novelThe Man
| ← Ch.090 | Ch.092 → |
Xie Liqing could not return, because the rest of the work was under his care. If he went back, Wu Jiang would not even have someone to control. Thus, after hearing Yan Yu's plan, he had Xie Rong follow him back. Over the past year, the two of them had suffered a lot, and if they stayed any longer, they wouldn't be able to learn much.
Yan Yu thanked him for his good intentions and turned to let Zhou Huaizhi prepare to return to the capital.
Wu Jiang still had a few scattered issues that he needed to settle before he could return.
In capital, Xie Zhen did not know about the things that Gao Xun had done to him, and even thought that it had been a while since Gao Xun came, but after being puzzled for a while, he did not think too much into it.
On a cold day, she was suffering from a serious illness.
The window had not been closed at night, and a cold wind was blowing in through the draught, even with the fire burning. She was bedridden for several days with a headache and a fever. Her voice was so hoarse that she couldn't speak. Yan Yao'an, Gu Ruyi and the others came over to see her. Seeing that she was not feeling well, they did not disturb her and after a few words of condolences, she left. On the other hand, the Madam Leng's heart was in pain. She only heaved a sigh of relief when she came to a clear mind and turned with Xie Xun to guard by the bed.
Madam Leng asked Xie Zhen who was on night watch. The servant maids people looked at each other, then looked at each other. No one made a sound.
Finally, the Madam Leng asked Shuang Yu, and Shuang Yu said, "It's Cui Shan."
Cui Shan's face immediately paled as he kneeled on the bed, begging for forgiveness, "Madam, please look carefully ... At that time, it was true that the servant had closed her doors and windows. At night, the wind somehow blew them open. It was the servant who deserved to die, so I beg you to forgive me this time."
Madam Leng frowned and ordered him to bring her outside to kneel down in punishment.
Mammy Wang accepted his orders and brought Cui Shan away.
The sky was cold and the earth was freezing. Not long after kneeling outside, Cui Shan could no longer take it.
Mammy Wang's ruthlessness caused her to kneel for four hours in one go. It was said that Cui Shan could not even walk on two legs, and was supported by others to walk back. She thought that this punishment was severe enough, but she didn't expect that Mammy Wang would let her clean the corridor outside before she could get out of bed the next day.
First, let's not talk about how cold the weather was and how much cold the water was. The important thing was that the injury on her knee had not healed, so shouldn't she be on her knees while wiping the floor? How could she afford two legs like this?
It was a pity that Cui Shan did not dare to bargain with the Mammy Wang.
She scrubbed a corridor all day, and in the end her hands were cold and her legs were numb. When she got back, she threw the rag on the ground and began to cry.
She was the one who instigated Qing Xia to seduce Yan Yu.
At that time, she was the one who picked the head first, guessing if Yan Yu would divorce Xie Zhen, and also said that Qing Xia was good-looking, had a gentle personality, and would definitely be taken by Yan Yu.
Amongst all the servant maids s, she was the one who yearned for the world to be free from chaos.
Mammy Wang had long since disliked her, but she had never mentioned it in her heart. She never thought that this time, when she touched the reverse scale of Madam Leng, she would be properly punished, and it would not be a loss. That was why the Mammy Wang didn't sympathize with her. Instead, he forced her to do so, causing her injured legs to drag on for a whole month before she recovered.
The winter silently passed, and Xie Zhen once again returned to his lively and energetic state. The Madam Leng said that he would take her and Xie Xun to the Lingyin Temple to burn some incense and cure the illness and disaster. Since she had nothing to do at home, she agreed and set a time to go with her.
It was a day when the snow melted and the sun rose.
The mother and daughter duo sat on the same carriage. Xie Zhen was in a good mood all the way as he leaned his head against the carriage wall and hummed a melody he heard from an unknown place.
Her voice was so delicate that no matter what song was sung from her mouth, it would always turn into a melodious melody.
Along the way, they followed the song and arrived at Lingyin Temple, there were many people in the temple. It was probably because of the new spring. Halfway up the mountain, there was a forest of peach blossoms, and in the spring it would open up to the entire mountain. It was extremely beautiful, and many people from capital came to visit. The carriage stopped at the foot of the mountain and they had to hike up.
They did not even move normally, much less climb such long stairs. When they reached the top of the mountain, Xie Zhen's and Xie Xun's legs were sore, and they had to be supported by the servant maids to barely be able to climb up. Xie Zhen wiped the sweat off his forehead and could not help but complain: "Why do temples always like to be built on mountains? If you don't have the stamina, how come you can't get up there?"
This caused Madam Leng and the wet nurse to laugh.
