Chapter 272 Extra Story 3: (Yan Xiu) Everlasting Longing (Part 2)
Every time Yan He went off to battle, Xia Chengxiu would wait for him at home. From waiting alone to waiting with another, yet what finally arrived was tragic news.
In the first year after Yan He’s departure, everyone expected Xia Chengxiu to be drowning in tears, consumed by grief day and night. Yet what she displayed was a startling calm.
Mu Xia was well cared for by her, and Lin Shuanghe often came to visit. Xia Chengxiu still smiled, handling her tasks methodically. Only sometimes, when she woke in the middle of the night, she would instinctively reach for the person beside her, only for her hand to touch cold bedding. It was then she seemed to realize that the one who once warmed her was no longer there, and she would slowly fall silent.
In the fifth year after Yan He’s departure, Commander Yan and Lady Yan urged Xia Chengxiu to remarry. At her age, she was still young, and it was not unheard of for widows in Shuojing City to remarry. Gentle and graceful by nature, and being Lord Xia’s daughter, there were certainly good matches among those who came to propose. Yet Xia Chengxiu politely declined.
Xia Chengxiu said, “Having Mu Xia is enough for me.”
A new “Yongxu Hall” opened in the capital, and Xia Chengxiu often went to help. She filled her life to the brim, calmly continuing to live without Yan He. He Yan often came to talk with her. Xia Chengxiu knew she was worried, but since childhood, she had never been one to cause concern. Just like the first time Yan He saw her, she never let herself be taken advantage of.
In the tenth year after Yan He’s departure, Mu Xia had grown into a young boy. His features closely resembled Yan He’s, yet with a touch more delicacy. His spear skills were already impressive. He Yan and Xiao Jue would take time to instruct him in swordsmanship. He often challenged Xiao Jue, his high ponytail tied, silver spear in hand, declaring, “Commander Xiao, in a few years, you will surely be defeated by me.”
Of course, the outcome was being tossed into a tree by Xiao Jue. Though he never bested Xiao Jue, he managed to regain his pride by challenging Xiao Yao under the guise of sparring—what they called “the daughter paying for the father’s debt.”
In the fifteenth year after Yan He’s departure, Mu Xia had found a girl he liked.
The young man was lost in thought, staring at something in his hands. When his mother entered, he hurriedly hid the sachet his sweetheart had given him. Xia Chengxiu smiled knowingly and sat down beside him.
“Do you like this girl very much?” she asked.
Yan Muxia instinctively retorted, “Who likes her?” Yet the tips of his ears quietly turned red.
Xia Chengxiu patted his head. “Then remember to treat her well.”
The young man pretended to be composed, averting his gaze, his face flushed as he muttered with little conviction, “Hmph.”
In the twentieth year after Yan He’s departure, Yan Muxia married the daughter of the Minister of Revenue—the very girl he had liked at fifteen. They had a daughter, named Yan Baose, with the childhood name Niaoniao.
Yan Muxia treated Niaoniao and her mother well. Back in the day, rumors in Shuojing City said that Guide Central General Yan Nanguang was henpecked. Now, seeing how Yan Muxia treated his wife and daughter, people realized it was a family tradition passed down from father to son.
Niaoniao resembled her mother and was closest to her grandmother, Xia Chengxiu. Her temperament was neither as bold as Yan Muxia’s nor as lively as her mother’s. Others said she greatly resembled Xia Chengxiu in her youth—gentle, serene, soft yet strong.Twenty-five years after Yan He left, the five-year-old Niaoniao was playing in the mansion and found a cloth-wrapped bundle from beneath her grandfather’s old bed.
Yan He’s study had remained untouched all these years, preserved exactly as it was. Xia Chengxiu had personally cleaned it every day, a routine she had maintained for over two decades. Unnoticed, Niaoniao slipped inside. Small in stature, she crawled to the innermost corner of the study’s daybed and discovered a treasure wrapped in red cloth. After a moment’s thought, Niaoniao presented the bundle to Xia Chengxiu like a prized offering.
