Chapter 21 Cannon Fodder Bai Yueguang 20 Can I Just Be He Zhiyan?
When He Zhiyan entered the city that day, he noticed that the defense of the city gate seemed to be tightened compared to the previous few days, and two more teams of patrolmen were added.
There were many ragged people gathered at the base of the city wall, some of whom were talking to the guards at the city gate, and the two sides were arguing for a while.
He Zhiyan's eyes darkened slightly, he lowered his hat, and quickly left the place.
Before sunset, lights were already hung in front of the gate of the He family courtyard.
When He Zhiyan got closer, he realized that there was a person sitting on the stone steps in front of the door. The girl was asleep with her knees hugged.
He subconsciously slowed down his steps, took off his cloak and covered Ali with it, then carefully carried her back to the room.
The moment she put Ali down, she woke up and met He Zhiyan's eyes.
"Brother, you're back."
He Zhiyan noticed the watery look in her eyes and nodded: "I'm back."
"you--"
"you--"
They both spoke at the same time. He Zhiyan was stunned for a moment and tucked her hair behind her ear: "A-Li, go ahead and speak first."
Ali curled up at the head of the bed, staring at his fingertips for a long time, but never spoke.
He Zhiyan didn't urge him, but turned around and lit a few lamps. "Have you had dinner today?"
"Brother, have you remembered the past?"
Ali raised his eyes and stared at He Zhiyan without blinking, his eyes filled with helplessness and sadness in the dim light.
After He Zhiyan woke up from his serious injury, Ali was very curious about this older brother who appeared out of nowhere. Seeing that he was dazed and silent every day, he often stuck to him.
"Father said you have lost your memory. What is amnesia?"
"Is the amnesia mentioned in the book the same as memory loss?"
Ali had never seen such a record in medical books, so he was naturally excited to see a ready-made case in front of him.
Seeing that He Zhiyan didn't answer, she ran back to the house, took out her precious notebook, squatted aside, and wrote while asking.
"Don't you remember the past? Even your parents?"
"What is your name? Where is your home?"
After that, every few days, Ali would ask, "Do you remember?" until He Zhiyan couldn't stand it anymore and complained to his father in a tactful way, and then she stopped.
As she grew older, Ali stopped asking these questions. She even made a wish in her heart, hoping that her brother would never remember her so that they could be together forever.
He Zhiyan's back paused for a moment. He turned around and brought the lamp to the bedside, his eyes fixed on the flickering flame. "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
The lights illuminated this small world. Ali sat with his knees hugged, his voice devoid of emotion: "I suddenly remembered this and wanted to check on my brother."
He Zhiyan sat on the edge of the bed and nodded gently: "I remembered something."
"Brother, do you remember what you did before you were injured?" Ali hid his face in the darkness and asked the questions that had troubled him all night.
There was a tense atmosphere in the room. Ali's body was tense and his breathing slowed down unconsciously.
She had to hear it from his own mouth.
He Zhiyan's eyes froze, and he suppressed his inner uneasiness: "A-Li...did you hear something?"
Seeing that Ali didn't answer, he suddenly showed an awkward smile: "Ali, do you believe it?"
Ali's eyes dimmed: "Ali did hear some things, but I don't believe them. I must ask you in person."
He Zhiyan closed her eyes, her heart dead. Everything she had done before was in vain. She still knew about her ugly past.
"Have you ever killed many people?"
"yes."
"You regained your memory early this morning, didn't you?"
"yes."
"Pei Miao's frame-up of my father has something to do with you, right?"
"yes."
Ali felt a great deal of pain in his heart. He lowered his head and quietly wiped the moisture from his cheeks. "Do you want to go back to the life before you lost your memory?"
"No, I never thought of going back."
He Zhiyan's voice finally showed a slight fluctuation. He tilted his head slightly, and his entire face was illuminated by the candlelight, without any concealment.
Ali didn't look at him, the despair in his heart growing wildly like weeds: "But, you have your past, and He Zhiyan is not you."
He Zhiyan's throat was dry. He tentatively reached out to wipe away Ali's tears, his eyes reddened. "Can I just be He Zhiyan?"
"As far back as I can remember, I don't know who I am. I don't know where I came from, my parents, or even my name."
"In that place, there are many children like me. We have no names. Our only value is to fight endlessly, like unintelligent beasts, fighting and biting until death."
He Zhiyan's voice was hoarse, tearing open the scabbed wounds in his heart again, revealing bloody holes.
Ali looked at him in disbelief, his lips trembling slightly, and a myriad of emotions surged in his heart.
"It was my father and you who gave me an identity. From that moment on, He Zhiyan truly came alive and became a living, flesh-and-blood person."
"Instead of being a walking corpse, an emotionless killing tool."
He Zhiyan held up A-Li's hand and carefully placed it against his face, his gesture extremely pious. "He Zhiyan never thought of leaving. He only wanted to be an apprentice to a country doctor and to be someone who would always be by A-Li's side."
His usually straight back was bent low, as if he was waiting for her judgment.
Ali felt a little wetness on the palm of his hand, and felt as if a sharp knife had stabbed into his heart without warning. The sharp pain spread everywhere, and in an instant he was bleeding and torn into pieces.
She held back her tears and gently hugged the person in front of her. The cinnabar mole on the palm of her hand suddenly turned bright red like blood.
