As autumn approaches, the days become shorter, but by the evening, the sky in the northwest will already be dark.
When Xie Changgeng came back from outside, he passed by Jiaocheng on his way back to Guzang. He saw the gate official running to greet him. He hesitated for a moment, slowed down his horse, stopped at the city gate, leaned over slightly, and asked him in a low voice: "Has the princess arrived?"
The gatekeeper replied, "Sir, the princess has not returned during your absence."
Xie Changgeng stopped talking, sat up straight, rode his horse into the city, and returned to the Jiedushi Mansion.
The housekeeper had something to do at home, so he took leave last month and hasn't come back yet. Xie Changgeng went in and saw the old woman who was in charge of taking care of the child hurried over. She bowed and said hesitantly, "Sir, the child has been sick these days and has a fever..."
Xie Changgeng was startled and stopped walking: "Did you ask the doctor to come and see?"
"I called the best doctor in the city. But even after taking the medicine, it didn't get better..."
Xie Changgeng paused and said, "Take me there!"
The old woman led the way and took Xie Changgeng to a small courtyard at the back.
The Jiedushi returned more than a month ago, and when he returned, he brought a child with him. The child's clothes were disheveled, and his face, hands and feet were covered with dirt. At that time, the steward was still in the mansion, and the Jiedushi did not say who the child was. He handed the child to him and ordered him to keep an eye on him to prevent him from escaping.
The steward cleaned up this small courtyard with a separate entrance and let the child live in it, and arranged for this old woman to take care of and watch over him.
There was a dim oil lamp lit in the room, and as soon as I entered, I smelled a stench of urine.
The old woman also smelled it, and hurriedly rushed forward and took out the chamber pot in the corner that had not been emptied for two days.
Xie Changgeng frowned and walked to the bed. He saw the child lying on the pillow with his eyes closed, his cheeks thin and his face flushed red.
He leaned over and raised his hand to press his forehead, which felt hot. He patted his face again. His eyelids moved slightly a few times, and then there was no response.
It looked like he was feverish and passed out.
Xie Changgeng seemed to see Mu's eyes staring at him fiercely, and his heart skipped a beat.
He straightened up, turned around, and asked the old woman, "What's going on?"
The old woman heard his stern tone and dared not breathe. She whispered, "I don't know... After the steward left, I took good care of him, and he became like this..."
While the old woman was speaking, Xie Changgeng's gaze fell on the quilt on the bed.
The weather has changed suddenly recently. It was fine during the day, but the temperature dropped sharply at night. When Xie Changgeng was outside, he wore only a single layer of clothing, and at night, he also felt cold.
The quilt on the bed was very thin, and was clearly a summer quilt from a while ago.
When the old woman saw him reaching out and pinching the quilt, she felt even more guilty.
When the child was brought back, he looked like a little beggar. The governor handed him over to the steward without saying anything, only ordering him to keep him and not let him escape. After that, he was busy, leaving early and returning late, without asking another question. The old woman didn't take it seriously, only remembering the three words "keep him".
It was fine when the steward was there, but when he took leave and the governor was rarely seen, the maid gradually became lazy these days. To save trouble, she locked the door with a lock and locked the child inside except for the three meals a day. As for the weather change, it was cold at night, so she didn't pay attention to it. It was the day before yesterday that she found that the child didn't eat much and hardly touched the food sent in. Then the maid realized that he was sick, and hurriedly called a doctor to see him, but he didn't get better. Today, he fainted. When she saw the governor coming back, she hurried to report it.
"In this kind of weather, you still cover him with such a blanket? How do you do things?"
Xie Changgeng shouted harshly.
The old woman was terrified, she knelt down with a thud, and tried to explain: "Please calm down, my lord. You have never taken care of a child, so you don't know... As the old saying goes, keep warm in spring and cool in autumn... This is how children should be raised..."
Xie Changgeng was furious. Without waiting for the old woman to finish her words, he kicked the person away, bent over and picked up the unconscious child on the bed, walked out of the dim room filled with the stench of feces and urine, hurried to his own room, put the child on the bed, and asked people to call all the doctors in the city to treat the child on the bed.
The doctors arrived one after another. Seeing the governor's gloomy face, they did not dare to neglect him. They took turns to examine the governor, using all their skills to discuss with him, and finally decided on a prescription.
The medicine was ready and served, but the child was still dazed. Xie Changgeng asked someone to help him sit up, and force-fed him the medicine, mouthful by mouthful. He also ordered the doctor to stay at the Jiedushi Mansion tonight and be available at any time.
Xie Changgeng asked someone to spread another set of bedding in the room and move the work in the study into the bedroom. After finishing his work late at night, he got up and wanted to sleep. He went to the bed and took a close look.
The child lay there, still soundly asleep, but the redness on his face seemed to have subsided a little, and his breathing sounded steadier than in the evening.
He reached out his hand and felt the body temperature, and it was not as hot as before.
