Chapter 114 I don't know where you came from, but I'll pave the way for you until death, Princess...
His words seemed to startle her.
Her eyelashes fluttered twice, and she could no longer pretend. She had no choice but to sit up straight on the edge of the bed and let out two dry laughs.
The cloak that belonged to him almost slipped off her body, but she reacted quickly and reached out to hold it down, narrowly averting a potential "tragedy."
He silently curved his lips into a smile, amused by her flustered actions.
She caught his faint smile and said, "You seem to be in a good mood."
“The little Taoist priest is the same.” He called her by the name he used to call her, with a hidden meaning: “Just now, she was also laughing quite happily.”
“It’s rare…” he suddenly said, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen such an expression on your face, it’s almost unfamiliar to me. I almost thought that the Rong Yune I knew was a bitter face.”
"Although a bitter face isn't unpleasant, if it continues like that for a long time, it will eventually affect one's fortune. Your Taoist school should have similar sayings, and you should know more about them than I do."
She wasn't stupid; she understood what he meant and could hear the underlying comfort in his words.
Ever since Ah Hui left, she has often woken up crying at night, and only in the last two days has she calmed down a little. And now, with Lang Xi's matter, how can she truly be happy?
However, she naturally appreciated his good intentions.
She smiled slightly and replied, "It's rare for Lord Huan to show such concern for people. I am flattered and will certainly keep it in mind."
The title "Lord Huan" sounded really awkward. He picked up where she left off: "Just call me by my name, like you did in Huaiyuan. It just doesn't feel right to keep calling me 'Lord' like they do."
Following his words, Yu Nie thought back carefully for a moment, and then began to doubt her own memory: "In Huaiyuan, did I really call your name often?"
When a question touched on the topic of death, she mostly called him "Commander Huan," occasionally jokingly calling him "Young Master" or his courtesy name "Zijing." Calling him by his given name was something that had never happened before.
Huan Shaofu, who rarely showed any unease, did not give her time to think and immediately said righteously, "Of course, there is no difference between calling me by my courtesy name and calling me by my given name."
Looking at his feigned composure, she couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Since you say so, sir, then I will address you by your name from now on."
She paused, then continued softly, "Most people address you by your title, and only a few call you by your courtesy name. Although calling you by your courtesy name sounds more intimate, I've always thought your name sounds nice."
“Oh no…” After saying that, she suddenly realized her “slip of the tongue”: “Why did I keep calling him ‘Master’? I should call him Huan Xun now.”
Her praise was sincere and not just polite; to be honest, she genuinely thought so.
When she first saw his name in a book, she remarked that it was a waste of talent for such a villain to have such a nice-sounding name that didn't suit his image.
Finally, she asked, "So, is there any meaning behind your name?"
Huan Xun had never explained the meaning of his name to anyone before; this was the first time: "Xun means respect and obedience. The conduct of a gentleman is respectful and not deceitful."
He didn't ask her the meaning of her name. He already knew the meaning of her name from Ahui's explanation when they were in Huaiyuan.
She nodded thoughtfully and said, "Aunt Wu said you wandered to her doorstep. Your parents must have been a learned and talented couple?"
“I have never met my parents,” he replied. “I don’t even know their names or where they live.” His abrupt statement took her by surprise, leaving her stunned for a long time.
After speaking, he struggled to sit up from the bed.
She exclaimed, "Your injury..." and rushed forward to help him.
Huan Xun waved his hand, his breathing unsteady due to the pain, but his tone was not disordered when he spoke.
He bent one leg and rested his elbow loosely on his knee.
She advised him, "This will aggravate your wound. Why don't you lie down and talk?"
He seemed to be able to endure the pain very well, and his expression was completely unconcerned: "These injuries are not that serious for me."
After a slight pause, a distant glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, and he slowly continued speaking the words he hadn't finished earlier:
“From as far back as I can remember, I grew up in the mountains and forests. I was fed by a black female leopard. Later, I was discovered and went to two different families before finally wandering to Aunt Wu’s house.”
Before he could finish speaking, the smile in her eyes suddenly froze, and her heart felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton, making it hard to breathe.
