Chapter 11 Rushing towards him regardless of everything
In the afternoon, the group continued their journey. Jiang Yinyue, having just finished bathing, leaned comfortably against the carriage wall, pondering how to rescue Zhu Dian from Han Jian's grasp.
"Was Han Jian a servant of the Yan family from the very beginning?"
Wei Qin didn't think much of it and just said, "Mm."
"The person who escorted Yan Zhuyi to the capital back then was Han Jian. Yan Zhuyi was unwilling to become someone's second wife. After you rejected her, why didn't she ask Han Jian to take her away?"
Han Jian was completely obedient to Yan Zhuyi and would never refuse her, yet they still arrived in the capital as scheduled.
Jiang Yinyue didn't care whether Wei Qin listened or showed interest, and continued to analyze: "He weighed the pros and cons and would rather be a concubine than marry a servant."
This is understandable, but Jiang Yinyue clearly remembered that when Yan Zhuyi begged the Crown Prince to take her in, she said with tears in her eyes, "I would rather die than be someone's concubine."
Yan Zhuyi's appearance wasn't considered beautiful, but her eyes were full of charm, and when she wept, she evoked pity.
There is always something hateful about a pitiful person, and something pitiful about a hateful person. The dodder flower clings to others in order to survive in adversity. Jiang Yinyue does not think that scheming is evil. If it were her, she might not be as resourceful as Yan Zhuyi. What she is bothered by is Yan Zhuyi's distortion of the truth.
At the fork in the road where she had drawn away the assassins, she couldn't help but turn back, wanting to see the Crown Prince one last time. The assassins were coming on fiercely, and she feared she would never have the chance to see her beloved again. It was during that glance back that she noticed a slender figure faintly visible in the bushes that concealed the Crown Prince—a woman.
The woman timidly withdrew her head and concealed herself, presumably afraid of being accidentally injured by the assassin.
The incident happened suddenly, and the nearby people were all hiding. She had no time to think it through and, with a death wish, revealed her whereabouts to the assassin.
Later, when they first met at the Eastern Palace, she mistook Yan Zhuyi for a palace maid, never expecting that she was the woman who had been hiding in the bushes that day.
Therefore, her dislike for Yan Zhuyi had nothing to do with who the Crown Prince liked; it was simply that she disliked Yan Zhuyi as a person.
**
After traveling for a few more days, while resting along the way, Jiang Yinyue carried wheat bran around to the back row to feed the horses, and happened to meet Han Jian sitting by the roadside studying a topographical map.
As luck would have it, they overheard the maid Han Yan and Han Jian discussing something.
"Brother, this place is less than ten miles from our home. Let's plead with Mother and go home on the way. We can stay in the village tonight. It'll kill two birds with one stone."
Han Jian was sullen, clearly tempted, but as a servant, how could he dare to let his master indulge him?
"never mind."
"We haven't been home for five years, this is a rare opportunity."
Jiang Yinyue walked past without making a sound. When she returned after feeding the horses, she saw Han Jian still sitting there blankly, staring intently at the topographic map.
Missing home?
The woman's tentative voice reached his ears. Han Jian glanced at it and rolled up the topographical map, intending to get up.
Jiang Yinyue stared at the man's back and casually offered a condition for the exchange, "I can find a way to make you and your brother's relationship happen."
Han Jian's turning back was expected. Jiang Yinyue, confident in her abilities, pointed at Zhu Dian and said, "People should know how to reciprocate kindness, don't you think?"
The setting sun cast its rays upon the woman's radiant face, blending seamlessly with her sunset-colored dress, creating a dazzling and enchanting scene that added to the beauty of the vast mountains.
Han Jian, who was constantly being bossed around by Yan Zhuyi, was not used to negotiating with others. Having become accustomed to submission, she was almost forgetting how to refuse and accept.
The wind howled, sand swirled, and on the seemingly endless mountain road, Jiang Yinyue helped Wei Qin to his feet, then opened her hands like a megaphone and called out to the group of people accompanying her, "There's a village ahead. Let's go there and ask for lodging for the night so you can all get a good night's sleep."
It's always more comfortable to stay somewhere else than to sleep in the open, so the guards certainly wouldn't refuse.
Yan Zhuyi, in another carriage, lifted the curtain and looked at the smiling woman, not understanding what she was so happy about.
The two sisters, Han Yan and Han Xun, sat silently, suppressing their trepidation and secret joy. They couldn't understand why this young lady from the Jiang family, who had been pampered since childhood, would strive so hard to obtain a mixed-breed horse.
