Chapter 23: Re-encountering Lier

  Chapter 23: Re-encountering Lier

  Four months have passed and suddenly it's July, the weather is so hot that it can kill people, Chang'an City is unexpectedly even hotter.

  Riding a horse on the streets of Chang'an City, Fang Yilove wandered aimlessly, having just gotten rid of Cheng Ling'er and finally able to have some peace. For some reason, Fang Yilove really wanted to go take a look at Plum Blossom Valley, so he went ahead and did it. Riding his horse quickly, Fang Yilove soon arrived at Plum Blossom Valley, the teahouse was still the same teahouse, the waiter was still the same waiter, but everything else had changed.

  Fang Yiai walked slowly towards the small pavilion where they had parted last time, now the peach trees have grown lush branches and leaves, with green peaches hanging on them. Looking at those unripe fruits, Fang Yiai felt as if he saw himself, equally unripe and ignorant of worldly affairs. If only he had stopped Lier back then and asked her about her identity, wouldn't everything have been settled?

  "Oh dear heavens, young master, please save our young mistress!" A small maid in green clothing stood by the pavilion, crying out loudly.

  Fang Yu frowned and walked over to Xiaoyu, waving his hand, "What's going on?"

  "This young master, I beg of you to save my mistress. My mistress suddenly fainted and fell unconscious, and I really don't know what to do. Please help me take her to the doctor's house. If something happens to her, I won't be able to live either." The maid was crying sorrowfully, Fang Yu Ai nodded in agreement to help the maid, walked into the pavilion and saw the white-clothed woman lying on the ground, Fang Yu Ai's face was filled with incredulity, this woman was actually Li Er. Fang Yu Ai didn't know what had happened either, and quickly asked: "Your mistress, when did she faint?"

  "Gentleman, she just fainted when I was calling out for her." Upon hearing Yaya's words, Fang Yilove couldn't care about anything else anymore. She tried to feel Li'er's breath and pulse, gritted her teeth, and ignored the expression on Yaya's face as she leaned in close to Li'er's chest to listen. The heartbeat was somewhat weak, it seemed like heart disease had almost taken hold. After thinking for a moment about emergency first aid methods for sudden heart disease, Fang Yilove carefully placed Li'er on the stone slab. Supporting Li'er's neck and making her head tilt back slightly, she then kissed Li'er's mouth. This time, Yaya was shocked silly and quickly grabbed onto Fang Yilove, crying out: "You beast, stop it!"

  "Get out!" Fang Yi'ai didn't bother to explain anything to Yiniang anymore, and pushed her away. He continued to give Li'er mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, blowing air into her mouth several times. Then he made Li'er lie down and pressed hard on her chest. Yiniang beside him had long been frightened out of her wits, crying silently as she sat there. Fang Yi'ai didn't bother with her at all; right now, he only wanted to save Li'er, and all worldly rules and conventions were cast aside. After repeating this process several times, it finally took effect. Li'er coughed a few times and slowly opened her eyes, and upon seeing Fang Yi'ai's familiar face, she tearfully said, "Second Master, there's no need for this; I'm fine now."

  "Lier, sorry about that. I had to take drastic measures earlier." Fang Yi'ai hugged Lier tightly, knowing what had just happened meant for a girl, but she couldn't just stand by and do nothing, besides, at the time, she didn't have the luxury of worrying about such trivial rules.

  "Second Master, no need to be like this, Lier understands that you were just saving me and doesn't blame you!" Lier struggled out of Fang Yili's arms, stood up and sat down on the stone bench, her face still carrying a faint sadness.

  "Lier, how did you suddenly become like this? Do you have heart disease?" Fang Yiai thought that as long as heart disease wasn't stimulated, it wouldn't normally cause any problems. But Lier's situation was really too rare. If he hadn't known some first aid methods himself, perhaps this beautiful girl would have fallen already.

  "Yes!" Lier touched her slightly disheveled hair and smiled vaguely. "Second Master, have you been looking for me all along?"

  "Yes, Lier, you also know that I'm already at the age of engagement. After meeting you that day, I felt that you're a very kind girl. Moreover, your father and my father were colleagues in the imperial court, so our families are considered to be of equal social status. I thought that if I were to make you my wife, my father would definitely not object, which is why I had someone search for you in Chang'an City." Fang Yiai spoke without any reserve, revealing his inner thoughts one by one.

  Lier's tears fell gently, like a string of crystal pearls, sliding across that extraordinary face, landing on the bluestone slab with a faint sound. "Second Master, listen to me, okay? Don't look for me anymore, forget about me, we two are impossible."

  "Lier, how can it be impossible? Am I not good enough for you? If you think I'm too bad, then tell me, what do I need to do to make you agree?" Fang Yiai's stubbornness also came up, he had finally found a suitable girl, how could he easily give up.

  "Second Master, you can go now. You're a good person, it's just that we met too late. Listen to me, don't investigate further, forget about me. If you keep investigating, you'll definitely lose your life." Lier smiled sorrowfully, her eyes were so empty, and the whole person was surrounded by sadness.

  Fang Yi's brow furrowed as he grasped Li'er's hands, unwilling to let go easily. "Li'er, why? Tell me why?"

  "Let me go, Fang Yi'ai!" Lier struggled to get up, shouting loudly, tears streaming down her face like a madwoman. "Fang Yi'ai, I'm begging you, forget about me! I've already told you clearly that I have a husband, why are you still so obsessed? If you keep going on like this, it will definitely harm us both. Get out of here now, get out!" Lier was visibly agitated, her face still flushed with redness.

