Chapter 57 Old Dreams
Jiang Fei grasped the key point from the system's words, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head.
The hidden plot line is related to the encounter in Jiangnan ten years ago. The children Pei Jing took away were boys in their teens and girls seven or eight years old, which exactly matched the ages of Pei Jing and Wei Ciying ten years ago.
"What happened to those children later?" Jiang Fei asked the waiter again.
The waiter said, "Then no one will know. Perhaps when she grows up, Prince Zhaoning will no longer like her and may just kill her and bury her somewhere."
Jiang Fei frowned when she heard this. "Since you said you didn't know, you shouldn't be talking nonsense. That's how those false rumors spread outside."
The waiter nodded repeatedly in agreement with her words, "Miss, you are right. I just heard it from others, it's not something I made up myself."
Jiang Fei waved her hand, "Okay, you can go down."
After the waiter left, Jiang Fei had no interest in staying any longer.
Even if you go downstairs to listen, you will probably only hear some gossip heard from others and can't find a few true words.
…
Pei Jing slept for an exceptionally long time, as if he would never wake up.
The palace road seemed endless, with a group of ghosts chasing after him, some of whom were two or three years older than him, and some were one or two years younger.
The bodies of the ghostly figures were stretched out by the candlelight, and their necks and thin arms almost reached his feet.
So he could only run and run, and finally hid in a carriage.
The carriage swayed for a long, long time, so long that he was almost out of hunger and had no strength left, and finally stopped at the foot of a mountain.
His uncle, the almighty king, went up the stairs with his personal guards. He waited for a long time but they did not come back, so he followed them up the mountain along the same path.
It was dark everywhere. Under the eaves, there were monks and nuns kneeling silently, and guards standing on high alert, but none of them dared to approach the courtyard.
Ten-year-old Pei Jing went there.
He was not living well at that time and had not grown much. The ten-year-old boy looked only seven or eight years old. He secretly avoided the monks, nuns and guards and entered the courtyard.
In the dream, the window seemed closed, yet also seemed open. Pei Jing stretched his neck to peer into the thatched cottage...
A childish voice came softly from far away, telling him, "Anian, don't look at me."
Pei Jing really obeyed and stopped looking.
But he couldn't find the person who called him, and he became more and more panicked. The voice seemed to come from his head, because he knew that she didn't exist here at all.
He had to spend a long, long period of difficult and painful days alone before he met the little girl who briefly pulled him out of the darkness.
It was already dusk outside the window, and the room was so quiet that the sound of the candlelight popping could be heard clearly.
"Grass sprouts..."
Pei Jing suddenly opened his eyes, cold sweat soaked his pajamas, and his chest was still heaving violently.
"The prince is awake?" Duan Jiu heard the noise and immediately came in from the outer room, holding a bowl of medicine in his hand. "The prince has been in a coma for a whole day."
Pei Jing stared at the pattern on the tent ceiling, his voice a little hoarse, "Just now... I thought I heard the sound of grass sprouts."
Duan Jiu helped Pei Jing sit up, "Your Highness, do you still remember what happened today?"
Pei Jing sometimes loses a short period of memory and cannot remember what happened before he fainted. Duan Jiu asked this question to confirm.
"Are you referring to the killing of that beast? Or the later..." Pei Jing paused, then suddenly asked, "Who was the person who appeared in front of me at that time?"
"The person the prince saw before he passed out was Miss Wei." Duan Jiu said, "Miss Wei even helped the prince up. I...didn't dare to get close at that time."
Pei Jing showed a slightly shocked expression on his face, "Is it really her?"
He took the medicine bowl and put it to his lips. Just as he was about to drink it, he suddenly changed his mind and handed the bowl to Duan Jiu.
"Your Majesty, won't you take the medicine?"
Pei Jing got off the bed and said, "It doesn't have any effect even if I drink it. The last time I got sick was less than half a month ago."
Duan Jiu pursed his lips while holding the medicine bowl.
The last time I had the disease was in Tingquan Mountain, and it has only been a few days since I returned. It is indeed becoming more and more frequent. In previous years, it would only occur once every few months.
Pei Jing walked to the window, and the last rays of sunset dyed the window frame red.
He gently ran his fingers across the windowsill. The wood texture became darker with the years of wind and frost, like a faded old dream.
"Duan Jiu." Pei Jing suddenly said, "I want to see her one last time and confirm something with her before I go completely crazy."
His attacks are becoming more and more frequent. Perhaps one day, he will become a complete madman, never to wake up again, and will not recognize anyone.
Duan Jiu hesitated and said, "Hasn't the prince already met Miss Wei?"
Pei Jing shook his head. "That doesn't count as a real meeting."
Don't be strangers, don't be alienated.
What he wanted to see was the little girl who softly called him "Anian". He wanted to ask her why she left him without a word when she had clearly agreed to pick up trash to support him.
He waited for her alone in that dilapidated temple that was leaking and drafty for a month, waiting for the coldest winter, and he almost died there.
Duan Jiu looked at the back of his prince standing in front of the window, and suddenly felt that the figure was particularly lonely.
Duan Jiu mustered up the courage to ask, "Then why didn't the prince tell Miss Wei directly?"
This time Pei Jing was silent for a long time, so long that even when the maid lit the light in the room, he still did not answer.
It's because of fear, fear of the answer.
If she left on purpose, it would mean that he was abandoned again, and he was afraid that he would not be able to help but kill her.
But if she had her reasons for leaving, he was afraid that one day he would become a complete madman, and he would be the one to break his promise.
The maid holding the lamp quietly retreated, and Duan Jiu said, "Prince, would you like the meal to be served?"
"It would be best if she has some hardship." Pei Jing said quietly, "Otherwise, I will definitely kill her."
Duan Jiu took a while to realize that the prince was still stuck on the previous question.
He gestured to the waiting maid, signaling for the meal to be served, and then continued, "Your Highness, I'm afraid the Censorate will impeach you again tomorrow for murdering someone in the street..."
Pei Jing sneered, the candlelight casting a small shadow between his deep brows. "Let them impeach me. Have they done anything else over the years besides talking?"
He turned around and said, "I should thank them. If it weren't for these noisy crows, life would be too boring. The more they impeach, the angrier that person gets. I like to see the emperor helpless."
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