Rescue
Few people know that Xie Lingxi has a twin sister.
More than ten years ago, Yan and Dongli were at war, and there was open and covert struggle in the capital. Madam Xie was pregnant with her second child and, for safety, she returned to her hometown in Jiangzuo to recuperate.
She later gave birth to twin daughters, Xie Lingxi and her older sister.
Xie Lingxi wasn't called that back then.
It was said that the birth of these twins was against the will of Heaven, and they should not be named before the age of five, so as to create a false impression and deceive Heaven.
The Xie family didn't believe in superstitions, but a few days later, while the Xie sisters were sound asleep, a fire suddenly broke out in the backyard. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, saving them from a great disaster.
Madam Xie was still shaken and had no choice but to believe it. It turned out that Xie Lingxi was quiet from a young age, while her older sister was active, so she called her by the nickname "Wan" and her older sister by the character "Yao".
Xie Lingxi had a very good relationship with her older sister. When they were children, they would enjoy flowers and the moon in the mountains and fields. When they were filling a small boat with water, they would dream of the Milky Way.
But no one expected that on their fifth birthday, a group of thieves would come out from the official road and kidnap the two sisters in order to threaten their father, Xie, who was still in the capital.
Since it concerned national policy, Xie's father naturally refused to yield. However, when they followed the waterway afterward, they found only his sister's body in broad daylight.
Later, after the bandits were defeated, Xie's father brought them back to Chang'an, and publicly announced that only one girl had been born, Xie Lingxi.
After thinking it over, Xie Lingxi wiped the moss off her sister's tombstone with her sleeve and murmured, "You will bless me, right?"
The wind picked up, and darkness fell. Xie Lingxi tidied herself up and stood up to head towards a wild temple in the mountains.
She discovered this abandoned temple years ago when she paid respects to her sister. There were ancient trees nearby, and inside was a large golden Buddha statue. It must have been abandoned due to war during the previous dynasty.
The temple, usually deserted, was now filled with people.
As soon as Xie Lingxi stepped into the threshold of the wild temple, she sensed something was wrong. She could vaguely smell the stench of blood, and the whispers of several people grew louder and louder. She couldn't tell if they were hunters from the mountains or some other outlaws.
Just as she was about to pull her foot back and leave, she heard a familiar name—
One of them chuckled, “You, Tang Zexue, are nothing but mediocre talent. You only managed to get a minor official position in Chang’an by eating your mother’s flesh and blood. Even if you die, who cares?”
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingxi approached the wooden door and whispered in her ear. She heard a rustling sound, and the person seemed to be in unbearable pain, speaking in a low, hoarse voice, but with no decrease in momentum: "Even if I die, I will expose your crimes to the world!"
"What did you say!"
With a fierce remark accompanied by a sharp palm strike, Tang Zexue's head seemed to have struck a rotten piece of wood in a temple. He let out a muffled groan and chuckled softly, "I have already reported your crimes to the Censor. As long as I die, as long as the news of my death reaches Chang'an, he will know, all of Chang'an will know! ... You can't escape! Ha... None of you can escape!"
Suddenly, a strong wind arose, making the doors and windows rattle loudly. Behind the thin paper windows, Tang Zexue coughed up blood and lay disheveled on the ground. Then, someone lifted her up by the waist and slammed her heavily to the ground.
The man was extremely agitated, venting his anger on the poor scholar, "My father will protect me! His Highness will protect me! I will be promoted and ennobled, rising through the ranks to become a general and a prime minister! Only you deserve to go to the deepest hell!"
Another brutal scene unfolded, and Tang Zexue collapsed beside the Buddha statue, barely alive. Blood stained her lips, yet she still smiled: "Your eldest brother bullies the people and enslaves women, your father embezzles public funds, and you steal others' achievements... cough cough..."
"Your entire family will be infamous for eternity!"
The perpetrator's eyes turned bloodshot, and he was about to strike again, but was stopped by someone who had been watching coldly from the sidelines.
"Liu Fang, have you forgotten His Highness's instructions? Not a single word he said here should be leaked."
The voice sounded very familiar, but Xie Lingxi couldn't find its owner even after thinking about it carefully.
There should be three people in this temple, one of whom is the Tang gentleman she is looking for. Judging from what they say, there seems to be another hidden story.
Xie Lingxi tore open a small, tattered hole with her fingers and, by the candlelight in the temple, saw clearly the current situation of the three people.
Beside the Buddha statue, Tang Zexue lay face down in a pile of straw, her clothes stained with blood, looking completely lifeless. To her left stood two elegant young men, one of whom was masked and slowly and meticulously wiping his fingers with a handkerchief.
Did he think Tang Zexue's blood tainted his hands?
She didn't recognize the two men, which meant they hadn't distinguished themselves in her previous life, or perhaps they had been eliminated by Yan Ji with ruthless methods before this.
Who is this "Your Highness" they are talking about?
Xie Lingxi shifted her body and leaned in a little to get a better look. This time, she could clearly see a bright red mole on the masked person's fingertip.
The two of them spoke in detail for a while, and then a burnt smell came from the temple, followed by the sound of their footsteps leaving.
Xie Lingxi hesitated for a moment, waited outside for a while, and when she saw that there was no sound at all in the temple, she tiptoed in.
Before them, a great fire had started from the straw beneath Tang Zexue, threatening to burn the temple to the ground.
Upon seeing this, Xie Lingxi immediately rushed forward. Fortunately, the man's clothes were soaked with blood, which blocked some of the flames, but the straw beneath him was still burning, showing no sign of giving up.
