A strong wind swept across the vast field of the horse ranch, wreaking havoc on the window outside the house that was not closed properly, causing a series of strange knocking noises.
Mu Fulan was awakened from her sleep, her heart beating faster.
I have been staying here for several days. It is indeed a good place for children to play. Xier likes it very much.
In the darkness, she subconsciously felt around her, and her fingertips touched the small body.
Xier was leaning against herself and sleeping peacefully.
Mu Fulan let out a breath and slowly relaxed.
She climbed down from the bed, groped her way to the outer room in the dark, stopped at the window, and looked outside.
The night was dark, lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rolled up to the top of the distant mountains. It was going to rain.
She closed the window and returned to her bed in the inner room.
She was afraid that the thunder would wake Xier up, so she held him in her arms.
There were thunder and lightning outside the house, and the night wind and rain were cold. She hugged the little man tightly in her arms, closed her eyes under the warm quilt.
She woke up and slept, and didn't know how much time had passed. In the middle of the night, she seemed to hear a few soft knocking sounds again.
In the dim light, she initially thought that some doors or windows were not closed tightly and were blown by the wind and rain.
But soon, I realized that I was wrong.
When she woke up, Xier was still sleeping soundly beside her, and outside, the wind had stopped and the rain had ceased at some point.
Listening carefully, the knocking sound disappeared, and everything was silent except for the crisp sound of water dripping from the eaves of the porch.
Or maybe it was just an auditory hallucination in a dream.
Mu Fulan opened her eyes and looked out the window.
It was still dark outside, and she estimated that it was four o'clock in the morning.
When she closed her eyes again, the voice came again.
This time, I heard it clearly.
Someone is knocking at the door.
In view of the lessons learned from the previous fire, and the abnormal weather this autumn, with frequent thunder and lightning at night, the night patrols at the horse ranch are now more strict than before. And after she came, the surroundings of the courtyard where she lived were strictly guarded at night.
At this hour, everyone is fast asleep. Who could be knocking on the door
Mu Fulan slowly sat up, put on her clothes, went downstairs, lit the lamp, held the candlestick, walked to the outer room, and asked softly through the door, "Who?"
"it's me."
Outside the door, a man's low voice, which seemed to be mixed with a hint of fatigue, was heard.
Mu Fulan immediately recognized who it was.
She dressed immediately, unbolted the bolt and opened the door.
A gust of cold, damp wind blew in, causing the candle in her hand to swing.
In the dim, swaying light, she saw a figure in a straw raincoat standing outside the door.
The man lowered his head, and his figure passed through the door frame and walked in.
The remaining water dripped slowly along the edges of his hat and raincoat, which were soaked with water, as if he had braved the wind and rain in the first half of the night and walked through the night to get here.
Mu Fulan was surprised and puzzled. But seeing him come in without saying a word, stop by the door, and start to take off his rain hat and raincoat, she did not ask him where he came from or why he came in the rain at night, but just stood aside and watched silently. Seeing him take off his hat and raincoat and hand them to her, she put the candle on the table beside her, took it, and placed the rain gear in the corner of the room by the door to drain the water.
"I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"
she heard him ask.
She turned her head.
The rain gear did not completely shield him from the nighttime wind and rain. His temples and eyebrows were damp, and his clothes were mostly wet, clinging to his body.
He just stood behind her, looking at her, with a tired look on his face and a bit embarrassed.
Mu Fulan hesitated for a moment and said, "The cook doesn't sleep here, but there should be some extra food in the kitchen from last night. If you don't mind, I'll heat it up and give it to you."
He rubbed his forehead and whispered, "Okay."
Mu Fulan glanced at him, suppressed her doubts, and told him to wait.
She left the house, called the maid who was sleeping next door, went to the kitchen, found the leftover food from last night, lit a fire, heated it up, and brought it back.
There was still some time before dawn, so she told her maid to go back to bed, picked up the food box, and opened the door.
On the table, the candle was still lit, quietly illuminating the room.
