Chapter 106: Drowsy and Dizzy

Several more days passed in this way.

Since the empress had launched her sudden visit that time, she had not come quite so frequently. Meanwhile, Gu Li’s health had improved considerably after days of careful nurturing; her complexion had grown noticeably rosy.

Feeling reassured, the empress devoted herself entirely to preparing for the empress dowager’s upcoming birthday celebration.

Under Gu Li’s daily care, Lie Chang’an’s wounds had gradually healed. Whether it was Gu Li’s imagination or not, she began to sense his awareness returning. Often, she could feel his fingers twitch involuntarily.

Lie Chang’an himself felt less pain in his body, though an intense itching plagued him all over, urging him to scratch.

His consciousness was hazy, punctuated by several vivid dreams that felt so real they blurred the line between dream and reality.

He heard someone crying—a sorrowful, helpless, despairing sob.

He also heard a clear, melodious voice, soft and smiling gently, slowly recounting one beautiful story after another.

Then, he seemed to begin dreaming.

In the dream, he fought fiercely on the battlefield, side by side with his comrades, bravely slaying enemies amidst splattering blood, defending his homeland with the most ardent ambitions and ideals burning in his heart.

In the dream, he was bound to his grandmother, who had raised him with tireless care and sacrifice, repeatedly urging him to master the martial arts, enter official service, achieve distinction, and bring honor to their family.

In the dream, he stood at a dark crossroads while his grandmother sat beneath the eaves of their humble thatched cottage, waiting every day for him to return from school and martial training, ready to warm a bowl of fragrant noodles for him.

Though aged and frail, his grandmother never spared herself hardship. For ten years, she wore the same patched coarse cloth, worked tirelessly to complete multiple jobs for others each day, subsisted on pickled vegetables and steamed buns, and yet persisted in earning enough to send him to school and hire a master to teach him martial arts.

Later, after completing his studies and reaching the appropriate age, his grandmother finally resolved to take him to the capital with the last of her meager savings. She ran tirelessly from place to place, offering gifts and kind words, until she managed to secure his entry into the military.

By a fortunate twist of fate, this lowly soldier caught the eye of the reigning emperor during a hunting expedition at the royal grounds, and was exceptionally promoted to a junior officer, leading troops to battle under the current army.

On the night before his departure, his grandmother wept tears of joy and pride.

She urged him time and again to win military honors, return victorious, gain the emperor’s trust and favor, earn renown far and wide, foster goodwill among court officials, cultivate alliances with ministers, and secure an unassailable position in the imperial court.

He had indeed fulfilled these hopes. Three years of brutal warfare had left him wounded countless times, narrowly escaping death repeatedly, until he rose to the rank of a general, leading his troops back in triumph.

Still, he remained diligent and loyal to the emperor, striving only to earn the emperor’s admiration and trust, to maintain harmony within the court, and to secure his place—all to honor his grandmother’s expectations, fully aware of the hardships she endured for his success.

Lie Chang’an thought that now, surely, his grandmother awaited him day and night at the Lie estate, just as she had waited beneath the thatched roof when he was a child returning from school.

He longed deeply for the noodles she used to make.

This yearning grew even stronger as the gentle voice whispered day after day in his ear.

He heard that voice telling him that his grandmother was still waiting at home, that he must wake up, must not let her grieve, must not allow her to endure the sorrow of losing a child in her old age, must not leave her lonely and hopeless, without someone to care for her in her final days.