The young master was stunned, not expecting that her first request after recovering from a serious illness would be this.
Gu Mingyan bit her lower lip, blushing shyly, and said, "Don't think I'm joking. I really feel like I've been through a life-or-death situation, and I only struggled to come back because I couldn't bear to leave you. How about we get married?"
"Okay," he agreed gently, but for some reason, Mr. Mu's face flashed through his mind—those dark eyes staring at him, filled with resentment and deep sorrow. The young master felt a pang of pain in his heart.
Gu Mingyan was so happy she almost jumped out of bed, and hurriedly said, "You said it yourself, no going back on your word, no cheating!"
The young master gazed at her; this woman was the one he truly loved. Why, then, did he think of another woman at a time like this? He grasped her hand in return, wanting to use her warmth to confirm their existence. Her slender, soft hands were smooth and delicate, yet his mind and heart were preoccupied with another hand—
Those hands picked up white pieces, vying with him on the chessboard; those hands plucked the strings, guiding him to play a duet with her; those hands cooked a dish, only to spill it on the ground; those hands picked up a brush, writing verses that filled him with dread…
So many shadows of those hands filled his mind, obscuring everything before him.
Seeing that he was lost in thought, Gu Mingyan immediately pouted and said, "Ugh, you're already hesitating? You're regretting it, aren't you?"
The young master awoke with a start, utterly horrified, and murmured, "When have I ever broken my promise?"
Gu Mingyan was finally satisfied. She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. The maids beside her exchanged glances and quietly slipped out.
"Damn it, isn't she a miracle doctor? How did she end up like this?"
It's like the wheel of fortune has turned; the younger sister over there had just regained consciousness, and now Mr. Mu—no, Qian Cuiyu—is still unconscious. Gu Yucheng paced back and forth outside the room, feeling a terrible headache. Anything involving this woman gave him a headache. This time, he'd really brought back a goddess; he couldn't chase her away, nor could he say anything to her—because she was the Qian family's second youngest daughter, the most dazzling beauty.
He seemed to hear someone ask him, "Can you tell what this is?"
Then an answer naturally came to mind: "This is the scene of the sunset glow and the lone wild goose flying together, the autumn water and the sky merging into one color."
Why...why is this happening?
The young master bent down deeply, burying his head between his legs.
"Miss, we've arrived."
A hand lifted the carriage curtain, and the boundless dark world was instantly illuminated, revealing lush green bamboo.
She felt as if she had borrowed a body to repeat certain stories, in which a girl named Qian Cuiyu was in the prime of her youth, her eyebrows and eyes radiating an intimidating pride—
"Miss, we've arrived." Lin Yuan and Xian Yu, the two maids, jumped off the carriage first, then turned around to help their mistress.
Qian Cuiyu looked out the window and saw a thatched hut nestled among the green bamboo. It was clean, but also quite simple. "Is this it?"
"Yes, Xiao Liu and the others searched for three days before they found out where he is currently staying."
Qian Cuiyu got off the driveway and said, "You guys wait here for me, I can go by myself."
She walked to the hut; the window was wide open, but there was no one inside. Strange, where had the person gone?
The faint sound of flowing water could be heard behind the house. After walking around the thatched hut for a few feet, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a tranquil lake. The man she was looking for, Wan, was sitting on a large rock by the lake, fishing.
The bright sunlight shone softly on him, turning his eyebrows and hair golden. Qian Cuiyu gazed at his profile and suddenly realized that this down-on-his-luck scholar was actually so handsome. A gentle breeze caressed his clothes, and he was as gentle and serene as jade.
Suddenly the float on the water moved, and Yin Sang's eyes lit up. He immediately reeled in the line and caught a big fish that was about half a foot long.
"Looks like you're in luck today. You're really fortunate." He said, turning around without any surprise at her presence. "Do you know how to grill fish?"
"Well?"
"Want to try?" His voice was seductive, so she raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay."
After a short while, a bonfire was lit. Following his instructions, she turned the fish skewers over, and the flames licked the fish, soon emitting an enticing aroma.
"Well done."
"Of course." Qian Cuiyu proudly raised her head, only to realize afterward—what was wrong with her? She had actually obediently followed the orders of someone who had once made her admit defeat and lose face in front of everyone! In that moment of distraction, she smelled a burning smell, looked down, and oh no, the fish was burnt!
She jumped up hastily, the black fish on the branch in her hand resembling her sister. Even if she didn't care about the monk, she had to consider the Buddha's feelings; the Qian family was still someone she couldn't afford to offend.
Compared to his agitation, Ye Mufeng appeared much calmer. He leaned back in his soft chair and said calmly, "Mr. Mu is the real miracle doctor. Miss Qian... I haven't heard of her having any expertise in this area."
