Everyone knew that the Liu family had an extraordinary daughter. When the Liu family's male son died in a rebellion, everyone thought that the once powerful Liu family would collapse. Who would have thought that a few years later, the Liu family was actually supported by the little daughter who no one had high hopes for.
In a few years, when people mentioned the Liu family, they would first mention the wise Liu Zhixu, and then would they mention the Liu family's past stories.
To talk about her, we have to start with her talent in managing the world. She cultivated the country internally and defended the country externally, provided relief to the rich and assisted the poor, and attached importance to farming so that the people could gradually return to normal life after the war... She was undoubtedly a woman who left a stunning mark in history.
After talking about her achievements, she only told half of the story. In the remaining few sentences, everyone couldn't help but mention the victorious general next to her.
I heard that he was born a slave, was a martial arts expert, loyal, low-key, and there was not much to say about him. However, there were always some rumors that he had an affair with the empress.
…
Ying walked along the palace wall. The sun was shining brightly, making his armor hot.
When they arrived in front of the palace, the palace servant who was leading the way stopped, and he was the only one left walking on the road.
As soon as he stepped into the hall, the cool air from the ice basin came through the armor. Liu Zhixu stood in front of the table with his back to him. Ying only dared to glance at him out of the corner of his eye and knelt on one knee to salute.
"Get up." She spoke casually, without any airs. "Have you got any information?" Ying is now a general. Normally, it is not his turn to get information, but Liu Zhixu is used to using him, and he doesn't think there is anything inappropriate about it.
Ying handed the confidential document to the desk.
Liu Zhixu opened it and took a look, commenting: "It really takes care of every detail."
Shadow hung his head.
Liu Zhixu put down the letter and said in a calm tone: "Even if you know all this, you must know the rumors about us."
Ying looked up in surprise, and as soon as his light fell on her fair chin, he immediately retracted it and knelt heavily on the ground.
Liu Zhixu stood up and walked towards him slowly, saying as he walked: "Some people say that you are my favorite male lover, fighting on the battlefield during the day and serving me in the tent at night..."
Ying clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a pair of exquisitely embroidered shoes. They were Liu Zhixu's shoes. She didn't like to be ostentatious, and even though she held power, she usually still dressed like a lady in her boudoir.
"Shadow." Liu Zhixu didn't expect that even at this point, he still didn't open his mouth to explain or apologize.
The slaves of the Liu family lived in the shadows all their lives. They were despicable weapons and were not worthy of talking to their masters, so they would not talk to their masters unless they had no other choice.
She felt a little depressed and said solemnly, "Look up at me."
Shadow remained silent.
"Look up." Liu Zhixu suddenly raised his voice and scolded, "I don't want to say it a second time!"
The sound of a pin drop was so deafening that Ying finally spoke. His voice was as hoarse as gravel and grindstone: "I dare not."
Liu Zhixu said: "People say that you and I are always together and talk to each other, but in reality you don't even dare to look at me—"
Ying suddenly moved, and Liu Zhixu saw his expression—his face was as gloomy as water, full of murderous intent, and he was obviously extremely angry.
She was stunned. This wasn't right. According to Lu Yunchu's words, after "teasing" him, he should have blushed.
Ying was obviously very angry. Liu Zhixu put away her idea of teasing him and advised him to be serious: "Let these rumors go. It's harmless." She has been with Ying for almost ten years and has figured out his temper. It seems that he is going to kill those who spread the rumors.
Ying lowered his head silently, kowtowed, and then walked away.
Liu Zhixu looked at his broad back and couldn't help but sigh.
After returning to the mansion, Ying took off his armor and put it away, then opened the secret room and flashed in.
The secret room was small and dim, just like the slavery room where he had fought and trained in his childhood. Here he could finally be himself.
Arriving at the secret room, the rage that was boiling and roaring in his chest was finally suppressed. Ying clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. All he could hear in his mind was the voice of Liu Zhixu.
How dare those people be so bold? Who gave them the courage to insult her like this? He must find these people and make them wish for death... No, the master said, let them be, he must obey orders.
