Lights went out.
Because of his back injury, Xie Changgeng lay down and slept on his side with his back facing her.
The night gradually deepened.
Mu Fulan felt the person beside her slowly turn over.
A man's hand rested on her body. The heat from his palm, through her clothes, was clearly visible on her skin.
After a moment, the hand penetrated the clothes, stroked the warm and smooth skin, and slowly moved down.
Mu Fulan opened her eyes, and in the thick night where neither of them could see each other's faces, she said, "Why don't you take a good rest and get your body back in shape? What if you bleed again?"
"It's not too late to wait."
Her tone seemed as if she was telling him what to eat and what to wear tomorrow.
The man's hand stopped, and suddenly he opened his five fingers, grabbed her slender waist, and dragged her to his side.
Suddenly, I felt a weight on my body. My delicate ribs were pressed down slightly.
The man's heavy body was already covering her.
A hot breath came to her ears, and Mu Fulan felt a face approaching and lips brushing her cheek.
"You don't have to pretend to be kind! You would be happy if I just died like this!" He pressed his face against her ear, gritting his teeth and speaking hatefully.
Mu Fulan tilted her head slightly, trying to avoid his mouth as calmly as possible.
"It's up to you," she said.
He paused, and didn't continue, just lying on top of her like that.
“… My back is sore and painful… There are bugs gnawing at my bones… I can’t sleep… It’s been like this every night lately.”
"You're really cruel."
After a long while, she suddenly heard his hoarse whispers in her ears, as if he was explaining his actions at the moment, or complaining.
She was stunned.
In the darkness, she felt a hand groping towards her, grabbing her hand, and pulling her arm around his waist and back.
"Give me a massage."
Mu Fulan hesitated for a moment, and finally moved her hand to the wound where he had been stabbed by herself, placed her palm on it, and rubbed it slowly.
His face was buried in the side of her neck, motionless.
Mu Fulan was pressed down by him and couldn't breathe well. She rubbed him for a while, then touched the shoulder of the man who seemed to be asleep, pushed him, and said, "You should lie on the bed..."
Before she finished her words, he suddenly raised his head and pressed his mouth against hers, his breath hot and his hard body pressing tightly against hers.
Mu Fulan struggled for a few times, then gave up. When he loosened his mouth and was able to speak, he closed his eyes and said, "There is something I want to tell you."
His hands were eagerly undressing her, and he hummed casually.
"I remember what you said in the study today, but there is one thing I want to ask you. Does my duty as a wife include giving birth to a son for your Xie family?"
His hand stopped.
Mu Fulan waited for a while, but didn't hear his answer, so she said, "If you allow me, I will take the medicine. I think you think so, but I still want to ask you first, in case you find out later and blame me for acting on my own and deceiving you."
Her tone was gentle and calm.
The man's shoulders and back were outlined in the night into a dark shadow that rose and fell like a peak.
He finally spoke, saying calmly: "You have some self-awareness. If you want to take medicine and destroy your body, go ahead and take it. Why can't I allow you to do so?"
He paused, then slowly lowered his head and placed his lips next to her ear again.
"Mu, you are really a little bitch."
His tongue gently flicked her delicate earlobe and he whispered softly.
"At such a young age, she had an affair with a wild man and had a child. But in front of me, she always acted pretentiously and pretended to be noble."
He suddenly opened his mouth and bit it with his teeth.
The fleshy bead on her earlobe seemed to be falling off after he bit it. Mu Fulan felt pain and pushed him hard, struggling.
He opened his mouth and instead grabbed her arms that were pushing her away, flipping her struggling body over and holding her down.
"Xie Changgeng, you bastard..."
Her body was twisted into a ball at a weird angle by him, unable to move. She could no longer hold back her anger, so she moaned and cursed him.
He seemed to be laughing in a strange voice, and said, "You just found out? You will learn a lesson from me, you idiot..."
In the darkness, accompanied by the man's heavy breathing, a crisp sound of clothes tearing came from the bed curtains.
Just then, someone knocked on the door, and the maid's sudden voice came from outside the door: "Sir, the old lady is here!"
The two people who were fighting in the bed curtain stopped at the same time.
Xie Changgeng seemed to be stunned, and his grip loosened immediately. He slowly let go of Mu Fulan, slowed down, rolled off her, pulled aside the curtain, lit the light, put on some clothes at random, went out and opened the door.
"What did you just say?"
The maid held a candle in her hand, and seeing that his face was grim, she bowed hurriedly and said, "Just now the steward sent me to tell him that the gatekeeper sent someone to say that a group of people arrived outside the city overnight, saying that it was your mother, sir."
Xie Changgeng paused, turned around and glanced at the clock in the room.
The end of the hour of Hai.
"Tell me I'll be right there."
