Chapter 41: Resentful Marriage 23

Chapter 41: Bitter Marriage 23

"By the way, are you having trouble sleeping?" Li Yu suddenly said.

He remembered earlier in the room, hearing this young man humming a tune to himself. The melody was soft, fragmented, as if afraid of waking someone, or of the silence of being alone.

"Huh?" Jiang Huanyun was still sitting on the stool, absently twirling the dry brush in his hand. He responded, "Actually, not really. It's just that when I close my eyes, I keep thinking about Shen Baoyue and the others..."

He paused there, his voice dropping: "I couldn't save her. I could only watch helplessly as she died ninety-nine times in her dreams, only to wake up and be led around like a puppet. And those newlyweds from the Chen family, both so young, their heads placed neatly on the offering table..."

Jiang Huanyun's fingers slowly tightened, his knuckles white in the moonlight. "Li Yu, am I useless?"

Li Yu didn't answer immediately. He paused for a few breaths, waiting until the night wind had blown away the last chime of the wind chimes outside the window, before speaking.

"Do your best, and let fate decide the rest," he said.

Jiang Huanyun looked up at him. Moonlight spilled in through the window, falling on Li Yu, casting his pale face half in light, half in shadow.

"Not being able to save everyone is the norm in the martial world," Li Yu continued. "You couldn't save her, but at least you didn't run away alone. You committed those two newlyweds' names to memory right in front of Su Zinu, and now you remember Shen Baoyue too. If you had turned around and forgotten them, that would be true uselessness."

Jiang Huanyun listened, and after a few breaths, slowly nodded. He wasn't sure he fully understood, but Li Yu's words were like a ladle of cold water—not much, but just enough to quench the hottest part of his heart, letting him breathe again.

He blinked hard a few times, forcing back the tears gathering in his eyes.

"Time to sleep. It's late," Li Yu said.

"Alright." Jiang Huanyun responded, pushing himself up from the edge of the table.

He walked to the bed, took off his outer robe, and lay down, pulling the quilt up to his chest.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, looking at Li Yu, who was still standing where he was: "Li Yu, aren't you going to sleep?"

"I'm not sleepy," Li Yu said softly.

He walked to the foot of the bed, picked up the fallen outer robe, folded it neatly, and placed it on the stool within Jiang Huanyun's reach.

Jiang Huanyun turned his head, his gaze following him. The room was dark; moonlight cast Li Yu's shadow on the wall, long and stretched.

He watched Li Yu walk to the window again, closing the half-open window, leaving only a crack for air.

After that, he walked back to the bedside, sat down on the stool not far from Jiang Huanyun, leaned his back against the wall, and closed his eyes.

"If you really can't sleep, I'll hum a tune for you," Li Yu suddenly said.

Jiang Huanyun was startled: "Huh?"

"Didn't you say that when you were little and couldn't sleep, your mother would hum tunes for you?" Li Yu's lips curved slightly, the arc so faint in the moonlight, like frost on the eaves that hadn't yet melted at dawn.

Jiang Huanyun blinked: "Oh? So, you want to be my mom?"

Li Yu: "..."

He stared blankly at the person on the bed with the curved brows and smiling eyes.

Jiang Huanyun was curled up under the quilt, only half his face visible, those pale green eyes glittering in the darkness like a cat stealing light.

He was clearly trying to hold back a laugh, yet he added with a straight face: "Not that it's out of the question, but the age gap is a bit large."

"Shut up," Li Yu said.

"Wasn't it you who said you'd hum for me?" Jiang Huanyun pulled the quilt down a little, revealing the corners of his upturned lips. "Little carp?"

Li Yu stood up, turning to leave.

Jiang Huanyun shot a hand out from under the quilt, quickly grabbing his sleeve: "Hey, don't go. I'm sorry. Good carp, go ahead and hum. I won't say anything more."

Li Yu didn't turn around, but he didn't shake him off either. He stood there, silent for two breaths, then softly began to hum. It was that Jiangnan folk tune Jiang Huanyun often hummed.

The melody was steady, exactly the same as when Jiang Huanyun hummed it while walking, soft as spring-end drizzle.

He wasn't skilled at humming, having never sung in front of anyone before, but every note was on pitch.

Those trailing notes that Jiang Huanyun had sung over and over—he remembered them all clearly. Only in the final lines did he slow down, as if reluctant to finish the song.

Jiang Huanyun fell silent. He recognized it—this was a song he had sung.

And the song he had sung had been remembered by another person, stored somewhere deep.

That little tune flowed from Li Yu's throat, mingling with the moonlight and night wind outside the window, like a narrow, shallow stream, trying to overflow into his eyes.

He didn't let the tears fall, only buried his face into the quilt.

