Chapter 89 We'll wait for you, even if our steps are slow...
Even though he walked slowly, he still made it to the place where Jiang Qu was waiting.
Chen Gengnian looked at Chen Yuetao, and both mother and son couldn't help but shed tears.
Chen Gengnian stepped forward and helped Chen Yuetao lower the sleeves that were stretched up, choking back tears as he said, "Mother, why didn't you wear more clothes?"
Chen Yuetao forced a smile, handed the bundle in her hand to Chen Gengnian, and whispered, "There's some dry food and cloth shoes that my mother made inside. I don't know if you can use them, but at least keep them as a keepsake."
Chen Yuetao's voice gradually choked up, and after a long pause, she held back her tears and said, "Child, your mother and Aqing are waiting for you to come home, no matter how long it takes."
Lin Jing also said in a choked voice, "Brother Nian, we're waiting for you. Have a safe journey and come back soon."
“Alright!” Chen Gengnian said firmly, “I will definitely return soon.”
They had already said their goodbyes, but A Bao lingered there, refusing to leave. He stood there, refusing to budge an inch even as Lin Yanfeng pulled his arm.
Jiang Qu didn't urge Chen Gengnian or the others, nor did he intend to go forward to help. He held his husband's hand tightly, unwilling to let go even for a moment, and subconsciously wanted to stay a little longer.
Lin Yanfeng had no choice but to pull her into his arms. A Bao's tears fell drop by drop, hitting his heart and making him tremble with pain.
"Abao, listen to me. I'll keep my promise to you, and you have to keep your promise to me too, okay?"
Lin Yanfeng comforted him, tears streaming down his face as they fell onto A Bao's back.
Abao remained silent. He didn't want to keep his promise anymore. The time he had agreed to with Brother Yan was too long, so long that he was afraid that Brother Yan would forget him by then.
Lin Yanfeng gently and tenderly stroked A Bao's trembling back as he cried, softly promising, "Brother promises, I will always remember A Bao, forever..."
"Then you promise..."
"I promise!"
"You made a promise before I even told you!" Abao sobbed, "You wouldn't have made a promise if I had told you."
Lin Yanfeng said indulgently, "No, I'll agree to anything you say, I promise."
"Then I need you to promise that you won't get married and have children before you pass the imperial examinations?"
Lin Yanfeng was stunned for a moment, but immediately said, "I promise!"
"Really?" Abao looked up at him, and Lin Yanfeng nodded solemnly, "Really, I would never lie to you."
"Pinky promise." Abao held out his little finger, and Lin Yanfeng smiled gently as he reached out and hooked his finger with his. "Pinky promise."
If they dawdled any longer, it would be almost dawn, so Lin Yanfeng, suppressing his reluctance, coaxed, "How about my brother carries you across?"
As he spoke, he half-squatted down in front of Abao. Abao looked at the broad back in front of him, his eyes stinging, but he still had no choice but to climb up.
Lin Yanfeng easily carried the person on his back and headed towards Lin Qing'an and the others.
Ah Bao whispered in his ear, "Brother Yan, if I can't come back with my brother-in-law, you must come with me. Then you can study in the capital, and I will secretly visit you. We made a promise, so you can't lie to me."
Lin Yanfeng nodded, reassuring him once again, "I wouldn't be happy if I lied to you..."
Before he could even utter the word "death," Abao reached out and covered his mouth.
"Don't tell!" he said domineeringly and forcefully. "We just don't have to lie to each other."
"Hmm." Lin Yanfeng nodded again before A Bao withdrew his hand. His palm was warm from Lin Yanfeng's breath, a little itchy, a little numb, and so was his heart.
The two quickly arrived in front of Chen Gengnian and the others. Abao wanted to get down, but Lin Yanfeng held him tighter and tighter, saying, "I'll take you over this mountain."
Lin Qing'an immediately replied, "Then I'll go too."
"No!" Chen Gengnian refused without thinking. "It's still dark and the road is difficult to travel. Besides, I'm worried about the return trip. None of you should go."
As Chen Gengnian spoke, he pulled Abao off Lin Yanfeng's back, and before Abao and Lin Yanfeng could react, he grabbed the two little arms and slammed the person onto his back. He grabbed Abao's legs and said to Lin Qing'an and Lin Yanfeng, "Alright, it's settled then. We need to set off now. We've wasted a lot of time this morning, and if we don't leave now, we'll miss Uncle Jiang's plan."
Chen Gengnian raised his hand and gently pinched Lin Qingan's cheek, bidding her a tender farewell.
"My love, I'm leaving now. You must eat and sleep well. If I come back and see that you've lost weight, you'll be punished."
Lin Qing'an sniffled, afraid to speak, lest tears fall if she opened her mouth.
Chen Gengnian could no longer bear to watch this scene, and resolutely turned to Jiang Qudong: "Uncle Jiang, let's go."
Jiang Qu bowed to Chen Yuetao and said only two words.
"Take care of yourself."
After saying that, he turned around, lit a torch, and led the way, with Chen Gengnian carrying Abao on his back and following behind.
Ah Bao kept turning his head to look at everyone with reluctance, tears falling silently as he cried, "Don't forget me, and remember to come see me..."
Lin Jing waved her hand and called out, "No, you take good care of yourself, Abao—"
Lin Yanfeng, Lin Qing'an, and Chen Yuetao were all speechless, and could only helplessly watch the three figures walk further and further away.
Baifu took off running, but was stopped by Chen Gengnian halfway there. It stood there for a long time before slowly turning back.
"Alright, I'm leaving too. Be careful and remember to speak up if anything happens."
