Chapter 4: An Old Friend Makes a New Marriage (1) “Yan Huinan, you don’t…
When Xie Yun woke up, she was being held in Yan Huinan's arms as they walked out of the dim Dali Temple prison step by step.
She vaguely remembered hearing the emperor's instructions before she fainted from the pain of the punishment. After she recovered from her illness, she chose a date to marry Yan Huinan.
"What does it mean to choose a date for the wedding?" She didn't understand why she was suddenly going to be married to Yan Huinan.
She was covered in blood, her limbs cold. Her hands around Yan Huinan's neck could feel his scorching heat. But his face was stern, and his words were devoid of any warmth or emotion: "Literally."
Xie Yun: "Why should I marry you?"
Yan Huinan said in a condescending manner: "Didn't you ask me to save you?"
What he meant was, this is how I saved you, and you should thank me.
He did save Xie Yun and leave the Dali Temple, but Xie Yun was conscious at the moment. She left Daliang because she didn't want to marry someone she didn't want to marry. She wanted to go to Jiangnan to repair her mother's grave and live a free life.
Now, because of Yan Huinan, she was imprisoned like a caged bird. Everything she had done before became an illusion. This time, she was in a place where everyone could shout and kill her.
She was so weak that she struggled to speak, but she couldn't help but speak angrily. Her voice was hoarse, and it took all her strength to say the words: "Yan Huinan, don't think you are so noble. If it weren't for you, I would have run away long ago."
"Really? But Xie Yun, you're not in a position to tell me what ifs." Yan Huinan didn't continue, because they all already knew what he was about to say. If it weren't for Xie Qingyun, the Great Zhou might have fallen due to the emperor's incompetence, but at least Yan Huinan's parents wouldn't have died.
Therefore, the person who is least qualified to discuss what if with Yan Huinan is Xie Yun.
Xie Yun was speechless. Even if she had a hundred mouths to refute, she couldn't say in front of Yan Huinan, "I didn't kill him." That was too cruel.
"I didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me." This sentence is not accurate when applied to her, but the fact that she is a member of the Xie family can never be changed.
She closed her mouth and eyes, leaning gently against Yan Huinan's chest, trying to find a comfortable place. But with every step he took, the wounds on her body hurt more.
Yan Huinan had no intention of slowing down his pace. He seemed to be trying every possible way to make her feel pain.
As soon as they left the Dali Temple, Yan Huinan casually placed her on the carriage and let her lean against it. Xie Yun was also stubborn and refused to say a word.
Xie Yun asked, "Where's Feijing?"
"Your dumb dog? Kill it." Yan Huinan said this as if he had just crushed an ant to death.
What?
Why? Why can a life be destroyed like this?
Xie Yun was now experiencing not only physical pain, but also a dull ache in her heart. Fei Jing was found by her and Xie Run together. He had been fed poison and became mute, but he was the most loyal and honest person.
If she hadn't run away for her own happiness, Fei Jing wouldn't have followed her out to protect her. She was still alive, but Fei Jing died because of her.
He shouldn't have ended up like this.
"Yan Huinan, you are not a human being!" She didn't care about anything at this moment, and cursed Yan Huinan in a hoarse voice.
But such words had no effect on Yan Huinan. He didn't even raise his eyelids when listening to Xie Yun's insults.
"Where's his body?" Xie Yun tried to push the carriage away despite her sick body. It was suffocating inside. She didn't want to be in the same space with Yan Huinan even if she fell to her death.
But what she did at this moment was in vain. Yan Huinan forcefully pulled her to his side and forced her to look at him.
For the first time, Xie Yun looked directly at Yan Huinan with fear in her heart. Yan Huinan was very pleased with her current expression. He raised his hand and hooked the hair at her temples. "He threw it into a mass grave. If you want to go and collect his body, you'd better be honest."
-
Xie Yun was covered in wounds when she was released, and spent nearly six months in a deserted garden before she was almost fully recovered. During this time, she never saw Yan Huinan again.
It was March, and the rain was heavy. Finally, a clear day appeared, and the maid Han Zhen supported Xie Yun, who was still limping, to go to the garden to relax.
"What is this abandoned garden?" Xie Yun asked casually.
Han Zhen was shocked and quickly explained to her: "Miss, this is not an abandoned garden. This is the general's mansion!"
General's Mansion?
Xie Yun looked around. Spring was the season when grass and trees grew lushly, but the garden was overgrown with weeds. The original apricot and peach trees had lost their nutrients due to the weeds. They looked like skinny ghosts who lacked food and clothing, with their small flowers blooming pitifully in the half-human-high grass.
How could the General's Mansion be in such a dilapidated state? Even the mansion where Xie Qingyun stayed in Jiangnan when she was escaping was meticulously maintained.
Yan Huinan, the general who defends the country, actually lives in such a mansion?
"Didn't your general say anything? At least get someone to weed the ground." Xie Yun said.
Han Zhen: "Miss, you don't know, this mansion was given by the Emperor, and it's very nice. But the general is often away on campaigns, and he may not come back to live there for a year or two. Moreover, General Yan has no relatives or brothers, so the mansion is always unattended, and only a few old servants live here. The huge garden is uninhabited, and it is expensive, time-consuming, and laborious to maintain. So, it has been left unattended. After the general returned last autumn, he only lived in his own courtyard, sometimes so busy that he didn't even have time to eat, let alone come and stroll in this garden. When the servants saw that the general didn't scold him, they became lazy and left it alone."
Xie Yun just nodded, "I see."
The thought of living here in the future filled her with mixed emotions, but she also heard some useful news.
