Chapter 56 This is unlike you. Your governor even cried for her...
The palm strike had injured Jiang Cichen internally, and the military doctor prepared a medicinal bath for him to heal. Qin Yue first took Luo Wan and Jiang Yuanan to the camp for treatment, but due to Luo Wan's recent palm strike, they were on high alert and were confined to their tents, not allowed to leave until Jiang Cichen gave the go-ahead.
Jiang Yuanan paced back and forth anxiously in the tent, worried about Jiang Cichen's injuries. Unable to check on him, he turned to Luo Wan and asked, "Sister Luo, was that palm strike of yours heavy?"
Under normal circumstances, it would have been very heavy. She used all her strength, but her internal strength had not yet fully recovered. This palm only made Jiang Cichen vomit some blood.
Luo Wan shook his head and said, "It's not heavy."
Jiang Yuanan finally felt relieved and lay down to take a nap. After a short rest, she discovered that the hairpin she had kept in her sleeve was missing.
Seeing Jiang Yuanan had made a mess on the bed, Luo Wan asked her what was wrong.
She just turned around and before she could say anything, tears started to fall and she sobbed, "My hairpin is missing..."
Jiang Yuanan particularly treasured the hairpin, which was given to her by the Queen of Xiliang before her death. She usually never wore it and kept it close to her body every day.
Luo Wan said softly, "Don't worry, Yuan An, you look inside the tent, and I'll look outside."
Jiang Yuanan hesitated to speak, and finally nodded obediently.
Jiang Yuanan's hairpin is made of metal and glows coldly in the moonlight. As long as it hasn't been picked up by anyone, it's easy to find.
Returning along the same route, Luo Wan hid in the shadow of the tent to avoid the patrolling soldiers and waited for the soldiers to pass by.
A soldier asked curiously, "Who are those two women?"
"Who knows? Governor Jiang wasn't a native of Yun before."
"Half, please."
"His surname is Jiang, not Xiao."
He was halfway through the rambling conversation when a stern voice suddenly interrupted him: "No talking about the governor is allowed."
It’s Qin Yue.
The soldiers suddenly fell silent and marched away.
However, footsteps continued to approach Luo Wan's hiding place, and a patrol was approaching from behind. In a hurry, Luo Wan dodged and sneaked into the nearest tent.
The tent was filled with mist and exuded a faint scent of grass and trees.
Before Luo Wan could see the situation in the tent clearly, a cup broke through the white mist and hit Luo Wan directly.
Luo Wan caught the cup steadily to prevent it from flying out of the tent or breaking into pieces and attracting the attention of patrolling soldiers.
She slipped into the tent with very little noise. Logically, it would be difficult to be discovered unless she was caught red-handed, but the people in the tent had obviously noticed it long ago.
Suddenly, there was a sound of clothes breaking through the air, and the black robe on the sandalwood rack in front of him was suddenly pulled away.
In the faint white mist, Luo Wan could clearly see the face of the owner of the tent, and then he realized that the fragrance of the plants came from Jiang Cichen's medicinal bath.
Drops of water rolled down the young man's well-defined chest. Jiang Cichen casually draped his robe over his shoulders without tying the belt. The light red from the medicinal bath had spread to his collarbone.
"Have you seen enough?" Jiang Cichen's voice was filled with laziness after the medicinal bath.
Luo Wan hurriedly turned his eyes away.
Jiang Cichen said slowly, "Long time no see, Luo Wan."
He really knows everything.
Luo Wan refused to be outdone: "Long time no see, Master Xiao."
"Breaking into a man's tent in the middle of the night is the host's way of meeting someone?"
"I'm here to look for something."
"Looking for something," Jiang Cichen turned his fingertips and took out a hairpin, "This one?"
It was Jiang Yuanan's hairpin. Luo Wan reached out to take it, but Jiang Cichen flipped his wrist and raised the hairpin higher. Luo Wan raised her hand slightly and took the hairpin with her right hand, but he dodged sideways.
The two exchanged three moves in the mist, and Jiang Cichen grabbed her wrist and said, "Don't you want to explain?"
Luo Wan really didn't want to make a big fuss, so he frowned. This was hard to explain.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the tent, and Qin Yue's voice rang out through the curtain: "Dudu, your clothes are ready."