With a solemn expression, he turned back to the inner room, hurriedly put on his clothes and shoes, grabbed his belt, tied it, and strode out. When he reached the door, he suddenly seemed to remember something, stopped, turned his head to look at the inner room, came back, and lifted the low-hanging bed curtain.
Mu Fulan's long hair was disheveled, her clothes were torn, her body was almost naked, and she was lying on the ground, motionless.
His gaze paused on her snow-white back, a hint of annoyance flashed across his eyes, and he pulled up the quilt and covered her with it.
"They said my mother is here. I'll go check on her first. You can rest for a while. If she is here, wait for me to take her home. Then you can come out and meet her with me."
He said in a low voice, then turned and hurried away.
He rushed to the city gate, where the night watchman was waiting. He saw him coming from afar and ran to greet him, saying that a group of people had just come from outside the city at night. Among them was an old woman who claimed to be the mother of the governor, who had come all the way from her hometown in Kuizhou. The watchman did not recognize the people, and it was late at night, so he did not dare to let them in rashly, but he did not dare to neglect them either. He invited the people in and let them rest in the watchhouse next to the city gate, and sent someone to the governor's mansion to deliver the news.
Xie Changgeng glanced at the guard house beside the city gate and walked quickly towards it. Before he entered, he heard a complaining voice from inside: "Did you pass on the message? My son is the governor of Hexi, and I also have an imperial decree. I came here to visit my son! If you dare to stop me again, I will not let you off easily when I see my son!"
Xie Changgeng was very familiar with this voice; it was his mother, Shen.
"Madam, calm down. A brother has already rushed to the governor's residence to pass on the news."
"Madam, don't be anxious. The masters know you are coming and will come to pick you up. Your legs and feet are swollen after sitting in the car all day. Please sit down and I will massage your feet." A young woman's voice.
Xie Changgeng had never thought that his mother would come all the way from Xie County to come here. Hearing her anxious tone, he hurriedly stepped inside.
"Mom! I'm late. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
A smile appeared on his face and he walked quickly towards an old woman sitting in the house.
Xie's mother had worked hard along the way and had been traveling for most of the day. She had just arrived and was tired and exhausted. She was naturally unhappy about being stopped here. She was complaining when she suddenly saw her son walk in. Her eyes lit up and she stood up suddenly.
"Geng'er, you're finally here! These people actually stopped me from going to find you!"
The gatekeeper and the officer who followed him in looked terrified and quickly knelt down and kowtowed.
Xie Changgeng asked everyone to get up and leave, and stepped forward to hold his mother's arm: "Mom, you misunderstood, it's not that they are making things difficult for you. They don't recognize you, and you came here late at night. This is the rule, and they are just doing things according to the rules. Mom, you were fine at home, why did you suddenly come to me without even a letter?"
When Xie's mother saw her son coming to greet her, her anger subsided a lot, but she still complained, "You still say that! Don't you think about it? You left last year and didn't even spend the year at home. Another year has passed in a flash. As a mother, I miss my son. Can't I come here to see you?"
Xie Changgeng recalled the last time when he was going to go back, but changed his mind halfway and left by a different route, tiring his mother to come here. He felt a little guilty and said hurriedly, "I am an unfilial son. Not only have I failed to show my filial piety to you, but I have also made you travel thousands of miles to get tired. You must be tired, so I will take you back to my place first."
Mother Xie finally became happy, nodded, pointed at the woman beside her and said: "Mother's journey here was smooth, thanks to Feng'er's careful care. Mother is fine, but she is exhausted, you should thank her."
Qi Lingfeng looked tired. When Xie Changgeng came in just now, she was squatting on the ground, massaging Xie's mother's legs and feet. Now she was standing aside and heard Xie's mother pushing her. She whispered, "I'm not tired. As long as the old lady is fine, I'm fine. The old lady must be exhausted after traveling all day to see you, brother-in-law, earlier. It's important for you to take the old lady back to rest first."
Xie Changgeng had already seen her and nodded.
Qiuju had already smoothed her hair and followed Qi Lingfeng in a gentle voice to greet her.
Ah Mao also came. He was ordered around by Qiu Ju all the way, doing this and that. He had been up all night for several nights and finally felt really sleepy. Seeing that no one had come yet, he secretly took a nap in the corner. Now he struggled to wake up, rubbed his eyes, bent over randomly towards Xie Changgeng, picked up the bag in front of him, muttered that this place was very cold, and followed him out in a daze.
When Xie's mother came this time, in addition to these people, she was also accompanied by attendants and servants, and they were all left at the city gate just now.
Xie Changgeng helped his mother onto the carriage, asked everyone to follow, and took her back to the governor's mansion.
…
The maid next door was awakened by the noise of Xie Changgeng going out. Knowing that he was gone, she came over to serve him.
