Chapter 63
◎Regret.◎
Before Ci Ying could make a decision, secret guards suddenly emerged from a distance and rushed straight towards Yuwen Shu. The soldiers rushed to rescue him, and the hall that was surrounded by people suddenly opened up. In the chaos, Ci Ying and Zhu Guang looked at each other and ran out of the hall with the crowd.
The sounds of fighting inside were particularly obvious. Ci Ying had no time to think about what was happening. She followed Zhu Guang back to the wing room. The two of them simply packed up their things and left through a side door of the palace where few people came.
During this time, Ci Ying saw the surging soldiers, heading towards the lobby in rows. Ci Ying exchanged glances with Zhu Guang and quickened her pace to leave.
The two men did not stay in the inn, but found an empty house to live in.
Zhu Guang asked Ci Ying what she planned to do next, and Ci Ying just said, "Wait a little longer."
In the lobby.
The soldiers gradually gained control of the situation. Yuwen Shu angrily gazed at the messy hall and shouted, "Go and find out where those secret guards came from. Seal today's news and don't let it get out of the palace."
Yan Ji stood at the side of the hall and said, "It's an assassination attempt. Whether it gets out or not, it won't affect the prince's reputation."
This statement hit the snake in the groin. Yuwen Shu was angry, but he didn't want to break up with Yan Ji in front of everyone. He just said coldly, "I said no, so no. Yan Ji, go check today's guests for me. Which great Buddha has personally visited my small palace?"
All the plans were in vain. Yuwen Shu's plan to put the hats on those noble families was taken away before he even put them on. He was angry and looked unhappy. He clenched his fists as he remembered something.
In the dark room, Yuwen Shu looked at Yuwen Fu with a cold face and said angrily, "Aren't you very good at hiding?"
As he said this, he whipped him.
Yuwen Shu's eyelids twitched, but he said nothing. As the fight went on, Yuwen Shu felt that the fun was gone and cursed, "Trash."
Yuwen Fu said nothing. He lowered his eyes, sweat dripping from his forehead to his eyelids and then flowing down. Hearing Yuwen Shu's endless cursing, Yuwen Fu's eyes were full of ferocity.
He had been thinking about Ciying these past two days, and the more he thought about it, the more he hated Yuwen Shu. In his memory, his mother had been depressed since she came back from outside, and it turned out that it was because she had lost a child.
Compared to the vicious couple, Yuwen Fu felt that Yuwen Shu deserved to die more.
There really are people in the world who are willing to sell their wives and sons one after another for power and status. Even though my mother was pregnant at the time, she was sacrificed and used by Yuwen Shu without hesitation, becoming a pawn for Yuwen Shu to preserve his power.
Yu Wenfu gritted his teeth, and the smell of blood came out of his mouth.
Yuwen Shu was tired of fighting, so he snorted and left.
When Xie Huaijin appeared in the dark room with a light cough, Yuwen Fu's face was still very cold. Seeing that it was Xie Huaijin, he sneered: "This palace is like entering an empty place for you. How did you get captured by Yan Ji in the first place? You were so badly injured and almost died, but you didn't kill Yuwen Shu. You didn't leave it to me out of kindness."
Xie Huaijin looked at Yuwen Fu quietly. Although they were born of the same mother, Yuwen Fu and Ci Ying had no similarities at all.
Yuwen Fu doesn't even have half the intelligence of Ciying. If Ciying were in Yuwen Fu's position, Yuwen Shu would have been brought down long ago. But Yuwen Fu doesn't even know Yuwen Shu's vital points.
Xie Huaijin stared at Yuwen Fu's wounded body and asked, "Do you know why Yuwen Shu used your name to gather all the guests?"
Yu Wenfu had no idea, and looked straight at Xie Huaijin with an ugly expression: "You say."
Xie Huaijin coughed twice and said calmly, "Then you should know that Yuwen Shu sent you to Chang'an as a hostage. The late emperor thought that holding Yuwen Shu's only child could threaten him. Yuwen Shu also always expressed that he cared deeply about you, his only son."
"What exactly do you want to say?" Yu Wenfu frowned.
The young man opposite him covered his cough with a handkerchief and whispered, "Because in the eyes of outsiders, you and your son are one. He used you, abandoned you, and hurt you, but you are still his only son. His legacy will still be left to you a hundred years from now."
