Chapter 51: In the Great Tent, Deep Bonds of Friendship

Chapter 51: In the General's Tent, Bonds Run Deep

At these words, Ning Lanzhi's expression turned even more grim.

"Can't I, as his elder brother, even get him to come out?"

Xie Jingxing stepped forward, lowering his head before others for the first time: "Editor Ning, I'll take you to him."

He didn't call him 'big brother,' nor did he use his authority to pressure. This way of speaking left room for both sides to save face.

Even though Ning Lanzhi was extremely displeased, he simply shook his sleeves in displeasure.

The crowd quickly parted to clear a path, and by the time they approached the general's tent, only Xie Jingxing's personal guards remained.

Ning Lanzhi had suspected something was wrong the moment he got off the carriage and didn't see Ning Xishi's figure.

What had just happened was partly an act, but one part wasn't—his hatred of Xie Jingxing.

No one would take kindly to their precious younger brother being forced into a betrothal with a man.

The moment he entered the tent, Ning Lanzhi caught a heavy scent of medicine. His heart lurched as he hurried forward, looking at the unconscious figure on the bed.

He grabbed Ning Xishi's hand, worry plain in his eyes, and only then turned to ask Xie Jingxing: "What happened?"

Xie Jingxing's face was covered in stubble. He stood not far from the bed, expressionless, looking utterly lifeless and drained.

He opened his mouth and told the story.

"He was already severely wounded, and then he activated the Mandarin Duck Swords, draining a lot of his vital energy and damaging the meridians around his heart. All we can do now is feed him medicine and see if he wakes up on his own." As Xie Jingxing spoke, his gaze wandered aimlessly, as if without Ning Xishi's voice, he'd become a lost soul.

Ning Lanzhi had been rehearsing biting, reproachful words the whole way, but seeing Xie Jingxing like this, he couldn't bring himself to say them.

The two sat in silence inside the tent for a long time, while the people outside could only wait nervously.

After who knows how long, the Master Healer finally couldn't take it anymore and said: "It's time for his medicine. Can we come in?"

Ning Lanzhi quickly rose, but Xie Jingxing moved faster, already lifting the tent flap and taking the medicine bowl from the Master Healer's hands.

The Master Healer said: "The medicine's cooled to the right temperature. Have him drink it now—don't wait."

With that, the Master Healer didn't enter and left the tent.

Ning Lanzhi was still wondering how they'd get the medicine into his unconscious brother, since even if he or Xie Jingxing wanted to feed him by hand, they'd need the right technique. Ning Xishi was unconscious now—one wrong move and he could easily choke.

Then Ning Lanzhi watched as Xie Jingxing, holding the medicine bowl, walked over to the bedside with careful, practiced steps, propping his brother up with one hand. Even that simple move showed how gentle and caring he was.

Then he watched Xie Jingxing sit behind his brother, let him lean against his chest, and feed him the medicine a little at a time.

Ning Lanzhi also noticed that Xie Jingxing's eyes lit up while he did this, as if every spoonful of medicine would bring Ning Xishi closer to waking up.

Feeding him the medicine was tedious and boring, but Xie Jingxing's expression remained tender and gentle throughout. What unsettled Ning Lanzhi even more was the sense that Xie Jingxing treated this as his only hope—as if, if his brother didn't wake up, he'd follow him into death.

When the bowl was empty, Xie Jingxing set it down but didn't rush to lay Ning Xishi back. Instead, he patted his back gently, soothing him like a child, helping him catch his breath.

But Ning Xishi still needed to lie back down and rest. After Xie Jingxing finished everything and carefully tucked the blanket around him again, the life in his expression began to fade again, and before long, he went back to being the hollow, despairing figure Ning Lanzhi had seen when he first arrived.

Ning Lanzhi asked: "What kind of medicine is it?"

"Mostly to build up his qi and blood. He's got too many injuries. After he'd been out for three days, the two doctors found his ribs were actually slightly cracked."

Ning Lanzhi's heart pounded with fear. If his ribs were cracked from the impact, then his chest, his heart... he didn't even dare to think about it.

Ning Lanzhi's voice trembled: "Does Xishi have a chance of waking up?"

At these words, the light in Xie Jingxing's eyes went out completely, but his voice was more certain than ever: "He will wake up."

·

A little while later, in the warmest part of the afternoon, Xie Jingxing lit a few braziers and carefully wiped down Ning Xishi's arms and legs, massaging and soothing his body, which had been still for so long.

Ning Lanzhi could tell at a glance that he'd learned this technique specially, and his movements were practiced—clearly this was how he'd been taking care of him all along.

If someone had told Ning Lanzhi before all this that the legendary General Xie had fallen for his Xishi, loved him enough to die with him, Ning Lanzhi would've brushed it off as nonsense and mocked the speaker for talking nonsense.

But seeing it with his own eyes, his heart ached too.

Besides Xie Jingxing, there was also his younger brother, who cherished life more than anything, willing to get this badly hurt for Xie Jingxing—there had to be real feelings in his heart too.

Who would've thought the emperor's random matchmaking would, after all the twists and turns, lead the two of them to genuinely fall for each other.

But even so, it couldn't hide the fact that Ning Xishi was still unconscious and in constant danger of dying.

Xie Jingxing seemed to know what Ning Lanzhi was about to say and spoke first: "If he doesn't make it, I'll bring down this whole empire and bury it with him."

Ning Lanzhi hadn't expected those words.

