Chapter 94 Don't Leave
Chapter 94
A child who is only three years old doesn't really understand the meaning of separation between life and death. In Yi'er's heart, he probably doesn't know that he will never see his mother again.
Meng Yuning hugged little Yi'er tightly, feeling so distressed that tears rolled down her cheeks.
Mu Ying and Mu Li, who had been guarding the door, also had tears in their eyes and looked at the little prince with heartache.
Meng Yuning quietly raised her hand to wipe away her tears, calmed herself down, and gently patted Yi'er's back, saying soothingly, "Yi'er, don't cry. Aning, can you make more osmanthus cakes? Make as much as you can."
Yi'er sobbed and said, "Then put more flowers in it."
Meng Yuning first raised her hand to wipe away her tears, then stood up, holding Yi'er in her arms, and sat on the couch by the window. She wiped his tears with a handkerchief and said, "Okay, put more flowers, lots of flowers."
Yi'er stopped crying and said, "Aning, when are we going to do it?"
Meng Yuning: "Let's go pick flowers now, and then we can do it."
In fact, they had picked some osmanthus flowers that they had dried and made into osmanthus honey, and they had not been used up yet, but she wanted to find something for Yier to do to divert his attention.
Yier nodded her head obediently: "Okay, Yier wants to pick it myself."
Meng Yuning agreed, went to get Yier's little shoes, put them on him, and walked out holding his little hand.
As soon as I arrived at the door, I found that Qi Jingyan had returned at some point and was standing quietly at the door. In the shadow of the backlight, his expression was obscure and unclear.
Meng Yuning was stunned: "Your Highness? When did you come back?"
Qi Jingyan: "It's been a while."
Meng Yuning knew that he had heard everything Yi'er had just said, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.
In the original plot, when Qi Jingyan and his party arrived in Lingnan, they experienced life and death several times and were seriously injured. At that time, he was busy surviving and did not observe mourning for the queen.
Yi'er also didn't know that the Queen had died. It was only before returning to Beijing that Qi Jingyan explained to him the ins and outs of the two brothers' trip to Lingnan and the cause of the Queen's death.
Yi'er was too young when he left Beijing. After a few years, his memory of the Queen had become vague, but he still cried bitterly and vowed to avenge the Queen.
Qi Jingyan, who had always felt guilty about the Queen's death, had been deliberately avoiding the matter from beginning to end.
There was no mourning and no funeral. The sadness in his heart was always deeply suppressed and never released.
Only after he helped Yi'er to secure his position in the court did he go to guard the queen's mausoleum and died in front of it.
Although things have changed now, Qi Jingyan looks more lively than the person in the book and looks no different from an ordinary person, but she knows that the Queen's death has never been over in his heart.
In fact, she wanted to persuade him to face this problem and stop avoiding it, but she was afraid of disrupting the peace of his and Yi'er's life, so she didn't dare to persuade him.
The two looked at each other quietly for a moment, and Meng Yuning said, "Your Highness, Yi'er and I are going to pick osmanthus flowers and make osmanthus cakes. Your Highness, do you want to go?"
Yi'er tilted his head and leaned on An Ning's shoulder, looking listless: "Brother, make some cakes for mother."
Qi Jingyan was silent for a moment, nodded and said yes, then stretched out his hand to Yi'er: "Come, brother will hold you."
Meng Yuning hurriedly handed Yi'er over, and Qi Jingyan reached out to take it. Yi'er put her arms around Qi Jingyan's neck, resting her little face on his shoulder: "Brother, when are we going back to see mother? Yi'er misses mother?"
Qi Jingyan did not answer, but walked forward holding Yi'er in one hand.
Meng Yuning almost burst into tears after hearing this. She asked Mu Ying and the other two to get a bamboo dustpan, and then followed them.
The group came to the two rows of osmanthus trees in the backyard. Qi Jingyan carried Yi'er to pick osmanthus flowers, and Meng Yuning followed with a winnowing basket.