Jiang Cichen was about to respond, but Luo Wan took the opportunity to snatch the hairpin from his hand and slipped away from behind the curtain.
Hearing the unusual movement in the tent, Qin Yue asked, "Commander, what happened? Are you okay?"
Jiang Cichen looked at the swaying curtains: "It's okay."
*
Jiang Yuanan took the hairpin and his heart finally settled down.
She clutched the silver hairpin tightly, her fingertips trembling slightly, and burst into laughter: "Sister Luo, thank you! Fortunately, you helped me find it back, otherwise I really..."
This hairpin was most likely lost at the gate of the military camp just now and picked up by someone else. There were no women in the military camp before, but if someone suddenly found a woman's belongings, they would naturally give it to Jiang Cichen.
At this time, Qin Yue clasped his fists and saluted outside the tent: "The governor is fine now, you two can go and visit him."
The candlelight flickered in the tent, white mist hung above the medicine stove, and a bitter smell filled the air.
Xie Yan lifted the curtain and walked in: "I heard that Ah Chen was injured?"
Before he finished speaking, his eyes fell on the couch.
Jiang Yuanan was seen taking the medicine bowl from the doctor. Steam was still coming out of the edge of the bowl. She stirred it carefully with a spoon, and the dark brown medicine was swirling in the bowl.
Jiang Yuanan leaned forward and said softly, "Governor Jiang, the medicine is ready."
Jiang Cichen was half-leaning on the couch, his silver mask placed beside him. His face was still a little pale, and when he saw Luo Wan, an elusive emotion flashed in his eyes.
When Jiang Yuanan brought the spoon to his lips, he tilted his head slightly and looked past her at Luo Wan.
Luo Wan sat quietly beside the low table. When she heard footsteps, she looked up at the door.
Jiang Cichen reached out to take the medicine bowl: "I'll do it myself."
Xie Yan strode forward and snatched the medicine bowl from Jiang Yuanan's hand. "I'll do it, I'll do it. How can we let the princess and the patient do this?"
After saying that, he raised his eyebrows at Jiang Cichen.
Before the medicine even reached Jiang Cichen's lips, Xie Yan gasped in exaggerated breath, "Ah! Who beat you up like this? They were too harsh. Have you forgotten that old injury on your left shoulder? Why didn't you avoid it? Is getting hurt fun?"
Jiang Cichen didn't even bother to raise his eyelids, and reached out with his right hand to grab the medicine bowl from his hand.
Xie Yan dodged it nimbly, glancing to the side and back as he said, "Bei Yeji was truly ruthless back then, applying such a deadly poison to his sword."
Luo Wan still had a calm expression, tapping the table with his fingertips, not knowing what he was thinking.
On the other hand, Jiang Yuanan, who had just been talking to Luo Wan with his chin in his hand, stood up after hearing that Jiang Cichen had an old injury: "What! An old injury?"
“Yeah, I was lying down for a long time.” Xie Yan shook his head and raised his eyebrows: “I was very sick at that time, tsk tsk tsk…”
Jiang Cichen interrupted coldly: "Eyebrow cramp?"
Jiang Yuanan asked, "Is it okay now?"
Xie Yan said, "That was a year ago. It's better now, but it can't withstand such a torment..."
Before he finished speaking, Jiang Cichen suddenly called out, "Qin Yue."
Qin Yue, who had been guarding outside the tent, bowed and went inside.
"Take the princess and Miss Luo down to rest."
Luo Wan then raised her eyes to look at Jiang Cichen, but her gaze lingered briefly on the silver mask beside him. She then retracted her gaze and lifted the curtain to go out.
Jiang Yuanan refused to leave: "But I'm not sleepy yet."
Jiang Cichen said, "I'm sleepy."
"...Okay." Jiang Yuanan lowered his eyebrows and eyes, looking back every few steps as he followed Qin Yue away.
After the others left, only Xie Yan and Jiang Cichen were left in the tent. The playful expression on Xie Yan's face instantly faded, and he said seriously, "How could it be her? Isn't she dead?"
Jiang Cichen took the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp: "She is Luo Wan."
Xie Yan was stunned: "She is Luo Wan, then who is Tan Yin?"
Jiang Cichen said, "The Luo Wan and 'Tan Yin' we've seen are both her. The real Tan Yin has probably never appeared before us."
