Chapter 72 "I don't know Princess Anle, I..."
The stars and lights shone brightly. The two people in the courtyard began to think about how they would be lectured by the prince and princess when they returned.
Feng Mian suddenly remembered that when she was half-awake, she seemed to have heard Baili Xunzhou tell her a story from her childhood. As she recalled it, she asked, "Didn't you say that you were also kidnapped when you were a child?"
"I was trying to save people, but I couldn't fight them all, so I was tied up as well," Baili Xunzhou corrected earnestly.
Isn't the result the same? Although she thought this, Feng Mian considerately didn't say it aloud, but instead asked, "Do you remember where it was? Was it a place called Qishan?"
Bai Lixun frowned and recalled for a long time. This matter had long been buried under his thrilling military career and he hadn't thought about it for many years. For a moment, he really couldn't determine the location of the incident.
He tried to deduce the truth from the past. It seemed that his father was preparing to take him to the capital to meet the emperor. It was the only time in many years that his father had taken him to the capital. However, an accident occurred on the way, in which he was "abducted". After his father rescued him, he wiped out the kidnappers in the vicinity and sent him back to the northern frontier.
They were traveling to... "Yes, near Qishan."
Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Feng Mian's eyes crinkled into crescent moons as she continued to ask, "You only remember how you heroically burned down the cave, led everyone to escape, and cleverly outwitted the kidnappers to successfully escape. You don't remember anything else?"
"Isn't remembering all of this enough?" Baili Xunzhou asked, puzzled. He emphasized, "Back then, my father thought I was too young and wouldn't let me command troops. That night was the first time I commanded a 'battle'. After we got back, my father was willing to let me lead troops, and that's how I gradually built up the Swift Feather Camp."
Well, for a young general like him, this is just a small victory in his early days; naturally, only a spectacular battle is worth remembering. Feng Mian was overjoyed, and finally reminded him, "You don't even remember the people who were locked in the cave with you? What about that little girl?"
What girl?
Baili Xunzhou frowned slightly, clearly not remembering anything.
"Do you remember when I told you that when I was a child, I was kidnapped and locked in a cave, and a little boy comforted me and told me not to be afraid?" Feng Mian coaxed gently.
Baili Xunzhou's gaze shifted from bewilderment to surprise, and he hesitated in disbelief, "Could it be me?"
He had absolutely no recollection of it...
Wait a minute, when Feng Mian said that the little boy told her something about "the guardian spirits of the stars hiding in the darkness, but we just can't see them", he not only thought it was childish in his heart, but also said that Feng Mian was easy to fool, and that there were no ghosts or gods in the world.
If that little boy is himself, isn't he scolding himself?
“You’ve forgotten what you said. If I didn’t remember that when we were running away together after the fire, the little boy took off his coat and hung it on a tree branch to confuse the enemy, I probably wouldn’t have recognized you either.”
For Feng Mian, who had lived a peaceful life in the palace for more than ten years, the experience of being abducted after leaving the palace was truly thrilling and left a deep impression on her. She firmly remembered the escape tips she had learned. When she first arrived in the Northern Frontier and was attacked by Lang Guling, she also used a trick to briefly shake off the bandits.
Baili Xunzhou never imagined that she would know Feng Mian so early. She felt a little excited. Could this be considered fate? Of course it could be. She had only left the palace once in all these years, and she happened to meet him. How could it not be?
Just as Baili Xunzhou was secretly pleased with himself, he suddenly heard Feng Mian ask with a smile, "When you tried to grab my clothes, was it because you were scared?"
Even though he was afraid of the dark, he pretended to be nonchalant and comforted her, saying in a serious tone, "I'll hold your hand, don't be afraid."
Unable to contain himself, Feng Mian's smile widened. "I didn't expect you to be so concerned about your image at such a young age?"
All those romantic sentiments and notions of fate vanished at that moment. Baili Xunzhou felt his cheeks burning red and turned his head away somewhat embarrassedly. "I was just... if we both acted scared, wouldn't we break down? Of course I had to pretend!"
"Didn't you stop being afraid of the dark because of this later?" Thinking of this, Baili Xunzhou suddenly felt less guilty. He glanced at Feng Mian, a hint of smugness in his eyes. "It shows that I pretended very well back then, and it was very effective."
Feng Mian laughed loudly and almost fell off the bamboo chair. Baili Xunzhou caught him and helped him sit up again.
She rubbed her forehead, which was a little dizzy from laughing, and took a deep breath. "Yes, yes, I should thank you."
Baili Xunzhou leaned forward slightly, reaching out to massage her temples. When he looked down at her, his eyes were gentle. "No one told me at the time that a certain little county princess who had run away from the palace was also among those children, otherwise I would definitely have remembered her well and never forgotten her."
"Or, if I hadn't turned back then and had gone to Shengjing with my father, I might have met you much earlier."
"That's not necessarily true. I got sick after I went back and didn't see anyone for almost half a year."
Feng Mian spoke in a relaxed tone, but Baili Xunzhou suddenly remembered that his mother had mentioned that the Empress Dowager had sent Feng Mian to a Taoist temple and imprisoned her for seven days. It seemed that this all happened in this year.
"But is the Empress Dowager making things difficult for you?" he blurted out.
Feng Mian remained silent for a long while.
This was almost the first time the two had talked about Feng Mian's time in the palace. All Baili Xunzhou knew was gossip passed around by others, and he didn't know how much of it was true or how many marks it had left on Feng Mian's heart. Seeing Feng Mian's expression now, he figured it must be an unpleasant memory, and he was somewhat annoyed that he had suddenly asked such a question.
