Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Chapter 197 Unraveling

Xiao Yan and Lu Ziqing returned to the Marquis' Mansion early in the morning, and Yang Zhounan came to him about the military exercises in Beijing.

As soon as he went out, he saw Xi Yunling standing at the door and came over to greet them.

Xiao Yan said, "Miss Xi is here. Ziqing is at home and didn't go to the yamen today."

"Is he okay last night?" Xi Yunling asked.

"He..." Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, "Miss Xi, you should go in and take a look yourself. I still have military affairs to attend to, so I'll go ahead."

As they passed each other and left, Yang Zhounan glanced at Xi Yunling. Xiao Yan was about to get on his horse when he caught a glimpse of Xining walking towards him from a distance.

"Princess? What brings you here?"

"I..." Xining felt a little embarrassed, "You haven't come to see me for a long time, so I came to see you."

Xiao Yan adjusted the reins and said, "Oh!" "I've been busy with military affairs and can't get away. I have something else to do right now, so I won't tell the princess for now."

As he spoke, he jumped on his horse and was about to turn it around, but Xining stepped aside to stop him. Thinking of Xi Yunling entering the mansion just now, she looked unhappy.

"Are you saying you can't get away just to avoid me?"

"Your Highness, you are overthinking it. I really do have military duties to attend to. Please move aside," said Xiao Yan.

Her enthusiasm was dampened by the cold, and Xining felt very embarrassed. She said, "You've already let that girl live in your house, and you don't want to say a word to me?"

"Miss Xi is only here to visit Ziqing and isn't staying at the mansion." Xiao Yan asked, "My Lady, if you have any other questions, please tell me all at once. I have to hurry to the training grounds."

It turned out to be a misunderstanding. Xining secretly felt relieved, but asked again as if she was worried, "Do you really not hate me anymore?"

Xiao Yan glanced away helplessly, "The princess is of noble status, how could I possibly hate her? Are you done asking questions? I'll be leaving first."

After he finished speaking, he rode his horse away in a different direction. Xining looked at the hurried figure with a frustrated look on his face and sulked. Su Xin looked away and said.

"Princess, why is the Marquis like this? You came to see him happily, but you were treated so coldly. It was the same yesterday. He would rather help those two friends than you."

Xining was furious when he heard this. "Didn't he say he had military business? Didn't he say he was here to see Lu Ziqing? What do you think he did?"

Su Xin was more cautious and advised, "Princess, it's not that I don't believe the Marquis has military duties, but he can't always be busy, right? Is it really that he can't spare even a little time? That Miss Xi, they say she's a friend, but it seems to me that the Marquis is more enthusiastic towards her than he is towards you, Princess."

"Oh, I told you not to say that."

Xining glanced at the gate irritably and walked towards the carriage angrily.

Xi Yunling followed Wen Zhong to Chongcuixuan. Before they got close, they heard a clear and melodious flute sound.

When she walked in, she saw Lu Ziqing standing in white clothes beside the green bamboo. She stared at his back quietly and felt relieved.

After six years of separation and going through so many hardships, everything has changed, but fortunately, my junior brother is still standing here.

The little junior brother who followed behind him back then has now grown into a handsome young man, and Su Chengfeng and Su Chengyi are also safe and sound.

She said to Xi Huai in her heart, "Dad, can you see me from heaven? Ziqing is now the director of the Imperial Hospital, Chengfeng is following General Yang, we are all fine, but you are the only one missing."

After a while, the flute music stopped, and she walked over and called out, "Ziqing."

Lu Ziqing turned around and smiled, "Senior Sister, when did you come? Why didn't you call me?"

Xi Yunling raised the corner of her mouth. "I've only been here for a short while, but I couldn't bear to disturb such a beautiful flute. Where's Chengyi? Why don't I see him?"

"He and Prince Su went to play in the back garden." Lu Ziqing said, "Senior Sister, please come sit in the room."

"No." Xi Yunling smiled and said, "Take me for a walk. Do you live alone in this courtyard?"

Lu Ziqing hummed, "I've been bothering you here for a year now. The Marquis is getting married, so I'll be moving out soon."

Xi Yunling nodded silently, "Have you found a place to live?"

"I was planning to look for one, but the Marquis gave me another house, and I couldn't refuse his kindness." Lu Ziqing said as he walked.

Xi Yunling responded, "It can be seen that the Marquis treats you very well. Don't forget to repay the favor."

"Senior sister is right." Lu Ziqing walked through the corridor.

"I came to the capital and was able to avenge my master, all thanks to the help and care of the Marquis. I will never forget this kindness. I just didn't expect to meet my senior sister again in the capital. Walking here leisurely, I am really happy. It feels like a dream."

He was indeed very happy when he spoke, and Xi Yunling laughed along with him.

"Senior Sister also feels like it's a dream. Look at you, you've changed so much in six years. You've become calm and reserved, completely unlike the little follower that I used to be when we were little."

Lu Ziqing smiled, "People always grow up, and Senior Sister is getting more and more beautiful."

The back garden was full of green mountains and clear waters, with peach blossoms in full bloom. Pavilions and waterside terraces were reflected on the lake surface. Xi Yunling looked at them for a moment.

She exclaimed, "The scenery here is so beautiful, it can calm the mind."

Lu Ziqing looked around, and Xi Yunling looked at his face again, "Did it hurt last night?"

"Ah?" Lu Ziqing reacted instantly and said easily, "It doesn't hurt."

Xi Yunling sighed, "That slap last night was the first time I hit you. Don't blame me, Senior Sister. Your mother is really not the kind of person you think she is. If she had let you say that, she would have been so heartbroken."

"I know that a few words can't erase the pain you endured in your childhood. Those memories are too deep, and I don't have the right to make you forget them. I just want to tell you that your mother gave birth to you with an absolutely innocent heart."

She pushed aside the peach branches sticking out from the side of the road and spoke slowly.

"Your mother told me that she was already two months pregnant when she left your father, but she didn't know it until she went to live with your aunt for a while and found out that you were also born there."

"In this world, women obey their fathers at home, their husbands after marriage, and their sons in old age. In the chaotic world of the market, she was a woman without a man to take care of her. Life was very difficult, not to mention having a child. So, she had no choice but to leave you behind and choose to go to that place to perform and make money. You know she would send you money every month."

Lu Ziqing walked slowly and listened quietly.

"Your mother plays the qin beautifully, but performing in places like that isn't easy. If a customer isn't satisfied, the madam won't pay her, and sometimes she'll even be beaten. But she knows that once she goes to a place like that, even if she's just performing, she'll be seen as dirty in the eyes of the world. So, she doesn't dare face you, preferring you to hate her."

"For the past twenty years, your mother has thought of you all the time. She doesn't expect you to call her mother, but only asks you to forgive her mistakes back then. That's enough."

Lu Ziqing stopped on the wooden bridge, his eyes fixed, staring at the koi in the water in a daze. For a moment, he could hardly tell what was real and what was fake, and he even felt a little dazed and confused.

Was the senior sister trying to make excuses for that person in order to ease the relationship between mother and son? Or was this the truth?

After more than twenty years of resentment, is this the result?

He raised his head slightly to look at the blue sky, took a deep breath silently, and continued to walk slowly towards the pavilion in front of the wooden bridge.

After a moment, he asked, "Why did Senior Sister call her Master?"

Xi Yunling said, "After I escaped from you, I was sold to Suzhou by human traffickers several times. On the way to escape, it was your mother who saved me, and I followed her all the time. Later I found out that she was your mother, and that your mother also knew my father."