Yuwen Fu was increasingly confused about what Xie Huaijin was trying to say. He looked at his bound body covered in scars with self-mockery and asked, "Are you saying that Yuwen Shu treats me like his son?"
"Yes, you sent someone to abort the concubine's child. You are Yuwen Shu's only child. That's what you think, isn't it?"
Xie Huaijin revealed Yuwen Fu's secret thoughts, and his face turned ugly. He asked again: "What are you going to do?"
Xie Huaijin's tone was very calm, as if he was discussing something with Yuwen Fu, but the words he uttered slowly made Yuwen Fu feel cold all over.
The young man's face was pale, and the weak red light in the dark room could only clearly illuminate his cold eyes. There were traces of blood on the white handkerchief in his hand. His voice was flat: "I was just considering whether to kill you."
Although saying this, Xie Huaijin had no intention of taking action. He just looked at Yu Wenfu's stiff body.
Yuwen Fu asked: "Why?"
Xie Huaijin whispered, "To eliminate harm for the people?"
The atmosphere relaxed considerably during the question and answer period. Yuwen Fu looked at Xie Huaijin for a long moment and asked, "You're worried about what I might do to Ciying, right?"
Xie Huaijin neither admitted nor denied it, but just looked at Yuwen Fu indifferently.
Yu Wenfu swallowed his saliva and said, "If it's true that Ciying is my biological sister as you said, you know me well. I wouldn't be such a beast as to attack my own sister."
Xie Huaijin remained unmoved: "You won't do that now, but what about in the future?"
Yuwen Fu just thought it was ridiculous, and he said, "I can't!"
Xie Huaijin still shook his head: "But I don't believe you."
As he spoke, the young man pulled out a gleaming dagger from his sleeve. Yuwen Fu saw the real killing intent in Xie Huaijin's eyes. Rather than being afraid for his own life, he subconsciously asked, "Xie Huaijin, are you sick?"
If not, why should we make arrangements now for things that will happen in who knows how many years from now, and nip all possibilities in the bud?
In the dark room, Yuwen Fu looked at the young man's pale face and promised seriously, "Xie Huaijin, I don't know how seriously ill you are, but I believe you must have made a thorough plan for Ciying."
Xie Huaijin looked at Yuwen Fu quietly.
Yuwen Fu said, "You don't have to worry about me. Even though things are unpredictable, you have to believe that I love Ciying more than most people in the world. It's not because of anything else, it's just because she is my sister."
After a long time, Xie Huaijin left.
Zhu Yi and Zhu Er were waiting outside, reporting the news from Ci Ying and Zhu Guang. Xie Huaijin looked at the sky of Mobei again. It was still filled with sunset glow, and there was an illusory beauty.
He really wanted to kill Yuwen Fu.
After knowing the truth of what happened that year, Ci Ying will never forgive Yuwen Shu, but may forgive Yuwen Fu.
In the face of power, kinship is just the most illusory layer. As contenders for the future power of the Yan family, Ciying and Yuwen Shu have conflicting interests. When he is alive, Ciying still has a way out, but when he is gone, Ciying can only rely on herself.
In terms of intelligence, strategy and talent, Ciying is far superior to Yuwen Fu.
But Ci Ying was too upright in her actions, and she had a blood relationship with Yuwen Fu, so she didn't know when her heart would soften again. Being soft-hearted was a taboo for those in power. He had tried to change her for several years but she still couldn't get rid of this bad habit, and she would definitely make the same mistake again in the future.
But he still didn't kill Yuwen Fu.
Xie Huaijin felt that he should have killed him, but for some reason he didn't in the end.
Maybe it’s just that sentence: “You have to believe that I love Ciying more than most people in the world.”
Xie Huaijin hopes that everyone will love Ciying well.
He didn't know what this was.
What he had planned for half his life became tortuous in front of Ci Ying. He had to make a choice and finally use the power that he despised in his youth to protect the people he cared about. He watched himself carve Ci Ying's name on his weak spot.
When going out, people on the street hold lanterns in their hands.
Each person has a lamp, mostly young boys and girls, as if it is a festival unique to Mobei.
Xie Huaijin coughed lightly, and when he met a peddler selling lanterns to him, he bought one.
Even when he was young, such opportunities were rare. Xie Huaijin walked on the streets of Mobei. The night in May was not cool but not hot either. The young man was dressed in white with only a simple wooden hairpin on his head. Although his disguised face was ordinary, his temperament could not hide his nobility.
