Chapter 108: New Jade Candle (V)
"General Xu, can't you taste it?"
Qingqiong was stunned. He could hardly believe his ears.
Xu Hexue did not respond. He calmly took his hand away from Ni Su's palm and wiped her tears. "It's cold. Don't cry. Your cheeks will hurt."
Then he slowly stood up. Ni Su in front of him was looking up at him, and Qing Qiong beside him was also staring at him closely. He sat next to Ni Su and said, "Remember what I told you last night? The battle at Mushen Mountain was not caused by just one reason, and it was not caused by just one person."
"Yelü Zhen did not kill Miao Tianning at the beginning. Instead, he was seriously injured and retreated in a hurry. He wanted to reunite with Mengtuo, but Mengtuo was already dead. The 30,000 Jing'an troops and 50,000 Hu soldiers were all annihilated. He saw someone taking me away from the mountain of corpses."
"That man's name is Dou Yingzhang. He is the personal commander of Pan Youfang, the military supervisor of Juhan Pass."
Xu Hexue rested his hands on his knees. "Pan Youfang is the current Three-Commissioner. The reason why I never doubted him was because he was someone my teacher trusted. The factional struggles in the court became more and more intense. In order to protect me from harm, my teacher and Prime Minister Meng sent this person to serve as the military supervisor. As the military supervisor, Pan Youfang never interfered with my military affairs in Juhan Pass. It was also him who always withstood the pressure from the court for me, so that I could use the troops without being constrained."
“That’s why I trust him.”
"…He betrayed you? Why?"
Qingqiong approached.
"From what Tan Guangwen said, he should be covering up for Wu Dai, or perhaps for himself. If he already had a private relationship with Wu Dai at that time, then the failure of reinforcements could only be that he intercepted my military orders." When Tan Guangwen was interrogated by Han Qing, Xu Hexue could no longer gather his body. Half of these things were told to him by Qingqiong, and the other half were his own speculation.
Only Pan Youfang himself knows why he changed his position.
"I couldn't see anything at the time. When I was awake, someone poured a bowl of medicine into my mouth."
"What……"
Qingqiong was about to ask what medicine it was, but he saw Ni Su suddenly stand up. He swallowed the words he was about to say, and was filled with doubts that made him unable to speak for a while.
What other medicine could it be?
Ni Su rested one hand on the table, her jaw clenched, the cold wind stinging her wet cheeks. As a doctor, although she didn't know what the medicine was, she understood that the medicine in this world is half medicinal and half poisonous. If used correctly, it is a good remedy to save lives, but if used incorrectly, it is a deadly poison that can harm people.
Just as among the hundreds of herbs there is raw pinellia, if people are poisoned by it, they will experience unbearable burning pain in the throat, lose all sense of taste, and become incapable of speaking.
Because of what Xu Hexue had suffered during his lifetime, his soul was damaged after his death and could not be repaired. Although he was fine during the day, he could not see at night. Although he could speak, he had no sense of taste.
Ni Su clenched her teeth.
Xu Hexue suddenly stood up and reached out to pick her up horizontally.
"Qingqiong, do you have money?" Xu Hexue looked at Qingqiong.
"……have."
Qingqiong's voice was hoarse.
"Don't eat those wontons that are too salty. Go buy some from the food stall outside."
Qingqiong stood blankly in the corridor, watching Xu Hexue carrying Ni Su to the house opposite. Snow was flying all over the sky outside the eaves, and he looked at Xu Hexue's back.
A ghost cannot taste the flavor of the human world, so what is the difference between him here and in the underworld? Anyway, it is equally boring.
Ni Su's face was buried in his arms the whole time. When Xu Hexue stepped into the room, he suddenly heard her say, "I really want to kill them..."
He paused and lowered his eyes.
She is shivering.
Xu Hexue put her back on the bed and bent over to take off her shoes and socks.
Ni Su sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him, "What is this ? The guilty person is promoted to a higher position, while the innocent person is left with nothing?"
"As long as there are people, the sky will never be absolutely clear," Xu Hexue put her feet on his knees, rolled up her trouser legs, dipped his fingertips in ointment, and rubbed her knees gently, "Some people are turbid, and some people are clear."
“There is injustice, but there is also justice.”
Xu Hexue put down the ointment, pulled down her trouser legs, then held her shoulders and let her lie down, pulling the quilt over her and wrapping her up, "I already know the truth, which is more important than anything else."
Ni Su wrapped in the quilt and looked at him.