He was about to change the subject when he heard Feng Mian's still somewhat weak voice softly say, "It's not just the Empress Dowager."
From the age of five until now, twelve years have passed. Qi Shan's experiences during that period have become somewhat hazy, but everything that happened after returning to the palace is still vivid in his mind when he thinks back on it carefully.
“Because of my willful escape, all the palace servants in the Summer Moon Palace suffered. They did nothing wrong, but they lost their lives simply because they didn’t keep an eye on me…” This was the thing Feng Mian regretted the most. Just mentioning it made her feel a churning pain in her heart, and her voice became slightly hoarse.
She could still remember the smiles of the two palace maids who had taken care of her. It was the most lively and energetic age of a young girl. She had been sleepless for several nights because of the news of her father's death, and they stayed up with her for those nights.
At that time, she was spoiled too much by her uncle and did not know that the consequences of disobeying her would be so serious.
All the people in the Summer Moon Palace were replaced. Her uncle was angry that she was disobedient, and even more angry that she ran away from the palace to find her father, who had only been with her for three days. He scolded her for behaving like her father, not like her mother, Princess Anle. In this world, the person her uncle hated most was her father, so he treated her coldly for a time.
During those days, she was delirious with fever and began having strange dreams. Taking advantage of this, the Empress Dowager secretly locked her up in a Taoist temple without her uncle's knowledge.
Feng Mian was only released after Chu Jinglian accidentally let it slip in front of his uncle.
After that, Feng Mian learned that to survive in the palace, she needed to be even more obedient and compliant.
"When I was brought into the palace, I was just a baby who couldn't even speak. How could you tell if I had a good or bad personality? My uncle only took good care of me because of my mother. Naturally, he didn't want me to have any traits like my father."
"The Empress Dowager disliked my mother, and therefore disliked me as well. So whether I was obedient or rebellious, she would make things difficult for me whenever she had the chance."
“You see, they don’t decide whether they like or dislike me based on what I look like, but rather on whether they like or dislike my mother.”
Slowly speaking out the jumbled thoughts that had been weighing on her heart for many years, Feng Mian suddenly felt much lighter in body and mind. Perhaps some words and emotions really only need an outlet.
She sighed softly, and then two hands cupped her cheeks, gently turning her head to face a pair of suddenly enlarged eyes.
His dark eyes, as black as lacquer, gazed at her intently and sincerely.
“I don’t know Princess Anle, I only know you.”
So my liking for you is simply liking for you, and it has nothing to do with anyone or anything else.
She must have a higher fever, Feng Mian thought, otherwise why would she feel even more dizzy?
Feng Mian raised her hand, her warm, damp palm pressed against Baili Xunzhou's cheek, the cotton face mask feeling rough to the touch.
The sounds of wind, grass, and insects vanished, and all that remained on the boat was a pounding heart, as if it were about to burst out of its chest.
Feng Mian pushed hard away the hand that was pressed against her cheek and muttered, "Don't get too close to me, or I'll pass the disease on to you."
Bai Lixunzhou: "..."
"I……"
"Time for your medicine." Liu Jixue came over with the medicine and shooed the two of them into the house. "The night breeze is getting cool. Don't sit in the yard for so long. Come inside quickly."
Baili Xunzhou wrapped Feng Mian, who was already wrapped tightly in a cloak, inside the quilt again. He turned around and was about to take the medicine bowl from Liu Jixue's hand, but Liu Jixue stepped forward and pushed him aside, handing the medicine to Feng Mian.
Feng Mian took the bowl of medicine at the right temperature, gulped it down in one go, and Liu Jixue then handed her some candied fruit and fed it to her.
"Get a good night's sleep tonight, and I'll come back to take your pulse again tomorrow," Liu Jixue said to Feng Mian in a few more words.
Feeling somewhat frustrated by being left out, Baili Xunzhou felt like a useless outsider when Liu Jixue was there.
The next morning, Baili Xunzhou waited in the pharmacy, using the excuse that other patients needed Liu Jixue more, and sent her away, taking full responsibility for delivering medicine to Feng Mian.
He stirred the medicine with a spoon, trying to cool the scalding hot medicine to a suitable drinking temperature, then held it in both hands to the bedside and handed it to Feng Mian. Watching Feng Mian drink the medicine in one gulp, he promptly fed her a candied fruit.
Seeing Feng Mian's cheeks bulging from eating, he finally felt relieved.
After taking the medicine for two consecutive days, Fengmian's fever subsided.
"This medicine works! That's wonderful! That's wonderful!" Liu Jixue rarely spoke with such excitement. Her eyes were smiling, but shallow tears welled up in them.
Baili Xunzhou breathed a huge sigh of relief and finally smiled without any burden.
Feng Mian was finally relieved. She made up her mind and said, "Please inform everyone that we should gather in the open space at the village entrance in one hour."
Some things can't be put off any longer.
Upon hearing that the princess had something to announce, the people stood at a distance, somewhat worried that the princess's condition might have worsened.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the princess appear unharmed.
Feng Mian first told everyone about the new prescription the doctors had developed, and everyone was overjoyed, finally seeing hope for a cure and spewing auspicious words.
Feng Mian pressed his hand down to stop the cheers, and only then did he propose the decision to burn the corpses.
Unsurprisingly, the crowd was outraged.
An elderly man shouted with all his might, "How is this any different from digging up someone's ancestral grave and scattering their bones to the winds?"
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