The flickering candlelight cast a half-light, half-shadow on his calm profile, and his tone was so detached that it sounded as if he were telling someone else's story.
She had originally thought she would hear stories of a scholarly family, or that his family had been persecuted, which led to his being forced to wander and have no fixed abode.
She had considered many possibilities, but she never imagined that the truth would be like this.
She didn't know what to say for a moment, or rather, she wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin.
Seeing that she remained silent for a while, he chuckled and said, "You also think I'm making things up?"
There are records in ancient books and even in later generations of children being raised by wild animals. She loved reading strange and unusual books when she was a child, and she did not doubt his words.
There's no point in fabricating such a lie.
After he finished speaking, she shook her head, her voice a little hoarse: "...Then what did you eat in the mountains?"
"Hunting," he said with a smile. "In fact, it is because of this foundation that I always come out on top in every hunt. No one can beat me in archery."
"Among the Northern Cliff Army and the Xuan Ce Army, my archery skills are second to none."
He still wore that usual, nonchalant smile: "Have you ever hunted?"
Yu Nie shook his head: "Never, I only know how to handle bottles and jars."
He laughed and said, "It's alright. When the time comes, I'll take you hunting. I'll teach you to spot animal tracks and draw your bow."
He looked at her and said, "Perhaps in return, you could teach me something else."
"Me?" she hesitated, puzzled. "What can I teach you?"
Without hesitation, he said, "I'll teach you the characters you can write."
“I’ve seen Dugu Loujun write that kind of script before. She said it’s called regular script. I think it’s much easier than writing seal script. Since you know how, why don’t you teach me?”
Hearing that he wanted to learn regular script, Yu Nie suppressed the bitterness in her heart, did not refuse, and agreed.
Seeing that she agreed, he still had other questions for her to ask, so he changed the subject: "Young lady just said that she thought my name sounded nice a long time ago, so where did you hear my real name from?"
Although she had explained to Huaiyuan how she knew about "Huan Xun," he believed it was just an excuse, and the truth was more than that.
Moreover, he was really curious. They met in Huaiyuan, but before that, they had never met and their growth trajectories were completely different. So, where did she meet him from?
This question had always been the most perplexing thing in his mind.
Yu Nie was stumped by his question. Her background and the answer were both too far-fetched; he certainly wouldn't believe it.
She had intended to make up a plausible lie, but when she met his calm, dark eyes, she couldn't utter a single word and became somewhat reluctant to deceive him.
She pondered for a moment and said, "There are many things I can only tell you after everything has settled down."
"Is it good or not?" she asked him.
The moment those three words "good or bad" were uttered, Huan Xun seemed to be under a spell, abruptly stopping all his thoughts of asking questions. He had originally been determined to get to the bottom of things, but now he simply lowered his gaze and complied with her words.
But he did not give up.
“You don’t have to answer the first question,” he said again, “but you’re not allowed to run away from the second one.”
"What's the problem?" she asked curiously.
He didn't keep us in suspense; his physical fragility gave him an air of nonchalance, making his intentions seem less intense.
He lay on his pillow and slowly asked, "You used to have such deep prejudices against me, but now, have they changed at all?"
Yu Nie had no idea that the person in front of her would ask such a question.
At this moment, the doubts in his heart were not difficult for her to answer.
She shook her head: "If seeing is believing, I believe the Huan Xun I see before me, rather than relying on others' descriptions and then believing some singular or altered conclusions."
At this point, she remembered something and said to him apologetically, "If we're talking about causing misunderstandings about your reputation, I also have things I did wrong."
Then, she told him in detail how she had lied to him about being his betrothed in order to save Zhao Huayan and Nie Lanting.
After listening to her account, Huan Xun only repeated one sentence: "You mean, you told them... you are my betrothed wife?"
She thought he would get angry, so after admitting it guiltily, she hurriedly apologized, saying "I'm sorry" several times: "This was something I did on my own, a rash act. I hope you won't be angry..."
She spoke as if she were taking full responsibility for her recklessness, saying, "If word gets out, just say that someone is lying, or you can say that you divorced me."
