Chapter 38 Reunion "What do you know again?"
Before coming, Yang Yan had thought that he could not read out an edict that would displease her, so he forced Chu Yanhuai to resign from the Saint, forcing the Saint to return the full military power to Prince Jing and his wife.
He had been feeling anxious all the way here. He wanted to see her, but he was afraid she wouldn't want to see him. His mind was full of thoughts about what he should say to Chai Heng when they met.
He used to speak without thinking and said anything hurtful, but now he finally thinks before he speaks, and he found that she is very good at running.
He had just arrived at Furong Mountain when she went to Shouyang Village.
"A letter has arrived, a letter has arrived, sir. Brother Zhou from the post station has sent a letter." The door was pushed open by a servant. The young servant was holding a letter in his hand. It was sent by Zhou Jun.
Cui Miao immediately stood up to get the letter. When he opened the envelope, his face turned pale.
It turned out that after Chai Heng and Zhou Jun arrived at Shouyang Village, they followed the route of the Xirong Army's daily activities. It took them only two days and two nights to find the herdsmen trapped in the cages. They secretly released the herdsmen under the cover of night. They originally planned to leave in the dark, but were discovered by a Xirong soldier who got up at night.
The Western Rong army was large in number and powerful, while Chai Heng and his men were few in number. In desperation, Chai Heng asked Zhou Jun to take the herdsmen away first, and she would lead the group of Western Rong people away. Zhou Jun listened to her and took the herdsmen away first. After leaving Shouyang Village and entering the city, he brought the herdsmen to a safe place. He then turned back alone, intending to look for Chai Heng again, but this time he found nothing.
A good person disappeared.
This is not good news.
Yin Yuzhen came over to read the letter. After seeing what Zhou Jun said, she kicked her husband on the spot: "I told her not to go, but you insisted on letting her try. Now look, Ah Heng has gone somewhere. If anything happens to her, I don't want to talk to you again in my life."
Prince Jing said, "No, Ah Heng is a smart child, nothing will happen to her. It's possible that she fell somewhere and couldn't keep up."
Yin Yuzhen was anxious and angry and fainted on the spot. The scene was extremely chaotic for a while.
It was then that Prince Jing noticed Yang Yan, who had come to read the imperial edict on behalf of the emperor. He first carried his wife into the room and called for a doctor, then glanced at Yang Yan.
"Prince Jing." Yang Yan nodded slightly.
Because of the letter he just received, his face was not looking very good at the moment.
After returning to Furong Mountain, Chai Heng did not tell the couple why she divorced Yang Yan. However, Prince Jing knew Chai Heng's character very well. If she had not been let down or hurt too deeply, she would never have taken the step of divorce. Therefore, she did not have a good face towards Yang Yan.
"Lord Yang, are you here to announce His Majesty's decree?"
"Since this is an imperial decree, finish your business and leave immediately."
Prince Jing was waiting for Yang Yan to finish announcing the saint's will, so that he could immediately send someone with a broom to drive Yang Yan, the pretty boy, out.
Feeling hostility, Yang Yan didn't care.
"This humble servant is indeed here to deliver the imperial decree on behalf of His Majesty. I have also brought the tiger talisman and the seal of the Grand Marshal. Your Highness is waiting for you at the front line."
As Yang Yan spoke, he ordered his accompanying subordinates to take out a package, which contained the seals for commanding the three armies.
Prince Jing gave Yang Yan a cold look and said, "Leave the things and the imperial edict here, and you can get out now."
After these words were spoken, even his fellow subordinates felt embarrassed for Yang Yan. After all, he was a Minister of War, and he used to be flattered wherever he went. But on Furong Mountain, he was being driven away before he could even rest his feet.
Yang Yan naturally knew why Prince Jing had this attitude towards him, but having come to this point, he really had it all his own fault, so he didn't say much. After asking Prince Jing to take care of himself, he retreated.
After leaving Furong Mountain, the accompanying subordinates were somewhat indignant: "We are here to announce the imperial edict. We are, after all, envoys of the emperor. Prince Jing's attitude is too infuriating." Then he added, "Sir, where are we going now? Should we return to the capital immediately?"