But the man disappeared.
Mu Fulan gently placed the food on the table, took the candlestick, and went inside.
She took a few steps and stopped.
Wet clothes and an untied belt hung in disarray on the back of a chair. On the floor in front of the bed were two men's boots, one lying upside down.
The man lay on the pillow, taking the place where she had slept before, and fell asleep with his face facing Xier who was still sleeping in the bed.
The room was silent, his back was motionless, and he made low and even breathing sounds.
Mu Fulan held the candlestick in her hand, looking at the two figures, one big and one small, lying opposite each other on the bed, motionless.
After a moment, she gathered her clothes and slowly backed out.
She opened the window and hung the wet clothes out to dry.
She blew out the candle, and sat alone in the chair in the darkness, hugging her knees, looking out the window at the hazy night, waiting for dawn.
…
Xie Changgeng opened his eyes and found that it was already daybreak.
A ray of morning sunlight shone through the window, illuminating the house red.
There was a child standing beside his bed.
The child opened his dark eyes wide, as if observing him.
Xie Changgeng's gaze paused for a moment.
The child seemed to have been waiting for a long time. When he finally opened his eyes, a somewhat restrained look of joy immediately appeared on his face, and he whispered, "Thank you, sir. Are you awake?"
The sunlight shone on the area in front of the bed, which was slightly dazzling.
Xie Changgeng closed his eyes and quickly remembered everything.
Last night, in order to avoid his mother, he almost fled, and traveled more than a hundred miles in the night in the rain. When he arrived here, he was cold, hungry, and tired. When she went to make him food, he just wanted to lie down and take a nap. He didn't want to take off his clothes, but as soon as he touched the pillow, he smelled a faint warm fragrance left on the pillow, and he completely relaxed and fell asleep.
He was used to waking up early, but he slept until this moment and just woke up.
He slowly turned over, looked at the child beside him for a moment, raised his hand and rubbed his little head.
"Where's your mother?" He sat up and looked around.
"Mother is outside! Sir, please wait, I will go call her."
Xier turned around and ran out shouting, "Mother! Lord Xie has woken up!"
A moment later, a slender figure appeared at the door.
The woman came in with his clothes in her hand, put them down, and said, "The meal is in the outer room. You can eat after you wash up."
After saying that, she walked out.
Xie Changgeng silently put on his dry clothes and walked out. He saw that the water had been fetched and the meal was on the table.
After washing up, he quickly finished his meal and walked out.
The journey through the stormy night last night was like a dream. The horse farm in front of me was bright and sunny, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The manager of the stable and his men had been waiting there for a long time to report to him on the repair and reorganization after the previous fire.
Since we are here, we should make the best of it. Xie Changgeng personally inspected the horse farm, and after he finished, half a day had passed.
But he didn't want to go back yet. He called the child over and asked him how he had been spending the past few days here.
Xier said: "My mother taught me to read and write in the morning. After that, I played with my little dragon horse."
Xie Changgeng smiled and said, "The little dragon horse is ready for you to ride. Do you want to ride a horse? I'll teach you."
He saw the child's eyes light up with surprise, and he was about to respond, but suddenly he looked behind him, ran over, and shouted, "Mother! Thank you for saying that he can teach me how to ride a horse!"
Xie Changgeng turned around and saw the woman walking over quickly. She held the child's hand and shook her head at him: "Xi'er! Master Xie has a lot of things to do, don't disturb him..."
Xie Changgeng walked over and interrupted her.
"I came here just to check out the horse farm. I have nothing to do today, so it's okay."
After he finished speaking, he told the steward to get a set of bridle and saddle for the pony.
The pony was also led over by the attendants. Xie Changgeng personally put on the bridle and saddle, walked over, took Xi'er out of Mu Fulan's hands, picked her up, and helped her sit on the saddle.
"Don't worry, I will protect him. I will send him back before dark."
Xie Changgeng turned his head, glanced at her and said.
