Chapter 113: Reconciliation
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3614052
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. And check out other stories too.
Li Qiubai did not know that her intimate actions with Young Master Meng had already been seen by the elders. After she calmed down a little, she obediently followed Meng Muxin’s instructions and slowly led Young Master toward the back courtyard.
But she did not know the way, and the Young Master could not see the way. Along the whole path, not a single servant showed up in the vast villa, so in the end, under Young Master's messy directions, she ended up getting lost with her, halfway through the medicinal garden.
After wandering aimlessly for quite a while, the Princess could not find the way out. So she simply stopped and no longer searched blindly. When she looked back, she saw that Young Master, who had been obediently following her all this while, actually had a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
With that, how could the Princess not realize that the Young Master had deliberately led her here?
She was not angry. Instead, she gently tidied Young Master's hair and took the chance to rub her slightly cool eartip as she asked, “What is it? You tricked me into coming here on purpose. What do you want to do?”
Though Young Master could not see now, a martial artist's hearing was always sharp.
After hearing the sound coming from not far away, she curved her lips and replied, “I wanted to give you a surprise.”
As soon as the words fell, a surprised voice followed and entered Li Qiubai’s ears.
“Imperial Sister!”
She looked toward the voice and saw Shu Yao’s astonished expression.
The Young Master was wounded on the right shoulder, while Shu Yao was wounded on the left. Both were injured, but Shu Yao's condition was much better. At present, she could still carry a small hoe in her right hand and was hurrying over to where the two of them stood.
When she saw the Young Master in that blind state, the smile on Shu Yao’s face instantly froze. She looked to her imperial sister for answers, only to see her sigh helplessly and shake her head.
The sisters always had a tacit understanding. With this, she naturally understood the Young Master's current condition.
Shu Yao immediately turned and grabbed Shen Lingyun, who had followed her there, and asked in a hoarse voice, “Did you not say there was nothing serious with Chang'an?”
Shen Lingyun had just finished gathering herbs, and the dirt on her hands had yet to be washed off, so she could not touch Shu Yao. She could only look at the guilt and regret in Shu Yao’s eyes, sighing softly as she asked, “If I had not said that, would you have obediently taken your medicine at the time?”
When Shu Yao had just woken up, she was overwhelmed with guilt. She felt that if not for her, so many people would not have been hurt. At the time, she even refused to take her medicine and insisted on going to see how the Young Master was doing.
With no other choice, Shen Lingyun had to coax Shu Yao, saying that the Young Master was not seriously injured and only needed rest, and that she would take her to see her later.
At that time, Shen Lingyun had also asked her master about the Young Master's condition. Though her master had not spoken clearly, she could more or less guess that things were not looking good. But since the Young Master had not yet woken, she could not explain the situation to the two sisters, for fear of adding to their worries.
Because of this, whenever she faced the two of them, Shen Lingyun always felt somewhat guilty.
The human heart was always biased—just like how the elders in the sect and the Princess were unknowingly partial to the Young Master, Shen Lingyun too always found herself leaning toward Shu Yao.
So even though she had already suspected something at the time, she had not looked deeper into the reason behind it. As a result, in these past three days, she had only visited the unconscious Young Master once and had not gone to see her again.
Shen Lingyun and the Young Master had grown up together since childhood, so she naturally understood her temperament well.
The Young Master had always been stubborn. Ever since she was little, what she hated most was others looking at her with eyes full of pity.
Therefore, even though Shen Lingyun felt a surge of emotion and sorrow upon seeing her like this, she showed no trace of sympathy or surprise on her face.
“You are finally awake.”
“Yes. I made you all worried.”
Shen Lingyun greeted her calmly, just like she always did. Seeing that the Young Master responded with nothing more than a smile and showed no other signs of sadness, Shen Lingyun finally felt at ease. She turned her head toward Li Qiubai and casually asked, “Have you lost your way? Why not come sit for a while in my courtyard?”
