Chapter 2: Rebirth "What did you call me?"
In the cold twelfth month of winter, a thin layer of ice formed on the Wuyue River. A few Qiang soldiers, swords in hand, patrolled the banks of this river, known as the "Mother River of the Western Rong." Crossing the Wuyue River, climbing over the nearby mountains, and heading east for another hundred miles would lead them back to the Central Plains.
In the early morning light, Chai Heng carried Ji Changqing, who was beaten and bleeding and crying out in pain, on his back and glanced at his hometown in the Central Plains, which was a hundred miles away.
"It's New Year's Day in two days. I wonder how my wife is doing at home all by herself. Look at me and Yang Yan. We chose to go to the Ministry of War instead of the Ministry of Revenue. Now, we've been sent to Xirong as envoys by the imperial court, and we've been detained for no reason."
"I come from a scholarly background, having diligently studied the sages' books for over a decade. Integrity is my most cherished virtue. Yet, I'm being a thief every day just for a pot of goat's milk! And being beaten like this by those herdsmen is truly a disgrace to my dignity."
Ji Changqing covered the big hole on his head and hissed, while lying on Chai Heng's back and muttering angrily.
He had always been a chatterbox, and he had been beaten very badly today. Chai Heng barely endured his chatter for a long time, then suddenly stopped as if remembering something:
"Just now, those herdsmen said they captured a few more Central Plains people at the camp this morning. Did you hear that?"
"I heard it, but what can we do? Tuoba Yuanli has drawn a circle around us. We are surrounded by spies. He enjoys torturing us and wants to see how the three of us can survive in this circle. We are already busy with our own affairs, so how can we save our colleagues?"
Ji Changqing disagreed. After two months in Xirong, he had thought it through. As an envoy, although he shouldered the heavy burden of peace between the two states, the damn Tuoba Yuanli obviously did not want to be on good terms with Da Qi and intended to destroy the peace on the border for decades. In this case, he just had to keep himself alive.
Thinking of this, he added shamelessly to Chai Heng, "Chai Si, don't overthink it. You're only here to accompany Lord Yang. The relationship between these two countries is too complicated. Even men can't figure it out, let alone you women. As an envoy, I'm very good at ensuring that I won't reveal any of the secrets of our Great Qi under severe punishment. Don't ask for more from me."
For some reason, after hearing what he said, Chai Heng wanted to throw him off his back.
Because he was also from Qi, she held back and just asked, "When were you severely punished?"
Ji Zhangqing: "I came here with Lord Yang. He was severely punished. The punishment is on his body, and the pain is in my heart."
Chai Heng was speechless for a moment: "It is a blessing for Yang Yan to have a colleague like you."
"You're too kind. It's Lord Yang's blessing to have a wife like you. You're good at martial arts and can carry people all over the mountains and plains. It's a pity that he doesn't like you, even though you're so good. I've heard all those rumors in the capital, but it doesn't matter. Chai Si, I have a cousin who does business in Jiangnan. He's as handsome as Lord Yang, and he has a better temper than Lord Yang. He's not as arrogant as him. If you want to kick Lord Yang in the future, I can help you get together." Ji Changqing grinned and laughed.
Compared with life and death, marriage is not worth mentioning.
In her previous life, Chai Heng hadn't grasped this point, so after Yang Yan was detained by the Western Rong, she had traveled thousands of miles, risking her own life, to be with him. Now, in her new life, she had returned to the two most difficult years with Yang Yan in the Western Rong. To be honest, she regretted it.
The reason for his regret was very simple - he once wanted to kill Xue Ruyue.
Although she had only heard a little bit from the conversation between Qingping and the imperial physician before her death in her previous life, and was not sure whether it was her mother who wanted to kill her or him, but the night before he left for Yongzhou, he had threatened her for Xue Ruyue, saying that he would cut off her hands and feet, which was definitely true.
No matter how stubborn or single-minded she was, she would not be so eager to like someone even if he wanted her to break his arms and legs.
As for finding another marriage, she had not thought about that at the moment.
Carrying Ji Changqing on his back, he passed through two pastoral villages and arrived at where they were currently living - a dilapidated, leaky wooden house.
"Take a few steps?" Chai Heng put Ji Changqing down.
Ji Changqing gritted his teeth and nodded. The herdsman's stick hit his forehead and legs. He forced himself to take a few steps forward, and when he found that he could barely move, he pushed the door open and went in with the goat milk.
The cabin was shabby both inside and out. There was a table, two beds, separated by a tattered curtain. When Chai Heng was reborn, he found himself lying in bed with Yang Yan. His eyes were tightly shut, his handsome young face strangely pale, and his whole body reeked of blood. In one word, he looked half-dead.
It was hard for Chai Heng to describe what she felt when she opened her eyes and saw him. Did she hate him? A little, to a certain extent. But did she hate him so much that she wanted to kill him? Not really.
She still has a good life to live in this life. Hating someone is too tiring and not worth it.
What's more, Xirong is a foreign land. If they want to leave this place, they must kill each other. He will be too powerful in the future, and she doesn't want to offend him.
