Chapter 29 Part II
"Brother Hao, are you not asleep?" Zhenzhu exclaid, quickly pulling her hand from his large one. But the big man didn’t let go.
"Hmm, what do you an? Why is it your fault?" He asked in the sa gentle, deep voice.
His voice, the warmth of his hand, and the gentle look in his eyes made the eyes of the one being looked at felt hot. Brother Hao was still the sa. Or was it just her dream that Brother Hao still cared for her?
"Sob! Brother... Brother Hao, don’t you hate ?" She asked with a trembling voice, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had been so scared, scared all the ti, that he hated her. Now, with him looking at her like that, she couldn’t hold back her sobs.
"Have I ever hated you?" His sharp eyes flashed montarily before he tightened his grip on her small hand.
"B... Because... Sob!" She had caused him to end up like this.
"Co here," the young man pulled her closer and then swiftly snatched her into his embrace.
Zhenzhu was caught off guard, tumbling into his arms. But she didn’t push herself away. Her smooth cheek rested on his strong chest, the chest she used to lean on, and she let out a long-suppressed cry, releasing all the emotions that had built up over almost two months.
"Boo-hoo. Sob! Brother Hao, you almost died. You almost died, sob. Boo-hoo." Her tearful, sobbing voice made the man, who was acting as a cushion for her tears, gently raise his hand to stroke her head slowly, soothingly.
"It’s alright, calm down."
"Sob..." She cried until his shirt was soaked. After a long while, her sobs finally subsided, but she remained nestled against his chest without any sha. His hand stroking her beautiful hair made her feel so good, seed as if a master was lulling a kitten to sleep.
Yong Saiweihao understood how distressed she had been while he was unconscious. Thanks to his ability to communicate with the Spirit and Soul plant, he knew that she had taken good care of him the entire ti. Whenever she had no other duties, she would stay in the tent, telling him stories even though he couldn’t hear them. The young man knew how terrible she felt inside. How could he bla her for the loss of his energy channels? It was his decision to use the forbidden technique, which had nothing to do with her. Why did she keep blaming herself?
"Brother Hao, sob, are you not angry with ?"
"How could I be angry? What has Zhu’er done to make angry? Or have you been sneaking off to invite soldiers to drink again?" His voice was gentle, his arms tightening around her.
"I made you..."
"You did nothing wrong. Why bla yourself?"
Hearing this, Zhenzhu’s eyes felt hot again. Look at him; she had caused him to be like this, yet he didn’t bla her even a little. How could she not feel guilty?
"Why are you so good to ?"
"Because you don’t know how good you are."
Zhenzhu slowly raised her head to look at his chin.
"Brother Hao, don’t worry. I will find a way to help you," Zhenzhu reassured him. But the sick man rely gave a small smile. It seed she was more worried than he was. As for him, what could be done? Even without spirit energy, he still had strength and martial arts skills. It didn’t matter if he was no longer a general of the region. He had already protected the region once, and that made his whole life worthwhile.
But seeing soone more worried than himself ward his heart.
"Now that I’ve beco useless, what will I do? It looks like you’ll have to take care of for the rest of my life," the usually stoic man said, pretending to be clueless.
At that mont, Zhenzhu lifted her head and imdiately pulled away from his embrace.
"Brother Hao, I will take care of you," she nodded with determination.
"Mm, I’ll have to rely on Zhu’er."
"Yes, don’t worry. Just focus on getting well!" How could taking care of one person’s need was beyond her? If it was, she wouldn’t be Lady He.
"Sigh... with my energy channels damaged like this, I can’t cultivate spirit energy anymore. Now I’m truly worthless. I guess I won’t be able to marry a good wife. What should I do?"
"W-well... well..." What could she do? Did he want her to find him a wife? Zhenzhu was at a loss for words.
"Well, what?"
"Well..." How should she respond to that?
"Hmm?"
"Brother Hao, I will help you return to your old self. Don’t be disheartened. You’re so talented, no one will despise you."
"And does A’Zhu despise ?"
"How could I despise you!" Zhenzhu shouted, afraid he might misunderstand and think she looked down on him.
"Mm, as long as you don’t despise ," the young man nodded, his eyes sparkling.
The young physician responsible for taking care of Yong Saiweihao saw that Lady He had been chatting with the Young General for quite so ti. It was ti for the patient to rest, so he intended to ask her to leave and let the Young General rest. But as he peered inside, he was t with Yong Saiweihao’s sharp gaze. Hey, what’s with this man? Just his gaze was enough to make one’s skin crawl. Young General, I don’t want to interrupt, but if you don’t rest now, the whole army will bla for not taking good care of you.
Thus, he had to avoid that sharp gaze before going in to remind Lady He that it was ti for the Young General to rest.
Zhenzhu, who had been enthusiastically telling stories, suddenly realized she had been talking too much and that Brother Hao hadn’t had a chance to rest.
"Oh, I forgot. Brother Hao, I’ll take my leave now. I’ll co see you again tomorrow."
"Mm."
