Go up the mountain
The noise at the courtyard gate continued. He Lin put down the cotton cloth in his hand, raised his hand to touch Jiang Yi's peaceful face, stood up and slowly walked out.
"Lin'er, why are you out here?"
As soon as He Lin came out, the noisy sounds immediately quieted down. When he saw the Taoist priest, he frowned imperceptibly. Whether it was his imagination or not, his originally dull eyes seemed to brighten a little, but his expression was extremely complicated, making it impossible to read his emotions.
"May I ask how this Taoist priest is addressed?"
"This humble Taoist priest is Qingyun."
He Lin nodded and turned slightly to invite, "Please come in."
Qingyun nodded and walked into the courtyard. Not only was Qi Shuangyun stunned, but even Su Tong was taken aback.
Since Jiang Yi passed away, He Lin has forbidden outsiders from entering his courtyard. Last time, when someone from the palace came, he was immediately driven away. Unexpectedly, he allowed a Taoist priest to enter. Could it be that Jiang Yi really had some strangeness?
The two entered the house one after the other, and Qingyun asked, "Young master, may I ask where your wife is?"
He Lin pursed his lips and took the lead in walking around the screen to the bedside.
As soon as Qingyun entered, his eyes widened in disbelief at the scene before him. He even rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things!
A woman lay quietly on the bed, her clothes neat and her face beautiful. Several copper basins were placed around her, filled with ice of various sizes. The cold air released by the ice could be seen slowly rising into the air and enveloping her. No wonder he felt a little cold when he first entered the room; it seemed the rumors outside were true.
But the strange thing is that this woman's appearance is so well preserved. Her complexion and lips are not only rosy and lustrous, but there is not a trace of ashen color on her face. She doesn't look like someone who has been dead for several days. It's as if she is just sleeping. But her chest and pulse, which are not rising and falling, undoubtedly indicate the truth that the person in the bed has passed away...
Qingyun asked He Lin if he had applied makeup to her, and He Lin shook his head, saying that he had not.
What I have never heard of or seen before is here.
The Taoist priest told He Lin to step back behind the screen. He pulled a handful of glutinous rice from a tattered satchel and scattered it by the bed. Then he took out a yellow talisman, held it between two fingers, and chanted incantations. The talisman instantly burned to ashes and scattered on the ground. Before the ashes had completely died down, he quickly took out an incense stick from the satchel and lit it. Unexpectedly, the incense stick broke in the middle without warning after burning for only a short time.
Ominous! A very bad omen!
That wasn't the end of it; after the incense burned out, the ashes on the ground flew straight at him!
Qingyun was shocked and stumbled backward, accidentally bumping into the screen.
Hearing the noise, He Lin rushed in: "Master Qingyun, what happened?"
Qingyun looked up at him in horror, opened her mouth as if to say something, but swallowed it back and waved her hand as she walked toward the bed.
At this moment, a small piece of incense ash fell onto Jiang Yi's fair face. It was the burnt yellow talisman. The more Qingyun looked at her face, the stranger it seemed. In his eyes, her face sometimes exuded deathly aura and sometimes showed vitality. It was truly strange!
Thinking this, Qingyun turned around and asked, "Young master, may I take your wife's pulse?"
This statement is actually quite strange. A dead person has not been breathing for several days, so of course their heartbeat and pulse have long ceased to exist. Yet this Taoist priest still wants to take her pulse. If it were anyone else, they would probably have already regarded him as a charlatan who cheats people out of their money. But He Lin knew in his heart that this matter was not so simple, so he agreed after a moment of silence.
Qingyun carefully grasped Jiang Yi's wrist. It was so cold it felt like he was holding an ice pop. He slowly turned the wrist over and carefully checked the pulse point...
The room was eerily quiet, so quiet that you could almost hear every breath. Qingyun suddenly widened her eyes and stood up abruptly, shaking off Jiang Yi's hand and taking two or three steps back.
"She...she...!"
He Lin frowned, brushed past him, and quickly stepped forward to put Jiang Yi's hand back in its original position, as if afraid that she had been hurt by the bump, and gently rubbed the place where she had accidentally bumped into something.
Seeing this, Qingyun seemed to realize that he had been rude just now. How could he have so rudely thrown the other person away?!
"I'm so sorry, Young Master He, I didn't mean to."
He Lin gave Jiang Yi a deep look, then turned around and said, "It's alright, Daoist, did you see anything?"
Qingyun scratched his head and said, "Young master, your wife is very strange. I was able to feel her pulse just now!"
"What did you say?!"
"Ah, well, don't worry. I did detect it, but it disappeared after a while. It's intermittent. Maybe I was too nervous and made a mistake! But the incense broke when I was offering incense just now, which is really bad luck! I heard that your wife passed away a few days ago. Young master, you should bury her as soon as possible."
He Lin said in a deep voice, "No, Daoist, my wife... is a little different from us. She is different from ordinary people."