She was very active when she went to Puning Temple when she was young. She never yelled that she was tired, but when she grew up, she became more and more lazy.
The group of people were led to the Great Hall of Treasures by the young monk and each knelt on a prayer mat for three incense sticks to burn. Xie Zhen closed his eyes and made a wish, before inserting the incense into the cauldron.
She didn't have any big hopes, she only wished to see her family reunited and that her Big Brother Ah Shan and Yan Yu would return from the border trial earlier.
After bowing to the Bodhisattva, they went to the guest room at the back to rest.
After hearing that the Lingyin Temple's fast food was delicious, the Madam Leng asked someone to greet the temple's host before she came and specially prepared their meals for lunch. Although they were all vegetable dishes, the fast food was very exquisite. A plate of Eight Treasures Tofu was tender and fragrant, melting immediately upon entering his mouth. The other dishes also gave people an endless aftertaste.
After they finished their fast food, Madam Leng and Xie Xun stayed in their room to rest.
Xie Zhen sat for a while. He felt that it was boring, so he walked around in the courtyard. There was a hundred-year-old elm tree in the yard. It was covered with elm money, and it fell down with the wind. The fragrance assailed his nostrils. On a whim, she asked Shuang Yu to tell the host if he could bring a bag of elm money back. At night, they could make elm money egg pancakes and elm money rice.
The host very generously agreed.
Xie Zhen sat at the in the porch and watched Shuang Yu and Mammy Wang knocking on the trees for money. The green and yellow money was scattered all over the ground and there were still many that landed at Xie Zhen's feet, quickly knocking on half of the bags. There was also a large elm tree in Qing Zhou's house. When she was young, she and Xie Xun liked to eat scrambled eggs with the elm, so Madam Leng made the kitchen cook this everyday. There were no elm trees in Duke Dingguo's Mansion, they had not eaten one for a year.
Xie Zhen divided the money into two bags, one for Madam Leng and the other for himself.
She was just about to go back to her room to wake up Madam Leng and Xie Xun, when Hong Mei suddenly ran in quickly and approached Xie Zhen: "Empress, someone from the residence said that His Highness is back, please go back quickly!"
Xie Zhen was startled, he sat up and asked: "When did you come back?"
Hong Mei was not sure either, upon hearing the news, she immediately came to report to Xie Zhen, "Should we inform Madam?"
The last time Yan Yu mentioned coming back in the spring, it was already the beginning of spring. Xie Zhen could only blame him for coming back without warning, and hurriedly let Shuang Yu pack his things, not bothering to say a word to Madam Leng, and only left him with one last sentence before leaving. Halfway up the mountain, the Prince's Mansion's carriage was stopped by the side of the road. She led the servant maids's wet nurse and sat on it without any doubts.
The carriage came to a sudden halt after it was halfway there.
Fighting sounds could be heard from outside as weapons and weapons were clashing. Each collision was more intense than the last. Shuang Yan lifted the curtain and peeked outside, only to see a few black robed men, holding onto swords and blades, fighting with the guards that Yan Yu had left behind. There were around twenty to thirty people on the other side, they had obviously come prepared, and were on par with twelve guardians.
At the beginning, the twelve guardians had the upper hand and easily taken care of the guards. However, after they took care of one group, another group of guards rushed over from the distance. Gradually, the twelve guardians lost all of his stamina, seven of them were defeated, and there were only five left to struggle for survival.
Only then did Xie Zhen fall into his trap.
She gritted her teeth as she observed the situation outside with Shuang Yan.
These people were most likely sent by the First Prince. They wanted to capture him and use her to threaten Yan Yu. Previously, when Gao Xun said that there was someone from the First Prince outside the Palace, he told her to pay attention to the situation in the Palace. Who would have thought that the one who was going out with Madam Leng Ah Xun today would be him.
That means, Yan Yu's return was also fake?
She asked them, "Which one of you can drive a carriage?"
Mammy Gui said: "This old servant has driven an ox-cart in the past, and has not touched it for many years after following Madame. If the Empress trusts this old servant, let this old servant give it a try."
In this situation, even if he didn't believe it, he had to believe it.
Xie Zhen explained the situation to her and told her to ride her horse and rush out, it would be best if she could reach the foot of the mountain.
Mammy Gui responded quickly. While the people outside were fighting, no one noticed them. She lifted the curtain of the carriage and sat on the shaft, one hand pulling the reins, shouting out loud and charging forward. Upon seeing this, the guards who were busy fighting all followed along and attacked even more viciously.
There were only three twelve guardians s left, guarding the carriage closely to prevent the First Prince's men from kidnapping them.