…
Xier was taken away by Xie Changgeng for the whole afternoon and was not seen until dusk when it was almost dark, when she came back from outside.
Xier was sweating all over, taking a shower and eating, and seemed to be still immersed in the joy of just learning to ride a horse. It was not until she was carried to bed and calmed down that the fatigue of the day came over her.
He yawned with sleepy eyes and said vaguely, "Mother... Mr. Xie said that he would take me riding next time when he is free... When will he be free next time..."
The voice gradually became lower.
She lowered her head and saw Xier had closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
She stood up, tiptoed to the outside, and said to the man standing in front of the window, "Sit down."
After returning in the evening, he said that the wound on his back was sore and asked her to take a look.
Xie Changgeng turned his head, glanced at her, closed the window, walked over slowly, undressed himself, sat down at the table with his back to her.
Mu Fulan lit a candle and looked around.
The two wounds had basically healed, but they were now pale, the skin and flesh were soft, and slightly swollen, obviously due to being soaked in the rain last night.
"Didn't I tell you not to get wet in the rain? Why did you come here in the rain last night?"
She wiped him with the medicine and said lightly.
"Please rub it for me again."
He spoke vaguely and answered the question irrelevantly.
Mu Fulan pretended not to hear and turned around.
"This place is a little small, I always sleep here with Xi'er. If you want to sleep here at night, I'll ask someone to make another bed..."
A pair of hands reached out from behind, grabbed her waist and dragged her over.
Mu Fulan fell onto the man's thighs.
She stood up, but he didn't let her go. During the struggle, she accidentally bumped into the table without knowing who it was.
The legs of the table moved slightly, and the candle on the table lost its balance and fell down with a bang.
Lights went out.
The room suddenly fell into darkness.
Mu Fulan's heartbeat quickened, and her whole body, hair and skin, became tense and her hair stood on end.
He seemed to sense the changes in her limbs and stopped.
"Be careful not to wake up Xi'er."
After a moment, he said, feeling a slight warmth in his ears.
Mu Fulan stopped.
The man's arms slowly wrapped around her waist, tightened, and held her whole body into his chest.
He lowered his head, opened his mouth, and gently held her earlobe, rubbing it against her ear.
"Mu, you don't have to be afraid of me. Just follow me and I will treat you well."
In the dim light, Mu Fulan heard him whispering this in her ear.
He said, then stood up, picked her up, and laid her on her back on the table behind her.
The hem of her skirt was pushed up and bunched around her waist.
The cold, hard tabletop pressed tightly against her unprotected body.
Mu Fulan closed her eyes and pressed her face with her hands, her eye sockets feeling sore and swollen.
Once upon a time, she felt so at ease following him and being his wife.
The man seemed to feel the obedience and submission from the little woman beneath him. He was driven by a strange pleasure, and his blood was boiling.
His five fingers tightly grasped her warm legs and let her wrap around his strong waist. Just as he couldn't wait to get close to her, he heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the door.
"My Lord, someone has come from the city, saying that something has happened to the old lady!"
Xie Changgeng stopped and a long breath came from his chest.
He slowly loosened his grip on her legs, left her, let down her skirt, straightened his own clothes, then opened the door and walked out quickly.
The Jiedushi Mansion sent a servant and said that the old lady had packed her things overnight and was clamoring to go back. The steward did not dare to let her go, so the old lady went on a hunger strike and had not eaten a single grain of rice since morning. The steward asked him to go back as soon as possible.
Mu Fulan was inside and could faintly hear voices talking outside.
After a while, Xie Changgeng came in, turned on the light, looked annoyed, and said to her, "I have something to do, so I'll be back first." After that, he turned around and left. When he reached the door, he stopped again, turned around, glanced at her, walked back quickly, picked her up from the table, took her to the inner room, and put her on the bed next to Xier.
"Go to sleep. I'll come see you when I'm free."
He leaned over, covered her with the quilt, touched her cheek soothingly, then turned and hurried away.