Rebirth of a Star General Chapter 272

Chapter 272 Extra: Yan Xiu – Longing (Part 2)

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Every time Yan He went off to battle, Xia Chengxiu would wait for him at home. From waiting alone to waiting together, but what they ultimately waited for was bad news.

In the first year after Yan He’s departure, everyone expected Xia Chengxiu to be in tears and mourn all day long. However, what she showed was a shocking calmness.

Muxia was well taken care of by her, and Lin Shuanghe often came to check on her. Xia Chengxiu still smiled and carried on with her tasks methodically. However, sometimes at night when she woke up, she would subconsciously try to touch the person next to her, only to realize upon touching the cold bed that the person who used to warm her was no longer there, and she would slowly fall into silence.

In the fifth year after Yan He’s departure, Commandant Yan and Madam Yan actively persuaded Xia Chengxiu to remarry. Despite her age, Xia Chengxiu was not considered old, and there were widows remarrying in Shuojing City. With her gentle and graceful temperament, as well as being the daughter of Lord Xia, there might be suitors from respectable families. However, Xia Chengxiu politely declined their suggestions.

“I have Muxia, and that’s enough for me,” Xia Chengxiu said.

A new place called “Yongxu Academy” opened in the capital, and Xia Chengxiu often went there to help out. She arranged her life so full and orderly, continuing to live without Yan He. He Yan often came to talk to her. Xia Chengxiu knew she was worried about her, but from childhood to adulthood, she was someone who never made others worry about her. Just like when Yan He first saw her, she never let herself be taken advantage of.

In the tenth year after Yan He’s departure, Muxia had grown into a young man who bore a striking resemblance to Yan He, but with a touch of delicacy. He had become proficient in martial arts. He Yan and Xiao Jue would come to teach him swordsmanship whenever they had time. He often challenged Xiao Jue, tying up his long ponytail high, holding a silver spear, and saying, “Commander Xiao, in a few more years, you will surely become my defeated opponent.”

Of course, he ended up being thrown into a tree by Xiao Jue. However, although he couldn’t beat Xiao Jue, he regained his dignity by challenging Xiao Jue, fulfilling the saying “the son pays off the debts owed by the father.”

In the fifteenth year after Yan He’s departure, Muxia fell in love with a girl.

The young man was staring blankly at something in his hand. When he saw his mother coming in, he quickly hid the sachet his beloved had given him. Xia Chengxiu smiled knowingly and sat down beside him.

“Do you really like this girl?” she asked.

Muxia subconsciously denied, “Who likes her?” but his ears turned red quietly.

Xia Chengxiu touched his head. “Then remember to treat her well.”

The young man pretended to be calm, looking away with a blushing face, and said with no confidence, “Hmph.”

In the twentieth year after Yan He’s departure, Muxia married the daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the girl he liked when he was fifteen. They had a daughter named Yan Baose, nicknamed Niaoniao.

Muxia treated Niaoniao and her mother very well. It was rumored in Shuojing City that Gui De Zhonglang Yan was a henpecked husband. Now, seeing how Muxia treated his wife and daughter, people realized that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Niaoniao looked like her mother and was closest to her grandmother, Xia Chengxiu. Her temperament was not as lively as Muxia’s nor as playful as her mother’s. Others said she was very much like Xia Chengxiu in her gentle and calm demeanor, soft yet resilient.

In the twenty-fifth year after Yan He’s departure, five-year-old Niaoniao was playing in the courtyard when she found a bundle under her grandfather’s old bed.

Yan He’s study had remained untouched for all these years, maintaining its original appearance. Xia Chengxiu would personally clean it every day, persisting for more than twenty years. When she wasn’t paying attention, Niaoniao sneaked in. Being small in stature, she crawled into the innermost part of the study and found a treasure wrapped in red cloth. After some thought, she presented the bundle to Xia Chengxiu like a treasure.

After many years, when Xia Chengxiu touched the red cloth, her hand trembled slightly. She opened the bundle, and sunlight streamed in from the window, making her squint. After so many years, she had aged, her eyes were not as clear as they used to be, and it took her a while to see clearly. It was a book with the title “Joyful Travel Notes” written on it.