Qingyun's mouth dropped open: "Huh?"
He blinked his little eyes, and it took him a while to realize what those words meant.
Is he different from ordinary people? Could it be as the rumors outside are true?
"Master, to tell you the truth, I've always felt that she hasn't left, that she's right beside me, she's just asleep..."
If anyone else heard this, their first reaction would probably be, "Oh no, this person's gone mad! They must be possessed by something unclean, to utter such bizarre words!"
Most people would think He Lin is mentally unstable, but Qingyun has traveled the world with his master for many years and has seen many strange things. He knows that some things in this world cannot be explained.
He pondered for a moment and said, "Young master, my skills are still shallow. Why don't you come with me up the mountain to find my master? He might be able to see something."
Who is your master?
At this point, Qingyun proudly raised his head and said, "My master is from Qianshan Taoist Temple. He's very powerful. My master told me that our temple was even personally bestowed a plaque by the founding emperor!"
Without the slightest hesitation, He Lin immediately nodded in agreement: "Alright, please wait for me outside for a while, Daoist. I'll change my clothes and come right away."
Qingyun originally wanted to say there was no rush and that it wouldn't be too late to have a meal before leaving, but seeing the lingering worry between his brows, she couldn't bring herself to say it. After all, she was his wife, and he must be anxious. Besides, it was a matter of life and death, so they should hurry.
He Lin called Xia Zhi in and instructed her to take good care of her young lady. Xia Zhi nodded vigorously and said that she would stay by her side at all times.
When Qingyun and I walked to the courtyard gate, everyone stared at us in a daze.
Even He Wei and He Yu returned from the military camp, presumably after hearing about Qi Shuangyun's disturbance at Luoying Courtyard. They came back to stop and persuade her, but that was no longer important to He Lin.
Seeing him come out of the room, Su Tong went up to him and asked, "Lin'er, Daoist Master, what about Yi'er...?"
Qingyun blurted out, "Oh, the second young mistress, she..."
Before she could finish speaking, He Lin interrupted her. He looked at Su Tong apologetically and said, "Mother, I need to go up the mountain with this Taoist priest. I'll have to trouble you to look after things here."
Although Su Tong was shocked, she still sighed and expressed her support: "Since you want to go, then go ahead. I will stay here and watch over you."
"Thank you, Mother."
Su Tong gently patted his arm and said with a sour tone, "Silly child, why thank me when we're family? Go on."
The others behind them undoubtedly overheard the mother and son's conversation. Qi Shuangyun was absolutely furious: "He Lin! Have you lost your mind? Do you think you can find a miracle cure to revive that woman by following this Taoist priest up the mountain?! Wake up! She's been dead for days! By doing this, aren't you making our General's Mansion a laughingstock to the world?! Do you want the General's Mansion to become a laughingstock for everyone?!"
Faced with Qi Shuangyun's reprimand, He Lin was speechless. In the end, his lips were almost pressed into a straight line, his gaze was stubborn and firm, and the light in his eyes was eerie.
"Dad, when I come back, I will move out with her."
He Wei was clearly dissatisfied with He Lin's decision to keep Jiang Yi's body in the room. He was worried that He Lin would lose his mind because of a woman and drive himself to the brink of madness. Hearing his words, He Wei's already furrowed brows furrowed even more deeply.
“Lin’er, that’s not what she meant. Don’t misunderstand. Besides, didn’t we agree? This is your home, and we are family. I won’t stop you from going up the mountain with this Taoist priest. I just hope that you can think things through after you come back this time and not do anything foolish again. A real man should be able to take things up and let them go, understand?”
He Lin nodded silently.
As he passed by He Yu, he didn't say a word, but patted He Lin's shoulder forcefully. Silence spoke volumes, and that was enough.
Seeing that He Lin was unmoved and wouldn't listen to reason, Qi Shuangyun took a deep breath and tried her best to suppress her anger, saying, "He Lin! Even if I'm not your legal mother, I'm still your aunt. Can't you listen to your elders? Would I ever harm you?! It's not that you're going up the mountain with him, but what will others think of you? They'll just say you've gone mad! You've become obsessed with someone who's passed away!"
After she finished speaking, He Lin calmly replied, "Madam, no, Aunt."
The moment He Lin uttered the word "Aunt," it meant that he had directly acknowledged her identity as the Third Prince, which startled Qi Shuangyun.
“…Jiang Yi is the woman I love. I don’t care what others think of me. As long as I can save her, even if someone tells me right now that there’s a magic medicine on the summit of a thousand mountains, I will climb up step by step to get it for her. I believe that if you were in my shoes today, you would do the same. So please understand me and don’t stop me…”
Qi Shuangyun opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a long time; she couldn't refute it...
"Gu Ziyu, Shan Yanzhi!"
The two responded at the same time.
"...Guard the courtyard well. If the young mistress loses even a single hair, I will hold you all responsible!"
The two responded loudly, "Yes!"
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