Mu Fulan went over and saw Xier sleeping soundly, so she told the maid to take good care of him and not to wake him up.
Soon, a maid came and bowed and said, "The governor has brought the old lady here, and please let your lady come over right away."
The Jiedushi Mansion was very large, with many vacant courtyards. The steward had just called the servants in the mansion, and they quickly cleaned up a place for Xie's mother to stay.
Xie Changgeng led his mother in, asked everyone to leave, helped her sit down, and said, "Mom, you came so suddenly, I don't have anything prepared. Please excuse me and let me rest in this room tonight. See if there is anything you need. Tell Mu tomorrow and she will prepare everything for you."
Xie's mother was very happy at first, saying that everything was fine and that her son didn't need to worry about these trivial matters. Suddenly, she heard the word "Mu" and was stunned for a moment: "Geng'er, which Mu? The Mu you married?"
Xie Changgeng nodded: "Yes, she didn't know you were coming just now. She's coming right over."
Mother Xie was extremely surprised and frowned, "Last time you came home, didn't you say she would not come back and would stay in Changsha? Why is she here?"
Xie Changgeng knew that his mother did not like this woman, so he said, "She has just arrived. Her son brought her here for other things. You don't have to worry about this, mother."
Mother Xie took the trouble to come all the way from Xie County with her people. First, she wanted to see her son, and second, she had other thoughts. She was disappointed to learn that Mu's daughter was also here. But she also heard her son say that he had taken her here, so she didn't know what to say. While she was stunned, she heard Ah Mao's surprised cheer from outside the door.
"Madam! So you are here too! Oh, that's great! Ah Mao missed you so much!"
The snotty girl was sent to fetch hot water with the maid. She was yawning as she walked, when she suddenly saw Mu Fulan and a maid walking into the yard. Her sleepiness disappeared, and she cried out in surprise and joyfully ran to greet them, bowing to her and greeting her repeatedly.
Qi Lingfeng and Qiuju settled in a room next to Xie's mother's room. Qi Lingfeng was in the room, and Qiuju was standing at the door, shaking the clothes in her hand that were stained with dust from the road during the day. Suddenly, she saw Mu Fulan appear from a distance. She was stunned, and saw her stop, smiling, talking to Ah Mao, and then she turned around and went in quickly.
Mu Fulan glanced at the back of the maid who had flashed into the room as soon as she saw her, and told Ah Mao to put on more clothes in time to avoid catching a cold due to the climate here.
Ah Mao nodded: "I understand. The master just sent the old lady in, and everyone is in the house."
Mu Fulan walked to the door of the main house and knocked.
Xie Changgeng opened the door and looked at her.
Her clothes were neat and tidy, and her long hair was combed into a simple bun, hanging behind her head. She looked respectful and submissive.
She walked up to Xie's mother who was sitting there, bowed to her, and said, "I didn't know you were coming, so I was not able to greet you in time. Please don't blame me."
When Xie's mother saw her, she felt annoyed. She turned sideways and said, "It's the middle of the night and I disturbed your sleep. It's my fault."
Mu Fulan said, "Mother-in-law, you are too kind. Mother-in-law, you have been tired on the road. I just asked someone to prepare a midnight snack for you. Please have some, and go to bed early."
The maid carried the food box and walked to Mother Xie's side. She brought out the midnight snack, placed it on the table, opened the lid, took out the chopsticks, and placed it neatly. Then she bowed to Mother Xie and said with a smile, "Old Madam, please enjoy."
Mother Xie had a cold face and did not move.
Mu Fulan looked at Xie Changgeng with her beautiful eyes.
Xie Changgeng coughed, stepped forward and said, "Mom, eat it while it's hot."
Mother Xie said coldly: "I don't have this blessing. If you want to eat, eat it yourself!"
Xie Changgeng paused, then waved his hand at the maid: "Take it."
The maid responded, cleaned up, picked up the food box, and left.
Mu Fulan lowered her eyes and stood there in silence.
Xie Changgeng glanced at her, suppressed the annoyance that welled up in his heart, turned to his mother and said, "Mom, it's late, you should rest. She and I will go back to the room first. If there is anything, please send someone to tell her."
He turned his back and winked at Mu Fulan.
Mu Fulan stepped back.
When Xie Changgeng reached the door, he suddenly heard his mother yelling behind him: "Geng'er, why is there blood on your back? What's going on? What's wrong with you?"
The wound on his back was bandaged in the evening and the bleeding had stopped, but he moved a little too roughly in bed just now, pulling the wound, causing blood to seep out slowly and stain his clothes. He did not notice it, but his mother saw it.
Xie Changgeng had no choice but to stop and signal the woman to go first.
Mu Fulan glanced at Xie's mother who stood up and walked towards him, nervously holding his arm, and left silently.