The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Telling

In front of Xiao Jinyu lay sheets upon sheets of Zuo Bo paper. On the paper, written in the Wei Clan’s cursive clerical script, were letter after letter. The handwriting was elegant and graceful, and the content was about daily life or matters of war, but between the lines, there was an outpouring of pure and sincere emotion.

“Today, His Majesty ordered me to attack Liu Yi. I followed Hou Andu and stationed troops at the foot of Taozhi Ridge. Three days later, I led a battalion of men to charge into the enemy ranks and was wounded on the left side of my neck. Fortunately, A’luan saved me, and I was able to survive…”

“Today, the Empress urged His Majesty to bestow upon me a marriage with Princess Yuhua. His Majesty asked for my opinion, but I did not respond…”

“……”

After reading all these letters, Xiao Jinyu understood. These were letters written by Han Zigao to her mother, Lady Xiao. She had not expected that Lady Xiao had contact with Han Zigao long ago.

“Yes, in fact, before A’luan entered the palace, she had met General Han a few times. A’luan loved to study medicine and often traveled among the common people, treating children who had been displaced by the war. At that time, General Han was just a humble commoner, taking refuge in Jingkang to escape the Hou Jing Rebellion. He happened to meet A’luan, who was also seeking refuge in Jingkang. General Han was also a gentle person, and both of them had compassion for the suffering of the people. So they often went together to gather herbs or treat the sick and wounded refugees.

I think, at that time, General Han probably had feelings of admiration for A’luan, but after all, A’luan was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Xiao family, and he, a commoner with no official position, would never dare to aspire to such a high branch.

A’luan always saw him as a friend and didn’t think much of it.

But sometimes fate is so strange. No one expected that in just two or three years, the world would undergo earth-shattering changes. After the Hou Jing Rebellion, Chen Baxian killed the descendants of Wang Sengbian, replaced the Liang Dynasty, and became the emperor of the Chen Dynasty in Jiankang City. When A’luan saw General Han again, he was already a favored official by the side of the late Emperor Chen Qian, and he was no longer the weak and helpless commoner he once was. His horsemanship and archery skills were as swift as the wind. After Chen Qian ascended the throne, he even appointed him as the General of the Right Guard.

At that time, there were rumors in the palace that Princess Yuhua, Chen Jianchen, was infatuated with General Han and had fallen ill from lovesickness. The late Emperor ordered A’luan to enter the palace for treatment. Unexpectedly, in just half a year, such a thing happened…”

When Yuan Rujing spoke to this point, her expression became somewhat sorrowful, and she couldn’t help but cover her face and weep bitterly.

“Why did such a thing happen? Do you know the truth?” Fenghuang couldn’t help but ask.

Yuan Rujing shook her head and said, “As for the truth, I’m afraid even A’luan herself doesn’t know who set her up like this. The day she was driven out of the Xiao family, I went to see her, and she gave me these letters General Han had written to her. You’ve seen the letters, there’s not a single word of vulgarity or any intention of seeking pleasure or love. A’luan also told me that although Princess Yuhua was ill, it wasn’t from lovesickness. Princess Yuhua was not good at poetry, so she asked A’luan to write love poems for her to give to General Han.

But as time went on, General Han naturally knew that the letters were written by her, so he also replied to A’luan, recounting his life experiences to express his longing.

I think A’luan was probably moved by General Han’s sincerity, so she agreed to meet him. But unexpectedly, on the day of the meeting, they had agreed to meet at the hour of Chen （7-9 am）, but A’luan waited for him all day and he didn’t appear. It wasn’t until the hour of You （5-7 pm） that General Han came to find A’luan, drunk. But what A’luan didn’t expect was that General Han seemed like a different person at that time, and he…”

After a pause, she choked up and said, “A’luan said she didn’t blame him. He had been drugged, and the other party’s purpose was only to target her. General Han was just a pawn being used.

But A’luan, she bore all the consequences alone. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Xiao family, and the honor bestowed upon her by her status could have allowed her to live a life of comfort and ease, she could even have become the Empress…”

“Was it Princess Yuhua who orchestrated this?” Fenghuang continued to ask.

Yuan Rujing shook her head again: “It’s possible, but it’s also possible not. The matter has already happened, A’luan was driven out of the palace, driven out of the Xiao family. The late Emperor, in order to stop the rumors, killed most of the people who were present and knew the truth. What the truth is, there’s no way to verify it now.

However, I can see from one of General Han’s letters his remorse towards A’luan, he even said that as long as A’luan was willing, he was willing to marry into the Xiao family!”

“Marry into the Xiao family?”

“Yes!”

Yuan Rujing took out another piece of silk from her sleeve. This silk was different from the Zuo Bo paper. On it was a sentence written in blood:

A’luan, I’m sorry. I have already requested an imperial edict from His Majesty. If you are willing, I am willing to marry into the Xiao family.

“When was this letter written? When did you receive it?” Xiao Jinyu couldn’t help but ask.

“It was delivered to me not long ago. Actually, in the more than ten years since A’luan went to Northern Qi, General Han had been writing to her and sending messengers to Northern Qi, but A’luan never replied.

