strictlysupreme Chapter 159 Lixuan Confirms His Feelings
Chapter 159 Lixuan Confirms His Feelings
He dreamed that he went back to the time before his house was ransacked.
At that time, he was still the second son of Master Jiang, with a noble status, but he also lived a muddle-headed life.
There was no shortage of joking among classmates, revealing envy of hereditary privileges in understatement: "Your father is the current imperial tutor, powerful at the time, you just need to follow his shadow and be a free and easy second-generation rich man, the road to officialdom will be smooth, why bother studying so hard?"
However, he was well aware of the hardships and difficulties behind it. His father Jiang Yan had to work very hard to get the position of Taifu today.
It was a road full of thorns, and every bit of glory was the result of my father's countless arguments and unremitting struggles, even at the cost of offending the powerful in the court, just to protect his loyalty and ideals to the country.
Therefore, Jiang Lixuan still maintained his diligence and did not dare to slack off or indulge himself in the slightest.
In the dream, he was studying in academy. The sunlight outside the window was dappled and fell on the yellowed pages of the book.
Just as he was immersed in the sea of books with no distractions, a clear and pleasant female laughter sounded, like a spring breeze blowing across the lake, gently rippling and penetrating the tranquility of the academy.
As soon as the students heard the woman's voice, they all stood up and wanted to see how beautiful the woman was.
Master Lin coughed a few times, and then his calm and dignified voice sounded at the right time: "Students like you should focus on your studies and not be distracted. Only then can you achieve something. How can the voices from the outside world shake your determination to study?"
Only Jiang Lixuan was not disturbed by the noise outside and was still looking at the book in his hands seriously.
Master Lin couldn't help but nodded. It turned out that the woman outside the window was Master Lin's daughter. She came to give Master Lin the teaching plan that he left at home.
The students in the academy only heard his voice but never saw him.
She was born into a scholarly family and was said to be a woman of both talent and beauty.
Master Lin has always wanted to choose a good husband for his daughter. Among his students, there are naturally many young men with prominent family backgrounds, and his eyes fell on Jiang Lixuan.
He has good moral character and a gentlemanly heart as gentle as jade, which is exactly the ideal son-in-law in Master Lin's mind.
After a few days in a trance, Jing Qiudie whispered to Jiang Lixuan about her thoughts on the important matter of life: "Lixuan, time is passing by, you are no longer a child, your brother has found a good match, and your sister has also married someone else, it's time to find your good match too."
Jiang Lixuan's eyes were calm when he heard this. He didn't seem to have too many expectations for the woman. He just replied calmly: "Mother, I don't have any high requirements for marriage, but I hope she has good character and a kind heart."
She was pleased with her son's open-mindedness, but also had a bit of worry as a mother. She stroked her sleeves, smiled gently, and said softly, "In this case, I will carefully select for you a woman with both talent and virtue."
"It's up to the mother."
Afterwards, he arranged a marriage with the Lin family. Jiang Lixuan felt that the other party was the teacher's daughter and a talented woman, so he was marrying above his station.
At this time, he could no longer realize that this was a dream, as if everything had started all over again.
Although the days passed were ordinary, there were no waves.
My younger sister did not marry into the marquis's mansion to struggle, but instead married into the prince's mansion and found a good partner. She and her husband know each other well and live in harmony.
My father's career was smooth and without any disturbances. The Jiang family mansion was not only free from any disasters,
However, he was extremely talented and had a smooth journey in the imperial examination. He won the title of Gongshi in one fell swoop. His future was bright and his glory was beginning to emerge.
In the blink of an eye, it was his wedding day. He was wearing a wedding dress, riding a tall horse, looking very high-spirited, and was about to marry the girl from the Lin family.
But Jiang Lixuan always felt that something was missing, as if he had forgotten something.
But the dream was too beautiful, and he would rather sink into it than wake up.
During the wedding ceremony, he looked at the graceful bride in front of him and the guests' congratulations, but he did not feel the slightest joy in his heart. Instead, he felt a sense of disappointment.
It wasn't until he saw a familiar figure among the guests that Jiang Lixuan's heart moved and he stared at that figure unwillingly.
No, we can't go on like this. Nothing here is real. If you continue, you will die.
There was a voice in his heart constantly reminding him to leave here quickly.