Xie Changgeng breathed a sigh of relief and was about to withdraw his hand when he suddenly saw his eyelashes tremble slightly, his body moved, and his hand reached out and grabbed one of his fingers.
The hand was small, soft, fleshy, and had an abnormal body temperature.
Xie Changgeng paused for a moment and tried to slowly withdraw his fingers. However, the little hand was extremely strong and held tightly, as if it sensed his intention, and moved restlessly, crying and mumbling "mother", as if it was about to wake up.
Xie Changgeng immediately stopped moving, held his breath, and waited until he calmed down again, then he slowly withdrew his hand.
That night, Xie Changgeng suddenly felt confused when he heard the breathing sound of the child on the bed.
In July, he got angry and had evil thoughts, so he took the child away from Liancheng. After he set out on the road, he didn't want to face his mother's questions at home, so he didn't go to Xie County, but went directly back to Hexi.
When he first arrived, he was just waiting for the woman to catch up with him so that he could vent his anger. After so long, the woman still hadn't arrived. Tonight, he suddenly felt that he was extremely stupid. How could he have brought such a child to the side and made trouble for no reason
The next morning, Xie Changgeng woke up and subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the bed. He saw that the child had woken up and was lying on the edge of the bed, looking at him with a pair of sleepy eyes.
Their eyes met, and he seemed startled. He quickly shrank back into the quilt, lying motionless, pretending to be asleep.
Xie Changgeng pretended not to see it and stood up.
He had something to do during the day, so he asked the doctor to examine the child again and asked the wife of a subordinate to take care of the child. After a few days, the child gradually recovered. Xie Changgeng was going out for a few days, and knowing that the woman had something to do at home, he simply took the child with him.
Hexi is rich in fine horses. There is a vast horse farm under the North Mountain not far from Xiutu, which raises tens of thousands of horses and belongs to the garrison. After Xie Changgeng came here, he expanded the cavalry and always attached great importance to horse affairs, often personally inquiring about them. The first place he had to go on this trip was the horse farm.
He took Xi'er to the stable and handed him over to a groom. After inspecting the stable in the evening, he asked the child he brought with him and found out that he was in the stable, so he went to look for him.
He walked outside the stable and heard the cheerful laughter of children coming from inside.
Xie Changgeng looked up and saw the child standing beside a few-month-old foal with his back to him, feeding it with food in his hands. The foal was greedy and after it finished eating, it followed him, reluctant to leave. The child hugged its neck and laughed very happily.
Xier was playing with the pony when she suddenly heard the groom's voice asking him to pay his respects to the governor. She turned around and saw the man coming and standing behind her. She slowly loosened his hand and the smile on her face disappeared.
The groom said, "Sir, I saw that the young master was fine, so I brought him here. Please don't blame me, sir."
Xie Changgeng nodded, and as the child opposite him stared at him in silence, he walked up to him, leaned over and asked him, "Do you like it?"
Xier hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say anything.
Xie Changgeng slowly stood up and said, "It was born a month prematurely. Horses of the same age as him are already taller than him. If it can't become a qualified warhorse when it grows up, it would be a waste of food and grass to keep it!"
He drew his sword and walked towards the colt.
"don't want!"
Xier yelled, ran over quickly, opened her arms, protected the foal behind her, raised her face, and looked at Xie Changgeng nervously.
"Don't kill it, please! I can eat less and share my food with it!"
Xie Changgeng sheathed the sword, squatted down, looked into his eyes and said, "If you didn't speak, I wouldn't know what you were thinking, so I would kill it. Now that you speak, I know what you are thinking, and I can promise you. Not only that, I will also give it to you."
Xi'er's eyes slowly sparkled with joy. She turned around and hugged the foal. After hesitating for a moment, she looked at Xie Changgeng and whispered, "Thank you for not killing it."
"When it grows up, it will become a war horse!"
He added one more sentence.
This is the first time I have heard this child talking to me in such a long time.
He was not mute, but he refused to speak to me before. I knew without asking that it must be something that Mu had said to him.
At this moment, Xie Changgeng felt that the anger that had been pent up in his chest seemed to finally come out.
He hummed lightly and turned away.
That night he stayed at the horse farm, sharing a room with Xier.
He played with the pony until very late before coming back. Xie Changgeng could hear his laughter from inside the house. When he had played enough and finally came back, Xie Changgeng saw that his face and hands were covered with mud and grass. He asked someone to fetch some water and said, "Wash your face and feet! Then go to bed!"
Xier said "oh" and washed herself roughly, with a few mud marks on her hands. She climbed onto the bed and lay down.
Xie Changgeng didn't care. As the night deepened, he sat in front of the lamp, still flipping through official documents, while the child lay on the bed.
While reading official documents, he would occasionally catch a glimpse of the child waking up and sleeping out of the corner of his eye, as if he was secretly observing him, and when he saw him looking at him, he would quickly close his eyes.
After repeating this several times, Xie Changgeng slammed the file shut.
"Why are you still not asleep? What are you looking at me for?"
