In the darkness, Tang Jian slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself surrounded by a hazy blur, unable to see anything clearly.
After a moment, his vision gradually returned, and he saw a canopy hanging above his head. When he touched the mattress beneath him, he realized he was lying on a rather large wooden bed.
His clothes had been changed to new ones, and his sword sheath was placed close by on his left side. The small sword-shaped sachet was also neatly placed next to the sheath.
Tang Jian tried to turn his neck to look around, but the slightest movement caused intense pain all over his body, and he couldn't help but grimace and groan in pain.
He quickly stopped moving, took a deep breath, and used his consciousness to examine his body. He found that he was covered in injuries. Apart from the external wounds, there were multiple breaks in his crucial meridians.
At this moment, his body was extremely weak, and his condition seemed to have worsened.
Noticing the movement, a servant girl who had been dozing off at a round table in the room immediately came over. Seeing that Tang Jian had awoken, she quickly said, "Tang Jian, you're awake... I'll report this to the young mistress right away."
Before Tang Jian could say anything, the young servant girl, who looked to be not very old, had already turned and run out of the room.
Now, almost completely unable to move, he could only sigh lightly and reach for the sachet with his fingers, gripping it tightly in his hand.
Then, he stared at the patterns on the canopy above his head and fell into deep thought.
Just then, a series of faint footsteps came from outside the door, mixed with some low whispers. The conversation seemed to mention the assassination attempt that night.
Tang Jian's mind stirred, and he concentrated his consciousness to listen carefully. It seemed that two servants were passing by his room.
"Oh... I heard from the knights that it was terrible that night. Many of our guild members were silently killed by those assassins," one of them said in a low voice.
"Indeed, I heard that Xiuzhu's husband was stabbed in the chest seven or eight times. He was unrecognizable... Thankfully, we were already outside the capital, and the second master brought people to meet us in time. Otherwise, I can't even imagine the consequences," said the other.
"Alas... It's just hard on the young mistress. Not only did she lose most of the cargo on this trip, but also..." The woman who spoke first seemed reluctant to continue and stopped to sigh.
"It's just that misfortunes never come singly. Our Yan family's patriarch was still in his prime, how did he suddenly die? The young mistress was hastily summoned back to take over as the head of the family, and then this happened. Such a significant loss of cargo, I don't know how she'll manage..."
The two seemed to have walked past his door and gradually moved away, their voices becoming increasingly muffled, leaving only sighs one after another.
Tang Jian then remembered that the young servant girl who had been guarding his room was wearing mourning clothes.
"It seems that I'm not the only one who has encountered misfortune..."
His brows slightly furrowed, and he murmured softly. In his mind, he couldn't help but recall the image of Yan Zi from the day they first met. Could such a delicate woman really bear all this?
Half an hour later,
Another series of hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, as Yan Zi arrived with Xiao Dingdang.
At this moment, Yan Zi had changed from the snowy white dress she wore when they first met to a fitted black lace dress. Her long, black hair was simply tied up at the back of her head, secured with a simple ebony hairpin.
Apart from that, there was no other jewelry or adornment on her head. She looked thin and plain, yet there was also a sense of solitude about her that made people feel sorry for her.
However, observing her expression, Tang Jian didn't see much obvious sorrow or distress. She was as calm and natural as when he first met her.
Behind her, the servant girl named "Xiao Dingdang" was also dressed in black, looking somewhat like an adult.
"Greetings to Miss Yan,"
Tang Jian was in great pain and couldn't rise, so he could only barely lift his arms and say with a fist salute.
"Tang Jian, there's no need for such formalities. It should be me, Yan Zi, who greets you. Xiao Dingdang, though my servant, has grown up with me since childhood. I always treat her as my younger sister. If you hadn't helped that day, I fear she would have fallen into misfortune." Yan Zi quickly waved her hand, indicating that he needn't be so formal, and spoke.
Xiao Dingdang beside her had slightly red eyes and felt embarrassed to look at Tang Jian.
"Brother Tang, I was blind before and treated you so rudely, but you saved my life without any resentment. I..." She lowered her head slightly and said, grabbing the corner of her dress.
"Don't cry. During the chaos that day, I only fought with those black-clothed men to protect myself," Tang Jian said hastily, seeing the servant girl's eyes reddening as if she was about to cry again.
Xiao Dingdang barely stopped her tears but didn't believe Tang Jian's words. If it was only for self-protection, he could have left on his own, and those black-clothed men surely couldn't have stopped him. Why would he have injured himself like this?
"Tang Jian, you are now in our Yan family's estate in Yuejing. Five days have passed since the attack. Do you have any plans for the future?" Yan Zi asked.
"My injuries are not light now. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble your estate for a while longer," Tang Jian said with a bitter smile.
"Tang Jian, you were heavily injured while saving Xiao Dingdang. It's only right that we take care of you until you recover. However, to be frank, we've had doctors from the Yuejing Huichuntang examine you. Many of your meridians are ruptured, and it's hard to recover completely," Yan Zi said after a slight hesitation.
For an ordinary person, such injuries would naturally be difficult to recover from, and one might not even be able to do heavy lifting in the future. But Tang Jian was not ordinary.
Even after his realm had fallen due to subsequent mishaps, he was still a Qi Refinement Stage Three cultivator. It wouldn't be difficult for him to recover from these injuries. It was just that now, his internal magical power couldn't gather in his dantian, so the recovery speed would likely be greatly reduced.
"I heard you say before that you are from the Great Jin and seem to have enemies pursuing you. Now, you can't protect yourself. It's better to stay in our Yan estate for a while," Yan Zi continued, seeing that Tang Jian didn't speak for a while.
"I am deeply grateful for Miss Yan's kindness. But to be honest, the people pursuing me are not ordinary. I don't want to bring trouble to the Yan family," Tang Jian said after some thought.
"This is Yuejing, not like other places. Even if those people are influential, they will face more constraints if they want to cause trouble in the capital of a neighboring country. Besides here, I suppose Tang Jian doesn't have any better place to go, right?" Yan Zi smiled and said.
"Tang Jian, just listen to Miss Yan and stay in our Yan estate. Your enemies from the Great Jin will surely not come here," Xiao Dingdang also urged.
After this incident, her attitude towards Tang Jian had completely changed.
"If that's the case, it would be rude for me to refuse further. Then I'll accept your kind offer," Tang Jian nodded and said.
Upon hearing this, Yan Zi's beautiful eyes flashed with a hint of a smile, and she nodded slightly.
Xiao Dingdang's face showed obvious delight, then she felt embarrassed and said,
"Tang Jian, our Yan estate has a rule of not keeping idle hands. So, to avoid others' gossip, after you recover from your injuries, you must also do something for the Yan estate."
"Naturally. Just what do I need to do?" Tang Jian asked.
"Watching the house, doing chores, or any other miscellaneous tasks are all fine. Tang Jian, you can choose any of them," Xiao Dingdang said, waving her small hand like she was the one making decisions.
"I have some knowledge of swordsmithing. I wonder if there's any related task I can do in the estate?" Tang Jian asked, feeling a sudden impulse.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Dingdang didn't speak further but turned her gaze to the young mistress, seemingly unable to make a decision on this matter and needing Yan Zi, the head of the family, to decide.
"The Yan family has a sword shop on the east side of the city. After Tang Jian recovers from his injuries, he can go there as a temporary assistant," Yan Zi smiled and nodded, saying.
After that, they chatted for a while more. Then Yan Zi asked Tang Jian to rest well and left with Xiao Dingdang.
...