Mistaken Husband After Blindness

The man’s neck was beaded with blood.

Yet he still spoke up in persuasion: "Young Master, may I ask boldly—have you forgotten your brothers who are watching like tigers eyeing their prey?"

Jiang Hui’s eyes reflected the glint of the sword, his clear star-like gaze calm and indifferent: "Though my men are few, I only keep two kinds—those who are useful and those who are loyal.

"Which one do you think you belong to now?"

The man immediately realized his mistake.

The decisiveness and coldness in Jiang Hui’s words jolted him awake. A man like the young master might be moved by emotions, but how could he ever be shackled by them? His concern for the lady stemmed more from gratitude for her saving his life, fearing she might suffer because of him at the hands of Yan Shuheng.

With resolve, the man lowered his head and spoke in a deep voice: "This subordinate has overstepped. I merely saw that although Yan Shuheng deceived the lady, he seems to care for her deeply. I thought, since she is currently living well, why should you take the risk? But after all, she did save your life, Young Master. If you truly cannot rest easy, there’s no need for you to personally take the risk. I will find a way to bring her back for you!"

Jiang Hui lowered his lashes and sheathed his sword, a hint of mockery in his eyes: "Like an egg striking a rock, seeking only humiliation."

He resolutely walked forward, leaving behind only one sentence.

"One last chance. Go to Yicheng. If you fail, become a bandit. Don’t come back."

The man’s face lit up with joy: "As you command!"

The young man ahead had already taken several steps with his sword in hand, his tall figure disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Like a lone wolf vanishing into a snowy night.

.

The carriage traveled for half a day, and as dusk approached, the call of a partridge echoed outside.

Si, unable to bear the jolting of the ride, had just drifted off to sleep. Yan Shuheng lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out. A guard led a ragged-looking refugee forward: "Young Master, this man claims to have been hired by a man in black to deliver a message to you."

Yan Shuheng nodded, speaking gently to the man: "Don’t be afraid. I won’t harm the innocent."

The refugee said: "A man surnamed Jiang asked me to deliver a message to you: 'A piece of information in exchange for a person.' Will you agree?"

Yan Shuheng asked: "What did he look like?"

The man shook his head: "I couldn’t see clearly."

Yan Shuheng pressed further: "Did he say what he would do if I refused?"

The man replied: "He said, 'Then so be it.'"

Yan Shuheng’s lips curved into a faint smile.

"It seems he is indeed as she said—somewhat sentimental, but not overly so."

The mountain breeze swept past, tangling his long hair and the ribbons tied to it, creating an inexplicably tender scene. The wind also made the affection in his words seem fleeting, hard to discern whether it was genuine or not: "She is the one I hold dearest. Exchanging a person for a person might be considered, but exchanging her for mere information? I cannot bear to part with her."

The man added: "He said the information concerns someone surnamed Yin. You would want to know."

Yan Shuheng remained unmoved. Information obtained from others only proved what they wished to reveal, so he declined: "A pity. I am a stubborn man, and I only trust what I uncover myself."

The man eventually left.

Po Wu asked for instructions: "Shall we send someone to follow him?"

Yan Shuheng simply said it wasn’t necessary.

"If he dared to send a stranger to deliver the message, he must have already planned his escape. No need to waste effort. Let’s continue our journey."

The carriage finally arrived at the dock by dusk.

After boarding the ship, Si stayed in her cabin. Hearing that Jiang Hui’s colleagues were also on board, he seemed particularly busy. After escorting her to her room, he left.

In the afternoon, Si woke from a deep sleep, hugging her quilt in a daze when the cabin door suddenly opened. Thinking it was Zhuyuan, she sighed lazily: "Traveling by boat is so dull. Why hasn’t my husband returned yet? Has he fallen into the river and been eaten by fish…"

She curled up like a lazy cat, sinking back into the bed.

A familiar low chuckle came from above, followed by a faint but clear scent as someone ruffled her hair.

Si’s eyes sparkled, as if she had found something amusing, and she reached out her hands toward him.

"Husband, you’ve finally returned!"

Her eyes brightened, like a cat basking in the sun, suddenly noticing a sparrow perched above.

Yan Shuheng, as if holding a feather to tease a cat, extended his hand for her to grasp.

"Bored?" he asked.

Si lamented: "Without you, husband, it’s not just boredom—life itself feels hopeless."

Yan Shuheng’s eyes and brows were filled with laughter.

"In that case, your husband will take you out to feel the breeze and add some hope to your days."

He helped her walk out of the cabin.

The river wind brushed against her face, and the slight rocking of the boat made Si nervous. She clung to Yan Shuheng’s arm like it was a lifeline.

Yan Shuheng glanced down at her. Yesterday, when she had hugged him to test him, Si had still been reserved. Since then, she had become especially natural, as if they had always been this intimate.

Aunt Li had mentioned that while the couple appeared distant in public, they were affectionate in private. Yet Yan Shuheng remained half-convinced. She knew where Jiang Hui had moles, what his figure was like, and often spoke flirtatiously.

Clearly, they had been extremely close.

Why, then, had even holding hands felt awkward?

Now it seemed that after yesterday’s investigation, her doubts had temporarily eased, and she had let down her guard.

Yan Shuheng’s brow furrowed for a moment.

Never mind. After all, he was the one pretending to be her husband, and what he enjoyed was the game of mutual probing.

Her letting down her guard only made it more interesting.

He took her hand, his thumb idly tracing circles on her palm, gently massaging.

Si tried to pull her hand back, but his fingers seemed to pin her palm like nails, as if they would pierce through, sending a tingling sensation that spread like wildfire up her arm.