Jiang Lixuan didn't know what was going on, but he listened to his inner voice and chased back in the direction the woman in red left.
No matter how the people behind him shouted or how the people around him tried to stop him, he did not stop.
The moonlight was like water, sprinkling on the back of the woman in red, giving her a layer of mysterious and gentle glow.
When she finally stopped and turned around slowly, time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Her face was bright but with an unspeakable sadness. She spoke slowly: "You are finally here. I have been waiting for you."
"Lixuan... Lixuan..."
Jiang Lixuan's consciousness seemed to be suddenly pulled back to reality by an invisible force. He looked up suddenly, his eyes eagerly shuttling through the void around him, but he only saw the woman's figure gradually moving away in the haze, like a phantom in the morning mist, out of reach.
"Miss Xie, where have you been?"
"Lixuan, you must wake up."
He felt a sharp pain in his chest, and the world around him began to distort and collapse. Everything became blurry and chaotic, and his body was shaken violently.
Jiang Lixuan suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath, his chest heaving violently. When his vision gradually became clear, he saw Xie Wangshu's familiar and gentle face, looking at him with concern.
"You're awake, you finally woke up." Xie Wangshu smiled happily.
Almost instinctively, he turned the excitement of the long-awaited reunion into a gentle hug and held her tightly in his arms.
As he tossed and turned in his dreams, everything in the real world might have become blurred, but her figure was as clear as yesterday, deeply engraved in his heart, and became the most tenacious concern in the depths of his soul.
Jiang Lixuan then realized how important Xie Wangshu was in his heart.
It was not until he heard a light cough at the side that Jiang Lixuan came back to his senses. He quickly loosened his arms and turned his gaze to the side. He saw his eldest brother standing there quietly with a kettle in his hand, his eyes showing both understanding and a barely perceptible smile.
Jiang Lanxu finally breathed a sigh of relief. When they found Jiang Lixuan and his group, they were immersed in a dream and could not be woken up at all.
"Fortunately we found you in time, otherwise you would have died here."
He had no choice but to take out the pills his sister brought and stuff them into the mouths of these people one by one.
Some soldiers were rescued, but some never woke up and had stopped breathing.
Fortunately, Lixuan also survived.
Jiang Lixuan staggered and barely managed to keep his steps. Seeing this, Xie Wangshu's heart tightened and he subconsciously wanted to reach out to help him. However, when his eyes met Jiang Lanxu who was standing quietly beside him, he quietly withdrew his hand.
"Brother, the water in this stream is full of mysteries. There are actually insects hiding in it. You must not drink it, or you will be harmed by it."
Jiang Lanxu's expression did not change when he heard this. He nodded slightly, "I understand this matter. Thanks to Nianwei's secret letter that was delivered in time, the Jie Barbarians used the secret of this valley to achieve a strange symbiosis with the parasites in the stream. The Barbarians have lived here for generations, so they are naturally not disturbed by them. But for outsiders like us, it is a deadly threat."
"It's Nianwei... She has always been smart, and I didn't expect that she knew the secrets of the barbarians."
Jiang Lixuan was a little scared. If his elder brother had not arrived in time, he was afraid that he would really have to die here.
Suddenly, a subtle but extremely clear sound quietly spread from the depths of the grass.
Years of experience have made Jiang Lanxu more sensitive to danger than ordinary people. He shouted in a low voice: "There are ambushes hidden in the bushes!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of arrows breaking through the wind was already whistling in the air. Fortunately, several people were alert and shot down all the arrows.
Jiang Lanxu made a quick decision. He left behind a few capable men to ensure the safety of the rear, and he led the remaining elite troops to chase in the direction where the barbarian soldiers fled.
Jiang Lixuan's body had not recovered yet, and he wanted to follow his elder brother, but his steps froze when Xie Wangshu gently grabbed his sleeve.
"Deputy General Jiang, you need to stay here."
Jiang Lixuan came back to his senses and suddenly remembered the scene where he hugged her in his arms regardless of everything, and he couldn't help feeling nervous.
"Miss, this place is extremely dangerous. How can you risk your life here?"
She blurted out: "For me, as long as it's for you, all the hardships in the world are insignificant."
After she finished speaking, she realized that her words were too blunt, and her cheeks immediately turned red and felt hot.
Before she found Jiang Lixuan, she was really scared. What would she do if she saw his body? Fortunately, he was still alive and well.
