Chapter 704 Wasting Time
Zhao Xin left, taking Liu Xunyi's soul and spirit with her.

For ten days, Liu Xunyi locked himself in his room without saying a word. When Ding Chou brought him food and water every day, he would try to chat with him in an attempt to ease Liu Xunyi's heart knot, but no matter how hard Ding Chou tried to joke, Liu Xunyi sat quietly on the bed like a walking corpse, expressionless, with dull eyes, often motionless for several hours, like a clay sculpture.

For ten whole days, Liu Xunyi was unmoved by everything around him, but he had a special liking for two things and refused to let go.

One was Zhao Xin’s handkerchief, and the other was Zhao Xin’s heartless letter.

If there weren't always tears in his eyes, Ding Chou would have thought that the motionless Liu Xunyi was dead.

As for Liu Xunyi's promise to Zhao Yuan that he would resolve the chaos in Lin'an within half a month, it naturally came to nothing.

This was the first time that Liu Xunyi "botched" a task assigned by Zhao Yuan, but since there were reasons for it, Zhao Yuan could not bear to pursue it and could only hand it over to Qin Wei and Lin'an Yamen to pursue and suppress it together. Although Qin Wei led his men to suppress the rebellion day and night, the people in the rivers and lakes were too cunning, so the results were quite limited.

Even today, Lin'an is still in chaos. What's worse, the Mongolian envoy "King of Hexi" proposed to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty that Zhao Xin should be taken away as soon as possible, citing the reason that "Lin'an is in turmoil and it is difficult for the princess to take care of her."

Such disrespectful humiliation made the entire Song Dynasty court lose face and their resentment towards the Mongols even greater. However, due to the Mongols' strength, they had no choice but to swallow their anger and compromise.

April 25th, noon.

With a sad face, Ding Chou came to Liu Xunyi's room with food as usual. Just like the previous few days, the breakfast on the table was still untouched. Liu Xunyi was still sitting cross-legged on the bed like a living dead, holding Zhao Xin's handkerchief and letter in his hands, and ignored Ding Chou's arrival.

Liu Xunyi had not had a proper meal for ten days, so his face became much thinner and his spirit was extremely weak.

He hadn't changed his clothes or washed his face for ten days, so his hair was messy and his beard was full of stubble. He looked both sloppy and disheveled.

"Master Liu, please at least have a bite!"

Looking at Liu Xunyi who was in a trance, Ding Chou repeated the word "nonsense" which he had said countless times.

The result was as Ding Chou expected. His consolation fell on deaf ears and there was no response at all.

"Ugh!"

Maybe he was already used to it, or maybe he had no choice, or maybe he was physically and mentally exhausted, but seeing that Liu Xunyi didn't show any improvement, Ding Chou couldn't help but sigh, and said no more. He put down his hot lunch, picked up his cold breakfast, and turned to walk out of the house.

Ding Chou stepped out of the door, but unexpectedly Qin Wei, who looked hurried, rushed towards him and almost knocked him to the ground.

"Master Qin..."

"Little Ding, is Lord Liu feeling better?" Qin Wei held Ding Chou, who was staggering, and asked with concern, "How has he been eating and drinking these days?"

"Look!" Ding Chou raised the intact rice porridge and cakes to Qin Wei and said helplessly, "It's still the same as before, no one has touched it."

"In this case, the water in the teapot must not be cut off." Qin Wei reminded, "People will not starve to death without food, but they must drink water."

"Don't worry!" Ding Chou said with a smile, "Every morning and evening I will 'force' Lord Liu to drink a bowl of water. I won't leave until he drinks it."

"Thanks for your hard work."

"I'm not suffering, the one who is suffering is Lord Liu." Ding Chou glanced back at the room and said sympathetically, "The princess is so heartless to Lord Liu, who can bear it?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Qin Wei's face darkened and he lectured, "How much do you know about this matter? If you keep talking nonsense, be careful that the Marquis will cut off your tongue."

Ding Chou shrank his neck, stuck out his tongue awkwardly, and said timidly: "Master Qin, please persuade Master Liu! I am still young and don't understand matters of the heart, but...Master Qin may have experience!"

"Get out of here, you little brat!"

Amid Qin Wei's laughter and scolding, Ding Chou ran out of the yard like a flash.

"You bastard, you are becoming more and more unruly!"

As Qin Wei walked into the room, he complained to Liu Xunyi about Ding Chou's mischief, hoping to break the awkward situation between the two.

It's a pity that Liu Xunyi is so deeply in love that she can't extricate herself from it and completely ignores what's happening around her. This is true for Ding Chou and Qin Wei as well.

Seeing that Liu Xunyi didn't respond, Qin Wei didn't get angry, but walked to the bedside and sat down. When he saw the handkerchief and letter in Liu Xunyi's hand, his eyes changed slightly, but the weirdness was fleeting, and he returned to normal in a blink of an eye.

"Why bother?" Qin Wei said helplessly, "No matter how good the princess is, she is just a woman. How can you, a man of seven feet tall, let your future be delayed because of a love affair?"

As if disturbed by Qin Wei's voice, Liu Xunyi's eyes moved slightly, and he laughed at himself for no reason: "To this day, the Marquis still refuses to believe me." Perhaps because he had not spoken for too long, Liu Xunyi's voice sounded a little dry and hoarse.

"How did this come about?"

