Yu Xiangâs wounds finally healed after a month of recuperating, leaving little but a long, hideous scar across both kneecaps. Due to the laceration of the nerves, she was ultimately paralysed and unable to stand up ever again.
During this period, âYu Xiangâ mother, Lin Shi, was not the least bit concerned about her and even Old Madam had never inquired about her condition besides ordering people to deliver large sums of valuable medicinal herbs. In contrast, Yu Pin Yan did abide by his promise and came every day to accompany her in her room. He also gifted her a wooden wheelchair. As the wheelchair was invented by Zhuge Liang a long time ago, it was not considered a rarity.
Between both siblings, one was innately cold, detached and disliked to speak, while the other was still concerned over her biological elder brother hence, unable to walk out from the shadow of her past life. In this short period of time, they were unable to properly get close with each other.
They would stammer a few words before lapsing into long silences. In order to avoid awkwardness, Yu Xiang would sometimes feel obliged to close her eyes and pretend to be asleep, and unintentionally did fall asleep. Most of the time she had no idea how long Yu Pin Yan would keep watch by her bedside before leaving the room.
Today, Yu Xiang woke up very early in the morning and ordered the two little maidservants to push her out for a stroll around the courtyard. She had a bowl of old duck soup and two bowls of rice at noon before lying down on the divan and falling asleep. Suddenly thunder clapped and lightning flashed, and a soft drumming sound could be heard alongside a burst of torrential rain. Yu Xiang was evidently lying in the room but somehow, inexplicably, she was currently standing at a narrow path.
She threaded through the mud, struggling to walk forward, before she heard the sound of hoofbeats and trundling wheels from behind. Hurriedly, she tried to flee to the side of the path and cried for help. When she looked back, she was able to identify the head rider straddling a tall big horse, who was Yu Pin Yan. Overjoyed, she raised both her hands and loudly shouted. However, Yu Pin Yan did not seem to see or hear her, flashing past as swiftly as the wind and as quick as lightning.
Fleet of carriages rumbled off ahead, completely ignoring Yu Xiangâs cries for help.
Both Yu Xiangâs feet were stuck in the mud and she was unable to move. Helplessly, she looked at the entourage barrelling further and further away. As the fleet of carriages rounded a corner, a torrent of mud and rocks could be seen surging down violently from the top of the mountain. In a split second, the horse carriages were crushed, broken and scattered across the ground. Numerous chests dropped out from the carriages and were reduced to splinters by the mudslide.
Yu Xiang stared fixedly at the debacle, stunned at the realization that those chests had all been packed with ten silver liang ingots. As she watched, mudslides swept all those silver ingots into the mountain stream beside the road and carried away by the surging river, never to be seen again. The life and death of Yu Pin Yan was unknown.
Yu Xiang gasped heavily and shoved herself up, noticing that she was still seated within her bed curtain. Everything that had happened a moment ago had all been just a dream. It had to be. If it was not a dream, how could she possibly have walked?
She patted her chest in an attempt to calm herself down, but the feelings of alarm still rattling within her could not be dispelled. In her previous life, whenever her elder brother met with dangers, she would have similar ominous feelings. Consequently, this enabled her elder brother to evade many attempted assassinations, which was the main reason why her existence in the family was acknowledged by the Venerable Grandfather.
However, she had never dreamt of such a seemingly convincing prediction, as though everything that had happened in the dream would be staged in the near future.
The longer she pondered, the more flustered she became. Yu Xiang then loudly yelled, âSomebody come, quickly!â
Tao Hong and Liu Lu were guarding in the side room next door. When they heard her yelling, they hastily ran over.
âGo and get my elder brother to come over. Tell him that my legs are in excruciating pain.â Yu Xiang kept waving her hands.
Both the little maidservants saw her ghastly pale countenance and cold sweat broken out on her brows, as though she was truly sick. One urgently ran forward to look after her while the other lifted her skirt and ran madly towards the front courtyard.
There had been a continuous torrential rainstorm over the past few days. The Huang He River adjacent to Sanmen Gorge (prefecture city in Henan) had breached the dike, causing flash floods. Several cities had already submerged under the water and hundreds of people had been swept away by the floodwater. Millions of people were now homeless and suffered heavy losses. The Emperor immediately issued an imperial decree, commanding the Crown Prince to personally proceed to Sanmen Gorge with the disaster relief. As the Crown Princeâs study companion, Yu Pin Yan would naturally be enlisted.
As the situation was critical, the group of officials dared not waste any more time. Once they received the imperial decree, preparations were immediately carried out. Yu Pin Yan was already a foot out of the door when little Tao Hong arrived.
The reason Yu Xiang was paralyzed was completely for the sake of saving him; thus, Yu Pin Yan could not just abandon her no matter what. He assigned someone to pass a verbal message about him arriving slightly late to the Crown Prince. He then hastened towards the west wing courtyard.
He was wearing a navy-blue brocade robe. The collar and wrist cuffs were embedded with auspicious cloud patterns and gold gilded edge. His appearance was precisely the same as she had seen in her dream. Once Yu Xiang took a look at him, her heart immediately sank and she determinedly made up her mind to prevent him from leaving. He was her only big golden thigh, should any unforeseen circumstances were to befall him, for a disabled, a known bastard and a tagged jinx, she would seriously not be able to survive in this Marquis manor anymore.
It wouldnât just the Old Madam, who loved her grandson to death, but even Lin Shi, who ignored the worldâs affairs, would have ripped her alive. They would concede that Yu Xiang was the one who had âjinxedâ Yu Pin Yan to death!