After Being Forced to Marry the Evil Star General - Chapter 21

The two people in the room were stunned by Housekeeper Qin’s cry.

Zhao Yelan lowered his head, looked at the ointment on Yan Mingting’s hand, and pushed it away: “I just said not to give me medicine casually, are you a doctor?”

Yan Mingting knew that he was in the wrong, so he turned around and asked Housekeeper Qin: “Where should this medicine be used? Does rubbing it into the wound help?”

Housekeeper Qin also didn’t know the whys and where-fores. He wasn’t sure if it would be useful, but it should be harmless.

“Go and call the doctor,” Zhao Yelan said regretfully.

“I’ll go right away!” Housekeeper Qin felt relieved. Knocking on the doctor’s door in the middle of the night, he dragged him to the General’s Mansion.

After such tossing and fuss, it was already past bedtime. Zhao Yelan, who was unable to take a bath due to his injury, was a little displeased, and lay on the bed sullenly for a while before going to sleep.

The next day was the anniversary of the death of Old General Yan. Yan Mingting took a leave of absence from the Imperial court, and Zhao Yelan was just an idler in the Imperial Academy. With so much staff, he was not needed at all, but the Emperor had arranged such a position to appease him, and he was happy to be at leisure.

Housekeeper Qin and the staff prepared all the things needed for worship. After being urged several times to go out the door, Zhao Yelan slowly……was helped out by Yan Mingting.

“Why don’t you not go, it’s rather far away. You can rest your legs at home,” Yan Mingting fretted.

Zhao Yelan insisted: “It’s fine, Old General Yan still deserves to be paid homage.” Yan Mingting glanced at him in surprise and agreed.

The General’s tomb was on a mountain outside the north of the city, facing the capital from a distance.

The sedan chair stopped at the bottom of the mountain about an hour later, and several other military officials had already arrived.

“General, Zhao-daren,” Several people clasped their hands and shouted.

Yan Mingting nodded: “All right, let’s go, ba.”

The group of people climbed up the steps but didn’t see the General’s figure among them. When they looked back, they saw Yan Mingting crouching in front of Zhao Yelan and were shocked.

Zhao Yelan was also slightly surprised: “What are you doing?”

“Climb on, with your leg it will definitely be hard to go up. I can’t take responsibility for you being hurt again,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan looked down at his knees. He was not someone who would wrong himself, so he got on.

Yan Mingting stood up with him on his back, walked to the front of his subordinates with ease, and led the way: “What are you doing standing there in a daze, hurry up, the old man is still waiting for you to toast to him.”

A group of military officials walked briskly and left the servants behind in a short while. Housekeeper Qin rubbed his legs and called out to Gao Tan: “Xiao Gao, you know martial arts, don’t you? Help deliver these things to the military officials, so that they won’t be anxious later.”

Gao Tan was walking beside Zhao Yelan, bored, and suddenly said: “My lord, let me carry you instead.”

The others were taken aback, but Zhao Yelan had no objections. Just as he was about to change over, He Cuizhang said, “That’s right, the General has carried him for so long, how about me instead?”

“I’m also willing.” 

“Me too.”

Everyone expressed their willingness to carry the wounded, and finally even Zhong Yuehong said: “Let me do it.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

He originally would have rather enjoyed it if the matter hadn’t become so awkward.

Yan Mingting turned his head to look at his subordinates, suddenly aware that Zhao Yelan had a stranglehold on his neck, as if secretly unwilling to let go. He said with a smile: “What are you thinking, is it your turn to carry my wife?”

The subordinates laughed simply and honestly. Gao Tan no longer insisted, was soon distracted by the wild flowers and fruits on the road, and turned his head and disappeared.

Zhao Yelan wasn’t worried about his safety. He only felt that his body was slightly hot. It was still March, but with his chest against the other’s back, their body temperatures would inevitably rise. This broad back inexplicably made him feel at ease, and he almost fell asleep.

When they reached the top of the mountain, the sun was almost at its zenith. Zhao Yelan stood feebly on the ground, and Yan Mingting helped him to rest under the shade of a nearby tree, then prepared to worship with his subordinates.

Zhao Yelan looked at the mausoleum. It was very large, and besides the main tomb, there were two other tombs beside it.

After a while, incense smoke rose from the censer in front of the tombstone.

Zhao Yelan walked over with a limp. Yan Mingting brought him three sticks of incense and then stood beside him.

“Father, mother, younger brother, this is the new master of the General’s Mansion. He came with me to see you.”

Zhao Yelan had no words to say, and only stared at the characters on the tombstone, solemnly bowing three times with him.

After burning the incense, Yang Mingting fell silent. Rather, it was the subordinates who went to the grave to chatter, talking about the unforgettable battles they had experienced.

