The Double

"One side promised another year of life, the other a chance of waking up or possibly dying. I couldn’t make that decision for General Jih. The old general left the choice to Jih Heng, who decided to administer the medicine to his father."

Jiang Li’s heart clenched tightly as she heard this. She already knew the outcome, as Situ Jiuyue had told her earlier, but she still couldn’t help feeling pained for Jih Heng at this moment.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Every one of us hopes for a miracle. Jih Heng never believed in fate. Before he gave the medicine to General Jih, he also went to worship his mother. Unfortunately, as Jih Heng himself said, even the opera troupe’s comedy on stage is too unreal, and no miracle happened. I failed, and General Jih died."

Snowflakes twirled down, landing on Situ Jiuyue. She seemed completely unaware, neither brushing off the snowflakes nor opening an umbrella, allowing the cold to settle on her. Jiang Li even thought that Situ Jiuyue might be shivering.

"This isn’t your fault," Jiang Li said softly, "nor is it Jih Heng’s."

"Of course, I know." After a while, Situ Jiuyue spoke. "But after General Jih died, I still left Yanjing, and didn’t come back until last year."

Last year was when Jih Heng asked Situ Jiuyue to treat Xue Huaiyuan’s illness.

"I don’t like being in anyone’s debt, but after that incident, I still felt I owed Jih Heng. If it hadn’t been for Jih Heng asking me to treat Xue Huaiyuan, I would never have returned to Yanjing City in my lifetime. So, given any chance to make amends, I would do my best. That’s why when you ask me why I treated Xue Huaiyuan, why I treated Xue Zhao easily, it’s merely because three years ago, my poison killed his father."

Jiang Li couldn’t help but repeat, "It’s not your fault, Miss Jiuyue, you’ve done your best."