Chapter 19 Chapter 19 A few months ago, he was on himself...
The summer sun is scorching and uncomfortable for people, but the flowers, plants and trees grow wildly at this time, and the weeds in the garden are more lush than usual.
Mrs. Xie was tending to the flowers she had planted in the garden. There were a lot of pruned branches and buds at her feet. As the scissors in her hand passed by, the fragrant flowers in the pots bloomed more tenderly and juicily.
Meng Qingtong was talking to her about recent events, and suddenly she laughed.
Madam Xie glanced at her and continued trimming the flowers and plants: "What makes you so happy?"
"It's Ah Wu and San Lang." Meng Qingtong smiled, covering her lips. "San Lang has been willing to take his medicine recently. Qiu Tang came to complain to me, and I found out that she actually scolded San Lang."
Now, even Mrs. Xie put down her scissors in surprise.
"She scolded Sanlang?"
"you do not say!"
Meng Qingtong then repeated what Chen Qiutang had said to her.
After finishing her lessons, she picked up the new purse at her waist. That day, Chen Qiutang asked Yun Wu to do some embroidery for her. Yun Wu did two pieces and gave her one as a gift.
Meng Qingtong pinched the purse and smiled, "I didn't even know there was such a lawsuit involved. It's because Sanlang feels sorry for Ah Wu and doesn't want to let her suffer."
Mrs. Xie: "I never thought he was such a caring person."
Not only did the Xie family find it strange, but even Yun Wu looked at him with admiration.
In Yun Wu's eyes, if a patient does not follow the doctor's orders and take medicine properly, he is guilty of a heinous crime. If he is willing to take medicine three times a day, in Yun Wu's eyes, he is a good person.
If he were willing to patiently explain the problem to her again, he would be the best husband in the world!
Recently, this best husband in the world has been feeling a little uncomfortable with the care and concern from his partner.
Although Yun Wu had always treated him like a patient and cared for him attentively since their marriage, she was still afraid of him before. Besides caring for him, she would try to avoid him. Recently, she felt that he was the best in the world, and even became a little bolder.
In that small courtyard, the two of them would see each other every time they looked up. It was as if no matter what he did, he was being watched by an eye. Whenever he looked over, Yun Wu would look at him with sparkling eyes: "Husband, what's the matter?"
Xie Yi: “…”
He felt unhappy because she ignored him before, but now she started to be considerate again, and he was not used to being so close to others.
Then, the servant came and told him that Lord Xie wanted him to go to the study, and he went out quickly.
When Xie Yi arrived, Xie Guogong was writing with his sleeves rolled up.
He put pen to paper, writing a few powerful and bold characters on the white paper with a strong and vigorous brushstroke. Xie Yi took a look and waited patiently to the side to see the pattern of the vase on the antique shelf next to him.
Duke Xie continued writing and asked in a deep voice, "Have you looked for Zhou Qing again?"
Flowers and birds were painted on the vase, and several birds of different appearances were vivid. Xie Yi poked a little bird with its head tilted, but the soft and smooth texture of the vase came to his fingertips.
The birds on the dead things would not respond to him, but he was amused by them.
"Yes, what's the matter?"
Duke Xie looked up at him briefly, raised his wrist to put down the pen, and put it back on the pen holder without even looking at the words he had just written.
He took the wet cloth and wiped the ink off his hands, then said slowly, "I thought you had given up."
Xie Yi paused poking the vase: "..."
After a moment, he concealed the dark look in his eyes, turned around with the same relaxed attitude as before, and said with a smile: "Dad, this vase is nice, I'll take it."
Duke Xie did not comment.
He wiped his hands and saw Xie Yi picking up the vase and about to leave, so he called out to him, "Stop."
"I haven't finished speaking yet."
Xie Yi had no choice but to stop and turn back: "Dad, what else do you have to say? Tell me all at once."
Duke Xie glared at him, then walked out from behind his writing desk, picked up two teacups, and poured tea from the teapot. When he poured the second cup, Xie Yi took the teapot.
While the father and son were talking, the servants near the study were sent away early.
