Dandere General and his Lord

37. Blessed by the Heavens

Cheng Qianye jumped into the water immediately. The river water in the spring night was cold and dark. Even after diving into the water several times, she was still unable to find him.

More and more soldiers with good swimming skills jumped from the ship into the water in order to aid in the search.

Cheng Qianye, who was in the water, could see numerous tiny spots of light, all belonging to her people.

However, Cheng Qianye felt more and more panicked. As the seconds turned into minutes, Mo Qiao Sheng was still yet to be found.

Qiao Sheng, he is most afraid of the water.

Right now, he’s engulfed in this dark, icy water. But I still can’t find him.

An extreme feeling of anxiety occupied her innermost being.

She was finally struck with the realization that she might lose this man forever. Her heart was gripped by a profound sense of fear.

That look in his eyes as he looked at her, how he chose death even as his heart bloomed with love emerged clearly in her mind.

Cheng Qianye took a deep breath before plunging into the water once more, continuing to swim deeper. Her vision gradually grew dimmer and it became harder for her to see. Just as she was on the verge of giving up, she finally spotted a luminous cherry pink within the water.

Cherry pink!

Mo Qiao Sheng had been enveloped in the lustre of love before he had jumped to his death.

The light pink flickered in the water, switching back and forth between becoming dimmer and brighter.

Cheng Qianye quickly swam towards the light, grabbing the slack body that did not produce any reaction.

She held the body and turned, swimming desperately towards the lights at the surface of the water.

When they all saw that Cheng Qianye had found him and appeared at the surface of the river, the crowd cheered as they all helped to pull the two of them up onto the ship.

When Cheng Qianye finally managed to crawl up onto the deck, Mo Qiao Sheng was already surrounded by military doctors.

Yao Tianxiang turned to look at her, her expression one of sorrow and compassion as she gently shook her head at her.

Cheng Qianye pushed the crowd away and looked at the drenched figure lying down on top of the deck. His face was ghastly pale and his black hair was spread messily across his face, his slender limbs completely lifeless.

The military doctor’s hand moved away from his carotid artery and he sighed and said, “There is no pulse.”

There were several heavy sighs from the surroundings.

Zhang Fu knew that although this Mo Qiao Sheng was just a slave, he carried a different weight in the Lord’s heart as he had been willing to risk his life for his sake. His heart felt heavy and he extended his uninjured arm towards Cheng Qianye, intending to comfort him.

His Lord that was reliable at times yet utterly absurd at other times did not utter a word as she waved his hand aside. Clenching her teeth, she walked forward and pushed the military doctor aside before calmly pinching the slave’s unresponsive lips open, turning his face to the side and reaching in to clear his mouth of any foreign objects.

Then, she tore open his clothing and knelt beside him. She placed the palm of her right palm over the back of her left hand and interlaced her fingers together before straightening her elbows and placing the base of her left palm against the center of the ‘corpse’s’ chest, quickly pressing up and down forcefully.

My Lord, what are you doing?

Everyone surrounding them was shocked by Cheng Qianye’s strange behaviour and started murmuring amongst themselves.

Cheng Qianye continuously pressed down more than thirty times without saying anything before lifting his head and pressing down on his forehead as she skillfully raised his chin, allowing his respiratory tract to open.

There was an exclamation of surprise from the onlookers as she pinched his nose and covered her lips over his frigid ones before blowing inwards two times.

Looking at his chest that expanded twice, she released him and crossed her hands together before rhythmically pressing down on his icy-cold chest once again.

“My Lord, what are you doing?”

“My Lord, what is going on?”

“Maybe he is excessively sad?”

The crowd was buzzing with remarks.

Helan Zhen and Zhang Fu urged comfortingly, “My Lord, a person cannot come back to life after they die, please restrain your grief.”

Yao Tianxiang extended her hand and cautiously touched Cheng Qianye’s shoulder, softly calling out to her, “Qianyu?”

“You help me wipe my sweat.” Cheng Qianye did not pause her movements.

She circulated between these two sets of movements again and again. Despite her trembling arms, she clenched her teeth and refused to stop. The sweat from her forehead dripped down onto the pale chest below her.