In the end, Mammy Gui was not proficient with the carriage and had taken many detours. Unexpectedly, he had arrived at the edge of a hill. The slope was steep, reaching all the way to the foot of the mountain. There were dense, sky-reaching trees at the foot of the mountain, as if the end couldn't be seen. Hong Mei was young, and he was already extremely frightened. He curled up in a corner with his eyes filled with fear.
The First Prince's bodyguards finally caught up to him, grabbed him from the carriage's shaft and threw him to the side. The horse, startled, whinnied and turned to run down the road. The carriage made a circle at the back, separated from the horses, swayed at the edge of the hill, and then rolled down the slope.
Xie Zhen spun around in the carriage, his head knocking against the carriage walls as he quickly lost consciousness.
The carriage slid down the hill and crashed into a tree, breaking into pieces. The servant maids s were all smashed into the underbrush, while only Xie Zhen was unlucky. He fell into the river and followed the water flow to the foot of the mountain. When she woke up, it was already late. She was alone, with the dark sky above her and the tall trees on both sides, accompanied only by the sound of insects.
She was soaked, and the night was a little cold, and the wind was so cold that she could not stop shivering.
Xie Zhen supported himself as he sat down on the tree trunk.
She had been hit on the forehead when she fell, and even though the bleeding had stopped, it still hurt a little. She curled up in a ball and looked up at the stars above her, and for a moment she was both frightened and helpless.
I wonder if Shuang Yu will find her when he wakes up? Would the First Prince's men come for her? Could there be a beast in this forest?
If she stayed like this for a night, even if there was no danger, she would most likely freeze to death.
Thinking this way, it was even more hopeless.
Xie Zhen wanted to stand up and go somewhere else, even if he could not find his way back, maybe he could still see the village. The leaves in the forest blocked the moonlight, projecting onto the ground leaving only darkness. Xie Zhen stumbled, and couldn't see his path clearly, so he could only move slowly.
Suddenly, he tripped over a protruding rock.
She whimpered and sat up, unable to see if her leg was injured. She was like a lost animal, squatting on the ground and blinking. Tears rolled down her cheeks and fell silently to the ground. She did not want to cry, because that would make her seem weak. However, she could not resist, so she used her sleeves to wipe her tears away as she tried to hold in her tears. She squatted on the ground alone, missing Yan Yu extra.
She did not know when he would return. Perhaps before he did, she would have already been captured by the First Prince's men.
"Big Brother Xiao Yu..."
After a moment of silence, the sound of footsteps came from behind him.
She froze, not daring to move.
Until the person behind him spoke: "Ah Zhen?"
She stood up in panic, looking backwards in disbelief, "Gao Xun?"
This voice was without a doubt Gao Xun.
But why was he here?
Gao Xun finally found her, and relaxed a little, "Finally found you!"
Originally, after Xie Zhen's carriage fell to the ground, the servant maids didn't manage to find her. Thus, he returned to his residence and ordered dozens of guards to search for her on the mountain. At that time, Gao Xun finally found the time to come over, but he did not expect that something would happen to her. He immediately rushed to the Lingyin Temple without stopping and searched around the hillside.
No one had expected her to fall into the water and be washed so far away, so they only searched for her nearby. He had originally thought that he would not be able to find her tonight. However, he did not expect that he would suddenly hear some noise in front of him, which he immediately rushed over to check. As expected, she was right here.
In the mountain, there were not only Yan Yu's people, but also the First Prince's people who were looking for her.
He found a few sticks of dry wood nearby, took out a fire piston from his bosom, lit it up, and said considerately, "Your clothes are all wet, first use the fire to dry them. After you've rested, we'll continue walking forward, find a house to temporarily stay in, and I'll send you back tomorrow morning." As he spoke, he took off his outer robes and draped it over Xie Zhen's body.
Xie Zhen was really cold, so he did not refuse and wrapped himself in a circle in front of the bonfire to get closer.
Her face was as white as paper under the firelight. Her eyelashes drooped down tiredly and she seemed to be listless."Why don't you go back now?"
Gao Xun was startled, and then explained to her, "On this mountain, other than the people from the sixth prince Palace, there are also people from the First Prince. If you go out now, you might be caught by them. Moreover, it's not safe to walk at night, so I might as well wait until dawn before leaving the mountain."
She understood and raised her big eyes to look at him. her mouth a thin line obediently nodded and did not speak anymore.
The moon was in the middle of the sky. It was already midnight.
Xie Zhen's clothes had finally dried, and she sneezed towards the fire.
Gao Xun would extinguish the fire and bury the remaining firewood into the ground. Seeing that, she took off her undergarment and shrugged, "If you continue to take it off, you won't have any clothes to wear, you will also catch a cold!"