Xie Yan pondered and said, "So the person you fought against in Jinxi City was her?"
Jiang Cichen: "Yeah."
Xie Yan asked again, "So, that arrow I shot was also aimed at her?"
Jiang Cichen looked at him coldly.
Xie Yan said sheepishly, "Don't look at me. I attacked you because I was afraid she would take off your mask. I did it for you. But you blocked a sword for her, and now she's hit you with a palm. We're even. But don't tell her I shot her."
He didn't know if he had underestimated Luo Wan, or if this person was just too good at impersonating Chi Wanwan. The palm she delivered to Jiang Cichen was completely unrestrained, which really shattered his impression of her.
He didn't want to be hit by a palm strike as well. Jiang Cichen was strong enough to bear the "Palm of Enduring Friendship" alone.
Jiang Cichen said, "She already knows that I am the masked man from Jinxi City. Do you think she can't guess that you are the one who shot her? Besides, those people from the Beiye Ji faction were originally coming for me, and it had nothing to do with her."
Xie Yan asked, "What about the slap she gave you today? When Qin Yue told me that you were injured by a woman, I was wondering which woman could hurt you. Now that I think about it, it seems that only she could."
Jiang Cichen said: "I was the first to attack, she was just trying to protect herself."
"You attacked her?" Xie Yan's face was filled with disbelief. After a moment's thought, he said, "You mistook the person who came for Luo Wan's murderer, so you attacked her."
Jiang Cichen admitted it reluctantly.
He reluctantly admitted that he could be so impatient and stupid at times.
Xie Yan said, "Ah Chen, this is unlike you." He patted Jiang Cichen's shoulder, a hint of an ambiguous smile on his lips: "Anyway, it's a good thing. You don't have to be a widow anymore. The worst thing is... you cried for nothing."
Jiang Cichen told him to get lost.
Thank you for getting out of here.
I lifted the curtain and walked out, and the night wind blew sand onto my face.
Xie Yan lamented that someone was already terminally ill and beyond cure, yet the person himself was completely unaware of the situation, or was simply being stubborn.
Xie Yan met Qin Yue on his way back to his tent. He had just settled Luo Wan and Jiang Yuanan.
Qin Yue was a loyal and honest man. He had stayed in Yinan City for more than ten years, served as a garrison for more than ten years, fought against the Xiliang army for more than ten years, and had not married for more than ten years.
Even such a slow-witted person could see that Jiang Cichen had special feelings for the woman surnamed Luo.
Why did he suddenly change direction when he attacked her, why did he not dodge when she hit him, why did he stand there and let her take off her mask.
Qin Yue said, "Is Governor Jiang..." He was a little embarrassed to say the second half of the sentence.
Xie Yan nodded fiercely and whispered, "Your commander-in-chief even cried for her."
Qin Yue was stunned.
The Jiang and Xie families are old friends. Xie Yan and Jiang Ci Chen have known each other since they were young enough to wear open-crotch pants, but this was the first time Xie Yan saw him cry.
When the Xie family was wiped out, he stayed in the general's mansion because he was fond of playing, and escaped and survived.
I didn't expect that I could never go back.
After that, he lived and ate with Jiang Cichen and was taught by Grandpa Jiang.
Grandpa Jiang was a strict and stubborn old man. He used the same training methods for soldiers on them when they were still young, so they naturally suffered a lot.
No matter it is ice and snow, or torrential rain and scorching heat, even if you are too cold to pick up the sword or too tired to lift your hands, you dare not slack off for a moment.
Sometimes when he didn't practice well, the ruler would hit him again and again. Xie Yan was afraid of the pain and often ran away crying.
Jiang Cichen just stood there motionless, allowing the ruler to hit him, and never shed a tear.
At that time, there was a strange sight in the general's mansion: a young man was kneeling in the yard, and another young man was being chased.
Having learned a lot, they naturally became the best candidates to replace the elderly General Jiang to go to war.
The wind swept across the wilderness, and the young man Jiang Cichen pulled down the flag of the Cloud Kingdom, and the flag of the Northern Kingdom fluttered at the highest point of the battlefield.
The two scarred hands clasped together in mid-air, vowing to annihilate the Yun Kingdom for the Northern Kingdom to avenge their parents.