The book had been stored for a long time, and the pages had turned yellow, giving off a damp, musty smell from being kept in the dark all day. Niaoniao had already been attracted by the birds outside the courtyard and had run out. Xia Chengxiu’s gaze lingered on the pages for a long time, recalling a certain spring day from years ago when she had gone for an outing with her cousin to enjoy the flowers by the Si river. She had left behind this book then.

At that time, she was only sixteen years old, in the prime of her youth. It was on that day, in the spring, when the paper kites by the Si river tangled together, that the young man decisively cut off the love thread between him and the girl opposite, behaving resolutely like a heartless villain. However, as he turned away, he picked up the lost travelogue of another person and cherished it for so many years.

She slowly flipped through the pages of the book, and then she froze.

On the title page of the book, at some point, a line of small characters had been sneakily written.

“Flowers deep, willows shady. Among willows, seeking the sound of love. Your heart betrays mine.”

The handwriting was bold and frivolous, obviously written by a man, and she was not unfamiliar with it. It was Yan He’s handwriting.

In the blink of an eye, it seemed as if one could traverse the years and see the carefree young man in a silver robe with a ponytail sitting at the desk, biting his pen restlessly, almost gnashing his teeth as he wrote this line full of grievances and complaints on the title page. It was as if a wronged woman was scolding a heartless person with a heart of iron.

Who would have thought that Yan He could do such a thing?

Xia Chengxiu was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

The gentle sunlight fell on her hair, blurring the few strands of gray hair that had already appeared. Her smiling face was like that of an eighteen-year-old girl who had just fallen in love, full of sweetness and joy.

On that night, she had indeed seen Yan He.

He stood before her like he did many years ago, wearing a brand-new silver robe, his posture arrogant and domineering. And she stood before him in a pale yellow dress, graceful and elegant, calmly asking, “Why did you take my book?”

The young man’s originally arrogant expression changed rapidly, panic flashing in his eyes, but he still tried to maintain his composure. He cleared his throat lightly and said, “I found it, so it’s mine.”

“You scribbled all over it,” she gently pointed out his misdeed.

Yan He’s face turned even redder, and he defended himself, “That’s not scribbling…”

“If it’s not scribbling, then what is it?”

“It’s…” He nervously adjusted his ponytail, his tone somewhat fierce as he tried to sound tough, but there was a hint of invisible grievance in his tone, “It’s what you think it is!”

Xia Chengxiu stared at him without saying a word.

He was like a paper tiger, asking, “What… What are you looking at me for?”

Xia Chengxiu couldn’t help but laugh. Yan He looked at her in confusion, and after a moment, seemingly influenced by Xia Chengxiu’s laughter, he also laughed, hesitantly reaching out his hand, wanting to hold Xia Chengxiu’s hand…

“Pa—-!”

The wind blew against the window with a loud sound. Xia Chengxiu opened her eyes, but there was no Yan He, and the bed beside her was empty. She silently stared at the canopy for a while, then slowly sat up, barefoot on the ground.

It was late at night, and the floor was very cold.

This was the twenty-fifth spring day since Yan He left. She woke up from a dream, unable to sleep due to sorrow, and slowly sat on the ground, burying her head in her knees. For the first time in many years, she cried silently.

Time can pass slowly, making a day feel like a lifetime, or it can pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye, a lifetime is gone.

Thirty years after Yan He left, Xia Chengxiu passed away.

Her descendants gathered around her bed. This woman had always been serene and gentle, forever calm and graceful. At the moment of her death, she only handed a book to Yan Muxia, instructing him to bury her with Yan He.

As the coffin was lowered into the ground, it was a sunny and breezy day. The paper kites by the Si river filled the sky, and the peonies bloomed in charming red, just like a certain day many years ago when he walked along the riverbank full of new willows, stooped to pick up the travelogue, but unintentionally left behind the joyful thoughts of his youth.

(End)

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