Chapter 11 Did he not sleep last night either?
At that time, in the courtyard of Shuying Hall.
Springtime is in full bloom.
The old lady came early in the morning to help Wei Xuan remove the ointment covering his eyes.
"How is it?" The old lady waved her hand in front of Wei Xuan's eyes.
Wei Xuan opened his eyes with difficulty.
Three years had passed. The first ray of light pierced Wei Xuan's eyes, causing them to throb and he hurriedly looked away.
The old lady quickly shielded him from the sun with her body and covered his eyes with a white veil as usual. "Don't worry, Doctor Luo said that after the ointment is removed, he can only see a blurry image and needs time to recover. Mother will accompany you to the medicine hut now. After Doctor Luo administers the acupuncture, our Xuan'er will see the light at the end of the tunnel."
The old lady's eyes crinkled with excitement.
Wei Xuan couldn't spoil his mother's fun, so he nodded and said, "Let's go early and come back at noon to celebrate A-Zhang's birthday."
"Your eyes are more important. You can celebrate your birthday any year!" The old lady scolded him and helped him out the door.
This Dr. Luo is a reclusive master. After Wei Xuan went blind, the old lady searched for famous doctors before finally finding this doctor who could cure his eye disease.
Unfortunately, this person was used to a life of leisure and wandering, and his eye ailment took three years to treat.
We finally got to see him return from his travels, but we didn't start acupuncture soon. Who knew we'd have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse?
The old lady had prepared a carriage and was waiting outside.
Just as the two were about to get into the car, a floral fragrance wafted over.
"Mother, please wait a moment, the flowers haven't been watered yet." Wei Xuan gestured with his hand.
The flowers he planted at the gate of the courtyard when he was young are still there, now blooming in full glory around the fence.
After he returned, he no longer entrusted the care of these flowers to others; he had to water them himself to feel at ease.
The old lady rolled her eyes at him as he stumbled and struggled to fetch water from the stream.
Wei Xuan, unaware of this, scooped up water with a clay pot.
Fearing that dirt might accidentally get into the earthenware pot and be poured into the lily bushes, he kept touching the surface of the water with his hand.
The flowing water slowly seeped through his fingers, and suddenly a wad of paper spun and fell into his hand.
Wei Xuan frowned and scooped out the crumpled paper that was stuck in the stone.
"I don't know which maid or servant dropped this dirty thing, why are you picking it up?"
The old lady's face paled instantly, and she hurried over to take the letter.
Wei Xuan raised his hand in refusal.
His thumb traced the wax seal on the letter, making fine circles.
His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his breathing became more and more rapid.
"Where did the letter come from?"
"I don't know which shameless girl wrote it, how would I know..."
"I asked, where did the letter come from?" Wei Xuan interrupted the old lady with a loud voice.
He has a gentle nature and has never yelled at anyone like that since he was a child.
At this moment, however, the oppressive aura was overwhelming, brooking no argument.
The old lady stammered, "It was delivered by the second son's woman yesterday."
"..." Wei Xuan paused for a moment, "Who?"
"Xue Lanyi, that mistress of your second son, the woman he bought from a brothel three years ago, have you been bewitched by that vixen too...?"
"No, she's not, she's not..."
Wei Xuan repeated it under his breath, his trembling hands gripping the sealing wax tightly.
This sealing wax was made by Yiyi; there's no way it could be wrong.
Absolutely right!
Wei Xuan hurriedly got up, eager to see her.
But he couldn't see it clearly.
He frantically searched for Xue Lanyi's direction like a headless fly, tripping over stones and getting up again.
After several stumbles, his face and body were covered in mud.
The old lady was frightened by his appearance, and could also see that the eldest son was also interested in this woman.
She quickly helped him up: "That woman has already paid her respects to the second prince; she's now his concubine! The authorities have already acknowledged it, don't be confused!"
In fact, Wei Zhang had sent someone to invite the old lady to the ceremony early in the morning.
The old lady was currently overjoyed that the woman and the second son were inseparable, so naturally she had no reason to interfere.
She said all this to make Wei Xuan give up.
Upon hearing this, Wei Xuan's hands trembled even more violently. He pushed aside the old lady who was blocking his way and stumbled towards the main hall.
He wanted to go faster, even faster.
But my legs were weak.
Reaching out to touch the chaotic world before him, he stumbled and staggered, searching everywhere.
"Xuan'er, the acupuncture treatment can't be delayed! Your eyes, your eyes!" the old lady shouted desperately from behind.
Wei Xuan couldn't hear anything; all he could see in his mind was the image of the girl in the yellow dress sitting by the window, writing with a pen.
It was springtime then, and petals fell like raindrops onto the desk and into the girl's dark hair.
Wei Xuan leaned against the window, sword in hand, and plucked a petal from her hair. "Yiyi, I'm setting off for the border tomorrow. There will be a deluge of documents and battle reports. If you send me letters still calling me 'Little General Wei,' I'm afraid I'll be overwhelmed by all the paperwork."
"Why don't you use a different address? That way I can see the letter you sent at a glance." Wei Xuan rested his chin on his hand, leaning on the windowsill.
The girl rested her chin on her hand, blinked, and looked at him. "So, what would you like me to call you, General Wei?"
"Of course it is..." Wei Xuan blushed and stammered, "Or you could just call me, call me..."
“I put three layers of wax on the envelope, thick and solid, so you can tell it’s my letter just by touching it, right?” The girl raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? General Wei!”
