2 Breaking off the Engagement (Major Revision)
◎I don't want to get married or have you.◎
Of course Xu Qinghe still remembered Xie Qi.
That was the person she had loved since she was a child.
The boy took up arms and went to the battlefield at the age of eleven. At the age of twelve, he single-handedly cut off the enemy's head in the chaotic army and defeated the enemy's vanguard. He was a rare young general in the Southern Border Army and even in the entire Daying Dynasty.
He was her fiancé who had already been engaged to her.
But she also remembered that in the winter month five years ago, she had personally returned to him the token of engagement between the two families and told him in a cold voice that she wanted to cancel the engagement.
Xie Qi, the young general who fought on the battlefield with a white horse and a silver spear, and who remained calm even when the army was approaching, seemed a little flustered at that moment.
He fumbled with the token in his hand, and when he looked up, there was a hint of helplessness in his eyes. He opened his thin lips and asked only two words: "Why?"
But the tone is extremely hoarse.
Xu Qinghe clenched her fists tightly under her wide sleeves. She turned her head away, not daring to look into those wet eyes.
"No reason, it's just that I don't want this marriage anymore."
Xie Qi pulled the corners of his lips, with a hint of self-mockery in his eyes: "Yesterday on our birthday, you said you wanted to grow old together, but today you say you don't want it anymore?"
He stepped forward, grabbed her slender wrist under her long sleeves, pulled her into his arms, and looked at her carefully.
Xu Qinghe knew that he wanted to find some flaws on his face.
But she couldn't let him have his way, so she struggled and pressed against his chest to push him away.
But the young man who had treated her gently in the past, today held her wrist motionlessly, and used all his strength as a warrior on her.
Xu Qinghe couldn't be sure whether it was his hand that hurt or his heart that ached. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice was choked when he spoke again.
"Let go...Xie Qi, let go! You're hurting me!"
Xie Qi did not let go, but held it tighter.
The fifteen-year-old boy lowered his head, silently pressing her for a reason.
Xu Qinghe then said, "I'm going to the capital. There are so many princes and nobles in the capital. What makes you think I'll still remember you then? Xie Qi, my father and mother arranged our marriage, but it wasn't my wish. For so many years, I was unable to disobey their orders. Now that I don't like you anymore, can't I cancel the marriage if I want to?"
After Xie Qi finished listening, he suddenly laughed, lowered his head to look into her eyes, and said to her: "Xu Qinghe, say it again. Look into my eyes and say it again."
As the two looked at each other, a silent confrontation unfolded.
They grew up together, and Xu Qinghe knew best what words would make him let go.
She looked him in the eyes coldly and said word by word, "This previous marriage was arranged by our parents, but I don't like you anymore. Xie Qi, let go. Don't let this ridiculous marriage between you and me delay my chance to find a good partner in the capital."
The hot hand on my wrist suddenly lost its strength and loosened.
Xie Qi stared into her clear eyes, the corners of his lips still curved, but he chuckled softly and said slowly, "Okay."
Xu Qinghe pulled his hand back, not even having the courage to look back. He quickly took Nanzhi's hand and got on the carriage to Beijing.
Outside the carriage, Xie Qi stood there with an unclear emotion.
Inside the carriage, Xu Qinghe buried her face in her hands and cried inconsolably.
She didn't want to break off the engagement, not at all.
She liked him too, very much.
She wanted to get married and grow old together as they had vowed.
But her engagement with him did not continue, and the vows they made became a beautiful illusion. Even Xie Qi died in the first month after they separated.
As soon as she entered the palace, she heard the news that the entire Xie family had been wiped out.
That night, thirteen-year-old Xu Qinghe clutched the red jade bracelet given to her by Xie Qi and cried secretly under her quilt.
Perhaps Xie Qi believed until his death that she was sincere in wanting to break off the engagement with him, that she was sincere in not wanting to marry him, let alone grow old with him.
But if time could go back, Xu Qinghe would definitely say to him:
She didn't want to break off the engagement, not at all.
**
"I don't want to... I don't want to at all..."
In the narrow and damp cave, a girl in aqua blue clothes lay on her side beside the fire, stretching out her arms to slowly hug herself, and finally curled up into a small ball.
The man who saved her from the assassin had just bandaged the wound on his ribs, and then silently put on the clothes that had been dried by the fire.
Hearing her mumbling in her sleep, he just turned his head to glance at her.
The man was indeed a martial arts expert, and it was no problem for him to escape from the siege with the injured Xu Qinghe, but in the end he was unable to defend against the large number of people and the shady tactics of the assassins on the opposite side.
In addition to his ribs, his arms were also chopped several times by the poisoned long knife, and he soon lost his strength.
Fortunately, there was a river that had not yet frozen under the cliff, which was not very high, so he picked up the person and jumped down.
Before going down, he even served as a cushion for the other person, thus preventing him from getting hurt more seriously.
But when Xu Qinghe was pulled out of the water, she was already unconscious.
He was afraid that the assassin would come down to search, so he quickly took his men to a secret cave and temporarily sheltered them there.
