In the early morning of the second day, at 2:00 pm.
In a while, Xia Xun will be returning to Xia Mansion, and he is happily eating his breakfast with his bandage-wrapped hands raised, not knowing what will happen next.
Seeing his innocence, Qi Yan felt a dull pain in his chest.
He had clearly made all the preparations, but when the picture finally appeared, panic suddenly surged in his heart.
Even when Xia Xun fell, Qi Yan felt terribly distressed, but now he wants to send him to prison with his own hands, and send him to exile with an uncertain future.
Qi Yan didn't dare to think, after the truth came out, what kind of eyes Xia Xun would look at him, and what he would experience during the long three thousand miles of exile.
The fear became more and more intense, and Qi Yan's breathing became disordered.
He kept reassuring himself that there was no loophole in his plan, as long as he endured these few months, he would be able to rescue Xia Xun safely. At that time, he would explain to Xia Xun that no matter what the price, he would Ask for Xia Xun's forgiveness.
Then, the two of them can live in peace, without any past events between them.
Qi Yan breathed a sigh of relief, patted the chair, and asked Xia Xun to sit beside him:
"Your hair is messed up, come here and let me comb it for you."
Xia Xun sat down obediently, and Qi Yan picked up the comb and brushed his hair carefully.
While Xia Xun was not paying attention, he quietly cut off a lock of his hair and hid it in his sleeve.
He thought, it is said that there is a spirit in the hair, if this strand of hair is kept by his side, no matter where Xia Xun goes, he will be able to meet him again in the future.
"Okay." He said softly to Xia Xun, "It's finished combing."
With his hair in a bun, Xia Xun walked into the gate of Xia Mansion.
Two hours later, when he walked out again, his home was destroyed. He was shackled and put into a prison van, while Qi Yan rode a horse and quickly disappeared at the corner of the street.
Qi Yan couldn't stop, as long as he stopped, he couldn't restrain his impulse.
If it wasn't for years of hatred that forged his willpower, he would have rushed to Xia Xun's side, abducted him in front of everyone, and led him to wander the world.
He held the rein tightly, the rein made of cowhide was extremely hard, and there were bloodstains in his palm.
His heart ached like a knife, but he never looked back.
Xia Xun went to the imperial prison of Dali Temple, and together with Xia Wen, waited for the emperor to announce their punishment.
These short ten days were the most difficult days in Qi Yan's life. He couldn't sleep or eat, he couldn't sit or sleep, he couldn't even drink his saliva, and he lost a lot of weight in a few days.
Qi Hui couldn't stand it anymore and said to him:
"My lord, since you are so worried, why don't you visit Mr. Xia? You don't even show your face. Mr. Xia will definitely think that you just used him from the beginning to the end, and you didn't have the slightest heart to him. I will resent you, how can I get along with you without any grudges?"
After Xia Hongxi's death, Qi Yan was confiscated immediately, and Qi Hui no longer called him son, but called him lord.
Qi Yan said in pain:
"Do you think that if I go to see Xia Xun, he will easily forgive me and believe that I am sincere to him? When I choose to kill Xia Hongxi, it is equivalent to cutting off all his friendship with me! If I don’t kill Xia Hongxi, how can I be worthy of my parents and elder brother? How can I live in this world?! No one can feel my dilemma! Who can understand my heartache?!”
Qi Hui wanted to persuade him again, but Qi Yan said:
"I know what you want to say, but have you ever thought that His Majesty is staring at me closely, he is always examining my loyalty, but at this juncture, I personally go to the prison to meet the son who killed his father and enemy Your Majesty has long suspected that I have selfish intentions, so I begged him to let Xia Xun and Xia Wen go. If this is true, all of us will die without a burial place, and my calculations during this period will be in vain! To save Xia Xun's life, even if my heart hurts, I can only endure it, so as to plan for the future!"
Qi Yan spoke so heartbroken that Qi Hui couldn't help but wet his eyes:
"This subordinate understands... the difficulty of the adults, and the subordinates can see it! It's just... this subordinate still doesn't understand one thing, so it's enough to protect Mr. Xia. Why do you want to protect Xia Wen?"