Li Yu hummed the last few lines to the end. The melody finished, and the night grew deeper still.

Jiang Huanyun's breathing gradually steadied. His grip on Li Yu's sleeve slowly loosened, then unconsciously crept upward, lightly resting on the hem of Li Yu's robe.

Li Yu sat back down on the stool by the bed, unmoving, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

Moonlight seeped through the window crack, falling on the floor as a silver thread, separating the two at opposite ends, yet casting their shadows on the wall, overlapping into one mass.

When Jiang Huanyun woke, dawn was just breaking.

There was still a remnant of moonlight in the room, so faint it was nearly invisible. He found himself lying on his side, one hand still resting on the back of Li Yu's hand.

He quickly withdrew it, guiltily burrowing deeper into the quilt, then saw that Li Yu was still sitting on that stool, back against the wall, eyes closed, breathing shallow.

"You... you didn't sleep all night?" Jiang Huanyun sat up.

"I slept." Li Yu opened his eyes. There was some weariness in them, but he was already alert.

He stood up, picked up the outer robe, shook it out, and draped it over Jiang Huanyun's shoulders. "Change your bandages, then we go to the Xie estate."

Jiang Huanyun didn't call him out on it. He noticed that a little blood had seeped through the edge of the bandage on Li Yu's chest—probably from pressing against it while sleeping sitting up.

He opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing, only lowering his head with a soft "Mm."

Shen Qingge had already started a fire in the small courtyard, porridge simmering on the stove.

Seeing them come out, she blinked: "You two, did you sleep well last night?"

Jiang Huanyun had just stepped over the threshold. Hearing this, his ears flushed hot, and he pretended to be adjusting his sleeve: "F-fine."

Shen Qingge took the porridge off the stove and divided it into four bowls. She glanced at Li Yu, seeing that he had already changed his bandages, his robe half-open, the bloodstain at the edge of the bandage much fainter, though his face was still far too pale.

She didn't say much, only setting two bowls of porridge down under the eaves before going back to her own tasks.

Jiang Huanyun sat down on the stone steps with his bowl of porridge, lowered his head to blow on it, and took small sips. The steam rose against his face, dispelling some of the chill in the morning breeze.

Li Yu sat a little farther away, back against the porch pillar, his bowl of porridge barely touched.

Jiang Huanyun looked up at him and suddenly said, "Aren't you going to have some? It came out pretty good."

"Not hungry," Li Yu said.

"Even if you're not hungry, just take a couple of sips." Jiang Huanyun brought the bowl over, scooped up a spoonful, and brought it to his lips. "Come on, open wide."

Li Yu turned his head away. "You go ahead and eat yours."

"I'm feeding you and you're still complaining?" Jiang Huanyun held the spoon up with a look that said he wouldn't take no for an answer. "If your chest wound doesn't heal, how am I supposed to go to the Xie estate alone to confront Xie Zining? Just do it for me, okay?"

Li Yu looked at him, was silent for a beat, then finally lowered his head and took the spoonful from his hand.

Jiang Huanyun's mouth immediately curved into a smile, and he scooped another spoonful, offering it to him again.

This time Li Yu didn't dodge, only saying after he finished, "That's enough, I've got it."

Jiang Huanyun didn't push it, pulling the bowl back and continuing to eat on his own.

Shen Qingge leaned against the kitchen doorframe, having watched the whole thing, and let out a soft laugh. Li Yu shot her a glance, and she immediately turned to look at the creepers on the courtyard wall, pretending she hadn't seen a thing.

After the meal, Shen Qingshuang stuffed the prepared medicinal paste and clean bandages into Jiang Huanyun's arms, saying, "You can go to the Xie estate, but neither of you is to throw a punch. Especially you."

She looked at Li Yu, her expression cool. "Your chest wound is too close to your heart. If it splits open again, there's no turning back."

"I know." Li Yu's tone was faint, as if he'd agreed, or maybe hadn't taken it to heart at all.

Jiang Huanyun quickly chimed in, "I'll keep an eye on him. If he—if he tries anything, I'll... I'll hit him!"

Shen Qingshuang glanced at him, then rolled her eyes.

"What's with that look!" Jiang Huanyun felt a little sheepish under her gaze, rubbed his nose, and tightened the medicine pouch.

Just as the three of them stepped out of the courtyard, Shen Qingge suddenly spoke up. "You go to the Xie estate, I'll wait outside as backup. If anything seems off, fire a whistling arrow and I'll come right in. I know a few hidden alleys outside the Xie walls—easy to get in, not hard to get out either."

"You being out there alone isn't safe either," Jiang Huanyun said.

Shen Qingge smiled at him, her two differently colored eyes curving at once in the morning light. "Little physician, have you forgotten? We're not alone."

Jiang Huanyun was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "That's true."