Ah Meng's voice suddenly rang in Lin Qing'an's ears. Only then did Lin Qing'an realize that Ah Meng had not left. His eyes were blurry with tears, making it difficult for him to see clearly. He raised his hand to wipe away his tears before looking at him again.
Ah Meng chuckled and teased, "You look really ugly like this."
Lin Qing'an didn't care and grabbed the black eagle in mid-air and hugged it to his chest. He whispered to A Meng, "Senior brother, I'll wait for you and Nian Ge to come back. I'll ask them to go hunting and bring back lots and lots of fresh food to put in their treasure bags. When you come back, you can eat it every day, every meal."
Lin Qing'an sobbed, which made A Meng feel sad too. It struggled to break free and flew away, flapping its wings and pretending to be nonchalant, saying, "Alright, alright, stop being so dramatic. I'm leaving. Baifu, keep an eye on things and make sure they don't step into any traps."
After saying that, he leaned down and pecked Baifu on the head a few times. Regardless of whether the other could understand him, he whispered in Baifu's ear, "Silly boy, don't go to dangerous places. Also, eat more. If you get fatter, I'll be more comfortable sleeping when I come back."
Baifu barked, seemingly oblivious to whether it understood. Seeing Ameng fly higher and higher, it leaped and jumped to chase after him.
Chen Yuetao called out a few times, but I ignored her and continued running towards the mountain. A Meng had no choice but to go back, grab Bai Fu, and throw it in front of Mo Xing, instructing, "Keep an eye on it, or it will get lost when we go up."
Mo Xing nodded and reached out to grab Bai Fu by the back of the neck. He was extremely strong, and Bai Fu struggled to break free.
Woof woof woof—
It screeched loudly, waking up many people.
Chen Yuetao called out to A Meng, who was about to fly away, "A Meng, come back soon, we're waiting for you."
Chen Yuetao's voice was still hoarse. A Meng flew over and wiped away Chen Yuetao's tears with his wing, only managing a soft "okay" before flying away without looking back.
For A Meng, Chen Yuetao was an elder second only to his master. They did not regard him as a demon but as family. A Meng was very content and grateful, so he was willing to protect Chen Gengnian for a while.
The torches stopped at the last bend, and Lin Qing'an watched Chen Gengnian wave goodbye to them. He waved back.
Soon, the torchlight turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
Lin Qing'an knew they were gone for good. He turned and went back to his room without saying anything, leaving behind a few equally sad people who lingered there.
Back in the cabin, Lin Qing'an felt an emptiness that made her heart ache terribly. Tears welled up in her eyes, and even though the people hadn't gone far, it felt like they had been separated for a very, very long time.
Lin Qing'an buried his head in the bed and began to sob softly. The scent of Chen Gengnian still lingered in the blankets, which made him even more upset.
She cried herself to sleep again.
In the days that followed, Lin Qing'an was drowsy every day, had a poor appetite, and became listless and thin, which made Chen Yuetao and Lin Yanfeng very anxious.
A month later, Lin Qing'an was awakened by a knock on the door. He opened the door and saw several people standing in front of him.
Besides Chen Yuetao, Lin Jing, and Yang Ruo, there was another unfamiliar woman.
Lin Qing'an suddenly came to his senses, and the sudden appearance of a stranger in the mountains made him a little flustered.
Lin Qing'an glanced at the woman warily. The woman smiled slightly at him, clearly showing no hostility, but Lin Qing'an still didn't dare to relax and quickly asked, "Mother, who is this?"
“This is someone your Uncle Jiang sent to protect us in the shadows. We’ve been very worried about you these past few days because you’ve been sleeping a lot and eating very little. Mo Xing was going to go down the mountain to find you a doctor, but this matter alerted them.” Chen Yuetao smiled and said, “This girl said she has excellent medical skills, so we brought her here to see what’s wrong with you.”
After speaking, Chen Yuetao took Lin Qing'an's thin fingers, which were now just long, thin bones, and her eyes reddened with heartache.
The young woman bowed respectfully and said, "Princess Consort, please come inside so I can examine you."
Lin Qing'an was a little unaccustomed to this form of address, but he did not refuse it, because he had indeed been feeling very unwell these days, experiencing not only excessive sleepiness and loss of appetite, but also an indescribable discomfort.
Lin Qingan nodded politely, said "Thank you for your trouble," and turned to go inside.
Besides a bed and two wooden boxes, there was only a small table in the cabin. The table had only two chairs. Lin Qing'an was about to offer Chen Yuetao a seat, but Chen Yuetao pressed him down into a chair first, and then politely invited the woman to sit in the other chair.
After the woman sat down, she asked Lin Qing'an to take out his hand, which he did, placing his hand on the table. Then the woman began to take his pulse.
Although Lin Qing'an did as instructed, he didn't really believe in this method of diagnosis. He felt that there were very few truly good traditional Chinese medicine doctors, and most of them were just using a guise to deceive people.
Just as he was filled with doubts about the woman's medical skills, she withdrew her hand.
Chen Yuetao, Lin Jing, and the others waited anxiously for the woman to speak, but the next second, the woman suddenly stood up and knelt on one knee in front of Lin Qing'an.
Her commotion terrified everyone present. Lin Qing'an instinctively felt that things were going to end. Could it be that he really had some terminal illness, and the woman was kneeling down because she couldn't cure him either?
Thinking of this, Lin Qing'an was overcome with grief. His heart, which had been suffocating for a month, shattered at this moment. Could he hold on until Brother Nian came back?
If I really don't get to see Brother Nian one last time...
Just as everyone's hearts sank to the bottom, the woman suddenly spoke up with joy.
"Congratulations, Princess Consort! Congratulations, Princess Consort!"
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