The two brothers picked the flowers quickly. Soon, the winnowing basket was filled with a layer of flowers. Yi'er pointed at the golden osmanthus flowers with his little hand and said, "A Ning, are these flowers enough?"
Meng Yuning reached out and touched Yi'er's little hand, saying gently, "That's enough." Yi'er clapped her hands and smiled, "Aning, let's go make cakes."
Meng Yuning said yes with her little hand, and Yier struggled to get out of Qi Jingyan's arms, took Meng Yuning's hand, and pulled her back.
After returning to Yanfu Residence, the group went straight to the small kitchen. Meng Yuning placed the osmanthus flowers on the table, squatted on the floor and explained to Yi'er, "Yi'er, the osmanthus flowers we made before were made with dried osmanthus flowers, but these are fresh and there's no time to dry them. So, how about we make osmanthus honey and then make the cakes?"
Yier nodded: "Okay, Yier will come to help too."
Seeing Qi Jingyan also followed in, Meng Yuning took three small stools and placed them in front of the low table. The three of them sat around it and carefully picked the osmanthus flowers.
Yi'er asked questions from time to time, and Meng Yuning answered them patiently, but Qi Jingyan didn't say a word the whole time.
After all the green branches of osmanthus were picked off and cleaned, Meng Yuning washed them with clean water, boiled white sugar and water for a while, and then added honey. The crystal clear osmanthus honey was ready, and she poured it into a porcelain bowl and set it aside to cool.
Yi'er clapped her hands and said, "It looks good."
Meng Yuning smiled and said, "Shall we pour it on the cake later?"
The little guy said excitedly: "Okay, then Yi'er will water it."
Meng Yuning rubbed his little head and said, "Okay, let Yi'er water it."
After saying that, Meng Yuning took the rice flour and some dried osmanthus flowers, and led the two brothers to make three steamers of osmanthus cakes and steam them in the pot.
After two quarters of an hour, it was steamed.
Qi Jingyan helped Meng Yuning take out all the osmanthus cakes and placed them on a plate to cool. Yier took a small spoon and scooped up the osmanthus honey that had been prepared earlier, and poured it spoonful by spoonful on the osmanthus cakes that were already sprinkled with a layer of dried osmanthus flowers.
By the time all the work was done, the little guy was sweating all over his forehead.
Meng Yuning took out a wet handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Yier's face. Then the three of them sat around a small table and each of them ate a piece of osmanthus cake.
Then Meng Yuning picked up Yi'er and said, "Your Highness, I'll take Yi'er to take a bath. You can go back and rest for a while."
Qi Jingyan shook his head: "You guys go ahead, I'll just sit here for a while."
Yi'er pointed at the sweet-scented osmanthus cake on the table and said, "Brother, watch over the cake. Don't let mice steal it. I'll pack it up for mom later."
Qi Jingyan was silent for a moment, his expression normal, and nodded slightly.
Meng Yuning sighed softly in her heart, and carried Yier to take a bath. After bathing Yier, she let Yier play on the couch for a while, and she also took a quick bath and changed her clothes.
Just as I was about to go out, Qi Jingyan walked in.
Seeing that he had nothing in his hands, Yi'er was so anxious that she jumped up and down: "Brother, why don't you look after Gao Gao?"
After saying that, he rushed out with his short legs.
Qi Jingyan grabbed him and held his hand, "Mu Yun is watching."
Yier felt relieved and stopped struggling.
Qi Jingyan looked at Meng Yuning, his expression more serious than ever before: "A Ning, I want to say a few words to Yi'er."
Meng Yuning instantly understood what he was going to say to Yier, her heart ached, and she looked at Yier with some worry. Originally, she thought that Qi Jingyan had to face the death of the queen and vent all his emotions, but when it came to Yier, she couldn't bear it.
But this was a matter between the two brothers, and as an outsider, she couldn't say anything.
She was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Then I'll be outside, call me if you need anything."
Qi Jingyan nodded and took Yi'er to the east wing.