He Zhiyan's heart was shaken, and his throat suddenly felt fishy. He tried his best to suppress the rising blood and deepened the hug regardless.
Under the quiet lights, the two hugged each other tightly.
Ali suddenly hissed and covered his neck.
"What's wrong?"
Under He Zhiyan's concerned gaze, Ali loosened his hand, and a noticeable scar appeared on his fair neck.
He Zhiyan recognized that this was the trace of the Frost Sword.
He gently stroked the scar and leaned over to whisper in Ali's ear: "I have safely escorted my father out of the city and handed him over to the care of the brothers in the escort agency. We will leave the city in a few days to reunite with them. After that, we will leave the capital and never return."
"I didn't tell you in advance, and it happened suddenly. This wasn't our original plan."
Yexing Pavilion intervened and almost caused the death of He's father. Fortunately, He Zhiyan noticed the abnormality in time and secretly replaced the poison. After the news of He's father's death spread from the Tianlao, he notified the people from the escort agency to go to the mass grave to rescue He's father. According to the original plan, he hid him in a cargo box and shipped him out of the city.
Only he and Bian Ye knew where He's father was placed, so it was absolutely safe.
He Zhiyan's warm breath sprayed on his neck. After hearing it, Ali couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.
He Zhiyan's heart was in his throat. No amount of explanation could bring him out. It was his fault that he had not handled the situation well.
Ali just smiled bitterly: "Brother, you broke your promise again."
Without her knowing, he had done so many dangerous things.
*
On the second day after Ali dismissed the apprentices in the pharmacy, two big news came from the court.
First, there was finally progress in the case where the Duke of Fuguo accused Prime Minister Pei in the court that day: Prime Minister Pei was involved in several major cases such as disregarding human life and falsely accusing the Sui family army of treason, and during the investigation, it was also revealed that the Queen Mother's illness was related to Prime Minister Pei.
When this news came out, the whole court was shocked. Now Prime Minister Pei has been taken to prison, and the other members of the Pei family are imprisoned in the mansion awaiting trial.
Second, the young emperor took power.
This unfavored prince of the previous dynasty, whose mother was of low status and who was not favored, was pushed onto the throne by powerful officials with ulterior motives after the death of the crown prince and the previous emperor. He was then sidelined for several years, and now, he has finally become a real emperor.
The Queen Mother's return to power and the fall of the powerful prime minister should have ushered in a new era, but disputes within the court continue and there are many unfinished matters that need to be dealt with.
But all this has nothing to do with the He family in Yuyang Lane.
He Zhiyan stopped the carriage in front of his house. He turned around and saw A Li about to jump down. He quickly supported her and said, "You are still weak. Be careful."
Ah Li was dressed in light purple and looked over with a smile: "Thank you, brother."
The family's pharmacy had been properly closed. The two of them moved all the unsold herbs back from the pharmacy, counted them box by box, and waited until tomorrow to leave the city together.
When Aunt Cui heard that they were going to move out of the capital, she held Ali's hand and wiped away her tears. Before leaving, she also gave them a lot of food.
"What's wrong with the Empress Dowager?" Ali put the food into the lunch box and turned his head to look at He Zhiyan.
He took the heavy food box and placed it on the carriage. "The Empress Dowager is not actually ill. She simply wants to eliminate the treacherous officials in the court in one fell swoop to pave the way for the Emperor to rule the country."
Therefore, she was able to wake up in time and stabilize the court when the Duke of Fuguo attacked the Prime Minister. She said that the matter had not been clarified yet and she wanted to clear the Prime Minister's name, so she ordered the Prime Minister not to attend court in the near future and arranged her own people to investigate.
What He Zhiyan didn't continue to say was that the mission to assassinate Pei Xiao also came from the Empress Dowager.
Many years ago, the Queen Mother, who had not yet entered the palace, rescued the pregnant leader of the Night Walk Pavilion. To repay her kindness, the leader gave her his personal jade pendant and promised that if she saw the jade pendant, the Night Walk Pavilion would complete one of her commissions.
Although the assassination was successful, the Prime Minister found some clues. He did not make it public, but instead accelerated the pace of his secret layout. Over the years, the Pei family's power has grown stronger and stronger, and they have the support of hundreds of people in the court. As long as the empress dowager dies, the Prime Minister will be able to hold the young emperor hostage and rule the world.
There was a sudden noise outside the yard. Ali put down what he was holding, opened the door and looked inside.
A large crowd gathered outside. Aunt Cui's son was in the middle of the crowd, his face filled with anxiety. "Oh no! Oh no! The government suddenly led a group of soldiers to close the city gates, saying that no one is allowed to enter or leave without orders from the palace!"
"Why is this happening?!"
"I've lived in this capital for most of my life, and I've never seen anything like this. It's really outrageous!"
As Ah Li approached, he heard the Cui family boy yelling and cursing again: "If I'm not allowed to leave the city, what will I sell at the market tomorrow? Isn't this going to kill me?"
"Yes! If you complain even a little, those officers and soldiers will become ferocious and ready to beat you to death!"
Just when everyone was getting excited, Shi Changan ran over with a pale face and stopped the noisy crowd.
“The epidemic…it’s an epidemic.
"An epidemic has been detected in the capital..."
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