In the evening, the first snow of winter fell on Jinling City, with black tiles and white snow everywhere, and the snow pressed on the branches, like a tree full of pear blossoms.
The eldest lady, Mrs. Xiao, sat on the head, with a pair of eye-catching phoenix eyes, her two red lips were so thin that they seemed to have only a single line, and her ten fingers were painted with dankou, as if they had just plucked out their hearts. She is not like her husband, who has benevolence, righteousness and morality written all over her face, and has a clear and mean face, and tells you clearly that "the old lady is not easy to mess with".
Xiao Shi turned his gaze to Xie Jinglan as if giving alms, and opened his mouth with a thin voice, with nine and eighteen bends, a bit like singing: "Xie Jinglan, you are very good, I misread you, I didn't expect You can still cover your belly full of money in the pickled field of Qiuwuyuan, if you teach this well, you will be ranked third in the future, just around the corner!"
"Don't dare, thanks to Madam's wrong love, who can say what will happen in the future?" Xie Jinglan sneered.
He said it modestly, but he didn't have the slightest taste of modesty. Instead, it meant that "sooner or later, I will make you kowtow and admit your mistake".
Xiao Shi showed contempt, and said: "I thought you had any skills, a little doll who can't even hide his own thoughts, with a little cleverness, you want to turn over and become a phoenix? What's the use of having a full belly? It can make you hold it in your stomach and you can't spit it out."
Xie Jinglan's eyes froze.
"I originally wanted to pretend to be a mother and a filial son. After all, the old man surnamed Dai is a bit powerful and difficult to deal with. But as soon as I saw you, I thought of that fox." Mrs. Xiao stared at Xie Jinglan, her eyes piercingly cold. , "You look so much like her."
Xie Jinglan still couldn't hold back, and said with anger, "It's common for a man to have three wives and four concubines, and the wife is too jealous."
"Jealous?" The Xiao family smiled but didn't smile, "I was born in the Jiang Zuo family, and I have been an official in the dynasty for generations. My father was an official to the Zuodu censor of the Ducha Yuan, and Xie Bingfeng, a useless man, would have been six years old without me. I can't get a good sesame official! You men, all your rhetoric, there is no good thing, I believed your useless oath and married to the Xie family, but I was only ten months pregnant, and he hooked you up mother!"
"That's Dad's fault too. Why should Madam target me?"
Xiao Shi lowered his head and brushed his nails, the smile on his face was mocking: "Who made me unable to clean up Xie Bingfeng? He and I are both prosperous and damaged. But you little boy, I still have a solution. "
The ridicule on her face grew stronger, but she didn't know whether to mock Xie Jinglan or herself.
Xie Jinglan: "You..."
"In the past, I had a good heart, and I raised you with good food and vegetables. It's just a weed that no one wants, and I can't make a big wave. Who would have thought that you would dare to covet my son's things, steal books and steal learning, and you would be so big Trouble at Wangqing Pavilion and robbed my son of the seat that belonged to me. You can't help me if you come up to court death yourself."
Xia Houlin said without fear of death, "Madam, you don't have a clue about how your son is like a bear? If Master Jinglan hadn't participated in the answer that day, I'm afraid none of the Xie's children would have caught Mr. Dai's eyes."
Xiao Shi squinted at Xia Houlin, and scolded: "Where is the wild brat, dare to say nonsense in front of me! Come on, hit 20 big boards with a stick!"
The two maids came over and moved Xiahou Rin to the bench one by one. Xia Houlin kicked his feet randomly, arching back and forth on the bench, like a fish that was about to be chopped into pieces on a chopping block but would rather die. The hands of the two maids were like iron pincers, they pressed firmly on his shoulders, and their legs were eventually caught. Xia Houlin, a fish who would rather die than be blind, became a dead fish to be slaughtered.
The first board fell, and the flesh on Xia Houlin's thigh seemed to be torn apart, and the pain was piercing.
He completely lost the restraint and face he didn't have in the first place, his anger sank into his dantian, his mouth opened, and he cried hysterically. While singing folk songs to hang one's throat, this howl is like thousands of pigs being killed at the same time, and the howl finally breaks the sound as expected.
Xiao Shi had a long history of headaches, and when he heard Xia Hou's bright voice, he almost succumbed to it.
Xie Jinglan thought that Xia Houlin really couldn't hold it anymore, so he jumped on Xia Houlin and shouted: "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! He can't stand it anymore! Madam, I will learn whatever rules you want me to learn! Don't you! beated!"
Xiao Shi let the mammy back down in a dizzy manner, and after drinking a few sips of tea, the headache was relieved.
Xia Houlin was lying on the bench exhausted, his buttocks didn't hurt much, but his throat was burning uncomfortably.
Xiahou raised his neck and said, "Madam, although Young Master Jinglan is not your own, but if he is named on the Golden List and returns to his hometown in fine clothes, it will not only be himself, but the entire Xie family! Why! Saying that you are also the first-mother of Young Master Jinglan, if the Young Master is hurt alone, you will not lose both, but if Young Master is fortunate enough to climb the toad and win the laurel, you will definitely be honored!"