Zhao Yelan listened for a while, and found that Yan Mingting had gone to the shade of the tree at some point, watching quietly like a wooden sculpture.

He walked over slowly and stood beside him. Only then did Yan Mingting react, pointing to the two side tombs and saying playfully: “There is my mother, and my brother. When I die, I will be buried here too.”

Zhao Yelan said coldly: “Saying this, are you not afraid that your parents will rise from their coffins in anger?”

Yan Mingting smiled, saying abruptly: “My mother took me out to ride horses and died of a sudden illness within a few days of returning. My younger brother was very weak, completely different from me. He died of a serious illness when he was only a few years old. Tell me, am I really an evil star? Will I kill everyone close to me?”

Zhao Yelan looked at him in surprise: “I thought you wouldn’t believe such nonsense.”

“There will always be times when people are afraid, when their hearts are fragile,” Yan Mingting said softly.

“Then you must not let others become your weakness. It would only be a burden and a hindrance,” Zhao Yelan said decisively.

“Is that why you keep yourself closed away?” 

“Is that not good?” Zhao Yelan smiled faintly. “In this way, nothing can harm me again, and my life is in my own hands.”

Yan Mingting was noncommittal, but he felt intuitively that this sentence contained many things. Zhao Yelan must have had extremely painful experiences. Just now, he said, “nothing can harm me again,” words that caused him to be completely afraid of showing his weakness.

“Have you ever thought that the successive deaths of so many people around you was caused by a person?” Zhao Yelan prompted.

As expected, Yan Mingting regained his spirit: “What do you mean?”

“The tallest trees in the forest are the first to be blown down by strong wind. Although your Yan family has been at the border all year round, the most dreadful existence is the presence of a large army. Perhaps your father’s death was not that simple,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Are you guessing wildly, or do you have evidence?”

“Guessing.” Zhao Yelan observed his expression, and could see that the other party was very cautious about this matter. He continued seamlessly, “I am suspicious by nature, which is why I asked this question. If it is intrusive, I won’t ask any more.”

Yan Mingting shook his head and asked: “Then who do you think would want my father to die?”

“I don’t know, but anyway, it wouldn’t be me.”

Yan Mingting was taken aback.

Zhao Yelan said: “I have no grievances or enmities with your father, and would not harm him. Do you believe me?”

“I believe you.”

“……” Zhao Yelan, who had been mentally compiling a lot of arguments, was suddenly blocked with a single sentence.

“You truly believe me?”

“En.”

“Why?”

“Because you are Zhao Yelan.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him doubtfully.

“Did you guess what I have been looking for?” Yan Mingting said, “After Xiao Gao was rescued, he would definitely tell you what questions he was asked, and with your intelligence, it should have been easy to guess that I ordered people to kidnap him. If you had a guilty conscience, you would have definitely struck first. At this time, it would have been impossible for me and my subordinates to come to worship at the General’s tomb unscathed.”

“So you deliberately asked Xiao Gao those leading questions? To see if I would tip my hand?” Zhao Yelan glanced at him appreciatively. Unfortunately, the other party still didn’t guess that even Gao Tan’s kidnapping was arranged by him.

Yan Mingting did not deny it: “I just wanted to confirm.”

Zhao Yelan narrowed his eyes slightly: “Then asking about what my attitude is towards you was also intentional?”

“That was on a whim,” Yan Mingting blurted out, then paused and looked at him with some embarrassment. “Is what he said true?”

Zhao Yelan pondered for a moment, thinking about whether to tell him the truth of the abduction or not. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gao Tan coming back, and immediately diverted his attention: “Xiao Gao, what are you holding?”

Yan Mingting did not wait for an answer, having received it from his tangled expression. He didn’t deny it! According to Zhao Yelan’s temperament, if he didn’t like someone, he just didn’t like them, so how could he be so tangled!

Not denying it was tantamount to acquiescing.

Yan Mingting’s peripheral vision kept falling on Zhao Yelan, and he saw Zhao Yelan taking a bouquet of wild flowers from Gao Tan.

“I picked them just now, do you like them, my lord?” Gao Tan asked.

Zhao Yelan lowered his head and fiddled with the colorful mountain flowers: “Where did you pick them all?”

“On the way.”

For some reason, when Yan Mingting looked at this scene, he was inexplicably depressed. Snatching the flowers from his hand, he said righteously: “These flowers are nice, my mother likes them the most, can you give them to her?”

Zhao Yelan said generously: “Take them.”

Yan Mingting gave Gao Tan a haughty look and took the flowers, placing them in front of the tomb. Turning around, he saw Gao Tan take some wild fruits out of his pocket and offer them to Zhao Yelan.

He stepped forward quickly and snatched the fruit away, saying, “This fruit is good, my brother likes it very much, can you give it to my brother?”

