Chapter 132 Returning to Roots: The Young Couple Sleeps in Each Other's Arms
"Xiao Qiyu? Xiao Qiyu?"
Dew condensed on the eaves, and the dark blue sunlight seeped into the carved windows. The curtains swayed gently, and a light breeze blew by.
Xiao Qiyu's brow twitched violently. He suddenly opened his eyes and met a pair of worried almond-shaped eyes.
Cui Ying lay on his chest, her long hair cascading over his shoulders, her snow-white breasts pressed against his chest like a vine growing from him. Her brows were furrowed, and she blinked, asking him, "What's wrong? You were trembling in your sleep, and you woke me up."
The moment Xiao Qiyu saw her, he felt as if he had taken a reassuring pill. The bloody smell in his dream was covered by the soft fragrance of her body, and his disordered heartbeat gradually calmed down.
"It's alright, it was just a dream." His hand unconsciously wrapped around Cui Ying's waist, gently caressing her. Even though he was the one having the nightmare, he couldn't help but comfort her.
Cui Ying continued to stare at him, her eyes wide open, and leaned closer to his face, asking, "What did you dream about?"
Xiao Qiyu paused for a moment: "It wasn't a good dream, let's not talk about it."
After saying that, he closed his eyes.
Seeing him close his eyes, Cui Ying couldn't help but feel sleepy as well. It was only dawn, and if he hadn't been trembling violently in his sleep and startled her awake, she would never have woken up at this hour.
Cui Ying rolled her eyes at him: "Take it or leave it. Let go of my hand, I'm going down to sleep."
Sensing her intention to leave, Xiao Qiyu let out a soft groan, his voice lazy and languid, almost like a spoiled child: "Can't I even hug you for a little while?"
Cui Ying paused for a moment, her words slurred and unclear, as if carefully choosing her words, and murmured, "No... I don't feel comfortable with you like this..."
Xiao Qiyu: "Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Cui Ying: "My stomach..."
Xiao Qiyu slowly lifted his eyelids and looked down—
Cui Ying felt embarrassed and annoyed by his gaze, and tried to pry his hand away.
Xiao Qiyu: "The more you move, the more uncomfortable you feel."
His tone was indifferent, as if he were commenting on something external.
Cui Ying still couldn't remain calm and composed in these matters. Her cheeks flushed red like ripe cherries without her realizing it. She clenched her fist and punched his chest: "Then what should we do?"
Xiao Qiyu let out a soft breath, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly: "Be quiet, you'll go down by yourself in a bit."
He's not an animal; how could he possibly have those feelings at such a critical moment? He's just young and impetuous. Whether you have feelings or not doesn't matter; as long as you're alive, this is the situation you'll wake up to.
Xiao Qiyu didn't like himself like this either. He was a human, not a dog. What kind of person was he if he couldn't even control his heat?
Hearing him say that, Cui Ying stopped moving and quietly lay on him. After yawning twice, she nestled in Xiao Qiyu's arms and closed her eyes. She only wanted to take a nap, but she fell asleep again in just a few breaths. Her long eyelashes quietly covered her almond-shaped eyes, making her look exceptionally well-behaved.
Xiao Qiyu hadn't slept well to begin with, and now with the warm, soft body in his arms, drowsiness quickly returned, and he instinctively tightened his embrace around Cui Ying.
Outside the window, the dark blue sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, and golden-red rays of sunlight surged forth. The brilliant morning light leaped over the high roof of the Marquis's mansion, pierced through the carved window lattices, and cascaded down onto the couch.
Dust motes floated up and down in the light. The young couple slept in each other's arms, their hair intertwined and their clothes overlapping. In their deep sleep, their hands, one big and one small, were clasped together like intertwined branches, their fingers interlocked.
Xiao Qiyu's habitually furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and he murmured softly in his sleep, "Tuantuan..."
Whether Cui Ying heard it or not, she muttered something incomprehensible, then nestled her head into the crook of Xiao Qi's neck and slept soundly.
...
The next day, the city gates were opened wide, and two hundred soldiers escorted Xiao Yuanzhong's coffin into the capital. People along the way had already prepared paper money, and paper money filled the air along the route, accompanied by a chorus of weeping.
"May General Xiao rest in peace!"
The Dingyuan Marquis's residence was entirely white. With Qin's help, Wang moved to the doorway and placed her trembling hands on the coffin.
The coffin, made of heavy materials, was originally a symbol of status, but now it is covered in dust and grime from the long journey, with scratches left by wind and rain on the paint.
Wang's aged fingertips traced the patterns on the coffin, as if caressing her eldest son's face. Her eyes, long since dried of tears, could no longer shed a trace of grief; only a deathly desolation remained.
"My son, you're home. Your mother has come to welcome you."
Wang touched the coffin and murmured softly, "You said that the men of the Xiao family should stand tall and guard the country's borders with their lives, so you went to the northern desert at the age of twenty, got married and had children, and never left. You must have been very tired after being blown by the winds and sands of the northern desert for so many years. Now you can finally rest properly and go home. You won't leave again, you won't leave again..."
