Chapter 60 Two hearts yearning for each other, sharing the same moon in two places, recalling deep affection on a distant night. ...
With a heart full of trepidation, Su Jinxiu followed Shi Yunyu to the outside of the general's study.
Seeing the worry on her face, Shi Yunyu gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid. My uncle is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He is always upright and would never make things difficult for you. Perhaps he has something important to discuss with you. Please go inside and I will wait for you here."
Su Jinxiu composed herself, nodded, took a deep breath, and went into the study.
When Feng Yanting saw her come in, he pointed to the stool in front of the table and said in a deep voice, "Sit down."
No sooner had she finished speaking than a servant brought her fragrant tea. Su Jinxiu picked up the teacup but did not dare to drink it, instead asking, "General, you just said you had something important to discuss. What is it?"
Feng Yanting said in a calm tone, "Actually, it's not a big deal."
As he spoke, he extended his right hand. It was a hand that had seen many battles, the palm covered in calluses and bearing several scars of varying depths, yet it carefully held a silver hairpin.
Su Jinxiu instantly recognized it as the hairpin she had personally made for Wen Shiqin, a symbol of their affection. She froze, unable to fathom his intention in taking out the hairpin.
"This hairpin, it must be yours, right?"
Just as Su Jinxiu was hesitating, Feng Yanting's voice rang out again: "Actually, I've known for a long time that my second son is not my biological son."
Su Jinxiu assumed that Wen Shiqin had used deceptive means to impersonate Feng Erlang, but she never expected that the general had already known about it.
But since he already knew about it, why did he sit idly by and let this charade of substituting the prince for a raccoon dog play out right under his nose?
Seeing her shocked and pale, Feng Yanting slowly said, "This hairpin is what he was clutching tightly in his hand when we found him at the bottom of the cliff that day. I know Wen Shiqin because he fell off the cliff while trying to save my husband and me."
"Fall off a cliff?"
Feng Yanting nodded: "To tell you the truth, it was Lingbo and I who owed him this. Later, when we were searching at the bottom of the cliff, we found him lying on the jagged rocks, barely breathing, covered in blood, and with all his meridians severed. When we lifted him up, he was limp as mud, but his right hand seemed to have used all his strength to tightly grip this hairpin, as if it were cast in iron."
"Even after finding a reclusive sage physician to set his bones, his hand remained motionless. It wasn't until he was unconscious for several days that he regained some consciousness and managed to pry it open by soaking it in warm water. He thought it was some secret order concerning his life, but when he opened it, all he found was this silver hairpin."
It turned out that Mu Hualin had traveled to Jiangzhou with General Feng to retrieve Feng's second son. Remembering that Wen Shiqin was also there, she invited him to join them. Later, when the group arrived at Wudang, they learned that Feng's second son had died a year after being brought there. To avoid blame and fearing the General's grief and wrath, the people of Wudang had kept this a secret.
The journey was already heartbreaking, but on the return trip, they were suddenly attacked by bandits, and their sworn enemies from a military family joined forces to seek revenge. Wen Shiqin risked his life to protect the general and his wife and everyone else, but he himself was seriously injured. Although he was saved by a skilled doctor, he lost all his memories.
The Feng family had just lost their beloved son, and were deeply grateful for his selfless rescue. Seeing that he was about the same age as their second son, they immediately adopted him as their son and brought him home to raise him with great care. Unexpectedly, he was exceptionally talented and virtuous, and he unexpectedly became the top scholar in the imperial examination. The couple gradually began to treat him as their own son, thus finding solace in their grief over the loss of their child.
Su Jinxiu was lost in thought, feeling as if her soul had already left her body, drifting aimlessly, and she had no idea how she would say goodbye to Feng Yanting in the second half of the performance.
Will they never let go, even unto death?
Su Jinxiu could vaguely picture that scene.
After falling off the cliff, his limbs were stiff as rotten wood. He could only let the night rain, like needles, wash away the blood and grime all over his body, making it fade and thicken, and soaking his wounds until they turned white and swollen. At the bottom of the cliff, jackals dragged their furry tails and hovered beside him, their eerie green eyes fixed on his weakly rising and falling chest. Their sharp teeth ground together with a soft grinding sound, and saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths. They were just waiting for him to take his last breath before they pounced and tore him apart.
But he clung to that last breath, his right hand still tightly gripping the hairpin. What was he thinking then?
Most likely, no sound came out of his throat, and he could only let the three words roll over in his mind repeatedly.
sorry.
I'm sorry, but he probably won't be able to go back. Forget about winning the imperial examinations, forget about wearing the phoenix coronet and embroidered robes. He can't even go back alive now.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she was led to the Crane Cry Pavilion. Shi Yunyu called her name several times before she suddenly came to her senses.
Shi Yunyu said with concern, "Qiaoqiao, the new courtyard that the Feng family is building for you is still under construction and has not yet been completed. Today, you can stay in Siyuan's courtyard for the time being. I have already ordered people to prepare everything, so please rest assured."
Su Jinxiu nodded blankly, her voice weak: "Okay."
After Shi Yunyu left, Su Jinxiu stood in the room for a long time, until the candlelight went out and the lamp flame dimmed, until the moonlight outside the window was like a ribbon.