Qi Yan sighed:
"The road to exile is full of difficulties, and countless people died on the road. Xia Xun went on the road alone, who will take care of him? I thought about it, and the only person who can take care of him is Xia Wen. Xia Wen is an upright and responsible person. , and it has nothing to do with the death of my parents, why don't I let him go and let him accompany Xia Xun to the place of exile."
Qi Hui couldn't help saying:
"Your Excellency has worked so hard just to keep Young Master Xia safe. With a sincere heart, I hope that the heavens will show mercy and protect Young Master Xia."
Qi Yan closed his eyes tiredly:
"Don't say these useless words, you go to Guangning Building and seal the entire top floor, I will use it for other purposes in the future."
Seeing that he was extremely tired, Qi Hui didn't ask any more questions, and went out of the mansion straight to Guangning Tower.
It wasn't until the day Xia Xun left Beijing that Qi Hui understood Qi Yan's purpose.
The exiled prisoners all came out of the west gate in a prison van. The Guangning Building was just inside the west gate.
That day, Qi Hui got the news and rushed to report:
"My lord! Mr. Xia is leaving the city! The prison van has already driven through Central Street!"
Qi Yan rushed out of the door, got on his horse, and rushed all the way to Guangning Tower, rushed to the top of the building in a hurry, panting and rushed to the window, just in time to see the prison cart slowly passing by the west gate.
In the car, Xia Xun was wearing a prison uniform, Xia Wen was sitting with his back against the fence, and Xia Xun was half prone and half lying on his lap.
Qi Yan looked at him back and forth from the inside to the outside, his complexion was not good, his hair was a little messy, other than that, there seemed to be no other embarrassment.
Qi Yan was a little relieved, and looked at his face seriously.
Xia Xun closed her eyes tightly, as if she was asleep.
Qi Yan said to himself: "... What a child, he can still sleep so soundly in the prison car..."
Qi Hui said in relief:
"Master Xia doesn't seem to be in serious trouble, which is really a good thing."
Qi Yan stared at Xia Xun obsessively:
"I specifically ordered the jailers not to treat him badly. It seems that they are indeed obedient."
As the wheels rolled forward, Qi Yan gradually couldn't see clearly. He resisted, turned his back, and closed the window.
Just when Qi Hui thought he was going to leave, he suddenly grabbed the clothes on his chest, leaned against the window frame and squatted down slowly.
Beads of sweat emerged from his forehead, his lips were livid, his neck was bulging with veins, and his expression was extremely painful.
Qi Hui hurriedly asked:
"My lord? My lord?! What's wrong with you?!"
Qi Yan panted heavily and said dyingly:
"It's okay... don't worry about me... people in Douzhou, how are you getting ready?"
Qi Hui wrenched his heart and said:
"Everything is ready! When Mr. Xia arrives, he will be able to retreat completely!"
Sending Xia Xun to exile from Beijing was only the first step of Qi Yan's plan. After learning that the emperor sent him to Lingnan, Qi Yan immediately organized staff in Douzhou, where Xia Xun was exiled. He took it to a safe place and hid it.
Once the limelight was over, Xia Xun was free.
This was originally a foolproof plan, but Qi Yan missed a fatal point:
The road to exile is very long, and it takes more than a month to get there. During the tens of days of the journey, wading through mountains and rivers and starving to eat, the prisoners will die on the road in all likelihood, and very few can reach the place of exile alive.
And Xia Xun is not so lucky, he is not one of the few.
A month later, Qi Hui received the report from the residence, and after only one glance, the blood on his face suddenly disappeared, and he was shocked, as if hearing a thunderbolt from the blue sky.
Qi Yan sensed his strange behavior, raised his heart suddenly, and asked anxiously:
"What is it?!"
Qi Hui closed the mansion with a snap: "Nothing, nothing!"
His eyes were trembling, and his hands were covered with cold sweat. Anyone who was not blind could tell that he was lying.
Qi Yan had a very ominous premonition, he lowered his face and said coldly:
"Bring it!"
Qi Hui was holding the mansion newspaper, the sweat on his hands drenched on the paper:
"My lord, you...you have to hold on..."
He spread out a thin piece of paper and brought it to Qi Yan.
Qi Yan looked down at a few lines of words, and his whole body froze.