Seeing something left behind by Yan He after so many years, Xia Chengxiu’s hands trembled slightly as she touched the red cloth. She opened the bundle, and sunlight streamed in through the window, making her squint. After all these years, she had aged, and her eyes were no longer as sharp as before. It took her a while to see clearly—it was a book, titled Joyful Travels.
The book had been stored for a long time, its pages entirely yellowed, and due to being kept in a dark place, it carried a musty dampness. Niaoniao had long been drawn outside by the larks in the courtyard and had run off. Xia Chengxiu’s gaze lingered on the book’s pages for a long time, until she finally recalled a certain spring day many years ago when she had accompanied her cousin to the Si River Bank for an outing to admire the flowers and had lost this very book.
She was only sixteen then, in the prime of her youth. That spring, kites tangled and danced over the Si River Bank. A young man decisively severed the affections of a girl across from him, as ruthless as a heartless villain. But in the next moment, he turned and picked up the travelogue she had dropped, treasuring it all these years.
She slowly opened the book and then froze.
On the title page, a line of small characters had been stealthily written at some point.
“Amidst deep flowers, beneath shady willows, I wander through blossoms and leaves seeking a message. Your heart has betrayed mine.”
The handwriting was bold and unrestrained, unmistakably that of a man. She was not unfamiliar with it—it was Yan He’s writing.
Time seemed to rush by in an instant, as if she could traverse the years and see the arrogant young man in a silver robe with a ponytail sitting at his desk, biting his pen in frustration, almost gritting his teeth as he wrote this line filled with grievance and resentment on the title page. It was as if a wronged woman were denouncing a heartless lover.
Who would have thought Yan He was capable of such a thing?
Xia Chengxiu was stunned for a moment before letting out a soft, amused laugh.
Sunlight gently fell upon her hair, blurring the strands of silver that had begun to appear. Her smiling face, radiant as a flower, resembled that of a sixteen-year-old girl experiencing her first love, filled with sweetness and joy.
That very night, she saw Yan He again.
Just as he had been many years ago, he stood before her in a brand-new silver robe, his posture arrogant and bold. She, dressed in a pale yellow gown, stood gracefully before him and calmly questioned, “Why did you take my book?”
The young man’s once-haughty expression quickly shifted, panic flashing across his face as he struggled to maintain composure. He cleared his throat and said, “I found it, so it’s mine.”
“And you scribbled all over it,” she gently pointed out his misdeed.
Yan He’s face flushed even redder as he defended himself, “That wasn’t scribbling.”
“Then what was it?”
“It was—” he irritably flicked his ponytail, his tone taking on a defiant edge, though the tail end carried a barely perceptible hint of grievance, “exactly what you think it means!”
Xia Chengxiu stared at him without saying a word.He was like a paper tiger, asking, "Wh-what are you looking at me for?"
Xia Chengxiu couldn't help but laugh. Yan He stared at her, flustered, and after a moment, as if infected by her laughter, he began to laugh as well. Hesitantly, he reached out, wanting to take her hand.
Thud—
The wind slammed the window shut with a sudden bang. Xia Chengxiu opened her eyes. There was no Yan He, and the bedding beside her lay empty. She gazed silently at the canopy for a long while before slowly sitting up and stepping barefoot onto the floor.
The night was deep, and the ground was cold.
It was the twenty-fifth spring since Yan He had left. Awakening from her dream, sorrow kept her from sleep. Slowly, she sat on the floor, buried her head in her knees, and for the first time in all these years, wept silently.
Time passes slowly when you say it does—a single day can feel endless. Yet it also passes swiftly—a blink, and a lifetime is gone.
In the thirtieth year after Yan He's departure, Xia Chengxiu passed away from illness.
Her children and grandchildren gathered by her bedside. Throughout her life, this woman had been calm and gentle, forever composed and graceful. In her final moments, she only handed a book to Yan Muxia, instructing him to bury her together with Yan He.
On the day her coffin was laid to rest, it was a bright and sunny day. Kites filled the sky above Si River Bank, and peonies bloomed in passionate shades of crimson, much like a certain day many years before. He had walked along the embankment lush with new willow shoots, bent down to pick up that travelogue, and in that unintentional moment, left behind the youthful heart full of joy.
(End of Chapter)
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