Until the four of them sat together at the stone table in Shen Lingyun's yard, drinking the tea Shen Lingyun had made, Shu Yao still felt a little dazed.
The last time the four of them were together was during the Lantern Festival night. Although there were a few small misunderstandings and awkwardness along the way, they had laughed and joked a lot at that time.
But now, even though they sat at the same table, none of them had a smile on their face.
She and the Young Master, one was hurt, the other blind.
Without needing to think much, she could guess how much her imperial sister was hurting now.
Although Shen Lingyun's expression still looked as indifferent as usual, she was very thoughtful. She knew that these two sisters probably had a lot of quiet words to say. After sitting with them for a little while, she took the initiative to ask the Young Master to follow her to prepare medicine.
Thus, Li Qiubai reluctantly let go of the hand she had been tightly holding with the Young Master under the table.
Watching the two of them walk further away, and not seeing the Young Master trip or bump into anything but instead walk smoothly alongside Shen Lingyun to sit by the medicine stove in the corner of the yard, Li Qiubai let out a small sigh of relief. She then turned to look at Shu Yao and asked, "Are you two reconciled now?"
Since the night of the Lantern Festival, this was the first time Li Qiubai could calmly talk to Shu Yao face to face.
Although Shen Lingyun hadn't abandoned Shu Yao that night, her face had looked rather bad, so it was easy to imagine that Shu Yao probably hadn't had much good treatment since then.
Hearing that, Shu Yao’s expression became even more dejected.
"Not yet..."
Li Qiubai glanced at her. "If you two have not reconciled, would she still care so much and take such close care of you?"
Shu Yao looked worriedly toward Shen Lingyun’s back in the distance and muttered in a low voice, "She said she is a doctor, and I am her patient. Before my injury gets better, taking care of me is something she should do. She told me that after I am healed, I should get out of here as far as I can..."
Li Qiubai sighed helplessly. She really hated iron for not becoming steel. She never thought that in the imperial family, there would also be someone like Shu Yao who is so honest.
"If you really do what she said, she probably will not even look at you for the rest of her life."
Shu Yao was stunned for a moment, and only then did she slowly realize the deeper meaning in her Imperial Sister’s words. She had not yet had time to feel happy when she thought of the news she had received some days ago while staying at the Prince of Yu’s manor.
"But... I heard that the envoy from Nanjiang has already made a scene in court. Father also already knows that I am still alive. Now that the Kingdom of Qi has raised an army and invaded our borders, I think Father definitely will not, for my sake, anger Nanjiang again, and end up making the Great Chang face enemies from both front and back again."
Last time, Shu Yao had been the person given up by the court as a hostage for a marriage alliance because of war.
She went in her stead.
If not for that, Shu Yao would not have ended up so badly hurt in that big fire.
Li Qiubai could not help but place her hand on the edge of Shu Yao’s mask. Her eyes seemed to look through the mask and fall on the place where Shu Yao was injured.
"A'Yao, do not worry. This time, no one should even think of sacrificing you again. You just stay peacefully at the side of the one you like. As for everything else, Imperial Sister will handle it for you.
If it had been in the past, with her Imperial Sister making such a promise, Shu Yao would definitely have been happy.
But now, thinking of Young Master Meng's situation, she could not help but worry and asked, "But things with Chang'an right now are also not very good. Plus the war at the border needs you to go fight the enemy. How can I let Imperial Sister still worry about me?"
Those things happening in the capital, the Blood Flame Sect knew, and the Divine Doctors Sect also knew, so Shen Lingyun also knew.
Shen Lingyun did not hide this kind of news from her, so Shu Yao also knew that her Imperial Sister would soon go to war.
The Kingdom of Qi had prepared for a long time. This time they came fiercely. Even though the Prince of Yu was no longer helping them from inside, they were still not easy to deal with.
