The night wind was blowing hard all around, and a group of people, along with a child, were riding horses on the moonlit road.
Xie Changgeng's men never thought that he would go to Liancheng alone, and when he came back, he would have a child in his hands.
When the child appeared in front of them, he was only wearing an undershirt, barefoot, and wrapped in a blanket. Obviously, he was carried from the bed.
They didn't know who he was or why the Jiedushi wanted to bring him along, but considering the Jiedushi's abnormal behavior in the past few days, it was not difficult to guess that the child should be related to the princess.
Since it was a matter between him and his wife, who would dare to ask more questions? All they could do was follow him on his way until now.
As the night grew deeper, Xie Changgeng lowered his head and glanced at the little man wrapped in a quilt on the saddle in front of him.
After being brought out by him, he kept twisting and struggling at first, like an angry little tiger with endless energy. But now, he should be exhausted and have no strength left.
Through a thin quilt, Xie Changgeng felt a small body inside the quilt, which leaned softly against him as the mount under him ran and shook.
This feeling was very strange to him.
It was as if a ball of cotton was leaning against him. Not only that, it gave him a feeling similar to the one he had in the woman's arms before.
When Xie Changgeng thought of that woman from the Mu family, and then thought of the boy's face that looked exactly like hers, he immediately felt unwell.
He leaned back subconsciously. The little body under the quilt suddenly lost its support and swayed on the bumpy horse's back. It was about to fall off, and Xie Changgeng reached out and grabbed him again.
He stopped his horse, looked around, and said to his followers, "Let's find a place to spend the night."
After a while, the group settled down in a desolate land temple nearby.
Wherever there are people, in every township or even village, there is a temple dedicated to the land god or the mountain god. They vary in size, some are worshipped, and some are deserted. That's the only difference.
When traveling for a long time and there are no inns, a wild temple is a more convenient place to spend the night than staying at someone else's house.
After entering, several followers paid routine respects to the half-collapsed clay sculpture, then checked the surrounding terrain, fed the horses, and looked for fuel to make a fire, each doing their own job with ease.
Xie Changgeng didn't want to look at the child any longer, so he dragged him off the horse with his blanket and threw him to Liang Tuan, the most friendly-looking attendant. He asked Liang Tuan to find a place and make a bed for him to sleep on. He then went to the door, sat on the threshold, facing the dark wilderness, took out the water bag, pulled out the cork, and drank a few sips of water.
"Sir, he won't eat!"
Liang Tuan ran out, looking helpless.
"I have already heated up the bread and asked him to eat it, but no matter how I coaxed him, he just wouldn't eat it and wouldn't talk to me."
When they stopped to eat during the day, the child refused to eat, but Xie Changgeng ignored him.
Since we took him out, a whole day has passed, almost six hours. Except for a short rest in the middle, the rest of the time was spent on the bumpy ride on horseback.
"He can't not eat. He's still so young. What if..."
Liang Tuan stopped.
Xie Changgeng frowned, swallowed the water in his mouth, stood up and walked in.
In the innermost corner of the land temple, a candle was lit, straw was spread on the ground, and next to it was a piece of cake, a few slices of dried meat, and a bowl of water.
Xier was sitting in the corner, hugging her knees with her arms, her head drooping, her body curled up into a small ball. Suddenly she heard footsteps. She looked up and saw Xie Changgeng striding towards her. She immediately sat up straight and straightened her body.
"Young Master, please eat something. You haven't eaten for a whole day..."
Liang Tuan saw Xie Changgeng's gloomy face and spoke up.
Although the child brought back by the Jiedushi refused to cooperate with him in eating and seemed to have a lot of hatred towards the Jiedushi who captured him, what surprised Liang Tuan was that his attitude towards him was quite good.
I asked him to eat just now, and although he refused to eat, he didn't make a fuss. After being put on the straw pile, he huddled in the corner, motionless. He looked really pitiful. He was also handsome and cute. I thought that at such a young age, he must have been very frightened to be forcibly taken away from his bed like this. No wonder he couldn't eat.
Liang Tuan, the old bachelor, actually felt a little sympathy for the child. He was afraid that the governor would get angry and scare him again. He felt a little regretful that he should not have gone to find him just now.
Although the Jiedushi was wise and brave and invincible in battle, his methods of coaxing children were not necessarily much better than his own.
"We are all good people, don't be afraid, just eat quickly, it's delicious."
He forced a smile at the child huddled in the corner and coaxed him again.
Xier still didn't move.
Xie Changgeng's gaze stopped on the boy's face. He saw that his face was pale and his lips were chapped. He was obviously hungry and thirsty, and had no energy. But when he saw him come in, he was still stubborn.