After filling two cups of tea, Duke Xie motioned him to sit down. After taking a few sips from the teacup, he spoke, "In a few days, it will be the anniversary of your father's death."
"..." Xie Yi lowered his eyes and looked at the strong tea in the cup: "I know."
"Are we still going to Jinyun Temple this year?"
"This year... not necessarily."
Duke Xie glanced sideways.
There is an eternally burning lamp in Jinyun Temple, with no name or surname. In previous years, every summer, when the anniversary of the person's death was approaching, Xie Yi would go to add oil to the eternally burning lamp and stay in Jinyun Temple for a while.
He had a room in Jinyun Temple. He had no worries and stayed there for several days until he got tired of it.
But this year is different.
This year he has a young lady by his side.
Xie Yi stroked the wall of the cup and thought: I can't just leave him here and let him live in a Buddhist temple by himself, right?
He is not a real monk, his six senses are not pure, and he has not left the monastery.
Duke Xie added, "I heard that you've been willing to take medicine lately."
Xie Yi: “…”
A mischievous smile flashed across Duke Xie's dignified and deep eyes: "When did you become so obedient?"
Xie Yi's face stiffened slightly, and he kept saying, "It's hot and dry, I'll take some medicine to clear my heat."
What kind of fire-clearing powder should be taken three times a day without stopping?
Duke Xie did not expose the truth. Just as he did not care whether Xie Yi took the medicine or not before, he did not care whether he took the medicine or not now.
He was just chatting casually: "Why are you pretending again?"
What are you pretending for?
Of course he was pretending to be sick.
Yun Wu sometimes wondered why, despite her husband's thin figure, he didn't look seriously ill. He didn't look haggard or emaciated. As his bedmate, she knew him best: his heartbeat was steady, his limbs were strong, and his body temperature was blazing. But the impression of Xie Yi's illness was so etched in her mind that she never doubted it.
She never doubted that her husband was actually a healthy man.
Xie Yi has been pretending since he was a child.
As long as he could remember, he'd been told to feign illness, so he couldn't leave the house or see anyone, and had to daily throw away the medicine Dr. Hua prepared for him. The first time he practiced martial arts, he knocked out his second brother with a single punch. The next day, Duke Xie repeatedly warned him not to use force in public again. He was an invalid, a weakness he'd acquired since birth, so he couldn't lift anything, couldn't carry anything, and certainly couldn't strike.
Xie Yi had stopped pretending to be sick a long time ago.
After jumping into the water to save someone, he started to act rudely, refusing to take medicine or treat his illness.
But now that he no longer pretends to be sick, the reputation of being sickly has become deeply rooted in people's minds, and everyone treats him as a patient.
He was faking illness before, Dr. Hua said, but now he has a mental illness.
Xie Yi put down his teacup, crossed his arms, and said, "Dad, do you still believe Hua Shengchun's nonsense? What disease could I have? I'm fine."
"Doctor Hua used to be the imperial physician in the palace, and he has always been a skilled doctor." Duke Xie didn't say whether he believed it or not, but simply picked up the teapot and added tea to his cup. "But I never asked you what happened before you saved Zhao'er."
Why did his temperament suddenly change and his spirit disappear after he fell into the water to save someone?
“…”
Duke Xie filled up the teapot and placed it in front of him, his eyes stern and intimidating. "What's there to say? Can't you even tell your father?"
Xie Yi pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time.
What secret is hidden in the nameless and eternally burning lamp in Jinyun Temple? Apart from the old monk Huizhen, only the two people in the room know it best.
He had to pretend to be sick since childhood and spread the reputation of being sickly throughout the capital, which naturally could not be accomplished by one person alone.
More than twenty years ago, a major event occurred in the imperial city.
The Crown Prince, known for his kindness and benevolence, suddenly launched a coup. His imperial guards surrounded the imperial city, forced their way to the throne, and aimed directly at the throne. The ailing late emperor was enraged, but fortunately, he was rescued by other princes, including the current emperor, who was also a prince at the time.
