The twenty-three unclaimed female corpses were finally buried at Chengfengtai outside Liangzhou City, as Xiao Jue said. Standing on Chengfengtai and looking down, the valley is surrounded by clouds and mist, like a fairyland.
The coffins are all high-quality coffins, and they use the silver in the storeroom of the Sun House. The Sun family has accumulated countless wealth over the years, and they actually repaired a warehouse in the mansion for storing gold and silver treasures.
Because these twenty-three people do not know their names and origins, even the last monument has no words to inscribe. There are twenty-three wordless monuments, and twenty-three young girls are buried here. If they knew after they died, they could sit here and watch the clouds roll over the clouds. If they died, just as Xiao Jue said, they would ride the wind freely and be proud of the lakes and mountains.
He Yan and Song Taotao stood not far away, Chiwu stood aside, looking at the people who were squatting on the ground and burning paper money. When he was buried, Xiao Jue didn't come. Many of these people who burned paper money were relatives who came to look for the missing female relatives, but they were not able to find them in the end. After all, many of the girls killed by Sun Ling did not even leave their whole bodies behind, and were eaten by wolves in the wild fields of the mass graves.
An old woman with gray hair was burning paper money in an iron basin. She was so old that she could barely walk. Her grandson carried her up this mountain road. Her little granddaughter was kidnapped by Sun Ling four years ago and has never been seen again. Now, there is no trace of her little granddaughter among the corpses in Sun Ling's courtyard.
The old woman trembled and said: "I will burn paper money for these girls. In the future, when someone with good intentions sees the big girl, they will burn paper money for the big girl... Girl, you are good to go..."
Song Taotao wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with a veil, and said, "Being a woman is too hard. If there is an afterlife, I won't be a woman."
"It has nothing to do with being a woman or not," He Yan looked at the paper money flying all over the sky, "As a woman, it's not for suffering, and it's the same with men. If you're dissatisfied with your fate, you can take a different path. It's just... " She looked at these wordless monuments, "For them, there is no choice at all, this is too cruel."
Song Taotao looked at her: "You are very different from ordinary men."
"what?"
"If it were an ordinary man, he would probably say, "What's wrong with your women? You just need to wear gorgeous clothes and sit in the house, someone will add clothes when it's cold, and someone will serve you when you go in and out. You don't have to fight outside. She imitated the gruff voice of the man, but said with disdain: "Is it good to be a pet? Put the bird in a cage, and have the bird praise the cage for its good looks. I think they are the ones who have a problem with their brains." ."
He Yan laughed: "You are also very different from ordinary women."
"I'm not the same, by the way," Song Taotao looked at her, "I still don't know your name, you're not Cheng Lisu, you're Xiao Er Gongzi's subordinate, right?"
"My name is He Yan," He Yan said, "He of Chaihe, Yan of Heqing Haiyan."
"It turned out to be Brother He." Song Taotao said, "You can call me Tao Tao."
"This..." He Yan scratched his head, a little too intimate. Although they are all women, others don't know it, and in the eyes of others, they are afraid that they will have reverie again.
"It's settled." Song Taotao said: "I have already agreed with Second Young Master Xiao to go to Liangzhou Wei with you for the time being. When Second Young Master Xiao's people arrive, they will send someone to take me back to Shuojing. So pick me up. I may have to stay with you all the time when I come down." Song Taotao smiled and said, "I haven't been to the guards yet." She was happy again, chattering endlessly.
"Miss Song," Chiwu looked into the distance, "it's getting late, my subordinates will take you down the mountain first."
"Let's go." He Yan also said.
A few people walked down the mountain with their backs facing them. On the steps of Chengfengtai, clumps of white chrysanthemums grew in the grass. The breeze blew, and the chrysanthemums nodded slightly, as if a graceful girl was thanking them.
After a while, it was no longer visible.
…
After going down the mountain and returning to the inn where they lived, Song Taotao plunged into the house to take a bath. I have been busy today, and I just burned paper money and left a lot of paper ashes on my body. I should wash it off.