Because of differing philosophies, she naturally wouldn't care about those unrealistic reputations.
Looking at her worried and guilty expression, he said, "That won't do. If people say I divorced you, they'll say I started something and then abandoned you. That's not what I want to hear."
Yu Nie's mind raced: "That can also be said the other way around."
Huan Xun flatly refused her: "That's even more unacceptable; it would damage my reputation."
Reputation? She hadn't expected him to care about that.
"You're not afraid I'll overhear your secrets, but you're afraid of losing your reputation?"
She knew from the moment he called her that he must have noticed her pretending to be asleep when Xie Cheng came in to talk.
He said casually, "If you're afraid, shouldn't you be even more afraid, young lady?"
Yu Nie was still confused: "What am I afraid of?"
He deliberately softened his tone: "Having overheard such a big secret, aren't you afraid I'll really kill you, my wife?"
Her heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, she had a strong memory, and in a moment, she found her get-out-of-jail-free card in the sea of memories.
"Young Master Huan, you'd even kill your allies? I'm your ally." Her tone finally regained its former flavor: "Besides, you knew I was pretending to be asleep, so why didn't you point it out and let me overhear?"
After she finished speaking, he wasn't flustered at all that she had discovered his little secret.
He replied, "That explains how I can give you a crucial secret about me."
He said this, but deep in his heart, another, more secretive thought lurked, one that even he himself had not fully examined.
He allowed her to hear because, in that instant, looking at her defenseless sleeping face lying on his bedside, the string of vigilance that had been taut in his heart for years inexplicably loosened for a moment.
This is an extremely dangerous impulse.
For him, sharing secrets was tantamount to surrendering his weakness, exposing his Achilles' heel to others. Similar actions in his past life almost always ended in betrayal and bloodshed.
But this time, he wanted to take a risk.
This risk was not based on blind trust. He did not believe she would never betray him, but rather that he would accept it even if she had any other thoughts in the future.
In terms of ability, he had countless ways to turn the situation around, but for someone like him, taking risks was more valuable than sticking to the status quo.
He had to admit that an almost savage desire was driving him; he no longer wanted to walk alone in this boundless darkness.
Perhaps it was in the wooden house in Huaiyuan, perhaps under the night sky that day, or perhaps in the carriage returning from the post station, that he gazed at her rosy, vibrant face, a blend of innocence and resilience, kindness and courage, like a flame that burned within him.
He then felt a strong urge to bring that flame into his own world.
If you don't let go...
Seeing her confusion, he continued, "If having each other's weaknesses makes you feel at ease, then you and I are truly in the same boat now."
If words are not enough to build trust, then each person should share a weakness and live together.
As soon as he finished speaking, she looked at his pale, smiling face.
When she chose him as her ally, she worried whether he was reliable and whether he would take such a big risk with her. But after he said those words, those doubts and anxieties inexplicably disappeared.
She met his gaze, her voice tinged with a hint of probing: "But self-interest is always tempting. Aren't you afraid I'll betray you?"
He raised a slight brow at the corner of his eye: "Betrayal? How so? Are you going to report everything you heard tonight to that person in the deep palace?"
Before she could respond, he said, “You want to bring down the Li family, but in my opinion, you don’t just want to bring down the Li clan. You and I both know that Ahui’s death is just one aspect of this corrupt dynasty. What really killed Ahui was the power that was banished, the injustice, and the contempt.”
He spoke of an extremely dangerous topic with complete composure.
He said, "You and I are allies, young Taoist priest. From now on, we must weather the storms together and be bound by life and death. I should give you a gift."
He paused slightly, then said, “Whatever you want to do, whether it’s to overthrow this dynasty or to sit on the throne and rule the world, you can use me as the sharpest knife in your hand to achieve your desired goal.”
Such a momentous matter, something she had struggled to speak of several times, something that would condemn her to eternal shame and the extermination of her entire family if she failed—he spoke of it so casually.
She was shocked and speechless for a moment.
The decisiveness and weight of his words pressed down heavily; his words were not just a promise, but a vow etched into his very bones.