“……Take them.” Zhao Yelan said, “Unexpectedly, your family is quite easy to provide for.”

Gao Tan saw that the flowers and fruits given to his lord were gone, and felt aggrieved and frustrated. He said, “My lord, those were all for you……”

“It’s fine.” Zhao Yelan patted his head. “I’m sure there are still a lot of flowers on the side of the road. You can pick some more.”

“Okay!” Gao Tan hurriedly ran down to pick flowers.

After the worship was over, the group went down the mountain. Zhao Yelan was still lying on Yan Mingting’s back, and had the leisure to slowly appreciate the spring flowers and mountain scenery on both sides.

“My lord, I’m back!” Halfway up the mountain, Gao Tan chased after him, his arms full of wildflowers. When he was about to catch up with Zhao Yelan, Yan Mingting suddenly accelerated to a pace that was like flying.

Gao Tan: “ ? ”

“Yan Mingting, slow down!” Zhao Yelan let out a cry of surprise, caught off guard, and hugged his neck tightly. The surrounding scenery sped by before him, and he buried his head in terror.

Yan Mingting hesitated for a moment, then ran even faster.

“General, wait a moment, let me hand over the flowers to my lord!” Gao Tan continued to chase after him.

The other military officials didn’t understand, but they used qinggong to catch up. The poor group of servants looked at their backs, which disappeared in the blink of an eye, and continued down the mountain bitterly.

After finally arriving at the city, Housekeeper Qin remembered another matter, tremblingly came to the balm shop, and asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have any picture books or the like?”

When the shopkeeper saw it was him, he immediately understood, mysteriously taking a book out of a hidden compartment: “This is a treasure, a good thing that is hard to buy outside. It also depends on if you are old in age but young in mind, so I will show you.”

“What do you mean, old of age but young of mind?” Housekeeper Qin felt wronged but was unable to appeal, so he simply didn’t explain. He opened the picture book and glanced at it. There was both text and pictures, and he paid the money before leaving in satisfaction.

Since the General had actually used the ointment to rub Zhao-daren’s knees, he was sure that the two of them didn’t know how to have sex properly.

Fortunately, before the big wedding, the General was not in the mansion when the nanny from the palace came to teach some instructions, so he had to write down some pointers. At first he thought he would never need it in his life, but he didn’t expect the General to be so fast……

After running around for much of the day, Zhao Yelan went to the study to lie down and read after finishing his meal. Gao Tan crouched at the door, still mourning the wildflowers that were blown away in the wind while running.

Yan Mingting had gone to discuss matters with his subordinates, and returned around midnight. Zhao Yelan had already briefly washed up and lay down to sleep.

Perhaps due to going to the tomb that day, not long after Zhao Yelan closed his eyes, the figures of his parents appeared in his mind. Waking up in a cold sweat, he heard Yan Mingting whispering instructions to Gao Tan at the door. “Your lord is asleep, why don’t you go back and rest? By the way, tomorrow morning, you can go to Ming Ji Restaurant to buy some of his favorite stuffed steamed buns and come back.”

There was the sound of the door closing. If Yan Mingting stepped lightly, no one would be able to detect his footsteps.

Zhao Yelan turned over curiously. Seeing Yan Mingting standing beside the bed, he was startled: “Must you be so creepy?”

“I’m just seeing if you’re asleep.” Yan Mingting smiled shamefacedly and turned to lay on the floor.

Zhao Yelan supported his head with one hand, looked at him for a while, and said, “I can’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t sleep, does there need to be a reason?”

“Then I’ll tell you a bedtime story?”

“……” Zhao Yelan said, “A different story, I don’t want to hear the one about Wang-gongzi.”

“Then how about I tell you how He Cuizhang caught a sword with his bare hands?”

“Not interested.”

Yan Mingting guessed that he was only interested in literary aneces. Thinking that Zhao Yelan also kept a lot of books in this room, he planned to find one and read it to him.

Walking to the drawer beside the bed, he opened it and saw a book sitting on top. Taking it out in a dignified way, he sat down by the bed, opened it to the first page, and said very articulately: “A god came down to earth, dressed in women’s clothes. Because of his beauty, he was favored by the prince and brought back to the palace for a night of romance. Only then did he know that this person was the rabbit god who had descended to the world……”

Yan Mingting was taken aback for a moment. “Ah, this……the rabbit god?”

Zhao Yelan gave a slight frown and sat up suspiciously to look at the book. He saw the painting on the other side was of two men entangled together, with a line of small characters attached below: Backyard flowers are very delicate, and need to be picked carefully.

Only now did Yan Mingting notice the painting, and looked at him in surprise.

The two looked at each other with strange and complicated expressions – because they each thought that the picture book had been prepared by the other party.