Jiang Xuening’s vision went black and she lost consciousness almost immediately. Later, in a hazy, confused state, she seemed to enter a half-dreaming, half-waking condition. At first she felt cold, but gradually she could sense the warmth of a body beside her, and after that the cold disappeared.

She ended up sleeping remarkably well.

It was probably because during this period of being trapped, she had to worry about their predicament while also being concerned about Xie Wei’s condition, keeping her mind constantly tense. Now that she had finally closed her eyes, even though there was still some unease, the overwhelming fatigue could not be suppressed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

She vaguely sensed some commotion around her, followed by a period of jostling, before things finally quieted down.

Jiang Xuening woke up from hunger.

When she opened her eyes, her stomach was growling with hunger and her vision was blurred, as if everything around her was covered with a layer of water vapor. She could feel that she was sleeping on a bed. The soft silk quilt was extremely warm, and there seemed to be a hot water bottle tucked at her feet. Inside the embroidered bed curtains, there was a light, fragrant scent.

She blinked a few times before her vision became much clearer.

This was actually a rather elegantly furnished room.

The tables and chairs were all made of pear wood with clear lacquer. Bamboo and plum blossom paintings hung on the walls. On the side table by the window, incense was burning. The person who had lit the incense seemed to have just left, with the incense holder lightly placed at the corner of the table. Only two branches of white plum blossoms were arranged in several slender flower vases, looking extremely plain and simple.

Jiang Xuening truly needed a moment to process this, almost suspecting she was dreaming.

How did she get here?

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she recalled the last memory before passing out: she had discovered the Five Minerals Powder that Xie Wei carried with him, angrily demanded it from him, but he had raised his hand and knocked her unconscious.

And moreover…

The key point was that this man actually dared to complain that the food she roasted was terrible!

A surge of anger rushed up, and Jiang Xuening threw off the quilt and got up. Even her undergarments had been changed to new ones. But as soon as she stood up, she felt dizzy and nearly lost her balance and fell back down.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside.

It was a young voice, seemingly leading the way: “Doctor, you said the young lady was just sleeping and has no ailments at all, but she’s been asleep for two whole days now! Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

Walking behind was an old man carrying a medicine box, with a sparse goatee under his chin. His eyelids drooped, his skin was wrinkled and pale, but his nose was a red, bulbous drunkard’s nose. Hearing this, he glanced sideways at the young fellow in front of him and sneered coldly: “I’ve been practicing medicine for so many years. I won’t boast about curing every illness, but can I not tell whether someone is sick or not? Your master doesn’t talk this much, so why are you giving me such a hard time?”

Xiaobao grumbled inwardly—wasn’t this because they were afraid something might go wrong?

Although the master seemed calm and unmoved on the surface, he was probably just as worried as Xiaobao himself, secretly suspecting this old man was a quack doctor!

It was just that good doctors were hard to find in this city.

You could offend anyone except someone treating an illness.

Xiaobao immediately put on a smile and repeatedly said: “Yes, yes, yes, you’re right. I’m the one who’s confused.”

As he spoke, the door was pushed open.

The two of them looked up and saw Jiang Xuening by the bed in the room, her black hair loose and flowing, her skin snow-white, her two willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed, staring straight at the doorway, staring at them as they walked in.

Xiaobao immediately froze.

After a moment he reacted, revealing some surprised delight in his eyes. He quickly walked in and said: “Miss Jiang Er, you’re awake?”

Jiang Xuening had found the young voice from outside familiar earlier. When the person walked in and she could distinguish them, she didn’t recognize the goatee old man, but she had some impression of the young man whose features showed some cheerfulness.

It was Xiaobao, whom she had met during the Battle of Tongzhou.

Why would he be here?

She asked: “Why am I here?”

Xiaobao quickly brought the doctor in to take her pulse first. He was still much the same as back then, without much change, just a bit taller with more defined facial features. The small braid he used to wear had been replaced with a wooden hairpin holding up his hair, giving him somewhat the spirit and energy of a young book attendant.

He said: “You came here with the master.”

