Rebirth of a Star General Chapter 227

Chapter 227: Vinegar

<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>

He Yan hadn’t had a chance to speak when Xiao Jue glanced at her and turned away, walking off.

The lantern in front of her had not been taken down yet, and He Yan couldn’t care less. She quickly pushed through the crowd to catch up. The craftsman behind her was stunned and called out, “Miss, you forgot your lantern!”

But there was no response.

He Xinying also heard the craftsman’s shout and subconsciously followed his gaze. She saw a familiar figure hurriedly leaving.

She was surprised. This figure looked like the Marquis Wuan, He Yan, whom she had encountered in the Yuhua Temple before.

For some reason, despite having only met He Yan once, the impression was exceptionally deep. Beside her, Xu Zhiheng asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” He Xinying snapped back to reality. “Let’s continue looking at the lanterns.” She felt somewhat uneasy.

Since marrying Xu Zhiheng, whenever there was time, he would accompany her to stroll through the night market. Recently, Xu Zhiheng had been busy with official duties, and it had been two months since he last accompanied her. Yesterday, when she returned to the Xu family, Xu Zhiheng unexpectedly suggested spending some time with her at the night market. In the past, He Xinying would have been delighted, but now, walking beside Xu Zhiheng, she felt no joy, and there was even a hint of nervousness.

Her mother’s illness, the assassins that night, the military book hidden in the bedpost—each one raised suspicions. Yet, she couldn’t do anything and had to pretend not to know anything.

She stared at the various lanterns in front of her, but the figure that hastily left a moment ago kept appearing in her mind, weighing heavily on her heart.

…

Amidst the crowded crowd, He Yan finally grabbed Xiao Jue’s sleeve and said, “Slow down. There are so many people here. If we get separated, it will take me a long time to find you. I got stepped on several times just now.”

He continued walking forward without turning back, but his steps did slow down a bit.

In the bustling crowd, He Yan used the strength of throwing a stone to grip his sleeve tightly. She almost tore Xiao Jue’s sleeve, but she finally managed to reach the edge of the crowd along the river.

“Xiao Jue,” He Yan stared at him and asked, “Are you angry?”

Xiao Jue didn’t say anything.

He tilted his head, and He Yan couldn’t see his expression clearly. She tiptoed to get a better look. Xiao Jue used his arm to block He Yan, pushing her away.

“Are you really angry?” He Yan asked, “I just…”

“He Yan,” Xiao Jue interrupted her, looking straight at her with a slightly stern voice, “Are you…”

He Yan looked at him.

“Do you still have feelings for Xu Zhiheng?”

“Cough, cough, cough—” She was choked and coughed.

“Don’t talk nonsense!” He Yan denied outright, “Considering what he did, you’re well aware. How could I still have lingering feelings for him?”

“Oh?” Xiao Jue raised an eyebrow, his gaze sharp. “So, you’re saying there was ‘something’ in the past?”

He Yan almost choked, feeling bewildered by Xiao Jue’s question. No matter how she answered, it seemed wrong. After hesitating for a while, He Yan whispered, “There wasn’t anything in the past.”

Xiao Jue lowered his gaze to look at her, expressionless. He Yan felt uneasy under his gaze and carefully crafted a lie, “You know, due to my parents’ wishes and the matchmaker’s arrangements, I didn’t have the power to choose in my past life. After I exchanged my status with He Rufei, whatever my family arranged was what I had to accept. He Rufei arranged for me to marry Xu Zhiheng, so I married him. I didn’t… have any feelings.”

He Yan inexplicably felt a sense of guilt, as if she had been caught having an affair by her husband. She also had a headache, realizing that she had caused herself a lot of trouble just by glancing at Xu Zhiheng under the lantern. But in a way, it seemed like she was the one at fault. After all, Xiao Jue had not been involved with any other girls before her.

“But I heard that when you married Xu Zhiheng, you were quite happy.” He looked at the river below the railing with a calm gaze.

“Who said that? Spreading rumors behind my back? Their hearts deserve to be condemned!” He Yan retorted.

Xiao Jue glanced at her indifferently, and He Yan stiffened for a moment, lowering her head. “Well, okay, before I knew what kind of person he was, there might have been… a little bit.” She gestured with her thumb and forefinger, indicating a tiny amount. “Just this little bit, as small as an ant. One step would crush it.”

Xiao Jue was amused and lazily said, “So, tell me, why did you like him? Even if you didn’t know what kind of person he was, your judgment,” he assessed He Yan, “seems below average.”

Is he scolding Xu Zhiheng or scolding himself? He Yan wondered. She didn’t feel it before, but the young master was really hard to appease when he got angry. Why ask such embarrassing questions? It was like dissecting a person with a knife. Unfortunately, the person in front of her kept staring at her, and his beautiful eyes were full of scrutiny.

