Shen Qingfeng was helped back to the bed. The quilt had been warmed by the brazier. The warm feeling made Shen Qingfeng's purple face from the cold twitch. It scared A Man so much that she quickly warmed up some hot water and brought it to him to drink.
Shen Qingfeng was in poor health. By the time A Man came, he had already been standing alone in the snow for an hour. Now that he was in the quilt and warmed by the heat, he suddenly choked and coughed. He coughed so violently that his whole body trembled and his cheeks flushed.
A Man was so scared that she didn't know what to do. She was only thirteen years old and knew nothing. She could only lie on the edge of the bed, tears streaming down her face as she kept stroking Shen Qingfeng's back. She was extremely anxious and flustered. "Young master, what's wrong with you? Don't scare this servant."
Hearing this, instead of calming down, Shen Qingfeng coughed even more violently. A Man had no choice but to run out crying and shouting that she was going to find the master.
Everyone knew that Shen Qingfeng had gone crazy because of the imperial edict of marriage bestowed by King Xia Jie. He not only rushed directly into the palace but also made a fool of himself by causing a ruckus in the imperial study, which made all the court officials scold him.
Shen Qingfeng, the youngest son of Shen Shiqiu, the prime minister, was betrothed to Lu Yan, the Marquis of Dingbei. It should have been a wonderful marriage, but Shen Qingfeng's refusal to marry had made it a big deal. He even threatened to kill himself. On the other hand, the Marquis of Dingbei was extremely cold. The eunuch sent by the king to deliver the edict was turned away, leaving no face for the Shen family at all.
It was rumored in the court that the Shen family and the Lu family had become enemies.
After that, Shen Qingfeng was knocked out by Shen Shiqiu with a gloomy face and brought back. Then the main gate of the Shen mansion was closed, and they refused to receive guests.
This was not the only scandal of Shen Qingfeng. He refused to marry because he already had someone in his heart. Coincidentally, that person was Xia Chuli, the crown prince of the current dynasty. Few people knew about this before, but after Shen Qingfeng's crazy outburst, everyone knew about it. The reputation of the Shen mansion was instantly ruined.
Everyone in the Shen mansion was spreading the rumor that Shen Qingfeng had lost his mind because of this incident. Rumors about his madness spread everywhere. When Shen Shiqiu heard about it, he immediately banned the talk in the mansion and punished several gossiping servants severely to set an example. Only then was the rumor suppressed.
When Shen Shiqiu pushed open the door and walked into the room, Shen Qingfeng suddenly felt that he had never been so clear - headed in his life. The old and blood - stained face of Shen Shiqiu in his memory was gone. Instead, he saw a middle - aged man with the anger and hidden doting that he hadn't seen in many years.
Shen Qingfeng's eyes were fixed on Shen Shiqiu's face, full of deep longing. He watched as his father sat down on the edge of his bed and let out a heavy sigh.
"Feng'er..." Father Shen said earnestly. Looking at Shen Qingfeng's thin body, the pity and sorrow in his eyes seemed endless. Shen Qingfeng was his youngest son and had been spoiled since childhood. He was unrestrained and unruly. Father Shen was really afraid that he would be wronged after marrying Lu Yan. "Dad knows you're wronged. If you don't want to marry, we won't. Dad will go and plead with the king for you. Why do you have to torture yourself..."
It was the same back then. Shen Shiqiu pleaded with King Xia Jie in front of the palace to take back the marriage contract for Shen Qingfeng. He even used the power of the Shen family to threaten the king indirectly. Although the marriage contract was later taken back, a feud was thus formed between the king and the prime minister.
Now that he thought about it, the reason why the Shen family was ordered by Xia Chuli to be ransacked and all the family members executed seemed to be related to this incident. However, the more complicated reasons were still beyond his understanding.
Anyway, at that time, he watched helplessly as the Shen mansion was ransacked, and more than 130 people were beheaded one by one in front of him. He still remembered that his body was tied up at that time, and a white cloth was stuffed into his mouth and tied tightly behind his head.
His eyes were wide open, and he didn't know when his teeth had bitten through his tongue. The dark red blood had completely dyed the white cloth red. Once was enough to experience such a scene. Shen Qingfeng secretly swore in his heart.
"Dad..." Shen Shiqiu was about to say something more to persuade him, but was interrupted by Shen Qingfeng. His voice was soft and weak. "The king's order cannot be violated. Dad, please don't go to the king because of this. Your son doesn't want to make things difficult for you."
"Feng'er..." Shen Shiqiu's eyes were full of tears. In fact, he had known for a long time that his son liked Xia Chuli. Not to mention that after Shen Qingfeng received the imperial edict, he went to the palace and made a complete mess. Everyone knew that he would rather die than marry Lu Yan. But now this person who had been so resistant was actually comforting him.
