La vie parfaite sous la dynastie Song

Chapitre 195

Xu Lie smiled weakly, then looked at me. I quickly leaned closer to hear him. He murmured, "Lan... Jia... Lan, I... love you... so much... but... I... was wrong... always... hurting you... forcing... you. Letting go... is the only way... to give you happiness... If only I could... have understood this sooner... Jia Lan... don't be sad, when I die, I'll go... find him... so you can live... better..."

"Xu Lie!" I abruptly sat up, interrupting him, staring intently at him. My hoarse voice seemed forced, the sobs barely concealing an overwhelming sorrow. I heard my own voice, hoarse as if a knife had ripped through the trajectory of my life, "I'm pregnant with your child! Xu Lie! Did you hear me! A little over a month, I'm pregnant... with your child!! Xu Lie, you have no right to die! You have no right to abandon him again! Xu Lie, did you hear me!!"

Xu Lie's eyes widened suddenly, staring at me blankly. In a daze, it seemed as if a blush crept onto his face, like a spark of life.

I covered my mouth tightly to stop the sobs from coming out of my vocal cords. Tears seeped between my fingers, overflowing with a burning temperature, flowing down the back of my hand, and then turning cold.

Yihan! Yihan! Yihan... I love you so much! I really want to stay with you for the rest of my life... But can you still hear me shouting like this? Can you still hear me?

I was wrong! I was wrong after all! Two intersecting timelines, two misplaced loves, two people I once loved equally deeply. I thought I had made a choice, I thought I knew my own heart, but all my resolve crumbled when I saw the bullet hole in Xu Lie's back. Two people, two loves, in the end, they tore my heart in two.

I gripped Xu Lie's blood-stained hand tightly, my voice choked with emotion, "We're waiting for you to come back! My child and I are waiting for you to come back! Xu Lie, you must live, do you hear me?"

Xu Lie closed his eyes with unbelievable joy, and the car was pushed into the operating room at top speed. The red light came on, and there was a moment of silence in front of the operating room door. I stood there, stunned, my mind flashing back and forth between Xu Lie's pale smile and Yi Han's deep purple eyes, scene after scene.

I stumbled and choked as I walked to the very edge, the furthest spot from the operating room. Mr. Xu supported me, asking worriedly, "Lanlan, are you alright?"

I shook my head, forcing a weak smile: "I'll be fine! I still need to... wait for Xu Lie to come out."

After saying that, I staggered to the very edge of the room, sat down, and buried my face in my knees. It was quiet, but also very cold, so cold that I shivered. In the pitch black, thinking about the sky outside, which should have been completely dark long ago, thinking about the bright moon hanging in the sky, I smiled silently, a smile mixed with the tears that kept flowing. I realized then that laughter could be so bitter.

A pair of hands gently stroked my hair, and cool, damp palms pressed against my forehead. Zimo whispered in my ear, "You have a fever again. Shall we see a doctor?"

I slightly raised my head, rested my chin on the back of my knees, and said in a hoarse voice, "I want to wait for him to come out."

Zi Mo paused, his slender eyebrows furrowing slightly, his eyes filled with unconcealed worry: "You shouldn't have given him that promise. Although he did it to save you, Meng Xue'er is someone he got himself into trouble with. Jia Lan, you owe him nothing."

Zi Mo gently smoothed my disheveled hair and sighed, "Are you really determined to leave Feng Yihan and stay by his side?"

I hissed, forcing a bitter laugh. My eyes, swollen and aching from tears, stung, and I struggled to see Zimo's face clearly. I smiled, lowered my voice, and said softly, "Zimo, how many lies does a person tell in their life? One more lie like mine today makes no difference, one less lie makes no difference. Don't you think so?"

I was smiling brightly and speaking easily; I clearly believed I had performed perfectly. Yet, Zi Mo's eyes revealed a profound sadness and heartbreaking pity.

"Then, what about the child? Was that a lie too?" He gently pulled me close, letting me lean on his shoulder, as if to bear all my pain. Fool! Letting two relationships intertwine, causing heartache for two people—none of that is your fault. Galan, you really tried your best, tried to make the right choice, to bring things to a close. Today's outcome is not your doing.

Zi Mo's voice, soft and gentle, like a feather plucked at my heartstrings, softly told me: Cry! You are in pain too! So, please cry your heart out!

I buried my face in the crook of his neck, unable to hold back my convulsive, painful sobs. I can't leave Yihan, I absolutely can't leave Yihan! But what will happen to Xu Lie when he wakes up? What will happen to Xu Lie when he wakes up and discovers he's been deceived? What will he do?

Love in dreams, affection outside of dreams. Is it possible for one person's love to exist on parallel lines, sustaining two worlds, two relationships, forever alternating...?

Chapter 44 Resurrection

Xu Lie's surgery went smoothly, and the bullet was safely removed, but the situation was still not optimistic. On the second floor of that abandoned building, there were more than a dozen cement slabs, one of which was almost half protruding outwards. When Xu Lie was falling with me in his arms, he couldn't get any leverage in mid-air and crashed into a corner of the cement slab, fracturing a small piece of his skull, with blood pooling inside his brain.

The craniotomy was urgent, but Uncle Liu said the success rate of such surgery was extremely low, and Xu Lie was already weak from just having a bullet removed. In short, Xu Lie was very likely to die during the surgery or become a vegetable.