"You go back to Beijing. I won't go back for the time being." Yang Yan said.
The subordinate said, "But His Majesty is very dissatisfied with your speaking up for Furong Mountain and has given you a date to return. If you delay, you will be caned in the court."
Civil officials in the Great Qi could be whipped and receive other punishments, but the only thing they could do was to beat them with a stick in court. This was considered inappropriate, so court officials all stayed away from it.
Yang Yan couldn't care less about that right now. He and Chai Heng had been reborn together, so it was fine if they couldn't reconcile, but it made no sense for her to go into danger alone. Even if they died young, they should have died together.
"No problem."
"If the saint gets angry, I will bear the responsibility alone. You go back first." Yang Yan said lightly.
"But……"
"No buts."
*
Shouyang Village has been in turmoil these days. Because of the invasion of the Western Rong soldiers, the young people who were able to move to the neighboring village have already moved away, leaving only the elderly and the weak who have no way to leave their hometown and can only continue to live in this village with difficulty.
When Yang Yan arrived at Shouyang Village, the Western Rong soldiers launched a new round of crazy invasions on the village. They originally wanted to rob people, but now they found that the village was full of elderly people and children. They felt that they could not use them as labor even if they robbed them, so they decided to just kill them.
Fresh corpses can be seen every few hundred steps in the village.
Yang Yan didn't know where Chai Heng was, so he could only look through the corpses one by one, just like when she went to the battlefield in her previous life.
After searching the entire village, they still couldn't find Chai Heng. The only discovery was on a hillside west of Shouyang Village. There was a piece of floral clothing hanging on a pine branch in front of the hillside. Yang Yan recognized the pattern, as it was something Chai Heng would have liked in his past.
There was a village at the bottom of the hill. Yang Yan didn't know whether she had fallen off the cliff or was still in the village at the bottom of the mountain. He could only tie himself up with a rope and go down the cliff to look for Chai Heng's trace.
Chai Heng has been recuperating in the village these days.
After rescuing the herdsmen, she led away the pursuing Xirong troops, shot and killed several Xirong soldiers who wanted to capture her alive with the bow and arrows on her back, and then jumped off the cliff.
After jumping, she was caught by a tree on the edge of the cliff, cushioning her fall. She survived the fall, but injured her left leg. Drawing on her experience of dragging a broken leg in her previous life, she managed to drag herself a long way to a village with people, eventually collapsing at the doorstep of a mute brother and sister.
The mute brother and sister cannot speak, but they go up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs.
Chai Heng had been unable to walk freely these few days after breaking his leg. Thanks to the medicinal herbs collected by the mute brother and sister in the mountains, he was able to stand up with the help of a crutch.
Time passes by unnoticed in the mountains.
She herself was also anxious. On the one hand, her Second Senior Brother hadn't heard from her and must still be wandering around Shouyang Village. There was no post station here, and she had no way to report back to Furong Mountain. She had no choice but to continue nursing her injured leg for the time being. On the other hand, a few days ago, when she was being pursued by the Western Rong army, she faintly overheard a Western Rong commander speaking something in the Central Plains dialect to someone in the tent. The man was clearly from the Central Plains and spoke the same Mandarin dialect.
At a time when the great war was about to break out, it was a very absurd thing that people from the Central Plains appeared in the Xirong military camp.
She was cautious at the time and took a sneak peek when the Western Rong army hadn't caught up with her. The Central Plains man who was hanging out with the Western Rong people turned out to be the eldest brother's servant - Nie San.
When she saw this person, she felt like she was struck by lightning.
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, leaving her completely bewildered. But she remembered that the Xirong commander had told Nie San to stay in the military tent. So before she left, she had specifically noted the location of the tent, thinking that once her legs healed, she would go back and capture Nie San to question him about his presence in the Xirong camp.
Chai Heng lay on the bed, looking at the flickering light and shadow outside the window.
The mute girl came over. She had gone to the market today and bought a chicken to nourish Chai Heng. After being picked up by the mute girl and the mute brother, Chai Heng gave them most of the banknotes he had on him. The mute girl initially refused, but because Chai Heng insisted, she had to accept. Then, every few days, she would go to the nearby market.
