The two men kowtowed repeatedly, saying in unison, "Your servants will never leave you. Without you, we are like rootless duckweed. Please, young master, do not send us away."
Huo Baichuan looked at Zhao Shu and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I don't know if Uncle Fu can still protect your father. If you don't mind, please give them a meal. Loyalty is not an issue." He said firmly.
"If you don't mind, I'll take anyone else you're worried about." Zhao Shu readily agreed, but he no longer had anyone he was worried about. He used to have Huo Danlan, but things were different now. He didn't have any more feelings of reluctance or worry left for her.
He seemed tired. Just then, the medicine was ready, and Bi Qiao brought it over herself. Zhao Shu fed him spoonful by spoonful. He did not refuse and obediently drank the medicine. After drinking the medicine, he regained a little strength. "Call Wei Chang'an over and help me comfort Xian'er."
"You want to get rid of me?" Zhao Shu disagreed and didn't want to leave.
He nodded and smiled frankly, "It's best if you don't listen to conversations between men."
"Promise me nothing will happen." Zhao Shu had said these pale and weak words countless times, but she never thought they were too many. If these words were effective, she would say them every day.
"Okay." He agreed rather rudely, and this was probably the only time in his life he would break a promise.
Zhao Shu left the house, looking back every few steps. Wei Tingsi, leaning against the wall and supporting his sword, stood at the gate of the courtyard. Seeing her walk out in a daze, he hurried over to wipe away her tears. "If you want to cry, then cry."
"He wants to see you." Zhao Shu wanted to cry her heart out, but now was not the time; she couldn't miss out on anything by crying.
Wei Tingsi was not surprised, as if he had expected Huo Baichuan to want to see him. He nodded and said, "Alright, the Empress Dowager is outside. Go and see her. The Huo family members have also come."
After he finished speaking, Xiao Pang and Duo Zi also came out of the house. He glanced at the open door and strode inside.
Upon seeing Wei Tingsi, Huo Baichuan smiled nonchalantly, "I'm afraid I'll lose that competition."
“No, you win,” Wei Tingsi said, as he walked to the bedside, pulled over a chair, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Huo Baichuan gave a self-deprecating laugh, "I'm sorry, I made you feel bad."
This statement refers to the question of whether Zhao Shuai loved him, the act of exchanging his life for hers, and the shooting of him by Huo Danlan.
Wei Tingsi shook his head. He was not good with words to begin with, and now he didn't know what to say. But he still had to say what he had to say, "It's nothing, it's none of your business. You don't need to apologize to me. If you apologize, I'll feel even worse. Can't you just leave peacefully?"
"Hahaha..." he laughed weakly.
He laughed, and Wei Tingsi laughed along with him. The way the two men looked at each other and laughed was heartbreaking and desolate.
"If I could start over, I definitely wouldn't let you beat me to it," Huo Baichuan said.
“Even if you’re sick, I won’t let you have your way,” Wei Tingsi replied.
A man doesn't need others to defer to him, and Huo Baichuan certainly didn't.
"You have to treat her well, or I'll haunt you even as a ghost." Huo Baichuan pretended to be very tough, but his pale face only showed signs of exhaustion.
“Of course, she’s mine, I’ll naturally treat her well,” Wei Tingsi said, then, as if remembering something, suddenly asked, “Aren’t you angry?”
"Why be angry? She gave me a meal when I was a child, and now I repay her with my life. From now on, she has nothing to do with me anymore. I hate owing people favors more than anything in my life," Huo Baichuan said calmly, his emotions no longer fluctuating.
Wei Tingsi nodded. "It's good that it's irrelevant. Otherwise, if she wanted to avenge you, I'm afraid you wouldn't appreciate it."
Huo Baichuan chuckled, his smile as bright as the summer sun, illuminating the entire room. "Wei Chang'an, I admire no one but you in this life."
It's unclear where he got the idea to say "I submit," but since he's convinced, then I submit. Wei Tingsi didn't say much, just looked at him and said, "Me too."
"Hahaha." He laughed again, then fell silent. The two looked at each other, as if they knew what the other was thinking across a distance.
"You should get some rest. I always feel lonely when you're not around," Wei Tingsi said at the end.
Huo Baichuan shook his head, "In the next life, I don't want to be born under the same sky as you, and I don't want to be your enemy."
"You die first and are reincarnated first, I die last and am reincarnated last. In the next life, we can be friends despite the age difference," Wei Tingsi joked.
“Okay, let’s be friends in the next life, even though we’re not related by age.” Huo Baichuan nodded in agreement, as if this was the final destiny that the two of them should have.
"I don't have much time left. Call the Huo family in for me," he said, making his final arrangements as quickly as possible.
"Okay." Wei Tingsi nodded, turned around and left the room. Between men, there is no need for words of comfort, nor for sorrowful reluctance to part. Understanding each other in their hearts is enough.
The Huo family wasn't large, but they were all prominent figures. Among them was Huo Qiye, one of the four young masters. Zhao Shu didn't recognize the others. Huo Baichuan's parents were in Bianzhou and couldn't come over in time, but she had already sent someone to invite them.
Zhao Shu did not follow them inside. She only led the constantly crying Huo Guxian to the outside of the gate and then stopped. The Empress Dowager and Zhao Yi, along with all the civil and military officials, stood guard outside the courtyard gate, waiting anxiously.
He was giving instructions about household chores, which would probably take a while to finish, so the Empress Dowager came over and gently hugged her, saying, "Don't cry."
Being comforted always makes it easy to magnify one's grievances. Zhao Shu's vision blurred again as she stood next to the Empress Dowager. "Grandmother, A-Jun doesn't want him to die."
"I know, I know it too. My dear, things will get better," the Empress Dowager comforted her.
But both of them knew it was hopeless; current technology couldn't save Huo Baichuan, and they could only watch helplessly as he died.
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