A Thousand Knots in the Heart
As soon as the words were spoken, Shi Li beside them almost burst into laughter, quickly turning around and bending over, pretending to inspect the door hinge.
Ye Youqing lowered her head, looking at her fingers, red and white, clenching her sleeves tightly. She pressed her lips together for a while before controlling the trembling at the corners of her mouth.
“Alright.” Ye Youqing said.
Beside her, Lian’er timidly lifted her eyelashes, leaning her body slightly forward: “Young Master, then…”
“No need, I’m not used to being served by others.” Ye Youqing said blandly, “The side room over there is quite spacious, you and Ma Xiao can stay there together.”
“But…” Lian’er’s expression changed, she opened her mouth to argue, but saw Ci Ke holding onto the hem of Ye Youqing’s clothes, swaying her slender waist as she led her towards the main room.
“The Young Master almost gagged just now. I’ll rub your forehead for some relief.” Ci Ke said softly, and Ye Youqing did not decline, lifting her leg to enter the room with her.
The main door closed, and the courtyard fell silent.
A faint trace of anxiety flashed across Lian’er’s face, but when Shi Li’s light-colored willow-leaf eyes glanced over, she returned to her pitiful demeanor.
Shi Li stared at her for a moment, then waved her hand: “Ma Xiao, take her away. Let Ma Da handle the rest.”
Ma Xiao, who was unloading things from the carriage, rolled up her sleeves and responded brightly.
Lian’er glanced at the door one last time, then gracefully turned and walked away obediently.
Inside the room, Ye Youqing bolted the door, then turned back to sit in the main hall, stretching her sore back from the carriage ride. Ci Ke had already removed her bamboo hat, revealing her clean and charming eyebrows.
She took out a medicine bottle from her body and put it down, then furrowed her brows, reached out to hold Ye Youqing’s shoulders, and straightened her up from the chair back.
“You still have injuries on your back. I’ve told you several times not to lean back.” Ci Ke scolded, then reached out to undo Ye Youqing’s outer garment, stopping halfway.
Ye Youqing tilted her head inquiringly, only to see the woman biting a bit of her cherry lip, staring at her chest, lost in thought.
Ye Youqing raised her hand to her neck, taking up the clear and exquisite pendant, and said: “Are you looking at this?”
Ci Ke raised her eyes.
“Fenghua Pendant.” Ye Youqing said softly, “I just don’t know if it’s as miraculous as the rumors say.”
Ci Ke continued to untie Ye Youqing’s clothing. Since she was pretending to be a man, her chest was bound with straps, and her shoulders were wrapped in gauze, exposing only one jade shoulder.
“Does it hurt today?” Ci Ke asked softly, reaching out to unwrap the gauze, revealing a half-healed wound, but the edges were red and slightly moist from pus.
A trace of heartache flashed in Ci Ke’s eyes. She quickly grabbed the medicine bottle, first wiping away the pus and blood, then applying the medicine.
Even though Ci Ke was careful, she inevitably touched the wound while cleaning the pus. Ye Youqing couldn’t help but grip the chair tightly, closing her eyes.
Seeing her pain, Ci Ke bent down and blew gently on the wound, the cool breeze easing the discomfort somewhat.
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“If I hadn’t let you get soaked in the rain that day, the wound would have healed by now.” Ci Ke murmured, blaming herself.
“What does it matter to you? We sweated so much on the way, even without the rain, it would still have festered, but it doesn’t hinder the healing.” Ye Youqing laughed lightly.
Ci Ke hummed softly, her hands not slowing down, quickly finishing applying the medicine, re-wrapping the gauze, and watching Ye Youqing put on her clothes.
“Sister Shi Li said you’ll be heading south later.” Ci Ke tentatively asked.
“Yes, once the situation calms down, I’ll leave this place.” Ye Youqing replied.
Ci Ke smiled, but there was no joy in her eyes: “The south is wealthy, without the constraints of imperial power, much better than the capital. It will also save them from coveting you.”
“Coveting me for what?” Ye Youqing laughed.
“Your family background, your pendant, and…” Ci Ke’s eyes avoided hers.
Ye Youqing chuckled, reaching out to pull Ci Ke to sit down.
“Ye Youqing…” Ci Ke spoke again, her voice very light, “I want to stay a few more days. I’m not afraid, I just want to see you safe and sound.”
Ye Youqing felt a warmth in her heart.
“This city of Weizhou is full of strange things, and there’s that Lian’er. I’m always afraid she’ll harm you.” Ci Ke’s eyes glanced beyond the door, looking far into the courtyard.
“So this is what you’ve been worried about.” Ye Youqing realized she had been staring at Ci Ke, quickly making a joke.
She thought Ci Ke would change the subject, but unexpectedly, her bright, lively eyes suddenly shifted to Ye Youqing’s face, nodding forcefully.
Ye Youqing suddenly felt dizzy, her breathing quickening. Her usually calm phoenix eyes flickered, not knowing where to look, and her speech sped up: “Actually, that day I asked if you’d come with me, I wanted to take you away from the capital, to Jiangnan together.”
“If Zhou Ziqiu protects you, she’ll marry you off to someone else. If she can’t protect you, the consequences are predictable.”
Ye Youqing’s phoenix eyes widened slightly, her lashes casting shadows: “Neither is to my liking.”
For the first time, she felt such an unsolvable confusion about something.
Although it wasn’t Ye Youqing’s face now, Ci Ke could see through the disguise, seeing Ye Youqing’s cold and clear features faintly lowering.
Ci Ke licked her lips, after a while, she spoke again.
