Huo Ci had a very long dream.
He dreamed through his past and present lives with Jiang Xingyan, from their first meeting to their ending.
How he wished that everything his mother had said was false.
But when he saw Li Yishu standing before him in revealing clothes, only to be pushed away by him, he despaired.
No wonder, no wonder there wasn’t a single fragment in his memory of being close to A-Yan.
He had never doubted it for a moment, only hated himself for having such poor tolerance for alcohol.
Yet he never imagined there could be such sinister intentions and schemes behind it all.
All of it came from the mother he had always respected.
Huo Ci watched his past self, after little Ya was drowned by his mother’s men, treat A-Yan with arrogance and cruel words.
He watched himself ignore A-Yan’s cries for help countless times, doing everything with self-righteous certainty.
He and his dear mother—neither was innocent.
In an instant, countless memories faded away.
He stood alone in a boundless darkness.
“Heh.”
Huo Ci suddenly let out a cold laugh.
What followed was a laugh more unhinged with each passing breath.
He had spent half his life on horseback, had nothing to show for it, and had become the biggest joke in all of Western Zhou.
How ridiculous.
“Ci’er, wake up quickly, don’t frighten your mother.”
Huo Ci jolted awake, leaned over the edge of the bed, and vomited a large mouthful of sour liquid with a retch.
“Ci’er—”
“Get out! I don’t want to see you again!”
“Ci’er, I’m your mother! How can you—”
Swish!
Huo Ci reached out and felt along the bedside, drawing a sword and holding it across his own neck.
“My life was given by you. If you want it, take it!”
He slowly opened his eyes, and they were completely bloodshot. In them, he saw a familiar yet strange silhouette.
“Old Madam, you should go down and rest.
Doctor Sun said the young general hit the back of his head and would have a drastic change in temperament upon waking. He needs more rest. Old Madam, please don’t provoke the young general here.”
Huo Ci blinked hard, and under the wash of tears, he could finally see everything around him clearly.
He was currently lying in a separate courtyard of the General’s Manor, and what he held in his hand was his own sword.
Yinzhu Mama was helping his mother, Old Madam Huo, walk out.
Huo Ci’s head was dizzy and muddled. He looked down at himself.
Clang!
The precious sword in his hand suddenly clattered to the ground.
He and A-Yan had switched back!
There were no longer any ties between him and A-Yan.
“Little Ya!”
Jiang Xingyan jolted awake and sat straight up in bed.
A wave of dizziness hit her, and she fell heavily back onto the bed.
“A-Niang, A-Niang.”
Little Ya’s milky, childlike voice sounded by her ear, and the heart Jiang Xingyan had lodged in her throat returned to her stomach.
As long as Little Ya was by her side, everything was fine.
Cold tears slid from the corners of her eyes.
The years she had known Huo Ci had ultimately been wasted.
Suddenly, a warm hand clasped hers.
Slender index fingers intertwined with hers, ten fingers locked together.
Jiang Xingyan slowly opened her tear-blurred eyes, and what greeted her was a bed canopy she had never seen before.
Turning her head slightly, she saw Yun Chunfeng’s anxious and distressed expression, and by the bedside, a little head with two small tufts of hair peeked out.
“Yun-ge’er, I—”
She had meant to say that she was still in Huo Ci’s body, but when she looked down, she discovered she was no longer in armor, but in a ruqun she hadn’t worn in a long time.
Her eyes flew wide open.
“I-I’ve switched back?!”
She held out her hands and looked at the calluses from doing odd jobs before, plus the injuries from wielding weapons on the battlefield.
After examining them carefully for a long time, she finally confirmed the truth.
“Yun-ge’er, I’m me again!”
Yun Chunfeng still held Jiang Xingyan’s hand tightly, not letting go for even a moment.
This was the first real contact between the two since their rebirth.
“Da Xiaojie, Yun-ge’er is here.”
Jiang Xingyan sat up. When she fixed her gaze on Yun Chunfeng, the emotions in her heart were complicated and tangled.
Shyness, embarrassment, sorrow, and relief—all at once.
Yun Chunfeng sensed the change in Da Xiaojie’s emotions, lifted her hand, and lowered his face to nuzzle into her palm.
“If Da Xiaojie wants to blame someone, blame Yun-ge’er.”
Jiang Xingyan’s face burned. She wanted to pull her hand back, but Yun Chunfeng held it tightly.
“Yun-ge’er, Little Ya is here.”
Little Ya tilted her head up, looked left at A-Niang, then right at the uncle who had become A-Die, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She turned and ran:
“Chunxue Yiyi, Xiafeng Yiyi, Qiuyan Yiyi, Dongyang Yiyi, quick, take Little Ya out to play!
