picked up the tea and took a sip.
"His thoughts and experiences over the years have long been ingrained in your blood. His will has become your intuition. How can you easily sever them?" Yang Xiao sighed with a smile and gently coaxed, "You used to deliberately seek out his thoughts. Now these little things have become a part of you. Rather than saying that the two of you are inseparable, it's more accurate to say that... you have found a new way of life in these three years and have become a completely new Cen Xun."
“So,” Yang Xiao patted Cen Xun’s shoulder, “don’t worry too much about these things, just do what you think is right.”
Cen Xun held the teacup in his hand, looked at Yang Xiao with a smile, and nodded vigorously, "Then we'll go tomorrow."
“Alright,” Yang Xiao nodded gently and poured another cup of tea. “Stay for dinner tonight. After dinner, we will bid farewell to our lord. As for official business, let Bai Ming handle it for now.”
As the afterglow faded, it cast long, thin shadows of the two men. Perhaps Bai Ming had sneezed during the night, for at dawn the next day, he saw two warhorses carrying their graceful, agile figures, heading eastward.
-
As the sun sets in the west, the afterglow of dusk spreads across the entire sky. Zhong Lishuo's cemetery is already covered in blooming flowers. A gentle breeze blows, and petals from the trees drift down, lightly landing on the tombstone.
Cen Xun, clad in a wedding gown, walked gracefully towards the setting sun, seemingly merging with the sky. Chicks chirped and fluttered their wings, soaring to the treetops, lightly treading on the peach blossoms. In an instant, the sea of flowers on the branches was showered down; bathed in the sunset's glow, the petals fluttered down like sparks, swaying in the wind onto Cen Xun's wedding dress, then being swept low into the air by the fluttering hem, mingling with the white willow catkins and drifting across the earth.
Each step treaded on soft petals, each step felt like a steel knife piercing Cen Xun's heart, which beat in unison. The sea of flowers was like blood, the willow catkins like mourning, and the afterglow of the setting sun seemed to drape the world in a rosy robe, radiantly spreading across the mountains and fields.
Petals danced in the air, willow catkins drifted in the breeze, and fledglings chirped merrily. As if by magic, nature itself cleared a path for Cen Xun.
“Yu De”.
With a smile, she gently stroked the inscription on the tombstone, just as she had when the cemetery was first built. The stone was fine and dust-free; who knows how many people had worshipped it in these short few years, how many people's beautiful dreams it had protected, and how many people's childhoods it had shaped.
"The world is at peace."
Another gentle breeze swept by, lightly lifting Cen Xun's trailing robe. Petals scattered on the ground rippled and spread out like waves along with the hem of his robe.
"Your ambition... has been achieved."
Cen Xun raised his hand and stroked the words on the monument, as if he were gently caressing the broad chest of his lover.
“Yude, you said that if the world were settled, you would marry me…” Cen Xun’s voice trembled slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes, falling heavily onto the tombstone.
Yet her eyes were still full of smiles, just as they were when Zhong Lishuo left.
"Now that our lord has become emperor, we and Lingyu have worked together to break the Chang'an Formation. We have met the conditions you asked for. Although we have gone through countless hardships, everything is developing as we expected. The world has been settled as promised. The only one who broke the promise... is you, Yude."
Cen Xun pressed tightly against the top of the tombstone, choking back tears as she filled a cup with wine. Her hand trembled slightly, and the wine in the pot spilled all over the area in front of the tombstone.
“But it’s alright,” she choked back tears, forcing a smile, “I’ve come to keep the promise I made to you.”
She poured the entire cup of wine onto Zhong Lishuo's tomb, and the pale blue stone instantly appeared as if it had been soaked, revealing a deep gray hue.
“Remember this, today, I am the one who wants to marry you. Even if you don’t come to marry me, I will still marry you.” She rested her head on the tombstone. “I have fulfilled all your wishes… I have done what you did not do in this life, and I have used your thoughts to understand all things in the world. Just as Lingyu said, if you are truly alive in heaven, you have experienced all things in this world with me.”