"You're young, but you have sharp teeth and sharp mouths!" Mrs. Xiao didn't move at all, her face still had the same sneer, "You remember it to me, even if Mrs. Xie wants to be happy, it will be my son Jingtao Jingtan. To revitalize the Xie family, Xie Jinglan, a wild species, can't be beaten if the wheel is broken!"
Xie Jinglan's eyes dimmed little by little, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Mr. Xiao picked up his accent again: "However, Jinglan, your status is indeed unusual now. You are Mr. Dai's disciple, and I can't take care of you. It's just that Mr. Dai is a great scholar in the world. If you don't know the rules, don't you think so? Lost the face of my Xie family? People will also say that I, the first-mother, did not discipline me well. Today I will learn how to 'kneel' for now, and I will teach you something else later."
Xiao Shi winked, and the two maids next to her stood up and put Xie Jinglan into the snow. One of the maids kicked Xie Jinglan's knee, and Xie Jinglan knelt down with a groan.
Xia Houlin was shocked: "What are you doing!"
The mammy picked up Xia Houlin and pressed it next to Xie Jinglan. Xia Houlin struggled hard, but the strength of each mammy seemed to be terrifying. The hot palms were pressed against his shoulders, as if Mount Tai topped.
Xia Houlin gritted his teeth, this room is full of old witches!
Mammy said in a hoarse voice: "Kneeling, pay attention to keeping your waist straight, shoulders level, not hunched, hands on the seams of your trousers, don't put them anywhere else," Xia Houlin sat on the calf, mama kicked With a kick of Xia Houlin, he kicked him directly into the snow and ate a mouthful of cold slush, "Don't sit on your buttocks, kneel for me!"
fuck it! Xia Houlin was so angry that he wanted to explode, and he wanted to jump up and fight with these two immortals.
The old witch was determined to rectify the two of them.
Standing on the steps, Mr. Xiao looked down at them both condescendingly, his eyes seemed to be looking at two ants, contemptuous and cold.
"You can leave after kneeling for an hour, but..." Mr. Xiao blew his nails and said casually, "If Mammy finds out that your posture is wrong, add an hour for one mistake."
Mrs. Xiao entered the house, leaving the two maids sitting under the porch to guard Xia Houlin and the two.
Xia Houlin only knelt down for a cup of tea, and his knees were sore and painful, and his waist was sore, not to mention that the sky was already dark, and the cold wind became more and more fierce, blowing his face cold, and almost lost consciousness. Turning to look at Xie Jinglan, he was as motionless as a wooden man, with his eyes lowered, not knowing what he was thinking.
He was in bad health, his face was as pale as paper, and his lips had lost their color. Xia Houlin didn't worry about himself anymore, but instead worried about Xie Jinglan, kneeling for an hour, is this still good? How could his small body still have life
But the two aunties were burning the fire and staring at them both.
Xie Jinglan suddenly spoke up, his voice was very low, a little half-dead: "I can't win her, no matter how high I climb, she can make me shattered."
"Don't be so cranky, this old witch is mad at me," Xia Houlin said, "Hey, young master, do you think I can go out and ask for help, where does Mr. Dai live? Find your father. Help?"
"You can't get out. There are two maids here, and there are five or six maids in the house. I don't know how many handymen there are in the courtyard and the backyard. They all pull you and you can't move." Xie Jing Lan's eyes were dark, terribly dark, and there was no light at all, "I'm too naive, I thought that if I became Mr. Dai's student, I would be able to walk on the road of prosperity. One step, sooner or later you will be able to turn around.
"But I forgot that I am the Xie family, the prefect of the family, the foundation of the literati, not to mention the importance of filial piety in the Holy Dynasty. If the eldest lady releases my reputation for being unfilial, my career will be ruined. If she wants to ruin me, There are a thousand ways, ten thousand ways."
"That old witch scare you, don't believe it." Xia Houlin comforted with difficulty, "Look at her, she doesn't look like a mistress of the house, she's not dignified at all, and I don't know which one your father is blind. Look, look at such a dominatrix."
Xie Jinglan shook his head weakly: "She lives so real that she doesn't want to act with me. If you meet a mistress who hides a knife in her smile, eats people but doesn't spit out bones, it will be miserable. I'm afraid I don't even have a chance to talk to her, so I just Died in Qiuwuyuan."
For the first time, he felt so powerless, like a drowning child, fluttering in the water, hitting layers of waves, and his body continued to sink.
This feeling of powerlessness was like a tide, slowly drowning him.
The snow was getting heavier and heavier, covering their hair on their shoulders. From a distance, both of them looked like their heads were white. Xie Jinglan's whole body was cold, and the cold seemed to penetrate the cotton-padded clothes and penetrated to his bones. Snow fell on his temples, and a layer of frost formed on his eyelashes.