Xier closed her eyes tightly, her eyelashes fluttering. After a while, she realized she couldn't pretend anymore, so she opened her eyes and whispered, "I can't sleep."
"Why?"
"I miss my mother..." Xier bit her lip and said in a low voice.
"Can you let me go back?"
He climbed out of the bed and looked up at him.
Xie Changgeng wanted to say, she would not abandon you, she would come sooner or later, but when the words came to his lips, his eyes fell on the child's beautiful eyebrows and eyes, his heart hardened again, and he snorted.
"Outside the horse farm, there are only barren hills and wild lands, and there are wild wolves. If you dare to sneak away, you won't be able to see your mother when she comes!"
"sleep!"
He picked up the quilt, threw it on Xier's head, blew out the light, and lay down on the outside of the bed.
It crawled and twisted around for a while, as if there was a little bug, but after a while, it finally calmed down.
Xie Changgeng just closed his eyes and heard a voice coming from under the quilt: "I won't run away. I want to beg you again, when my mother comes to find me, can you be nicer to her and don't bully her?"
Xie Changgeng was stunned. The face that had never looked good to him appeared in front of him. He said nothing.
The little man under the quilt began to move again.
"You said that you would know my thoughts only when I speak. Don't bully my mother. I can help you do things."
"I can do a lot of things. Really!"
Xie Changgeng felt upset for a while. He raised his arm and pressed down through the quilt, pinning the man firmly to the bed, and said coldly: "Go to sleep!"
The child was held down by him and finally struggled a few times, but probably sensed his displeasure and stopped talking.
Playing with the foal had worn out his energy, and he quieted down and soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Xie Changgeng woke up.
Maybe it was because it was cold last night, the child clung to him and was still sleeping soundly.
He got up carefully, covered him with a quilt, and walked out. Before leaving, he called the manager of the stable and said that he was going to take a break from slaughtering and asked the manager to look after the stable for a few days.
"Please take good care of this person for me. If anything goes wrong, I will hold you accountable!"
The steward nodded and gave repeated assurances.
…
Guzang City is right in front of us.
After being delayed on the road for many days, they finally arrived. As soon as Mu Fulan entered the city, he went straight to the governor's mansion.
The doorman was surprised and delighted to see her and her group suddenly arrive, and immediately opened the door to welcome them.
Mu Fulan asked Xi'er as soon as she opened her mouth. Seeing that the doorman didn't respond, she said, "A boy! When the governor came back earlier, did he bring a boy with him?"
The concierge finally understood and nodded: "Yes, yes! It is true!"
"Where are the others? Are they in the mansion?" Mu Fulan said, and walked quickly inside.
"Unfortunately, I was taken to Xiu Tu City by the Jiedushi a few days ago."
Mu Fulan stopped, calmed herself down, turned around and ran out without saying a word.
When her carriage finally arrived at Xiu Tu after traveling along the road through the wilderness, it was already late at night and the city gates had already been closed.
The carriage stopped outside the city gate. She looked at the tall city wall in front of her, which was outlined in dark black, and ordered her followers to go over and knock on the door and shout.
A moment later, the city gate opened and the gatekeeper hurried over, bowed and said, "Why are you here so late at night, princess? Please come in."
"Where is the Jiedushi? Is he here?"
"Yes, yes! I just arrived a few days ago! I'll take you there right away!"
The gatekeeper led the carriage into the city.
Xiutu was a military town with no residents. Along the straight horse road leading into the city gate, there were rows of barracks. After walking along the horse road and turning right, not far away, there was a square building with a tall gate. This was the Xiutu government office, and Xie Changgeng was here.
The gatekeeper knocked on the door to inform, and the door opened. When Mu Fulan came down, she felt as if her entire skeleton was about to fall apart.
She held onto the carriage, steadied her feet, and walked inside.
A man who looked like a manager came out to receive her, took her into the room, and said that the governor was discussing matters with General Liu and others, and asked her to rest first.
After the steward left, Mu Fulan waited in the room until late at night, but Xie Changgeng still did not show up. Unable to hold back any longer, she opened the door and walked out. She asked a soldier on duty where Xie Changgeng and the others were meeting, and then followed the path to find them.
The light of candles still shone through the doors and windows.
She asked the sergeant on duty and learned that General Liu and others had already left. She immediately ran forward, climbed the stairs, pushed open the door, and saw a man sitting alone behind a desk, writing in his hand. The candlelight on the desk cast a dark outline of his figure, which was reflected on a screen behind him with a painting of a tiger roaring on a high hill, as dark as a painting.
It was Xie Changgeng.
He raised his eyes and glanced in the direction of the door, as if he didn't see her at all. He raised his hand, dipped it in ink, then lowered his head and continued writing his own things.
Seeing that he was still acting as if nothing had happened, Mu Fulan became even more furious. She walked in quickly and stood in front of him. She tried her best to resist the urge to draw her sword and pierce a transparent hole in his body, and asked, "Where is my Xi'er? Where is he?"