Red rope
On the avenue from the palace to the outer palace gate, Lin Huai'en, holding an arm full of memorials, walked quickly without stopping. He happened to meet the long team of envoys from the seven major countries in the Western Regions who were heading inside to see the emperor.
Lin Huai'en had no time to pause, so he could only nod briefly to the envoys and exchange a few polite words. As they were about to pass each other, a man with purple eyes suddenly stepped out of the line and blocked his way. Lin Huai'en was caught off guard and dropped his arms full of memorials.
Lin Huai'en glared at the purple-eyed man anxiously. But the man smiled triumphantly, "Master Lin and I are old acquaintances. We've met again after so many years, but why are you so lazy as to say a word?"
Lin Huai'en said nothing as he bent down to pick up the memorial. The man with purple eyes also helped him pick it up. While picking it up, he even opened the memorial without permission, which was snatched away by the angry Lin Huai'en.
This man with purple eyes was the eldest prince of Loulan, Zi Wuye. Eight years ago, Lin Huai'en followed the crowned Emperor Shaoze to a fiefdom in the border region, only a hundred miles away from Loulan.
During the exchanges between the two countries, Zi Wuye fell in love with the eighteen-year-old Lin Huai'en and ran to Di Shaoze to ask for him. However, not long after, the scandal of Ye Yu's seven daughters was exposed, and he was confined to his house for seven months by his father.
"Lord Lin, do you still remember the past? Eight years ago, Emperor Shaoze was granted a fiefdom by the current Supreme Emperor, ending his hope of becoming emperor. You and he huddled in a barren fiefdom next to our country, like two pitiful ants, at the mercy of others."
"Under those circumstances, I asked Di Shaoze to make you my concubine. It should have been easy. But the moment I opened my mouth, Di Shaoze's eyes were so terrifying, as if an evil spirit had descended upon the mortal world, and I was terrified from the bottom of my heart. Afterwards, my life was suddenly filled with a haze. I was despised by my father, ridiculed by my people, and completely reduced to a laughing stock throughout the nation."
Lin Huai'en continued to hold the memorial and said coldly, "You deserve it! Do you understand? Get out of the way."
Zi Wuye curled his lips and pretended to be "scared", crossing his arms. "Lord Lin looks really fierce. If I could show him like this in front of Di Shaoze one day, I would be so excited that I wouldn't be able to sleep!"
"Is it fun to tease me? Get out of the way!" Lin Huai'en pouted in disgust, unwilling to waste time with him anymore. He pushed him away and continued to walk hurriedly towards the palace gate.
Staring at Lin Huai'en's back, and seeing the same attitude of disgust towards him as before, the purple-eyed man's smile gradually stopped, and his thin lips were tightly pursed, revealing a sense of frustration and unwillingness...
After Lin Huai'en got on the carriage, he first went to the general's mansion to ask the housekeeper about the situation. Then, based on the names and statements in the memorial, he finally confirmed that Xue Dingchu had suffered a collective exclusion.
The source of this was the neighbors of the General's Mansion, those sons of the royal family who had colluded with each other. After failing to recruit Xue Dingchu, they turned their attitude around in anger and wanted to drive Xue Dingchu out of the royal city.
Xue Dingchu was a silent person by nature. Even when he was injured, he would not say a word. Lin Huai'en had to personally dig out his wounds before he knew all these things.
Lin Huai'en stroked his troubled brow, "If that's the case, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
The butler replied, "The general knew you were busy with your wedding, so he told me not to tell you yet."
Lin Huai'en understood. He knew Xue Dingchu never liked to cause trouble for others. And he was busy with his wedding recently, so he really couldn't take care of his affairs first.
Moreover, if he hadn't happened to meet General Luo today, by the time he finished arranging the wedding and turned back, Xue Dingchu might have been forced into marriage or even exiled...
There was a sound of horseshoes outside the mansion gate.
Afterwards, Xue Dingchu, with a handsome face, walked into the door with his official hat in one hand. When he looked at Lin Huai'en, the corners of his eyes slightly curved, revealing his usual gentleness and calmness.
Xue Dingchu spoke first. "My colleagues have told me everything. I've already requested to go guard the border and will be leaving soon. Huai'en, don't worry about me."
God gave Xue Dingchu two paths:
Or, marry the daughter of the Luo family, turn the tide, and enjoy the glory and wealth for the rest of his life;
Or, he would be demoted back to the frontier and continue to be a deputy general who guards the territory day and night.
But Xue Dingchu has already chosen the latter path for himself.
This road may not have a paved career or a stable life, but it does not require him to marry a woman he does not love, nor does it require him to cut off the last possibility with Lin Huai'en.
Lin Huai'en's eyes suddenly turned red, and he began to blame himself, "Dingchu, blame me for not taking good care of you because I was only concerned about my own marriage during this period."
Xue Dingchu smiled and said, "Huai En, you have done enough for me."
Xue Dingchu rarely showed a very faint and warm smile, but Lin Huai'en couldn't stop crying, as if he wanted to vent all the sadness, depression and reluctance in his chest.
If he had discovered it earlier, Xue Dingchu wouldn't have to suffer all this.
In the evening, Lin Huai'en stayed and had dinner at the general's residence. He was so upset that he couldn't taste the food in his mouth.
After dinner, Xue Dingchu walked Lin Huai'en home, only two steps away from him. Because they were standing one in front of the other, Xue Dingchu stared at Lin Huai'en's familiar back, which was gradually coated with a layer of ethereal moonlight, as if it was about to become illusory.
There are some things that if you don't say them now, you will never have the chance to say them again.
Xue Dingchu stood still, pretending to be calm all day, but it was finally broken at the last moment. Xue Dingchu lowered his head, lifted his sleeves, and asked, "Wai En, do you still remember this rope?"
Lin Huai'en turned his head and stared at Xue Dingchu's red rope as he was talking, and found that the red rope was badly damaged.
Xue Dingchu slowly recounted his past, "I still remember when I was eight years old, my mother ran away with a wild man. My father hated her for abandoning him, so he beat me all the time, leaving me covered in bruises. My personality became increasingly sullen and unpleasant, and no one wanted to play with me. Back then, my life consisted of two things: getting beaten and working."
"Until you appeared, my gloomy life began to have bright colors. From then on, you were the only one I had eyes for."
"Later, when you were sixteen, you left for the distant capital to pursue your dreams, saying it would take several years before you returned. I accompanied you all the way to the village entrance. When it was time to say goodbye, I couldn't let go. I held on to you tightly without saying a word."
Lin Huai'en's eyes trembled slightly, and he remembered - at that time he noticed Xue Dingchu's reluctance, so he fumbled all over his body, and passed the red rope on his wrist to Xue Dingchu through his clenched hands.
Lin Huai'en said: "This is the marriage rope I begged from Yue Lao Temple. With it, you and I will never be separated."
At that time, although Lin Huai'en felt a little reluctant to part with his red rope, the red rope meant to be inseparable from another person, so it was okay to use it to lock in one's friendship.
With the red rope, Xue Dingchu was finally willing to let go and swore solemnly: "No matter how far you go, I will find you."
Later, Xue Dingchu stepped out from the sea of blood and corpses, and finally reached a position where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Lin Huai'en. He wanted to ask him gently, "Do you still remember this rope?" and "You and I are really inseparable."
But he was late.
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