Chapter 132: Good Seasons (V)
Xu Hexue leaned over the desk and took out a rectangular brocade box, handed it to him and said, "We are meeting, and I have nothing but this as a gift."
Zhao Yi reached out to take it, and inside was a scroll. He took it out and unfolded it. The paper was covered with ink, and the writing was fluent, clear and elegant. It was Qu Yuan's "Calling the Soul".
"There was a prefect in Yongzhou named Shen Tongchuan. He was a student of Mr. Meng. I wonder if you still remember that you and I both read his article "On War Horses" back then. He had the talent to recognize horses, but the court did not have the ability to recognize people. He saw clearly the accumulated malpractices in horse administration and was willing to eliminate them, raise horses and strengthen the army for the country, but he was never able to hold the position, nor was he able to make the policy, and can only regret it to this day."
"And I think there are many people in the court who have the same ambitions as Shen Tongchuan but are unable to fulfill their duties."
Xu Hexue looked at him and said, "You are calling for my soul, but I want to call for the souls of wise rulers on behalf of the people of the world."
"Everyone has his own strengths. If a wise ruler is in power, he can make sure that those with strengths are in their proper positions, fulfill their duties, and use their abilities to the fullest. Then the country will be strong and prosperous."
"I will never forget what you said today."
Zhao Yi wiped his face and said, "I will keep this calligraphy you gave me well. I will use it as a lesson for my whole life."
"I will not forget the suffering of the people, nor will I forget that the survivors of the Thirteen States are still waiting for the Great Qi to recover their old territories. The people of the world are watching me."
Bright sunlight fell into the room through the lattice window, and the fragmented light swayed slightly on the sleeves. Zhao Yi looked at him, "Zi Ling, you look at me too."
"I swear before you that as your king for the rest of my life, I will recover our land and never give in!"
"As a man and as a king, I will never be a coward again."
At this moment, Xu Hexue saw the determination on the face of his best friend. Time can destroy people, but it can also shape people. The willow branches swayed in the wind in front of the lattice window. He said, "Yonggeng, it is my honor to be your friend."
These words almost forced Zhao Yi to cry again, but he held back and said, "Aren't you going to stay here?"
Xu Hexue shook her head: "Since I returned to the world of the living, there has always been something I wanted to do but was afraid to do. But now, I can do it."
"What's up?"
Xu Hexue could vaguely hear voices outside, and he could easily distinguish her voice from them, "I want to be with Ah Xi, accompany her back to Que County, and watch her write the medical book for her and her brother."
"I want to see her smile and never let her cry for me again."
The sky gradually darkened and the yard was filled with lanterns.
Xu Hexue's damaged soul had not yet fully recovered. Before he finished his dinner, he turned into mist and clung to Ni Su's sleeve.
Meng Yunxian and Zhao Yi were drunk, so Jiang Shao and Li Xizhen hurriedly asked someone to help them. Ni Su followed them to the main hall of the clinic and asked Li Xizhen, "Madam, do you still have pain in your lower abdomen recently?"
"Thanks to your medicine, I'm no longer in pain."
Li Xizhen said in a gentle voice.
Ni Su smiled, "Your Majesty must have been very tired recently, and you don't look very well, but the chief doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau will definitely take good care of you. As for your offspring, don't worry. I am very confident in my prescription. Your Majesty will definitely get better after taking it for a few more days. In a year at most, you will be well again."
"I want to thank you very much,"
Li Xizhen held Ni Su's hand and said, "Although there seems to be a big age difference between us, I still want to call you sister-in-law."
Ni Su was about to say something else when she saw Zhao Yi suddenly break free from the eunuch's hand and stagger over. Li Xizhen hurriedly supported him.
"Sister-in-law."
Zhao Yi, drunk, bowed to her.
"Please don't do this, my Lord. I can't bear it." Ni Su was shocked.
Zhao Yi stood up and said, "I know that Zi Ling will have to rely on my sister-in-law to support him in the future, but he is not without anything. I have ordered people to settle the property of his Xu family and the property of Princess Wenduan's mansion at the Duke of Lu's mansion and the national treasury. Once the accounts are clear, I will hand them all over to you, my sister-in-law."
"Please don't refuse, sister-in-law. Those originally belonged to Zi Ling. I am returning them to you, which is to give them back to him."
Zhao Yi did not forget to remind her, "Sister-in-law, you must not skimp on Ziling's expenses."
"Officials..."
Li Xizhen smiled helplessly, "Who do you think sister-in-law is?"
Ni Su also laughed, but still responded politely, "Don't worry, sir. He is my husband, and I will never be stingy with his expenses."
As the night deepened, the banquet ended.
Ni Su and Qing Qiong collected the dishes and washed them together in the kitchen.
"Miss Ni, can I really go with you?"
Qingqiong asked as he put the dishes in the cupboard.
"Why not?"
Ni Su raised her head and said, "Don't you want to study medicine? There are many experienced doctors in our clinic. If I can't teach you well, they can teach you well."
"The clinic in your home is still occupied by your second uncle, right?"
Qingqiong walked back to her.
Ni Su nodded, "My second uncle is not the material to run a clinic. When I go back, I will definitely take the clinic back from him."
"So, Qingqiong, you have to come with me. The three of us are together. I'm not afraid of him."
"That's right."
Qing Qiong responded, "General Xu and I will never let him bully you!"
"Then I would like to thank you in advance,"
Ni Su smiled at him, "I'll buy them all for you then."
Qing Qiong knew that she said these words to prevent him from walking alone. He could not help but feel hot in his eyes, "Miss Ni, I will cause trouble for you and General Xu."
"You've never caused us any trouble. We want to thank you for always being there to help us."
