Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 737 Answer
"Sister-in-law, have some tea."

Wang Zheng presented a bowl of tea to Xie Yuyan: "This is water that my brother and his men fetched from the mountain."

Xie Yuyan looked outside: "Your brother hasn't returned yet?"

“No,” Wang Zheng said. “Sang Dian came back and said that his brother found a deer and is going to take people to chase after it to take a look.”

He didn't need to ask to understand that his brother wanted to cut some venison and blood for his sister-in-law.

Sister-in-law's complexion had never been good. Wang Zheng asked Yu Mama and learned that Sister-in-law was a bit weak and had been taking a lot of medicine in the past year. She had also been taking medicinal meals while in Bianjing, which had led to some improvement in her condition.

Clearly, the back-and-forth travel during this period has taken a toll on the woman's energy.

Venison is warm in nature and nourishes blood and qi, so it's best for my sister-in-law. My brother, of course, wouldn't pass it up if he found it.

“It’s getting dark,” Xie Yuyan said, looking at Madam Yu. “Have Sang Dian go and tell them to come back if they can’t find us!”

Although this place is very close to Bianjing, and no one would dare to ambush the group here, Wang Yan is still unfamiliar with the surroundings, and if he encounters danger...

“Sister-in-law, don’t worry,” Wang Zheng said. “Brother will definitely be fine. About ten years ago, he got lost in the mountains for three days. Uncle led a lot of people to look for him, but in the end, he found his way back on his own. That shows how capable he is.”

What are you talking about me about?

When Wang Yan's voice came, Wang Zheng was overjoyed and immediately rushed out to greet him.

"Brother, have you found the deer?"

Wang Yan tossed the bow and arrows to Sang Dian, then looked directly at Xie Yuyan, as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time, even though they had only been gone for a short while.

Having spent so much time together, he had gotten used to having her by his side all the time, and he would feel a huge emptiness in his heart whenever she was away for even a short while.

"Brother... tell me quickly, we can't have come up empty-handed, can we?"

Wang Zheng asked again, and Wang Yan then remembered to reply, "We couldn't find it; it might have gone into the mountains."

Wang Zheng immediately looked disappointed: "Did you catch any pheasants or rabbits?"

Wang Yan shook his head again.

Wang Zheng said, "You really didn't get anything?"

“Your brother is lying to you,” Xie Yuyan said with a smile. “Didn’t you hear the commotion in the kitchen? It must be that your brother and the others brought back some prey.”

Wang Zheng suddenly realized what was happening. He stopped asking Wang Yan and ran quickly toward the kitchen. Before he even left the yard, he shouted, "Sister-in-law, come quick! It's a deer! It's a deer! My brother has brought it back!"

Xie Yuyan was slightly surprised: "You really found that deer?"

“Luck,” Wang Yan said. “The deer had injured its hind leg and couldn’t run fast. I caught up with it after tracking it for half an hour. We arrived just in time. If we had been a day or two later, it would have become food for wild animals, and we wouldn’t have had a chance to hunt it.”

The day before yesterday, on the road, Wang Yan took her to visit an old imperial physician. After taking her pulse, the old physician wrote a prescription and taught her some methods of making medicinal cuisine. Wang Yan heard that he could cook porridge with venison and remembered it. Sure enough, he found a venison.

"You shouldn't go look at it," Wang Yan said. "If you look at it too much, you won't be able to eat in a while."

Xie Yuyan stopped in her tracks. Wang Yan had gone to great lengths to bring the prey back, so she would just listen to whatever he said.

Just as the two were about to enter, Wang Zheng ran over and said, "Brother, is there anything you need from that deerskin? Could you make a bow tip for me?"

Wang Yan replied without hesitation, "It will be useful."

"Then... what does my brother want to do? I'll trade with you..."

Wang Yan said, "I'll make leather boots for your sister-in-law."

"Does your sister-in-law wear leather boots?" Wang Zheng hadn't thought of that, and naturally he didn't dare look at his sister-in-law's feet. "Yes," Wang Yan said, adding, "I wear them when I walk in the snow."