Qi Hui looked at him in fear, and said carefully:
"My lord, there are many important things in this world... You, you must take care of yourself—"
Qi Hui couldn't continue, he had never felt that words were so pale like now.
There are only a few words in the mansion newspaper:
——Xia Hongxi's third son, Xun, was exiled in Lingnan, but before he arrived, he died of illness in Luyang on the twenty-ninth day of last month at the age of sixteen.
Qi Yan just stared blankly like this, without saying a word, his expression froze on his face.
Qi Hui was startled, lowered his voice, and said cautiously:
"My lord, if you feel uncomfortable, you can cry! It's really impossible, you can shout twice! You are like this, like this—Qi Hui looks scared!"
Qi Yan seemed to have not woken up from a big dream, and murmured:
"I'm fine...you go down first..."
How could Qi Hui leave just like that:
"My lord! You must not be harsh on yourself! You have done what you have to do, and it is up to God! This is fate! You are not a god, you can't change your fate against the sky!"
Qi Yan said softly:
"Understood, you go down..."
His attitude was firm, Qi Hui couldn't stay any longer, so he walked outside the door anxiously, and didn't dare to leave too far, so he just stood by the door.
Not long after, there was the sound of stumbling footsteps in the room, and then the door was pushed open vigorously, and the ashen-faced Qi Yan staggered out:
"Qi Hui... prepare the horse, I'm going to Luyang..."
He looked shaky, as if he was about to fall to the ground the next moment.
Qi Hui strode forward to support him:
"My lord! My lord! Why...why are you talking nonsense?! Luyang is 2,500 miles away from the capital! Even if you run the horse to death, you won't be able to overtake it!"
Qi Yan pushed him away and insisted on walking forward. When he stepped down the steps, he stepped on the ground and fell to the ground, still muttering intermittently:
"Xia Xun is still waiting for me... I have to pick him up..."
His eyes were staring, his hands clawed in the air in vain.
Qi Hui held back his sour tears, ran to his side, and helped him up.
Qi Yan's internal organs were in a mess, and there was a sharp pain from the neck to the chest and abdomen, and it was hard to tell where the pain was.
His eyes were pitch black, and he could no longer see.
Qi Hui held his hand, feeling that his palm was wet and cold, so he felt his pulse along his wrist.
Under the fingertips, Qi Yan's pulse was messy and thin, even if Qi Hui had no medical skills, he could still realize that it was not a normal pulse.
At this time, there were no other servants in the Qi Mansion, not even anyone who could help, so Qi Hui could only send Qi Yan back to the house first, and then go to the doctor.
He put Qi Yan's hand on his shoulder and wanted to carry him on his back.
Qi Yan refused, and kept saying over and over: "Go to Luyang... go now... Xia Xun is still waiting for me..."
Qi Hui said "offended", and slapped the back of his neck with his palm.
Qi Yan fainted helplessly, Qi Hui rushed into the room with him on his back.
Where Qi Hui couldn't see, Qi Yan's tears slipped from the corners of his closed eyes, rolled into his temples, and gradually disappeared.
Seven years later, the darkroom of the Qi Mansion.
Qi Yan told Xia Xun:
"I have been in a daze all these years. I don't know how I got here. I always feel that I have died a long time ago. I died on the day I heard the news of your death. If I hadn't missed you for a long time, I would have been three feet of loess. A white bone under it."
Xia Xun caressed the wooden man's eyebrows, Qi Yan's knife marks were deep.
Qi Yan said sadly:
"Before you asked me, if I saw that comb at that time, would I go to see you? I don't want to lie to you, but I really didn't know how to answer at that time. Now I can tell you... no, I won't, and I won't. No, if I can't prove that I have nothing to do with you, I can't save you... "
Xia Xun held up the wooden man and looked at the wood's texture carefully against the candlelight outside the dark room.
"This is not ordinary wood, but paulownia, and there is my name and date of birth on the back of the wooden figurine, which is not an ordinary thing." Xia Xun held his breath and concentrated, as if saying something outrageous: "This...is disgusting. "
Qi Yan's face was as flat as a lake, and his eyes were calm.
Xia Xun's mind was shaken, with mixed feelings:
"As soon as you find out about the disgusting victory, you will be executed all over the family, including the nine clans. Why... do you want to perform such a dangerous spell?"
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