Chapter 65

Xie Hengzhi, after kissing her, simply left, as if nothing had happened, leaving Yiling standing alone in place.

The fire beside her blazed brightly, and after standing still for a long time, her dress seemed to be on the verge of catching fire.

But compared to the shock in her mind, the slight burning sensation on her calf felt as light as a feather.

Yiling had always thought Xie Hengzhi was someone who didn’t show his emotions.

But even after he had left some time ago, the image of him—carefree yet domineering—still lingered in her mind.

It was completely different from his usual indifferent demeanor, and even the light in his eyes seemed to be provoking, as if saying, “So what if I kissed you? What if I go even further?”

Did he not realize he was being presumptuous? How could he be so shameless?

Yiling almost couldn’t catch her breath, until the night wind blew the flames toward her skirt, causing her to suddenly jump back.

On the other side.

The news from the capital came through the message tube. Xie Hengzhi opened it and silently read it.

Li Chun stood quietly beside him, his eyes never idle, scanning the surroundings over and over.

Suddenly, he heard a sound and turned his eyes toward it, squinting.

After a moment, Li Chun said, “Master, it seems the Madam is by the river.”

Xie Hengzhi turned his head, using the faint light from the torch to quietly watch Yiling angrily throwing stones by the riverbank.

Though he was too far to hear anything, he knew she must be muttering curses along with it.

After watching for a while, Xie Hengzhi withdrew his gaze.

“Don’t worry about her.”

He said this and continued to focus on the secret letter in his hand.

In the wilderness, time seemed to pass unusually slowly.

Yiling had come to the river to calm down, but once she sat down, the cold wind blew, and her mind only grew more chaotic.

After nearly exhausting all the stones beneath her feet, she still couldn’t calm her thoughts.

What should she do now?

The Emperor had granted the marriage, and it was a formal, public affair—if nothing unexpected happened, it would be a marriage recorded in history.

Thus, Yiling had always known that the boundary between her and Xie Hengzhi was only a matter of his will.

If he had no intention, they would remain undisturbed.

But if he had the idea of turning a fake act into a real one, Yiling might really end up saying “it should be,” with the earth responding, “it’s reasonable!”

Frustrated and her thoughts tangled, Yiling looked down and realized there were only stones the size of a fist left beneath her feet—she had nothing left to throw, so she could only stomp her feet hard.

“Madam?”

Mallow had been waiting for Yiling for over half an hour, unsure of what was bothering her alone here.

Could it be that she had argued with the master again?

It seemed there were always so many arguments, maybe because there was too little work to do.

Mallow sighed and stepped forward, saying, “It’s late. You should rest. Tomorrow morning we might have to set off again.”

At her reminder, Yiling turned her head and surveyed her surroundings, realizing that, aside from the guards watching the prisoners, almost everyone else had gone to rest.

Once the human voices faded, the sounds of the forest became more distinct.

Besides the sound of tree branches swaying in the night wind, it seemed there were also wild animals moving through the woods.

Yiling’s back shivered, and she hurriedly followed Mallow away from the river.

The camp had already been set up in the flat area of the forest for both Yiling and Xie Hengzhi to rest for the night.

Traveling was tough, but the attendants had done their best to prepare. In this simple camp, they had laid out bedding so they could sleep comfortably.

Yiling looked around but didn’t see Xie Hengzhi’s figure.

She glanced again at the camp nestled in the wilderness, and a creeping fear spread through her.

Who knew if any bugs would crawl on her in the dead of night? Who knew if Xie Hengzhi could actually act like a decent person?

Thinking of this, Yiling raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose, softly saying, “It looks like there might be bugs. I’ll stay in the carriage instead.”

After speaking, she turned and walked away, not even caring about Mallow’s pleas behind her.

The carriage had stopped not far away, with soft pillows and a tiger skin blanket to keep warm inside.

Yiling curled up her legs, her head resting against the side of the carriage. After a while, her neck and shoulders began to ache.

She changed positions several times, but the discomfort still couldn’t be relieved.

Sigh, she could usually endure sitting in a carriage for hours during the day, but why was it so unbearable at night?

Suddenly, the carriage door was opened from the outside.

Yiling lifted her head and met Xie Hengzhi’s heavy gaze.

“Why aren’t you sleeping in the tent?”

He asked, pretending not to know.

Yiling turned her face away and said, “There are insects; I don’t want to go.”

Soon, Mallow’s voice came from outside the carriage.

“I asked Lord Li Chun for some insect repellent, and I’ve already fumigated it thoroughly. There won’t be any insects!”

