She knew, of course, why Lan Wuxie couldn't come.
Just three days ago, she received news that Lan Wuxie had left Hangzhou and returned to Lanying Palace. In the letter, Liu Da, who wrote the letter, mentioned very vaguely that before returning to Lanying Palace, Lan Wuxie had sent people to ask her several times when Hua Chongyang would return to Hangzhou.
What frustrated Hua Chongyang even more was that when Ye Laoqi first saw the letter at Qingfeng Inn, he said with certainty:
"He's definitely here to see you, OP. I think Lan Wuxie is probably hopelessly lovesick."
74. During illness
The banquet at the Pear Garden, hosted by the brothel, was a resounding success. By the end of the banquet, Bai Lu, Liu Da Huang, and the other two were beaming with joy. Even Ye Laoqi, usually so talkative, seemed to be in a good mood. Only Hua Chongyang, though slightly tipsy from drinking quite a bit, appeared preoccupied. As soon as the banquet ended, she immediately rose and instructed Liu Da Huang and the other two:
"Sister Liu, Sister Huang, Bailu, you guys clean up the mess."
Liu Da responded, and Huang San glanced at her face:
"What's wrong? You don't look well."
Hua Chongyang gave a perfunctory smile:
"I've been traveling for several days straight and haven't had a proper rest. I'll head back now."
Huang San looks at the White Dew:
"Then let Bailu go back with you. The few of us are enough here."
Hua Chongyang had already started walking out, leaving Bailu behind:
"No need. I'll walk back and think about something."
As soon as Hua Chongyang stepped out of the pear orchard and turned the corner, he heard someone call out from behind:
"Double Ninth Festival."
The night was still dark, and the voice was slightly hoarse. She instinctively turned around, initially mistaking it for Lan Wuxie, and her heart skipped a beat. But when she looked closer, she realized it was Situ Qingliu, and she stopped with a smile.
"Your Highness."
Situ Qingliu approached slowly with a faint smile. Along the street were whitewashed walls and black-tiled roofs, with lush, verdant roses hanging heavily from the tops, laden with crimson blossoms. The two stood in the floral shadows, and Situ Qingliu smiled first:
"This outfit doesn't look like you at first glance."
She wore a snow-white blouse with light-colored lace trim, and a royal blue embroidered skirt that reached the ground. The originally simple colors appeared unusually calm and elegant on her.
But Hua Chongyang just smiled and suddenly remembered Lan Wuxie.
She had always felt that there was no one else in the world like Lan Wuxie, who was so elegant and graceful yet never vulgar. So, having grown accustomed to Lan Wuxie, she found most other men to be crude and unbearable.
Situ Qingliu paused, then smiled:
"You drank quite a bit at the banquet just now. I was really worried about you."
"Heh, there were too many people, so I had to drink a few more cups with them." Hua Chongyang chuckled, casually plucking a cluster of petals from a flower branch. "With a formidable enemy at hand, I feel a bit guilty for dragging the young master into this as well."
"Yanzu Valley has interfered in martial arts affairs three or four times in the past year, using insidious and clandestine methods. It's a good thing the brothel wants to take it down; how could I not help them?"
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Situ Qingliu seemed to hesitate for a moment, then smiled and sighed softly:
"You probably have no idea how disappointed you looked when you turned around and saw me just now."
"...How could that be?"
"Lan Wuxie went to Sichuan, wasn't he originally going to find you?"
"I don't know either."
Aren't you worried about him?
"What's there to worry about? Who in the world is more skilled in martial arts than him?"
"Everyone has weaknesses. In my opinion, there are two people who can hurt him," Situ Qingliu said with the calm composure of an observer, "one is you, and the other is himself."
"Your Highness, you flatter me."
Situ Qingliu cleared his throat before explaining his purpose:
"There are a few things I'd like to tell Master Lan, but he's probably the only one who'd listen to you, so I'll tell you instead."
"Please speak, Your Highness, and I will relay your message when the opportunity arises."
"Prince Ningjing," Situ Qingliu paused, then continued, "wishes to see Pavilion Master Lan."
After bidding farewell to Situ Qingliu, Hua Chongyang stood in the shadows of the flowers for a long time before turning to the corner of the alley behind him:
"Aren't you coming out yet?"
A tall, slender figure emerged from behind a dense thicket of roses. Hua Chongyang sighed and turned around:
Why are you all alone?
"If I weren't alone, how could I have been hiding here eavesdropping for so long? If the Sect Master were here, he would have already come out and killed Situ Qingliu. Would you still be allowed to chatter on like this? Tch."
Lancao shook her head with a disdainful look.
But Hua Chongyang had no time to argue with him:
"Is he still in Sichuan?"
"No. It's in a small town south of Hangzhou."
"……Um?"