She felt that although she was the living person, the lonely soul in front of her saw the world more clearly than she did. It was precisely because of this clarity and the light in his heart that he never gave her room to resent. Even if he died, he would personally seek the truth about Mushen Mountain and the injustice of the Jing'an Army.
"You come up too."
Ni Su moved closer to the bed.
Xu Hexue didn't say anything. He took off his shoes and socks before lying down beside her. She immediately fell into his arms. Xu Hexue took her in his arms and wrapped her in a quilt.
"You wrapped me up so tightly that I couldn't even stretch my hands out."
Ni Su said.
"There's no charcoal brazier burning in the house, I'm afraid you'll get sick."
Xu Hexue leaned sideways and put his arm around her.
Ni Su refused to obey. She struggled under the quilt and stretched out her hands, wrapped them around his neck, and leaned into his arms. "I thought you could taste it, so I always gave you sugar cakes. I thought it would make you happier."
“I am very happy.”
Xu Hexue couldn't persuade her, but he really wanted to be close to her like this. His fingers touched her hair, "I'm always happy to be with you."
"But whenever I think about giving you candy and asking you if it's sweet or delicious, you always..." Ni Su rested her forehead on his chest, she choked and was unable to continue.
He always says it's delicious and sweet.
But maybe he doesn't even remember what that taste is like.
Ni Su raised her head and held his face with both hands, "Xu Ziling, even if you don't have a sense of taste, let's try and see if we can let you know what taste is."
"How to do it?"
Xu Hexue was very cooperative.
"You don't have to do anything, just answer my questions," she said.
"good."
Xu Hexue just responded, but she suddenly leaned closer and kissed the corner of his mouth.
He was stunned.
Ni Su touched his thin eyelids with her fingers and watched his thick and long eyelashes blink. She asked, "How do you feel when I kiss you?"
"Are you happy?"
"Um."
He came to his senses and responded softly.
"Then just think of it as sweet."
Ni Su said with a smile.
"I just stared at Master Xiao Zhou's mother's belongings for a while longer, and you ran off to stay on the tree by yourself, and asked me if I didn't want to get married. When I said yes, you turned your face away and ignored me."
Xu Hexue felt a little uncomfortable when she suddenly mentioned this. He pursed his pale lips and said, "Ni Axi..."
"The taste of vinegar is sour. Did you know that you seemed to have drunk a lot of vinegar at that time?"
Ni Su let go of his face, "Actually, when I saw Lord Xiao Zhou wearing his official uniform, I was wondering what it would look like if it was Xu Ziling."
“It must be beautiful, right?”
Xu Hexue didn't say anything, and even his face remained cold, but he couldn't help but tighten his arms and hugged her tighter.
"I don't want you to feel bitter at all, but you always treat yourself badly."
Ni Su leaned in his arms, "I haven't figured out how to tell you about the rest of the feeling. You have to listen to me and stay by my side. When I think of it, I will tell you."
"good."
Xu Hexue kissed her forehead gently.
The two of them just hugged each other, neither of them spoke. After a long silence, Xu Hexue suddenly thought of something, "Ah Xi."
"Um?"
Ni Su looked up.
"Can you give me some money?"
He said.
"what are you looking for?"
"On our way back, we saw a very beautiful hairpin, but I was afraid that you would be cold and your knees would hurt, so I didn't ask the price." Xu Hexue looked at her bun with almost no accessories.
"Use my things in exchange, not your money."
He said.
Ni Su raised the corner of her mouth, "Why didn't you tell me on the way? I don't even know what that hairpin looks like."
"You sleep for a while, then we'll go watch it. If you don't like it, we'll choose something else." Xu Hexue's eyes curved slightly.
"Whatever you pick must be beautiful."
Ni Su rested half of her face on the soft pillow. "I'll pick a hairpin for you too. You have to wear it all the time and don't lose it wherever you go."
Xu Hexue said, "I will definitely not lose it."
Ni Su looked at him for a moment, then hugged his waist again, "It's really good for us to be like this. In winter, if you're afraid of being cold, we can hug each other less. In summer, we can hug each other more. I'll take care of your belongings and your money, and you won't have any private money."
Although she knew that what she said was out of reach, Xu Hexue still said obediently, "I don't want private money. I would rather you manage me."
Ni Su laughed, suppressing her emotions, and deliberately asked him, "If you are in charge of everything, then who am I?"
The sky outside was gray and snow was falling.
Xu Hexue lowered his eyes and looked at the woman in his arms in such a cold light. His face was cold, but his voice revealed his solemnity:
"My wife, Axi."
