My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband - Chapter 48

Yan Hongyin’s memories from before the age of seven were very blurry. Her master’s explanation for this was simply that children don’t remember things well, but she never imagined that she had once experienced such a dramatic event.

However, regarding the events of that year, the letter only mentioned this much, without a single word about how the poison in Yan Hongyin’s body was later cured.

But from Wang Lianhua’s two visits to see Yan Hongyin, with nearly four years between them, Yan Hongyin could glimpse that this matter wasn’t so simple.

Although her actual time spent with Wang Lianhua was merely a dozen or so days, Yan Hongyin could sense the innate arrogance and willfulness in this person.

Regardless of what circumstances led to the birth of his child, if he couldn’t find a better solution, he would never tolerate his own child calling someone else father, growing up in the imperial palace at the heart of the court, and becoming what others saw as a bloodstained knife in the emperor’s hands.

[Mother knows Ah Yin’s initial intention in taking over the Jinyiwei. But Ah Yin, mother hopes you understand that whether you view him as a father or an uncle, he is first and foremost an emperor.

Brother Emperor was able to win the throne from among Grandfather Emperor’s exceptionally talented princes, not relying on consorts or relatives, but on his brilliant military achievements and civil governance. He was born to be an emperor, and will always place the interests of the court and the common people before personal feelings.

The past affairs involve many complications, but if one day you discover the truth about your identity, you may already be standing at the edge of a cliff. You only need to remember one thing—what mother left you was never just responsibility, but also leverage.

Your bloodline will be the bridge connecting the martial arts world and the imperial court. No one can easily replace your existence.

Yes, mother is referring to your father. In a certain sense, he’s quite useful. If it weren’t for his skills in bed, mother wouldn’t have been so unable to forget him all these years, tsk.

Hmm… let mother think what else to say. Oh, right, mother suffered from being too enthralled by beauty. Mother has told you that romantic love is human nature, but promise mother that you’ll see clearly and never sleep with a beautiful snake!

Finally, Ah Yin, fight for what you want and do what you wish. We can’t be perfect in everyone’s eyes. Life is short, just a few decades, and living for yourself is what matters most.

You will always be mother’s most cherished treasure.]

Reading to this point, Yan Hongyin suddenly curved her lips and couldn’t help laughing out loud.

The laughter faded in an instant. Yan Hongyin lowered her eyes, staring blankly at the moonlight scattered on the ground.

Her impression of her mother consort’s death wasn’t very deep, but when her master was on her deathbed, she had dismissed everyone else and kept only Yan Hongyin by her side.

Unexpectedly…..after all these twists and turns, the master she regarded as her mother was actually her birth mother.

Memories of these years surged in her mind, and suddenly, the fluctuations in Yan Hongyin’s eyes froze.

…..

It rained one night, which seemed like just an ordinary evening to the common people of the capital, but for many, from this night on, many things were thoroughly changed.

The nanny who was watering the potted plants by the window heard familiar footsteps behind her. The water dripping from the spout of her pot paused, and a trace of surprise and concern appeared on her face. But as she turned to see Yan Hongyin behind her, meeting the eyes of the child she had watched grow up, in an instant, the nanny understood everything.

“So early in the morning, child, you’re not sleeping again. Have you eaten?”

Having sat in the courtyard for most of the night, Yan Hongyin’s voice was somewhat hoarse. “No.”

“Ah, come on, let me make you something to eat.” The nanny put down the watering pot, and as she passed by Yan Hongyin, she hesitated for a moment, but ultimately grabbed Yan Hongyin’s arm as usual.

Yan Hongyin followed the old woman with her somewhat faltering steps, her gaze remaining fixed on the nanny.

This residence wasn’t large, located in the outskirts of the capital, with ordinary commoners living nearby. The nanny didn’t know martial arts, and there was nothing out of place about an elderly woman living there—if Yan Hongyin hadn’t known her well enough, she wouldn’t have been able to find her tracks within two hours.

The kitchen wasn’t far and was kept very clean. The nanny seated Yan Hongyin on a small stool by the stove, next to dry firewood and straw.

Yan Hongyin silently took out a fire starter, put wood inside, grabbed a small handful of straw to light it, and skillfully started the fire in the stove.

The nanny took some ingredients from the side, put some rice to simmer in the pot, and efficiently cut vegetables.

Yan Hongyin found a fan and gently fanned the fire in the stove, saying softly, “Nanny, were your hands and feet really crippled by enemies?”

The rhythmic vegetable chopping paused. The nanny looked at Yan Hongyin, who was hunched by the stove, her handsome face cast in shadows by the flickering flames, and sighed helplessly, “Child, you’ve always overthought things since you were little. What are you thinking about now?”

But Yan Hongyin wasn’t so easily distracted by the nanny’s words. She persisted. “It’s precisely because I tend to overthink that you needed to use this method to approach me, to fulfill my mother’s wish for you to look after me, right?”

