Cunning General Si Ning
Chapter 247: Burnt

Chapter 247: Burnt

On their way to the Si residence, Si Ning felt numb, riding his horse he couldn’t feel the breeze on his face, didn’t feel like he was breathing properly, he couldn’t see how they rode down the tarred road, couldn’t see people who stopped just to see who were riding so early at dawn, he couldn’t register a thing, he was aware he could see and feel everything yet he doesn’t see it or feel it at the same time, he could feel the breeze hitting his face yet he couldn’t feel it, he could feel his hands holding the reins of his horse yet he couldn’t feel his hands nor feel it holding a thing, he felt his heart beating in his chest so loud he couldn’t hear anything else and at that moment he couldn’t feel his heart.

It was such a short ride yet a long ride and when they finally arrived at the Si residence, there was ten reserved force standing in front of the gate and just them standing there with a composure that would even scare a dog away made all passersby not to even think of stopping to pry so they only minded their business and go on their way only to whisper in small voices as they left.

The ten soldiers of the reserved force saluted Si Ning but Si Ning didn’t see them as he hesitated by the gate not wanting to think of the worst position the residence might be in but finally stepped into the courtyard after taking a deep breath, the first thing he could perceive was tench of blood and the horrible smell of burnt bricks which made him close his eyes to braced himself for what he was about to see and when he opened his eyes, there were a lot of dead bodies covered with white cloth, the residence was large with different buildings but the main hall was burnt, there were guards and servants of the Si residence sitting, standing, packing the debris on the floor, cleaning the muddy water as a remnant of the water used to quenched the fire, cleaning the floor, some eyes were red to show they had been crying. The day was getting brighter so Si Ning could see well, he saw Yanlin who sat on the floor holding Yanyu and she was wailing loudly, her voice was the only loud one in the residence.

Si Ning walked past them as they all stopped to kneel to pay their respects to him while some quickly kowtowed, it was Yanlin who was wailing not even aware of her surroundings the only one that seemed not to notice that Si Ning had arrived so she didn’t pay her respects.

"This way Your Majesty." A guard said and led Si Ning to the ancestral hall.

Si Nan was sitting on the floor but the moment she noticed some sort of movement behind her made her turn to see Si Ning standing by the door, she blinked weakly as her eyes willed up with tears when she saw that her brother had finally come. Si Ning lingered by the doorway not stepping in, his eyes on the body covered with white cloth and he knew it was his mother, when he heard Si Nan sob made him divert his gaze to her and he wasn’t shocked to see her eyes swollen and red and she also seemed to had lost a bit of weight.

"Elder brother..." Si Nan jumped slowly to her feet, taking a few steps, and hugged Si Ning who stepped forward to catch her in case she missed a step, she started to cry loudly, her small frame shaking.

For all the mischievous acts Si Ning had done to Si Nan when they were little in the modern-day world and Si Nan would cry but it was actually the first time he would see Si Nan cry so loudly and it pained him, he hugged Si Nan back as his eyes trailed to their mother who was covered with a white sheet and it seemed there was something shaped like a square placed in the position where her head supposed to be, it was outlined by the cloth but no matter how much Si Nan cried Si Ning was unable to shed a tear, his eyes were empty, his heart beating low like someone who was dying. They stayed like that for some time, Si Ning lending his shoulder for Si Nan to cry on until she got tired and they both sat on the floor.

"Elder brother, what are we going to do?" Si Nan asked, her voice hoarse and low, she blew her nose with her handkerchief before turning when she heard no reply. "What are we going to do?" She repeated.

It was a question Si Ning wasn’t expecting, he expected her to hit him, blame him, shout at him yet all she asked was what they were going to do as she brought her knees to her chest to wrap her arms around it with no body language to show she was holding some curses in which she was ready to throw at him.

Si Ning took a deep breath as he tilted his head up. "For the main time, you will stay in Jiang’s residence." He replied without thinking and turned to Si Nan.

Si Ning didn’t take any time to think of where Si Nan would stay since the Si residence wasn’t safe anymore so he couldn’t allow her to stay at the Si residence nor the Palace so the only place he could think of was the Jiang residence.

Si Nan turned to him, her mouth fell open in disbelief. "You want to marry me off!" She almost yelled, her eyes filled with anger as she used the back of her hand to hit Si Ning hard on the arm as she turned away to pout angrily.

Si Ning winced because it was the arm that was bandaged but he quickly straightened up in order not to make Si Nan worry when she turn back to look at him and he pretended to not be in pain as he smiled weakly and placed a hand on her head. "No Si Nan, I will go to war to bring mother’s hmm." He coughed not knowing how to put it into words as he pats Si Nan’s head. "..back so I can’t let you stay here, Jiang Ye and Xiao Pei will be with you and Wei too." He watched as Si Nan’s eyes got misty, tears willed up her eyes and she started to cry all over again this time burying her face on her knees.

Si Ning would soon go on a hunt for Ge Liang so he needed Yi Chen’s assistance and he couldn’t leave Jiang ChenMu in the house because of Si Nan who seemed to harbor affection for him so Si Ning was going to protect her dignity and to do that was to take Jiang ChenMu along, his sister was more important to him than his life that was why he was going to leave Xiao Pei to protect her since Jiang Ye was in a bad shape and their mother’s trusted guard was also one of the casualties of the attack so there was no one trustworthy to leave behind.

"Mother had always wanted you to be in charge of the Si residence." Si Nan raised her head and wiped her tears. "...but she had been teaching me about the trade because she had a feeling for a long time that the Emperor would marry you because of your relationship with the Emperor and when you left for the Palace to get married, she made me promise her to take care of our home in your place, I have been studying all about our trade so Elder brother I will stay and rebuild our home and your own part to do is not to allow those bastards get away with what they did to our family." She told Si Ning wearing a serious expression to show she was being serious. "Just don’t die, I will leave you to pay respect to mother." She stood up and left the hall quietly.

The way Si Nan talked was surprising to Si Ning, he expected her to clinch unto him, cry that he shouldn’t go to war, cry that she needed him yet all she did was wipe her tears after a while and wore a focused expression so Si Ning didn’t say a word as he watched her leave the room. It pained Si Ning to leave the residence in a bad shape but he had to go to war, he had to have a faceoff with Qiu Bai. So without a word he paid his respects to his mother after concluding that he would only talk properly and show his face to her after finally finishing Ge Liang off