"If not, why did the Marquis send you to monitor me?"

"Misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!" Qin Wei waved his hands repeatedly and said righteously, "I came here today not because of the Marquis' intention, nor to monitor you. I have a piece of news that I think I should tell you."

"What's the news?" Liu Xunyi asked absentmindedly, lacking interest. "Is there another gangster causing trouble in Lin'an?"

"No. But... there is some connection." Qin Wei pondered, "Because the Jianghu people kept making trouble in Lin'an, and the court and government were helpless, so people were panicking, so everyone began to worry about the public security in Lin'an. Among them were the Mongolian envoys who came to pick up the bride, and they were the most violent."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xunyi's eyes moved, as if he was interested, and hesitantly asked, "What do you mean by making a big fuss?"

"They blamed the Song government for incompetence and worried about the princess's safety, so they proposed to the emperor to skip the time-consuming and labor-intensive formalities and set off for the north as soon as possible." Qin Wei went straight to the point without hiding anything.

Liu Xunyi's heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "What is the emperor's reply?"

Seeing Liu Xunyi's flustered and anxious look, Qin Wei couldn't help but be stunned and sighed: "Brother Liu, the princess will marry sooner or later, and will leave sooner or later, isn't it? Since the matter is done, why are you still stubborn?"

"I have already promised not to bother the princess anymore, so why are you still so stubborn?" Liu Xunyi said angrily.

"Look at yourself now!" Qin Wei was furious. "When I mentioned the princess, you were like a cat whose tail was stepped on. Your unhappiness was written all over your face. You couldn't even hide it from me, so how could you hide it from the Marquis, the Prime Minister, Prince Rong, and the Emperor?"

At this point, Qin Wei lowered his voice and reminded him, "Brother Liu, as long as the princess is here, you are not safe. Now that you have managed to save your life, you must not let anyone see your flaws and cause any more trouble."

"I understand, but..."

Before Liu Xunyi finished speaking, Qin Wei suddenly pointed at him, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Okay!" Liu Xunyi gathered his thoughts and tried his best to suppress his inner anxiety. He asked word by word, "I'm not in a hurry. Can you tell me how the emperor will answer the Mongols?"

"If I don't want to tell you, why am I here?" Qin Wei curled his lips and said, "To be honest, the emperor has agreed to follow Chen's proposal and will send the princess off on... the first day of May."

"boom!"

Qin Wei's news was like a bolt from the blue, which immediately made Liu Xunyi's heart sink and his mind went blank.

Although Liu Xunyi knew that Zhao Xin would leave sooner or later and claimed that he was fully prepared, when that day really came, he still couldn't hide the excitement in his heart. Ten days of self-comfort vanished in an instant and had no effect at all.

"May 1st..." Liu Xunyi's eyes wandered, and he kept muttering to himself, "It's only five days away, and Xin'er left so quickly..."

"I shouldn't say this, but it would be a good thing for everyone if the princess left Lin'an City earlier." Qin Wei said bluntly, "Once she leaves, the crisis of the court will be solved, the people of Song Dynasty will escape, the struggle between the two governments of the East and the West will come to an end, and even you... can be reborn and live a second life. I guess this may be the fundamental reason why the emperor agreed to Chen's unreasonable request."

"Then Xin'er..."

"Brother Liu!" Qin Wei interrupted Liu Xunyi's questioning in time and said solemnly, "The princess has already drawn a clear line between you and her, so her affairs have nothing to do with you. You shouldn't ask about it, and you can't ask about it, understand?"

"I……"

"Seeing you living like a puddle of mud makes me feel uncomfortable!" Qin Wei said indignantly, "As long as Zhao Xin doesn't leave, you can't cheer up. She is the root of your muddleheadedness and lack of ambition. I believe that as long as Zhao Xin leaves Lin'an, you will be able to recover within ten days and half a month and become the Liu Xunyi of the past. By then, you and I will have many great things to do together!"

The "big thing" Qin Wei mentioned certainly had a deeper meaning, but Liu Xunyi's mind was all on Zhao Xin, so he didn't hear any clues.

Suddenly, Liu Xunyi's eyes moved, and he pleaded expectantly: "Brother Qin, can you ask the Marquis for mercy? On the first day of May, I... want to see the princess off."

"Impossible!" Qin Wei said solemnly, "Even if the Marquis agrees, the Prime Minister will not agree. In fact, as early as the night you met the princess, the Prime Minister issued a strict order to the Marquis, not to step out of the Tianji Pavilion before Zhao Xin leaves Lin'an City."

After that, Qin Wei's tone slowed down and he persuaded: "The Prime Minister did this not only because he was worried about the Mongols' suspicion, but also because he was worried about your safety. You also know that Lin'an City is not peaceful right now, and there are people everywhere who want to kill you. The first day of May is the big day for the princess to get married, and the streets will be empty and crowded. If you show up rashly, not only will you be in danger, you might also implicate the princess and the innocent people who are here to watch the fun."

"But……"

"Brother Liu, listen to my advice! You have already survived the most painful days. The future will only be prosperous and getting better every day. You must not make mistakes at this critical juncture." Qin Wei said earnestly, "Just bear with it for a few more days. After the first day of May, all the troubles will disappear. By then, no matter what you want to do, I, Qin Wei, will never stop you and will accompany you to the end!"

……

(End of this chapter)