And this letter written in blood, it was probably written before he knew his time was running out. This letter wasn’t sent to Northern Qi, but directly to me. I think General Han had already embraced the determination to die before writing this letter! And indeed, not long after this letter reached me, he was executed in the Ministry of Justice for the crime of treason.”

Xiao Jinyu sneered in her heart: The so-called crime of treason was just a means for those in power to eliminate dissidents. Han Zigao had too much military power and was loyal to the late Emperor, it must have made “that person” very uneasy!

Thinking of this, she naturally thought of Chen Shili and the scene she saw in her dream that day. What secret did Chen Shili want to learn from Han Zigao? And why would Han Zigao rather bear the false charge of treason than utter a single word?

“A’yu, I wonder if I can call you that… Actually, General Han… he really is your father… A’luan lived a life of propriety and never had any improper relationships with anyone. General Han… he was her only man…”

✿✿✿

Seeing Xiao Jinyu lost in thought, as if she had doubts, Yuan Rujing suddenly took her hand and said comfortingly.

“I know. My appearance makes it impossible for me to deny that my father is Han Zigao,” Xiao Jinyu said.

Yuan Rujing looked up in astonishment, looking at Xiao Jinyu’s face, which was exactly the same as Xiao Luan’s, and said in puzzlement, “Your appearance? No, your current appearance is exactly the same as A’luan’s, could it be that you…”

Xiao Jinyu didn’t answer directly but changed the subject: “You just said that during the more than ten years my mother was in the north, General Han sent letters to her?”

“Yes!”

“But there’s not a single letter from him among my mother’s belongings, only an embroidered handkerchief…” After saying that, she asked Fenghuang to take out the handkerchief and hand it to Yuan Rujing.

Yuan Rujing unfolded the handkerchief and read it word by word: “People say the round fan is like the full moon, but I say the full moon is not always full. I wish for Yanzhou to be free from frost, so that it can enter and exit your sleeves for thousands of years.” After reading it, she looked at Xiao Jinyu in surprise and said, “This was written by Princess Yuhua, Chen Jianchen, to General Han. Why would A’luan keep this?”

Chen Jianchen?

Doubts arose in Xiao Jinyu’s heart, and she took back the handkerchief and examined it repeatedly.

At this time, Yuan Rujing said again, “Moreover, A’luan didn’t hold any resentment towards General Han, she even had feelings for him. How could she not keep a token of his? Or… did she never receive the letters General Han wrote to her?”

Xiao Jinyu naturally didn’t know. Although she could occasionally recall some scenes of the original owner and her mother, Lady Xiao, getting along, they were all very blurry images, so blurry that she couldn’t even see Lady Xiao’s face clearly.

Whether Lady Xiao had feelings for Han Zigao, perhaps only she herself knew her true feelings. However, there were probably many unknown secrets about her.

“Whether she received them or not, she is gone, everything has vanished like smoke!” Thinking of this, she smiled bitterly.

Yuan Rujing’s face suddenly turned pale, her expression once again filled with deep sorrow, and she couldn’t help but start to blame herself tearfully again.

“I never thought that our parting at the city gate that day would be our last. I failed A’luan. If I could have spoken up for her like A’yu did today, or revealed the truth, would A’luan not have…”

Seeing her mother’s remorseful crying, the little girl A’yuan came running over, seemingly saddened as well. She held her mother’s hand and comforted her, “Don’t cry, Mother. If you’re sad, A’yuan will be sad too.”

Yuan Rujing immediately patted her daughter’s hand, forcing a smile through her tears, and replied very gently, “Okay, Mother won’t cry. A’yuan, why don’t you go play with Sister A’xiu for now? Mother still has something to say to this sister.”

“Okay!”

A’xiu also came over at the sound of their voices and gently pulled the little girl away, chatting and laughing as they walked towards the courtyard.

“Is the thing you said you felt guilty about that you didn’t tell the truth back then, or that you didn’t speak up for my mother?” After the little girl had gone, Xiao Jinyu continued to ask.

Yuan Rujing lowered her eyes dejectedly: “Yes, after what happened back then, all the great clans were silent. My father even put me under house arrest and wouldn’t allow me to enter the Xiao family again. My father said this was a warning from the Chen imperial family to the aristocratic families. Whoever dared to speak up for Xiao A’luan would be courting death! So I never came forward… even though I knew everything between A’luan and General Han… I knew A’luan was framed…”

“You can’t be blamed for this. Even if you had spoken, no one would have listened… So, you don’t need to feel guilty or blame yourself.”

Hearing Xiao Jinyu’s words, Yuan Rujing’s eyes flashed with a look of incredible gratitude.

“You don’t blame me? A’luan, you really don’t blame me…”

She looked at Xiao Jinyu with a somewhat dazed expression. It was only after a long while that she seemed to wake up and said with a self-deprecating smile, “No, you’re not A’luan, you’re her daughter, A’yu…”

Seeing her in a daze, Xiao Jinyu felt suspicious and asked again, “Then, where is the imperial edict that you said General Han requested from the late Emperor? Do you know?”