With that, Zhenzhu left the patient’s tent, feeling more relieved than ever.
The next morning, the young woman woke up at dawn and hurried to Yong Saiweihao’s tent. But when she arrived, she found only an empty bed. Where had he gone?
"Brother, where is the Young General?" Zhenzhu asked one of the guards.
"The Young General went to the soldiers’ cetery at the foot of the mountain," the young guard pointed to the foot of the nearby mountain.
That place was the cetery for the soldiers without family who had sacrificed their lives on the battlefield. So of them were orphans who had grown up in the military, while others were new recruits without families. Their bodies were buried in the military cetery, with General Zhao inviting a priest to conduct a proper ceremony befitting their sacrifice.
"Oh, thank you," Zhenzhu nodded before borrowing a horse from the stable hand soldier and heading straight to the mountain foot. His body had not fully recovered, so why rush to the cetery? It wasn’t about fearing bad luck; she was worried he might fall ill again from being under the hot sun for too long.
Following the path the soldier had indicated, she arrived at the soldiers’ cetery, a foothill full of mounds, the final place for those brave soldiers to be together. The young woman gazed at the naplates with sorrow. She even shocked when she saw so plates with the na of soone she recognized. Since she had been living in the military camp for a long ti, she knew so of them. She rembered them seeing her off when she had returned ho.
"Lady He, don’t forget us."
"Lady He, once the war is over, I will visit you in Fengfu City."
"I will too."
The voices echoed in her mind. She rembered that so of the nas on the plaques belonged to those who had seen her off that day. Unfortunately, they would never get the chance to visit her in Fengfu City.
Lady He, the Putao wine from your ho is delicious, truly excellent.
Lady He, don’t forget us.
How could I forget you? Soon, I’ll co to drink Putao wine with you.
"Brothers, thank you for your heroism. I will rember you always. Thank you.”
This is the consequence of war. It creates heroes and villains. It brings about both conflict and motivation. In war, when there is a loser, there is always a winner. But in truth, these concepts are re human constructs, as all sides ultimately suffer loss. Look at this: if they had truly won, these brave soldiers would not be lying silently beneath this earth.
In every war, there are no true winners—only those who suffer more defeat. Yet, war remains a seductive tool for power-hungry leaders, one that will never vanish as long as humanity and conflict exist.
Walking amidst the soldiers’ graves, the young woman felt profound sadness. Our world is like this, driven by differences and conflicts, yet she could do nothing to stop the violence.
Zhenzhu looked for Yong Saiweihao and saw a group of people standing in the distance. Upon looking, she noticed that among them was Yong Saiweihao. Zhenzhu hurried toward him, searching for a large umbrella in her dinsional bracelet.
The tall young man, his face still pale, stood among the na plates scattered across the foothill. Sadness emanated from him. These were his comrades. In the end, the victory they had achieved was rely buried under the earth they had fought to protect. Yet, their heroism would be praised by others.
"Young Master, Lady He is here," a guard reported.
"Mm."
Zhenzhu walked closer, holding a large umbrella.
"Brother Hao, the weather is so hot. You haven’t fully recovered. You might get a fever," Zhenzhu quickly opened the umbrella to shield him, worried he might fall ill.
Yong Saiweihao glanced at her face and smiled. The genuine concern in her eyes brought so life back to his weary heart.
"Zhu’er, we will march back to the capital tomorrow."
"Really?! Why so soon? You’re not fully recovered. How can you travel such a long distance?"
"I’m sowhat better. I can manage the journey."
"No!"
"Yes."
"No!"
"Yes."
"Hey! Why are you so stubborn? Did the physician permit you to travel?" Zhenzhu already put her hands on her hips. Was it true that people beco more stubborn as they grow older? She was worried he might fall ill during the journey, having just recovered. She didn’t want to take any risks.
"The physician didn’t permit it. I permitted myself." As a general, did he need the physician’s permission to travel? Never before, not now, and not ever. He knew his own body well enough to decide what he could or couldn’t do. But seeing her worried eyes softened his heart a little.
"The Emperor has called back."
Zhenzhu’s face soured slightly. What was the Emperor thinking? The man is sick, yet he called him back. Has he never been ill? She grumbled in frustration.
Seeing her grumbling, Yong Saiweihao could only smile. She was so small, how could she go against the Emperor’s orders?
Unable to argue with him, she reluctantly nodded.
"Zhu’er, have you ever seen the Jianghe flower fields?"
"The Jianghe flowers? Is there a field of Jianghe flowers around here?" She’d been here for a while, why hadn’t she known?
"Yes, co on." Without waiting for the little one’s response, Yong Saiweihao grabbed her arm and started walking.
"Brother Hao, you should head back. You shouldn’t be wandering around like this." She had warned him that he might fall ill; why wouldn’t he listen?
"You nag a lot," the young man still leading her with a smile.
"I nag because I’m worried about you!" Zhenzhu exclaid. If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t have followed him here. Why wouldn’t he listen?
Thud!