After a long silence, she finally found her voice and asked, "...Why?"
"I will pave the way for you, even unto death, Your Highness."
His expression remained unchanged, only his gaze was as deep as the night.
Seeing her pupils tremble slightly, he then suppressed his imposing aura and spoke in a calm tone, as if he were talking about an ordinary transaction.
He said calmly, "Let's just say we each get what we need. You help me, I help you, that's all."
Everything that had happened in the past had told her that he wanted to use her, but she still didn't understand what aspect he wanted her to take action on.
Having said that, she couldn't help but ask, "What do you want me to help you with?"
Suddenly, his gaze turned deep and he looked at her intently: "Gunpowder, I need you to make gunpowder for me."
Yu Nie was stunned by his words and it took her a long time to speak: "You... how do you know about gunpowder?"
In her time, saltpeter and sulfur were generally only used for making elixirs or fireworks; there was no such thing as gunpowder.
Seeing the doubts in her eyes, Huan Xun recounted what he had heard more than a decade ago without reservation.
"At that time, the border was in dire straits. The enemy launched a surprise attack, catching our army off guard and causing heavy casualties, with countless dead and wounded. There happened to be a female itinerant doctor in the army who was skilled in medicine. Seeing the wounded soldiers, she could not bear it. She suggested to the Grand Commander that gunpowder made from saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal could reduce the war and even ensure peace for the people for hundreds of years."
"The Grand Commander did as she said and had enough of those three things bought back so she could try to mix them. She failed several times."
"Later, after a battle, she rescued a Quanrong general. The Grand Commander wanted to execute him several times, but she forcibly stopped him each time. She said that the man had done her a favor. The two held opposing views, and their argument deepened. In the end, the Grand Commander ignored her objections and insisted on executing the prisoner of war. In revenge, she stole some military deployment maps. People said she was a spy sent by the enemy, and I thought so too."
"Strangely, although the defense map was lost, there were no major changes in the army for a long time. After the layout was reorganized, the matter faded away with time."
At this point, his gaze calmly fell upon her: "Until I met you in Huaiyuan. At first, I saw that you and she used the same foreign language, and I suspected that you were of the same kind. Perhaps you also had your own purpose."
"It wasn't until I found out about your background that I was certain you had no connection with her."
Only then did he reveal why he had decided to use her: "You can produce peacock blue, and you also have rare substances like water-based powder and fluorescent powder. I thought, since she couldn't make gunpowder, could you?"
He said, "I want fewer people to die."
To Yu Nie's surprise, he wanted gunpowder not to conquer the world, but for this very reason.
Huan Xun never mentioned the female itinerant doctor's name, but Yu Nie, who had been listening to this, had a vague idea of who she was.
She couldn't think of anyone else besides Dugu Loujun.
She tentatively asked, "That female itinerant doctor is... Senior Dugu?"
Huan Xun did not deny it: "I never expected that after she left the Northwest, she would return to Jian'an. When you showed me the medical book, I never thought I would hear her story."
"I wonder where Senior Dugu is now..." She came and went alone, and no one knew where she went.
As soon as she finished speaking, Huan Xun on the bed suddenly coughed.
She rushed forward, wanting to pat his back, but for a moment she didn't know where to start.
"It's all my fault. You're not feeling well, and I still talked to you so much."
"It's nothing, just an old diaphragm injury." His voice was low and hoarse, still trembling from coughing up blood. "It's just an old injury. The force of the whipping caused it to aggravate, which is why I vomited blood. It's not a new injury. Right now, it's not life-threatening yet." He spoke lightly.
He knew better than anyone the location and causes of those old, hidden problems in his body.
Old diaphragmatic tears, unlike liver or spleen ruptures, usually do not cause fatal hemorrhage; the bleeding usually stops slowly on its own.
Once the coughing stopped, he said casually, "They're making a big fuss over nothing, even calling you here."
Yu Nie walked to the table, picked up the pot, and poured him a cup of water.
He took a small sip, and before she could ask any more questions, he turned to ask about Langxi.
She told him that Langxi had been found, and then reiterated that Langxi was going to be a witness.