Wei Xuan had been pondering a nickname for a long time, but she shut him down with a single sentence.
Wei Xuan was very frustrated. "He always loves to make empty promises, and this time it's three big promises again."
"Would General Wei like to eat this cake?"
The girl sealed the densely written Xuan paper into an envelope and sealed it with three wax seals.
The envelope was waved in front of him, and the girl smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
She was already writing to him before he even set off.
In the past, Wei Xuan would receive her "three big cakes" every seven days at the border.
But this time, he waited for 1,900 days and nights.
The wax seals on the letters I used to send have almost been worn away.
He finally received her letter again.
The pie she drew was, of course, not enough to eat.
I promised him I'd keep making empty promises to him for the rest of my life.
Wei Xuan tore off his blindfold and ran towards the main hall, stumbling along the way, and pushed open the half-closed door.
The door of the tatami room slammed against the wall with a loud crash.
The sounds of impact echoed in layers throughout the hall, lingering around the beams for a long time.
The guests turned to look at the source of the sound.
In the dense crowd, Wei Xuan spotted the girl in yellow at a glance.
Although he could only see a blurry outline, he wouldn't mistake her appearance.
His Yiyi is still alive, standing right in front of him.
Wei Xuan's eyes instantly filled with tears, tears of joy and self-reproach.
He moved stiffly toward Xue Lanyi, each step feeling like an eternity, his gaze never leaving her.
I'm afraid that in the blink of an eye, everything will vanish like a thousand dreams.
The crowd, bewildered, quickly moved to the sides.
A path was cleared in the lobby, leading from him to her.
Time slows down, and distance shrinks.
“Yi…” His lips trembled.
Xue Lanyi took a half step back in fear, wary of the person in front of her.
It was a gaze born of hurt, hence the heightened vigilance.
Wei Xuan felt a pang of pity and wanted to go forward to comfort him.
A dark cloak blocked his view.
"Brother, are you here for a wedding?"
The cold words interrupted Wei Xuan's thoughts.
Wei Zhang's broad shoulders concealed the slender girl behind him.
Xue Lanyi did not refuse.
The eldest son was quite different today; his bloodshot eyes were filled with intense emotions, as if they could suck people in.
Xue Lanyi was inevitably afraid and tried her best to avoid him.
She didn't recognize him anymore.
Upon reaching this conclusion, Wei Xuan's heart clenched.
The excruciating pain cleared his head somewhat.
He swallowed back the words he wanted to say to her.
Right now, the Duke's mansion is full of officials, and he cannot let anyone know that Princess Zhaoyang, who has been forced into prostitution, has openly appeared in the capital.
We also cannot allow Zhaoyang to marry Wei Zhang without knowing the truth.
With his last shred of reason, he swallowed back a sob, "I do not agree to this marriage."
“My brother has no right to speak.”
"My elder brother is like a father; before I inherited the title, I was the one in charge!"
A few words spoken in the blink of an eye.
Wei Zhang's lips always held a faint smile, "This letter was written by my brother himself."
His words seemed casual and understated, yet every single one was rife with scheming.
From the very beginning, Wei Zhang was plotting against his elder brother.
The brotherly affection and respect between them had long since vanished.
Wei Xuan could accept that he would scheme against him for fame and fortune, but...
Wei Xuan glanced at the panicked girl. "Why her?"
"Brother, guess why?"
Wei Zhang admired Wei Xuan's anxious and confused expression, and said leisurely, "I took her in because I like her, of course."
The words "I like her" reached Xue Lanyi's ears.
Her pupils dilated slightly as she stared blankly at Wei Zhang's tall back.
Wei Xuan laughed, "Do you even believe it yourself?"
Wei Zhang leaned closer to his ear, "What? Is it only elder brother who deserves to be consumed by longing and anxiety, and I can't have it too?"
He longed for it day and night, and was consumed by worry about its loss.
The eight words uttered so softly, isn't it just the word "love"?
This was what Xue Lanyi wanted to tell Wei Zhang yesterday.
Did he actually realize it?
Xue Lanyi felt a slight sting in her nose as she smelled the heavy, cool pine scent emanating from him.
He only burns such a strong amount of cold pine resin when he has trouble sleeping at night.
Did he not sleep last night either?
Xue Lanyi clenched her fingers tightly, her heart still stirred with a few ripples.
From Wei Xuan's perspective, looking at Wei Zhang at eye level, he only saw the frivolousness in Wei Zhang's eyes, as if he were playing around with people's lives.
If he truly loved Yiyi, how could he allow her to parade in front of guests wearing the same dress she loved when she was still Princess Zhaoyang?
He didn't know how many people would recognize Princess Zhaoyang if she weren't wearing a veil.
Doesn't he know what kind of bloodshed and turmoil she will go through?
Regardless of his intentions, if he truly loved her, he would not have put her in such a dangerous situation.
Wei Xuan didn't want to get entangled with him on such a pointless issue anymore.
She glanced at the concubine's certificate on the table and noticed that a red seal was missing. "Since Miss Yi didn't sign it, the concubine's certificate is not valid."
"Hurry up and sign the document, don't keep your brother waiting." Wei Zhang said this to Xue Lanyi.
But he didn't turn around; he just stared at Wei Xuan with great interest.
Behind her, Xue Lanyi's index finger, stained with cinnabar, clenched into her palm, sweating profusely, and soon her hand was covered in crimson.
Do you want me to put my fingerprint on this?
A note from the author:
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