Yao Tianxiang’s heart felt sore as she silently stood to the side, raising her hand every once in a while to wipe the sweat from Cheng Qianye’s forehead. 

Suddenly, she pointed her finger at Mo Qiao Sheng and exclaimed, “Move, he moved!”

“He just moved, didn’t he!” She grabbed Sima Tu’s hand, squeezing tightly.

Cheng Qianye lifted up her head and stared at him with rapt attention. She saw Mo Qiao Sheng’s pale lips move faintly before he gasped for breath.

His thick black eyebrows furrowed before he opened his eyes weakly and looked up at Cheng Qianye.

“He woke up!”

“He actually woke up!”

“He came back from the dead!”

“Miracle! It’s a miracle!”

The surroundings broke out into a round of genuine cheers.

Cheng Qianye fell limp, her hands trembling as she and Mo Qiao Sheng looked at each other speechlessly.

Zhang Fu knelt down and said, “My Lord revived a corpse! He revived the dead! The heavens have blessed our Great Jin and bestowed us with our sacred Lord!”

All the soldiers knelt down and cried out, “The heavens have blessed our Great Jin, bestowing us with our sacred Lord!”

Cheng Qianye managed to stand up with difficulty and waved her hand at everyone. 

My God, Zhang Fu you can even promote support like this, I just happened to learn CPR from a Red Cross event during middle school, that’s all.

After the crisis had passed, she a burst of fatigue and her hands and feet seemed to be overwhelmed by exhaustion.

Despite the fact that her shoulder injury was not deep, it was already burning with pain after all of her fierce movements. Her body felt both hot and cold as soon as the chilly wind blew.

She knew that her own condition was far from good, yet she managed to force out a few words before taking Yao Tianxiang’s hand and leading her into a cabin in order to rest.

After entering the room, Cheng Qianye dismissed all the servants so that only she and Yao Tianxiang were remaining.

She sat down on a chair and removed her robe, revealing her injured shoulder and back.

“Wrap it up for me.”

“You…. you!” Yao Tianxiang held the bottle of medicine as she pointed at Cheng Qianye, shocked and speechless.

“Hurry up, it really hurts.” Cheng Qianye frowned and said.

Yao Tianxiang stabilized her emotions and stepped forward to tend to the wound on her back.

“I would’ve never thought of this, My Husband, you’re actually a woman?” She carefully wrapped up the wound as she spoke in astonishment.

“I’m really surprised. You have such a free and easy aura and you don’t panic when you’re stuck in a perilous situation. Few men can hold a candle to you. Even after spending all this time with you, I didn’t have the slightest clue that you’re just a tender woman. To think that I, Yao Tianxiang, used to flaunt myself as a heroine among women, now it seems that I’m actually not as good as you.”

“Tianxiang, I know that you have always been very worried regarding me.” Cheng Qianye was sitting on the chair with her head leaning to the side as Yao Tianxiang dressed her wound behind her. “This is my biggest secret, now that I have let you know this, you can rest at ease.”

Yao Tianxiang’s heart was filled with many emotions. “I know, thank you. Qianyu.”

“You’re the only person on this ship who knows about this. You must help me guard this secret.”

“I won’t breathe a single word about this, don’t worry. You know I also need your help to cover for me and Sima Tu.” Yao Tianxiang finished bandaging the wound and helped Cheng Qianye to bind up her chest.

She suddenly reacted and asked, “You, you, you said that nobody else on this ship knows your secret. What about that Mo Qiao Sheng?”

“He doesn’t know.” Cheng Qianye put on her robe. “Among the men beside me, only a minister named Xiao Jin knows the inside story, but I don’t know why he didn’t come this time.”

“But, that’s weird.” Yao Tianxiang thought of something, exposing a strange expression. “How did you deal with him that night?”

“You shut up!” Cheng Qianye felt it was both funny yet ludicrous as she went and lay down on the bed and said, “It seems like I’m a little feverish. Help me get some medicine and guard me, I need to get some sleep.”

Cheng Qianye had a high fever that night and was delirious. 

Yao Tianxiang stayed beside her with her identity as her newly wedded wife and personally took care of her, not allowing anyone else to do anything.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Cheng Qianye woke up from her stupor, her throat feeling parched.

