Meeting Chang'an - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That night, I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Wei Chong’s sharp, cutting gaze.

I woke up in fright several times and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes.

Then I found the wound salve my second brother had given me before and carefully made my way around to the woodshed.

There were no lamps here. I bumped into something-I didn’t know what-and pain shot through my calf. Tears sprang to my eyes at once.

Wei Chong wasn’t asleep either.

His eyes were closed as he listened to the faint footsteps beside him and the quiet sobbing. He could more or less guess who had come.

By the dim moonlight, Wei Chong opened his eyes.

Sure enough, he saw a pair of rabbit-like eyes, red from crying.

The owner of those eyes was crying as she tried to undo his clothes.

Then she was so frightened she fell back onto the floor.

I hadn’t expected Wei Chong to open his eyes so suddenly. Now I didn’t dare move at all, but my tears fell even harder.

Wei Chong’s gaze paused on his half-loosened clothes. Faintly, he caught the scent of wound salve.

“Miss.”

He gripped my wrist.

Wei Chong’s palm was burning hot, so hot it felt like it would scorch that patch of skin clean through.

All I could do was look at him through tear-blurred eyes.

I felt his slightly rough fingertip brush the corner of my eye. Wei Chong pulled me a little closer.

The tip of my nose bumped against his hard chest.

Wei Chong’s presence pressed down over me completely.

“You were the one who came to provoke me.”

His voice was too cold. I didn’t dare say a word and only kept crying.

In the end, my crying grew worse and worse, until I couldn’t help letting out soft sobs.

Wei Chong seemed to stiffen. Slowly, he let go.

An exaggerated red mark immediately appeared on my pale wrist.

His tone was rigid. “What are you crying for?”

I thought he hated hearing me cry, so I immediately pressed my lips together and refused to let any sound escape.

But I couldn’t stop the tears at once, so Wei Chong silently wiped them away for me.

“Wound salve… for you.”

I shoved the salve in my arms at him and wanted to go back.

Eldest Sister kept a strict eye on me. The people checking the rooms would discover I was gone soon.

I had crouched for too long, and my legs were numb.

The moment I stood, I couldn’t help stumbling.

Wei Chong reached out and supported my waist.

In the darkness, I didn’t see the tips of his ears turn red. I only felt that his eyes didn’t seem as sharp as they had during the day.

After thinking about it, I mustered my courage and said, “I… I’ll talk to Eldest Sister and ask her to let you go.”

After saying that, I didn’t look back at Wei Chong. I ran off.

Perhaps it was because I had snuck out last night to see Wei Chong and caught a chill. When I woke in the morning, my head felt heavy and my feet light.

But I still remembered what I had promised Wei Chong yesterday, so I hurried out to find Eldest Sister.

Many years ago, Father died in battle and Mother passed away from grief. After Eldest Sister, as a daughter, shouldered the entire Jiang Mansion, she had the final say over every matter in the household, big or small.

The moment I stepped into Eldest Sister’s courtyard, I saw someone kneeling there.

It was Wei Chong.

Hearing the movement, he glanced over at me, neither lightly nor heavily.

I shuddered at once and cried out, my voice trembling, “Eldest Sister!”

Perhaps I had called too quickly, because I immediately started coughing violently.

Eldest Sister wasn’t in the courtyard.

I wanted to leave, but it was as if I had been nailed in place.

All I could do was sob helplessly.

“Miss.”

At some point, Wei Chong had broken free of the chains binding him and come to my side.

These past two days, every time I had seen him, he was either thrown on the ground or kneeling in the courtyard.

This was the first time I had felt, so directly, the pressure brought by Wei Chong’s height.

I forced myself to stay calm and remembered what Eldest Sister had taught me yesterday.

Then I shouted, “Don’t move!”

But I didn’t know my voice had long since gone hoarse from crying. It sounded soft and weak, without the slightest bit of intimidation.

Wei Chong stopped and didn’t move again.

Coughing, I turned around, wanting to put more distance between myself and him.

But suddenly, all strength left my legs. My mind went blank, and the pain was terrible.

Before I lost consciousness, I only felt myself fall into a hard embrace.

At the tip of my nose was the faint scent of medicine, there and not there.

Wei Chong lost both parents when he was young, was forced into prison, and grew into a gloomy youth after suffering every kind of torment.

Later, after he was rescued, he changed his name and stood in a position of power, beginning a life driven by revenge.

He opposed the protagonist and was killed by the protagonist’s blade.

In my dream, I saw Wei Chong die. Yet in his arms, it was as though he was holding someone.

Ten thousand swords pointed at him. After his death, his bones were scattered, and no one collected his body.

I woke from the dream with a start, licked my dry lips, and grabbed Eldest Sister’s hand.

I felt unbearably awful, and tears kept streaming down my face.

“Eldest Sister… I don’t want Wei Chong to die.”

Eldest Sister fed me a few sips of water, wiped away my tears, and coaxed me, “He won’t die. No one will die.”

Only then did my tears stop. I hugged Eldest Sister.

A light chuckle came from beside us. Only then did I notice there had been someone nearby all along.

It was an unfamiliar face.

A proper, elegant gentleman, bright-clothed and spirited.

Seeing me look at him, he greeted me with a beaming smile.

“Little Jiang Jiang, long time no see!”

I didn’t know who he was, so I only buried myself in Eldest Sister’s arms.

Then I heard Eldest Sister scold him, “Chang’an, stop teasing her.”

Chang’an. He was the Xie family’s Chang’an, Eldest Sister’s fiancé.

I still remembered that, many years ago, when Eldest Sister heard this news, she had still worn the shy expression of a young maiden.

Later, she took up her sword and went to the battlefield. Instead, this young lord waited at home for Eldest Sister for many years.

After that, there were indeed members of the Xie family who looked after me when my older brothers and sisters were away.

I poked my head out from Eldest Sister’s arms and greeted him.

“Hello, Brother-in-law.”

That one call made Xie Chang’an practically bloom with joy. Smiling brightly, he cast a flirtatious glance at Eldest Sister.

Eldest Sister didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she cursed him under her breath.

That evening, an urgent imperial order came from the palace, commanding my brothers and sisters to set out for war at once.

When Second Sister left, she placed the cat she raised into my arms and instructed me, “If anyone bullies you, have Laifu scratch them.”

I hugged Laifu tightly and mustered my courage.

“No one will bully me… If anyone does, I’ll have Wei Chong beat them up.”

From the day I fainted, Wei Chong had carried me to seek a physician.

Breaking free of the iron chains had left Wei Chong covered in blood, but it was as though he didn’t feel it at all.

Adding in the fact that I had pleaded with Eldest Sister on his behalf, after several older brothers and sisters discussed it, they agreed to let Wei Chong stay by my side and protect me.

After watching the carriages and horses disappear into the distance, I still turned back reluctantly.

“Miss.”

Wei Chong leaned close to my ear and called to me, then bent down and lifted me into his arms.

“We should go home.”