"He's seriously ill." Lan Cao sighed, then helplessly clasped her hands in a fist salute to Hua Chongyang. "So, Hua Chongyang, I've come to beg you to come with me. The Pavilion Master caught a cold while traveling in the rain and has had a high fever for several days now; he's delirious. The carriage is outside; if you have any conscience, come with me to see him—"
Before she could finish speaking, Hua Chongyang lifted the hem of her skirt and turned around:
Why didn't you say so sooner!
They came in a two-horse carriage, but returned in a two-horse carriage. Hua Chongyang thought the carriage was too slow, so as soon as they left the city gate, he untied the carriage and rode south, with Lan Cao following on horseback.
When he arrived at the inn in town, it was just dusk. Hua Chongyang dismounted, threw down his whip, and ran into the inn. He rushed to the second floor, pushed open the door of the top-class room, and sure enough, he saw a person lying on his side on the carved bed in the dimly lit room.
She carefully and quietly approached.
Lan Wuxie was covered with a dark blue brocade quilt, his long hair scattered messily among the bedding. The sunlight was dim, and as the gauze curtain was slowly lifted, Hua Chongyang could only vaguely see his flushed face and furrowed brow.
Hua Chongyang felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She tucked the blanket around him and turned her head, her eyes already wet with tears.
Lancao approached softly from behind, sighed slowly, and ultimately hesitated to say anything more:
"Why are you doing this? If I were any more venomous, I would have said you were crocodile tears."
Hua Chongyang remained silent, wrung a damp towel from the basin beside him to wipe the sweat from Lan Wuxie's forehead, and said softly without raising his head:
"You're just an outsider. How much do you really know about how I treat him?"
Lan Cao was stunned for a moment, then turned her face away and hummed softly:
Even if you have some affection for the Pavilion Master... it can never compare to how good the Pavilion Master has been to you.
"You're right, he's doing this for my own good."
Lan Cao was at a loss for words.
Hua Chongyang stood up and looked at him calmly: "But everyone in the world knows that Lan Wuxie is not a good person."
Lan Cao was speechless.
The Double Ninth Festival is not what it used to be; its words and manners are not what they used to be. The orchid can no longer look down on it and can only listen obediently.
Hua Chongyang walked straight to the table, picked up his tea, took a sip, and sat down in the chair.
"But he wiped out Rong Zaisheng's entire family, left no one alive from Yue Feilong's Qingfeng Sect, and slaughtered Elder Yuqi's entire sect. He wanted to keep all of this from me, so even when I found out later, I never asked him a single question."
Lancao gasped, and it took her a long time to find her voice:
"You...you knew all this?"
"What does that matter?" Hua Chongyang smiled. "How I know, what I know—none of that matters. Who he is, what he does, what martial arts he practices, what he's hiding from me, what he's telling me—none of that matters either. Life is already full of helplessness and things beyond our control; why worry about so much?"
She walked back to the bedside, looked at Lan Wuxie, and lowered her voice:
"So, within my power, why wouldn't I treat him better?"
75. Reunion
Hua Chongyang stayed at the inn for the entire night.
She stayed up all night, sitting by the bedside, wringing out towels, changing towels, wiping away sweat, and feeding Lan Wuxie her medicine. After she finished her medicine and lay down, even though she was delirious with fever, Lan Wuxie held onto Hua Chongyang's hand and wouldn't let go.
His fever finally subsided by dawn, but he still slept soundly.
The orchid nods its head:
"He had a fever for two days and refused to take his medicine, but as soon as you came, he got better immediately."
Hua Chongyang glanced at the sky outside, stood up, and walked outside:
"It's almost dawn, I need to go back first—it's better not to talk about why I came here."
The orchid stopped her:
"Now that we're here, let's wait for the Pavilion Master to wake up so we can meet him."
Hua Chongyang walked along, sneering.
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Do you think I'll leave once he's awake?"
Lancao chased after her all the way to the door, then confidently reached out to stop her.
"If you really want to leave, who can stop you? Even the sect leader wouldn't lay a finger on you!"
Hua Chongyang admitted it readily:
"You're right. But I just can't bring myself to see him."
She knew very well that once Lan Wuxie woke up, she would really be unable to leave; a single word or glance from Lan Wuxie could instantly shatter her willpower.
As she spoke, she pushed Lan Cao's arm aside and went up the stairs. She went downstairs, took the horse, mounted it, and spurred it on.
Lan Cao could only stand helplessly at the inn's entrance, waiting for Hua Chongyang to return, but instead saw Lan Wuxie standing there in his undergarments, which startled her greatly.
"Sect Master...Sect Leader!"
Lan Wuxie's hair was draped behind her back, her face calm and her eyes clear. She seemed perfectly awake, not at all like someone who had just woken from a deep sleep. She turned her gaze from the distance and simply nodded slightly to Lan Cao.
"Rong Chenfei also went to the opera troupe?"