Chapter 285 If There Is an Afterlife
Xiao Qing glanced at him. "I've thought about it and decided to tell you the truth. You might not believe it, but you're not stupid. You'll definitely be able to figure out whether what I'm saying is true or not."
Xiao Lang remained silent.
“I am not Xiao Yan. Strictly speaking, I am not your biological sister.” Xiao Qing paused. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
Xiao Lang suddenly looked at her. "What did you say?"
Xiao Qing spread her hands, "I haven't been hiding my true nature during this time either. You should be able to tell whether I should be Xiao Yan or not."
What do you mean by that?
"Xiao Yan was born into the royal family and was pampered and spoiled since childhood. She also has a bad temper. Although experiencing national calamity may make a person mature, given Xiao Yan's experience of fleeing from Beiping to Nanhua, even with the careful guidance of the Grand Tutor, would she have had the opportunity to do what I am doing now? Would she have done it?"
This is precisely what Xiao Lang often found strange.
"Well, so I'm not Xiao Yan. After watching for so many days, have you already started to have feelings?" Xiao Qing felt that now was the best time to be honest.
It wasn't just Xiao Lang who was observing her; she was also observing Xiao Lang.
Xiao Lang is the person Jueyin wants to save.
Saving one person is equivalent to saving all living beings.
And she did indeed want to save this person.
Xiao Lang, a man who has experienced setbacks and pain, was consumed by immense hatred and self-destructive emotions. He disregarded his own safety and only wanted to seek revenge and destroy the world. Yet, on that day, he was able to reach out to her by the river, proving that his conscience was not completely extinguished.
He had ulterior motives for approaching her, yet on the brightly lit streets of the Lantern Festival, he accepted the lantern she picked out for him. Under her boisterous guidance, he would also take a few rare moments to relax and admire the various ordinary trinkets displayed by the vendors, proving that he had not lost the ability to feel kindness.
"There are some strange and inexplicable things in this world. I was not originally from this world. In my world, I was also called Xiao Qing. I fell ill and lay in bed for many years, burdening my parents and brothers for many years. In the end, I still couldn't make it through and my physical body perished."
Xiao Qing looked at Xiao Lang, and he was looking at her too; neither of them looked away.
"When I woke up, I was already Xiao Yan. It was probably a case of being resurrected in another's body. At that time, the Beiping Imperial Palace was filled with blood and fire. I was stabbed in the abdomen. If the Grand Tutor hadn't arrived in time, I would probably have died there."
"You probably know what happened next. We fled all the way to Nanhua, where we established our capital. The Grand Tutor concealed my true gender and put me on the throne. We made a pact that I would help him with his plan to restore the country, for a period of ten years, after which he would set me free."
Xiao Lang hadn't expected her to be this honest.
"Don't you want to be the emperor?"
Xiao Qing shook his head, "What's so good about being an emperor? You bear heavy responsibilities and toil your whole life."
"That is the supreme right in the world."
Xiao Qing smiled. "Even if you can decide the life and death of countless people, you cannot change your own inevitable demise. To be a wise ruler means living with the burden of the people on your shoulders; to be a foolish ruler means living with constant criticism and condemnation. Either way, life is exhausting, so why bother? Besides..."
Xiao Qing stretched out her arms and spun around. "I'm growing up, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to hide my womanhood. A woman becoming empress has to endure a hundred or a thousand times more hardship to gain the approval of the world. Although I may not care, I'm really not a particularly diligent person. This position is not suitable for me, and I don't want to fight for it."
Why are you telling me all this?
“What I’m trying to say is that I am not Xiao Yan, and I don’t care about that position. All my efforts are to fulfill my promise to Fu Mingyi. When the ten-year term is up and Beiping is recovered, that will be the time for me to leave. If I want to go to Langzhou, will you welcome me, brother?”
"Since you are not Xiao Yan, I have nothing to do with you."
Xiao Qing shook her head. "How could it not be related?" She looked into his eyes. "I have the best brother in the world, and you are my brother. During the three years I was tormented by illness, my brother never gave up on me for a single day. I swore to myself that if there is an afterlife, I will protect my brother. Now is the afterlife."
Xiao Lang stared at her in astonishment, both surprised by the determination in her eyes and unconsciously drawn to her pure affection, feeling a surge of emotion he could not suppress.
“I know you must have something to ask of Nanhua. If your enemy is Xiao Yan, she is already dead. Once your leg is healed, you can ask Master Jueyin; he knows the truth. You don’t need to risk your life to get revenge.”
"If your enemy were someone else, wouldn't it be better to have plenty of time to plan and complete your mission once your leg is healed?"
"You're saying all this just to get me to agree to treat my leg?"
Xiao Qing nodded.
"Even if I recover and get out, I still want your life?"
Xiao Qing laughed, "Then you'd better survive before you try to take my life. I'm waiting."
After helping him soak his feet, Xiao Qing went out.
Xiao Lang lay alone on the bed, recalling how he had once stood by the palace wall and looked up at it when he was young.
Even though he was outstanding and proud enough at the time, he had no brothers to rely on and no parents to depend on. He walked alone on the long palace road, thinking that as long as he was strong enough and stood high enough, he didn't need any other warmth.
Until one day, all his pride was crushed and all his efforts became a joke, he discovered the emotions that had been suppressed deep inside him.
In fact, he had once longed for his family in the same way.
But in the end, all that was left was hatred, and that hatred only grew stronger every day.
Xiao Qing really doesn't seem like a child of the Xiao royal family.
I suddenly felt like giving it a try.
If we are let down this time...
Xiao Lang opened his eyes and stared intently at the ceiling, letting out a low chuckle.
The next day, Xiao Lang was unusually well-groomed, even smoothing out the wrinkles on his cuffs.
"Thank you for your trouble, Grandma. I will do my best to cooperate."
The mother-in-law stared into his eyes for a while, then turned to look at Xiao Qing: "And you?"
Xiao Qing bowed respectfully to her mother-in-law, "I will do my best, just as you command."
The mother-in-law nodded, "Okay, then let's take your blood first."
Xiao Lang was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, Xiao Qing patted his shoulder and followed his mother into the house.
Around noon, two young men came to the courtyard. The old woman came out of the house, handed them a box, and said a few words to them from outside the courtyard.
After her mother-in-law entered the courtyard, Xiao Lang seemed to want to say something, but remained silent for a long time.
The mother-in-law glanced at him, and seeing that he didn't say anything, she also went into the house without a word.
Inside the house, the mother-in-law and Xiao Qing were making final confirmations.
"I've already told you about the treatment: first, a blood transfusion to clear the blood and detoxify; second, bone regeneration and tendon repair. The blood transfusion requires your blood as the antidote, so you need to take a guiding medicine to nourish your blood for extraction, and blood needs to be drawn daily. Even if you complete this step, if he can't withstand the pain of bone regeneration and tendon repair, or if he rejects the blood transfusion and causes complications, he won't live. And if he doesn't live, your blood has been altered by the guiding medicine. If you can't get his blood to nourish you as a medicine guide, his lifespan may be shortened. Think carefully about whether you want to do these things for him, whether he can live after doing them, and whether he can use his blood to nourish you as a medicine guide if he lives."
The old woman said calmly, "Your brother is heartless. He didn't ask a single question when he found out you were taking blood. Do you really want to save him? Aren't you afraid of bleeding yourself dry?"
Xiao Qing smiled calmly and said, "We must save them."
After thinking about it again, I said, "I beg my mother-in-law not to tell my brother too many details, lest he overthink and become hesitant."
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