The young woman, full of yearning, smiled sweetly and handed the sachet to the young man. Xie Huaijin simply lowered his head and said softly, "Thank you, but I already have a wife."
The girls didn't mind and turned around to ask what kind of person Xie Huaijin's wife was.
Xie Huaijin didn't know how to describe it for a moment. The people in Mobei were more enthusiastic than those in Chang'an. Seeing that Xie Huaijin didn't answer, he smiled and asked again. After a long time, Xie Huaijin just said, "Like spring flowers."
The flowers that grow in spring carry the vitality unique to spring.
The girls whispered to each other, and finally said, "You must love your wife very much."
It was a long time after the crowd left that Xie Huaijin picked up the lantern on the ground.
He seemed to hear this word for the first time, the first time in his life. He walked quietly to the river and released lanterns with the others. The lanterns could only drift a short distance on the river before they sank into the current.
Xie Huaijin coughed softly and thought of what the girls said. He seemed to not feel that he loved Ciying.
The love in the book is not like this.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with a handkerchief, but felt that it didn't seem important.
So what if it’s love? Ciying doesn’t need love like that from him.
What does Ciying need?
After much thought, Xie Huaijin could only think of the word "rights". Ci Ying could only be free if she truly possessed rights.
The rights given by loving another person are ultimately just a disguised shackle. For this reason, he even wanted to kill Yuwen Fu, let alone himself.
Xie Huaijin stood up and thought it was a pretty good night.
But on the way back, it started raining for some reason.
The weather in Mobei is changeable. Xie Huaijin hid from the rain in a tea stall with others. This was something he had never done before. The crowd was very close to him, and he was able to see the world up close. It turned out that the noise of many people crowded together was very hot.
The free tea offered by the tea stall owner was the worst tea Xie Huaijin had ever tasted in his life, but he still drank it bit by bit. As soon as he put down the cup, he started coughing, bent over and covered his mouth with a handkerchief so as not to disturb others.
Power in this life has given Xie Huaijin many things, but it has never given him the right to choose.
He joined the vast crowd and found that he was just an ordinary person in the crowd. The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier. People around him began to sigh. Amidst the pushing and shoving, Xie Huaijin started coughing again. When an umbrella was handed to him from behind, the familiar voice made Xie Huaijin's body freeze.
Ci Ying squeezed next to him and whispered, "I noticed you've been coughing. Are you feeling unwell? I happen to have an umbrella here. Take it and go to the restaurant in front to avoid the rain. The teahouse is open and the wind and rain are too strong, and there are too many people."
Zhu Guang looked at the person in front of him with some hesitation, his eyes wandering around the young man's neck, but the rain had wet his collar and he couldn't see anything.
Faced with Ciying's kindness, Xie Huaijin just shook his head.
Ci Ying said softly, "It's okay. This umbrella belongs to a tea stall owner. You can return it for me someday."
Xie Huaijin still shook his head and said nothing.
Ci Ying gave up. After all, there was no point in forcing an umbrella on someone else.
She just recognized that this young man was the one she mistook for Xie Huaijin at the banquet at Yuwen Mansion, but when she looked at him from a closer distance, she felt that it should not be him. The young man's face was pale and there was a strong smell of medicine on his body, which was bitter and made people's nose sore. When she heard him coughing continuously, she couldn't help but speak.
Zhu Guang asked Ci Ying if they should go back now that the rain had subsided. Before Ci Ying could say anything, she saw a young man hurriedly walking into the rain. His back was thin, and the words she was about to speak were suppressed: "...Why don't you use the umbrella even though you have one?"
Zhu Guang hugged Ci Ying's arm and said, "Never mind, let's go back first. It will rain again soon."
Ci Ying glanced towards the direction the young man had walked for some reason. Zhu Guang asked Ci Ying what she was looking at, and Ci Ying replied, "It seems the rain is getting heavier."
Zhu Guang took a look and found that it was true.
Ci Ying and Zhu Guang waited until the rain subsided before returning.
Ciying had been a little distracted on the way. Zhu Guang supported Ciying, who was about to fall, and asked softly, "Ciying, what's wrong?"
Ci Ying said softly, "Nothing, I'm just a little confused and feel like something is going to happen."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Guang's face grew serious. "Ciying, are the guesses you made yesterday true?"