Xiao Yuanshou and Xiao Yuanke, dressed in plain white, knelt weeping beneath the coffin: "Big Brother!"
After this sound, everyone present burst into tears.
Only Qin Shi did not cry.
She knelt on the ground, staring blankly at the coffin, her face pale. It wasn't because she wasn't sad enough, but rather because she was so grief-stricken that she couldn't even utter a sound.
Looking at Xiao Yuanzhong's coffin, Qin Shi seemed to see her own family's fate reflected in it, as if the person lying inside was not her brother-in-law, but her husband and son.
Beside her, Xiao Shu was already sobbing uncontrollably, her body swaying precariously as she sobbed incoherently, "My uncle is dead, my father is imprisoned in the Turkic royal court, my brother is going to war the day after tomorrow, my family is dwindling, and tragedy is piling up. Why must I marry the Prince of Qi! Why!"
Fearing that her words might be overheard by someone with ulterior motives, Cui Ying quickly whispered a few words to her, and Xiao Shu's crying subsided, though she was still sobbing.
Cui Ying was no better off. She was still in a daze when she heard the news of her uncle's death, but now that she saw the coffin, she truly understood what it meant for a person to die like a lamp going out. A mere layer of wood separated life from death, and the living from the dead. She could still clearly see that person's face in her mind, but she would never see that face again.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down Cui Ying's face. She turned her head, wanting to ask Cui Jin for a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
A large hand reached out and gently brushed her cheek with its fingertips, wiping away her tears.
Xiao Qiyu was dressed in coarse hemp mourning clothes, and his hair was also tied up with hemp cloth. A few strands of hair fell from his forehead, brushing against his pale, bloodless face.
Perhaps because he had experienced life and death at a young age, his expression was unusually calm compared to the grief of others. The scorching sunlight fell on him, but it did not warm him in the slightest.
He just watched Cui Ying, patiently wiping away the tear stains on her face, the calluses on his fingertips softened by the tears.
"Don't cry." Xiao Qiyu paused, then continued to comfort her, "Your snot is almost dripping into your mouth."
Cui Ying glared at him with teary eyes, her voice thick with emotion: "Is this how you comfort someone?"
Xiao Qiyu wiped away her last tear: "Look, you're not crying now."
"Xiao Qiyu, you're so annoying." Cui Ying turned her head away, trying to avoid his hand, but this pulled on her stiff shoulders and neck, making her hiss softly from the soreness.
Xiao Qiyu gently pinched her chin, straightened her face, lowered his head slightly, and whispered in her ear, "Today is still long, there's a lot to endure later. I'll keep an eye on Xiao Shu for you. Remember to take a break when you have a chance; you can't keep kneeling like that forever."
Cui Ying hesitated for a moment, glancing at the solemn coffin: "Aren't you afraid your uncle will be angry?"
Xiao Qiyu: "My uncle is magnanimous and open-minded, so he wouldn't fuss over such a trivial matter. If he were here, he would probably be the first to send you all to rest."
Cui Ying felt a lump in her throat and said with a wry smile, "What you say makes sense. Then I'll go to your study in the front yard to rest for a while. It's close to the mourning hall, so if anything happens, I can get there quickly."
“Alright.” Xiao Qiyu nodded, watching her quietly retreat with her maid. He straightened his back again and knelt back among the mourners. His shoulders and back were straight, like a silent jade statue, making even his coarse linen mourning clothes look like something aloof from the world.
Amidst cries, the coffin was brought into the mourning hall. Night fell quickly, and the hall was brightly lit with tall white candles.
White banners hung all around, incense smoke swirled, and everyone in the Marquis's mansion, dressed in hemp clothing, knelt before the spirit tablet to keep vigil.
On both sides of the mourning hall, monks dressed in Haiqing robes lowered their eyes, clasped their hands together, and chanted the Rebirth Mantra in a low voice: "Namo Amitabha Buddha, Tathagata Buddha..."
The chanting of Buddhist scriptures, accompanied by wisps of incense smoke, drifted between the roof beams, overlooking the myriad aspects of human life.
Wang knelt at the head of the table with her eyes closed, her withered hands slowly turning the prayer beads. Her lips moved silently, and when her gaze fell on the name on the memorial tablet, she murmured, "My child, lay down your burdens and go on your journey in peace. If there is an afterlife, you still want to be my child. This time, I don't want you to be a general of this dynasty, I only want you to be my child, my child..."
Xiao Qiyu knelt quietly behind his elder brothers, the sound of chanting repeating endlessly in his ears. His eldest uncle's face and voice, his smile, appeared uncontrollably before his eyes. To this day, he could never forget the scene when he first heard the news of his uncle's death:
"...When your eldest and second uncles led their troops on a raid, they were ambushed by the main force personally led by the Turkic Khan. Your second uncle fought bravely but was no match for them and was captured by the Turks. Your eldest uncle was shot in the heart by an arrow and died instantly..."
Suddenly, Xiao Qiyu remembered his dream again.
On the northern plains, blood flowed like a river. Xiao Heng knelt in a pool of blood, his heart pierced by countless arrows. His lips moved, telling him, "Don't come."