Meng Yuning stood at the door and listened quietly, but Qi Jingyan spoke in a low voice and she couldn't hear what he said.
But soon, Yi'er's crying voice came: "Brother, you are lying!"
Meng Yuning really couldn't help it, so she turned around and walked in. When she stood at the door of the east side room, she still stopped.
Qi Jingyan knelt on one knee on the ground, Yier stood in front of him, his two little hands clenched into fists, staring at Qi Jingyan with wide eyes. The two brothers looked at each other without speaking.
After a while, Yi'er pushed Qi Jingyan hard and said, "Brother, you are lying. Grandmother said that mother went to heaven to become a fairy. She will come back to see Yi'er."
"Grandma also said that when Yi'er and brother return to the palace, mother will be back!"
Meng Yuning clasped her hands together tightly against her chest, unable to bear to listen any further.
Qi Jingyan's eyes were red, and he reached out to touch Yi'er's little head: "Yi'er, mother has gone to heaven, but she will never come back."
Yier suddenly remembered that day when his mother asked him to go out and play with Aunt Yunzhi, but later someone came to look for them, and Aunt Yunzhi suddenly ran back with him in her arms.
Later, later, he saw his mother lying motionless on the cold ground...
Yi'er stood quietly for a while, and suddenly he seemed to understand something. He suddenly burst into tears, waved his little fists, raised his little feet, and punched and kicked Qi Jingyan.
"You are a liar, you are a liar, mother will come back to see Yi'er, mother will!"
"Yier also wants to bring cakes for mother, mother will come back to eat them!"
Listening to Yi'er's heart-wrenching cry, Meng Yuning felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife. She could no longer bear it, so she turned around and squatted by the wall, crying silently.
Qi Jingyan let the little boy vent his anger at him. When he was tired of fighting, he reached out and hugged him tightly in his arms, one hand cupping the back of his head and the other gently patting his back. His eyes were red and his voice was hoarse: "Don't be afraid, Yi'er, brother is here."
Yi'er was held in Qi Jingyan's arms, crying loudly until she was exhausted. Finally, she nestled in his arms, sobbing.
Mu Yun, Mu Feng, Mu Ying, Mu Li and others all followed suit and wiped their tears.
After a long time, Yi'er's crying finally stopped. Qi Jingyan came out holding Yi'er, "A Ning."
Meng Yuning hurriedly stood up from the ground, wiped her eyes and looked at Qi Jingyan: "Your Highness, what do you need me to do?"
Qi Jingyan: "There are two mourning clothes in the box I brought from the capital. Can you help me find them?"
Is he going to observe mourning for the Empress? Meng Yuning felt mixed emotions and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I'll go find it right away." After saying that, she turned and went out to search the east wing.
Qi Jingyan called Mu Yun over and said, "Set up a memorial tablet for the Empress in the Qingke Hall. Go and do it immediately. I will take Yi'er and An Ning to pay homage later."
Mu Yun clasped his fists in agreement and turned around to do it.
An hour later, the tablet carved by Qi Jingyan himself for the Queen was placed on the incense table against the north wall of the main hall of Qingke Hall. The incense table was filled with offerings and the osmanthus cake they had just made.
Qi Jingyan and Yi'er had already changed into mourning clothes, Meng Yuning had also changed into white clothes, and the three of them stood in a row in front of the memorial tablet.
Qi Jingyan lifted the corner of his robe, knelt down, and then looked at Meng Yuning: "Mother, this is A Ning."
Meng Yuning knelt down as well. The Queen was a good mother and a good queen, and she deserved this kneeling.
Qi Jingyan looked at Yi'er, whose eyes were red and dazed, and said, "Yi'er, kneel down before your mother."
Yier pouted and knelt down obediently.
The guards outside the door were wearing black night clothes and knelt in the yard in unison. Meng Jin and Qiu Lian were all kneeling at the end.
Qi Jingyan was silent for a moment, then took the wine glass from Mu Yun, raised it in his hand, and said, "Mother, I, your unfilial son Yun Zhou, would like to offer this wine and other delicacies to your spirit. I only hope that your spirit in heaven will rest in peace with a smile."