Huan Xun did not object after listening, but said, "This matter is dangerous. I will have Attendant Lu follow you from now on to prevent any other problems."
She nodded: "I will discuss the specifics of the impeachment with my senior sister when I get back, and then I will tell you. But I think we should act no later than the day after tomorrow."
Huan Xun did not object: "The Southern Yin are making trouble, we must speed up our actions."
She asked, "Has the matter of Governor Yan been completely resolved?"
"Yes, those families have gotten what they wanted. Soon, their troops will set off for the northern frontier."
Upon hearing this, Yu Nie asked, "Do you have anyone suitable to go and collect the soil samples?"
She couldn't leave Jian'an, and she had very few capable people around her. The matter of fetching soil was of great importance, and she needed to choose a reliable person to complete it.
Huan Xun understood her meaning: "You don't need to worry about this matter. After you made this suggestion that day, I have already assigned someone to handle it. They are working day and night at full speed, and the items will be sent back to Jian'an soon."
"Furthermore..." he said, "When I was on duty in the Northwest, the prefect of Jincheng County was an honest official. He was not a member of the Li clan, and his power had been almost completely usurped over the years. As a prefect, he must have had many documents pass through his hands, and he must have heard a lot of rumors. I sent a secret agent to contact him secretly, and perhaps I could get some useful information."
Yu Nie nodded: "With our move, Li Xing's henchmen will surely be watching closely for every little thing we do, and contacting the prefect is even more dangerous. The people you send must be extremely careful."
He was quite pleased with her concern: "Don't worry, there are many refugees in Jincheng County now, and there are also many merchants coming and going in that area. They can pretend to be itinerant merchants or fugitives. Besides, my men are skilled in stealth and disguise. They know how to avoid being seen and how to gain people's trust."
"That's good. Then we can wait for news from Jincheng County while dealing with Li Xing in the capital."
Having said enough about the matter, she turned to him and said, "After saying so much, you should rest. As for Li Xing's matter, I'll explain it to you in detail later when there's something else going on."
Hearing this, he didn't insist and nodded: "You've been working hard these past few days, you don't need to stay here and watch over me anymore, go back and rest."
She was still worried: "Are you really alright with your injury?"
He said, "Yes, it's just an old injury."
He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm not that easy to kill."
After his repeated assurances, she finally replied, "Let me help you lie down first. I'll wait for Aunt Wu to bring you your medicine. I'll leave once there are other people in the room."
She offered to help him lie down, and he did not refuse.
As she placed her hand on his strong arm, the muscles beneath her palm involuntarily tensed.
He glanced at her from the side.
She thought the pain was making him tense up, so she asked, "Is the wound too painful?"
Huan Xun was taken aback, looked into her eyes, and shook his head.
After he lay down, he leaned over and said to her, "Your junior sister is in a bad mood. Go back and keep her company. There are guards outside. If anything happens, I'll just call them."
As he spoke, he called over one of the guards at the door and said to her, "I'll have someone take you back to rest. You need to recharge your energy so you can do other things well."
She noticed the blood seeping through the bandages on his back, and her fingers twitched slightly.
In the end, she didn't insist any further, and gently reminded him: "Then take care of your wound, remember to have the servants change the dressing on time, and don't let it get wet."
He chuckled very softly: "Okay, they'll be careful."
This simple response made Yu Nie feel a slight warmth on her cheeks.
She hurriedly added, "Then... I'll head back now."
"Okay." He paused, then added, "It's a dark and windy night, be careful on your way back."
A perfectly ordinary expression of concern, in the quiet of the night, inexplicably takes on an ambiguous meaning.
She hummed in agreement, then glanced at him and, seeing that he had closed his eyes, turned and left.
Outside the door, Yu Nie did not immediately go far.
She stood under the eaves, gazing at the cool moonlight in the courtyard. She raised her hand and pressed it against her heart, which was inexplicably burning. His last, deep words of advice echoed in her ears.
Inside, the footsteps that had stopped sounded again. The boy, who had "already fallen asleep," slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear as he looked out the window, a slight smile playing on his lips, before closing them again.
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