Jiang Xuening told him to explain clearly.

So Xiaobao recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

The matter wasn’t complicated.

It turned out that on the road that day, they had noticed someone following them all along with seemingly ill intentions. They first sent out a decoy carriage with Jianshu following it to mislead the assassins lurking in the shadows. Meanwhile, Daoqin accompanied the carriage with Jiang Xuening and Xie Wei, leading people to protect them as they continued on the main road. Halfway through, when they encountered assassins, she and Xie Wei fled into the forest on horseback, while the others were all defended by Daoqin.

With enemies many and allies few, it was inevitably a struggle.

Daoqin fled forward, holding them off for a long time, until Jianshu’s side also dealt with the pursuers and circled to this road, breaking through from behind and rescuing them.

However, there were quite a few opponents, and they didn’t dare to linger and fight in the wilderness, choosing instead to retreat first. They rushed to Jinan Prefecture with Xie Wei’s official seal to bring reinforcements.

The enemy naturally didn’t dare to stay long. The next day, after searching the mountain forest without success, they withdrew.

Only then did Jianshu and Daoqin lead people into the dense forest to search.

“We were lucky. The master laid down a strategy of deception, but we found that horse, and it led us to the valley where you had abandoned it.” Xiaobao said as he pushed open the window, shouting loudly toward whoever was outside, “Bring some porridge!” Then he turned back to continue: “Such a vast mountain range, and it had snowed too. Brother Daoqin and Brother Jianshu were extremely anxious. Fortunately, after crossing two mountains forward, they discovered your trail and saw directions carved into some large tree trunks with a knife. Only then could they cross mountains and ridges to finally find you and the master.”

Directions carved with a knife?

Jiang Xuening realized she hadn’t really noticed this. It was probably left by Xie Wei when he went out hunting.

This man was indeed meticulous in his thinking.

Moreover, he had great confidence in the abilities of Daoqin and Jianshu.

At first he didn’t carve markings, fearing the pursuers would also discover their tracks. But after crossing two mountains, when he did carve them, Daoqin and Jianshu had most likely already solved the problem and certainly wouldn’t give up searching for them.

So they would naturally discover the marks left behind.

Following the marks to find them would then be a matter of course.

If it hadn’t been for that unexpected heavy snow, they might have escaped their predicament even earlier.

The doctor had already taken her pulse and said: “What did I say? She was just sleeping, caught a bit of cold, and is physically weak. Miss, you’re fine. I’ll write a prescription to nourish and warm your body. What’s most important is eating well and staying warm.”

Xiaobao said: “That’s good then.”

The doctor stood up to write the prescription.

Jiang Xuening’s brow furrowed slightly, but she asked: “Doctor, did you just see Xie Wei before coming here?”

The doctor was startled for a moment when he heard her call Xie Wei by name directly.

But he didn’t pay it much mind and answered: “Yes.”

Jiang Xuening’s eyes flickered, and she smiled as she said: “He takes Five Minerals Powder—is his condition alright?”

There was actually some risk in these words.

Because she hadn’t actually seen Xie Wei take the medicine with her own eyes, nor had she heard about it before, yet she deliberately spoke of it casually, as if she was someone deeply familiar with the situation. Most people wouldn’t detect anything suspicious.

This doctor, by rights, shouldn’t have heard anything either.

But unexpectedly, after hearing this, he actually looked at Jiang Xuening, as if noticing something, and surprisingly said: “Miss need not worry. Five Minerals Powder is also called Cold Food Powder. It was originally a prescription written by Zhang Zhongjing to cure illness and save lives. It’s just that nowadays nobles and aristocrats are quite fond of this substance, and since the toxicity of this thing far exceeds its medicinal properties, it has caused endless harm. However, Master Xie only took this one dose. In desperate circumstances, using it to generate heat isn’t a major problem and shouldn’t lead to addiction.”

Jiang Xuening was immediately stunned.

But the doctor just smiled and said: “It’s rare for Master Xie to take such a risk and make such a mistake. This old one will absolutely do everything in his power to cure him well for you. However, ailments of the heart are difficult to treat, so I must trouble the young lady to help with that as well.”