After experiencing these uncertain twists and turns of life and death, the two hearts inadvertently became closer.
They began to deeply realize that the existence of each other had unknowingly become an indispensable part of their lives.
Jiang Lanxu successfully captured the leader of the barbarians. This time, they did not drink the water in the valley, so they left very smoothly.
I never encountered the situation of being stuck in a "ghost wall" again.
Jiang Lanxu analyzed: "Those bugs paralyze their prey in this way, leaving them behind to eat, so you can't get out of here anyway. To be on the safe side, you need to take a few more pills."
Xie Zhuo was originally very anxious after he found out that his daughter had left. Now that he saw that the group had returned safely, he was finally relieved. However, he was still angry in his heart: "You damn girl, you still have the nerve to come back!"
Xie Wangshu took his father's hand and said coquettishly, "Dad, I'm back safely. Look, I brought Deputy General Jiang back with me. I also contributed to this. You can't blame me."
Xie Zhuo couldn't do anything about her, he could only sigh and turn to look at Jiang Lixuan, his face still pale.
"You have performed a great deed this time. I will report this to the court and reward you!"
But Jiang Lanxu knew that this was not right. The military camp did not know their background, but someone in the capital must know. If someone knew that they were criminals, the Xie family would probably be implicated.
"Thank you, General. These are all your contributions. I just don't dare to take credit for them."
"You don't have to be so humble. Without you, it would take a lot of time to defeat the barbarians."
"I only want to contribute to the people. Other achievements are not important!"
Xie Zhuo stroked his beard, and the more he looked at Jiang Lixuan, the more satisfied he felt.
He wanted to marry his daughter to him, but if he had no military merit and no rewards, how could they be a good match?
Xie Wangshu vaguely guessed what his father was thinking, and looked at Jiang Lixuan expectantly, but he shook his head silently.
The two men insisted on not accepting the reward, which made Xie Wangshu feel very aggrieved.
After hesitating for a long time, she rushed into Jiang Lixuan's tent without hesitation, "Deputy General Jiang, tell me..."
Jiang Lixuan was seen half-naked with his arms covered with shocking scars. He was concentrating and carefully applying medicine to himself with his head lowered. The dim candlelight illuminated his slightly sturdy muscles.
Noticing Xie Wangshu's sudden intrusion, he quickly turned around and put on his clothes.
"Miss Xie, sorry for the inconvenience. Please leave first!"
Xie Wangshu bit his lower lip and did not leave. Instead, he quietly sat beside him and picked up the medicine. "You saw it last time... I saw you this time... We are even now."
Recalling the past, Xie Wangshu's actions were tantamount to sacrificing his innocence just to exchange for a moment of warmth from him. This scene and this feeling made him look shrouded in a layer of faint worry.
"Miss Xie, I'm sorry. It's not that I don't want to accept military merit. I also want to be rewarded according to my merits. To be honest, I want to stand out more than anyone else, but... you also know that our Jiang family is a criminal. If the court knows the identity of the Jiang family, my parents and sister will suffer. The time is not yet ripe, and I dare not take the risk."
Xie Wangshu understood his difficulties and silently applied the medicine with his head down.
"I understand that maybe I was too stubborn in the past and didn't consider your difficulties."
He cares about his family and is a man of affection and righteousness. I can't be so selfish.
Jiang Lixuan understood his own feelings and was no longer timid, facing his inner heart.
"Miss, can you wait for me?"
Xie Wangshu's chest began to beat violently, as if he knew what he was going to say next.
Jiang Lixuan said solemnly, "My current status does not match that of Miss. I only hope that Miss can wait for me... After I clear the Jiang family of their crimes and restore their reputation, I will definitely come to propose marriage and let you marry me in glory. Are you willing?"
Of course she was willing. In her excitement, she involuntarily increased the intensity of the movement of her hands applying medicine to Jiang Lixuan's wound. Suddenly, a hint of pain flashed across Jiang Lixuan's brows, and he groaned.
"S-Sorry, I got too excited. Are you okay?"
"No problem."
Their eyes met under the dim candlelight, and Jiang Lixuan continued to ask, "Miss, you haven't answered my question yet."
Xie Wangshu no longer hesitated and nodded heavily, "I am willing. I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes, I will wait for you."