Xie Changgeng rode out of the city alone and came to the barracks outside the north gate, to the bungalow where the military doctor treated soldiers. Before he went in, he saw a lot of people outside, all young soldiers, pushing and shoving each other, standing on tiptoe and craning their necks to look inside, as if they were looking at something, and those who couldn't see behind them jumped hard. Everyone seemed very excited, and didn't even notice him standing behind them.
"Liujia, what's wrong with you? I saw you jumping around during the morning exercises. Please get out of the way and don't delay my medical treatment!"
A soldier pushed aside his companion who was blocking him, muttering to himself.
"Who said I'm not sick? I've been feeling unwell for the past two days, and I was just forcing myself to go to practice this morning. I see you're not sick, you're just pretending to be sick, you just want to come see the lady, right?"
The companion replied without even turning his head.
The man blushed and argued, "Who said I was faking illness? I was injured in the battle and I haven't fully recovered yet!"
"You're so rude. Why did you come here today instead of earlier or later?" His companions laughed again.
"What are you all arguing about! Line up! Madam doesn't want to treat injuries from falls, knives or gunshots, so all of you should go to the military doctor! Those who are pretending to be sick will be punished by military law and given 20 military sticks! The rest, come one by one! If it's not your turn today, come back tomorrow! Madam said that we will see all of them, no matter how serious or urgent they are!"
A sergeant saw that the soldiers had blocked the door and shouted. After he finished shouting, he suddenly saw Xie Changgeng standing not far away. He didn't know when he came. He was stunned and hurried over to greet him.
"What is this doing?"
Xie Changgeng glanced ahead and asked.
The sergeant looked at him coldly, somewhat displeased, and hurriedly explained.
"It's like this. The military doctor heard that the newly arrived lady had medical skills and had cured the natives a few days ago, so he went to ask the lady to treat several patients here. The lady came over, and after she finished the treatment, another person came. The lady stayed..."
While the two were talking, the soldiers who were crowded and pushing outside the door finally realized that the Jiedushi had also arrived. Seeing his two unhappy glances sweeping over them, those who had heard of the lady's beauty and wanted to come to see her on the pretext of illness suddenly felt guilty, hurriedly lowered their heads, and dispersed.
The door that was originally crowded with people soon became empty.
Xie Changgeng walked to the door of the bungalow, stood outside and looked inside.
The woman was wearing an ordinary blue cloth dress and was busy treating soldiers with the military doctor.
She kept her head down, and he stood there for a long while without even looking up at her.
"The governor is here to pick up Madam, right? Please wait a moment. I will go and call Madam out! Madam, you have worked really hard today. It is getting late, and it is time for you to go home."
The sergeant glanced at his face and wanted to go in and call for help.
"That's all."
Xie Changgeng stopped him.
"I'm just passing by. When you're done, tell her to go home by herself. Don't tell her I was here."
Xie Changgeng gave some instructions and turned to leave.
Mu Fulan had been busy for the whole afternoon. Fortunately, except for the first few patients, most of the patients who came to see the doctor later had minor illnesses and did not seem to be troublesome. But just now I saw a queue outside, and after seeing the few inside, I looked up and suddenly there was no one.
After being busy for a long time, it was getting dark, and she got up without thinking much.
The military doctor was extremely grateful to her and respectfully escorted her out. She returned to the governor's residence, and the servants came to greet her. She casually asked about Xie Changgeng, and was told that he had come back before and then went out, and had not come back yet. She did not care, and went into the room. Thinking that she had been exposed to a lot of dust during the day, she asked someone to prepare water, and took a bath and changed clothes as usual.
She finished her bath and came out of the tub. The maid handed her clothes and said, "Mother Mu feels sorry for you, Princess. She said you've been too tired these days and the food the cooks here don't suit your taste. She'll cook it for you herself, and you should be able to eat it soon..."
Mu Fulan raised her hand to take the clothes, but the shirt was slippery and she didn't hold it properly, so it fell to the ground and got wet by the water stains.
The maid cried out "Ah" and quickly apologized.
Mu Fulan asked her to bring in another piece of clothing for her.
The maid went out. Mu Fulan wiped the water droplets that were still on her body. After she finished wiping, she waited inside for a while. No one came back. She called out but got no response. Confused, she hastily wrapped herself with the towel she had just used to wipe herself and walked out. Just as she was about to call out for more, she stopped.
The maid disappeared, and there was no one else in the room. Xie Changgeng was standing opposite him.
In his hand, he held a piece of his own clothing.
Mu Fulan was startled, and subconsciously tightened her scarf to cover her chest. She turned around to go back inside, and heard the man behind her say, "Your clothes."
She stopped, with her back to the man, and felt him walking towards her, slowly approaching her, and finally behind her.
He shook out his clothes and put them over her shoulders.
He must have just come in from outside, his fingers were cold. When he put clothes on her, the back of his fingers touched the warm skin on her neck.
The room was very hot, but she couldn't help but shiver. The skin on her neck that was touched by his fingers quickly gave rise to a series of fine goose bumps, and her whole body was filled with chills.
