Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Lu Shuangshuang quickly set down the tiger meat in her hands and followed Xiao Jingmo to the carriage at the back.
Jin Bao and Xiao Jingyu skipped after them to join the excitement.
Lu Shuangshuang climbed onto the carriage, lifted the curtain, and ducked inside.
Sure enough, the man had cracked his eyes open. He looked a little better than he had the night before. At the very least, his lips were no longer completely bloodless.
Lu Shuangshuang felt his pulse and did not release his wrist until quite some time later.
“How is he, Aunt Lu?”
Xiao Jingmo asked with a frown.
“He’s showing some improvement, which means we gave him the right medicine. But rebuilding his strength will take time. We only have enough herbs for half a month, while he’ll need at least a month’s supply. Fortunately, medicinal herbs are plentiful in these mountains. If we gather them as we go, we should be able to keep up.”
“What’s more, he hasn’t eaten properly in at least two years, and it’s left him with a serious stomach condition. His health will need careful attention from now on. Prepare his meals together with Jin Bao’s and Yu’er’s. He’ll need at least six months to recover.”
Xiao Jingmo nodded and turned to the man again.
“Do you remember how the bandits captured you? Or do you remember your family?”
The man appeared to be in his early twenties. After so long without washing or grooming, he was filthy and covered in stubble, and the carriage reeked constantly of his sour stench. It was remarkable that Xiao Jingmo had managed to endure it this entire time.
The man opened his mouth. Perhaps because he had not spoken in so long, his voice was hoarse.
“Thank you.”
Those two words seemed to drain all his strength, though his gaze remained fixed on Lu Shuangshuang.
Lu Shuangshuang gently shook her head, dipped into a curtsy, and left the carriage.
Outside, the two little ones stood on tiptoe with their necks craned as they tried to peek inside.
At the sight, Lu Shuangshuang took one child in each hand and led the pair away.
Only Xiao Jingmo and the man remained in the carriage.
The man did not answer Xiao Jingmo’s question. Instead, he asked one of his own.
“May I ask why my benefactor saved me?”
Xiao Jingmo told him about Xiao Che’s nighttime raid on the bandits’ stronghold.
Understanding flickered in the man’s eyes.
“So you are from the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery. Then why are you here?”
Xiao Jingmo studied him intently. The man had been extremely guarded about his own background and had revealed nothing, testing Xiao Jingmo again and again instead. It seemed he did not trust him and was trying to learn about them indirectly.
Xiao Jingmo answered candidly and told the man everything.
The Marquis’s Mansion had never committed treason or colluded with an enemy nation. With clear consciences, they had nothing to hide from anyone.
After hearing Xiao Jingmo’s account, the man shed two silent streams of tears.
Overcome with emotion, he clasped Xiao Jingmo’s hand tightly in both of his. His lips moved for a long moment, yet not a sound emerged.
Xiao Jingmo was afraid the surge of emotion might make him faint again.
“Don’t get too worked up. Since we saved you, we won’t abandon you. As long as you don’t despise us for being exiles, we’ll keep nursing you until you recover. And when you wish to leave, we won’t stop you.”
Xiao Jingmo’s words seemed to reassure the man. He drew a deep breath and finally spoke again.
“My name is Lin Fengchun. My ancestral home is Xuanzhou in Jiangnan.”
That one sentence made Xiao Jingmo’s expression change drastically.
No wonder. No wonder the man had concealed his identity and tested him over and over.
He was from the Xuanzhou Lin Family, the renowned papermaking clan.
“I heard that the Lin Family was exterminated when its property was confiscated two years ago. Not a single member survived. You claim to be Lin Fengchun. How can you prove it?”
Xiao Jingmo had heard of the poisoning case that shook the entire nation.
Xuanzhou in Jiangnan was renowned for producing xuan paper. The region was home to many fiercely competitive papermaking clans.
Among those clans, an ancestor of the Lin Family had once served as a master artisan in the imperial paper workshop.
The Lin Family excelled at making thin, durable xuan paper suited for both calligraphy and painting from blue sandalwood bark, paper mulberry bark, and other materials.
The Lin Family’s xuan paper had even been selected as tribute paper reserved exclusively for the imperial court.
Yet for some unknown reason, a batch of xuan paper made for the imperial censors two years ago had been tainted with a slow-acting poison, causing several censors to die after the poison took effect.
The imperial physicians later discovered traces of the poison in the paper.
Every court official panicked. They petitioned the throne to punish the Lin Family severely, accusing the clan of plotting rebellion, murdering officials, and undermining the foundation of the nation.
The Emperor flew into a rage. A single imperial decree condemned the entire Lin Family to death.
Xiao Jingmo had always suspected that someone had framed them. Yet all the evidence pointed to the Lin Family. The poison had even been found in their home, and their steward had confessed to everything.
It had all been too perfect, as if every piece of evidence had been deliberately placed in plain sight, waiting to be discovered. And just like that, the case was closed.