She gazed at the familiar scenery filling the room—the soft couch where he had once teased her, the bed where they had once snuggled intimately. Unable to sit or lie down comfortably, she finally turned and walked towards the study.
But their traces are also everywhere here, especially from that fierce argument. At that time, she was full of resentment and thought he was a sycophant and a heartless scoundrel, but little did she know that he had already lost his memory, yet after losing his memory, he devoted himself to her without hesitation.
Her heart felt as if it were sealed shut, airtight. Su Jinxiu sat blankly beside the desk, her gaze inadvertently falling on the scroll of calligraphy he was practicing on it.
The first page of the scroll also contained various policy essays he had received. Flipping to the next page, one would find a small portrait. With just a few strokes, it depicted a woman sitting by the window, embroidering a wedding dress.
Further on, the book is filled with her little quirks: she loved to eat comb-shaped pastries and plum crisps from Jiangnan, and hated the astringent smell of stale tea.
And those minor details that might anger her: Do not mention this matter before the engagement is successfully dissolved, and avoid disturbing her mind while she is embroidering.
Tears welled up but remained silent; I could only regret my past heartlessness, a sorrow too deep to paint.
The wind and sand howled, blowing from warmth to cold, carrying a mournful sound all the way to the northern border.
The sandstorm had long since subsided, and only the stars twinkled in the sky, their faint light spilling onto the tents of the military camp. Inside, however, there were no candles, and it was pitch black.
The strategist Helan Que looked at the person on the bed who was covering his face and had a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his head, and couldn't help but frown and ask, "My little general, you've been covering your face for a quarter of an hour. Is it because of an unbearable headache, or is it the wound that's bothering you? Tell me so I can call the army doctor to treat you."
The person remained seated on the bed, covering their face, without uttering a word.
Seeing his expression, Helan Que waved his hand helplessly: "Alright, you can rest for now. I really don't understand what you mean. Call me if you have any trouble. I'm in the tent next to you."
Long after Helan Que left, the man still didn't lower his hand. In yesterday's first battle, although he won a great victory, he was injured in the head, which also made him remember everything.
But it was precisely this sudden memory that he found so hard to process.
He was rescued after falling off a cliff and became the second son of the Feng family, which is acceptable.
But... but how he treated my sister...
He first fell in love with her at first sight while suffering from amnesia, and repeatedly harassed and pestered her. Then, one time when she was drunk, she murmured that she liked him and missed him, and the two spent the night together under the influence of alcohol, and their lovemaking was intense.
Even worse, at the palace, when she said that her heart and eyes were filled with her former self, her amnesiac self became enraged and pushed her down onto the carpet, disregarding everything...
How could this be? How could this be...?
Although filled with remorse, the erotic scene before him lingered in his mind.
She knelt on the ground but refused to change her address, insisting on crying and calling out her own name.
That slender back slumped, like a willow bent over; that fragile neck arched back, like a lotus waiting to be plucked. The unbearable, high-pitched scream mingled with soft, delicate sobs, and the smooth, snow-white touch…
A strange heat surged from the bottom of his heart, spreading along his blood vessels to his limbs and bones, reminding him of that bone-melting, intoxicating taste.
"ah!"
Wen Shiqin let out a low cry, suddenly stood up from the bed, and slapped himself.
After thinking about it repeatedly for a long time, he was shocked to realize that he was not reviewing the past at all, but rather repeatedly chewing on those erotic scenes and savoring the feelings that made him feel comfortable and unable to stop.
Wen Shiqin felt both relieved and inwardly cursing.
She was grateful that because of their different identities, they were able to break down the barriers between men and women, and she wouldn't be able to blame herself later; she could just use amnesia as an excuse. But then she thought about it again and wanted to beat herself to death for making her so heartbroken over the engagement and so unable to handle things in bed.
Hearing the scream from the nearby tent, Helan Que assumed the man was in unbearable pain and rushed in, urgently asking, "What happened? Is your head split open?"
Wen Shiqin lay on the bed, covering himself tightly with the brocade quilt, his voice muffled: "Almost."
"Go out, don't worry about me, I'm all better now."
"Is it all done?" Helan Que was still worried and moved closer, reaching out to touch his head to check if the wound had reopened.
Wen Shiqin grabbed his wrist and flung him away, saying impatiently, "I said I'm fine, get out!"
After Helan Que stormed out cursing, Wen Shiqin, still clutching his blanket, tossed and turned all night, lingering in the ambiguous aftertaste.
The next day, Wen Shiqin, with dark circles under his eyes, discussed military matters in his tent. Helan Que tried to ignore his haggard appearance, assuming he was simply homesick and unable to sleep.
The two men sat around a makeshift sand table. Wen Shiqin pointed at the table and said in a deep voice, "The terrain here is complex, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, we are outnumbered, so we absolutely cannot engage in a direct confrontation. We can only outsmart them." He paused, then traced a route on the sand table with his fingertip: "The best way is to find a way to infiltrate the Shuo Mo region and negotiate with their king. They don't know that our light cavalry has come prepared to sacrifice themselves. We only need to bluff, claiming that we have tens of thousands of troops behind us who will arrive soon, to first demoralize them."
"Tomorrow, we'll send someone to probe and see if we can secure an opportunity to negotiate before making any further plans."
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