Traditionelle Chinesische Medizin

Kapitel 45

His brows still held that special arrogance, refined yet cold. He lay there quietly, as if he had been asleep for a long time.

.

"Seventeen years... I came to find you first." The murmured voice was like a dream.

She stood silently in front of the corpse for a long time, then suddenly lowered her body and sat down on the ground next to it, hugging her knees like a child, quietly gazing at that familiar face.

My vision gradually blurred.

"I never imagined that I would only see you one last time. Do you... still remember our promise? To go our separate ways and forget each other, unless one of us dies first, the other will definitely rush to see us off."

After a while.

She sighed softly, "Now that I've come to see you off, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Can't you let me off this time, and see me off first?"

"He's right. I've never forgotten, and neither have you, have we? It's just that neither of us is willing to admit it."

Her slender hand slowly reached out to him, but then stopped in mid-air. After a moment's hesitation, she grasped his stiff hand and gently stroked it. This hand had once held her so tightly, warm and strong, but now, she hadn't held it in so long.

She smiled softly: "All these years, you've been asking about me. Actually, I've known for a long time, but I haven't told you because..."

She touched his face with her hand.

"Because if you find out I already know about this, you definitely won't want to ask any more questions, right?"

The coldness on her beautiful face had completely vanished, replaced by a gentleness she had never shown before, a gentleness filled with happiness and love.

suddenly.

Her gentle expression vanished, and she gritted her teeth, glaring at him hatefully: "But you still won't come to me!"

.

He did not respond to her resentment.

Her resentful gaze gradually softened, and she suddenly smiled, reaching out to pick up the bamboo flute beside her and waving it in front of his face, as if she were flirting with her lover.

Do you remember what we looked like when we first met?

"Back then, my self-created 'Thirty-Six Styles of Phoenix Flute' became famous throughout the martial arts world, and everyone praised it. But when you saw it, you laughed at me for only using the flute as a weapon, thus losing its true nature. Then you took it and played a tune called 'Reed Catkins'."

Clad in flowing white robes, he stood proudly atop the cliff. The melodious strains of a flute flowed from his fingertips as he gazed at her with unrestrained abandon, yet deep within his cold eyes lay a deep, unyielding smile.

The ancient verses perfectly express the affection between young men and women: "The reeds are green... The one I long for is on the other side of the water... I go upstream to find her, and she seems to be in the middle of the water..."

At that moment, she felt inexplicably flustered and dared not look him in the eye.

Memories are always beautiful, enviable, and intoxicating. Gradually, a dreamlike, hazy glow appeared on her beautiful face, and her elegant eyes filled with happiness.

"When I took it back, there was an extra word on it."

"The sound of the jade flute echoes through the small pavilion, chilling the air," she smiled, "that was the first time I saw you smile. Actually, you look very beautiful when you smile."

.

However, after a short while, that radiance dimmed again.

“But I haven’t seen you laugh like that since then,” she said, lowering her head. “Is it because I’m always arguing with you that you’re like this?”

for a long time.

She looked up, a mischievous glint in her eyes: "Later, I borrowed your sword to look at it. Actually, I left something on your sword too, but you didn't notice it even after looking at it for so long."

She took the sword beside him with her slender hand and slowly drew it.

The sword gleamed, its coldness like water.

Yang Nianqing was startled, but Li You gently shook his head.

Looking at the sword, Madam Leng frowned, seemingly somewhat displeased.

She slowly lowered the sword, then held the scabbard in front of him, seemingly quite pleased with herself: "You were only focused on the sword then, but you forgot about the inscription inside this scabbard, 'Desolate Autumn Festival.' You use it every day, did you even see it?"

She completely forgot one thing—he could no longer see anything in front of her.

The laughter gradually subsided, becoming so faint as to be almost inaudible.

She slowly sheathed the sword and placed it back beside him: "I am no longer as young as I used to be, but you haven't changed. Were you disappointed when you saw me that day?"

"If only we could always be like we were when we first met..."

.

After a long silence, she suddenly shook her head: "I know that you didn't actually have anything to do that day. You just asked them to come back the next day because you wanted to see me one more time, didn't you?"

The voice was trembling. (60)

She finally leaned against him, sobbing softly, "But why won't you say it? Don't you know... I'm waiting too?"

"Every day you leave early and return late, focusing solely on sword practice, leaving before dawn..."

Every time she saw the shadow of that man wiping his sword under the lamp, and that face that made her heart flutter and her breath catch in her eyes, she almost wanted to plead, but she didn't. Only after that figure truly disappeared outside the door did she never close her eyes again.

“I really wanted to ask you to stay and spend the whole day with me, even if we didn’t go anywhere, just sitting with me would be fine… but I never said it.”