No one understood Yan Hongyin’s stubborn nature better than the nanny. Once this child made up her mind about something, she would never back down. If she hit a wall, as long as the wall didn’t collapse, she would rub her head and continue ramming into it, extremely stubborn.

Seeing this, she decided to speak plainly, “Your mother was my sworn younger brother. My life was saved by her, and my martial arts were taught by her. In this life, besides liking you, I only liked her. As for that tragic massacre and losing all my martial arts skills—those were stories we made up specifically for you. Of course, it wasn’t just to fool you, a child who was never easy to deceive from a young age, but also because your uncle emperor had placed people around you, so we needed a way to deceive them as well.”

“Silly child, haven’t you noticed that among the servants around you, besides me, you basically never see anyone else a second time?”

Yan Hongyin took a moment to react, looking up blankly at the wrinkled face of the nanny, “Sworn… brother?”

“Sister works too, doesn’t matter.” The nanny took a piece of lean meat and continued cutting it into cubes. “My martial arts were indeed crippled when seeking revenge, and my hand and foot tendons were injured. At that time, your mother wanted to send me away, to change my identity and start a new life elsewhere, but I wasn’t willing to leave. After all, you needed someone both the emperor and your mother could trust by your side, so it might as well be me.”

“Among the current Jinyiwei dark envoys, more than half are your secret agents, but there are still some old members with concealed identities who owed your mother life-saving favors when she was in the martial arts world.”

“Have you been to Liluo Palace?” the nanny asked.

Yan Hongyin nodded.

“Then you probably know most of what you need to know. What your mother probably wouldn’t tell you is how she and your father cured your poison.”

Yan Hongyin’s hand tightened.

“The poison was transmitted to you from your father’s body. It wasn’t originally fatal, but it became more dangerous because you were a girl and had been with the toxin since you were in the womb.

Later, your father stole seven sarira from the Dali Duan family, used six of them, and cleansed your meridians and bone marrow when you were seven. However, the medicinal effect of the six sarira was extremely potent, and after you woke up, your memories from before the age of seven became very blurry.

Your mother had disguised herself as a consort solely for your sake. Given this development, and thinking about future martial arts training, she simply abandoned her identity as Consort Li and used her Jinyiwei identity to take you as her personal disciple.”

“Later, your amazingly capable father disappeared for a year, and when he returned, he brought a thousand-year-old snow ginseng. When you were eight, he and your mother prepared to remove the poison from your body.”

“The poison in your body was stubborn and elusive. The only way was to use internal energy to force the poison out of your body, then have another person actively absorb the poison. Your father and mother had a fight, and then decided that your mother would channel the internal energy and transfer the poison to your father.”

“…Actually, I think that fight had some personal grudges involved. It was probably the first time your elegant and refined father was pinned to the ground and beaten.” The nanny hissed, shaking her head and sighing as she recalled the scene. “But your mother still showed restraint, never touching your father’s beautiful face.”

Yan Hongyin’s expression immediately became somewhat peculiar.

“After the detoxification, your mother’s level dropped from Grandmaster, and when your father left, he looked like he had been dragged out of water. He appeared again when you were eleven.”

The nanny started the stove and oil, poured in the meat cubes to stir-fry, and suddenly said while cooking, “But I think your mother put more effort into Lin’an Prefecture than before during those years. Every time she returned from Lin’an Prefecture, she was glowing, as if she had taken some kind of elixir. So later when you said you wanted to open a medical shop somewhere else, my first thought was Lin’an Prefecture.”

Yan Hongyin: “…”

Calculating the time…..during that period, Wang Lianhua was probably hiding in the black market of Lin’an Prefecture, right?

After putting the meat aside, she added vegetable cubes and continued stir-frying. The nanny smiled and said, “Actually, the relationship between your father and mother might not be what you think. Rather than lovers, they were more like friends. But later…”

“Later, your mother’s cultivation technique developed problems, with signs of qi deviation. After she realized this, she intentionally reduced her contact with you and stopped going to Lin’an Prefecture. It was during that time that your father began to appear frequently before you.”

“Although your mother was naturally open-minded and took everything in stride, she practiced the Ruthless Path, a cultivation technique deeply feared in the martial arts world. This technique had been preserved in the imperial family, with origins that cannot be traced. Once practiced to your mother’s level, even if one abandoned their martial arts, there would be no turning back if the mind wavered.”

“Ah Yin, the affairs of the previous generation are simple yet not simple, complex yet not as complex as a sea of deep emotions. But for you, what’s most important is to walk the path ahead well.”

As she spoke, the nanny served the stir-fried vegetables. The rice simmering on the side had absorbed the water in the high heat. She stirred it with chopsticks and poured in all the meat and vegetable cubes to continue simmering.

“Behind you stand not only the Jinyiwei dark division but also your father.”

The nanny paused, her gaze lingering on the jade ring on Yan Hongyin’s ear.

Having spent years in both the martial arts world and the deep palace, the nanny naturally had extraordinary insight. She had noticed this rare jade when Yan Hongyin arrived.