He Yan sighed, “Back then, I just thought he was a good person.”

Xiao Jue’s smile was mocking.

“Do you remember the time during the hunting trip in East Mountain when you secretly gave me a rabbit?” He Yan asked.

“Yeah.”

“The scholars at Xianchang Academy made a rule to please the emperor. Students had to give their best, and they set a rule that if they didn’t catch any prey, they couldn’t eat for the entire day.”

Even now, He Yan felt indignant, “The person who set such a rule was simply sick. Even condemned prisoners get a decent meal, but just because they didn’t catch any prey, they imposed such inhumane punishment… On that day, even though you gave me a rabbit, I released it. I didn’t catch any prey.”

If it were summer, it would be tolerable, but going hungry on a snowy day was truly uncomfortable. As the hunting activities concluded, He Yan watched the groups of young men returning laden with their spoils, and her heart felt extremely uneasy.

It was during that time that she encountered Xu Zhiheng.

Back then, Xu Zhiheng was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young lad, dressed in green clothes, looking handsome and gentle. He Yan, with an empty stomach, walked towards the place where bags were stored. The snow on the ground was deep, and she had been at the hunting grounds since morning until the sky turned dark. Exhausted and without energy, she accidentally kicked a stone buried in the snow. Losing her balance, she stumbled, half of her body falling into the snow, unable to get up for a while.

As she struggled in the snow, suddenly, a voice came from ahead, “Are you okay?”

He Yan raised her head and saw a young man in green clothes.

The young man seemed unfamiliar; he probably wasn’t a student from Xianchang Academy. However, on this day of mountain hunting, students from other academies also participated. He was likely from another academy.

While He Yan was still in a daze, the young man smiled and reached out to grab her hand, saying, “Let me help you.” He pulled her up from the snow.

She still wore a mask on her face, and the mask was cold, but the young man’s hand was warm.

“I’m Xu Zhiheng. Are you from Xianchang Academy, brother?”

He Yan nodded vaguely.

“I heard that Xianchang Academy has strict rules. If you don’t catch any prey today, you’ll go hungry,” Xu Zhiheng looked at her empty hands. “Unfortunately, I didn’t go hunting, or else I could have shared a catch with you.”

In Xianchang Academy, she was somewhat solitary and didn’t have many friends. Due to her mask, others also found her unsociable and avoided her. It was the first time she had encountered such a warm-hearted person.

“You need to go get your bag over there, right?” Xu Zhiheng asked, “Shall I help you? You seem unable to walk properly.”

He Yan was about to refuse, but when she raised her foot, she felt a sharp pain in her ankle. It seemed she had twisted it. Thinking of this, she nodded slightly, blushing, and said, “Thank you.” She pointed to the red bag, “That’s mine.”

Xu Zhiheng turned around to the elevated platform to retrieve He Yan’s bag. After bringing it back and handing it to He Yan, he assisted her all the way to the carriage where Xianchang Academy students were sitting before leaving.

At that time, He Yan looked at Xu Zhiheng’s departing figure and felt that this young man was indeed warm and considerate.

Upon returning to Xianchang Academy, it was indeed a day without food. He Yan stayed alone in her room, poured herself some hot tea, but the more she drank, the hungrier she felt, and her stomach kept growling.

But what could she do? Xianchang Academy had the strictest rules, and besides, she really hadn’t caught anything. Even if she wanted to go, she couldn’t lower her face. After sitting for a while, He Yan sighed helplessly, took out the bag, and prepared to rearrange the paper and pen she had carried during the day. As soon as she opened the bag, two golden-yellow loquats rolled out.

At this season, why would there be loquats?

He Yan was stunned for a moment and instinctively picked up the loquats. The loquats were large and heavy, and a faint fragrance could be smelled. The bag had been placed on the elevated platform all this time. During the hunt, the students only carried quivers and arrows for the sake of convenience. After thinking it over, the only person who had touched this bag was that young man named Xu Zhiheng.

She peeled open one of the loquats, took a small bite, and found it sweet. Thinking of the face and smile of that young man earlier, she felt that her luck today wasn’t actually too bad.

A few more years passed, and when He Yan returned from the battlefield, exchanging her identity with He Rufei, she was told by Madam He that a marriage had been arranged for her. The name of the groom was Xu Zhiheng. He Yan’s heart was not only shocked but also secretly delighted. In the He family, the marriages of women were always paved by the men. Compared to marrying a masked stranger, marrying Xu Zhiheng was obviously the best choice among all her options.

