Guanshan Muyu

chapter 55

Early morning, two quarters into maoshi (5-7 am).

In a short while, Xia Xun would return to Xia Mansion. He was happily eating breakfast with his hand bandaged, unaware of what would happen next.

Qi Yan looked at his innocent demeanour, and his chest suddenly throbbed with dull pain.

Although he was clearly prepared for everything, ready for the moment when the dagger would strike, panic suddenly surged in his heart.

Even seeing Xia Xun stumble a little, Qi Yan would feel terribly distressed and want to catch him. But now he had to personally send him to jail, send him to the unpredictable road of exile.

Qi Yan didn’t dare to think how Xia Xun would look at him after the truth was revealed and what he would experience during the long three thousand miles of exile.

His fear grew stronger and stronger, his breathing becoming chaotic.

He kept comforting himself that his plan was free of loopholes. As long as he endured these few months, he would be able to rescue Xia Xun safely. At that time, he would explain everything to Xia Xun everything and no matter what the cost, he would beg for Xia Xun’s forgiveness.

Then the two of them could live in peace, with no more past events standing between them.

Qi Yan breathed a sigh of relief, patted the chair and asked Xia Xun to sit beside him.

“Your hair is messy, come here and let me comb it for you.”

Xia Xun sat down obediently; Qi Yan picked up the comb and combed his hair carefully.

While Xia Xun was not paying attention, he quietly cut off a strand of his hair and hid it in his sleeve.

He thought about the saying that a man’s soul was in his hair. If he kept this strand of hair, Xia Xun would surely meet him again no matter where he went in the future.

“Alright.” He said softly to Xia Xun: “It’s all done.”

Xia Xun twisted his combed hair in a bun and walked into the gate of Xia Mansion.

Two hours later, when he walked out of it again, his family was ruined. He was shackled and taken into a prison carriage, while Qi Yan rode a horse and quickly disappeared behind the corner of the street.

Qi Yan couldn’t stop; if he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to restrain his impulses.

If it hadn’t been for years of hatred that forged his willpower, he would have rushed to Xia Xun’s side, would have taken him away in front of everyone and would have gone with him to the end of the world.

He clenched the reins so tightly that the tough cowhide left bloody marks in his palms.

His heart hurt as if pierced with a knife, but he didn’t look back.

Xia Xun went to the prison of the Judicial Review Courty and together with Xia Wen waited for the emperor to announce their sentence.

These ten days were the most difficult days in Qi Yan’s life. He could barely eat or sleep, he was restless, he couldn’t even drink water. He lost a lot of weight in just a few days.

Qi Hui couldn’t watch it anymore, so he said:

“My lord, since you are so worried, why don’t you visit Young Master Xia? If you don’t show your face, Young Master Xia will definitely think that you were just using him from beginning to end and did not care about him at all. Even if he gets out safely in the future, he will resent you. How will it be possible for him to get along with you without holding a grudge?”