Sun Mansion was sealed, so naturally he couldn't go back to live. Then he stayed at the inn where he came. The inn owner knew Xiao Jue's true identity. Now that Sun Xiangfu and his son have been reduced to prisoners, how dare they neglect. The shopkeeper of an inn, as if he was the servant of some family, was circling around He Yan and the others.
He Yan said, "I'll just come by myself." She took a handkerchief and went directly into the house.
Fei Nu was packing things in the room. He was startled when he saw her. He Yan asked, "Brother Fei Nu, what are you doing?"
Fei Nu said with a wooden face: "I live with Chiwu."
When they were in the Sun Mansion before, the three of them lived together, Xiao Jue was in the back room, and Fei Nu and He Yan were outside, so they didn't feel anything wrong. He Yan said casually, "How troublesome it is to move around."
Fei Nu stood still and looked at her incredulously: "You are a woman, how can you be in the same room with me?"
He Yan: "...you don't have to put on a humiliated expression."
Fei Nu didn't say a word, and packed up her baggage very quickly, as if she was some kind of beast, she couldn't avoid it, and left immediately.
He Yan was the only one left in the room.
She froze for a moment, then shook her head and smiled. In the eyes of Xiao Jue's master and servant, her behavior is very unexpected, but she has been in the military camp for a long time in her previous life, but she lives with a man, so why is it difficult? She doesn't feel shy as a girl, and she doesn't know what Fei Nu is embarrassed about.
He Yan walked to the front of the collapse and found that there were clear water and clean white cloth on the table, and there was hot water for bathing in the room, which should have been put by Fei Nu. She still has injuries on her body. Like his master, she sometimes feels inhumane, and sometimes she is quite considerate.
There was no one in the room, so she sat unbuttoning her clothes and took a rough bath. She didn't have time to take a closer look at the scars from yesterday.
Of course it hurts a lot, but it can be tolerated. He Yan turned sideways and looked at the girl in the mirror. She had a knife wound on her originally fair skin, which definitely didn't look good.
Miss He cherishes her beauty, and can't wait to pamper her with nectarine and flower dew. Now that she has just arrived, she has been made unrecognizable. If the real Miss He comes back and sees such a picture, she will definitely faint with anger.
She has been very careful to protect herself, but once she decides to go out on her own and lose the protection of her family, she will inevitably be injured. People grow up from injuries again and again, and scars will eventually become armor.
The female general's body can never be as flawless as an ordinary girl, with old wounds falling on it, like a drawing paper being scratched by a strange knife, it is not beautiful, it is even terrifying.
Which girl doesn't love beauty, even though He Yan had been a man for more than ten years in her previous life, she would feel ashamed when she changed back to her daughter's clothes and looked at the scar on her back when she faced Xu Zhiheng. She never wears thin gauze. Once, Xu Zhiheng gave her a pomegranate gauze skirt in water color, embroidered with pomegranate flowers on the shoulders and neck, as thin as cicada wings. She liked it very much, but she never wore it, only Because she was stabbed in the shoulder by the enemy's arrow on the battlefield, and when she pulled the arrow out, she left scars that could never be removed.
She also remembered the look in Xu Zhiheng's eyes when he looked at the scars. Although he didn't say anything, he deliberately avoided his eyes. But it is more hurtful than outright disgust.
He Yan stared blankly at the bronze mirror. Why is a scar a medal on a man and a shame on a woman? How unfair this is, but it is only natural for the world to think that women serve people with color, so they must keep their color at all times.
Nonsense.
He Yan lowered her head, rubbed the ointment thinly on the wound, and wrapped it with a cloth. She did these things with ease. When she was in pain, she didn't even frown, and she would be fine soon. After doing all this, she rested in the room for a while, then got up and pushed the door to go out to Xiao Jue's room.
The light was on in the room, and Xiao Jue should be inside. He Yan knocked on the door: "Commander?"
"Come in."