As soon as the words fell, Yi'er also raised the wine glass in his hand and repeated it word for word: "Mother, I am an unfilial son..."
After Yi'er finished speaking, Qi Jingyan poured the wine on the ground in front of him. Yi'er did as he was told, and then the two brothers knelt down and kowtowed.
Everyone inside and outside the house followed the two brothers and kowtowed three times and nine times to the tablet of the Queen Mother.
Yier started crying again, but it was not the angry cry as before, but a sad and quiet cry.
Meng Yuning felt sad after hearing this and started crying too.
---
It was late at night and Qi Jingyan was still staying in Qingke Hall. Meng Yuning went to bed alone with Yier.
In the middle of the night, Yier suddenly woke up from a nightmare, crying and calling for his mother.
Meng Yuning held the child and coaxed him for a long time before he finally calmed down. However, Yi'er didn't sleep for long and started to cry again.
Meng Yuning hugged Yi'er and touched him, and found that he had a fever, and her heart tightened.
Doctor Tang had gone to the mountains to collect herbs and was not at home at the moment. She quickly called Mu Ying over and asked her to ask someone to go out and call a doctor.
Soon, Mu Yun came over: "Miss Meng, do you want to inform His Highness?"
Meng Yuning: "Where is His Highness?"
Mu Yun: "He's kneeling in front of the spirit tablet. Our subordinates tried to persuade him, but he wouldn't listen, and we didn't dare to persuade him again."
Meng Yuning thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Let him kneel for a while. He'll feel better."
Mu Yun: "I will obey you. I will go back and guard His Highness first. Mu Jiang and Mu Shan are both outside. Please tell them if there is anything. Mu Shan has ridden a fast horse to the city to get a doctor and will be back soon."
Meng Yuning nodded: "Go."
Meng Yuning held Yi'er, whose face was flushed with fever, and was burning with anxiety. Thinking that it would take a long time to get from the mansion to the city, she asked Meng Jin to call Qiulian over and let her take a look first.
Qiulian came trotting over, first carefully feeling Yi'er's pulse, then gently checking his tongue coating, and then respectfully replied, "Young lady, your Highness has a fever caused by excessive grief and impatience. Although I know a few prescriptions, your Highness is of noble status, so I dare not prescribe medicine without your permission."
Knowing her concerns, Meng Yuning did not force her. She asked her to soak two towels in warm water and wipe Yi'er's neck, elbows, and knees to cool him down first.
About a quarter of an hour later, Mu Feng came with a doctor whose legs were weak. Meng Yuning quickly put Yi'er on the bed and politely asked the doctor to come forward and check.
The doctor sat down beside the bed while still breathing heavily, carefully taking Yier's pulse and asking about his condition, and his final conclusion was the same as Qiulian's.
Grief depletes vital energy, allowing evil to invade and cause severe fever.
Fortunately, Mu Feng had accurately described his symptoms when he asked for help, and the doctor had brought the appropriate medicine in advance. He quickly prescribed the medicine: "This medicine is used to reduce fever. Take one pill three times a day, and no more than four times a day."
Meng Yuning took the medicine bottle and handed it to Qiulian for inspection first.
Qiulian carefully broke open a pill, examined it carefully, and tasted a small piece. Although she didn't find anything unusual, since the safety of the young prince was at stake, she still didn't dare to easily conclude whether the medicine was completely safe.
Seeing her look hesitant, Meng Yuning turned to look at Mu Feng, "Please ask this doctor to test the medicine himself."
Mu Feng immediately poured out five pills and handed them to the doctor, his tone respectful but unyielding: "Please try them first, doctor."
The doctor was stunned when he heard this, but he didn't hesitate. He took the five pills and swallowed them all.
Everyone waited for a moment. Seeing that the doctor looked normal and Qiulian beside him was also normal, Meng Yuning felt relieved. She fetched warm water and carefully fed a pill to Yi'er.