Yiling: “…”

She wasn’t clever when she needed to be and acted too clever when she shouldn’t!

Now Yiling didn’t know what to say, so she just kept her mouth shut.

Xie Hengzhi didn’t ask more but stared at her for a while. When he saw her becoming uneasy, he spoke, “Do you want to go by yourself, or should I carry you?”

Yiling: “…”

She lifted the tiger skin blanket, climbed out of the carriage, and angrily pushed Xie Hengzhi away. In frustration, she walked toward the tent.

After a while.

Sleeping outdoors naturally meant staying dressed, and Yiling tossed and turned for a long time before finally adapting.

At this moment, a cold wind blew into the tent.

Without needing to open her eyes, she knew who had entered.

Yiling immediately turned over, lying on her side with her back to Xie Hengzhi.

The already small and cramped tent became even more crowded with his presence, and the air felt tight and suffocating.

But this wasn’t the first time. Yiling told herself to stay calm. As long as she didn’t make a sound, Xie Hengzhi would probably be as calm as usual, right?

Besides, there were guards outside the tent. They could hear any movement, and he wouldn’t be so shameless.

It seemed like it was indeed the case.

A quarter of an hour passed, and Xie Hengzhi didn’t make any move. Even his breathing was unusually steady.

However, this time, Yiling still couldn’t settle her mind.

Her heart was already in turmoil, and the cold night made her shiver. Yiling could feel her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

“Are you cold?”

Xie Hengzhi hadn’t fallen asleep after all.

Yiling could only admit that it was because she was cold.

She tightly closed her eyes and mumbled, “Mm.”

But the next moment, Xie Hengzhi pulled her into his arms.

The tent was small, and there was hardly any space between them. His movement was swift, and Yiling didn’t even have time to refuse.

It wasn’t until his arm was around her waist that Yiling suddenly came to her senses.

Because of the guards outside, Yiling didn’t dare make any large movements and kept her voice very low.

“What are you doing?!”

“Isn’t it cold?” Xie Hengzhi looked at her calmly. “Then I’ll hold you to sleep.”

“You…”

Yiling looked up and could even see the guards outside through the tent. “There’s no need for this!”

But now it was Xie Hengzhi who acted as though he didn’t understand. He looked at her with no trace of confusion and asked, “Why?”

Why?!

Of course, it was…

Yiling took a deep breath and whispered, “I’m not used to it. Please don’t do this.”

With that, she tried to break free from his embrace.

But as soon as she moved, Xie Hengzhi held her tighter.

He lowered his eyes, his expression indifferent, and spoke in an unreasonable tone, “Then get used to it.”

Yiling: “… I won’t get used to it. I’ll never get used to it!”

“Really?” Xie Hengzhi said. “A lifetime is long. How do you know you won’t get used to it?”

There were guards outside the tent, and the man holding her remained unmovable.

Yiling was already flustered and couldn’t think of how to argue against Xie Hengzhi’s words.

She blurted out, “Is this one-sidedness fun?!”

Her urgent, anxious voice echoed in the tent, and in that brief moment, Yiling clearly felt the warmth surrounding her gradually turn cold.

Words spoken without thinking are often the most honest.

Yiling thought so.

But when she saw Xie Hengzhi’s eyes dulling, she felt somewhat lost.

Wasn’t it like that?

Didn’t he understand their situation?

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a long time, their gazes each filled with different emotions.

In the end, Xie Hengzhi didn’t say anything. He simply let go of her, withdrew his gaze, resumed his previous sleeping posture, and calmly closed his eyes.

“Sleep.”

Yiling stayed motionless, staring at Xie Hengzhi in a daze.

After a moment, she turned her back to him in the faint sound of his breathing.

The long night was quiet, the trees rustling softly.

Though they were sleeping outdoors, Yiling could still see the guards patrolling with torches, which assured her of her safety.

But Yiling still kept her eyes open, gazing at the faint light outside the tent. After a long while, she finally closed her eyes.

The next morning.

When Yiling woke up, she was the only one left in the tent. There was quite a commotion outside.

Before her mind could fully come back, Mallow’s voice called from outside.

“Madam? Are you awake?”

Yiling quickly rubbed her eyes and said she was awake.

Mallow then leaned in and said, “The mudslide has been cleared. Madam, we’re getting ready to leave.”

Yiling adjusted her clothes and stepped out of the tent, seeing the group already prepared to set off.

So fast?

Seeing that Yiling seemed a bit confused, Mallow said from the side, “Not long after you went to sleep last night, the county office people arrived. The master directed them to work through the whole night, and by the time the sun rose, the road was cleared.”

He stayed up all night?