The slander of the servants suddenly flashed through Shen Shiqiu's mind. His face immediately turned pale. He grabbed Shen Qingfeng's hand and said, "Feng'er, if you have any difficulties, please tell Dad. Don't keep them to yourself. What if you get sick from depression?"
"Dad." Shen Qingfeng sighed. He reached out his hand to cover Shen Shiqiu's hand. His eyes drooped slightly, and his long eyelashes covered his eyelids, making it hard to see his expression. "Your son is fine. I've just figured out some things. Dad, please just promise me not to go to the king because of this."
He had really figured it out. He shouldn't have fallen in love with someone like that, to the point of staining his hands with blood, being spurned by everyone, and finally sacrificing his own life and the lives of the entire Shen family.
The figure holding a corpse in the flames flashed through his mind. Shen Qingfeng's eyes flickered, and he asked, "Dad, what's the date today?"
Shen Shiqiu was stunned. He wondered what was wrong with this child that he had even forgotten the date. But he remained calm on the surface and just replied, "It's the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month."
It was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month in the 17th year of the Fengqing era.
This was the day when Lu Yan entered the capital.
In his previous life, this was the first time Shen Qingfeng saw Lu Yan again after five years since they parted at the long pavilion. However, in his second life, until Shen Qingfeng died, Lu Yan had always stayed in the northern kingdom and never returned to Lige.
In his previous life, his impression of Lu Yan was very vague. Even when he was floating in the air after his death, he had never really remembered Lu Yan's appearance. After all, in his previous life, his eyes had always been on someone else, on that guy named Xia Chuli.
It was not until the fire that he heard Lu Yan's heart - rending cries and sobs that he really looked at him for the first time. Unfortunately, it was just a fleeting moment, and then the fire engulfed that person, leaving only a vague back.
After much persuasion, he finally managed to convince his father to leave. Although Shen Shiqiu still didn't believe that Shen Qingfeng could change his mind just by sleeping, Shen Qingfeng had no explanation. He could only keep promising that he would never do anything impulsive again. Only then did he watch his father leave, looking back every few steps.
After Shen Shiqiu had left for a while, A Man brought some soup. She helped Shen Qingfeng sit up and placed several soft cushions behind him. Then she fed him the pigeon soup spoon by spoon.
The pigeon soup was stewed with astragalus and angelica, and also added honeysuckle, red dates and other tonics for qi and blood. Shen Qingfeng knew who had made it as soon as he smelled it. His heart warmed, and his lips trembled slightly. He slowly drank the soup with A Man's help.
Although A Man was young, she was very smart. Seeing that Shen Qingfeng seemed to want to ask something, she said directly, "The eldest young master stewed the pigeon soup himself. He originally wanted to bring it here, but there was an urgent job in the divination department, so he asked this servant to bring it."
His elder brother, Shen Yu, was currently the head of the divination department. His official rank was equivalent to that of an internal official. All large - scale sacrificial and divination activities in Lixia were presided over by him.
In the cold winter, if there was anything that needed divination, it must be the return of Lu Yan, the son of the Marquis of Dingbei from the northern kingdom.
Shen Qingfeng drank up all the pigeon soup. He felt much warmer all over, and his body was not so stiff. So he propped himself up and wanted to get up and walk around.
His body was not originally this weak. Before he caused a ruckus in the Shanhe Hall, he had just had a big fight with Xia Chuli. The two of them had quarreled so badly that Shen Qingfeng angrily moved back to the mansion from the palace.
Who would have thought that just a few days later, the imperial edict of marriage came. Shen Qingfeng had been in poor health since childhood. Although Shen Shiqiu had spent more than ten years taking care of him, he had left behind some root causes of illness when he was young. When Shen Qingfeng saw the imperial edict, he was so angry that he hurt his vitality. Not to mention that he had stood in the wind and snow and caused a ruckus in the Shanhe Hall for half a day. His body just collapsed.
Shen Qingfeng wrapped himself in a big fur coat and stood in front of the window. He slightly pushed the window open a narrow crack. The cold north wind wrapped in snow swept into the room. Seeing this, A Man was about to step forward to close the window, but was stopped by Shen Qingfeng. He asked, "What time is it?"
A Man replied, "It's noon, young master."
Shen Qingfeng had a very vague memory of many things about Lu Yan, but somehow, he just remembered the time when Lu Yan entered Lige that year. It was three quarters past the hour of the sheep.
"A Man, accompany me out." Shen Qingfeng said.
A Man was stunned. "Young master, your body has just caught a cold. If the master finds out..."
"Don't worry." Shen Qingfeng turned around and gave her a gentle smile. "I won't let Dad know."