Legend has it that Minister Jiang kept several imperial Ferghana horses in his stables.
Unaware of the truth, Yan Zhuyi only realized that this was the ancestral home of the three Han siblings when she arrived at the village entrance. However, she was unaware of the deal between Han Jian and Jiang Yinyue, and simply thought it was a coincidence.
Upon arriving at the farmer's house, the group saw an old woman with a full head of white hair chopping firewood in the yard.
Han Jian pushed open the gate, choked up before she could speak, and knelt down with a thud.
"You unfilial son!"
Han Yan and Han Xun were also sobbing uncontrollably.
"Mother, your daughter has come back to see you!"
The old woman looked at her suddenly appearing children in disbelief, tears blurring her aged eyes. She stepped forward shakily, unsure which child to help up first.
The old man, who had been paralyzed in bed for many years, was extremely anxious and called out his children's nicknames through the door.
As night falls, the lights of countless homes illuminate this family's night.
Jiang Yinyue was immersed in the satisfaction of fulfilling others' wishes and killing two birds with one stone, and did not notice Wei Qin, who was quietly retreating to the side.
With the old woman acting as guarantor, the guards moved into several nearby households.
Yan Zhuyi was arranged to stay in the side room of the old woman's house. She showed no displeasure and even visited the paralyzed old man, Han, bringing him the tonics she carried with her.
“The village has been rather unsettled lately, so Your Highness must lock the door at night.”
Han Yan quickly replied, "This servant will stay by Your Highness's side."
"You've come all this way, spend more time with your parents."
Yan Zhuyi is a smart woman who knows the importance of winning people's hearts. This tolerance and understanding is enough for the three Han siblings to be grateful for.
Jiang Yinyue and Wei Qin were arranged to stay in a side room of the neighbor's house, and were also reminded to be extra vigilant at night and not to go out.
The old man next door brought over hot water and said, "The Zhou family's wife ran away with someone else. The Zhou family's husband couldn't stand the ridicule and went mad. He often sets fires in his dreams, burning down other people's houses, but he doesn't know anything about it when he wakes up."
Jiang Yinyue was puzzled, "How can you set fire in a dream?"
The old man covered his mouth, "He might have attracted something; he's like a walking corpse."
Jiang Yinyue closed the door, wrung out a damp cloth to wipe herself, and said, "Turn around."
"I'll go out and keep watch."
Wei Qin opened the door, his figure appearing in the dimly lit courtyard. At the prime of his youth, he couldn't resist the faint, alluring fragrance emanating from her.
A small figure was reflected in the window of the opposite room, swaying his head and reciting a book.
When the child read a particular idiom, he paused repeatedly, unsure of its meaning and unfamiliar with the last character: "阳和启...启..."
"Qizhe, also known as Jingzhe."
The boy pushed open the window and looked at the guest who had come to stay with surprise. He had a scholarly and elegant air about him, and his appearance was as handsome as a painting, but he also gave people a sense of aloofness that made him difficult to approach.
The child blinked. "Do you know what this means?"
Wei Qin didn't explain further, only saying, "It's a stroke of good fortune."
"What about this one?"
He walked over and looked at the line of words the child had pointed to: "Peace and tranquility bring spring, blessings and prosperity abound."
The boy, mistaking Wei Qin for a schoolteacher, immediately asked respectfully, "What does that mean?"
Just as Wei Qin was about to explain, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a flash of fire, and the smell of burning, along with white smoke, rose from the fence of the small courtyard.
The child exclaimed, "Fire! Fire!"
His loud voice echoed through the night, waking up the nearby villagers.
Wei Qin lowered his gaze to the fleeing black figure, then leaped out with the agility of a swallow. He chased the figure past several houses, through sparse woods, and after locking onto the figure, he pounced forward and tackled the man to the ground.
Two figures twisted together.
The opponent possessed astonishing strength, seemed insane, and spoke incoherently. He kicked Wei Qin away, grabbed a fallen torch, and set the trees ablaze.
"Go to hell, all of you."
"Go to hell, all of you."
With disheveled hair and an unshaven beard, he charged menacingly toward Wei Qin, who was slowly rising to his feet.
A clash of forces.
Wei Qin was bent down and hugged around the waist by the man, his back slamming heavily against the tree trunk.
The man was as strong as a bear, unusually tall, and had a natural advantage in strength.
No wonder no one in the village dared to step forward and stop it.
A giant monster.
Wei Qin was hit so hard that his heart and lungs trembled, and he coughed up blood. Then the man grabbed his neck.
"Mind your own business, or you'll die."