Although their village was close to Shouyang Village and the border, it was at the foot of the mountain and the Western Rong people were unaware of the existence of such a place, thus avoiding war by accident.
When the mute girl went to the market today, she saw portraits of Chai Heng posted everywhere. She said that a young man had put them up, so she took one down when no one was paying attention and showed it to Chai Heng.
As soon as Chai Heng saw the painting, he knew it was from Yang Yan's hand.
After being married for so many years, her handwriting and painting style have long been engraved in her heart.
They had already divorced, and no matter how unwilling he was, he wouldn't have come all the way here to hunt her down. So there was only one possibility: he was probably afraid she was dead, so he searched around here, couldn't find her, and so he posted these portraits.
"Someone's looking for you."
The mute girl spoke to Chai Heng using gestures.
"Don't bother with unimportant people." Chai Heng was silent for a moment and finally spoke.
"I saw the man who was looking for you today. Do you hate him very much?" The mute girl continued to ask with gestures.
Chai Heng said: "I really don't like him, and I don't want him to find me at all."
"Then my brother and I will help you tear up all those notices so that he can never find you again." After the mute girl made the gesture, she pulled the mute brother who was chopping wood in the yard away without waiting for Chai Heng's reaction.
After walking for a while, he turned back.
"Someone is looking for you again, but this time he is different from the handsome brother I saw before." The mute girl returned and brought Zhou Jun back with her.
"Junior sister!"
"I finally see you."
When Zhou Jun saw Chai Heng, he was so excited that he burst into tears.
They had been in this place for more than a month without realizing it. To be precise, when she parted with Zhou Jun at the Xirong Army camp, Zhou Jun was even thinner than he is now. After not seeing her for a month, her second senior brother had gained weight.
"Senior Brother."
Chai Heng guessed that Zhou Jun must have been looking for her for a long time, but she didn't know how to meet Zhou Jun, so she didn't take any action.
In fact, she is not the only one who has not taken action.
Zhou Jun felt the same way, but he was too embarrassed to say it.
After Chai Heng broke up with him, he only searched for her for two days. The rest of the time, it was Yang Yan, who had arrived later, who was looking for her. Finding someone is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but Zhou Jun thought that as long as Chai Heng was alive, she would eventually show up. So, these past few days, he lay in the inn, worried, and sleepless.
Feeling anxious, he saw Yang Yan, who had arrived later, searching diligently. He kindly offered some advice, saying that searching like this would not only fail to find the item, but would also tire the searcher to death. However, Yang Yan retorted with a cold attitude. He felt like he was being ignored, so he stopped talking.
Finding Chai Heng today was purely accidental. He'd been lying there in the inn, his limbs practically degenerating. It wasn't until his master's wife, Yin Yuzhen, rushed him over 800 miles to write a letter, urging him to search for him in the neighboring mountains, that he finally got moving. Unexpectedly, the first person he asked in the mountains knew where Chai Heng was.
Of course, he wouldn't tell Chai Heng about all this.
He is just lazy, not stupid.
"I'm so glad to see you're safe and sound. I'll write to Master and Madam later, and they'll be relieved. By the way, Master Yang has been looking for you for a long time, too. I'll tell him later."
"No need to tell Yang Yan."
She left the capital because she wanted to leave him. If she told him, it would be painful for the two of them to continue to be entangled together.
Zhou Jun scratched his head. He had witnessed how Yang Yan had been searching for Chai Heng these past few days, working almost non-stop. Even his own father didn't have this much perseverance.
If I don't tell him, I really can't bear it.
"But he's really worried about you. If he doesn't find you, I'm afraid he'll go crazy."
Chai Heng believed that Yang Yan's worries at this moment were real.
But no matter how worried he was, it didn't affect the cruelty he had shown her in the past.
"What happens to him is none of your business. Brother, I have to stay here now. After my leg injury heals, I will go to Xirong's camp again. You should go back to Furong Mountain first."
Chai Heng lowered his head and pounded his intact leg, then said to Zhou Jun.
Zhou Jun grasped the key point: "What are you going to do in the Xirong camp again?"
"I can't tell you that yet."