Wang Zheng stood there, stunned, and once again felt the fact that he had fallen out of favor.

“Let’s make bow tips for him,” Xie Yuyan said. “It’s a shame to use them for boots, since you hunted the game yourself.”

Wang Yan looked at Xie Yuyan: "What you're saying makes me feel useless. I'm just a deer hunter, when did it become so precious?"

What he said made some sense.

Before Xie Yuyan could speak, Wang Yan continued, "Furthermore, I went into the forest because I wanted to help you recover."

As Wang Yan's voice faded into the distance, Wang Zheng, standing to the side, could only console himself, telling himself that making boots for his sister-in-law was more important.

Even though he had lost his bow and arrow, he could still enjoy a meal of venison thanks to his sister-in-law. Thinking of this, Wang Zheng became happy again.

Xie Yuyan turned to look at Wang Zheng again, only to find that he had already run off. Along the way, she had noticed Wang Zheng's restlessness, which was completely different from when she had met him in Daming Prefecture.

At that time, she thought Wang Zheng was a bit naive, but his temperament was clearly far beyond his age. Perhaps because he was with someone he trusted, Wang Zheng suddenly seemed to have become several years younger, carefree, only knowing how to enjoy the scenery and play.

The two entered and sat down. Xie Yuyan said, "Zheng-ge mentioned that you were lost for three days before, the time you met the immortal?" Whether it was her imagination or not, when she mentioned this, Wang Yan's gaze sharpened, and he seemed to freeze for a moment. There were some complicated emotions in his eyes, but when she tried to catch them, he returned to normal.

Xie Yuyan wondered if there was more to the rumors about Wang Yan's encounter with the immortals than met the eye. Was it all just hearsay? She had never discussed this matter with him in detail.

“It’s true he got lost,” Wang Yan said, “and then he encountered a celestial being…”

He paused slightly, then looked up to meet Xie Yuyan's gaze: "Does Ayan believe in immortals? They suddenly appear, speak to you, mention things that will only happen in future generations, and then suddenly disappear..."

She disappeared for more than a decade, then reappeared before him with a different face.

Xie Yuyan thought about it carefully and then shook his head: "I don't know, but at least I've never encountered one. If I really did see one... I might keep thinking about it and want to find out where the immortal came from and how I can see him again?"

That's how many things are; once you're curious, you'll keep thinking about them until you figure them out.

Wang Yan nodded, finally certain that she remembered nothing at all.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have said it so naturally.

Since we've forgotten, we don't know. Some people are truly like immortals, knowing what will happen in the future.

They might suddenly leave for more than a decade.

Xie Yuyan said, "But I vaguely remember... when I was a child, I went to the manor once and almost got lost." That memory wasn't very clear to her; she only had a vague impression of it.

She remembered taking Ahri into the forest to catch butterflies, and suddenly everyone around her disappeared. It was from that moment on that she stopped liking those pretty little creatures with fluttering wings.

In fact, she started remembering things from a very young age. It was because of her extraordinary intelligence that she was raised in the courtyard of Xie Chengrang and his wife. Logically speaking, she shouldn't have forgotten these things, but she just couldn't remember them.

When Xie Yuyan came to her senses, she found that Wang Yan was still standing there in a daze. Xie Yuyan sensed something was wrong with Wang Yan again. He looked like a piece of newly formed ice crystal that would shatter at the slightest touch.

Xie Yuyan asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Wang Yan took a deep breath: "No, it's just... I didn't expect you to have the same past."

Before Xie Yuyan could speak, he asked, "How long were you missing that time? Did anyone in your family search for you? Were you injured? Were you punished when you got back?"

Xie Yuyan opened his mouth, wanting to spill everything, but realizing he couldn't give a reasonable explanation, he said, "I don't remember, but it shouldn't have been long ago."

Ten years later, Wang Yan finally got the answer he wanted.

(End of this chapter)