Wei Qin tilted his head back and smashed his forehead into the other man's head.
The man stumbled backward, seeing stars. Before he could react, a dark shadow rushed towards him like a cheetah, aiming straight for his face.
Two figures fell to the ground, one above the other.
The fire in the forest intensified, billowing black smoke.
Wei Qin straddled the man's waist and punched him repeatedly in the face, his eyes blazing with an unknown rage. "Still pretending to be crazy?"
"ah!!!"
Still pretending?
The man, his face bruised and swollen, grimaced, never expecting to encounter such a nosy stranger. "Was it really worth it?!"
Wei Qin kept punching until the other person cried and begged for mercy before he stopped. He had seen too many madmen, most of whom were just pretending to be crazy.
Another punch landed, knocking the man unconscious and causing his head to tilt to the side.
In the distance, the faint sound of villagers' footsteps could be heard. Wei Qin stood up, looked around at the burning forest, and suddenly felt an indescribable sense of suffocation. He grabbed his neck and his upright body slammed to his knees.
His back trembled like butterfly wings.
His gaze was unfocused, his vision blurred, as if the fire had burned away everything in his eyes.
"Fire! The forest is on fire! Quick, get water!"
There are people in the woods!
The villagers' voices were urgent and anxious.
The neighbors arrived one after another, each carrying a wooden bucket.
Wei Qin braced himself with one hand on the ground, his forearm bulging with veins. The scorching heat around him made it hard to breathe, and his lungs ached terribly. But just as his body was about to tilt, a pair of cool little hands caught him.
"Wei Qin!"
Ignoring the villagers' attempts to stop her, Jiang Yinyue crossed the stream and ran into the burning woods, where she knelt down to support Wei Qin, whose skin was burning hot.
Wei Qin smelled a familiar, cool fragrance, and unconsciously embraced it.
Jiang Yinyue knew that Wei Qin was afraid of the heat, but she didn't know if the marks left by his childhood experiences were scorched red by the fire and were once again imprinted on Wei Qin's old wounds. She only knew that she couldn't let him waste his life in the fire.
"Let's go, I'll take you away."
Wei Qin embraced the woman in his arms, leaning all his weight onto her.
Thick black smoke billowed, and the situation was urgent. Jiang Yinyue supported the man who was about to lose consciousness, and they walked step by step with great difficulty.
"Chase the lightning!"
A brown and white horse crossed the stream and arrived at the sound, its mane flying in the firelight.
As Jiang Yinyue struggled to push Wei Qin onto the horse, a hand covered in scars helped her.
Han Jian hurriedly wiped the paper and joined the crowd fighting the fire.
The forest was noisy and chaotic; the charred trees wondered when they would be able to welcome the gentle spring colors again.
"drive!"
A broken heart is hard to cure. Jiang Yinyue wanted to get Wei Qin away from this sea of fire as soon as possible. Her eyes were like torches as she rode against the wind, letting the night wind brush against her cheeks.
This usually carefree woman rarely felt a sense of responsibility; the most memorable instance was when she risked her life to draw away assassins for the crown prince, and this time, that same feeling returned.
Throughout their journey together, Wei Qin had always taken care of her; now it was her turn to protect him. She never wanted to be a burden to anyone, but rather to hold up an umbrella for those around her amidst the fierce winds and raging snow.
A strand of long hair was tucked to her lips, but she was completely unaware of it. With one hand holding the reins, she held onto Wei Qin's hands, which were wrapped around her waist, with the other.
Wei Qin seemed to have lost consciousness, leaning against Jiang Yinyue's back. For a moment, he felt as if he were in a sea of fire, with people screaming in his ears. His mind was in chaos, his eyes were empty, and blood was rising in his throat until he felt a warm little hand covering the back of his hand, the fingertips interlocking tightly between his fingers.
The tension in my heart gradually eased.
He closed his eyes, wrapped his arms tightly, and absorbed the last bit of warmth, a temperature he didn't reject.
Jiang Yinyue rode her swift horse through the moonlit village, her hooves flying as she passed through plum groves. Her long sleeves fluttered in the wind, carrying the fragrance of plum blossoms. Beyond the plum groves lay a path lined with peach trees and willows. She squeezed Wei Qin's hand tightly, wanting him to see the scenery along the way.
Vibrant life blooms silently, and heartache will fade away imperceptibly. It will, Wei Qin.
Jiang Yinyue kept it to herself.
A note from the author:
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My daughter is Xiao Wei's little sun.
A bunch of small red envelopes are dropping! [kissing emoji]
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