Consciousness seems to gradually drift away, vision gradually blurred. He was suddenly covered with a warm cotton-padded coat, and a pair of hands slightly warmer than him reached out, brushed the frost and snow off his face, and held his hands.
He raised his head in a daze, and murmured like a mosquito: "Xiahou Lin?"
Xia Houlin didn't care about any posture or posture, and hugged Xie Jinglan tightly in his arms, rubbing his hands and face tossing.
He took off his jacket, and the cold wind poured into his neckline, making his nose drool from the cold, and the two of them were like frozen birds dying in the wind, shaking into a pile.
"It's going to die! It's going to die! You guys don't let us go!" Xiahou roared loudly.
One of the nanny showed a look of indifference, entered the house and asked for instructions, and when she came out again, she still sat by the fire without saying a word, turning her head away from the two of them.
"Damn it! This old witch deserves to give birth to Xie Jingtao's rubbish thing." Xia Houlin hugged Xie Jinglan tightly, the two of them pressed their foreheads against their foreheads, and the hot breath engulfed their vision, "Master! "
Xie Jinglan struggled to open his eyes, lifted his eyelids feebly and glanced at him, but said nothing.
Xia Houlin whispered in his ear: "Master, do you have any money? Give me money!"
"You can't buy them." Xie Jinglan murmured like a mosquito.
"No, you can give me the money, even a copper plate," Xiahou Rin said through gritted teeth, "I'll help you kill that one.
Ladies! "
Galan Assassins always start at 100 taels for business. He is not an official Assassin, so Xie Jinglan should be cheaper.
"What nonsense... What nonsense are you talking about." Xie Jinglan felt that he was cold from the inside out. He didn't seem to be alone, but a piece of ice. Xia Houlin's voice was getting further and further away from him, and he was about to lose his hearing .
He didn't even know if he had said the words just now.
"You forgot, I'm a thief. We not only steal money, but also life. You touch my boots." Xia Houlu took Xie Jinglan's hand and probed into his boots. Xie Jinglan found one. Even the hard objects had carved patterns on them, with sharp edges and corners, and he suddenly shuddered and woke up.
He used all his remaining strength to grasp Xia Houlin, and his voice almost came out of his teeth: "If you dare to mess around, I... I..." After "I" for a long time, Xie Jinglan didn't think of any means for him. If he could threaten Xia Houlin, he simply bit on his shoulder.
Xie Jinglan bit her tightly, Xia Houlin grimaced in pain, and Xie Jinglan didn't relax until he tasted the blood in his mouth.
Xiahou didn't get angry, and hated: "Are you a dog!? It's okay to treat my kindness as a donkey's liver and lungs, and you have to bite my kindness out of a hole!"
"Why are you still fighting in the nest?" A shivering voice came from the cold, and Xia Houlin raised her head, seeing Xiao Shi looking at them coldly, she looked up at the sky and said, "I'm going to sleep, I'll let it go today. You, you can go back."
Xia Houlin breathed a sigh of relief.
Xie Jinglan was about to faint. Xia Houlin touched his forehead and was shocked. It was so cold outside, but his forehead was as hot as charcoal.
"Hey! Young master!"
Xie Jinglan slid off Xia Houlin's body, paralyzed on the ground like mud, burning in a daze, and muttering something in his mouth.
Xiahou Lin couldn't do anything, so he carried him on his back and walked to Qiuwuyuan with difficulty. Kneeling for an hour, his feet were icy and numb. In the first few steps, he fell to the ground with almost every step, and the two of them were buried in the snow together, unable to get up for a long time.
The road seemed to be longer than before, with no end in sight. Xia Houlin wanted to find Lianxiang and Aunt Lan for help, but he was afraid that Xie Jinglan would be frozen into ice by the time he came back.
"Don't... don't mess around." Xie Jinglan murmured, if it wasn't for his head buried in Xia Houlin's neck, Xia Houlin almost didn't hear what he was saying.
At the end of the cold, Xie Jinglan could no longer feel the cold wind. He only felt dizzy, and when he opened his eyes, the sky was spinning, as if there was something stuck in his throat, and he wanted to vomit for a while.
He wondered wildly, if he vomited on Xia Houlin, would this fellow go mad in place.
"Don't worry, I'm not messing around." Xia Houlin bumped Xie Jinglan up and said, "Young master, don't fall asleep, talk to me, don't die."
Xie Jinglan woke up a bit, closed his eyes and said, "I'm dead, you have nothing to lose, anyway... Anyway, you have to leave sooner or later."
"But I'll be very sad. I, Xia Houlin, have never made any friends. You are my first good brother." Xia Houlin touched Xie Jinglan's head with his head, "How about... why don't you come with me? , I'll take you back to the mountain. Although the mountain is poor, there is a lot of game, so I can't starve you. My mother shouldn't mind having an extra son."
Xie Jinglan twitched the corners of his mouth and laughed half-heartedly: "Are you going to elope with me?"