Yiling turned her head and saw Xie Hengzhi’s figure by the lead carriage.

Just then, he also turned around and looked at her.

In that fleeting moment of eye contact, with yellowed leaves fluttering down in front of her.

Yiling didn’t have time to see Xie Hengzhi’s expression before she heard him give an order,

“Let’s go.”

He then boarded the carriage first.

Yiling stood dazed for a moment before hurriedly lifting her skirt and walking over.

Inside the carriage.

Xie Hengzhi was always a man of few words, and today was no different—he hadn’t spoken since they set off.

Everything seemed the same as usual, yet Yiling couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different.

Although there wasn’t much to talk about between her and Xie Hengzhi, it wasn’t usually this quiet, right?

Unable to resist, Yiling secretly glanced at Xie Hengzhi, trying to figure out his mood.

But when she looked again, their eyes met unexpectedly.

Xie Hengzhi raised his eyebrows. “What is it?”

His tone was so normal, as though everything that happened last night was just Yiling’s imagination.

“…Nothing.”

The mountain road was rugged, and sitting in the carriage wasn’t comfortable, especially with the atmosphere inside so still.

As they neared the foot of the mountain, Yiling couldn’t hold back anymore.

Clearing her throat, she was about to speak up to break the silence when the carriage suddenly jolted violently.

“What happened?”

Yiling thought they had encountered some mishap and quickly asked, “What’s going on?”

The coachman seemed flustered and didn’t answer immediately.

Only when the carriage finally stopped with a “bang, bang” did he say, “Master, Madam, the ground is muddy, and the wheels seem to be stuck.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Hengzhi opened the window and looked down.

Li Chun, standing nearby, came over with his men to assess the situation and told the coachman, “It’s not a big deal. You hold the reins in front, and I’ll lead the others to push from behind.”

Hearing Li Chun’s words, Yiling quickly said, “Then let’s get out of the carriage, so you don’t waste your strength.”

She hurriedly stood up, bent down to exit the carriage, then turned to look at Xie Hengzhi, still sitting without moving. “Aren’t you getting down? Are you waiting to be carried?”

Xie Hengzhi: “…”

A moment later, Yiling and Xie Hengzhi stood by the carriage, watching Li Chun and the others try to push it.

After it rained last night, the mountain road was very muddy, and despite several guards working together, they couldn’t get the carriage moving.

Li Chun scratched his head and said, “Let’s lift the carriage.”

With that, several people gathered around the carriage, shouting “One, two, three” and straining to lift it.

Seeing them fail repeatedly and Xie Hengzhi standing calmly aside, Yiling was so anxious that she wished Xie Hengzhi would help lift the carriage too.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, there was a strange sound from above.

Although Yiling’s hearing wasn’t exceptional, her senses were sharper when danger approached.

In a flash, before she could identify the source of the noise, she instinctively raised her hands to shield her head.

But her legs were a step too slow. When she saw a series of rocks tumbling down from the mountainside, her eyes widened, and she froze, unable to move.

As the rocks came crashing down toward her head, she suddenly went black before her eyes.

Then, she felt a huge force, and just as she was about to fall, a pair of arms firmly gripped her.

The pain she expected didn’t come. Instead, the familiar scent filled her nose, and in front of her was a shirt embroidered with bamboo patterns.

Yiling dazedly looked up and saw Xie Hengzhi’s slender jaw.

The next moment, she heard Li Chun and the others exclaiming, “Master! Master! Are you alright!”

This sudden turn of events flooded Yiling’s mind like a torrent.

It wasn’t until Xie Hengzhi released his arms and stepped back that Yiling realized he had shielded her from the falling rocks.

“You’re not…”

“You’re not hurt, right?!”

Hearing Yiling’s anxious voice, Xie Hengzhi paused, lowering his gaze.

As their eyes met, Yiling, who had been about to check if Xie Hengzhi was injured, suddenly froze, her ears filled only with her own rapid breathing.

Though Xie Hengzhi claimed he wasn’t hurt, the stones had fallen from a high place, and blood was already visible on his shoulder and back. It wasn’t clear if there were any internal injuries.

Luckily, the area where the rocks fell was near the foot of the mountain, and a post station was about ten miles away.

Li Chun, very anxious, sent someone on horseback to urgently summon a doctor.

When they arrived at the post station, an elderly doctor was already waiting outside.

The group crowded around Xie Hengzhi as they led him to a guest room, each of them looking very concerned.

Once upstairs, the doctor was about to enter the room to examine Xie Hengzhi’s wounds, and naturally, no one followed him in.

It was only when Li Chun was bustling about that he suddenly remembered something. He looked back and finally spotted Yiling’s figure.