Ni Su washed her hands and said seriously, "Qingqiong, I promised your father that Xu Ziling and I would always take care of you, just like you have taken care of us along the way."
After finishing the chores in the kitchen, Ni Su returned to her room to take a shower. The hot water washed away her fatigue from the day, and her long, wet hair spread out behind her.
Her brows relaxed, but she suddenly noticed that there was a white shadow on the ground.
The light mist that had been following her disappeared.
She turned around and saw a young man in a light green robe standing behind the screen, motionless. She couldn't help but call out softly, "Xu Ziling?"
"Um?"
He was a little slow and responded after a while.
"Get me a dry towel."
Ni Su said.
He didn't say anything and just stood there.
"You go ahead."
Ni Su thought he was a little weird.
He seemed to have forgotten where he put the handkerchief and walked around the room. It was only after Ni Su reminded him that he remembered to take the handkerchief from the shelf.
Ni Su looked at his cold white wrist bone, and there was no more wound on it.
She took the handkerchief and tapped the back of his hand.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly held her hand.
Ni Su was really shocked. Outside the gauze curtain, his figure was blurry. His cold fingers hooked her fingers, and he just stood there, motionless.
He was clingy but he didn't show any emotion.
Ni Su felt it was novel, so she simply exerted force and pulled the man behind the curtain. He seemed to be caught off guard and suddenly appeared in front of her.
His whole face was still pale, but Ni Su looked at his eyes, which were clear as dew and a little misty. She understood, "Ghosts can get drunk too?"
He drank a little too much at the banquet tonight.
The hot mist smelled of the sawdust water she used. Xu Hexue lowered his eyelids, and all he could see was her moist, white face and shoulders uncovered by no clothes.
She suddenly kissed him, his eyelashes trembled, and he subconsciously bit her lips and pushed in.
Xu Hexue didn't know why, as a ghost, he would still get drunk even if he drank too much wine from the living world. He wrapped Ni Su in clothes, carried her to the bed, and wiped her hair with a towel.
"As soon as the sun rises, you will go back to Que County with me. Are you happy?"
Ni Su hugged her knees and looked up at his jaw.
"Yeah, I'm glad."
He had a hint of alcohol on him, a very refreshing smell.
"I woke up this morning and found that the fruits I offered to Lord Tubo were missing a lot, but I haven't asked him for anything recently . Did you ask him for help?"
Ni Su asked him again.
Even though she offered him offerings every day, Tubo was generally unwilling to use her offerings easily.
"Yes, I asked him."
Xu Hexue said, "I will lend him the power of this star."
"So what did he give you?"
"Give me illusion," Xu Hexue ran his fingers through her wet black hair, "so that I can change with your changes."
He placed a gentle kiss on her hair, "Ah Xi, this way, I will be with you till old age, right?"
Ni Su's heart trembled. She turned around and looked at him. After a while, she reached out and hugged him, resting her head in his arms. "This is also good. Anyway, if you use Xingxiu's power in the world of the living, you will be punished. I don't want you to be hurt anymore. This way, I can also see you grow old."
"Xu Ziling, look, since we can grow old together, then there is nothing different between us."
Xu Hexue held her face in his hands, and the moment their eyes met, he couldn't help but lean over and kiss her.
However, despite his strong feelings, he still had to restrain himself.
Ni Su looked at the quilt wrapped around herself in a daze. He was not covered with anything and was lying together with her, but there was still some distance between them.
"It's almost summer, Xu Ziling."
She frowned.
"Are you hot?"
Xu Hexue just untucked the quilt, and she immediately got into his arms. His back stiffened, and he tried to resist, "Ah Xi..."
"Since it's summer, why can't I hold you while sleeping?"
Ni Su raised her face.
Xu Hexue didn't answer.
"What are you afraid of? You're afraid that you and I will give birth to a little star, and that he will be like Qingqiong and unable to choose his own life, right?"
Ni Su reached out and touched his cold cheek.
"Ah Xi, I can't treat you like this, nor can I..."
Nor can they let their children come into this world and suffer.
Ni Su looked relaxed, "You really seem to not know one thing."
"What?"
“Your stars in the sky cannot give birth to offspring.”
Hearing this, Xu Hexue was startled, "You..."
"I asked Master Tubo the day I married you."
She said.
Hearing this, Xu Hexue should have breathed a sigh of relief, but he lowered his eyes and said after a while, "I'm sorry, Ah Xi."
"What are you sorry for?"
Ni Su hugged his arm, "Xu Ziling, please don't be like this. As a woman, I don't have to give birth to a child to be complete. If you were still a flesh and blood body, we could have a biological child. That would be great, but that's because we love each other."
"But if it's just for a child, I think it's meaningless."
"I feel really good now that I have you. Even if we can't have children, we can still adopt some orphans."
She asked him with a smile, "Would you mind if I adopted more girls? I also want to open a school, a school for female doctors. This would cost a lot, and I might have to use the money that the government returned to your family."
"I don't mind."
Xu Hexue immediately said, "Ah Xi, all my money is yours to manage and use. You can do whatever you want."
"That's good."
Ni Su leaned into his arms, "Xu Ziling, you stay by my side, accompany me to run the school, watch me write medical books, help me write medical records, and we will stay like this for the rest of our lives."
"Maybe, if I save enough people, the heavens will think I'm pretty good, and then after a hundred years, I can go to the sky with you and be a star for hundreds of years."
She was joking.
"Xu Ziling, let's live like this for the rest of our lives."
Even though humans and ghosts have different paths, we still know each other, respect each other, love each other, and reach the same destination.
I am forever grateful.
That year, outside the Big Bell Temple, in the cypress forest,
The cold clothes call back my soul, and they will be with me for the rest of my life.
