Zhao Yelan was dazed for a moment. Then he remembered that his eyelids were also swollen and he had the mask on. There was a slight difference from his original appearance, otherwise Yan Mingting would have already recognized him.

He breathed a sigh of relief at this thought, and looked blankly at Yan Mingting.

“Who are you?” Yan Mingting asked again, exerting some strength with his hand.

It hurt, and Zhao Yelan looked down, grabbing his hand.

Looking at the top of his head, Yan Mingting felt that he was even more similar to Zhao Yelan.

When he was walking on the road just now, he was inadvertently drawn to the person in front of him.

The body shape was almost exactly the same. The same figure, the same slender waist, and the same proper walking posture. This caused him to rush to the other party without hesitation.

He hugged the other person into his arms, but even as he patted him, there was no response, and he smelled a foul scent. He couldn’t help being startled, and released his grip doubtfully, lowering his head to sniff his neck.

Zhao Yelan knew he was sniffing him, and was glad for the first time that the herbs stunk.

Yan Mingting plucked up his last ounce of courage, and reached out with trembling hands to remove the mask, but was stopped by the other party.

Zhao Yelan pointed at his own face, ah’d several times, and gestured with his hands.

“You can’t speak?” Yan Mingting was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Yelan nodded.

Yan Mingting was full of doubts, and went quiet. But he still wanted to find out, and said: “I want to see.”

Seeing that he was about to touch the mask, the person suddenly pressed his hand down forcefully.

“Who are you? What are you trying to do to my cousin?!” A middle-aged man spoke fiercely and pointed at Yan Mingting.

Yan Mingting was momentarily dazed. Looking at the middle-aged man’s appearance, he was a southern Xinjiang native with a heavy accent. Yan Mingting couldn’t help but frown: “He’s your cousin?”

“Yes, ah, my cousin!” The man glared at him, and grabbed Zhao Yelan to leave. “Let’s go home.”

This person was a servant hired by Zhao Yelan in the local area. In order to prevent his whereabouts from being discovered by people from Xuan dynasty, he specially found a clever middle-aged man. He warned him in advance that if any people from the dynasty appeared, he should come out and pretend to be his relative. People in the surrounding neighborhood heard that this man had a cousin who was now living at home, and nobody doubted it.

As usual, he wore the clothing of a person from southern Xinjiang, and brought this “cousin” with him when he went out today. He had just gone to inquire about Yan Mingting’s affairs by himself, and accidentally got separated for a while. Fortunately, the other person arrived in time.

“Wait, wait a minute, what’s your name? Are you a local?” Yan Mingting followed them, unresigned.

“Why do you care so much? What do you intend to do to us?!” The cousin said fiercely.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Zhao Yelan took the opportunity to remind his cousin that he was currently mute.

The man reacted immediately, continuing: “Do you think that because he is mute, he is easy to bully? Let me tell you, as long as I’m around, no one can bully him!”

It had to be said that this servant was a good hire. Without giving the game away, and with a natural tone, even he almost believed it, let alone Yan Mingting.

“I’m sorry, perhaps I’m drunk and mistook this person.” Yan Mingting stopped dejectedly.

Zhao Yelan breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn’t tell if he was glad or disappointed. 

He looked back at Yan Mingting.

He had just taken a glance when he found Yan Mingting following sneakily.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

He turned his head and walked unhurriedly, listening to the footsteps behind him. They were also unhurried, maintaining the same pace and always keeping a short distance away.

When he returned home, he glanced back. The other party had stopped a few meters outside the gate, watching him silently.

“Go, go, go! Go away!” The cousin took a broom to chase him away.

Yan Mingting tossed some silver coins to the cousin. This was a trick he learned from Zhao Yelan. As long as there was silver, there was nothing that one couldn’t do.

“Why is he wearing a mask?” Yan Mingting asked.

The cousin took the coins as expected, and said: “When he was a child, he fell onto a brazier and burned his face. He can’t bear for people to see him, and is very withdrawn and introverted, so I prepared a mask for him.”

Zhao Yelan stood in the house, thinking that he must give this cousin more money.

Half an hour later, Zhao Yelan went to sit in the courtyard and make medicine. He had recently taken a liking to this job, and when he had nothing to do, he would do this to pass the time.

But today was different. As soon as he raised his head, he saw Yan Mingting sitting on the courtyard wall, gazing at him quietly without saying a word.