Ci Ying lowered her eyes: "Seven or eight points."
She couldn't be completely sure because there wasn't enough information, but if Yuwen Fu had indeed searched everywhere over the years, combined with what she and Zhu Guang had inquired about in the palace these days, then the place where the military token was was very likely the one she thought of.
Ci Ying looked at the rain outside the window and said softly, "Let's return the umbrella tomorrow."
Zhu Guang nodded. They were originally going to see the Lantern Festival and then return the umbrella, but it started to rain heavily halfway through. They wanted to rush back directly, but the rain was too heavy, so they hid. It was too late, so they came back after the rain was lighter, so they naturally didn't return the umbrella.
When going to bed at night, Ci Ying subconsciously locked the door, and then she looked at the lock as if she remembered something.
She couldn't explain the uneasiness in her heart.
Obviously everything was going well. She just needed to wait for another opportunity, get the military token and persuade Yan Ji, and then arrange things in Mobei and return to Jiangnan to reunite with Ru Zhen and the others.
What exactly is the problem?
Ci Ying couldn't explain the panic in her heart. She would never think that things were going so smoothly because someone was setting up a trap. The only person in the world with such a bad taste was Xie Huaijin, but Xie Huaijin was indeed not in Mobei. If he was there, he would have come out long ago when he saw her injured like that at Yan Ji's hands.
When this thought emerged in Ciying's mind, she felt a little confused.
She did not forget the people Xie Huaijin had released in Jiangnan. She held the door lock with her hand for a long time before letting go. The candle on the table lengthened her shadow. She lowered her eyes, walked to the couch, sat down, and slowly took off her clothes.
When Ciying fell asleep, the rain outside stopped.
Another place in Mobei.
Zhu Yi and Zhu Er brought the doctor in. Xie Huaijin lay on the bed with a pale face and even breathing. It was impossible to tell that he had a high fever unless you got close. Zhu Yi said to the doctor, "My son has a fever after coming back from being caught in the rain. Could you please take a look?"
The doctor went forward to feel the patient's pulse, and the more he felt, the more he frowned: "Nonsense!"
The foolish man was in a coma. Zhu Yi and Zhu Er listened to the doctor's scolding: "You're so sick, yet you still go out? Not only did you go out, but you got caught in the rain, as if you were afraid you wouldn't die. You're so confused. You're healthy, but you still have a confused mind. This disease... Alas, you still think of seeing a doctor. The doctor sighed after seeing him. Go boil a pot of water and heat the needle for me. I'll go and remove the cold from the young master's body."
Zhu Er went out to boil water, while Zhu Yi listened to the doctor's scolding.
The doctor did not stop until the person on the bed woke up. Xie Huaijin listened quietly with a tired look on his face.
As soon as the doctor inserted an needle, cold sweat began to appear on the young man's forehead. Zhu Er wanted to step forward but was stopped by Zhu Yi. Mobei was far away from Chang'an, and it was common for doctors to have their own acupuncture methods. He invited a very famous local doctor who usually consulted the rich and prescribed medicine for the poor so as not to harm people.
The doctor continued acupuncture for an hour, but Xie Huaijin remained silent. His forehead and neck were covered in sweat. When daybreak came, the doctor frowned and asked, "You can't speak?"
As he spoke, the doctor began to take the patient's pulse.
Candle One, Candle Two lowered their heads and said nothing.
The doctor injected another shot. Xie Huaijin's eyes trembled slightly and he said softly, "Thank you for your help."
The doctor snorted softly, his expression quickly turning serious again. "Why don't you treat your illness? Seeing that your servants are well-dressed, you must be well-off. Why don't you treat a healthy person who is ill? If this fever gets any worse, it will kill you. If you continue like this, even the Immortal Jinluo will be powerless to save you."
Seeing that Xie Huaijin didn't say anything, the doctor sighed softly.
Everyone in the world has his or her own hardships, but he has never seen anyone whose hardship leads to suicide.
But he was just a doctor. He wrote a prescription and put it on the table. He turned to leave. Zhu Er chased him and stuffed a large handful of silver into his pocket. The doctor weighed it and found it was about twenty taels.
After taking two steps, he couldn't help himself. The silver in his purse was heavy, weighing down the words in his heart. He couldn't help but say, "Don't believe those stories of reincarnation. If you can't live well in this life, what will happen in the next life? There are millions of miserable people in the world. A dead heart is more terrible than a dead body."