She frowned, enduring the smell of blood, and dragged the man out of the straw. The young man had fainted and his body was unusually heavy. Instead of taking more than a few steps, she staggered and almost fell headfirst into the fire.
If Liu Xu were here, that would be wonderful...
Xie Lingxi was lost in thought for a moment, then mustered all her strength to pull the person out and place them on the open ground in front of the temple. Fearing that the two villains might return, she smacked the person's head a few times, "Wake up!"
Tang Zexue had countless wounds on his body, perhaps from being tortured at Dali Temple. Now, after being abused like this, Xie Lingxi was filled with fear, wondering if he was still conscious enough to stand up.
"Hey! Wake up!"
She shoved the person a few more times, and seeing that Tang Zexue didn't move, she quickly made a mental calculation and, based on her memories from her previous life, whispered in her ear, "Your mother is dead!"
In an instant, the person who had been unconscious sat up abruptly, his eyes and ears bloodshot, his face filled with bewilderment: "What?!"
"hiss--"
Xie Lingxi was already close to him, and before she could even move after speaking, the man jumped up and hit her head hard. She lost her balance and was knocked several meters away.
A wild goose cried out as it cut across the sky.
Xie Lingxi fell to the ground, her vision blurry, and several of her hairpins had fallen off. Tang Zexue, like a madwoman, crawled towards her and lunged at her, grabbing her neck and screaming, "Where's my mother!"
Xie Lingxi had just recovered when she saw him wake up. Before she could even feel her joy, she felt a blood-stained hand cover her neck. Unable to bear it any longer, she grabbed a hairpin and pressed it against his throat. "Get over here!"
I didn't expect him to react so strongly.
This rebuke brought Tang Zexue to her senses somewhat. She took a few steps back, still looking at her with considerable apprehension.
Who are you?
How could there be such a beautiful girl in the middle of nowhere?
Could this be another of their schemes?
Xie Lingxi slowly stood up, brushed the dust off her skirt, and said in a light voice, "The person who saved you."
"Can you stand up? This is not a safe place to stay."
...
The two walked down the mountain.
Xie Lingxi knew this route well and could easily descend the mountain, but then she realized she had nowhere to go. She couldn't possibly take him back to the Xie family, and besides, she had just had a fight with Liu Xu.
But Tang Zexue kept nagging: "Which faction does the young lady pledge allegiance to?"
"Where will you take me, young lady?"
Does your master know of your treacherous behavior?
"..."
Xie Lingxi covered her scraped wrist and thought to herself: Saving you was really bad luck.
She turned her head and looked at him coldly: "Do I look like an assassin to you? Or a suicide bomber?"
Tang Zexue covered her wound carefully: "The way you used the hairpin is extraordinary."
Xie Lingxi scoffed.
In the dead of night, the two moved like ghosts. Xie Lingxi led him through a small path, cleverly following the moat down, and tiptoed all the way to the back gate of the Liu residence.
Looking up, I saw a lantern lit up beside the small wooden door, its firefly light instantly rivaling the sun and moon.
A man was leaning against the door. Xie Lingxi looked up in a daze and saw her newlywed husband standing there, as graceful as a willow in spring, gazing at her tenderly.
When Liu Xu saw her slightly disheveled and dejected appearance, his brows twitched, he chuckled, and reached out his hand to her.
"Lingxi, it's getting dark, time to go home."
...
This back door was set up by her and Liu Xu as agreed, and no one else knew about it except the two of them.
This is to prevent unforeseen changes.
After the wedding, the extra servants in the house were dismissed, most of them sent to shops in the countryside of Xiejia to do odd jobs, leaving only the cook, guards, a few maids and an old couple to manage the household.
They were all personally selected by Xie Lingxi, and she kept her mouth shut.
She took two steps forward, and seeing Liu Xu lighting the lamp, she turned her face away and whispered, "It's so bright, aren't you afraid of being discovered?"
Liu Xu stretched his limbs. "What's there to be afraid of in our own courtyard?"
He glanced at the blood-stained man behind him. "Who is he?"
"The one I told you about earlier."
Liu Xu was startled and urged Xie Lingxi to come in. He covered the lantern slightly and whispered to Tang Zexue, who was still standing at the door, "Ling Shuang, come in quickly."
Ling Shuang is the courtesy name of Tang Zexue.
The woman who saved him was like a flower reflected in snow, and the man before him was like a willow reflected in the moon. Tang Zexue loosened her clenched teeth and wandered around before entering the room.
A young boy then came out and quietly swept away the marks in front of the door.
...
Inside the main room.
Tang Zexue was led to change into clean clothes and, after treating her wounds, entered the room, just in time to see Liu Xu gently bandaging Xie Lingxi's wrist wound.
Under the dim lamplight, the two of them had their hair tied up low, their eyes lowered and their brows closed, yet a subtle fragrance conveyed their affection.
It turned out they were a married couple.
But why would this woman go to the old temple alone?
He looked at Xie Lingxi's wound and said apologetically, "I'm sorry."
Xie Lingxi looked up upon hearing this, "It's nothing."
She turned to Liu Xu and said, "Xu, I unexpectedly saved Tang Langjun today. I saw him being bullied by several people, and it seems there's more to the story."
Liu Xu finished wrapping the gauze, tied it into a bow, and nodded slightly.
He then looked at Tang Zexue, stood up and bowed: "Lord Tang."
"My name is Liu Chengzhi, and I work at the Hanlin Academy. I have heard that Lord Tang was unfortunately implicated in the case of the attack on a student and was severely framed. I wonder if you could tell us the truth?"
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