“Don’t get hurt anymore.” Ci Ke suddenly placed her five fingers on her heaving heart, her voice soft and seductive, “The day I heard you were missing, I almost went crazy.”
The fragrance of her cosmetics was intoxicating. Ye Youqing was momentarily speechless. When she came to her senses, Ci Ke had already gotten up and opened the door, going off to do something.
Outside, the summer wind blew in with fine sand. The door frame was like a scroll, with half-cut willow trees, the eaves washed mottled by rain, and under the eaves, a pair of black-tailed swallows had built a nest, chirping and pecking at each other.
Only then did Ye Youqing let out the breath she had been holding in, slumping back against the chair, closing her eyes tightly, waiting for her heartbeat to steady.
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Her heart had long been tied into a thousand knots.
Ma Da found some rice and flour, then went out to buy some vegetables and fruits, making a farmhouse feast in the courtyard. The group, already hungry, gathered in the courtyard to eat.
At the dining table, Ma Da blushed as he recounted his experiences to Ye Youqing. People in the street not only whispered when they saw him, but a kind old woman selling vegetables also secretly warned him not to go out at dusk.
When he asked for more details, the old woman just picked up her baskets and hurried away.
“You haven’t seen any men outside?” Ye Youqing exchanged a surprised glance with Shi Li and asked.
“There are no men, not even many young women. Oh right, occasionally I see a few old men carrying vegetables, each with a hunched back, almost on their way to the Western Paradise.” Ma Da said while eating a bowl of rice with lingering fear, “Young Master, could this place be haunted?”
(LP: Sukhavati is the pure land of Amitābha in Mahayana Buddhism. It is also called the Land of Bliss or Western Pure Land and is the most well-known of Buddhist pure lands due to the popularity of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia.)
“Stop talking nonsense.” Shi Li tapped the stone table with her chopsticks, and Ma Da dared not speak further.
Ye Youqing held her bowl in thought. Finding no clues, she decided to go out and investigate herself the next day, so she changed the subject.
“She doesn’t want to come out and eat?” Ye Youqing looked towards the side room in the courtyard.
“No, she found an excuse saying she had a headache and wouldn’t eat. So I let Ma Xiao eat inside and keep an eye on her.” Shi Li slowly picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, “Let’s see what she’s up to.”
Ye Youqing raised an eyebrow, then lowered her head to eat.
Everyone was tired, so they went to bed early. Ye Youqing also lay down before it was dark and fell asleep quickly. When she opened her eyes again, the moon was already hanging in the deep blue, clear sky, with light clouds drifting by. It should be midnight.
Having gone to bed too early, she woke up at an odd time. Ye Youqing lay awake for a long time before resigning herself, sitting up and feeling the stifling heat of the summer night, deciding to go out for some fresh air.
At the same time, on the other side of the small courtyard.
A drought willow grew in the corner of the courtyard wall. The tree was not upright but bent low before extending upwards again outside the wall, making it perfect for climbing.
A woman in white sat on the extended branch, leaning against the trunk, her freshly washed hair hanging down evenly, untouched by the wind.
The moonlight cast a gentle glow on her profile, her bright eyes half-closed, her nose elegant, and her lips like red cherries still damp from her bath.
The white silk hung down along the branches, billowing with the wind like the willow twigs.
In her hand, she held a small slingshot, playing with some pebbles, with an unknown melancholy in her eyes.
When the valiant general was campaigning against the Western Xia, he must have stayed in Weizhou, Ci Ke thought, shooting a pebble out, watching it leap over the wall with a thud.
The surroundings were silent, with everyone asleep, so even the sound of the wind rustling the willows was clear.
Just then, the sudden flapping of wings sounded, followed by a gray pigeon flying out from the nearby courtyard, flapping towards the sky.
Ci Ke’s eyes suddenly opened wide. She straightened up, quickly pulled the slingshot, and the pebble shot out like a shadow, hitting the pigeon’s wing accurately. With a few flaps, the pigeon fell, landing at Ci Ke’s feet.
She hurriedly re-tied her veil, holding the slingshot, and slid down the tree trunk to the ground, picking up the injured pigeon.
“Miss!” A sorrowful female voice called out. Lian’er came running, lifting her skirt, stumbling around the courtyard wall, and stopping in confusion.
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Seeing the pigeon in Ci Ke’s hand, Lian’er’s eyes instantly reddened, “What are you doing?”
Ci Ke glanced at her coldly, then looked down to examine the pigeon. It was an ordinary pigeon, with no paper tied to its leg.
“I picked it up in the courtyard just now. Its leg was injured. I thought it was pitiful, so I fed it some water and released it.” Lian’er wiped her tears with her sleeve, “It’s just a pigeon. I didn’t think it would bother you, Miss.”
“Why aren’t you sleeping at this hour?” Ci Ke suddenly asked. When she didn’t smile, her fox-like eyes looked cold and dangerous.
“Miss, aren’t you awake too?” Lian’er reached out to take the pigeon, but Ci Ke avoided her hand.
“Since that’s the case, it seems you have something on your mind just like me.” Ci Ke said.
Lian’er’s chin trembled slightly. She suddenly reached out to grab the pigeon without caring about anything else. Ci Ke was pushed, her back hitting the tree trunk. She saw a figure approaching quickly and stopped struggling, letting Lian’er’s force pull her off balance.
Just as Lian’er grabbed the pigeon back, a hand appeared above her head, taking the pigeon from her grasp and steadying Ci Ke.
Then, as if in one swift motion, Ci Ke looked down to see Lian’er already on the ground, face down, with her hands bound by Ye Youqing.