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Chapter 97: Chapter 97 Zhan Huang, You’ve Returned!
Xiao Chen’s face was pale as he looked towards Zhan Lan; he had been listening to her words, he knew that the woman before him had saved him.
Yet, whatever he heard just swept past him like the wind, causing not the slightest ripple upon the lake of his heart.
As if in this world, there was nothing left that could ignite his desire to keep on living.
"The heart is as dead as ashes" would aptly describe his current state.
Zhan Lan looked at his indifferent attitude, feeling both heartache and annoyance.
She let go of the Bald man’s foot and kicked him towards the corner; he screamed miserably, unable to get up.
Zhan Lan said to the refugees, "Tie him up!"
"Yes, miss!"
Several men held down the Bald man and tied him up.
Zhan Lan’s gaze fell on Xiao Chen, who was numbly staring at the twinkling stars in the sky.
Slap!
Xiao Chen, completely immersed in his own world, suddenly felt a pain on his cheek and, after staggering a few steps, he steadied himself to see Zhan Lan’s face.
He was momentarily stunned, then lowered his eyes and leaned against the wall with an air of ruffian stance.
Zhan Lan angrily said, "Those who are dead are already dead, do you think they would want to see you like this?"
Upon hearing Zhan Lan’s words, Xiao Chen’s eyes lacked any fluctuation.
He looked up again towards the crescent moon in the sky.
The pain on his cheek was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
For someone whose heart was dead, living seemed a torture.
Zhan Lan quickly stepped forward, grabbed his collar and said, "Xiao Chen, wake up!"
Xiao Chen’s eyes widened suddenly, he grabbed Zhan Lan and pressed her against the wall, glaring angrily, "What did you call me!"
Zhan Lan, pressed against the wall with pain in her shoulders, smiled, "This is the real Xiao Chen!"
"Release that lady!" In an instant, Xiao Chen was surrounded.
The refugees, holding sticks, shouted at Xiao Chen, "Madman, this lady is a good person, you can’t hurt her!"
Xiao Chen roared at Zhan Lan, "Tell me, how did you know!"
Zhan Lan looked up at the refugees and said, "Everyone, don’t worry, he’s not a bad person!"
The refugees looked at Zhan Lan’s confident eyes; they stood back far, tightly clutching their wooden sticks.
As if fearing Zhan Lan might get hurt by Xiao Chen, they all stared intently at his silhouette.
Zhan Lan shouted loudly, "Step back, we have something to talk about."
Seeing Zhan Lan’s determined appearance, they finally left.
Zhan Lan pushed Xiao Chen’s hand away and took out a piece of leather paper from her embrace and handed it to Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen took it, saw the words on it, his pupils dilated, his hands trembled.
"Your mother never betrayed your father, she wasn’t a bad woman, from the beginning, she was helpless in her actions."
"After your father died, she chose to commit suicide with him but was saved by Tuoba Hong and sent to the king of Western Rong, staying within the imperial palace. She had people chase you under the pretense of killing you to expel you from Western Rong so that you could survive."
"Your father was merely a chess player of Nanjin, through these years, he carried out the mission of both nations’ peace as ordered by the former emperor to visit Western Rong, unaware that he had already been abandoned by the Emperor. Emperor Xuanwu never thought of letting him return."
Xiao Chen was stunned, gripping the leather paper tightly in his hand, it was the servitude indenture of his mother.
Western Rong had no language of its own, noble families used Han Language to write indentures.
This was the indenture of servitude that Zhan Lan had found in Tuoba Hong’s tent last time.
Originally, his mother was merely a pawn under Tuoba Hong, but Gai Yina actually fell in love with Xiao Yin.
Zhan Lan’s thoughts drifted back to the previous lifetime.
Twenty years ago, Xiao Chen’s father, Xiao Yin, was the Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice of Nanjin, skilled in martial arts and integrity, and he was a good friend of Zhan Beicang.
He was dispatched by the former Emperor of Nanjin with twenty soldiers to Western Rong.
At that time, the elderly king of Western Rong, no longer wishing for war, advocated for peace, and he warmly welcomed the envoy from Nanjin, Xiao Yin.
Under the scheme of Tuoba Hong, Western Rong’s foremost beauty Gai Yina fell in love with him at first sight and married Xiao Yin as the chief’s daughter of the Mountain River Tribe.
The late emperor was an enlightened sovereign, who approved their marriage, even publicizing the event as a friendly and neighborly act throughout the nation.
Thus, Xiao Yin stayed in Western Rong as an ambassador of friendship between the two countries.
Together, they had Xiao Chen, who because of his exceptionally handsome looks, was hailed as the most beautiful man in Western Rong from the age of twelve.
His life seemed blessed and smooth-sailing.
However, at the age of sixteen, after the old king of Western Rong passed away, his son took over the throne and started coveting Nanjin, wanting to annex it.
He fabricated evidence of Xiao Yin’s betrayal of Nanjin.
Xiao Yin was imprisoned, and Western Rong’s king also schemed, turning Gai Yina into a wife who betrayed her husband.
Western Rong started hostilities against Nanjin and invaded it multiple times.
Emperor Xuanwu began to launch counterattacks against Western Rong.
Gai Yina, fully aware of the cruel nature of the king of Western Rong, was certain he would kill her son.
Thus, she intentionally sent people to assassinate her son, and Xiao Chen, heartbroken, fled back to Nanjin.
Being hunted by his mother and his father framed as a traitor of Nanjin, he was at a loss for how to handle the situation.
Until Zhan Lan met him at eighteen in the brothel.
His face painted with makeup, playing a female role, his true gender was indiscernible.
Unwilling to reveal his true self, he survived day by day living in the theatre, in the worlds of others.
Zhan Lan discovered his martial skills, so sought people to test his prowess.
In a life-or-death moment, he revealed his exceptional martial arts.
Finally, after numerous visits by Zhan Lan, he joined the military, not only to vindicate his father.
He also became one of Zhan Lan’s most effective deputies in her past life.
However, ultimately he was executed by Si Jun, hung alongside Zhan Beicang at the city gate.
Recalling everything, Zhan Lan’s eyes moistened.
Xiao Chen never betrayed her until his death; in the Heavenly Prison, she heard Xiao Chen roar before his execution, "The Si Family treats loyal generals this way, the Si dynasty is doomed! Doomed!"
His voice echoed through the city tower, soul-stirring!
...
Xiao Chen held the parchment, watching a sparkling tear slide from Zhan Lan’s eye corner. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
Inexplicably, his heart ached momentarily.
Although it was his first time meeting this woman, he felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy.
As if they had known each other in a past life.
"What is your name?" Xiao Chen asked.
Zhan Lan’s thoughts snapped back, and she said with a smile, "Zhan Lan!"
The moment Xiao Chen heard the name Zhan Lan, he felt a severe pain in his head.
It felt like he had heard this name before, but... where!
The face of the current Zhan Lan overlapped with another strikingly beautiful face finally merged together.
Tears, both sparkling and shattering, burst out from his red-rimmed eyes.
In an instant, memories of his past life flooded his mind.
His hand gently rested on Zhan Lan’s shoulder, tears immediately falling.
Zhan Lan heard the voice of Xiao Chen, as if from another lifetime.
"Zhan Huang, you have returned!"