"Cold?"
The man's hands did not leave her. He slightly closed his palms and gently grasped her fair and smooth shoulders through her clothes. Then he lowered his head and gently rubbed her hair with his smooth and handsome chin.
His lips touched her ear, where the hair on her head stood up, and he asked her in a low voice with a very gentle tone.
Mu Fulan did not answer.
The man stopped talking, but his hands, which were a little cold, never left her. He rubbed her shoulders for a few times, then slid down her soft back, slowly sliding down through her clothes, and fell to her waist. He paused for a moment, gently pushed aside the shirt he had just put on her, put it under her armpits, covered her plump and fair body, and silently grasped her.
Mu Fulan closed her eyes.
The room was quiet, and the only sound I could hear was the breathing of the person behind me.
The man's hands silently stroked her for a moment, and suddenly without saying anything, he picked her up from the ground, walked to the bed, put her down, and then pulled down the curtains.
The light from the candle in the room was blocked by the curtains, and the bed suddenly became dark.
His throat tightened, and his usually calm eyes were tinged with dark excitement. He hugged Mu Fulan, who was surprisingly docile, to himself.
This is how things between men and women happened.
She was so tight that it gave him an illusion, followed by a kind of vague expectation.
Perhaps this woman was just deceiving herself before. After all, he didn't really touch her that day.
He held back his strength, not daring to use too much force. It seemed that if he used even a little force, she would feel extreme pain. With some caution and trial, he finally possessed her with great difficulty. A layer of hot sweat had already seeped out of his forehead, and he almost couldn't control himself.
But at that moment, he stopped, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly walked away from her, lowered his head, and glanced at himself.
It was covered with a layer of water light. Only water light.
As expected, there was no fallen petals.
Xie Changgeng slowly raised his eyes and looked at her.
Mu Fulan lay under him.
At first she had kept her eyes closed, but now, as if she sensed his change in mood, she opened her eyes and met his gaze.
His eyes were extremely gloomy, revealing a trace of disappointment and anger that could not be concealed.
But she looked calm and didn't avoid him at all. She just looked into his eyes and endured his condescending gaze.
Xie Changgeng's handsome face twisted slightly, and he stopped looking at her. His hands suddenly tightly grasped her two slender white legs, and he pulled her towards him almost roughly, without any mercy, and completely possessed her.
He finished quickly. He lay on top of her, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. After a long time, his breathing calmed down. He opened his eyes and rolled off her without even looking at her. He lifted the curtain, got down to the ground, put on his clothes again, and walked out without saying a word.
Mu Fulan opened her eyes and watched the man's back disappear through the curtains. After a while, she supported herself on the bed with her arms and slowly sat up.
She raised her hand to support her aching waist, frowned, and when she recovered a little, she put on her clothes, tidied her messy long hair, looked down to see that nothing was wrong, lifted the curtain and went out to call for help.
Mother Mu came in, looked at Mu Fulan, hesitated for a moment, and whispered: "Princess, did you quarrel with him again just now? I came here just now to ask you to have dinner. He..."
Mother Mu paused and didn't say anything else.
Just now she had cooked the meal and came over, and saw Jiedushi Xie coming out of the room. She invited him to have dinner, but he had a gloomy face and left without even responding.
Mu Fulan seemed not to hear and only asked: "What dishes did you cook?"
Mother Mu said hurriedly, "I fried duck slices with young ginger sprouts. I removed the duck pieces and shells, added shallots and boiled them until they were soft, and cooked a soup with white winter melon. I also made shredded chicken, fish balls, and mutton vermicelli. The fish and vegetables here are not as exquisite as those in the south, but fortunately the ducks are very fat, and the mutton is also good, with a good balance of fat and lean. It doesn't smell fishy when boiled in plain water. It is very tasty after stewing it with vermicelli."
Mu Fulan smiled and said, "They are all my favorites. I'm hungry too. It's a little hot in the room and I've sweated a little. I'll go take a shower and eat when I come out."
After seeing that the couple had come here and their relationship seemed to have finally eased a little over the past half month, Mother Mu finally felt relieved. Just now, she saw Xie Changgeng leave like that again.
Since the man had just come out of the room, it was natural that he was unhappy with the princess again.
Mother Mu was worried about the princess at first, but seeing her happy and relaxed, she still had some doubts in her heart, but she didn't think too much about it. She became happy and said with a smile: "Okay, princess, you go wash first. I'll put the food in the lunch box and send it to the room. You can eat it warm and rest early. You have been very hard these past few days."
She called the maid in to help Mu Fulan take a bath, and went to get the food herself.
Mu Fulan took another bath to wash off the sweat and dirt left on her body, then came out, ate and drank her fill in the warm room, and after she had digested her food, she went to bed.
She was thinking about Xier and soon fell asleep. She slept well that night and did not wake up until the next morning.
Xie Changgeng did not reply last night and will not reply today.
The manager told Mu Fulan that he had gone to Xiu Tu overnight for something and did not mention when he would be back.