When Qi Yan returned to the mansion, Xia Xun had already woken up, he was awakened by Shao Bo's movement.
Shao Bo was by his side, he had never done much work, and he was clumsy.
When changing Xia Xun's bandage, even though he was very careful, his movements were not gentle enough.
And she was too afraid to see Xia Xun's injury, so she didn't dare to look at his hands the whole time, and changed his dressing with her head sideways and half-closed eyes.
After a lot of tossing, she was so nervous that she was sweating profusely, and Xia Xun was also woken up by her.
Seeing him open his eyes, Shaobo was overjoyed, and before he could speak, tears flowed down his face.
Xia Xun's mouth was dry, she opened her mouth, but she didn't have the energy to speak.
Shaobo saw that he was thirsty, so he ran to the table and brought a big bowl to Xia Xun's mouth.
Xia Xun drank a large bowl of water in one go, and he didn't taste the taste until the bottom of the bowl was exposed.
He asked Shaobo:
"The water you gave me...why does it taste bitter...?"
Shaobo said sobbingly:
"The young master didn't drink water, but the medicine prescribed by the doctor... The young master finished the medicine, and the injury will be healed tomorrow!"
Xia Xun snorted and said weakly:
"Do you think I'm a monster... This is Qi Yan's family? You brought him here...?"
Shaobo's tears flowed more and more fiercely, and he was speechless for a long time.
Xia Xun comforted:
"You're doing great, don't... stop crying..."
Qi Yan had already come to the door of the room. Hearing Xia Xun's voice, he immediately opened the door and came in.
Coming out of the imperial prison of Dali Temple, it suddenly started to rain.
Qi Yan didn't go back to the house right away, but rode a horse in the pouring rain and rushed to an alley in the city.
There is a shop there, and it is the only place in the whole capital where you can buy pagoda leaf parfaits.
The shop is already closed, and the boss is setting up wooden boards one by one outside the shop, preparing to close.
The pagoda leaf parfait has long been sold out, and the fire under the stove has been extinguished for a long time.
Qi Yan took out a gold ingot and asked the boss to start the stove again and make him a box of parfaits.
The money Qi Yan gave was more than the small shop earned in three months.
The boss Le Diandian accepted the money and woke up the boy who was dozing off in the back hall. The two moved swiftly, and steamed a basket of brand new pastries in a short while.
Qi Yan took off the awning, and wrapped the snack box tightly.
Qi Hui wanted to take off his shirt and give it to him, but he didn't say a word, he whipped his whip and rushed home in the rain.
His clothes were quickly soaked by the rain, and his shoes were soaked by the frequent splashes of water as the horse's hooves stepped on the water-logged stone road.
When he returned to the mansion, there was no dry place on his body, except for the food box that he held tightly in his arms, not even a drop of rain was still steaming.
Before opening the door and entering the house, he asked Qi Hui:
"How do I look?"
A few strands of hair wet from the rain stuck to his face, his face was pale, and the corners of his mouth were tightly pursed.
The heavy rain did not weaken his demeanor, the rain all over his face made the moles at the end of his eyes even more attractive. He was still the heart-wrenching Qi Yan.
But Qi Hui knew that this was not what Qi Yan asked.
He was asking, is there any murderous intent on him
Can Xia Xun tell that this is the person who killed his brother with his own hands just now in prison
Qi Hui shook his head:
"Young Master's expression is as usual, nothing unusual."
Qi Yan wiped off the water from his eyelids, carried the food box, and walked towards Xia Xun.
When Shao Bo saw him coming, he wiped his tears and left the room.
Qi Hui glanced at Qi Yan's back and closed the door.
After Shao Bo left, Xia Xun was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, just now in front of her, he resisted not showing it.
It was very painful to change the dressing, and Shaobo's hands were neither light nor heavy, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.
In order not to worry her, he deliberately pretended to be innocuous.
When Qi Yan came in, he was lying on the bed gasping for breath, calming down the pain from the wound, his eyes were tightly closed, his lips were pale, his right hand was tightly clenched into a fist, and he was hiding in the quilt.