Shu Yao's worry clearly showed on her face. Li Qiubai saw it, but just smiled a little. She was still like how she was in childhood. She gently patted Shu Yao’s head and said softly to comfort her, "Do not worry. I already have plans. Lin Xingyang has already taken the Military Commissioner’s troops and gone ahead to the border to help. When the imperial army passes through Yuzhou, only then will I go with the army to the battlefield."
As those words fell, Li Qiubai's eyes had already landed on Young Master Meng's back in the distance. She stared at her back and could not bear to even blink.
"Once this matter is over, I can leave the capital and stay by her side with peace of mind. No matter if she can see or not by then, I will always follow by her side and stay with her until we grow old."
Sadly, the Young Master by the medicine stove could not hear what the Princess just said.
After settling her properly, Shen Lingyun stuffed a small hand warmer into the obediently seated Young Master's hands and casually reminded her, "Alright. She cannot see your face now, so you do not need to keep forcing a smile anymore."
The Young Master's lips stiffened, and she bit her lip in frustration.
Even Shen Lingyun could see it, so did the Princess also see it too?
Slowly bending the back she had kept straight all this time, the Young Master finally muttered in a muffled voice, "Even you saw through it. I really am useless."
The Young Master was always like this. When proud, she looked down on all and acted high and mighty. When facing setbacks, she would belittle herself and lose all spirit.
Now, her dejected appearance was no different from when she was little, hiding in a corner wiping away tears in secret after being scolded by the Sect Leader.
Shen Lingyun was not her master, Zhou Jinyi, nor was she Li Qiubai. She had never been the kind of person who would spoil the Young Master, so of course she would not choose to turn a blind eye and let the Young Master sink into that very convincing illusion she had created for herself.
Under the medicine stove, a gentle flame burned slowly.
Shen Lingyun shifted her gaze to the fire and, taking this rare chance, finally spoke her heart to the Young Master.
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3614052
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. And check out other stories too.
"Chang’an, do you know? Ever since we were young, the person I envied the most was you, and the person I disliked the most… was also you."
Meng Chang'an was stunned for a moment, then let out a bitter smile and said, "I really did not know that. I never expected you, who usually seem so cold and detached, like you do not care about anything, would actually have moments where you dislike people."
Shen Lingyun seemed to not hear the teasing tone in the Young Master's words. She chuckled lightly and continued, "Well, I have to thank you for that. When I was young, I really could not understand how someone like you could exist, someone who does not appreciate the blessings they have. Not only the Sect Master, the Master's wife, your mother, and my Master, but so many elders in the sect all treated you like their own child. Yet, you were never satisfied. You often clashed with the Master, with my Master, with your own mother. A single bad mood could disturb the entire sect. At that time, I often thought that if I were a little better, maybe the elders would shift some of the love they gave you toward me. Unfortunately, that never happened. Even my closest Master treated you more highly than me."
The Young Master gradually stopped smiling, and as she listened, the guilt deepened. She nervously gripped the edge of the small heater, mumbling in a daze, "I am sorry, I..."
"There is nothing to apologize for. After all, human hearts are biased, I understand that. It is just... look, whether it was when we were kids or now, everyone has always spoiled you. Since you were little, no matter how much you caused trouble, those who treated you well have never changed, not a single one of them was willing to leave you. Furthermore, now there is also Her Highness that you like, and so many people are by your side. So, what do you still have to fear?"
The resentment that had long been buried deep inside Shen Lingyun's heart had long since disappeared after they went through life and death together.
But after speaking those old grievances, Shen Lingyun felt much lighter.
She gazed at the guilty and frustrated expression on the Young Master’s face, and in the end, she still said those comforting words with a sense of relief: "So, Chang'an, do not be afraid. Do not hide away and cry secretly like when we were kids whenever you feel upset. Whatever happens, we can face it together."
Meng Chang'an felt a lump in her throat, and the soft whisper of Shen Lingyun echoed in her ears.
"After all, we are family."