"If he doesn't want to eat, just don't give him anything to eat. He will starve to death, and when his mother comes, she won't be able to see him anymore." He said calmly.
Liang Tuan was stunned.
After Xie Changgeng finished speaking, he leaned over and pretended to take away the food.
It happened so quickly. With the rustling sound of straw, the little figure crawled out from the corner.
A small hand snatched the biscuit and the dried meat before Xie Changgeng's big hand could reach it.
Xier held the food tightly in her arms, opened her eyes wide, and stared at Xie Changgeng nervously.
Xie Changgeng looked at him, slowly withdrew his hand, stood up straight, turned around and walked out.
Liang Tuan finally came to his senses, almost laughed out loud, and quickly turned his back.
He finally began to admire the Jiedushi thoroughly.
Not only did I admire him for getting the kid to eat with just one sentence, but I also admired him for being able to keep a straight face from beginning to end.
He really felt inferior to others in terms of such ability.
Xie Changgeng took a piece of dry food and returned to the door of the land temple.
His men took care of their business, filled their stomachs, arranged for the night watch, and then lay down to sleep.
Xie Changgeng knew that the boy hated him, so after eating, he did not go to sleep, but casually lay down on a tattered altar facing the temple gate.
Soon, I could hear the snoring of the others sleeping soundly.
Xie Changgeng lay down for a long time and could not fall asleep, so he got up, went to the door, asked his men on duty to go in and sleep, and he would keep watch for him.
The man shook his head repeatedly: "You have worked hard during the day, please go and have a rest."
Xie Changgeng smiled and said, "You've worked hard too. I can't sleep, so you go to sleep."
Seeing that he was serious, the attendant thanked him again and again and went to sleep.
Xie Changgeng dragged the altar closer and placed it across the temple entrance where one door had collapsed. He lay down on it again, placed his sword beside him, and closed his eyes to rest.
As the night grew deeper, a slight rustling sound suddenly came from the corner.
A small figure gently climbed up from the straw pile inside, looked around, then tiptoed past several adults who were snoring loudly nearby, came out along the corner, crouched, and stopped when he was almost at the door and in front of the altar.
He saw that the door was blocked by a horizontal table.
In the darkness of the night, the figure lying on top did not move.
Xier didn't dare to breathe. She stayed there for a moment, and only heaved a sigh of relief when she thought that the man should have fallen asleep.
Xier knew that this person kidnapped her because he wanted to harm her mother.
He stared at the man, held his breath, slowly lowered his body, and lay on the ground. Using his hands and feet, he finally crawled under the altar.
He climbed out of the doorway, stood up immediately, spread his legs and was about to flee in the direction he came from, when suddenly a hand reached out from behind, grabbed the back of his clothes, and lifted him up into the air.
Xie Changgeng brought the child who was trying to escape to his front. He thought he would cry and scold him, but he kept his mouth shut, mute and silent, just looking at him angrily, struggling desperately in his hands, and kicking him with his feet.
During the struggle, something fell out of his arms.
Xie Changgeng looked down and saw that it was the remaining half of a cake and dried meat.
He couldn't help it, the corner of his mouth twitched, he lifted the man onto the table, forced him down with his scabbard, and then pressed the long sword on him, saying: "If you can't sleep, then keep watch with me."
After he finished speaking, he lay back down.
The child beside him was pressed down by the scabbard. At first he was still kicking his legs desperately, like a little fish struggling on a chopping board. Slowly, he realized that he could not escape, and finally he calmed down.
After a long time, Xie Changgeng opened his eyes and turned his head.
A hazy moonlight shone in through the broken door of the land temple.
The child lying next to him had probably finally exhausted the last bit of strength in his body, and fell asleep due to exhaustion.
His little body was curled up into a ball with his eyes closed. There were some undried tear marks at the corners of his eyes. One of his little feet, which was covered in mud, had fallen out from the side of the altar and was hanging in the air outside.
Xie Changgeng slowly put away the heavy sword. He stared at the face of the child beside him for a long time, then slowly sat up from the altar.
In the darkness of the night, his figure stood still.
There was a sudden noise from inside.
Liang Tuan woke up and found that the child who slept next to him was gone. He was shocked and ran out in a hurry. He saw that the child was sleeping next to the governor. He guessed that the child was caught trying to escape. He was relieved and apologized: "It's my fault for being careless. I slept too deeply and almost let the child run away. Sir, you can rest assured and I will take care of the night."
Xie Changgeng rolled over from the altar and said calmly, "Hold him and go back to sleep."
The next morning, at dawn, Xier was covered with a quilt again before she woke up from her sleep, put on the horse's back, and continued on the journey.
He was completely lost and had no idea where this person was taking him.
He only knew that he was getting further and further away from his mother and could never go back to her side.