Chapter 799: Promise Me
"Are you okay?" Xie Ying saw Qing Chang'an's pale face and couldn't help but worry, "Are you really fully recovered?"
Qing Chang'an looked at the girl who cared about him, and that little bit of humble emotion could not sustain him at all.
"I'm not fully recovered yet. I don't know when I'll be fully recovered in this lifetime..."
"How could that be? Please, Your Majesty, grant me the grace to let the Imperial Hospital have a look."
Qing Changan smiled and said, "I asked the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital to check it out. It's not serious and there's nothing to worry about."
Lovesickness is not a serious illness.
It just makes people uncomfortable.
Xie Ying didn't know what to say. Standing on the bluestone road, he turned around and looked at Qing Chang'an, "Is it because of me?"
"I……"
How could he admit it? Who knows if she will disappear from his sight next time?
Qing Changan shook his head, "No, I'm not as fragile as you think."
"Really?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Actually, after we break off the engagement, we shouldn't have to meet again. You should know that there are many different opinions about our breakup. If you still come to me, then they might think there's something wrong with you."
“I don’t care what other people think.”
"Even if you don't care, you still have to discuss marriage, right? When someone asks you about it, how will you respond?"
Qing Changan smiled bitterly, "I don't discuss marriage."
Looking at Qing Chang'an, Xie Ying thought of the scene when he had kneeled in front of her regardless of his dignity and begged her not to cancel the engagement.
With a look of grievance and pleading for mercy, she opened her mouth and said, "Sir Qing, you don't want to discuss the marriage, and you are not afraid of others saying that we have broken off the engagement. You still come to me. Am I narcissistic, or do you still have expectations of me?"
This sentence caught Qing Chang'an off guard.
How could Xie Ying not see it? "After all this, even if he and I have no fate in the future, I will not hurt you."
"That's not a harm."
"Whether it hurts or not, you will only drag yourself into a dead end. You should look forward. In this capital, how many noble ladies are secretly happy because you broke off the engagement? Those matchmakers are about to break down the door of the prime minister's mansion. You should take a good look and don't waste your time on me."
"What about you?" Qing Chang'an looked at Xie Ying and asked, "Aren't you also wasting time on him?"
"That's my business."
"I like you, that's my business."
Xie Ying: “…”
"Aying, let's not talk about this today. If he really has feelings for you, how would you know?"
Xie Ying didn't know what he meant.
Qing Changan said: "Now that we have broken off the engagement, if he is tempted, he will naturally understand what this means.
But if I am always by your side, and there are other outstanding men who admire you, he will be jealous if he is tempted. "
"He--" Xie Ying smiled. How could he be jealous?
"I am a man, I understand men. If one day he falls in love, he will definitely mind if there are other men around you. If that day comes, I will leave!" Qing Changan looked at her firmly, "Even if it's me, as your elder brother, helping you."
Xie Ying's eyes sank, and he recalled the story in the picture book. The hero didn't like the heroine at first, until one day, he fell in love with her and began to mind her, and even feared that someone else would snatch her away from him...
She looked at Qing Changan, "You, help me?"
"Yes." Qing Changan was very serious. "One year, two years, or three years, I will help you. If you can't impress him in four or five years, then fulfill my devotion, okay?"
"No, no, no, we have broken off the engagement, we should not have any more contact."
"The Emperor advocates equality between men and women. Men and women can be close friends. We will serve in the same court in the future. Men and women work together. We have just broken off our engagement. Why shouldn't we have any contact?"
Qing Changan stood in front of her. She raised her head slightly, and the man lowered his eyes and looked at her, "Do you hate me so much, or are you afraid that he will reject you?"
Xie Ying shook his head.
She didn't hate Qing Chang'an, nor was she afraid that Xiao Chen would reject her. She was just too confused. "I just want to take the Autumn Examination well."
"I can help you." Although he was only a third place winner in the imperial examination that year, he had been through this journey before and had a lot of experience to teach her.
Xie Ying opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Qing Changan said, "I must help you, Ah Ying. I can't let you down for calling me brother."
Xie Ying recalled that time when he agreed to cancel the engagement, he said that they would be brother and sister and confidants in the future, and she called him "big brother".
Qing Changan smiled slightly, "No matter what the future holds, I can help you with references, whether it's academics or the person you like, I can always help you with references."
"What if I don't agree?"
Qing Changan smiled bitterly, "Then I will continue to come to the academy to find you."
"What if I don't see you and give you a cold look?"
Qing Changan's face suddenly turned sad, his eyes seemed to be broken, and his breathing seemed to be rapid.
"Are you okay?"
Xie Ying's heart tightened.
Qing Changan covered his chest and began to breathe heavily. Ada, who was far away, saw this and ran over and handed Qing Changan a porcelain bottle, "Sir, come, smell it."
"What's wrong with him?" Xie Ying asked.
Qing Chang'an quickly picked up the porcelain bottle, uncorked it and sniffed it. Gradually, his symptoms began to ease a lot.
Ada said with a bitter face, "Since the Lord broke off the engagement with Miss Xie, he has been ill. This disease cannot be cured and will last a lifetime-"
"Ada!"
Qing Changan shouted and stopped Ada from speaking any further.
Ada had no choice but to shut up, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
"Go down!" Qing Changan ordered.
Ada looked at Xie Ying and said, "Miss Xie, our master cannot get excited right now. Please have some mercy on us, Miss Xie."
"How dare you, Ada!" Qing Chang'an shouted again.
Ada looked aggrieved and had to bow deeply to Xie Ying and say "please".
Then he stepped back.
Xie Ying looked at Qing Chang'an's pale face, which gradually regained some color because of the medicine in the porcelain bottle.
She felt guilty because she...
"Sorry, don't listen to Ada's nonsense. My illness is not a big deal." Qing Chang'an said with a wry smile, not daring to look at her.
I don’t have any serious illness, but do I have to live with it for the rest of my life?
Can you love someone to such an extent that it hurts?
She felt that she was truly in love with Xiao Chen, but it was not to the point where she was extremely distressed and in pain.
She even thought that if she had given her all and Xiao Chen still didn't accept it, the worst that could happen was that she would never get married in this life.
I won't feel sad...
"Aying, can I ask you to agree to what I just said?"
"I……"
"Please give me a chance to be your brother, give me a chance to help you. No matter what the outcome is, I am lucky to be able to stay by your side and help you with some small things."