He didn't think much of it."I'm a man with a strong body. You're different."
However, Xie Zhen had insisted on not letting him take it off, and had even threatened to return the robe to him if he disobeyed, which was why he gave it up.
There was no way to stay here all night. If the First Prince's men came looking for them, the two of them would not be able to defend themselves. Gao Xun pointed ahead and said to her: "Let's go take a look over there, maybe we'll meet a farmer."
Xie Zhen nodded and followed him in.
They did not know when they arrived, but they did not expect this mountain to be so big. After walking for an hour, they had not seen a single farmhouse. Instead, they were exhausted. Xie Zhen had originally caught a cold, and fell down the mountain, causing his entire body to ache. It was rare for her to walk with him for such a long time without saying a word, and seeing that she was walking slower and slower, Gao Xun knew that she did not have enough stamina, so he squatted down and said to her: "You can come up, I'll carry you."
Xie Zhen shook his head, "I can walk by myself."
He smiled."Don't lie to me. You look like you'll faint at any moment."
Xie Zhen did not say anything.
She was indeed very tired, but she didn't want Gao Xun to carry her on his back either.
He could guess what she was thinking about, but Gao Xun comforted her, "There are only the two of us here, no one will see you, and it will not affect your reputation either."
She frowned."I'm not ..."
"Ah Zhen." Gao Xun squatted on the ground and turned his head around to look at her. His eyes were open and honest, and his smile was even heavier than before, "When I was young, when I went to Puning Temple to burn incense, I even carried you on my back a few times. Since you treated me as your big brother and your big brother is carrying his little sister, what's wrong with that?"
"..."
Xie Zhen shook his head in the end, "I can still walk."
Gao Xun was injured.
He stood up and walked forward with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
As she walked, Xie Zhen felt that it was getting colder and colder. She tightly held onto Gao Xun's clothes, but she could not help but shiver. Her steps became heavier and heavier, and she felt that her head was getting lighter. Every step she took was especially strenuous, she called out with difficulty, "Big brother Gao Xun ..."
When Gao Xun heard the voice, he turned his head around only to see her leaning forward slowly.
Gao Xun was shocked, and immediately went to catch her.
"Ah Zhen!"
He touched her forehead. Perhaps it was because she had fallen into the water just now, but the current heat was so strong that he couldn't even think straight through it. He called her Big Brother Gao Xun and called her Big Brother Xiao Yu from time to time. Gao Xun's heart ached for her. He carried her and quickly ran to the front to look for the farmers. He called her name continuously along the way, "Ah Zhen, Ah Zhen, don't sleep!"
She grabbed the front of his shirt and sobbed, "I feel so bad ..."
She was already burnt to this state, how did she last follow him for so long?
Gao Xun scolded her for being stubborn, and at the same time, he pitied her tenacity. His Little Fairy had suffered so much, but he couldn't share any of it for her.
Fortunately, there was a farmer's house not too far away, he anxiously carried Xie Zhen and walked over, and knocked on the wooden door, "Is there anyone there? Save us!"
There were more than ten farmers nearby, and each of them had hare and pheasants hanging in their yard. It was likely that the hunters living in the mountains had found them here.
Not long after, a woman came out of the house. She looked kind and asked him what he wanted.
Gao Xun made up a lie and said that he and Xie Zhen were siblings. They went to the temple on the mountain today to enjoy the incense, but who would have thought that they would be kidnapped by bandits on the way. It wasn't easy for him to escape, but his sister had a fever. It just so happens that I have a piece of broken silver here. Please stay here for the night, ma'am."
The woman sized them up with a gaze of disbelief."Are you really siblings?"
Gao Xun said yes.
The woman's gaze landed on Xie Zhen's face. Although Xie Zhen's body was covered in dirt, one could still see that he had a good appearance. She laughed: "Anyone who escapes from home will be considered a brother and sister."
With that, he did not care if Gao Xun understood what he said, but went back to his room to wake up his men, and made a temporary room for them to stay in. They were hunters who lived a life of hunting. Many kinds of medicinal herbs were always kept in their homes, including antipyretic medicines. The woman accepted Gao Xun's silver and fried it overnight for Xie Zhen to pass on to them. She also prepared two sets of clean clothes for them to change into.
Xie Zhen was burnt silly, the woman helped him change clothes.
After Gao Xun fed her the medicine, she fell asleep in a daze.
In the morning of the second day, her temperature dropped, and it was not as hot as last night. She became clear-headed, and when she opened her eyes, she could not see Gao Xun, and started to panic.