If Yan Huinan were to lead his troops out to fight, it might be a good opportunity for her to escape.
She was determined not to let Yan Huinan know that she was going to Jiangnan. If he knew where his mother was buried, who knew what he would do.
But now she has lost her flying mirror and is alone, so she can only outsmart others.
Han Zhen thought Xie Yun was concerned about the courtyard affairs, and continued, "But everything will be fine after that. After the young lady marries the general, the family will be different with a mistress. The young lady is so smart, she will definitely be able to manage the affairs of the mansion in an orderly manner."
Xie Yun smiled. Han Zhen was only 14 years old this year. Three years younger than her, still a naive child. She probably didn't know who Xie Yun was.
Otherwise, he would hate her like everyone else.
"How do you know I'm smart? I'm very stupid and have never learned how to be a housekeeper." It was a rare day with good weather, and Xie Yun wanted to joke with Han Zhen.
Han Zhen naively praised: "Miss, you are obviously from a wealthy family. I can tell from your eyes that you are smarter than Han Zhen. You must know a lot of things."
Xie Yun laughed heartily. She really liked a cute and innocent girl like Han Zhen, who was a bit like her former self. "When I have free time in the future, can I teach you how to write?"
She would be imprisoned here for a while anyway. During the time she was recovering from her injuries, Han Zhen took care of her sincerely, and she saw it all.
"Really?" Han Zhen's eyes suddenly lit up, but then dimmed again. "But I'm just a maid. Even if I can read, what good can it do? I'd better not trouble you, young lady."
Xie Yun was slightly taller than Han Zhen. She raised her hand and gently tapped Han Zhen's forehead. "Silly girl, of course it's useful. If you can read, you can write letters and read books, and see a different world. Even if you don't leave your home, you can still see the outside world. Believe me!"
Han Zhen nodded vigorously, "Okay! I also want to be literate and well-mannered like you. Miss, can you tell me something interesting in the book?"
Xie Yun thought for a moment. As a child, she loved to play and read a lot of miscellaneous books. Now she could speak it off the top of her head. She picked out a story from "Liao Zhai" and told it to Han Zhen.
Just as the water ghost was waiting for his friends to come and drink and talk with him, a servant came to report:
"Miss Xie, someone from the Clothing Bureau is here to take your measurements and make your wedding dress."
Xie Yun now had a headache whenever she heard anything about marriage, but she was powerless to resist. She could only frown and agree, letting Han Zhen support her back to the courtyard.
When I returned to Frost and Snow Garden, I saw several female officials in uniform palace uniform standing in a row in the yard waiting.
The leader stepped forward when he saw Xie Yun coming and said, "Miss Xie, I am Treasure Lüqiu Ting from the Shangfu Bureau. I have been ordered to bring someone to measure Miss Xie."
Xie Yun didn't want to waste time and energy on this matter, nor did she want to embarrass the female officials.
The female official brought Xie Yun back to the house, took off her outer robe, and first several people worked together to measure her size. After the measurement, they simply wrapped the fabric around her body to shape it.
Princess Heqing often gave her new clothes. Every year, if there were any new styles in the capital, the princess would have someone take her measurements and make her clothes.
Perhaps because Yan Huinan came back, the eldest princess loved her and treated her very well.
Although most of those clothes were eventually snatched away by Xie Yun's sisters.
But she still thanked the princess.
While she was lost in thought, Xie Yun suddenly felt a sharp pain in her waist. She looked down and found that someone from the Shangfu Bureau had accidentally poked the needle into her flesh.
Xie Yun didn't say anything, as she seemed unaware. She had no choice but to warn her. After she finished speaking, the palace maid pulled out the needle without even looking up.
When she pulled it out, whether it was because her hand was unsteady or for some other reason, the sharp tip of the needle pricked her skin again, which was several times more painful than if it had pierced her flesh.
Xie Yun couldn't help but hiss in pain.
But she chose to keep calm for a while, there was no need to make a fuss over such a small matter.
But Xie Yun soon realized something was wrong.
Except for her waist, she was pierced in almost every place where a needle was needed to hold the fabric in place.
And he thrust it in very hard and deliberately, causing her to break out in a cold sweat due to the pain.
They did it on purpose!
Xie Yun wanted to break free from them, but found that she couldn't. "What are you doing? Who gave you the courage?"
Han Zhen was waiting outside. She called out a few times but no one came in, so she knew what was going on. Han Zhen must have been stopped.
These people must have been instructed by someone to treat her like this, otherwise why would people who were strangers to her deliberately make things difficult for her at the same time?
Xie Yun now has no support in the capital, and is surrounded by enemies. She couldn't figure out who was behind this.
Or maybe it was just a way for Yan Huinan to torture her.
Two extremely strong men restrained her while the others continued to stitch her clothes, stitch by stitch, wordlessly. It was ostensibly tailoring, but in reality, they were simply pinning the fabric directly onto her body.
The material used today is not the material for formal wedding dresses. There are even spots of blood on the light-colored fabric.
Xie Yun only regretted that he had never learned martial arts before, and now he couldn't break free from these people at all.
"Someone! Someone! There's an assassin!"
She was absolutely right, they were really a group of assassins!
Yan Huinan had sent many people to guard her inside and outside the yard. She could only hope that these people would rush in when they heard the noise.
But Yan Huinan was going to marry her, so he couldn't take her life now, could he? Otherwise, he would have to arrange a ghost marriage.
Unexpectedly, when she shouted, someone really rushed in. The man was dressed in black and broke into the room easily.
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