Gu Yucheng was completely puzzled and said, "But wasn't it her who cured my sister's illness?" Otherwise, how do you explain why my sister woke up at this particular time?
Ye Mufeng thought for a moment and replied, "It could also be her. With her intelligence, learning medicine shouldn't be too difficult for her."
Gu Yucheng thought to himself: Nonsense, saying that is the same as not saying anything at all.
At this moment, the doctor, having taken Qian Cuiyu's pulse, came out carrying his medicine box. He quickly went to greet him, saying, "Dr. Shu, how is she?"
"Strange, very strange."
Gu Yucheng wished he could strangle the old man. Last time he invited him to see his sister, the old man shook his head and said it was strange. Now that he invited him to see Qian Cuiyu, the old man was still strange. He really didn't know how the title of the number one doctor in Sichuan was obtained.
Doctor Shu stroked his beard and said, "This young lady's heart must have been injured by sword energy, to the point that nine out of ten of her heart meridians are destroyed. The strange thing is that, according to ordinary people, she would have died long ago, but she is still alive."
Ye Mufeng asked, "You mean, this is a relapse of her old illness?"
"It should be. In my opinion, her previous doctor was extremely skilled and used a very clever method to prolong her life. Unfortunately, instead of calming her mind and cultivating her temperament, she became very angry, which caused her blood and qi to attack her heart, and she finally couldn't hold on. Whether she can survive or not, I really can't say for sure."
Gu Yucheng and Ye Mufeng exchanged a glance—it turned out she really was a miracle doctor.
After seeing off the doctor who said he was powerless to help, Gu Yucheng lifted the curtain and entered the inner room. He carefully examined Qian Cuiyu on the hospital bed and found her to look extremely pitiful in her unconscious state. Strange, why hadn't he noticed this before?
Footsteps sounded behind him. Turning around, he saw Ye Mufeng had followed him in. Gu Yucheng asked curiously, "When I first heard the story of the Qian family's third daughter, I was still young. I only remembered my nanny saying that it was as if all the spiritual energy in the world was concentrated in one family, and that all three daughters were intelligent and beautiful. I never thought I would actually meet one of them. But... how did it turn out like this?"
Ye Mufeng sighed softly: "Nine times out of ten, things in this world don't go as planned."
What was she like back then?
"Back then..." Ye Mufeng's gaze shifted to the sky outside the window, lingering on the distant horizon, "Back then, she was an extraordinary woman in my eyes! Not only was she exceptionally talented, but she also had a fiery personality. For the man she loved, she was willing to break with her family, abandon wealth and status to accompany him through hardships. Throughout history, how many people can find a true confidante who will stay by your side until old age? How fortunate Yin Sang was to have met such a soulmate..."
Outside the gauze curtain, the young master who was about to enter heard his words and sat motionless in his wheelchair. After a long while, he suddenly turned around and left without saying a word.
As dusk approached, the sky was ablaze with the colors of sunset, and layers of crimson clouds seemed to mock her for speaking too confidently. Turning to look at him, she saw a half-smile on Yin Sang's face.
She bit her lip in frustration, tore off a piece of the charred fish, put it in her mouth, frowned, and swallowed it. Then she tore off another piece and swallowed it.
Yin Sang watched this scene with great interest, and only after she had finished eating the whole fish did she leisurely say, "Actually, you can throw it away and not eat it."
She said with a stern face, "I never shirk my responsibilities. If it's my fault, I will bear the consequences."
Yin Sang's eyes lit up, but her voice remained lazy, "Throwing away a burnt fish is no loss."
"I ate it so that I would remember not to make the same mistake again."
Yin Sang's eyes flickered as she said, "What if the consequences of that mistake are too severe, and you simply can't bear them?"
She was taken aback. "For example?"
"For example, your birth was a mistake, your survival came at the cost of countless lives, you carried an immense mission with no hope of fulfilling it, and your best friend betrayed you—" Yin Sang looked at her and said slowly, "Do you still think you can bear the consequences of such mistakes?"
Qian Cuiyu stared at her hands for a moment, then smiled and said, "First of all, my birth was not a mistake. Although I am dispensable in my family, and although my grandmother doesn't like me much, I will never accept my fate or admit that I was a mistake and shouldn't have been born into this world. Secondly, although my survival did not come at the cost of anyone else's life, it still embodies the hard work and sacrifices of many people. They taught me to dress, to read, and raised me little by little. Isn't that also a kind of sacrifice? I don't bear any mission, but that doesn't mean I don't have any unattainable ideals. No matter how glamorous I may seem on the surface, haven't I also stumbled and struggled in private? Finally..." She suddenly stopped speaking.
Yin Sang couldn't help but press, "What happened in the end?"
Qian Cuiyu stared at him and said, word by word, "I have no friends. I don't even have the chance to be betrayed by friends."