Ying leaned against the stone wall and slowly calmed down, but his chest was still beating violently.
He held his mouth tightly and smiled bitterly.
I am probably the one who is most courageous, otherwise I wouldn't be so frightened that I couldn't control myself under such overwhelming anger.
He picked up the porcelain bowl in the wooden box. The combination of the porcelain bowl and the soft silk looked funny, but to him, the porcelain bowl was more important than his family's life.
This was the porcelain bowl she had brought him dumplings in on the snowy New Year's Eve of that year. It was the first time she turned around and looked at him standing in the shadows. It was the beginning of his foolish delusion in his stagnant life.
Liu Zhixu received a reply from Lu Yunchu.
She opened the letter from Lu Yunchu asking for help, which was full of weird ideas provided by Lu Yunchu.
"Hmm... that makes sense." She looked at the suggestions from her little sister and nodded seriously, "This method is good, this one is also good, this one..." She blushed, wondering if this one was a bit too fast.
The second half of the letter was stained by ink spots and was not very clear. Lu Yunchu explained later that it was because Wen Zhan accidentally saw it, and she didn't want to expose Liu Zhixu, so she just said that she was writing a romantic story book. Wen Zhan was very hurt after hearing it, thinking that she didn't satisfy her, so Lu Yunchu didn't dare to write these messy things anymore.
Liu Zhixu sighed. How envious! When will she be able to be a couple like Ying
In the end, Ying did not deal with those who spread the rumors because Liu Zhixu decided to go to the battlefield with the army.
"If this battle goes well, everything south of the Central Plains will be in the Liu family's hands." Liu Zhixu said, "I must be here. Sending messages back and forth is still too slow. I won't let go."
No matter how his ministers and advisers objected, Ying would never oppose her idea. If she wanted to take risks, then he would protect her.
But the foreign invaders were fierce. When they were about to win, they fought back vigorously, intending to inflict heavy damage to the Liu family army by exchanging their lives for others'.
Fortunately, Liu Zhixu had anticipated this and taken precautions, but she was still injured by the rubble from the bombed city.
Her lower leg was injured, and her ankle was swollen. This was the leg that had been lame since childhood, and if it was injured, the wound would be aggravated, and she might even become disabled.
The accompanying doctor was helpless, and she had to rush back to the city to seek help from the old doctor.
Ying had no choice but to offend her, help her onto the horse, and ride her back to the city at full speed.
Liu Zhixu was silent all the way. Halfway through the journey, Ying stopped to check on her injuries, fearing that the bumpy ride of the horse might hurt her.
He squatted in front of her and checked her injuries through her socks and shoes.
Liu Zhixu spoke for the first time: "I can't feel my feet anymore."
The shadow was yanked up fiercely, it was as painful as cutting flesh with a knife.
He clenched his teeth and subconsciously reached out to touch her feet.
When his fingertips were about to touch the tip of her shoe, they trembled and he quickly stopped.
Liu Zhixu was sitting on his horse and watching him. He was surprised when he saw his movements. He immediately asked him: "Is my leg broken?"
Her words exploded in his ears like thunder, causing his head to buzz. Afraid that he would lose his sanity, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoes.
Liu Zhixu stared in amazement.
He gently pulled her shoes, twisted them a little, and said in a very hoarse and rough voice: "Do you feel anything?"
Of course there was. Liu Zhixu was in so much pain that his face was horrible, but he just forced himself to hold it back: "No."
Ying froze, his eyes bloodshot, he jumped onto his horse and galloped even faster.
Liu Zhixu hadn't recovered from the surprise of his "offending" her yet, and hid in his arms and asked, "What if I become a useless person in the future?"
Ying remained silent, his veins bulging as he gripped the reins.
He wanted to say no, but it was not his turn to say that. He could not make any promises, so he could only ride faster.
After arriving at the old doctor's residence and sending Liu Zhixu in, Ying stood outside the yard, looking at the high full moon, and then he slowly regained his sanity.
He rode on the same horse with her, he touched her feet, and he picked her up and carried her into the room... Any one of these three things was enough to make the slave betray him and be executed by slow slicing.