The effect of the medicine took effect quickly. In just a quarter of an hour, Yier's high fever subsided and he felt better. In addition, the medicine contained sedative ingredients, so Yier's breathing soon became steady and he fell into a deep sleep.
The heavy weight hanging in Meng Yuning's heart finally fell to the ground. She slowly instructed Meng Jin, "Go settle the consultation fee and give the doctor an additional five taels of silver. However, please ask the doctor to stay at the mansion tonight."
The doctor, who had been so nervous, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, bowed and thanked him profusely. Meng Jin led him down to receive his reward.
Meng Yuning stayed with Yi'er by the couch for a while longer. Seeing that Qi Jingyan hadn't returned yet, she instructed Mu Li, Meng Jin, and Qiu Lian to take good care of the young prince. She then left with Mu Ying, preparing to go to the Qingke Hall to look for Qi Jingyan.
When they arrived at the courtyard, Mu Jiang, Mu Shan and Mu Feng all came over to ask about the little prince. Meng Yuning told them the truth, and they felt relieved.
Hearing that she was going to Qingke Hall, Mu Jiang accompanied her, while Mu Shan and Mu Feng stayed guarding in the courtyard.
---
Meng Yuning pushed open the main door of Qingke Hall and saw Qi Jingyan still kneeling straight on the ground motionless under the dim candlelight, his back looking lonely and desolate.
Meng Yuning felt a pang of pain in her heart, and she spoke softly, "Your Highness?"
Qi Jingyan turned around when he heard the voice, his eyes were red, his mind was in a trance, and his whole body was staggering, as if he was about to fall down at the next moment.
He looked at her and said in a hoarse voice, "A Ning, you're here."
Seeing him like this, Meng Yuning's heart tightened. She quickly stepped forward to support his almost collapsed body and gently comforted him, "Your Highness, please accept my condolences."
Qi Jingyan was still kneeling there, looking up at her, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, and he murmured softly, "A Ning, it's too cold."
Meng Yuning thought he had a fever too, so she reached out to touch his forehead, but it was icy cold. She wondered, "Your Highness, have you been kneeling for too long? Why are you cold?"
Although it is autumn, the autumn heat has just arrived, so it is not cold in Lingnan in autumn.
Qi Jingyan didn't answer, but suddenly put his arms around her waist and buried his face deep in her clothes. His voice was hoarse and trembling with a trance: "A Ning, it's too cold in the snow."
Meng Yuning was startled by his sudden action and words. An idea suddenly popped up in her mind, and she felt a chill running down her spine.
But she didn't dare to ask, she just hugged him tightly and said softly, "Your Highness, let's go back, okay? Let's take a hot bath and cover ourselves with a quilt, then we won't be cold."
But Qi Jingyan seemed to be trapped in another world, trembling all over, his teeth chattering and making a slight gurgling sound. He just hugged her tighter, murmuring over and over again: "A Ning, I'm so cold, don't go, don't go."
Meng Yuning could only hug him tighter, coaxing him in an increasingly gentle tone: "Okay, I won't leave, I'll stay here with you."
Qi Jingyan stopped talking and tightened his arms around her waist, almost breaking it with such force.
Meng Yuning was strangled so hard that it hurt. She reached back to pry his hand away, but felt something cold and wet. The touch was wrong, so she quickly raised her hand to look, and saw that it was covered in blood.
She was horrified and suddenly pulled Qi Jingyan's left hand. She saw several new wounds on his pale wrist. Blood was constantly oozing out from the cracked flesh and slowly meandering downwards.
At that moment, she couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. She felt heartache and was burning with anger. She held Qi Jingyan's face up and asked, "Your Highness, did you cut your hand yourself?"
Qi Jingyan's eyes were dull and he looked at her blankly, as if he didn't understand what she was saying at all.
Seeing him like this, Meng Yuning felt heartbroken. She was silent for a moment, then raised her hand and slapped him, gritting her teeth and saying, "Qi Jingyan, wake up."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