The sound of flowing water, the whistling of the wind through the bamboo grove, the crackling of dry branches burning in the fire, and the world suddenly fell silent.
After an unknown amount of time, Yin Sang suddenly murmured, "Guests come and loneliness sets in, I think of the troubles and grievances they have left behind..."
Qian Cuiyu was startled and was about to speak when she heard him say, "Look at me, the host, I forgot to ask the guest's purpose."
"I..." Qian Cuiyu blushed before she could speak.
Yin Sang felt a sense of unease. He had first met this Miss Qian at the Red Mansion. She descended the stairs, surrounded by maids, her eyes as dark as ink. He had been struck a chord with her then and there—such eyes! The pride between her brows and the resolute expression on her lips paled in comparison. They were like the sharpest, most dazzling edges sculpted by the Creator from the finest gemstones, serene and cold. Now, however, those eyes held a shy, bashful quality; the sharpness, the coldness, and the pride were all gone. For a fleeting moment, he almost thought she had come to confess her love to him.
How interesting! What exactly is this young lady up to? He simply crossed his arms and admired her unusual expression, quietly waiting for her to continue.
Qian Cuiyu stood there for a moment, then turned and left. Huh? Was she planning to give up? Just as he was thinking this, he saw her return with a cloth bag, her hands trembling slightly as she presented it to him.
"I...I'd like you to take a look at this for me."
Curious, Yin Sang unwrapped the silk covering and found a stack of manuscripts inside. The handwriting on the paper was beautiful and elegant, neat and meticulous.
He looked up at her again and found her head bowed, her ears bright red, looking quite eager to learn. This Miss Qian, once she gets into a bookish state, is like a completely different person—she's really… adorable!
Perhaps because she had been staring at him for a while, Qian Cuiyu waited and waited but he didn't speak, so she looked up and saw that he was looking at her instead of the manuscript. She immediately got annoyed and said, "Fine, if you don't want to, then don't!" After saying that, she went to snatch the manuscript from his hand.
Yin Sang gently pressed her hand down and said, "Wait, I didn't say I didn't want to."
Qian Cuiyu froze for a moment, then quickly withdrew her hand. Yin Sang smiled, sat cross-legged on the rock, and turned to the second page, where the three characters "Jade Case" were written in vermilion, followed by an introduction—
"Though our connection is fleeting, our love is deep; how can we bear to part like strangers?"
He showed no expression and turned to the third page. So one sat on the floor reading, while the other stood beside him waiting. The one reading was very focused, but the one waiting was uneasy, his eyes darting around, not daring to look at him.
Although the manuscript was thick, it didn't contain many words, so it only took half an incense stick's time to read it. Yin Sang flipped back to the first page and read it even faster this time, skimming through it a second time, and then remained silent.
Qian Cuiyu finally turned to look at him, and asked nervously, "How is it?"
Yin Sang handed the manuscript back to her, dusted off his robes, and stood up. "Did you write 'Phoenix Terrace'?"
Qian Cuiyu was slightly surprised. "How did you know?" This was still a secret; apart from a very few people, no one else knew. Since its release, the book had received mixed reviews, with some praising it to the skies and others condemning it to the bitter end. How could this Yin Sang know?
While she was lost in thought, Yin Sang walked to the edge of the pool, picked up a few pebbles from the ground and threw them out, and slowly said: "Phoenix Terrace is a good book."
Upon receiving his approval, Qian Cuiyu's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her lips. Just as she was about to say a few words of modesty, he unexpectedly continued, "If it weren't for 'Phoenix Terrace,' 'The Jade Case' could have been a contender for the spotlight."
Qian Cuiyu asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Yin Sang turned to face her and said, "With 'Phoenix Terrace,' 'The Jade Case' is meaningless. You are just repeating, repeating the original story, the original ideas, and the original writing style."
Qian Cuiyu's expression changed instantly. Yin Sang added, "If you think what I said is wrong, you can refute it."
Qian Cuiyu stood silently for a long while, then suddenly rushed to the edge of the pool, tore the manuscript in her hand to shreds, and threw it all into the water. A few sheets drifted down onto the rocks, which she then stomped on fiercely. Yin Sang watched her willful behavior but did not stop her, his gaze thoughtful as he stared intently.
Qian Cuiyu finally stopped, slightly out of breath, looking at the shredded paper on the ground, as if she hadn't had enough.
Yin Sang shrugged, about to speak, when she suddenly turned her head and said, "You're right!"
"What?"
You're absolutely right!
Yin Sang smiled and asked, "And then?"
"I don't want anything that's repeated."
"So you destroyed it to remind yourself not to repeat the same mistake next time?" That's extreme of a temper. But surprisingly, he actually likes it.
Qian Cuiyu glared at him for a while, then lowered her head and muttered, "Thanks...".