“Tianxiang…. water.” She opened her eyes.

A pair of eyes filled with concern stared at her.

Mo Qiao Sheng’s complexion was pale, his dark eyes bloodshot and his thin lips pursed into a tight line.

Seeing that Cheng Qianye was awake, he couldn’t repress his feeling of excitement. He knelt down by the bed and stretched out his hands to support her.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” Yao Tianxiang pushed Mo Qiao Sheng aside and sat down on the bed beside Cheng Qianye. “Husband, you’re awake, are you thirsty? Would you like some water?”

Cheng Qianye nodded her head.

Yao Tianxiang helped her sit up and placed a few pillows behind her before taking the jade cup that Mo Qiao Sheng handed over to her, carefully feeding the water to Cheng Qianye.

After drinking the water, Cheng Qianye felt that her soul was slowly returning to her body.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“You slept for a whole day. According to our current speed, we ought to reach the Huang reservoir tomorrow, then we can disembark and head for Bianzhou.” Yao Tianxiang helped her rearrange the bedding.

Cheng Qianye looked at Mo Qiao Sheng who was standing with his hands down together. The short-lived cherry pink lustre which had appeared at the juncture between life and death was hidden away, replaced with a golden halo which was even more dazzling than before.

Unless you’re at death’s door, you don’t even dare to like me secretly? Cheng Qianye looked at the glistening colour as she thought unhappily.

Yao Tianxiang glanced at the two of them before finding an excuse, “Husband, you must be hungry, I’ll go out and tell them to prepare some easily digestible porridge for you.”

After that, she winked at Cheng Qianye who was feeling self-righteous as she slipped out, leaving the two of them alone.

Cheng Qianye looked at Mo Qiao Sheng for a long time before sighing, “You’re still hurt, go back and rest. I don’t need you to serve me here.”

Mo Qiao Sheng tugged at his fists and he didn’t say anything as his eyes reddened.

If she didn’t speak clearly, he would never be able to figure it out on his own.

“Qiao Sheng, do you know what you did wrong?”

Mo Qiao Sheng looked puzzled.

“I have told you several times that you need to cherish and attach importance to yourself. But what did you do?” Cheng Qianye lifted up her head. “You jumped into the water thinking that you’re being loyal to me, but have you ever thought about how I would feel?”

“You didn’t even try to fight and you didn’t even allow me an opportunity to do anything before you gave up on your life so easily.”

“Are you really unaware of how much weight you hold in my heart?” Cheng Qianye looked directly at Mo Qiao Sheng. She looked down and said, “If you had died like that, then I…”

In the end, she sighed and said, “Never mind, you can go. Go back and think about it. There’s no need for you to come back to me until you have thought about it seriously.”

“I….” Mo Qiao Sheng’s lips quivered, but no words escaped.

“Go out, I’m tired, let me rest.” Cheng Qianye turned to the side.

Mo Qiao Sheng looked around for a while before finally leaving with a sorrowful expression on his face.

Yao Tianxiang came back with a bowl of porridge and a few side-dishes. She brushed past Mo Qiao Sheng as she came into the room.

She was puzzled as she sat beside Cheng Qianye and placed a small bed table in front of her before arranging the food for her.

“Qianyu, did you bully him again?” She took care of Cheng Qianye and helped her eat the porridge as she gossiped, “I saw him crying when he left.”

Cheng Qianye kept quiet as she lowered her head to drink the porridge.

“Qianyu, I’m really curious, you care about him so much and you even jumped into the water to save him even when you had such a serious injury.” Yao Tianxiang nudged Cheng Qianye’s arm. “Why don’t you tell him the truth.”

“Regardless of whether I am male or female, If I say that I want him, he will obey me.” Cheng Qianye paused to drink some porridge. “But I do not wish to have a slave who has no sense of self.”

“Tianxiang, you must be able to understand me.” Cheng Qianye lifted up her head, “I want to be with a man who can walk beside me as we support each other.”

“If he cannot stand up and walk towards me, no matter how much I may like him, I can’t force him to become my lover. It does not matter whether or not I tell him that I am a woman.”