He had never expected them to rescue a descendant of the Lin Family by sheer chance.
But whether this man’s identity was genuine still had to be verified.
Lin Fengchun possessed nothing that could prove who he was. Even if he once had such an item, he would have destroyed it long ago.
“Young Master Xiao, I have no way to prove my identity.
“When the Lin Family was exterminated two years ago, I happened to be away purchasing paper mulberry bark and escaped the massacre.
“But my family was innocent.”
Xiao Jingmo sat silently beside him. He watched Lin Fengchun and waited for him to continue, confident in his own judgment.
Lin Fengchun recounted everything that had happened two years ago. He had lived a life unfit for a human being while evading capture, and now that he could finally speak the truth freely, his eyes reddened.
“Prince Cheng was behind it.
“Back then, Prince Cheng ordered the Lin Family to make a special kind of paper for transmitting secret messages. The paper had to hold invisible ink without bleeding when the revealing solution was applied. It also had to be thin and light enough to conceal and transport, as well as water-resistant and durable enough for long-term storage.
“Our family rules forbid us from becoming involved in court affairs, so my father refused him in no uncertain terms.
“Prince Cheng bore a grudge against us. Worse still, the Lin Family had learned of his plans, so he could never let us live. Whether we agreed to help him or not, death was inevitable.
“We simply never expected him to act so quickly.
“One month later, the imperial censors suddenly began dying. The Lin Family was wiped out overnight. I survived by chance, only to become a wanted criminal and spend the next two years on the run.
“I hid among beggars and made my way north. I heard the Northern Frontier was full of exiles and thought no one there would recognize me. But before I could reach it, bandits captured me.
“They recognized me as a member of the Lin Family and tried to force me to surrender our secret papermaking methods. They tortured me for an entire month.”
Xiao Jingmo fell silent for a long time after hearing his account.
He had never once connected this case to Prince Cheng.
“If you’re truly from the Lin Family, you should know how to make paper, correct?”
Xiao Jingmo asked the question one last time. It was the only way to verify Lin Fengchun’s identity.
“Of course. I grew up at my grandfather’s side. Everything I saw and heard became ingrained in me. I have mastered all seventy-two steps of the Lin Family’s papermaking process and have conducted extensive research into the properties of plant fibers from different regions, dye fixing, and methods for preventing insects, mildew, and rot.
“While my grandfather was alive, he praised me as the most gifted member of my generation and planned to make me the next head of the Lin Family. But who could have imagined…”
Seeing the weariness between his brows, Xiao Jingmo comforted him gently. “Rest for now, Young Master Lin. Recovering your health is the most important thing. Don’t you want revenge?”
Lin Fengchun dreamed of avenging the Lin Family’s blood debt, but what could a fugitive like him possibly do?
Merely staying alive had exhausted all his strength. Taking revenge on Prince Cheng would be like throwing an egg against a rock.
He had planned to find a place where no one knew him, marry, have children, and pass down the Lin Family’s craft.
Who could have known the journey to the Northern Frontier would be so difficult?
But now, everything seemed to have taken a turn. The hatred buried in his heart blazed back to life.
“I do! How could I not? I dream of it every night. Whenever I close my eyes, all I see is a sea of blood and the faces of every member of my family.”
Xiao Jingmo crouched and tucked the blanket around Lin Fengchun.
“Rest. The road ahead will be easier with others beside you than it was when you traveled alone.”
Lin Fengchun understood. The Xiao Family was willing to accept him.
They knew he was from the Lin Family, yet they were still willing to help. The Xiao Family truly was a house of loyalty and honor.
As Xiao Jingmo prepared to leave the carriage, Lin Fengchun’s tentative voice came from behind him.
“Young Master Xiao, if your family shares a fate like mine, I am willing to devote every skill I possess to helping you rise again. From this day forward, my life belongs to the Xiao Family.”
Xiao Jingmo paused, then turned with a warm smile. “Don’t overthink things, Young Master Lin. Aunt Lu said you need plenty of rest and must avoid worry. In your current condition, you couldn’t help with anything even if you tried.”
Hope flared in Lin Fengchun’s eyes. Xiao Jingmo had not rejected him. That meant there was still hope.
The moon rose in the east and set in the west, and the group resumed its journey.
This time, however, the carriage traveled less hurriedly than before. The slower pace reduced the jolting and allowed its occupant to rest properly.
Everyone in the Xiao Family knew Lin Fengchun’s identity, but they shared a silent understanding. Whenever the group stopped to rest, Xiao Jingmo personally cared for him.
As a result, after ten or so days of travel, Zhu Laosan and Li Si had not seen Lin Fengchun even once.
But the good times did not last. They were about to cross Black Bear Ridge, and from there onward, the carriages could go no farther.
They would have to abandon the carriages and continue on foot.
For the Xiao Family, the true test of survival had only just begun. The obstacles and hardships nature posed for humankind were beyond anything assassins could match.