So on the first day of her rebirth, she had already made up her mind to divorce him when she returned to the Marquis' Mansion.
"Little Thirteen is so good."
"Look, he's gained a lot of weight these past few days. It's worth all my stealing milk for him."
As soon as Ji Changqing entered the door, he picked up the cradle of little Thirteen. The child was just one month old and was very well-behaved. He never cried or made a fuss, and he smiled whenever he saw people.
Chai Heng had no children in her previous life. A person without children has no experience in raising children. The task of taking care of the Thirteenth Prince naturally fell on Ji Changqing, who had become a father at an early age.
Ji Changqing was also happy to do it. He would carry Xiao Shisan in his arms and walk in the yard every time. As they walked, it seemed as if all the worries that were trapped in Xirong were broken.
Seeing Ji Changqing carrying the child out for a stroll again, Chai Heng, as usual, picked up the medicine jar on the table and prepared to change the medicine for Yang Yan.
His body was covered with whip marks, dozens of them of varying depths. The medicines Tuoba Yuanli threw at them were all strong and made the pain worse when applied. If they were not applied, the skin and flesh would not heal well, and sooner or later the wounds would become infected, which would mean death.
The whips of the Qiang people from Xirong were not easy to bear. Chai Heng had been reborn for two days, and Yang Yan had been in a coma for most of those days. Last night, the north wind had blown, and he had a high fever, uttering a few nonsense words in a daze.
Ji Zhangqing leaned over to listen, but could only hear him mumbling something indistinctly between his lips and teeth. He had no idea what it was exactly.
Fetching a basin of not-so-clean water from the yard, Chai Heng picked up a fresh, dried bandage and tried to change his dressing. He was half-conscious. For the past two days, Chai Heng had been stripping him easily, but today, just as she reached out and touched his shirt, he lifted his hand and clamped it down on her wrist.
Yang Yan's body was burning hot, and the temperature of his palms was terrifying. He was seriously injured, but he was incredibly strong. Chai Heng struggled once but couldn't break free. Frowning, she tried again, and only then did he release her hand.
"curtain."
Yang Yan leaned against the wall, opened his eyes weakly, and spoke in a deep voice.
Chai Heng followed his gaze and realized that she hadn't drawn the curtain for him these past few days when she changed his dressings. He was always pretentious and delicate in this regard, and Chai Heng didn't want to go along with him, but she also didn't want to argue with him over an injury, so she stood up and closed the curtain for him again.
"Unbutton your own collar."
After pulling the curtain, she squatted down in front of Yang Yan again and began to carefully stir the powder in the medicine bottle.
Tuoba Yuanli was deliberately torturing him. The whipper had been ruthless, and even after several dressing changes, the wounds continued to fester and bleed. Chai Heng, who had died once before, had no extra sympathy for Yang Yan. The dressing changes were not gentle at all. The strong powder stung the wounds that had not yet healed. The pain made Yang Yan close his eyes slightly, but he continued to talk, his voice full of fatigue:
"Why would Ji Zhangqing sleep with me?"
Chai Heng made up a story: "Master Ji is afraid of ghosts and dares not sleep alone."
The room is so small and there's only a curtain between them. What is a grown man like him afraid of?
Yang Yan did not expose her, but just felt it was strange. She had always been greedy for his body and would have wanted to strip him and eat him up if she had the chance, but now that she had the chance, she wanted to sleep in a separate bed from him.
But none of this matters right now.
More importantly, he needed someone to go to the Qiang camp, two miles away, in ten days to deliver something to Tuoba Yuanli. Ji Changqing had to nurse a child and was fragile, so he probably died on the way before reaching the camp.
As for Chai Heng...
He looked at her, not knowing what to think for a moment.
"come over."
Chai Heng lowered his head to put away the medicine jar. When he looked up and saw Yang Yan's thoughtful expression, he guessed what he was thinking.
Among those captured people from the Central Plains were Xu Jianxian, a wealthy businessman from Jiangnan who pulled dozens of horse-drawn carts of food and fodder to support the Zhenbei Army; Chu Yanhuai, a young general in a white robe who wore tight clothes and had a sword hanging from his waist and later became famous by deceiving the world; and most importantly, Xue Ruyue, who was going to be a military doctor in the Zhenbei Army camp.
In her previous life, she came from afar to accompany him. She didn't know whether he was touched or not, but a few days later, he sent her to Tuoba Yuanli to complete a mission.
A letter from Tuoba Yuanli's younger brother Tuoba Ying secretly colluding with his subordinates to seize power in exchange for the safety of Xu Jianxian and others was naturally a good deal.
This deal still seems to be a good deal today. After all, if no one delivered the letter, none of the three people would have survived.
But, as a messenger, is she not in any danger at all?
Many things cannot be thought about too carefully. Once she thinks about them carefully, she can taste some of the man's ruthlessness.
But there was no other way. She had some friendship with Xu Jianxian, and it was impossible for her to watch him die at the hands of the Xirong people. So, after thinking about it, she took the initiative to speak:
"Does your Excellency need someone to deliver a letter?"
Such an official title made Yang Yan frown slightly:
"What did you call me?"
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