When she drew the sword, he let out a muffled groan. Unstoppable blood gushed from his abdomen. Clutching the sword, she turned and slowly walked to sit by the floor-to-ceiling window, her face blank and dazed. He pressed a hand against his bleeding wound, struggling to roll off the bed. Pingjun held the short sword, gazing motionlessly at the moonlight outside the window.
Jiang Xueting trembled as he reached into the bedside cabinet for a sheet of paper. Excruciating pain made even breathing an immense struggle. He could distinctly hear blood flowing from his wound. Placing the paper on the carpet, he dipped his fingers in his own blood and wrote three characters: Let her go.
Leaning on the bed, he shakily stood up and staggered step by step toward Pingjun. He stuffed the paper into her hand, breathing laboriously as he said, "Pingjun, take this. Hold it tight."
She resembled a lifeless puppet. His pajamas were soaked through with blood, droplets falling from the hem and splattering like crimson blossoms across the carpet... Suddenly she turned her head, flashing him a radiant smile as lovely as the little girl with twin buns from years past. Pointing at the blood he'd dripped on the carpet, she chirped merrily, "Flowers..."
He nodded with difficulty, his face deathly pale. "As long... as you like them..."
She beamed. "I do."
Darkness engulfed his vision as he finally collapsed onto the carpet, simultaneously knocking over a large celadon vase with carved interlocking branches displayed on a plant stand. With a loud crash, both vase and stand toppled, sending the foxtail grass arranged inside scattering across the floor. Guards pounded on the door outside, shouting, "Dean Jiang!" Before losing consciousness, he heard someone enter the room. His final gaze rested on Pingjun - still clutching that sheet of paper, her slender figure reflected against the moonlit window like a blossoming pear branch. His lips quivered as he struggled to smile, whispering in a dreamlike murmur, "You're free... Pingjun..."
The Yu Army defeated the Northwestern forces and entered Yuzhou city on a drizzly morning.
Checkpoints were set up at the city gates, with everyone undergoing inspection upon entry or exit. Jinling Government flags fluttered vigorously in the bleak wind throughout the city. The fine rain soaked into people's skin, stinging with each drop. The rattling of carriage wheels echoed in her ears as she lay curled on a bamboo mat inside a cart, wrapped in a shabby sheepskin coat, her hair disheveled and her body trembling uncontrollably.
A little girl in a red padded jacket sat beside her, a rouge-colored birthmark dotting the space between her eyebrows. The child's cheeks were flushed from the cold as she gently wiped the rain from Pingjun's face with tender hands, asking softly, "Are you cold?" Ye Pingjun breathed rapidly, her teeth chattering too violently to form words. The girl smiled, "I'm called Qiu'er." Pingjun regained slight awareness - like a final flicker of consciousness. Her breathing grew increasingly faint as she managed to ask with effort, "Where... are you taking me?"
"We accepted payment from a Mr. Zhou," Qiu'er replied, pointing at the old man driving the cart ahead. She grinned at Pingjun and said, "He asked Grandpa and me to take you out of the city!"Suddenly, there was a commotion ahead on the street. The carriage shook as the driver cracked his whip, urgently steering it to the roadside. Several officers on tall horses galloped past from the front, followed closely by a large contingent of Guards and fully armed military police, swiftly clearing all idlers from the street to the sides.
Yu Changxuan, surrounded in the center, held a riding crop in one hand and gripped the horse’s reins with the other, sitting steadily in the saddle. He wore a wide raincoat, his face beneath the Military Cap resolute and profound, though now marked with traces of weariness and hardship. His black military boots bore gleaming Spurs that dazzled the eyes.
All around were the citizens of Yuzhou trying to leave the city, watching the newly arrived group with tense, panicked eyes. As Yu Changxuan rode, his gaze swept casually downward and landed on a little girl sitting in a carriage. Her eyes were clear and bright, unafraid, merely curious. Beside her lay a gaunt, haggard woman wrapped in a tattered overcoat. The woman’s hair was disheveled, her body shriveled like dry straw, curled up and trembling incessantly as if gravely ill.