The woman fed her some porridge and smiled at her."Your brother? He's giving you medicine outside. He'll be here in a moment."
With that, he recounted how Gao Xun knocked on the door last night and carried her to plead for help. In the end, he added something else in his words, "Your brother treats you so well ..."
Xie Zhen lowered his head and did not say a word.
She could guess how Gao Xun had explained their relationship and could also guess that this aunt had misunderstood him. However, she couldn't explain it easily since she didn't ask him, so it seemed that he wanted to cover it up.
Before long, Gao Xun came in with the medicine. Seeing that she had woken up, he joyfully sat down on the bedside: "Ah Zhen, how do you feel? Are you better? Do you feel uncomfortable?"
Last night he had held her, and she had been saying it so hard that it had made his heart clench.
Xie Zhen laughed and shook his head, he was still a little weak, the color of his lips turned white, and revealed a smile that revealed two dimples: "I'm much better now, thank you Big Brother Gao Xun."
Gao Xun wanted to feed her the medicine, and she said that she would do it herself.
With such a big bowl of bitter medicine, she frowned as she drank it, but she still insisted on drinking it.
If this were before, he would definitely be acting coquettishly while clamoring over the sweet jujube.
She did not act coquettishly in front of him.
Gao Xun realized that there was a moment of bitterness to this reality. He urged her to sleep a little longer and walked out of the house himself.
Indeed, someone had found this place during the day.
It was someone from the First Prince.
Gao Xun gave the woman and the hunter a few more silver and explained, "My sister used to be a servant maids of a large family. Now that she has escaped, they want to capture her. If anyone comes to ask, tell them that you have never seen us before."
The woman did not expect that there would be so much trouble. She immediately regretted it and said, "If I know your identities are not clean, I will not let you stay here!"
Gao Xun could only give her the jade pendant on her body. Only then, did she reluctantly agree to it.
Noon, Xie Zhen was taking medicine in his room while Gao Xun sat beside him.
Several guards rushed in on their horses and asked loudly if they had seen a woman before, describing her exact appearance to Xie Zhen.
The woman and the hunter stood in the courtyard and fearfully nodded."I saw ..."
The guard was stern."Where is he?"
The woman casually pointed in a direction."She said she wanted to stay. I saw that she didn't know her identity and was afraid of causing any trouble, so I didn't let her stay. She went in that direction."
Seeing that she did not seem to be lying, the guard turned the horse around and led gang in chasing after her.
After they left, Xie Zhen and Gao Xun heaved a sigh of relief.
It was not easy to leave from here, and furthermore, they would even meet the First Prince's men. After discussing for a while, they decided to stay here for a day, and if they did not find Yan Yu's men a day later, they would head out by themselves.
One day later, Xie Zhen's fever had completely retreated.
At the western border of the Twilight Zone, it was dusk.
Xie Zhen lay on his bed for the whole day, wanting to walk around. Gao Xun also felt that it would be better to walk, so he did not stop her. The yard was covered with wheat and just as the lady was about to put it away, Xie Zhen sat down and watched. The weather in the mountain was cool and refreshing. In the evening, one could still see the sunset, and it was even more comfortable than staying in the capital.
She talked casually to the woman, and she even talked in a way.
She could talk to anyone. The woman said there were many prey on the mountain, and they hunted for a living. She asked what prey they hunted for, and when she caught them, the woman told her what to do with them.
She listened attentively with her chin in her hand, nodding occasionally with a hint of understanding. Her big, dark eyes recovered their spirit, and her smile was bright and dazzling.
Gao Xun stood under the window and watched them quietly.
He never thought that there would be a day where he and Xie Zhen would get along like this.
He had earned more than a moment of this kind of time.
The sun in the west was just barely setting, and it was almost sunset. The woman put away the wheat and prepared to go to the kitchen to make dinner. Just as he stood up, he heard the sound of hooves coming from afar.
Their voices were loud and clear, and there were quite a few people on the scene.
The woman's face was pale as she looked towards Xie Zhen.
Xie Zhen was also startled, didn't the First Prince's man leave? Could it be that he found out he was cheated and came back after chasing them?
The other person arrived in a hurry. Before they could react, the farmer's door was slammed open.
All soldiers and horses.
Xie Zhen's eyes were filled with unease, until someone alighted from his horse and stood at the entrance of the farmhouse with a straight back, like a pine tree. He was still wearing the bright armor that Xie Zhen had personally helped him wear when he left. Even after a year of polishing, it was still shining brightly. The clothes he wore accentuated his resolution and determination, giving him an unordinary appearance.
He saw Xie Zhen walking towards her with big steps.
| ← Ch. 090 | Ch. 092 → |