  Fang Yi Ai didn't know why Lier was so agitated, even if she had already married someone else. After all, the Tang Dynasty wasn't a place where remarriage was forbidden. However, seeing how agitated Lier was, Fang Yi Ai hastily waved his hand and urged her to calm down: "Lier, I'm leaving right now, you mustn't get so worked up, take care of your body, don't say anything else, I'm leaving right now." After saying this, Fang Yi Ai quickly left the pavilion and ran far away, because he was afraid that Lier's agitation would lead to more problems.

  After Fang Yu Ai left, Li Er wiped away her tears and coldly said to Ya Huan: "Xiang Cao, remember what happened today, don't mention it to anyone, otherwise I will definitely make you die without a burial place."

  "Madam, I understand," Vanilla Head replied without daring to lift his head. "I didn't see anything today."

  Lier gazed at the place where Yu Ai had left, whispering: "Second Master, since we are not fated to be together, why must you persist? You will harm both me and yourself." Lier cried and then laughed, thinking that being able to know each other was already a kind of happiness. Why think about so many things? From the moment she was born, her fate had been sealed, whether good or bad, she had to accept it. Perhaps her parents loved her, but they didn't know what she wanted. Lier fantasized, if only she could have met Second Master earlier, that would be great, and even if she had to risk her life, she would fight for it once. But now, like the chrysanthemum of yesterday, how could she still be worthy of Second Master? Besides, even if she wanted to remarry, would her parents agree?

  Fang Yiai rode his horse slowly towards Chang'an City, he really couldn't understand why Lier reacted so violently. Was it because she was already married? But even if she was married, there was no need to be like this, the Tang Dynasty had many rules, but women remarrying was absolutely unrestricted. It could be said that in no other dynasty were women's status higher than in the Tang Dynasty. But why was Lier so afraid? Fang Yiai couldn't understand, and he didn't want to understand either. Because no matter what Lier was afraid of, Fang Yiai wouldn't be afraid. He was a man, no matter what the final outcome was, whether it was life or death, swords or guns, or joy and laughter, Fang Yiai would take responsibility for it.

  Fang Yiai was in the pavilion, wanting to shout out loud "Are you afraid of me or not?", but seeing Li'er's excited look, Fang Yiai was really worried that this girl would cause more trouble. But having missed this opportunity, it was likely that he would never see Li'er again, as Li'er knew she was looking for him and would probably hide from him.

  As soon as they entered the Chang'an City, several people wearing armor ran over from the side. These few people were familiar to Fang Yu'ai, and they were all descendants of those big shots. Cheng Huailiang, Cheng Huaibi, and another elder brother Cheng Huaimo were the offspring of that old demon. The two handsome men who looked similar were Li Yexu and Li Yeque, who were the grandsons of Li Jing. Adding to that, there were also Wei Ziguang's twin sons, Wei Baolin and Wei Baoqing. It could be said that all the young masters from the Tang military family were present. As for the bald-headed man holding a helmet, Fang Yu'ai didn't recognize him. However, Cheng Huaimo was polite and smiled as he cupped his hands in greeting: "Hey, Junxian brother, isn't my sister with you?"

  Fang Yi Ai hastily dismounted and cupped his hands, saying: "Hua Mo big brother, I have some matters to attend to, so let Ling Er return home first."

  "Oh, so that's it. You've finished your business too, let's go have a drink together." Cheng Huai Mo didn't even give Fang Yi Ai a chance to refuse, and instead gave a signal to the two black-clad twins, who quickly assigned tasks to each other - one led the horse while the other pulled Fang Yi Ai into the wine house. It wasn't until they were seated at the table that Fang Yi Ai realized who the bald man was - it turned out he was Duan Zhi Xuan's son, Duan Duo. Fang Yi Ai really couldn't understand why the sons of these famous Tang generals were all such extreme characters. The old demon's son wasn't worth mentioning, as his thick skin was already notorious. But Baoguo Gong's son, Duan Duo, had actually shaved his head bald - if you didn't know better, you'd think he was a monk. Unfortunately, this monk was fake, eating meat and drinking wine every day, not to mention occasionally killing people."

  More than half a month had passed since they got drunk, and Fang Yi's loving smile asked: "Everyone, do you know whose wife is called Lier?"

  "Huh, Junxian brother, I was wondering why you didn't go to the Xianmeng Building. It seems you like decent women!" Li Yexu smiled slyly and Duan Zan also rubbed his bald head and chuckled. Fang Yiai slapped Li Yexu with a scowl and scolded: "Brother Ye, stop talking nonsense, just tell me if you know or not!"

  "Haha, it seems that Junxian has really taken a liking to this Lier, and since he can't find his own daughter, he's set his sights on this respectable woman. But don't worry, brothers, we'll all support you, who cares whose wife Lier is? We'll help you snatch her over!" Just as Li Yehui was getting more and more carried away, Fang Yiai hastily interrupted him, saying: "Yehui brother, let's get back on track, don't stray off topic!"

  Li Ye looked at the Wei twins, and Wei Baoqing smiled with a black face: "Jun Xiongdi, let's put it this way, as far as I know, I've never heard of any baozi marrying a wife named Lier. Why don't you go to Xiāngmènglóu? There are quite a few Miss Liers there!"

  "Get out, Baoqing brother, are you sure?" Fang Yiai also knew that the Wei twins were notorious in Chang'an City, and their subordinates, the Golden Guards, did nothing but gather rumors and secrets. Seeing Wei Baoqing nod seriously, Fang Yiai was stunned, what on earth was going on? It made Fang Yiai want to post Li'er's portrait all over the streets.

  After drinking with a group of idle young men for a while, Fang Yiliu left the wine house and returned to his own courtyard, thinking about Lier's affairs, and unknowingly fell asleep.

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