A-Niang and A-Die are going to have a private talk.”
Yun Chunfeng curved his lips. Worthy of being his little padded jacket—so thoughtful.
Jiang Xingyan’s face grew even redder. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say, so she could only stay silent.
The two were speechless for a long time, until Yun Chunfeng’s tears soaked Jiang Xingyan’s palm.
“Yun-ge’er, it’s all over.”
Yun Chunfeng nodded lightly. “From now on, Yun-ge’er will always stay by Da Xiaojie’s side.”
Jiang Xingyan used her other hand as well, gently cupping Yun Chunfeng’s face.
Although his peach-blossom eyes were hollow and sightless, his cold, pale skin and stunningly beautiful features gave him an added air of broken beauty.
Jiang Xingyan’s heart pounded like a drum.
In two lifetimes, she had finally found someone she loved and who was right for her.
She would not miss Yun-ge’er again.
She leaned in bit by bit, and Yun Chunfeng’s breathing nearly stopped.
He had underestimated the depth of his longing for Da Xiaojie. Whether in heart or in skin, he wanted her so badly it screamed.
Now, before Jiang Xingyan could press her lips to his, he leaned forward slightly, and their soft lips truly, tightly, met.
Jiang Xingyan’s eyes flew wide open, and her whole body trembled.
So this was what true skin-to-skin intimacy felt like—so breathtaking.
Before she could react, the cool young man before her had already leaned over her.
One hand cradled the back of her head, gently laying her down on the bed.
“Da Xiaojie, Yun-ge’er has really, really missed you.”
Jiang Xingyan’s cheeks flushed like rosy clouds. Under Yun Chunfeng’s soft, cloud-like lips and tender kisses, she unconsciously closed her eyes.
Although they had shared such intimacy countless times in the dream where the soul-summoning technique was used.
Only when they were truly together did she realize how illusory and ethereal everything in those dreams had been.
Yun Chunfeng could feel Da Xiaojie’s warmth and breath, could touch her slightly feverish cheeks, could hear the soft, fawn-like whimpers rising from her throat.
All of it made him love her to madness.
He was no longer satisfied with a shallow taste. He kissed domineeringly, kissed deeply.
He wanted to kiss back all the years they had lost.
He wanted to merge with Da Xiaojie and never be apart again.
“Xiaojie, something’s wrong! General Huo, he—ah!”
Chunxue rushed in in a panic, then ran out again with a red face.
“Xiaojie, I-I didn’t see anything!”
Thanks to her intrusion, Jiang Xingyan was embarrassed to the extreme. She reached out and pushed the still-wanting-more Yun Chunfeng.
Yun Chunfeng gently released Jiang Xingyan, his face full of grievance.
More aggrieved than a child whose sugar painting had been snatched away.
Jiang Xingyan couldn’t help but laugh. She lightly kissed his cheek and said softly, “It’s daytime now.”
Hearing this, Yun Chunfeng leaned over again, pressed Jiang Xingyan down, and kissed her fiercely for a long time, until she was short of breath, before letting go.
“True. Yun-ge’er is blind, so naturally he can’t tell whether it’s day or night.”
Jiang Xingyan laughed.
Like coaxing a child, she kissed him a few more times, and only then was he satisfied.
She tidied her disheveled hair and collar a little, cleared her throat softly, and asked through the window screen, “Chunxue, what is it?”
It was Xiafeng who answered.
“Xiaojie, Chunxue barged in on Xiaojie and the guye, so she ran far away.”
Her tone held helplessness, indulgence, and a trace of teasing that was hard to detect, making Jiang Xingyan’s face redden even more, as if it could drip blood.
She lowered her head shyly and murmured, “Why are you already calling him guye?”
Hearing this, Yun Chunfeng turned his head and said pitifully, “True. Now Yun-ge’er is a mortal, and blind besides. Naturally he isn’t worthy of Da Xiaojie.
How could he deserve the title of guye?
Better to hurry and find Da Xiaojie a suitable, ideal husband.”
Jiang Xingyan found it amusing.
How had she never noticed before that Yun-ge’er was so jealous?
Where had that aloof National Preceptor gone?
Jiang Xingyan knew how to deal with him. Without another word, she pulled him over and kissed him hard again and again, even deliberately grazing the corner of Yun Chunfeng’s mouth with her tiger tooth until it broke.
“Talk nonsense again, and I’ll deal with you.”
Yun Chunfeng licked the corner of his mouth lightly and lowered his head with a smile, his ear tips impossibly red.
Only then did Jiang Xingyan free herself to continue asking, “Xiafeng, what exactly is going on outside?”
Xiafeng’s tone turned serious as she replied, “Xiaojie, General Huo is kneeling outside right now, requesting to see you.”