In all these years, she had only seen one piece of jade with such a clear and desolate moonlight quality—the priceless treasure passed down through generations in the palace, the He Shi Bi.

She thought of the man who had disguised himself so well that he almost deceived even her, and added with a light laugh. “Perhaps Ah Yin has some new things?”

“But regardless of your attitude toward the martial arts world, their existence will be your leverage. Besides you, no one can sit firmly in the position of the Jinyiwei Commander, and only you can protect those dark envoys and agents who initially joined the Jinyiwei because they trusted your mother and trusted you.”

“As for Lu Gang…”

The nanny moved her lips. “Although you started learning martial arts at seven, your talent was astounding and your physical condition excellent. In just a few years, you surpassed your mother’s original senior disciple. During those years, no matter how hard Lu Gang tried, he could only trail behind you.

Soon, you, with royal blood and a cool, intelligent temperament, became a more suitable candidate in the emperor’s eyes than Lu Gang, whom your mother had originally groomed to lead the Jinyiwei.”

The master’s teachings, the emperor’s attention, the promising future with the Jinyiwei’s power in hand…

In Lu Gang’s eyes, this little junior sister who had emerged unexpectedly had almost effortlessly snatched away everything that should have been his.

The aroma of meat porridge gradually spread throughout the kitchen, suddenly warming the air around Yan Hongyin.

The nanny, who had somehow moved to Yan Hongyin’s side, bent down and gently stroked Yan Hongyin’s hair, saying softly:

“Good Ah Yin, eat your meal and then have a good sleep. When a person is too hungry or too tired, their mind cannot work properly.”

……

Waking up, her entire body felt somewhat stiff.

Daylight was faintly visible through the window. Yan Hongyin sat on the bed hugging her blanket, her gaze passing over the incense burner in the corner of the room. She immediately understood that the nanny had added some calming herbs, which was why she had slept so deeply.

Someone seemed to be sitting behind the screen, with a figure completely different from the nanny’s. Yan Hongyin, who hadn’t reacted initially, suddenly sharpened her gaze: “Who’s there?!”

A man with still-damp curly hair walked out from behind the screen wearing an outer robe. He grabbed a handkerchief to rub his wet hair a couple of times, then, with his hair flying wildly in all directions, smiled at Yan Hongyin with unrestrained delight.

“Wife~”

Yan Hongyin took a moment to react, finally understanding why someone was in her room yet she could still sleep. She asked in a daze. “What are you doing here?”

Yu Luocha sat down on the edge of the bed. On his right ear was a jade ring identical to the one on Yan Hongyin’s ear, his hidden intentions clearly evident.

He opened his arms to Yan Hongyin and blinked.

“I just suddenly felt that Wife might need a hug, so I came~”

Yu Luocha still had that flippant manner, but between his brows was a weariness that even his recent bath couldn’t wash away.

Jinling City and the capital were thousands of miles apart. Even riding at full speed, it would be impossible to arrive in a day and a night. If he had used Qinggong to travel… no wonder he was so exhausted.

“I’m so tired. Wife, you wouldn’t kick me out of the room, would you? Nanny said there are no other rooms for me to sleep in.” Yu Luocha looked extremely pitiful.

Yan Hongyin ignored Yu Luocha’s hugging gesture and reached out to tug at his slightly curly hair ends, feeling the damp sensation of the dark brown curls twining between her fingers. She moved to the side a bit.

Yu Luocha was adept at taking advantage of opportunities. He immediately lay down, though he didn’t crawl under the covers but pressed on top of them, wrapping Yan Hongyin inside the blanket.

Yan Hongyin was speechless. “…What are you doing?”

Yu Luocha closed his eyes with an expression that said ‘I’m tired, don’t talk to me’.

Yan Hongyin couldn’t do anything with him. If she kicked him off, he would just climb back up—she shouldn’t have been bewitched and softened her heart just now.

Lying there, the person beside her gradually breathed evenly. Yan Hongyin inexplicably felt sleepy again, her eyelids gradually closing.

“…You are the most incredible and beautiful miracle in this world.”

Yan Hongyin’s eyelids trembled.

“That’s what he said.”

“Sickeningly sweet, tsk.”

Yu Luocha turned to his side, his cheek facing Yan Hongyin’s direction, opening one eye to look at her.

“But…..I feel the same way.”

After saying this, Yu Luocha smiled at Yan Hongyin again, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

His breathing gradually became deep and long.

In the silent room, Yan Hongyin turned her head to look at Yu Luocha’s face and suddenly realized that she and her mother seemed to have fallen into the same trap.

Although these two guys came with a long string of troubles and were difficult to deal with, but… who could blame them for being good-looking?

Beautiful people always had certain privileges.

And the one she had chosen was clearly much more obedient than the one her mother had chosen.

Thinking this, Yan Hongyin closed her eyes again, the corners of her lips curving slightly upward.