Cure him for her?

Trouble her to help?

Jiang Xuening didn’t understand.

But the doctor had already finished writing the prescription. He handed it to Xiaobao and went out the door. After leaving this area, he walked along the corridor all the way to the east wing. Outside, he heard several strains of qin music, intermittent and discontinuous, seeming to match the somewhat wandering and elusive mood of the person playing.

Daoqin and Jianshu were somehow both waiting outside.

When he arrived, the two of them turned to look at him almost simultaneously.

Daoqin stood in place.

Jianshu walked over and asked: “Old Zhou, how is it?”

Zhou Qihuang was also a member of the Heavenly Teachings. Although his medicine-box-carrying body was aged, it still showed some vigor. He just smiled and said: “She’s awake.”

He pointed toward the room: “Playing the qin?”

Jianshu nodded, but still walked forward to knock on the door, simply reporting: “Old Zhou is here. He says Miss Ning Er has already woken up.”

The qin music abruptly stopped.

Xie Wei’s clear, light voice, still carrying a trace of hoarseness, responded: “Have him come in.”

Only then did Zhou Qihuang walk inside.

Inside the room, the windows were closed, but the window paper let through bright light. A kang table was placed on the heated platform, with a qin resting diagonally on top.

Xie Wei sat beside the qin.

His snow-white robe hung down from the side. His loose hair draped over his slightly open, disheveled collar. Beyond his refined elegance, there seemed to be a somewhat unrestrained and carefree air about him. Because he had walked through snow for so long, much cold had invaded his legs. At this moment, a fleece blanket was draped over them, with one leg bent up and one hand supporting his head.

When someone entered, he didn’t look up, only asking: “She’s awake?”

Zhou Qihuang bowed slightly and said: “The timing was just right. She had just woken up. Her body is just a bit weak and exhausted, no major problems.”

Xie Wei’s fingers lightly brushed across the qin strings, and he asked again: “Did she ask anything?”

Zhou Qihuang quietly raised his eyes to size him up, his heart also beating nervously. He said in a small voice: “She asked about you taking Five Minerals Powder.”

The qin strings were trembling, but they were pressed down by his fingers and made no sound.

Yet he seemed to be able to hear that sound resonating in his heart.

Xie Wei paused for a moment before asking: “What else?”

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Zhou Qihuang’s forehead, streaming down. His hands also couldn’t help but tremble as he tried desperately to recall. He found that Miss Jiang Er had only asked two questions and really couldn’t think of anything else.

But Master Xie…

He suddenly realized he might have inadvertently stepped into some kind of battlefield of conflicting emotions. Trembling with fear, he stammered: “There… there was nothing else.”

“…”

The finger pressing on that string remained completely still.

Then slowly released.

After a while, Xie Wei said: “I understand. You may go.”

Only then did Zhou Qihuang feel as if granted amnesty and quickly retreated.

But after he left, Xie Wei sat in silence for a long time.

A certain emotion crept up through his fingertips.

For the first time, he became so clearly aware of it. Like a drop of water disrupting him, yet floating elusively, difficult to catch or touch. Though clearly as tiny as a speck of dust, it constantly pulled at his heart.

In the white porcelain jar, several goldfish were kept. They too seemed affected by this emptiness and stillness, quietly stopping in place without moving.

Xie Wei gently reached out his hand, about to place it on the qin strings. But his fingers had barely lifted when he slowly drew them back, simply gazing at those strings.

Until sounds came from outside.

It was a certain someone’s voice, delicate yet hiding some dissatisfaction: “Don’t tell me your master is asleep. This young lady has questions that must be asked face to face!”

The fish in the tank suddenly swam away.

Their beautiful tails swayed, splashing up some water.

Xie Wei’s fingers trembled slightly. That speck of dust floating like gossamer thread in his emotions settled down. He pressed his lips together, but a smile still surfaced, transparent and clear as colored glass as the sunlight filtering through the window paper reflected in his eyes.

Jiang Xuening pushed the door open forcefully, not the least bit polite.