She didn't know how to tell Zhou Jun, but she always felt that Nie San's collusion with the Xirong people was unusual. The battle between the two armies often affected the entire body. She couldn't let Nie San affect the future battles between the Jingnan Army and the Xirong.
"You! No, you have to come back with me."
"I won't go back, please leave."
Chai Heng began to chase people away.
"Who in the world would jump into a fire pit on purpose?" Zhou Jun couldn't understand Chai Heng's train of thought, but she insisted on her own way, and he had no choice but to go back and report his safety to his master and mistress. As for other things, he would deal with them later.
Before Zhou Jun left, Chai Heng reminded him:
"I don't want to see Yang Yan. If you invite him here, he will no longer be my senior brother."
She spoke gently but with great weight.
Zhou Jun sighed inwardly and waved his hand to show that he had heard. But even though he had agreed, he saw Yang Yan after returning to the inn. After three days of forbearance, he finally couldn't help but tell him the news that Chai Heng was recuperating at the mute girl's house the day before returning to Furong Mountain.
*
When she saw Yang Yan again, Chai Heng was drawing water from the well in the yard. The mute girl and her brother had gone out to work, leaving her alone at home.
She was holding a crutch in one hand and a bucket in the other, and she wasn't doing things very smoothly. The bucket of water she had just drawn spilled as soon as she brought it up.
The bucket rolled and rolled along her feet until it rolled in front of Yang Yan. Yang Yan leaned over, picked up the bucket, and walked to her side.
"Which leg again?"
There was no wooden board tied to Chai Heng's leg, so it was impossible to tell which leg was injured if he just stood there without taking a few steps.
"Left leg."
Chai Heng couldn't stand Yang Yan's scrutinizing gaze. When he looked at her with that scrutinizing gaze, it was no different from looking at a pig waiting to be slaughtered.
Like before, Yang Yan came over and squatted down to check her leg bones. Chai Heng didn't want him to touch her, so she subconsciously dodged back.
"I know you came here to see if I am dead. You can rest assured that I am not dead. Go back, Yang Yan." Chai Heng tried to persuade him to leave.
He turned a deaf ear to her and just took a step forward and pinched her leg bone. The pain was so severe that Chai Heng almost fainted and broke out in a cold sweat.
"Your leg is broken, don't you know?"
Yang Yan frowned and looked up at her in disbelief.
When Chai Heng's left leg was broken in her previous life, she knew that her bone was broken because she could hear a "crackling" sound, which was particularly loud.
But this time, she didn't hear any sound, and only felt her ankle swollen. She really didn't know that her leg was broken again.
The mute girl's brother and sister weren't doctors either, they just applied thick herbal compresses to her every day. The past two weeks had passed in a blur.
"Then please go and get a doctor for me, and then you can leave." Chai Heng continued to order them to leave.
Yang Yan ignored her and said, "Come up."
He had his back to her.
Chai Heng had a cane in his hand, so naturally he didn't need to carry it on his back.
"I have a cane. Even without it, I can still walk." She also had a broken leg. In her previous life, she was able to drag one leg out of the trap and crawl back to the Marquis' Mansion with the help of Cui Miao. In this life, she had a cane again. It would not be difficult for her to walk a short distance.
Chai Heng refused Yang Yan's offer and limped back to the house, leaning on the crutches made for her by the mute girl's brother and sister. She walked with difficulty, but she could move back home bit by bit.
Yang Yan looked at her back, not knowing what he remembered, and his eyes dimmed.
Chai Heng came back to the room on crutches and told Yang Yan to put the barrel outside the yard. Yang Yan followed her in and first took a look around. Although it was simple, it was clean and had everything.
"Let me connect your bones first," said Yang Yan.
Chai Heng had known Yang Yan for so long, but this was the first time he knew that he could set bones.
"You don't know any medicine, so how can you set bones?" Chai Heng asked, then suddenly realized how silly her question was. It was just like when she loved him the most, she was willing to learn something he liked just for him. Yang Yan knew bone setting, probably because he wanted to be closer to Xue Ruyue. After realizing this, she quickly nodded, "I understand."
"What do you know now?"
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