Cen Xun slightly opened his eyes, picked up his wine glass and filled it again, completely unaware that his tears had splashed onto the surface of the wine, creating ripples.
She tilted her head back and drank the wine in her glass in one gulp. The wine tasted sour, bitter, salty, and astringent, with none of the pleasant feeling she had when drinking earlier.
"I have traveled through all things with your love, and you will live forever in my heart. If so, will you still see any grass or tree in this world?"
"If that's the case, will you... see me?"
Under the setting sun, thick clouds gathered, and the rolling clouds spread like fire.
One drop, two drops, countless raindrops pounded on the tomb, soaking the entire stone surface into a dark blue-black. Petals from the trees fell with the rain, sticky petals landing one by one on Cen Xun's head, one by one sticking to the tombstone.
The ground was covered with wet petals, just like the sea of blood-red flowers when Zhongli Shuo died. The beautiful flowers were beaten to the ground by the strong raindrops and stuck firmly, never to fall again.
Yet those scattered fallen petals, in some unknown place, comfort someone's heart. Though they have vanished without a trace, their presence is felt in everything in this world.
The sweet air, the blooming buds, the sprouting new shoots, and all things in the world that have seen them praise their beauty, their fragrance, how lovable they were in life... as well as their fearlessness and resilience in the face of death, their delicate souls that remain fragrant even in death, or the gentle streams that flow in people's hearts, full of petals.
Cen Xun gazed at the crimson sky, then at the name on the tombstone with longing. Strands of moisture ran down his cheeks, whether from rain or tears, he couldn't tell.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she gently picked up a petal that had fallen to the foot of the character "朔" on the monument and held it in her palm.
Cen Xun placed her fist, which was clutching the flower petals, against her chest. After taking several deep breaths, she opened her eyes again and looked at the tombstone. A wave of tenderness washed over her, as if she were comforting her sleeping lover. "So be it, Yude, I don't blame you." She looked at the tombstone and smiled with relief, but the tears on her face never stopped. "Rest in peace. You have already achieved your life's ambition. As we promised before, I will marry you when the world is at peace, even if it is in this way."
“Your token is still in use, and [illegible] has also endured the bloodshed of the battlefield on your behalf. I carry them, along with the sword and bracelet you gave me, to fulfill your lifelong wish.” She stood up and gently stroked the top of the monument once more. “Your broken promises in this life will surely be repaid tenfold in the next.”
Cen Xun sighed deeply, looked up at the rising crescent moon, and let the large raindrops pelt his face, washing away the tear stains.
A series of crisp footsteps echoed through the rain, and a red umbrella appeared above Cen Xun's head.
Yang Xiao, holding an umbrella, stood beside Cen Xun. Then she bent down and poured a glass of wine that had long since gone cold, slowly splashing it in front of Zhong Lishuo's grave. "On your wedding day, I can't be absent." She sighed softly, placed the wine cup in front of the tombstone, and stood up. "If you truly have a spirit in heaven, then remember everything that happened in this life, and in your next life be reborn beside Tong Xi to repay her kindness to you."
Cen Xun looked up at Yang Xiao and couldn't help but smile. "It's not about repaying a debt of gratitude. As long as you come to my side safely and fulfill our dream of being together for life, that's enough."
Yang Xiao, holding an umbrella, sighed softly, then said in a deliberately relaxed tone, "Alright, the wine has been drunk and the wedding ceremony has been held, shouldn't the two newlyweds prepare for the next step?"
She suppressed the bitterness welling up in her heart, "Since the groom can't leave or move, then we can only ask the bride to go back to the tent to rest. If this torrential rain is the groom's tears that he's holding back, then..." Her voice trembled slightly, and she gritted her teeth and forced a smile, "If the bride keeps getting soaked in the rain, I'm afraid he'll cry even louder. It wouldn't be good if Jizhou were flooded."
Cen Xun chuckled at Yang Xiao's words, then turned to look at the soaked tombstone. "In that case, I'll be going now. Take care of yourself and don't cry yourself sick."
She sighed deeply, her smile fading, and turned back to look at the tombstone with a solemn yet gentle expression.
May you find peace and rest in your sleep throughout your life.
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