Chapter 65 The Magpie Knows the Wind "Ning Lu, if you want to refuse someone, this is how..."
"My lord... I am a fool. I do not understand what you mean."
Ning Lu spoke, hoping to resolve the issue by avoiding the problem.
Before he could finish speaking, a cut appeared in Xie Qinghe's eyes, revealing the resolute determination within them.
Sadness and loneliness seeped out from the cracks, and even the strength in the grip on her wrist began to loosen.
She pulled her hand away and moved back, hoping to create some distance between them.
Unexpectedly, the man was already at his limit, and he had pulled with almost all his might. With her movement, his body tilted and fell.
"Thank you, Qinghe!"
Ning Lu immediately stopped what she was doing and supported his weak body, which could barely support itself.
It wasn't until he leaned on her shoulder that she realized his clothes were soaked with cold sweat.
"Xie Qinghe, how could you..."
"Don't scare me."
"No matter how you deny it... or how you change the subject, no matter whether you admit it or not..."
He seemed possessed, hooking his arm around her sleeve, speaking each word with almost stubborn insistence.
Ning Lu laughed in exasperation: "What could be more important than your life..."
"That will do."
Anticipating her question, I gave a firm and resolute reply, with a childlike stubbornness.
This was a side of Xie Qinghe she had never seen before.
Green shoots sprout from the frozen soil in my heart, growing with unstoppable force, impossible to ignore.
Looking down at the fingers clasped around her wrist, they were fair and slender.
Where their skin touched, cold sweat seeped out.
Over the past period of time, her feelings of avoidance, ignoring, and pretending not to know have grown rampant.
Ning Lu's mind went blank, she was at a loss, her fingertips twitched, hooked onto her sleeve, and spun around in circles.
Looking at Xie Qinghe again, he remained calmly resolute, without shouting or swearing to the heavens, simply stating a given fact.
He meant that this matter was more important than his life.
Does he mean she's important?
He squinted and frowned, a look of confusion creeping out of his face.
"I'm not threatening you..."
Xie Qinghe's voice was low, and his attitude was no longer as frighteningly resolute as it had been just moments before.
“I am not as strong as you. You can break free anytime you want, but Ning Lu… I will not let go willingly.”
"Xie Qinghe, I think you don't understand my identity. I can explain it to you again."
Having understood his unspoken meaning, Ning Lu could no longer pretend to be ignorant.
She forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and recounted the whole story of her time travel to him.
"I absolutely have to go back. My parents, my friends, my past and my future, are all there. I won't... and I can't..."
Faced with his resolute determination, she felt ashamed and stammered, "In short, I won't stay here forever."
For the past few months, she has used this reason to convince herself.
Focus on the main questline and don't let minor details cause you to lose sight of the bigger picture.
"As you said yourself, you don't know when the opportunity will come."
"Yes, perhaps the opportunity will arrive when the carriage stops."
Ning Lu is deceiving herself.
Xie Qinghe chuckled softly upon hearing this, but the smile was tinged with bitterness, which made Ning Lu inexplicably feel a chill run down her spine.
"It might be delayed..."
This is what the old Taoist priest in the temple told him.
Ning Lu thought he was going to try to persuade her, and was about to retort when she heard Xie Qinghe whisper.
“That’s perfect, Ning Lulu… I’m sickly and don’t know what the future holds. You and I are a good match.”
"Maybe I'll die before you get home, so I won't be a burden to you."
"Xie Qinghe!" Stung by his words, she sprang up like a startled kitten: "Who curses themselves like that! Spit it out!"
He watched her jumping around, not saying a word, just smiling.
His laughter pained Ning Lu, and she reached out to tug at his sleeve, trying to beg him to stop laughing.
I can't explain it.
She had also thought about what Xie Qinghe said.
If we can never go back, are we just going to live a temporary life in this world for the rest of our lives?
But he is Xie Qinghe!