Pushing the door and entering, Second Young Master Xiao was putting away the Wanxiang qin on the table. He Yan almost forgot about it. He came to Liangzhou this time to repair the qin. Speaking of repairing the qin, He Yan recalled that he was drunk and crushed his qin.
"Commander," He Yan said bravely, "Have you eaten?"
Xiao Jue stopped what he was doing: "Speak straight."
"Are we going back to the guardhouse tomorrow?" He Yan asked, "What are you going to do with me?"
Now that Xiao Jue already knows that she is a daughter, what if Xiao Jue really wants to send her back to Shuojing? Finally, there is a little bit of He Rufei's eyebrows now, don't go back even if she kills her.
"What do you want me to do with you?" Second Young Master Xiao sat down at the table and looked at her with all his time.
He Yan also quickly moved a stool and sat beside him, and analyzed with him seriously, "You have seen my abilities now, this time brought me to Liangzhou, I reminded you that there were assassins to help you disperse Yuan Baozhen. I was also the one who paid attention. I killed Ding Yi in the end, and I calculated it carefully. I will contribute to you, even more than Brother Feinu. "
The Fei slave next door sneezed.
"People like me, as a subordinate, one of the best, a confidant, and understanding of others." He Yan boasted without any burden, "With me in Liangzhou Wei, I will be even more powerful. Governor, I thought you could put me in the Nine Banners. Camp, keep it and you will not regret it.”
Xiao Jue smiled and asked slowly, "Nine Flags Camp?"
"I know that the Governor is a straightforward person, and I must doubt the purpose of my entering the Nine Banners Camp. I will say it straight, because it is too slow to make a career. You can be an official. Our He family pointed to me to honor our ancestors, and I thought the Nine Banners Camp would be a good place to go."
Her remarks were candid, Xiao Jue took a sip of the tea on the table, and said slowly, "No need in the future, I think you are disabled now."
He Yan: "... What?" Could it be that Xiao Jue saw that she was Grandma Xu and was blind in a previous life
She was nervous when she saw the man pointing to her own brain.
He Yan: "..." He has a problem with his own mind! Who are you to scold.
It's just that people had to bow their heads under the eaves, and He Yan piled up a smile: "Don't the Governor think so?"
Xiao Jue stared at her and sneered: "Liar, our Nine Banners Camp does not accept incompetent people."
"Incompetent?" Xiao Jue can question her character, but not her ability. He Yan clapped the table: "Who are you talking about?"
"Ding Yi's kind of thing, you actually got hurt when you fought against him," Xiao Jue twitched the corner of his mouth, and his beautiful eyes were full of ridicule: "Isn't it an incompetent person?"
"That's...that's..." That's because Miss He is frail, and having learned from her previous life, of course she has to act cautiously!
"If Big Brother Fei Nu was replaced here, he would be injured too!"
"You can put your deceitful thoughts into practice, and you will probably improve a lot."
The more familiar this person is with her now, the more he shows the bad side of his youth. He Yan took a deep breath and suddenly smiled.
"Okay, I don't care if the Governor insists on saying that, and it doesn't matter if he has a prejudice against me. It's just that I suddenly miss the red mole on the Governor's waist."
Xiao Jue's calm expression suddenly cracked.
"As for this rumor, it has been passed down and it has become true. I was originally the daughter of the school captain of the city gate. My family is not prosperous, and I am not well-known. It is mine to be able to share the name of the governor. Blessing." He Yan stood up and said slowly: "In the future, when others talk about me, I have also been brilliant, and I am a woman whom the governor loves deeply. Thinking about it, I don't think it's a loss. It's just embarrassing that the governor wants to do this with me. People are tied together, but the governor doesn't care what others say, so it shouldn't matter."
Xiao Jue stared at her with eyes like knives, and said solemnly, "What kind of woman I love deeply."