Wait—

Bring down the empire?

Overturn the throne, throw the world into chaos, leave the people without protection?

This lunatic!

Xie Jingxing said, "You're his brother. I'd never hurt you. If you want to go tell Xie Lan, go ahead."

He didn't care about anything anymore.

He just wanted Ning Xishi to wake up.

Xie Lan was the emperor's name.

Ning Lanzhi had only ever been raised on orthodox Confucian teachings about respecting the sovereign. Xie Jingxing's words sounded completely absurd and outrageous to him, but looking at his unconscious brother, and the deliberately planted Wanyan Dahong that the emperor had sent...

Ning Lanzhi closed his eyes and said, "He brought my brother to this state. I won't take his side."

After a pause, he added, "And I won't take yours either. If it weren't for you two, my brother would still be a kid worrying about unfinished copying and whether the teacher would smack his hands tomorrow."

Ning Lanzhi had just thrown out a casual example, but Xie Jingxing listened with desperate hunger, as if every detail gave him a tiny piece of the lively, mischievous life of Second Young Master Ning.

That night, Xie Jingxing gave Ning Xishi another massage. His movements were so practiced he didn't need any help, and he finished by wiping each of his toes clean before tucking his feet back under the blanket.

Ning Lanzhi hadn't left, but night was coming on, and it was time for him to rest.

Looking around the tent, Ning Lanzhi asked, "Aren't you going to rest tonight?"

Xie Jingxing pointed at the footstool beside the bed, saying nothing.

Ning Lanzhi had never imagined a general could stoop so low. If he was faking it this well, then the imperial family really did breed talent.

He got up, pushed aside the tent flap, and stepped out.

There he saw Xiao Shaoqing under the night sky. He vaguely remembered this guy—when he had visited his maternal grandfather's home, this guy used to hang around and play with his little brother.

"You went in to see him?" Xiao Shaoqing still sounded a little sad. "He loves sleeping in more than anything. He's gotten plenty of sleep this time—once he wakes up, he won't get to sleep in anymore when it's time to study."

Ning Lanzhi took the wine jug from him and sat down next to him, staring at the dark, empty night sky in the distance. "When he wakes up, he shouldn't go back to studying. He doesn't like it."

"That won't work. He made the decision himself to study. Not long ago, he wrote to me asking me to look into whether the county magistrate in your capital likes poetry or math. He's seriously preparing for the imperial exams," Xiao Shaoqing said.

Ning Lanzhi arched an eyebrow. "He never asked me about it."

"You're his eldest brother. He's always been pretty scared of you, and you've always been his role model. He probably figured that if he asked you and then didn't rank well, it'd be too embarrassing."

"Yeah, that sounds like him," Ning Lanzhi said. "The little guy, but his pride means more to him than anything."

Before he left, Ning Lanzhi had figured his little brother was being held here by Xie Jingxing as a hostage to pressure their dad.

When he got to the camp, he was almost sure of it.

But everything that happened next messed up his plans.

His brother was badly hurt, had been unconscious for a month, and was still fighting for his life. And on top of that, there was a powerful general with real authority, ready to overthrow the Dynasty at any moment.

Ning Lanzhi had mulled it over for two days and still couldn't make sense of it.

He didn't really care who sat on the throne, but judging by Xie Jingxing's condition, even if he killed his own brother—the current emperor, Xie Lan—it would just be avenging a blood debt, not trying to take the throne himself.

Once chaos swept the land and warlords fought for power, that would be the real start of disaster.

Ning Lanzhi lay on the grass, and out of nowhere, he pictured Xie Jingxing carefully drying the water off his brother's fingers, then methodically massaging him from his shoulders and neck down to his feet. It still tugged at his heart.

"Ah Xi, Xiao Xi, hurry and wake up," Ning Lanzhi thought. "Hurry up and wake up. Dad and Mom are so worried about you."

·

Xie Jingxing had always been a light sleeper, and with Ning Xishi constantly on his mind, he slept even lighter. He was even scared that if he dozed off, he might miss the tiniest twitch of Ning Xishi's fingers.

Before going to sleep, he'd tie a red cotton string around Ning Xishi's fingertip, with a little gold bell attached to it.

If there was even the slightest movement, the bell would ring, and Xie Jingxing would wake no matter what.

But this method couldn't entirely confirm that it was Ning Xishi who had moved.

After all, this was a large tent, not a house. Occasionally, wind would slip through, causing the gold bell to chime merrily.

Xie Jingxing had been fooled by the wind twice. Every time he heard a sound, he would jolt awake and rush to check on Ning Xishi.

When he discovered it was just the wind, he could only exhale heavily and lean against the bed, sleepless through the night.

His Ah Xi could not die.

Absolutely could not die.

That day, Xie Jingxing tied the cotton string, looked at those beautiful fingers, and lowered his head to press a devout kiss upon them.

"Ah Xi, I'm about to lose my strength. Ah Xi, I beg you, look at me one more time."

Late at night, Xie Jingxing had just dozed off when he suddenly heard the gold bell ring again. He immediately sat up and brought over the oil lamp from the corner of the tent.

The flame flickered, but the young man's hand showed not the slightest movement.

Xie Jingxing stood for a long while, then finally set the lamp down, sliding slowly to the ground, his back against the bed, like a withered blade of grass.

He felt his heart clench so tightly he could barely breathe.

==========Author's Note:==========

Good night.