This guy is smart, but he's also extremely good at saying one thing and doing another.
Who knows if he'll betray her now that he's so in love?
Who knows if, after spending so much time together, when it's finally time to go home, he might tear up her umbrella and hide her feather coat?
He leaned against the soft couch, his limbs weak and powerless, so exhausted that even opening his eyes to look at her was a struggle.
From the time she was in Zhujia'ao, caring for him and being good to him had become a habit. Even now that she had figured out the common sense of life in this dynasty and had the skills to protect herself, she still habitually looked at him.
As they hesitated, the carriage came to a stop, and the people outside, being very perceptive, did not disturb the tranquility of the place.
Xie Qinghe stared at her for a long time, but in the end he was no match for her. He cowered and trembled, then slowly closed his eyes.
The pressure on his wrist did not ease.
Ning Lu didn't dare to struggle anymore, letting him hold her tightly.
She had always thought that as long as she didn't say it out loud, everything would be fine.
They don't say anything, they just get along in an ambiguous way, neither of them binding the other.
She doesn't ask him for a title, and he doesn't have to take responsibility for her.
She's a straightforward, unassuming young woman, and men should find such an easy relationship enjoyable.
But Xie Qinghe doesn't play by the rules.
It seems like they're determined to get a formal title.
As the sun begins to slant westward from its zenith, the light and shadow shift and change.
When Xie Qinghe woke up, Ning Lu was holding his right hand, while her left hand was holding a pastry as she leaned on the table and swallowed it in small bites.
As dusk settled and the light dimmed, the last rays of the setting sun shone through the windowpane onto her hair, casting a golden glow.
Like a dream, like an illusion.
He slept for a long time, his body was stiff, but unusually, it was warm.
Looking down, I saw that her cloak covered everything from her shoulders down, and hot water bottles were placed under her knees and feet.
"You're awake?"
Sensing the fluctuation in his aura, Ning Lu turned her head and glanced at him.
At first, we thought he was just taking a short nap, but he slept deeper and deeper, and even fell into a coma several times.
I felt chest tightness and shortness of breath, and I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't wake up.
Wei Chun came in to check on him, but dared not give him the medicine or wake him up.
Only then did she realize that the news about Qinghuai and Qingzhi was true; he had indeed fallen ill last night and had been suffering for a long time.
This morning at daybreak, Guo Chi and Commandant Zhu came to report one after the other, and only then did he reluctantly get up and open the jade pendant.
Upon seeing that the note did not contain a name, they knew something was wrong and immediately decided to re-examine Pan Xingxue, but it was too late.
Xie Qinghe hadn't had a full night's sleep for several nights; every night was dangerous, but she had never heard of it.
Suddenly, she realized that Xie Qinghe wasn't as pretentious as she had imagined.
Having served him for many years, Wei Chun knew how difficult it was for him to sleep peacefully for even a moment, and dared not wake him rashly.
Ning Lu always valued her life, so she naturally agreed wholeheartedly to his suggestion.
Seeing that he had woken up, she brushed the dust off her clothes, moved to sit beside him, and said irritably, "If you can't speak, then don't. Have some water."
Shake head.
My gaze fell on his fingertips.
I gripped it too tightly and for too long, and it started to tremble slightly.
Seeing his arm twitching with difficulty, Ning Lu guessed his intention: "It's numb, isn't it? Let me do it."
Help him pry his fingers apart one by one, and smooth them out from the base of his palm to the fingertips with the pad of his thumb.
Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Ning Lu looked up and asked, "Does it hurt?"
Shake head.
"No wonder it hurts."
"This place will probably leave a scar."
The wound she had inflicted with her longsword before, winding and grotesque, lay across his palm.
Her tone, though seemingly casual, revealed a hint of tenderness. Xie Qinghe's eyes flickered, and his voice became hoarse.
Ning Lu.
Seeing that he was trying to get up, Ning Lu quickly reached out to help him sit up straight.