The cousin thought he had gone, but this was not the case. This fellow had been hiding in the shadows, and hadn’t shown up until Zhao Yelan appeared.

He shook his hands, pretending to be flustered, and ran into the house. After a moment, the cousin came out with a broom to drive him away: “Go, go away! Don’t you understand human language? Stay away from my family’s house!”

Yan Mingting looked at the man behind the cousin. He was trembling, terrified. This saddened Yan Mingting – Zhao Yelan wouldn’t be afraid of him.

Zhao Yelan had really disappeared from the world. The people in the mansion said that they watched him die, and saw him lying in the coffin for three days without a sound. There was no possibility of resurrection.

He would often fall into a tangle of reality and dreams, and for a while, he felt that Zhao Yelan might still be alive. Maybe it was like he read in books, and Zhao Yelan was an alluring spirit or a divine being. He came to the world and left after a calamity, but he was still living in some unseen part of the world. After some time, such as this exact moment, he had to accept reality.

He lowered his eyes, gripped the sword in his hand tight, and went to get on with his business. 

Zhao Yelan watched his departing back, looking him up and down desperately.

After returning to the house, the cousin asked him: “He didn’t come to abduct you, did he? Do you know each other?”

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.” Zhao Yelan rewarded him with a piece of silver.

The next day, Zhao Yelan spent the whole day sitting absent-mindedly at home. He sat in the courtyard to make medicine, and didn’t notice anyone nearby.

After dinner in the evening, the cousin said that there was a Gu festival unique to Nanjiang that night, and the streets would be lively. He asked him if he would go.

He didn’t like noise, but for some reason, he didn’t refuse.

Most of the people on the streets were from Nanjiang. They carried baskets full of exotic flowers and plants, and everyone introduced their goods to one another.

After a while, he got separated from the cousin. He searched around, then suddenly paused and looked straight ahead. Yan Mingting was standing in the crowd, staring at him intently.

Neither of them moved until someone pushed past Zhao Yelan, and he had to move. He turned around to walk back.

When he reached a secluded place, he stopped and turned to look at the other party, tilting his head in doubt as if asking why the other party was following him.

“Why aren’t you going?” Yan Mingting walked forward slowly, saying, “Keep going, don’t stop.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t move, still waiting for his answer.

After a long silence, Yan Mingting said softly: “You look like someone, especially when you’re walking.”

Zhao Yelan pursed his lips, but the other party couldn’t see it.

“Go on, I won’t hurt you. I just want to send you home,” Yan Mingting said. “Of course, if you want to go somewhere else, you can. I don’t mind walking for a while.”

Zhao Yelan shook his head, indicating that he didn’t want to leave, and sat under a nearby tree.

Yan Mingting sat next to him, looking at him sideways.

Zhao Yelan thought for a moment, then hunched down unobtrusively, lowering his head awkwardly to play with his fingers.

“But you don’t look like him when you’re sitting. He always sits upright, with his head held high. He’s not easy to mess with,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan slanted a glance at him.

“Want a drink?” Yan Mingting asked suddenly, and took out a bag of money. “I’ll give you the rest of my drinking money, how about it?”

Zhao Yelan agreed, but didn’t take the money. Yan Mingting’s tone was a little disappointed: “If it was him, he would rather not drink, and would rather take the money.”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

The two of them went to the nearest tavern. Yan Mingting ordered a dozen jugs of wine in one go, and without speaking to him, opened a jug and drank it himself.

Zhao Yelan knew that he was a good drinker, and could hold a thousand cups when drinking with the soldiers, but he had never seen him drink one pot after another like this, like he wanted to get drunk.

After he drank several jugs of wine one after another, Zhao Yelan couldn’t bear it anymore. He knocked several jugs of wine next to him to the ground, and when the other party looked over, he pretended to have knocked them down accidentally and withdrew his hand in a panic.

“Oh, I forgot you were still there. Do you want to drink?” Yan Mingting shook the jar and said drunkenly: “How’s your drinking capacity?”

Zhao Yelan didn’t respond.

“He can’t drink. He can’t drink at all.” Yan Mingting smiled, then suddenly lay on the table, looking at his profile. He said: “Do you know who I’m talking about?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head.