Three hours later, the sun was setting in the west.
The long river was shimmering with light, the distant sky was shrouded in rosy clouds, and the light in the cave gradually dimmed before Xu Qinghe finally woke up.
In the cave, which was still chilly despite blocking out the cold wind, a man in a scarlet brocade robe looked at her across the firelight.
He was wearing a mask that only covered half of his face, revealing only a pair of pitch-black eyes, and he just stared at her steadily.
She looked at those eyes and couldn't help but think of the wet eyes in her dream, and her heart couldn't help but ache.
"You..." When Xu Qinghe spoke again, her voice was already hoarse. She paused, and after a moment of calming down, she continued, "You saved me?"
The man withdrew his gaze, stared at the dancing flames in front of him, and said "hmm" nonchalantly.
Xu Qinghe remembered that he was injured before he fell asleep.
She lowered her head and saw that the bleeding from the wound on her chest had stopped and now it was only slightly painful.
"My injuries..."
The man didn't even look up at her. He simply said, "Those people's knives were poisoned, which is why you fainted so quickly. I bandaged your wounds and gave you the antidote. You're fine now."
The wound was on her chest, and the strange man had bandaged it while she was sleeping.
Xu Qinghe didn't know how to respond for a moment. After a thousand words, he finally said a sincere "Thank you."
Under the firelight, the man raised his eyebrows slightly: "I rescued you from danger and treated your injuries and bandaged you, and you just send me off with these two light words?"
Xu Qinghe sat up straight, gently pressed the wound on her chest, and slowly said, "I have no way to repay your life-saving grace. I am just a woman, and I cannot offer you a high position or generous salary. Fortunately, my family is wealthy and can give you countless gold, silver, and treasures. But I only ask that you forget about being alone with me today, and even if we meet in the future, it is best to pretend that we don't know each other."
She intentionally concealed her identity, but unexpectedly the man chuckled, "Princess, do you really think I don't know who you are? Since you are so beloved by the Queen Mother, it would be easy for you to ask for a high position for me. Why bother with so-called gold, silver and treasures?"
Xu Qinghe was shocked.
But then I thought, this person happened to appear on a cliff near the outskirts of Beijing, so he might also be from Beijing.
"...I wonder what official position you would like to hold?"
In fact, she naturally could not give the other party any official position.
Everyone says that the current Queen Mother Wei loves her very much, but only a few people know that this is just a face-saving effort.
But the current plan is to stabilize the person in front of him.
The man laughed again. He suddenly raised his head, and his dark eyes looked over. He opened his lips and spoke slowly: "I don't want an official position, I just want..."
His burning gaze lingered on her face for a moment, then moved down inch by inch, finally stopping on the exposed part of her wrist.
"I want the jade bracelet on the princess's hand. Are you willing to give it to me?"
“…”
Xu Qinghe was reluctant.
She subconsciously pushed her sleeve down to cover the ruby bracelet on her wrist.
This was the last thing Xie Qi gave her, and the only one left now.
Five years ago, she left the Xie Mansion in the Southern Territory and took nothing with her except Nanzhi, the maid she grew up with.
The red jade bracelet on her hand was secretly taken away by Nanzhi herself without her knowledge and was later given to her.
"The road ahead is difficult, Princess, you must always leave yourself with something to think about."
This red jade bracelet was a birthday gift from Xie Qi to her on her thirteenth birthday. Her name was engraved on it by him personally, hidden inside, close to her skin.
However, the very next day, she resolutely broke off the engagement with Xie Qi.
Now a strange man suddenly wanted to take the bracelet away, and she was naturally unwilling: "I like this bracelet very much, it is really hard to part with it. If my benefactor likes it, I will find you a better one in the future."
The man lowered his head but said no more. He just threw the stick in his hand into the fire and watched it burn from beginning to end in the flames until it turned into ash.
Then he suddenly stood up and walked towards Xu Qinghe step by step.
Xu Qinghe immediately shrank back, accidentally pulling the wound on her body, but she had no time to care. She just frowned and looked at the gloom in the eyes of the person in front of her.
The man approached her step by step, his tall figure blocking all the flickering flames behind him. Xu Qinghe's eyes suddenly went dark, and the bloody smell of two people lingered around her and finally mixed together.
Boom, boom, boom.
It was her heart beating violently.
The man squatted in front of her.
He stretched out his long fingers towards her. Xu Qinghe wanted to dodge but couldn't, and in the end her jaw was pinched.
The other person's eyes curved slightly, but there was no trace of a smile in them. Xu Qinghe clenched his palms and was forced to look up. The other person's strange yet familiar voice rang in his ears again:
"They say that a life-saving favor should be repaid with one's body. Since the princess cannot give me the jade bracelet as I wish, why not repay it with your body?"
“…How outrageous!”
【Author’s words】
I've already read Chapter 2, is Chapter 3 far behind?
Please collect and comment~
I'm easy to keep qwq. Give me a comment and favorite, and I can write 100,000 words! (Exaggeration)
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