He gave only a fleeting glance before turning his head away.
The sound of hoofbeats approached from ahead, and soon his Aide-de-camp, Wu Zuoxiao, rode up beside Yu Changxuan, quickly dismounting and standing at attention, his face still showing astonishment. "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, we have found Miss Ye’s whereabouts."
Yu Changxuan jolted, his voice instantly urgent. "Speak quickly!"
Wu Zuoxiao hurriedly replied, "Jiang Xueting has a Small Mansion on the south bank of Yuzhou. The independent battalion sent to search it captured a servant named Ruixiang there. She said Miss Ye has been imprisoned by Jiang Xueting in the mansion all along. Jiang Xueting—"
Before Wu Zuoxiao could finish, Yu Changxuan, without a word, tugged the reins and spurred his horse, galloping straight toward the south bank of Yuzhou. The remaining aides and officers hastily mounted and followed, racing after him.
What he was so desperately searching for was that clever, lovely girl with her hair in a small round bun, turning back to give him a gentle smile.
That gentle lover who embroidered pear blossoms for him by lamplight.
That beautiful woman, Ye Pingjun, who held the Short sword of their pledge, vowing to share life and death with him, her every smile and frown imbued with a faint, cool fragrance.
She watched him ride away into the distance.
The carriage began moving again, swaying unsteadily. Her face was pale and worn, her breathing increasingly labored, the light in her eyes scattered. Beneath her lay a cool, hard mat that pressed uncomfortably against her emaciated bones. Dazedly, she gazed up at the sky, cold raindrops falling on her pallid face as her tears silently seeped into the weave of the mat.
Qiuer suddenly turned to her with a bright, envious smile, saying innocently, "That man is so imposing—he must be a very important person."
She closed her eyes and said nothing.
The sky was gray and overcast. Faintly, a few sharp whistles sounded from the direction of the Hanjiang ferry—piercing, like a sharp knife cutting through past memories and old dreams. Only in dreams would anyone truly believe in tales of eternal love and undying devotion. But once the dream ended, nothing remained.
Curled up on the cool mat, her breathing grew very faint."The Jade Mat in Autumn" Completed on February 19, 2010 in Jinan
Extra Chapter: Dreams of Rouge, Lingering Drunkenness—When Will It Return? Life Is Forever Regret, Rivers Forever Eastward
At dusk, the sunset glow spread across half the sky.
Xie Fanshu stood before the large carved mirror in delicate painted wooden clogs, trying on a white dress. She carefully wrapped a gauze scarf adorned with orchid patterns around her neck. She had always preferred Western-style dresses and particularly disliked cheongsams, feeling that such garments constrained people, as if tying them up. Chongye would laugh at her, saying, "Little sister, you should try the whalebone corsets European women use—that’s what being tied up really means! It’d cinch your waist into two sections!"
She retorted defiantly, "Chongye, you’re so annoying! Do you want me to dress like those students from Hong Kong University, with narrow trouser legs, mimicking some Sai Jinhua look?"
Since childhood, she had loved arguing with her elder brother Chongye, but he never got angry with her.
When Madame Xie entered, she was holding a pile of clothes—all exquisitely crafted cheongsams. She set them down in a heap on the fine nanmu wood bed with copper fittings and sat in a nearby chair, smiling at her daughter. "Take a look at what I bought. Use whichever piece suits you—pick for yourself."
Fanshu glanced at the bed and immediately frowned. "Mother, our school’s play doesn’t need such extravagant clothes. I’m playing a poor female student. None of these will work for me."
Madame Xie chuckled, "Then how do you plan to dress?"
Fanshu pouted, "Since you and Father are going to accompany Grandfather and won’t have time to watch our rehearsed play anyway, why ask? I’m not telling you." Madame Xie smiled again, "Alright, stop nitpicking. You know your father and Chongye are still at odds these days, and the house isn’t peaceful. Must you add to the trouble?"