Suddenly, the one who led her by the hand stopped abruptly, causing the one who followed to almost stumble. Sheesh! Stopping whenever he pleased?
"Are you really that worried?" The tall man turned and bent down to ask, his face so close that his high bridged nose almost touched hers.
"Mmm."
"Mmm, what does that an?"
"Mmm ans I’m very worried," Zhenzhu looked into his sparkling eyes, her face growing hot.
"Thank you." His handso face brushed quickly past her smooth cheek, causing Zhenzhu to widen her eyes and bring her hand to her cheek, her heart racing. The Young General had taken advantage of others!
"Let’s go." His mood lifted after taking advantage of the other. Though his face remained stoic, his eyes glead with a deep light.
The young woman could only follow his lead, her eyes dazed.
Not far past the soldiers’ cetery, Zhenzhu saw the pink Jianghe flowers blooming before her. The small and large flowers stood tall, competing in their bloom. As far as the eyes could see, there was full of Jianghe flowers field. The beautiful flowers transford the adow into a color of pink.
It was surprising to find such a beautiful field of flowers hidden in the valley near the remote border.
"So beautiful."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes, I do," Zhenzhu replied without hesitation. In her past life, she had visited Jianghe flower fields, but they were never this large, nor were the flowers blooming as fully as these.
"Since you like it, will you get married?”
"Mmm... what?!" What did he just say? She didn’t hear it clearly enough. Zhenzhu had been too absorbed in admiring the beauty of the Jianghe flowers field to catch his words.
"You agreed. Let’s go look over there," the big man was dodging the subject.
"Brother Hao, are you tricking ?"
"You’re quite cunning these days," Zhenzhu could only grumble at him.
"Did you know there’s a legend about golden Jianghe flowers here?" The young man stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the field of Jianghe flowers.
"Hmm, what’s the legend?"
"The legend says this field was created by a flower deity who traveled to the human world..." Yong Saiweihao began to recount the story he had heard for her to listen.
The legend says that the flower deity from the heavens of nine tiers descended to the human world. She traveled and enjoyed herself so much that she forgot her duties and the passage of ti. The entire heaven was in turmoil because the heavenly flowers wouldn’t bloom. It’s said that heavenly beings, with their long and tedious lives, would co to the human world to enjoy themselves or plant flowers to ease their boredom. When the flower deity didn’t return, the flowers in heaven stopped blooming, and the atmosphere grew bleak. The Jade Emperor, seeing this, sent another deity to bring her back to her duties. Having to leave, the flower deity was sad. So, she left a gift for the human world: the golden Jianghe flower. It’s like a magic potion, anyone who tastes even a single petal of this flower can maintain their youth forever.
"They say the golden Jianghe flower is hidden among this field."
"Does it only have the power to preserve youth?" Why didn’t the flower deity leave a flower with better benefits? She didn’t want eternal youth. Imagine if she had children, and when they grew old, she remained youthful like a young maiden. Wouldn’t that be too weird? She didn’t want it.
"Don’t you like youthfulness?"
"No, I prefer growing old with white hair. It’s natural for humans. If I remain youthful while Brother Hao’s hair turns white, wouldn’t that be too strange?" Zhenzhu questioned, frowning at the image in her mind.
"So, Zhu’er, you prefer to grow old with white hair together, right?"
"Yes," Zhenzhu nodded, though she furrowed her brows. Huh? Wasn’t his question a bit odd?
"Alright, that’s settled then."
"The villagers say that the golden Jianghe flower is found in this Jianghe field." However, it was rely a local legend with no definitive proof of its truth.
"Oh," Zhenzhu nodded, not particularly excited by the legend. If the golden Jianghe flower could heal Brother Hao’s energy channels, that would be more interesting.
"Why is this beautiful Jianghe field not visited by anyone?"
"In the past, during the blooming season, many people would co to admire it. But in the past few years, the war has intensified, making villagers and those who want to see the Jianghe flowers too afraid to co.”
"I see," Zhenzhu nodded in understanding. This valley was close to the border and the war zone, so no one wanted to risk their lives to see the Jianghe flowers. Now that the war has ended, more people might co to enjoy the natural beauty.
Zhenzhu and Yong Saiweihao soaked in the magnificent atmosphere for a while. She regretted not having a cara like in her past life to capture the beautiful scene and show others. But no matter. Enjoying the beauty with her own eyes was a unique experience in itself.
"Brother Hao, let’s go back. You might not get a rest.”
"Mmm," the young man nodded. It was ti.
The two then turned to leave, about to walk back to where they tied their horses. But before they could take a step, Zhenzhu spotted sothing from the corner of her eye. When she turned to look, she saw a man walking not far from them. Using her spirit energy cultivator sight, she observed him. He was a handso man, not just handso but stunningly handso, with a tall, large build, and fair complexion that made her feel like she needed to rush back to take a bath. His facial features were perfectly arranged, with enchanting golden-brown eyes. His white robes fluttered that she worried they might get dirty. Why was a man so beautiful?
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