Xu's mother rushed to the hospital from J City at two in the morning and almost fainted the moment she heard the bad news. But she was undoubtedly strong. Even though her face was pale and her eyes were filled with tears, she still comforted me and told me to get some rest.

The surgery was scheduled for 8 a.m. three days later. The attending physician was Uncle Liu, and the assistants were all authoritative doctors who had just returned from abroad by helicopter.

After Xu Lie was wheeled into the intensive care unit, I almost collapsed to the floor, my whole body burning with fever. Xu's parents insisted that Uncle Liu give me a full-body checkup. It was still unclear whether I was healthy or not, but they were certain that the fetus was safe. Although it wasn't fully formed yet, it was truly growing inside me, little by little.

When Xu's mother heard Uncle Liu say that the child was safe, she could no longer hold back her tears and hugged me tightly, trembling and sobbing. For them, their son, who should have been full of life, was now lying in the intensive care unit on the verge of death. This news was like a bolt from the blue, as if all hope for life had been lost in an instant.

At this moment, the child growing safely in my womb is probably their only source of emotional support.

I had a fever and was in a daze in the hospital, receiving an IV drip, but it didn't help much. The fever finally subsided around 10 a.m. the next morning. But I felt weak all over, had a dry mouth, and could barely walk.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, I was allowed to go in and visit Xu Lie. Seeing his shaved head, I couldn't help but laugh. I wondered if the meticulous Xu Lie would be furious when he woke up. Of course, if he did wake up.

I took his hand, covered in tubes, and placed it on my flat stomach, moving it slowly. Looking at his haggard face, I wanted to say something, but I was speechless. Xu Lie, I've promised you everything I could, lied to you about everything I could, I only hope that, even for the sake of this child, you will live! Live healthily!

At three o'clock in the afternoon, I was dozing off in my chair. Xu's mother woke me up and told me to go home and rest. She said the atmosphere in the hospital was not good for the fetus, and she had already sent someone to pick up my mother, so it was better to go home and rest.

At six o'clock in the evening, I took a fever reducer containing sleeping pills, and in my drowsy state, I glanced at the purple transparent crystal chain on my wrist, murmured something softly, and fell asleep.

Actually, I never really felt that it was sudden. I was just sleeping, closing my eyes, sleeping for eight hours, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a completely different world.

But this time was different. I felt two intense gazes almost the instant I drifted off to sleep. Even with my eyes closed, those gazes pierced through my eyelids, met my eyes, and stabbed into my heart.

I struggled to open my eyes, and all I saw was bright white, deep purple, and dark black. I reached out and touched that obviously thin face; the messy hairs brushed against my palm, feeling both itchy and painful.

I called out at the top of my lungs, "Yihan..." But the words had barely left my lips when I felt like crying, overwhelmed by pain and indescribable fear. Life is like a maze, and I'm trapped inside, unable to find a way out no matter how hard I try. I want to say this to him, I want to run into his arms and whine, I want him to hold me tight and embrace me.

But I forgot that no one can give unconditionally, no one can endure hurt again and again without asking for anything in return. Yihan simply loves and pampers me, but he is by no means a saint who would sacrifice himself for righteousness.

Yi Han grabbed my hand that was resting on his face. His cold, rough palm held me tightly, a little painful and a little cold. I was slightly taken aback and was about to speak when Yi Han suddenly pulled me into his arms.

Feeling that familiar embrace and his cool breath, I felt safe and at ease, so I slowly stopped struggling and nestled against his shoulder. His silver hair floated gently in front of my eyes, like a thin veil, soft and serene.

He also embraced me, not with so much force that it hurt me, but not so much that I could escape. His fingers gently caressed my neck, where the white gauze was no longer covering it, and the marks left by Xu Lie's fingers were clearly visible.

Yi Han's hand paused on the pinch marks, and he suddenly spoke, his voice clear and cold, sounding no different from before, yet I felt a chill run down my spine. He said, "Young Master, I once said I would protect you forever. Didn't I?"

I nodded, recalling the man in the blue robe and silver hair carrying me through the desert, remembering him holding me and saying firmly, "Your subordinate will always protect you." I reached out and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest.

Yi Han gently stroked my long hair, his voice still cold, even...ruthless: "Does Young Master still remember that eternal deadline?"

I shuddered and looked up at him, a chill creeping into my heart. This Yi Han wasn't the Yi Han I knew. But seeing the bloodshot eyes and his ashen face, I felt an unbearable pang of heartache. Had something happened that I didn't know about? I'd only been gone a day; how could he have become so haggard, so frantic? The deep pain and fear in his eyes couldn't be concealed by his cold words and actions.

Yi Han slightly curled his lips into a cold smile: "Young Master may have forgotten, but I remember very clearly. Forever, only one day longer than Young Master's life." He paused, his purple pupils flashing with a bewitching light, contrasting with his silver hair and radiating a chilling yet alluring smile. "Forever, only one day longer than Young Master's life."

I sighed softly, cupped his face in my hands, knelt on the bed to meet his gaze: "Yihan, what exactly do you want to say?"

Yi Han's eyes suddenly darkened, and he tightened his grip on my waist, pulling me close to his body. His lips were barely an inch from my nose as he growled at me in a hoarse voice, "The eternity period expired five years ago. From now on, I won't be like this anymore, foolishly protecting you."

His eyes suddenly turned crimson, and his snow-white silver hair fluttered without wind, swirling around me like a fine net, tightly enveloping me, so that I could never escape it for the rest of my life.