He was not afraid at all, but he was worried that Liu Zhixu's leg injury would be difficult to treat.
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, the old doctor slowly opened the door and stepped out with great effort.
He was old, and even a little movement seemed to cost him half his life. He spoke slowly and concisely, "It's useless."
“Bang.”
Ying's sword fell to the ground and he could not sense anything. When he came back to his senses, he had already rushed into the room and stood in front of Liu Zhixu.
Liu Zhixu didn't expect him to have such a strong reaction. He began to worry about what to do if he found out that he and the old doctor were colluding. If he had known, he wouldn't have said it so seriously...
Her face was normal, and her voice was cold: "Don't let anyone know about this."
Ying lowered his head, his fists clenched so tightly that they were about to bleed, and nodded with difficulty.
"I can be lame, but I don't want to be a cripple. Now that the war has just ended, all the families are eyeing me covetously. As a woman, I have already attracted a lot of criticism, and now my legs are crippled..."
Ying felt like his legs were about to be torn apart, and a sweet and fishy taste rose in his throat, but he forced it down.
Liu Zhixu paused and said, "I need time to recover from my injuries and to prepare a retreat for the Liu family. There is only one solution now, which is to find a husband and give birth to an heir as soon as possible."
A fishy-sweet taste surged in Ying's throat. He knelt on one knee, kowtowed, clenched his fists, and closed his mouth in pain.
He didn't want to hear this, but he had to listen to it. He had to watch her get hurt, and watch her find a man to live with her because of her injuries...
"I thought about it and there is only one most suitable candidate."
"Shadow, are you willing to help me?"
The sky collapsed and the earth cracked. Ying's ears suddenly fell into dead silence. He looked up in surprise, his eyes full of bloodshot, staring at her.
This was the first time Ying looked her in the eye.
He forgot everything, including the disciplines and status differences engraved in his bones and blood. He just wanted to confirm whether he had heard it wrong.
So Liu Zhixu repeated it again: "Ying, are you willing to help me?"
…
Shadow means the shadow of the master. The shadow will follow the master till death and will complete any order from the master without any objection.
So he nodded woodenly before he could accept all this.
Liu Zhixu almost laughed out loud.
Yun Chu agreed, "Let's love after marriage". Dragging things around is definitely not her style. She would just get what she wants in one go.
However, Yun Chu also said that this kind of deceptive marriage usually comes with a "wife-chasing crematorium", no, "husband-chasing crematorium", so she has to plan ahead to prevent any changes.
However, the crematorium that was planned did not arrive. Ying did not have any doubts about Liu Zhixu. She just thought that her husband had cured Liu Zhixu's leg and did not realize that it was a scam from the beginning to the end.
It was not until six years later that Lu Yunchu brought Wen Zhan to Liu Zhixu's territory for a visit. He drank and talked with Liu Zhixu all night and let the cat out of the bag. The shadow beside him finally learned the truth.
Wen Zhan held his forehead helplessly, and quickly carried Lu Yunchu, who had become a puddle of mud, away horizontally.
Liu Zhixu still had some wits left. When he saw Ying, his eyes widened: "I, I..."
Ying walked up to her and picked her up as well: "It's late, Master, you should go back to sleep."
After six years of marriage, he never changed his way of speaking, even when he was overwhelmed with passion in bed, he would still call her that.
"Did you hear that?" Liu Zhixu was in his arms, and only his chin could be seen.
After a while, Ying hummed.
Liu Zhixu asked: "What do you think?"
Ying hugged him in silence. When Liu Zhixu was so nervous that he could hardly breathe, he heard Ying sigh softly.
"Why lie to me? I won't obey anything you say."
Liu Zhixu's brain was slow, and it took him a while to realize that Ying said "you" and "I" instead of "master" and "subordinate".
She was placed on the soft bed, with a confused look on her face. She grabbed the sleeve of Ying who was about to leave: "Ying?"
Under the dim light, Ying seemed to smile for the first time.
Ying Qing said, "Actually, I have something to hide from you. I will confess and apologize tomorrow when you sober up."
For example, the fact that I have been coveting my master for a long time.