The imperial city was bathed in blood overnight. At dawn, corpses were scattered all over the ground. The blood of the rebels and traitors dyed the Panlong steps red, and the fishy smell lingered for many days.
The situation was hopeless, and the former prince refused to admit his guilt and committed suicide with his sword.
Then the previous emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne. The huge dynasty was hastily replaced, and all the rebels and their followers who plotted rebellion were arrested and sentenced. After many years, the files recording the old events were sealed, and the old events returned to dust and no one mentioned them again.
No one knew that on the day of the coup, the Crown Princess, who had been pregnant for many months, had a miscarriage and gave birth to a baby boy. She asked her confidant to secretly send the baby out of the palace, and the baby survived by changing his appearance.
But what no one knew was that a few years later, the grown-up baby boy would dig up the old case, clear his biological father's name, and wash away the infamy he had carried for many years. He would join the turbulent power struggle, turn the court upside down, and then... die ridiculously the day before he could seize power.
A few months ago, he came back to life in the person of himself who saved his nephew from drowning.
At this time, Xie Yi was full of ambition. He concealed his identity under the pretext of being sick and weak, and did not let the emperor in the Mingtang discover his identity. He was secretly planning and waiting for a good opportunity to restore his true identity and take back everything that originally belonged to him.
But not only did his father lose, he lost too.
Winners and losers, fame, fortune and wealth are like passing clouds, and none of them matter anymore.
He was lucky enough to have a chance to start over, and in the eyes of outsiders, his temperament changed drastically. He suddenly stopped all preparations and no longer pushed forward his plans. Apart from continuing to be busy with the injustice that the former prince had been accused of during his lifetime, he gave up all his plans. In fact, there was no significant reason.
He suddenly didn't want to walk the road he had already walked.
But he couldn't tell these things even to the Duke of Zhenguo, who had raised him like his own son.
Xie Yi picked up the tea in front of him and drank it all in one gulp. Suddenly, he said in a relaxed tone, "Dad, don't think too much. It's just that some things have become clear. Zhou Qing came to report to me. It's not what you think."
Duke Xie: "You..."
"You don't need to listen to Hua Shengchun and Huizhen's nonsense. I'm not sick. I'm fine." Xie Yi chuckled as he thought of something. "I just think that being the third son of the Xie family seems quite interesting."
If he were to seize power, he would be the former crown prince's orphan, no longer just the third son of the Xie family. The Zhenguogong Mansion had never been a sympathizer of the former crown prince, so they had escaped the reckoning. It was simply that when the Xie family was young and down on their luck, they had received favors from the former crown prince, and to repay the favor, they took the risk of raising the former crown prince's orphan.
Duke Xie told him the truth, but he didn't make a choice for him. Whether or not to reclaim his identity was also Xie Yi's original thought after careful consideration.
The former prince's orphan has many people who are highly regarded by the public, but the third son of the Xie family has only a young lady who was married in the name of bringing good luck.
One day, someone said that his life was not in his own hands and was closely related to other people.
How rare.
But she is such a timid and weak person, it seems that anyone can crush her to death with just one finger. If she has no one to protect her, she seems really pitiful.
It seems that it would be okay to walk on this road that has not been walked before.
Just be Xie Sanlang for now. It’s not too late to leave when you get bored.
Xie Yi finished his tea, finished his words, and slowly stood up.
He picked up the treasure bottle he had asked for and said to Duke Xie, "Dad, it's getting late. I should go back and take my medicine."
Duke Xie: “…”
Xie Guogong was helpless: "What medicine did you drink?"
Xie Yi: "I can't help it. It's your fault for picking such a good wife for me."
I used to pretend to be sick but didn’t really take the medicine, but now I’m not pretending to be sick but I’m really taking the medicine.
Xie Yi didn't really want to drink it, but Yun Wu was watching his every move, so he didn't even have the chance to pour it out.
It's just a few prescriptions, they won't kill him. Hua Shengchun wouldn't prescribe him real medicine anyway.
The author has something to say:
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In his imagination, if he hadn't suddenly married, Xie Yi would have left soon, gone anywhere, and left behind his two identities.
Ah Wu is the kite string that holds him back
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