Regardless of how others praised Young Master Xu as promising, in He Yan’s heart, she felt that Xu Zhiheng, who had cared so considerately for a chance encounter when he was around ten, must be a good person. At that time, she had many expectations for this marriage. Even though later on, Xu Zhiheng favored He Wanru, and He Wanru always flaunted her power in front of her, based on those two loquats from Xu Zhiheng’s youth, He Yan had always harbored some fantasies about Xu Zhiheng.

Until she went blind, until Xu Zhiheng gradually shattered those fantasies with his own hands.

“So,” said Xiao Jue with a teasing tone, “you liked him just because of two loquats?”

“Well, sort of,” He Yan said. “I just felt that he could care for others’ feelings so well, understand the plight of others. At the very least, he is a good person.”

“Your liking is really casual,” Xiao Jue sneered, walked forward, took a few steps, then stopped, and coldly said, “Those two loquats were given by me.”

He Yan was stunned.

He had continued walking towards the riverside, and He Yan stood still for a moment. After a few steps, she caught up with him, grabbing his sleeve. “How is that possible? Are you lying to me?”

Xiao Jue lowered his head to look at her, his gaze calm.

When Lin Shuanghe proposed to give a rabbit to He Yan, Xiao Jue, annoyed, shot one. He Yan, however, released that rabbit, reminding him of his own experiences in the mountains when he was young. He treated this seemingly unremarkable kid differently. Knowing that students who hadn’t caught any prey today would go hungry for a day after returning to Xianchang Pavilion, as the top hunter this time, Xiao Jue received many rewards. The palace even bestowed imperial food, including two loquats.

Loquats at this time of the year were not something you could find everywhere. He was not particularly interested in such sweet fruits, but as he was leaving, passing by the elevated platform, he glimpsed a red bag placed in the corner. He vaguely remembered that this bag seemed to belong to “He Rufei.”

The kid hadn’t caught anything today and would go hungry for the night after returning. It was winter, making it difficult to endure. Xiao Jue looked at the imperial food basket he was carrying, thinking of the first time he encountered “He Rufei.” He remembered seeing this guy standing under the loquat tree in the academy, desperately jumping up and down, trying to pick the loquats, looking quite comical. After some thought, he stopped and took out the two loquats from the food basket, stuffing them into the red bag.

He Yan stammered, “No way? It’s really you who sent them?”

Xiao Jue quietly looked at her.

In He Yan’s heart, she thought, this is bad. It’s like Xiao Jue did a good deed, but Xu Zhiheng intercepted the credit, and inadvertently, how could he feel comfortable? But at this critical moment, how could she calm his anger?

“Today is your birthday. I forgot to get the lantern just now. What kind of gift do you want…” Awkwardly changing the subject, she glanced at the street on the opposite side. There was someone selling candied hawthorns. She said, “Wait for a moment.” She rushed over, bought a string of candied hawthorns, and ran back, handing it to Xiao Jue. “Here!”

Xiao Jue turned his head.

He might really be angry.

He Yan felt troubled. Past events couldn’t be undone. She did have feelings for Xu Zhiheng, and she married him, while Xiao Jue did not. She had never experienced Xiao Jue’s current feelings, but she understood that the taste might not be pleasant.

He Yan circled around him, “Xiao Jue, Xiao Jue?”

Xiao Jue avoided her gaze, only looking at the flowing river below the railing.

At some point, it began to snow lightly, and snowflakes fell on them. Away from the crowds of the night market, He Yan finally felt the cold. Suddenly, she remembered what Qing Mei had said to her before leaving.

He Yan glanced at Xiao Jue. He didn’t look at her. She sneezed, exaggeratedly sneezing and said to herself, “So cold.”

The next moment, warmth descended from the sky. Xiao Jue turned around, took off his cloak, and draped it over her. Finally, he looked at her.

He Yan hurriedly seized the opportunity and pounced in front of him. “Not angry anymore?”

Xiao Jue helped her fasten the cord of the cloak but still ignored her.

His cloak was large, almost enclosing He Yan’s entire body. He Yan was afraid he might feel cold, so she got close to Xiao Jue, almost sticking to him, just like that night when she was drunk. She teased Xiao Jue, “Commander Xiao, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mistaken you. Today is your birthday. Don’t be angry, okay? Give me a smile? If you don’t want to smile… how about eating a candied hawthorn?”

She held up the candied hawthorn and approached Xiao Jue’s lips. Suddenly, her hand was grabbed.

He Yan was startled, subconsciously lifting her head, meeting his deep black eyes.

The young man’s features had shed the gentleness of his youth, like moonlight on a snowy mountain, with sharp, clean contours—distinctly handsome, akin to flawless beautiful jade.

He gently pulled He Yan closer, encircling her in his arms, and leaned down to kiss her.

Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! Want to get early access to at least 5 chapters in advance? Go to my Patreon to join now! :)

<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>