“I’m talking about my wife. We worshiped heaven and earth together. Oh, I forgot to mention, he’s also a man.” Yan Mingting laughed. “Do you like men? Do you know what it is to like men?”

Zhao Yelan was silent.

“I like him, he smells good.” Yan Mingting pondered for a long moment, but couldn’t explain it. He took another sip of wine and said: “He’s really intoxicating.”

Zhao Yelan poured a cup of water and set it in front of him. The other party didn’t take it, and only continued to drink, his mouth filled with alcohol: “Do you know what his favorite thing is? He likes to dress up beautifully. I have never seen a man like him who dresses up every day, like a peacock.

Zhao Yelan took advantage of the night to covertly cast him a cold stare.

“But he just fluttered in and entered my heart.” Yan Mingting slowly pushed himself up to sit. Staring at the wine in his cup, he asked word by word: “Tell me, why did he leave?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes, his crow feather eyelashes covering his emotions.

“They all say he had a relapse of his old sickness and couldn’t be saved, but I’ve always felt that he left me on purpose. He gave me the happiest birthday ever, and arranged everything. He even got a new pen for the rabbit in the yard, but refused to wait and see me one last time!”

Zhao Yelan moved his hands under the table, and slowly clenched his sleeves without saying a word.

“Why did I go to Jiangnan, why did I go, ah?” Yan Mingting stood up, the wine jug wobbling, and walked toward the railing. He looked in the direction of the Xuan Dynasty, then accidentally fell to the ground. He had no desire to get up. He just turned over and lay there, then lifted the jug and poured wine into his mouth. The wine splashed down his cheeks and onto his neck and clothing.

Zhao Yelan went forward to help him, and it took a long time to help this drunk to lean against the railing behind him. He also sat powerlessly against the railing.

Yan Mingting slowly shook his head, then looked at him and asked: “What’s your name?”

Zhao Yelan pointed to his mouth, indicating that he couldn’t speak.

“You’re wearing a mask, so I’ll call you Little Face. Nice to meet you, Little Face,” Yan Mingting said to him.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

“Little Face, can I come drink with you again?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

“If that won’t work, I’ll just watch you do it. You’ll just have an extra follower.” Yan Mingting reached into his robes to take out money, but he forgot that his money bag had been given away just now. After a long moment, instead of money, he took out a sachet.

Zhao Yelan recognized it at a glance. This was the one he wore most often.

Yan Mingting held the sachet. Whatever he thought of, he pressed his forehead against the sachet and suddenly choked up, crying bitterly with trembling shoulders.

His eyes hidden under the mask reddened helplessly, but Zhao Yelan tried his best to suppress his emotions. He was about to take out a handkerchief, but then thought of something, and put it back before tremblingly wiping Yan Mingting’s face with his sleeve.

Yan Mingting pulled his sleeve and wiped his face vigorously, saying hoarsely: “Thank you.”

Zhao Yelan shook his head, indicating that he was welcome.

Yan Mingting handed the sachet to him: “Smell it, does it smell good?”

Zhao Yelan took a sniff and shook his head.

“You don’t know quality!” Yan Mingting’s eyes were red and swollen. He carefully put the sachet into his robes and took out a jade pendant, shaking it in front of him. “I’ll give you another chance. This is what he wears on his body all the time. Take a look. Does it look good?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head.

“No vision!” Yan Mingting finished speaking viciously, then ignored him.

After a long while, just when he thought Yan Mingting was asleep, he suddenly heard him ask quietly: “Do you think he ever liked me?”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes moved slightly, and he looked at him without speaking.

A long moment passed, until the moonlight was covered by dark clouds. He nodded slightly.

Yan Mingting’s eyes lit up. He immediately became more energetic and asked: “When do you think he fell in love with me? How much does he like me?”

These questions could not be answered by nodding or shaking his head. Zhao Yelan simply made a few random gestures with his hands. In any case, the other party couldn’t understand and wouldn’t remember.

Who knew that Yan Mingting would say happily: “You mean he fell in love with me the first time we met? Only, because of his identity, he restrained his emotions? And after marrying me, he suppressed his love? Although on the surface, he ignored me, his love had been deeply rooted for a long time, and he loved me so much that he couldn’t extricate himself?”

Zhao Yelan: “ ? ”

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Extra 8: Faking Death (1) <<Table of Contents >> Extra 10: Faking Death (3)