She raised her head, gently shook him, and cried, "Actually, you were waiting for me to say that, weren't you? You've always been like this, unwilling to admit defeat, but I'm your wife, why won't you even give in to me just once?"

"It's my fault. If I had told you, you would have stayed with me, right? But I'm just as stubborn as you, and I always refused to tell you. I... I was afraid you wouldn't agree..." (bc)

.

One man clearly loved his wife deeply, but he never said it aloud. The other man was equally strong-willed. It turned out that both of them were so stubborn!

Yang Nianqing's face was already streaked with tears, and she held onto Li You's sleeve, wiping them for a long time.

His white sleeves were already soaked. Li You sighed with a wry smile and suddenly pulled her into his arms—it seemed he had also made a mistake, not realizing that this would make it easier for her to wipe away her tears.

Madam Leng, however, was lost in thought and did not notice the two of them.

.

"I didn't want to leave you. Actually, if you had just asked me to stay, even if it was just a single word, I would never have left. But... but you didn't! You just glanced at me and then nodded in agreement."

She suddenly clenched that hand, gritting her teeth as she said, "Do you know how angry I was with you back then? I deliberately chose a concubine for you, deliberately wanted you to send me off, but you still wouldn't tell!"

for a long time.

Slowly loosen your grip. (a4)

She wiped away her tears, then suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly: "I really shouldn't blame you. I am your wife, yet I have never been tolerant of you in the slightest. I am always arguing with you. In our nineteen years of marriage, I have not been able to give you a single child."

Do you blame me now?

She gently stroked his face and murmured, "Whether you're angry with me or not, don't leave me alone. I won't hold a grudge against you anymore. Just be more understanding with me, okay?"

He did not answer. (58)

However, she seemed to have already found the answer and smiled with satisfaction.

Seeing the sword beside her husband, she immediately frowned, reached out and took it, then threw it aside. Afterward, she handed a bamboo flute to his stiff hand.

"You should take mine. I can't let you practice swordsmanship every day anymore." His smile seemed to carry a sense of triumph.

.

What she is doing is—

Yang Nianqing didn't react at first, and looked up at Li You in confusion.

Li You's expression changed: "Madam, please wait!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Nianqing felt a tightness in her hand, followed by a "clink" sound, as if something had broken.

Li You frowned and pulled her inside.

A gold hairpin lay on the ground, its sharp tip gleaming in the candlelight.

Several pieces of crystalline material, shimmering with a glassy luster, lay scattered nearby. Yang Nianqing looked down and noticed that the jade bracelet Madam Leng had given her was gone.

She realized what was happening, let out a long sigh, and looked at Li You gratefully. Luckily, he had acted in time!

.

Madam Leng stared silently at the gold hairpin on the ground, seemingly lost in thought. Yang Nianqing glanced at Li You worriedly, then squatted down beside her, at a loss for words.

Li You looked at her without saying a word.

"Are you laughing at me?" Madam Leng spoke first. "You're right, I haven't forgotten, I just refuse to admit it."

After saying that, she looked at her husband's sleeping face.

“We were all wrong. We held onto our anger for so many years, and only now do we realize we should have been more tolerant and understanding. I only regret not understanding this sooner. Tell me, aren't we worse than these two children?”

Finally, tears streamed down her face again: "It's too late..."

"There aren't many people in this world who can be easily forgotten." The question she had been pondering for so long finally had an answer, but looking at the scene before her, Yang Nianqing felt a pang of heartache and wiped away her tears again.

Li You suddenly spoke up: "It's not too late."

"Does Madam truly believe she has no more attachments?" He sighed softly. "In my opinion, Madam still has many things to do, so how can she simply leave?"

“I’m fine,” Madam Leng shook her head. “I only regret that I couldn’t leave a son for the Chu family. Now that he’s gone too, I have no more worries.”

Li You frowned.

"Who is the murderer who harmed Master Chu? Could it be," a rare seriousness appeared on his handsome face, "that Madam would rather let him die in vain than do this last thing for him while he's still alive?"

Madam Leng was stunned.

silence.

“I shouldn’t have brought you to him,” she suddenly turned to look at the two of them, her usual cold expression returning. “You two go out first, I’ll see him off.”

After saying that, he turned his face away again.

Yang Nianqing hesitated and looked at Li You.

Li You nodded: "Yes."

After saying that, he pulled Yang Nianqing and walked out.

.

Before I knew it, two people were already standing outside the door.

Nangong Xue's face turned pale. She stared blankly at the two people inside the door, gritting her teeth and remaining silent. The gentleness in her elegant phoenix eyes had disappeared, replaced by countless pains and sorrows.

He Bi remained standing ramrod straight, his handsome face expressionless, yet a hint of sorrow and loneliness flickered in his dark, sharp eyes.