Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1352: Chapter 1354: You Are Its Recognized Master_1

Not long after I became acquainted with Qingyan, I initially brought him with me to Gaochang out of sympathy because Bai Ruozhu was reminded of her father Bai Yihong in the distant Capital City whenever she saw him.

Over the course of our journey together, she had come to regard Qingyan as a familiar elder, but now she discovered that he might have been looking forward to their return all along, which naturally made her feel uneasy.

At that moment, a coughing sound came from the house; Qingyan had awakened.

Everyone looked toward the house. It seemed Qingyan had heard the monarch’s words. He looked at Bai Ruozhu with some difficulty, not daring to meet her eyes, and struggled to get up. He bowed to the monarch and said, ”Your Majesty, it has been many years since we last met.”

Jun Haoran snorted coldly and said, ”Didn’t you go off to join the barbarian princess Sangshu? Now that you’re back, don’t tell me you have some unseemly motives?”

Qingyan forced a bitter smile and said, ”I guess I’m really a failure. I’ve probably been cooped up in the mountains for too long. As soon as I come out, I’m plagued with misfortune, and even an old friend doubts me.”

After saying this, he looked at Bai Ruozhu and said apologetically, ”I admit I wasn’t completely honest with you before. I hid the fact that my wife was the barbarian princess, saying only that I had fallen in love with a barbarian girl.”

He coughed painfully twice from his unhealed internal injuries and continued, ”But I did not join the barbarians. My family couldn’t accept Sangshu, and her family couldn’t accept me, so we went to live in seclusion in a mountain village from the start. If I had really joined the barbarians over these years, wouldn’t there have been some news? If Your Majesty doesn’t believe me, you are free to send someone to investigate among the barbarians.”

Jun Haoran was skeptical, ”Then why have you come back now?”

Qingyan’s face showed a look of misery. ”Sangshu is dead, and I am old. Before she died, she told me she knew I felt guilty inside and asked me to return to my family to seek forgiveness, so I could return to my roots. Sadly, she never received my family’s forgiveness before she died. The royal family of the barbarians would never acknowledge a foreigner who couldn’t control beasts.”

Seeing Qingyan’s expression, Bai Ruozhu felt she could understand and forgive him once again.

A scion of a distinguished family from the Western Regions, the future head of his clan, had fallen in love with a princess from an enemy nation, much like Romeo and Juliet. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to break free from their constraints and escape, spending decades together.

Yet, even so, when Qingyan spoke of it, his emotions were filled with sorrow. They lived their lives without having children, each harboring guilt and longing for their families. Even though they had love, they lost their kin.

Upon hearing of Sangshu’s death, the monarch asked urgently, ”How did she die? She wasn’t older than you or I; she shouldn’t have passed away so soon.”

The question revealed that the monarch, Sangshu, and Qingyan were once very close.

”I don’t know why, but after we lost our child, her health steadily declined, perhaps consumed by sorrow. Afterwards, we never had another child. Three years ago, she suddenly fell sick and then faded away. I kept vigil by her side for three years, and only a few days ago I planned to return to Gaochang to ease my mind,” Qingyan explained.

The monarch widened his eyes slightly and exclaimed, ”Your child? Sangshu was already pregnant when you both eloped—it must have been the Holy Hall’s curse, it must have!”

Qingyan sat up straight, ”What curse from the Holy Hall?”

”Back then I wasn’t yet the sovereign, and I would sometimes go out drinking with Tang Gui. He had fallen for the Holy Maiden Fen Wan, and I would accompany him to the Holy Hall to meet her. It was during one such visit that I accidentally overheard a conversation between the great elder and Fen Wan. Fen Wan was questioning the great elder on how he could be so malicious, arguing that even if someone was from a foreign clan, the divinities would still protect them if they were kind-hearted. The great elder called her foolish, saying that she was a princess of the foreign clan and the most talented beastmaster, and she must never be allowed to return to the barbarians. After they argued, he even slapped Fen Wan. I believe the elder was referring to Sangshu,” the monarch said.

Qingyan stood there stupefied, unable to speak for a long while, as if he had aged a year in that instant. The sovereign looked at him with pity, sighed, and said, ”You should take care of your injuries. I’m leaving first.”

Watching the sovereign’s retreating figure, Bai Ruozhu wondered why he suddenly stopped chasing people away and was so quick to believe Qingyan. After all, they were once friends; he had always believed in Qingyan in his heart, only harboring some anger towards him, right?

Neither she nor Jiang Yichun disturbed Qingyan, figuring that right now he probably just wanted to be alone.

When it was time for dinner, Bai Ruozhu told Muyu to take food to Qingyan. Soon Muyu reported that Qingyan wanted to speak with Bai Ruozhu and made it clear that she should go alone.

Jiang Yichun was somewhat worried, but Bai Ruozhu patted his arm and said with a smile, ”Don’t worry, he’s been injured like that, and my martial arts training wasn’t for nothing. I’ll be fine.”

”Then I’ll stay in the yard in case you need to call me,” Jiang Yichun said as he caressed her cheek. ”Still, you must be very cautious; it’s important to guard against others.”

”Okay,” she said with a smile back at him.

Upon entering the room, Bai Ruozhu felt even more convinced that Qingyan was no longer a threat to her. Qingyan’s condition had worsened rapidly; he was not just physically hurt, but also evidently suffering from emotional distress.

”Girl, you saved me twice, yet I kept hiding things from you. I am sorry,” Qingyan began. His apology was the very reason he called her over.

”It’s alright, at least we’ve cleared things up now. I heard that today you were brought here by Sangta’s black panther. What exactly is going on? Is Sangta concerned about you because he’s your uncle?” Bai Ruozhu inquired.

Qingyan showed an expression of helplessness, ”How did you come to think that Xiaohei is Sangta’s panther? You probably don’t know that the barbarian clan’s beasts only let their chosen masters ride them. Have you ever seen Sangta ride Xiaohei?”

Bai Ruozhu was taken aback, ”Then why did it let me ride it?”

She had never seen Sangta ride the black panther and assumed that due to his status, he only rode that huge white tiger. But on reflection, she realized that even when the white tiger was not around, Sangta never rode the black panther.

With a very kind smile, Qingyan explained, ”That’s because Xiaohei has accepted you as its master. Xiaohei is the child of Sangshu’s beast pet, Da Hei, but because Sangshu later became ill, Xiaohei didn’t choose her as its master. It just followed us around as if it wanted companionship. Sometimes, it would go off on its own to hunt and not return for many days.”

”When I was set to return to Gaochang, I sent it away, only for a black bear that held a grudge against it to take the opportunity to attack me. Xiaohei sensed this and came to my rescue, and on the way, we encountered Sangta and his group. That time, it was indeed Sangta who brought me to you. Whether because he understands the language of beasts or because Xiaohei was grateful that he saved me, it followed Sangta and his group all the way afterwards.”

”But later, I realized I might have been mistaken. It just wanted to follow you and see what you were like. Didn’t it try to curry favor with you on the road?” Qingyan said with a smile.

”Curry favor? Bringing me a wild rabbit?” Bai Ruozhu had thought back then that it was Sangta’s doing.

”And it helped you bite Jin Jing. Do you think Sangta could command it?”