After sleeping like that for half a day, one can only imagine how stiff one's body must be.
The guy leaned against her, closing his eyes to catch his breath, his high, straight nose rubbing against her neck.
My hair stood on end, and I was breathing rapidly.
Ning Lu felt a slight fever, and her brain issued an escape command, but she couldn't move her hands and feet at all.
She licked her lips and nudged his shoulder with her fingertips.
"Sit still. Don't try to take advantage of me."
Xie Qinghe opened her eyes, her eyelashes brushing against her neck, and her breathing became even more rapid.
"Um."
We should simply remain still.
She felt itchy and shy, so she kept poking him.
Xie Qinghe seemed to have noticed her predicament and deliberately winked.
"Thank you, Qinghe!"
"Um?"
"Stop messing around! This is harassment!"
You can push me away.
That same phrase again!
He thought she wouldn't dare?
Caught completely off guard, Xie Qinghe leaned back, his face deathly pale, his breathing, which had just begun to calm, became erratic again.
"You're the one who told me to push it."
Feeling guilty and uneasy, Ning Lu muttered to herself.
She adopted a tough stance, turned away, and deliberately stopped looking at him.
After a short while, feeling that it was too quiet behind her, Ning Lu turned around cowardly again.
"Don't sleep here anymore. The doctor is already waiting in your courtyard."
"Ning Lu, this is not the way to refuse someone."
Xie Qinghe saw through her soft heart, stood up with his hand on his chest, and draped the cloak back over her.
"If you keep doing this, I won't give up."
"Aren't you afraid of scaring me away now?"
Seeing Xie Qinghe's calm and composed demeanor, she realized where she was.
In the Jiang Kingdom, below the emperor, is Xie Qinghe.
“I know what Ning Lu looks like.”
Moreover, people who are truly afraid are the ones who wouldn't ask such a question.
The tie at the collar was twisted into a flower shape by his fingertips, Xie Qinghe exerted a little force.
Ning Lu felt a tightness around her neck and realized he was doing it on purpose. She thought he was just being childish and snatched the cloak tie from his hand, straightening the bow.
"They don't learn the good stuff, but they learn these greasy and annoying mannerisms."
Even so, she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh: "I've been hungry all day, and I'm going back to the east wing for dinner now."
"good."
"I will go to the dungeon to find Lan Zhou tomorrow, and then go to your place for my shift in the afternoon."
"good."
Upon hearing her words, Xie Qinghe's fingers, which were hooked around her sleeve, trembled slightly and relaxed a little.
"I'll have Wei Chun come and pick you up."
Before he could respond, Ning Lu pulled all the hems of her clothes from his palm and darted out of the carriage.
My palm fell empty, leaving me feeling lost and disappointed.
The next moment, Ning Lu was heard shouting loudly for Wei Chun and Wei Zhan, giving them instructions one by one.
"Don't let him be exposed to the wind."
"And hot water bottles are useful; he always keeps one in his room."
"He didn't take his medicine today, remember to make him drink it."
"Oh well! Whatever, I'm starving, I'm leaving now."
The emptiness in his chest gradually filled up, and he chuckled softly, his palms clenching tightly.
Ning Lulu, who has a clear sense of right and wrong...
"My lord, Prince Jing has made a move."
Before the warmth had dissipated, Wei Zhan's cold voice came from outside the carriage.
He lifted the carriage curtain with his fingertips, his gaze cold and distant.
Xie Qinghe glanced indifferently at the squad of soldiers behind him, then looked at Guo Chi, who had rushed over and was panting heavily, and had already made up his mind.
Where is he?
"The southern villa has gathered several hundred elite troops and is heading towards Changzhou City."
"Lord Xie, the troops are ready. Shall we proceed to the south of the city to meet the enemy?"
"Go to the Changzhou government office." Xie Qinghe smoothed his sleeves. "Don't disturb the east wing."
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