At that time, the two teenagers would never have thought that this would become the biggest joke of their lives.
The truth was revealed later in an unexpected incident.
The previous emperor passed away suddenly, Beiye Ji ascended the throne, and they were sent to the border by an imperial decree to wipe out the Huns.
The border unrest was not a big deal, and any general could be sent to lead troops to suppress it, but Beiye Ji specifically asked them to go into battle personally.
The imperial decree has been issued, and even though we know it is a trap, we have no choice but to step into it.
But when they arrived at the border, they found that the soldiers they brought with them had already been secretly replaced.
On the battlefield, the enemy and the "friendly forces" raised their swords at the same time. They were attacked from both sides and had nowhere to retreat. Chen Nanyuan led his personal guards to cover their retreat.
Gu Zhuohan led his troops to encircle and suppress the rebels, informing them of the Jiang family's execution and the so-called truth. Forced into a desperate situation, Jiang Cichen and Xie Yan finally took refuge in a cave.
It was snowing heavily, and the snow was getting heavier and heavier. The goose-feather-like snowflakes blocked their vision and concealed their whereabouts.
The inside of the cave was pitch black, with only a faint ray of snow-covered light coming through the entrance.
After a life-and-death battle, the two were exhausted and lay in the dark cave, motionless, breathing heavily, and the thin frost on their eyelashes slowly melted.
Xie Yan swore that was the most embarrassing day of his life.
The two men did not dare to light a fire easily, for fear that the smoke would attract pursuers.
If he lay there for a long time, even if he wasn't caught, he would freeze to death here.
In the end, Jiang Cichen got up, walked out of the cave silently, picked up a pile of dead branches, and lit a fire.
The fire gradually grew, and the cold darkness in the cave was pushed back inch by inch.
The dancing flames reflected on Jiang Cichen's face, giving his well-defined profile a warm hue. The flames flickered in his dark pupils, but his eyes were terrifyingly empty.
Xie Yan opened his mouth, holding back the words he had been holding back all the way, but now he didn't know whether he should say it or not.
Jiang Cichen broke a dry branch into two pieces: "Say whatever you want to say."
At that time, Jiang Cichen had just experienced the destruction of his family and the death of his loved ones, and he felt completely devastated. He thought that no news in this world could affect his emotions anymore.
Xie Yan stared at the firelight and said slowly, "News has come from Yanyun Pavilion about Tingyu Tower. Tan Yin is dead, and Luo Wan has reached the summit."
There was a long silence.
Jiang Cichen bet on the right thing.
When he helped her in the Red Mansion, wasn't it a bet that she would ascend to the position of the owner? Now that she succeeded, he should be happy.
The dead branches sparked a few sparks in the fire, making crackling sounds.
Jiang Cichen paused as he fiddled with the fire, then continued, his voice calm, "I understand."
Xie Yan had always thought that Jiang Cichen, like himself, was a man whose love affairs were only a small part of his life. Perhaps even smaller than that for Jiang Cichen.
But no matter what happened in the capital, Jiang Cichen blocked the sword for her, dragged his sick body to help her, and finally even let her leave.
Xie Yan guessed that Jiang Cichen treated her differently. Although he had never admitted it, his actions spoke for themselves.
But now, his reaction was so calm that Xie Yan was a little suspicious.
Yes, things are different now than in the past. They are burdened with blood feuds and have no time to think about love.
The two took turns keeping watch at night. When the fire went out the next morning, Xie Yan was awake, so he thought of gathering firewood and catching some game. After all, only when he was full could he have the strength to continue on his journey.
When he came back with a pile of firewood and a hare in his hand, Jiang Cichen had already woken up.
The wind and snow were howling outside the cave, and the silence inside was eerie.
Jiang Cichen lowered his eyes and took out something from his arms. It was the golden medicine Luo Wan had given him before leaving the capital.
Because of the fight, there were bloodstains on the celadon bottle.
Suddenly, a drop of hot tear fell on the bottle, blurring the dried blood.
His fingers were shaking so much that he could hardly hold the bottle steady. He brought the bottle close to his nose and kissed it lightly, like a devout believer kissing a holy object.
Outside the cave, the wind and snow became even more severe.
A few snowflakes drifted in and landed on his shoulders.
It was at that time that Xie Yan secretly saw Jiang Cichen crying.
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