“Madam?”

He had just felt that something was off.

Although the master had been injured and everyone was worried, why was Yiling, along with Mallow, silently following at the back as though it had nothing to do with her?

Now that the doctor and the master had entered, why didn’t she follow?

Seeing the puzzled look on Li Chun’s face, Yiling didn’t say anything. She simply pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and stepped into the room.

The doctor had already begun to examine Xie Hengzhi’s injuries.

He had taken off his outer robe, and his inner clothes were open, exposing a large part of his chest.

Seeing this scene suddenly, Yiling was momentarily stunned, and her steps froze in place.

It was Xie Hengzhi who seemed completely unfazed, staring directly at Yiling as if the doctor tending to him didn’t exist at all.

Already troubled with countless emotions in her heart, Yiling said nothing, not even sparing him another glance.

When she finally stood behind him, she focused her gaze and noticed a large bruise on his shoulder and back, with the worst spot actually split open, exposing the flesh underneath.

Yiling quietly watched as the doctor carefully used tweezers to remove the black stone fragments lodged in the wound, one by one. Her scalp tightened with each pull, but Xie Hengzhi didn’t even flinch, not moving a single muscle.

Didn’t it hurt?

It must have hurt a lot!

Especially when she saw the doctor’s sharp tweezers probing at the skin and flesh, Yiling nearly couldn’t resist grabbing his hand.

A long time passed.

Finally, the doctor applied ointment to the wound and meticulously bandaged it.

The injury itself wasn’t serious, just some soft tissue damage.

But due to the injured party’s identity and Yiling’s intense gaze, the doctor had to be extra cautious, even reminding them of many details with great care.

Xie Hengzhi didn’t respond at all, not even a sound.

It was Yiling, standing behind him, who nodded at every one of the doctor’s words, silently repeating them in her mind.

At last, when the doctor picked up his medical kit and left, Yiling was still wondering… how often did he need to change the dressing?

The door was gently closed by the doctor.

The room was left with just Yiling and Xie Hengzhi.

She remained standing still, watching Xie Hengzhi leisurely put on his clothes.

When he turned his head, Yiling immediately said, “It’s getting late, and you didn’t sleep last night. Why don’t you rest early?”

Xie Hengzhi simply stared at her.

He didn’t say anything, just calmly tying his belt.

Until Yiling felt like she might pull her hair out from frustration, she finally heard him speak:

“Aren’t you having dinner?”

“…Oh, I’ll go check on it now.”

With that, Yiling quickly left the room.

The people at the inn sent dinner for Xie Hengzhi, while Yiling ate outside with Mallow.

More than half an hour had passed, and the leftover food on the table had already gone cold, but Yiling didn’t ask anyone to clear it away.

It was as though the food on the table hadn’t been finished, so she didn’t have to go back to the room and face Xie Hengzhi.

After a while, Mallow couldn’t hold it any longer.

“Madam, you must not have slept well last night. Why don’t you rest early?”

Yiling looked up at the sky outside, sighed softly, and finally stood up.

Returning to the room, just before opening the door, Yiling hesitated again as she glanced at the light inside.

She had a strong feeling that the way Xie Hengzhi had stared at her earlier carried some hidden meaning.

It was as if he wanted to say something, waiting for her to figure it out herself, not willing to speak plainly.

What exactly did he want to say?

Yiling was so frustrated that she almost wanted to stomp her feet. She stood outside the door for a long time, thinking of several excuses to dodge him, before finally calming herself and pushing the door open.

But when she stepped into the room again, it was eerie quiet.

She leaned her head toward the bed and froze for a moment.

Xie Hengzhi had already fallen asleep.

Yiling breathed a sigh of relief and quietly walked over.

There was only one lamp left on in the room, casting dim and unclear light, making it hard to see anything clearly.

But Yiling could feel that Xie Hengzhi’s breathing was a bit heavy, so she crouched down by the bed and leaned in closer.

The doctor had said… even though the weather was still cold, she had to watch out for any fever caused by the wound.

And with him sleeping so soundly and breathing heavily, was something wrong?

With that thought, Yiling gently reached out and pressed her hand against Xie Hengzhi’s forehead.

It was warm, and there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.

As she saw a few strands of his hair messy on his face, she casually brushed them aside.

Just as she withdrew her hand, the person on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.

Yiling was still leaning beside him, their faces almost touching.

Their eyes met, and Xie Hengzhi’s gaze in the dim light was unusually deep.

He stared intently at the stunned Yiling, not giving her a chance to explain, and directly asked, “Why do you think I’m being one-sided?”