After saying that, the doctor left.
Zhu Yi and Zhu Er waited for a long time, only for Xie Huaijin to say, "Go down."
They knew something about the young master's illness. It was neither serious nor not serious. He had not been well since he was captured and taken to Yuwen Mansion. One of his legs was broken. He drank medicine to force himself to stand up, but the medicine was highly toxic. In addition, he had been in poor health since then, so he became ill over time.
later......
During the time Zhu Guang was here, the young master always vomited after taking medicine, and vomited after taking medicine. Not only did his illness not get better, it became worse. Later... later it got better, but they didn't know if they could use the word "better". Sometimes they felt that the young master seemed to be making arrangements for his afterlife.
The building is about to collapse. The apparent prosperity of the Xie family conceals its decline underneath. No one understands better than them that every step the young master has taken over the years has accelerated the decline of the Xie family.
It only got better after my wife came.
But it's just a different approach.
But the Xie family and the young master have always been one. Zhu Yi and Zhu Er don't believe that the young master doesn't understand this truth, but they can only remain silent. The young master will not listen to what they say.
Zhu Yi and Zhu Er closed the door from the outside. Xie Huaijin looked at the wound on his wrist quietly. He didn't know when, a few new scratches appeared on the young man's wrist. They were not as deep as before, but they merged with the previous ones.
If someone asked Xie Huaijin what love is?
The only response Xie Huaijin could give was silence.
No one taught him how to love someone. He went from one extreme to another in a paranoid manner. Or maybe he just understood too well. Every word of life and death from Ci Ying's mouth made him understand for the first time what fear was. His flesh and blood grew together with the Xie family, so his love and hate were silent and hideous.
The weather in Mobei is changeable. It rained heavily last night, but the sky cleared up the next day.
Zhu Guang spent two days investigating the Yan family's patrol situation. On the third day, Ci Ying and Zhu Guang sneaked into the Yan family together.
Compared to the palace, the declining Yan family had only a few old and frail soldiers patrolling, making it easy for Ci Ying and Zhu Guang to infiltrate. It was so easy, so Zhu Guang asked Ci Ying, "I've been observing the Yan Mansion for the past two days, and there have only been these soldiers patrolling. They must have been injured and retired from the battlefield. It doesn't look like the Yan Mansion has anything important."
The important thing refers to the military token.
Ci Ying's eyes narrowed, and she shook her head at Zhu Guang: "If the incident at the last banquet hadn't caused Yu Wenshu to move, I think the military token would most likely be where I guessed."
Zhu Guang said softly, "Okay, I believe Ciying."
The two of them arrived at an abandoned study, which, according to a plaque, had once belonged to General Yan Fei, Ciying's uncle. Zhu Guang carefully closed the door, making sure there were no stalkers nearby before approaching Ciying. Ciying's eyes fixed on a spot on the bookshelf. Before Zhu Guang could ask what was wrong, he saw Ciying step onto a stool and pull out the second volume from the far right on the top shelf.
Zhu Guang asked curiously, "Is there anything special about this book?"
Ci Ying was flipping through the pages, and the smell of dust hit her face. She turned the pages, one by one, and soon a letter appeared.
Zhu Guang was surprised: "There really is something, Ciying, what is this?"
Ci Ying was stunned for a moment before she said it was a love poem, and then she answered Zhu Guang's question: "There is a copy of the Book of Songs in a military manual, so I thought it might contain some clues."
Zhu Guang picked up the small piece of paper and looked it over. "What kind of clue is this? A hidden poem or something? Ciying, I can't figure it out."
Ci Ying took the letter back from Zhu Guang's hand, carefully put it back, and then put the book back where it belonged. She said softly, "There's no clue."
Thinking of this, she looked at the passage in the Book of Songs again, feeling a little dazed for a moment.
Too long had passed, a love buried by dust and time, perhaps never to see the light of day. Rumor had it that Madam Yan and General Yan Fei were deeply in love, and it was General Yan Fei who carried her on his back when she married. General Yan Fei died on the battlefield soon after Madam Yan's death. Neither left much behind. Ci Ying had inquired for days at the palace but hadn't seen a single portrait. The Yan residence only had this small poem to record their past.
Ci Ying didn't know what to feel in her heart, only a vague regret.
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