Yan Shuheng, noticing her reddened earlobe, couldn’t resist giving it a light pinch. The warmth of his fingers seemed to seep through her earlobe into her bones. Si shrank her neck and heard him say: "What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you wanted to be closer to me? Were those just empty words?"

His voice, aloof as it was, had already captivated her. But when it turned tender and lingering, it was truly enchanting, making Si’s heart itch.

But she was not one to lose her senses over charm.

Even if his voice stirred her heart, she wouldn’t let herself be controlled by him.

"Of course, I like it."

She turned and grasped his hand, using it to stop his movements, and said considerately: "Aren’t your colleagues on board? Be careful they don’t tease you for being too flirtatious!"

Yan Shuheng stopped teasing and said leisurely: "My colleagues are all unmarried. Seeing me with a wife by my side, they’ll only envy me. The only one who might mind is one person."

He paused meaningfully.

Si, curious, asked: "Who?"

Yan Shuheng gazed at the river, his expression calm: "Naturally, it’s your husband, Jiang Hui."

Si misunderstood, thinking he was merely joking, and her lips curved into a slight smile.

"Enough teasing." Yan Shuheng chuckled.

He had thought that Jiang Hui might, with a one in ten thousand chance, still care about the wife who had been taken away. He had prepared thoroughly, anticipating that slim possibility.

Unfortunately, the man was more sentimental than he had imagined.

But also more rational and composed.

As he pondered, Si, still remembering his earlier teasing, quietly reached up to his earlobe with her slender fingers, reciprocating with gentle pinches and rubs.

A faint itch spread to his chest, and Yan Shuheng’s long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.

Habitually, he wondered if she was suspicious again. But he welcomed these occasional tests, indulging her as he asked: "Having fun?"

The troublemaker instead grew concerned: "Did I pinch too hard? Shall I blow on it for you?"

Without waiting for his reply, Si blew gently toward what she thought was his earlobe.

The hand gripping her wrist tightened, then relaxed.

The warmth of her breath lingered on his throat.

Yan Shuheng looked down at her clear eyes, a sigh laced with a faint smile escaping him.

"I truly don’t know if meeting you is a blessing or a curse."

.

The cold river wind blew as Yan Shuheng escorted Si back to her cabin before returning to the ship’s study. Chuan Yun hurried in: "Young Master, a letter from General Zhao!"

Yan Shuheng glanced at it casually.

"Change course to Wuling."

Hearing they were heading to Wuling, Chuan Yun’s face lit up with joy: "Perfect! I’ve finished the novels I borrowed earlier!"

The young man recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier on the ship, where Yan Shuheng had been intimate with the assassin’s wife. It felt familiar: "Speaking of which, Young Master’s current situation is quite similar to Mr. Qi’s back then!"

Yan Shuheng’s lips curled into an ambiguous smile.

"I was inspired by Qi Ziling. It’s been a while since I last saw him—it’s time to catch up. And while we’re at it,"

His gaze darkened for a moment before returning to calm: "We should pay a visit to Old Master Wu."

Chuan Yun hesitated: "But Old Master Wu…"

Yan Shuheng’s long lashes flicked like a pair of scissors snuffing out a candlewick, cutting off the young man’s words.

After Chuan Yun left, Yan Shuheng went to the ship’s bow to admire the moon.

Years ago, he had been on this very ship.

The Former Crown Prince, disheartened by the constraints of the aristocratic system, raised his cup with a furrowed brow and sighed, "Now, only Yuechen understands me!"

A few years earlier, his mentor, Old Master Wu, had introduced him, a man with little authority, to the Crown Prince's faction, saying, "This young man shares the Crown Prince's ambition to reclaim Liangzhou. He is a man of sincere integrity and can be of great use."

At that time, Yan Shuheng, though already renowned for his talents, had not yet fully developed his influence. Old Master Yan, for reasons that could not be publicly disclosed, had imposed numerous restrictions on him. It was the Crown Prince's patronage that provided him with an opportunity to spread his wings.

But later, his mentor wrote in a letter: "I taught you that 'the ruthless are invincible,' but I never taught you to be without honor."

The full meaning of "ruthlessness" is "the sentimental are heartless, the heartless are invincible." Here, "sentiment" does not include "honor," nor does it mean he should be cruel and disown his family.

His mentor only hoped that he could break free from his shackles and not be swayed by the bonds of kinship and love in this world.

But in the end, he became a man without sentiment or honor.

The river breeze carried those words away.

Yan Shuheng gave a faint smile and murmured, "I was never a man of integrity to begin with."

The moon's reflection in the river rippled and fragmented. He glanced up at the eternal moon in the sky, then turned and walked back to the study on the boat. His hand lingered on the door for a moment before he withdrew it.

The hem of his robe stopped at the final door.

He simply stood there, but a meddlesome breeze blew by, pushing open the unlatched door.

Yan Shuheng smiled at the wind and stepped inside.

On the other side, Si, having finished her bath, lay sprawled on the bed, her arms hugging a soft pillow, her face resting on her arm. She wore only a thin inner robe, her long, fair legs peeking out from the snow-white silk, her delicate feet swaying lazily like slender bamboo shoots emerging from the snow.

Her long hair cascaded down to the edge of the bed, just brushing the floor of the boat.

Yan Shuheng was greeted by the sight of a beauty lounging lazily. He stepped forward and gathered the strands of her hair, lifting them back onto the bed. The silken strands slipped through his fingers, cool to the touch, both intimate and elusive. But when he let them go, the emptiness left him feeling cold.

Si, sensing his presence, reached out and tugged at his sleeve, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous smile.

"Would you like to sleep with me tonight?"

There was a brief pause before he replied with a soft chuckle, "Of course."