Hearing footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing Qi Yan, a faint smile appeared on his sweaty face.
"… You're here… "
Qi Yan walked over slowly, sat down in front of the bed, and put the food box on the small round table beside the bed.
Xia Xun smelled the unique smell of pagoda leaf parfait, blinked and asked:
"Is this...for me?"
Qi Yan said softly:
"Yes, the last box, I bought it for me."
He opened the lid, took out a piece from inside, pinched a little, and fed it into Xia Xun's mouth.
Xia Xun felt tired, and closed her eyes while chewing.
Qi Yan put the back of his hand against Xia Xun's forehead, and gently wiped off the sweat on the hairline. His movements were cautious, for fear of adding additional pain to Xia Xun.
Xia Xun closed her eyes, chuckled lightly, and said to him:
"I don't have any injuries on my head..."
There was still rain on Qi Yan's hand, which was cool and damp, mixed with the damp breath of heavy rain.
He gently touched Xia Xun's eyebrows, leaned close to his face, and praised him in a low voice:
"Our Xia Xun is really powerful. He suffered such a serious injury. When changing the dressing, he didn't even make a sound. He is really a brave man."
Xia Xun gave a low "hmm".
Qi Yan broke off another small piece of parfait and fed it to him.
Xia Xun chewed carefully without opening her eyes.
Qi Yan stroked his hair and asked softly, "Does it still hurt?"
Xia Xun said "hmm" again, but Qi Yan keenly noticed that there was a cry in his voice.
He immediately looked at Xia Xun's face.
Xia Xun's eyes were closed tightly, his mouth was stuffed with pastries, and big tears flowed from the end of his eyes and rolled into his hair.
Qi Yan's heart ached.
He knelt down on the footrest, avoided Xia Xun's injured left hand, and held him tightly in his arms.
Xia Xun frowned, with a parfait in her mouth, she said nothing, her face flushed from crying.
He was full of grievances and didn't know where to confide, he pressed his face tightly to Qi Yan's chest, weeping wantonly.
Qi Yan's clothes were soaked by his tears, the wet area spread little by little, the tears mixed with rainwater, and stuck to Qi Yan's chest.
He hugged Xia Xun, Xia Xun's tears burned him, Xia Xun's pain seemed to be his pain.
This was the first time Qi Yan felt such piercing pain after the death of his parents and elder brother. The heart-wrenching bitterness captured him, and his words were obviously choked up:
"I know it, I know it all."
Qi Yan stroked the back of Xia Xun's head with one hand, and patted his back lightly with the other. This was the only way he knew how to comfort others.
He didn't tell Xia Xun, don't cry, it's okay, it will be fine soon.
He just kept whispering in his ear:
"I understand, I understand, what you have experienced, I know better than anyone else, you don't need to say it, I can feel the same pain as you."
Xia Xun swallowed the pastry in her mouth, with tears all over her face, she raised her head and asked him:
"Why... my parents don't like me? Why, even my brother...does this to me?"
Water was all over his head and face, and he couldn't tell whether it was sweat or tears. His eyes were red and swollen, and his face was also swollen from injuries and crying.
There was no resentment on his expression, only deep puzzlement. He didn't understand why he was treated like this.
"Did I do something wrong? I obviously...didn't do anything..."
Qi Yan buried her face on his shoulder, if she didn't, Xia Xun would see his tears.
Qi Yan was in tears.
Where Xia Xun couldn't see, Qi Yan's throat kept throbbing, and the pain in his chest made him unable to speak. He had to swallow hard to resist the dull pain covering his entire chest.
He thought angrily, how could Xia Xing die so happily just now
What is pulling the machine, body convulsions, head-to-toe contact, and death from suffocation
He shouldn't have killed him so quickly, he should have told His Majesty to let Xia Xing die of torture.
After a while, after adjusting his expression, he wiped away the tears on his face with his shoulder, and held Xia Xun in his arms again.