He Yan replied with a smile: "I'm so good, everyone in Liangzhou Wei knows me and always admires me as a rare good boy in the world, but when I suddenly find out that I'm a woman, I definitely won't believe it. I also wonder why the woman entered the barracks, then I can only say that it was naturally because the governor loved me so much that he was reluctant to be separated from me, so he hid me in the barracks and even brought me with him to stay in Liangzhou. When others heard it, they would only envy my good luck. I sigh that the Governor's affection is as deep as the sea."
Hearing this, Xiao Jue laughed instead of anger: "No shame!"
He Yan put his hands on the table and quickly said: "I'm not an unreasonable person, nor did the governor let me enter the Nine Banners Camp through the back door, but I just hope the governor will give me a chance to prove myself. When this has not happened, please also put aside the prejudice against me, when I am an ordinary soldier, by the way," she seemed to remember something, "I am injured now, and I need to change my medicine at night, and then I will meet the men again. Living together is so inconvenient, I have to trouble the Governor to find a room for me alone, the kind that I can take a bath in."
Xiao Jue said coldly, "Don't even think about it."
"Then I'll have to be the woman the governor deeply loves." He Yan turned around nonchalantly, "Even if you put me in a carriage and send me back to Shuojing, I'll be able to tell everyone about it right away. Well, I This inn is very nice to look at, as long as I scream..."
Xiao Jue supported his forehead: "He Yan!"
He Yan smiled and hid the knife: "Who called me a liar?"
Xiao Jue: "I promise you."
He Yan's face became faster than that of the shopkeeper's three-year-old child, and he said regretfully, "I'm a little disappointed if I can't be the woman that the governor loves so much."
Xiao Jue's face was ashen: "Get out!"
He Yan whistled happily and went out.
…
Early the next morning, when Fei Nu and Chi Wu woke up and went out, they found that He Yan was earlier than the two of them.
She was about to go back to Liangzhou Wei, so she packed up and picked some clothes that Cheng Lisu didn't wear often, and she was refreshed. She was born with clear eyes and beautiful eyes. If Fei Nu knew that she was a woman, she couldn't help but praise a handsome young man in her heart.
Chiwu didn't know He Yan's identity. He hugged his chest and looked at him from a distance. He asked Fei Nu in a low voice, "You said that this person is unmatched in Liangzhouwei? Look at this body, it doesn't look like it."
Fei Nu sighed, this is not the only thing that doesn't seem to be in his heart.
As he was talking, Song Taotao came up from the downstairs, holding a handful of red dates in his hand, when he saw He Yan, he stretched out his hand naturally and said with a smile, "Brother He, these are the dates sent by the shopkeeper, they are very sweet, do you want them? Don't try it?"
Liangzhou is rich in red dates, all of which are big and sweet. The bright red looks are very pleasing. He Yan took it and said, "Thank you."
They are a pair of teenagers and girls, standing here is pleasing to the eye, making people reverie. Chiwu poked Fei Nu's arm, and said narrowly, "I look at something wrong. Did Second Miss Song have a crush on He Yan? What about Young Master Cheng?"
Fei Nu looked at him incomprehensibly: "...What are you thinking about!"
"How can this be called a blind worry? Young Master Cheng is the young master's uncle, so of course we have to help Young Master Cheng. How about I teach that kid a lesson in private and keep him away from Second Miss Song? Let's Young Master Cheng's temperament Chunshan, where is He Yan's opponent, you see, the way he smiled at Second Miss Song, tsk tsk tsk, I can't stand it anymore."
"You can say a few words less, the young master hates tell-tale people the most," Fei Nu said: "You and I can just do our part."
Chiwu wanted to say something, the door over there opened, and Xiao Jue came out.
"Commander." He Yan greeted him warmly.
Xiao Jue didn't seem to see her, passed by her, gave Fei Nu a stingy look, and said, "Is the carriage ready?"
"We're all waiting downstairs." Fei Nu replied.
"Let's go." He went downstairs.
Chi Wu and Fei Nu looked at each other, and Chi Wu asked in a low voice, "Did the surnamed He make our young master angry?"