Fanshu replied, "Father is being unreasonable. If Brother wants to enroll in Southern Bright Military Academy, let him. Why restrain him so much? Boys should serve in the military to cultivate heroic spirit."
Madame Xie fell silent for a moment before smiling faintly. "Your father has his reasons." Fanshu curled her lips, unconvinced. "Adults always have their reasons. If I were Brother, I’d do what I want, whether you like it or not!"
The next afternoon, the auditorium of Mingde Girls’ School officially staged the long-rehearsed play "Song of Eternal Sorrow," scripted by the newly arrived Chinese literature teacher Liang Qiu'er. While applying makeup backstage, Xie Fanshu, who played the female lead, carefully reviewed the script once more. Suddenly, she looked up and grinned at her best friend Yu Xinping, "Xinping, how can such tragic things exist in this world?"The devout Christian Yu Xinping was praying with her hands clasped together. She was a pale, slender girl who seemed inconspicuous sitting there, but who in all of Jinling didn’t know that Commander-in-Chief Yu Changxuan of the Yu family controlled the Jinling Government’s cabinet, wielding immense power? And Yu Xinping was Yu Changxuan’s only daughter, naturally as precious as gold and jade. Her entourage was always grand, and at school, hardly anyone dared to interact with Yu Xinping—just as in the former Qing court, who would dare to joke and play with a lofty princess?
Yet Xie Fanshu got along extremely well with Yu Xinping; the two were inseparable at school. Fanshu had warmly invited Xinping to her home, but Xinping always shook her head, and of course, she never invited Fanshu to the Yu Family Mansion to play. Yu Xinping had an exceedingly solitary nature, and her willingness to act in the play this time was entirely due to Fanshu’s encouragement.
Yu Xinping smiled without saying a word.
Fanshu then looked at the playwriting teacher, Liang Qiu’er. Liang Qiu’er smiled, the rouge-colored mole between her eyebrows particularly striking. "There always are, it’s just that you seventeen- or eighteen-year-olds don’t know about them."
Just before going on stage, the backstage suddenly fell into chaos. Someone said, "What? The Commander-in-Chief is here? Has he already taken his seat?" Another teacher specifically came to warn, "Don’t run around now; there are sentry posts everywhere outside. Be careful, or you might be arrested as a revolutionary." Amid this commotion, the noisy sounds abruptly ceased as if someone had choked them off, falling silent in an instant. Several soldiers in military uniforms entered, led by none other than He Junsen, the head of the Yu Family Mansion’s aide-de-camp office.
The dressing room immediately fell into complete silence, with the young students stepping aside. He Junsen walked straight up to Yu Xinping and said respectfully, "Miss Xinping, the Commander-in-Chief just heard that you’re performing in the school play and is very concerned. He specifically came to watch."
Yu Xinping, who had been docile in front of Fanshu, now truly resembled an icy princess. She replied indifferently, "I’m only playing a small role; there’s no need for Father to make such a fuss. Please, Uncle He, tell him to go back. Hasn’t he always opposed me coming to school?"
He Junsen smiled slightly. "You’re speaking in anger again, Miss. You’re the Commander-in-Chief’s beloved daughter; how could he not care?"
Yu Xinping said expressionlessly, "In that case, please tell Father that I won’t appear until the latter part of the play. He’ll have to wait."
He Junsen acknowledged with a "Yes" and then led the guards out. Fanshu secretly glanced in Yu Xinping’s direction, and Xinping was looking back at her. Fanshu smiled, and Xinping smiled back, her eyes narrowing into two crescent moons. They looked like a pair of mischievous sisters.
For a long time, the dressing room remained quiet, with no sound. Everyone’s faces uniformly showed expressions of excitement mixed with tension, all because the Commander-in-Chief of the Yu Army was sitting outside, unexpectedly bestowing such great honor upon the school. Both teachers and students knew that today’s play would surely make the newspapers, filling them with a fervent, restless eagerness to take the stage and perform.
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