He suppressed the mad hatred for Xia Xing in his heart, and made the most ruthless oath in the most gentle tone:
"You have done nothing wrong, you are the most obedient child in the world, everyone around you should love you. I will protect you, as long as I live, no one will dare to hurt you again, and you will never see Xia Xing again , he can no longer do anything to you, all those who have hurt you, I will make them disappear."
Xia Xun seemed to understand, but sniffed and asked:
"What happened to Xia Xing...?"
As soon as he blinked, a stream of tears flowed down his face.
Qi Yan caught his tears and covered them in the palm of his hand:
"You don't have to worry about anything, as long as you heal your injury, go to sleep, and after you wake up, the injury will be healed."
Xia Xun did not lie down as promised, he said pitifully with tears in his eyes:
"But my hands hurt...I can't sleep."
Qi Yan asked distressedly:
"How can I stop the pain?"
Xia Xun thought for a while and said:
"You help me blow it, just blow it."
Qi Yan quickly pointed at his left hand and blew several breaths:
"now what?"
Xia Xun pursed her mouth and muttered dissatisfiedly: "The gauze is too thick, I can't even feel it..."
Qi Yan looked around, and suddenly thought of something, he carefully put Xia Xun down on the bed, left him temporarily, walked to the chest of drawers, rummaged through it, and found a paper fan.
He returned to the bed, knelt beside Xia Xun, raised his fan, and gently fanned his hands.
He didn't dare to use too much force, fearing that the wind would hurt Xia Xun again.
The slight cool wind passed through the gauze and blew to Xia Xun's wound, relieving the burning pain.
Xia Xun was finally satisfied.
Qi Yan fanned the wind and wiped off the sweat and tears on his face with his sleeves, but his sleeves were also wet, and the rain hadn't dried completely, his movements only increased the water marks on Xia Xun's face.
Xia Xun raised the corner of the quilt, rubbed her face, and buried herself in the quilt.
He was sore and tired and wanted to sleep.
Before falling asleep, he half closed his eyes and asked vaguely:
"...will you always be there?"
Qi Yan kissed his forehead:
"forever."
That night, Qi Yan knelt on the footrest beside the bed and fanned Xia Xun all night.
In the early morning of the second day, after dawn, when Qi Hui came in, Xia Xun was still asleep, and Qi Yan was still in the same posture as last night.
Both of his hands were covered with blisters from the handle of the fan. Because he kept fanning the paper fan, his wrist muscles were extremely stiff, and he could only keep straight and could not bend.
He knelt all night on the cold feet, his knees were red, swollen, hot, and numb.
When Qi Hui helped him up, he couldn't walk a step, and he was still saying to Qi Hui:
"Don't help me, I promised Xia Xun to stay with him all the time."
Qi Hui told him:
"The doctor said that Mr. Xia's medicine already contained sleeping ingredients, and he increased the dosage. Once Mr. Xia fell asleep, he would not be able to wake up for three days. You can't stay like this for three days, right? Even if you want , The news of Xia Xing's death will spread this morning, whether it is the palace or the Xia family, there are still many things that need to be taken care of by you."
Qi Yan stood there for a while, and finally let go:
"...Okay, after I freshen up, I will go to the palace, but there is something I must tell you."
He didn't sleep all night, his face was full of tiredness, but his eyes were still sharp, and his tone was unprecedentedly firm:
"I can't let Xia Xun die, I can't let him be implicated by Xia Hongxi, I want him to watch those who harmed him die in front of him, I want him to live well."
Seven years later, outside Gyeongju City, Tongchang Tea House.
In the originally empty sky, a crow flew over suddenly, it screamed sadly, and swept across the boundless sky.
A group of archers suddenly appeared and surrounded Yajian heavily.
Qi Yan's gaze moved to Xia Xun's face, without looking out the window.
"I once said that I would protect you forever, but later, I broke my promise." He reached out and covered Xia Xun's left hand on the table: "So, if you want my life, take it." Well, it was... yours."