A chill ran down his spine, and Xiao Qiyu clenched his fist tightly inside the sleeve of his mourning clothes, his knuckles protruding and turning bluish-white.
"Seventh Brother".
Xiao Heng's voice was hoarse as he turned to look at Xiao Qiyu, his once handsome face now covered in a layer of dust: "Let's chant sutras together to cleanse our uncle's karma."
Xiao Qiyu slightly raised his eyes, the candlelight flickering in them, reflecting an unfathomable gloom. He spoke: "Karmic obstacles can be eliminated, but how can national and family feuds be eliminated?"
Xiao Heng was taken aback: "What did you say?"
Xiao Qiyu interrupted him, looking directly at him: "Third Brother, Mobei, do you really have to go?"
Xiao Heng was stunned by the stern look in his eyes and vaguely sensed that something was wrong. Just as he was about to ask a question, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the mourning hall.
A group of old women and servants scrambled about, shouting in a panic, "It's terrible! There's a fire! The sparks from burning paper money were blown by the wind into the front yard and set Seventh Master's study on fire!"
The front study is on fire.
Xiao Qiyu felt a buzzing in his head, and his blood seemed to turn cold instantly.
"Cui Ying!"
He shouted angrily, stood up, pushed through the crowd, and ran wildly toward the study.
With a couple of gusts of night wind, the fire quickly spread, turning the sky above the houses a fiery red, with thick black smoke billowing into the air.
Cui Jin's hands and feet were bound by two old women. The smoke made her eyes water, and she screamed hoarsely towards the firelight, "Girl! Come out quickly! Girl!"
Inside the study, Cui Ying was choked by the thick smoke, feeling dizzy and her vision blurred.
She suppressed her discomfort, rushed to the desk, and hurriedly grabbed the map of the northern desert terrain drawn by Xiao Qiyu himself, stuffing it haphazardly into her sleeve. She intended to leave quickly, but after taking a step, she seemed to remember something and turned back, reaching for the bookshelf.
The bamboo slips were engulfed by flames, as if they were burning hot coals, but Cui Ying dared not hesitate. He quickly flipped through the scrolls and finally found the ancient military strategy book with annotations written by his second uncle, Xiao Yuanshuo, on the top shelf.
As soon as Cui Ying grasped the ancient book in her hand, she inhaled a strong fumes into her lungs. Her vision blurred, her legs went weak, and she could barely stand.
As her consciousness faded, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her waist. The next moment, the world spun around her, and she was lifted up firmly and placed into an incredibly strong embrace.
Xiao Qiyu's voice was hoarse and anxious: "Cui Ying, wake up! Listen to me!"
Cui Ying was choked by the smoke and couldn't speak. Tears welled up uncontrollably, and she could only make short, indistinct sounds.
Without further hesitation, Xiao Qiyu covered her mouth and nose with his sleeve, turned around and rushed towards the rickety doorway: "I can't lose anyone else now, especially you, Cui Ying!"
A wave of heat hit him on the back, and a section of the roof beam, unable to bear the weight, crashed down and hit Xiao Qiyu on the back. But he did not stop for a moment. Facing the sparks flying everywhere, he leaped out of the room in one go.
Finally emerging from the fire, a night breeze eased Cui Ying's cough slightly. She looked up, her face smeared with soot, and whispered weakly, "Xiao Qiyu, you saved me again..."
Xiao Qiyu's chest heaved, his heart pounding like a drum. Hearing this, he looked down at her abruptly, his eyes bloodshot. Overwhelmed by fear, he almost swallowed her whole. For the first time in his life, he roared at Cui Ying, "Am I saving you?!"
"I'm saving myself!"
"Cui Ying! Do you think that if you die, I can live on?!"
Flames shot up behind them, turning half the night sky a fiery crimson and illuminating Xiao Qiyu's face.
The handsome young man's face was covered in dust, his hair fluttered wildly in the firelight, his eyes were filled with overwhelming pain, his eyelashes trembled violently, and he gritted his teeth.
A tear slid down his scarlet eye, but before it could fall, it was instantly dried by the heat of the flames, leaving only a very faint damp mark.
Cui Ying was stunned by his unprecedentedly intense demeanor, staring blankly at him, forgetting even to explain.
She should probably feel wronged, after all, she didn't want to put herself in such a dangerous situation. She just didn't expect that the smoke from the burning flames was far more terrifying than the menacing firelight. One breath could be fatal. She could defend herself; she had the ability to defend herself.
But Cui Ying couldn't care less.
A stronger, more surging emotion welled up within her, her body trembling uncontrollably. She stared fixedly at Xiao Qiyu's broken and out-of-control state, her voice small and choked with sobs, "Xiao Qiyu, seeing you like this, anyone who didn't know better would think you love me, love me to death."
"I just like you!"
Xiao Qiyu trembled all over, the firelight reflecting in his dark eyes. The emotions that had been building up for countless days and nights erupted forth, forcing him to roar amidst the crackling flames:
"I like you so much! Cui Ying! I like you!"
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