"Let's do something." Fei Nu didn't answer and went downstairs.
"Second son Xiao is still as cold as ever." Song Taotao stood by He Yan's side, which moved He Yan quite a bit. The little girl said sympathetically to her: "You must be very sad to work under him. When I return to Shuojing, I will tell my father if I can find an official or a half-job for you in the capital. It's not difficult."
"Huh?" He Yan didn't expect Song Taotao to have this plan, so he waved his hand and said, "There's no need, thank you Miss Song for your kindness, but I'm doing fine in Liangzhou Wei, and Governor Xiao is not unkind. Man, he's very nice, and it's my honor to do things with him."
Song Taotao only thought that she was speaking for Xiao Jue, and disapproved, "Why is he worth your follow? People in Shuojing say he is ruthless..."
Although Xiao Jue has a bad temper, He Yan is not good at scolding him without conscience, and only smiles: "He is not good, but didn't he find a way to make the father and son of the Sun family who bullied you in trouble? He It's really not good, why bother with the unclaimed female corpses dug up in Sun Xiangfu's mansion, bury them, and invite monks to save them."
"But..." Song Taotao was still arguing.
The teenager smiled and touched her head, then said warmly, "Miss Song, you are still young, you don't know that many things cannot be seen on the surface, and many people have to get along with him to know their behavior. It is not necessarily the one who treats you kindly and considerately. Good people, you think ruthless villains may also have an unknown side."
Song Taotao was stunned, and before she could understand, He Yan had already walked downstairs. There seemed to be Yu Wen in the boy's palm on her head. She blushed and quickly chased after her, muttering in a low voice, "You are not much older than me at any age."
In the end there was no more quarrel.
He Yan lowered her head and smiled, and the words Xiao Jue said to those poor girls yesterday echoed in her ears.
"Outside the city of Liangzhou, there is a peak called Chengfeng. These women couldn't help themselves before they were alive, caged birds and fish. Buried here, may they be free to ride the wind in the next life, proud of the lakes and mountains."
He can understand the despair of those women, so he can say such words.
Therefore, she also generously forgave Xiao Jue's rudeness to her, and did not take his bad behaviors to heart.
After all, there are not many gentle people in this world.
She went downstairs and saw Xiao Jue standing in front of the carriage, she walked over and asked, "Captain, will you ride with me?"
Song Taotao was a little girl after all. When they came, they all rode horses. When they came back, Song Taotao could not be allowed to ride with them, so Feinu arranged for two carriages.
Xiao Jue looked at her sideways.
He Yan explained: "I can't ride in a carriage with Miss Song. We are alone and widowed by others. Will Miss Song's reputation still be worth it?"
Xiao Jue: "So?"
"So I should have a carriage with the Governor." He Yan said with a smile, and was about to get into the carriage, and was dragged down by Xiao Jue after carrying her clothes.
If He Yan grabbed his sleeve, he almost couldn't stand still.
"Don't you treat yourself as a woman, or don't you treat me as a man?" He raised his eyebrows: "Liar, I'm afraid you are too involved in the play, so I remind you. The mission is over, you don't have to treat yourself as Cheng Lisu." After saying that, he brushed off the sleeve that He Yan had just grabbed in disgust.
Chiwu passed by and just heard Xiao Jue's last sentence, and immediately came over to grab He Yan's clothes and pulled her aside: "That's it! You still think you are Young Master Cheng? Why are you so lacking in vision, come here, Ride with us!"
He Yan was just joking, and didn't really want to ride with Xiao Jue. He quickly turned over and mounted his horse.
Fei Nu instructed the driver: "There is a girl in the car, don't go too fast."
He Yan was stunned for a moment, but he didn't realize he laughed. It's not that she is self-indulgent, but she was injured because of the fight with Ding Yi, so the horseback riding shouldn't be too violent.
How do you know if this was intentional? She was also a girl.
Chi Wudao: "What are you waiting for, let's go!"
- off topic -
Yan Yan: As expected of me.