Lixiang got angry first and stood in front of Mingyu with red eyes. She has always been timid and cowardly, not good at talking, and would stutter when she got angry with people. She was afraid of the situation first and always avoided things. However, today, before Mingyu could say a word, she clenched her fists and stood in front of Mingyu.
"Miss, you...how can you talk like that?" Lixiang's face turned red and she couldn't help stuttering.
Xu Mingrui glared at Li Xiang and said coldly, "Sister is really different now. She has become close to Lord Lu. Even the maids are more honorable than me. Li Xiang, you are so loyal to your master. Are you hoping that Mingyu will ask you to be his concubine in the future? Don't think about it. You are not young anymore. I think Lord Lu will not look down on you."
"Miss, please stop slandering me! If Li Xiang has such dirty thoughts, I'll strike you with lightning!" Li Xiang's eyes turned red. "Our young lady is different from you. You don't need to worry about your livelihood, but our young lady does. We are both girls from the Xu family. How can you say this about your own sister?"
"You dare to teach me a lesson?" Xu Mingrui was furious and raised her hand to slap him without thinking.
However, the slap was halfway raised when Mingyu quickly reached out and slapped it back, leaving a crisp sound in the air.
It was midsummer, and Xu Mingrui was only wearing a thin shirt. When she raised her hand, the wide sleeves slipped down to her elbows. Mingyu slapped her bare arm, leaving a red mark. The slap from Mingyu sounded loud, but it didn't hurt much. Xu Mingrui rubbed her arm. Her eyes rolled, and she was about to cry out as she was brewing emotions.
"You hit me? You even hit your sister?" Xu Mingrui's tears welled up in her eyes.
Mingyu pulled Lixiang aside and told her to go to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Looking at Xu Mingrui, who was about to cry and felt extremely wronged, he sighed and said, "Do you think it's fun to be like this? You keep competing with me here. You are the eldest daughter of the Xu family, with a clean background. Your second uncle, second aunt and the old lady all pamper you and spoil you. So many people envy you, but you? You have to keep pestering me and you have to find something to do even if there is nothing to do. I feel tired for you."
Xu Mingrui was really angry this time. She forgot to pretend to cry and shouted angrily: "The old lady now favors you the most. She talks about you all the time! My father and mother also..." As she spoke, Xu Mingrui was overwhelmed with grief. She couldn't help crying. This time she was really sad. The elders who always loved her wanted her to please Mingyu. She felt that she had fallen out of favor in this family, her status had declined, and she was not as good as Mingyu.
Mingyu looked at Xu Mingrui, who was crying with her handkerchief covering her face. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. Finally, she turned around and walked away, muttering, "Why should I reason with an idiot with a brain defect? Isn't it a waste of time?" In her previous life, when she was very young, her family was a happy family of three. When her parents scolded her, they would often talk about how excellent other people's children were. She would think that her parents liked other people's children and didn't like her anymore. She felt wronged and scared.
My God, that's a childish idea that only a five or six year old would have. Xu Mingrui is such a grown-up girl, and she actually thinks that her grandparents, parents, don't love her anymore and love Xu Mingyu instead!
Mrs. Xu talked to Madam Xu for a long time before she came out of the room with a feeling of unsatisfied. Before leaving, she said to Madam Xu earnestly, "You have just arrived in the capital. There are many rules for marriage in the capital. You can't be careless. I didn't have the opportunity before. Now I have to teach you carefully to avoid mistakes in the future."
As soon as she came out, Old Lady Xu saw Xu Mingrui sitting in the yard, sobbing alone, and the maid stood by her at a loss, trying to persuade her.
"What's wrong with Mingrui?" Mrs. Xu asked first.
Xu Mingrui glanced at Madam Xu and was about to open her mouth to complain with exaggeration when she saw Old Madam Xu's warning eyes. Her expression paused and she felt even more aggrieved. She ran behind Old Madam Xu with a bitter and sad heart. The hatred in her heart increased, and she followed Old Madam Xu back in silence.
At the end of July, the autumn chill had already arrived in Xi'an Prefecture. When the letter from Anxi Houfu arrived, Sima Hong was training the new soldiers he had recruited this summer. Seeing that he was young and handsome, unlike the fierce generals who had trained them before, the new soldiers began to be lazy. They were crooked in the way they held the swords after being taught several times, and they ran lazily as if they had not eaten for several meals.
After repeating this several times, Sima Hong became very angry and simply threw away the steel knife he was using for demonstration, went straight to the other end of the parade ground, mounted Zhuifeng, took the bow and arrow from Baihao, called on a dozen veteran soldiers to take sticks and mount their horses, gave a grim smile to the group of lazy recruits, and a dozen people rushed forward on horseback.
The new recruits didn't quite understand what the young general was going to do until Sima Hong shot several sharp arrows past their ears, and the wind from the arrows even cut off their hair. Then they suddenly realized that Sima Hong had no intention of showing mercy. If they couldn't dodge his arrows, they would be shot into sieves by his arrows. Even if they dodged the young general's arrows, there were still a dozen old soldiers who were elusive. If they ran slowly, they would be caught up by the old soldiers and beaten with sticks.
For a moment, the training ground was filled with dust and the sounds of ghosts crying and wolves howling. The new recruits, who were originally so lazy that they could hardly lift their feet, ran faster than rabbits. Some of them ran too slowly and heard the sound of life-threatening arrows flying towards them. They screamed miserably and rushed forward for their lives.
"I'm telling you, you bastards!" Sima Hong's clear voice rang out in the dust. "The Tartars' arrows, knives, and horses are only faster than us. If you can't outrun us, you'll die on the battlefield!"
Looking at the new recruits who were running forward for their lives at a speed that was almost as fast as the horses, Sima Hong grinned triumphantly. What a bunch of bastards, how dare they play this trick on him
After a whole day of training these disobedient recruits, no one dared to underestimate this young and handsome general anymore. Sima Hong announced that the training had stopped and ordered the soldiers to disband, eat and rest, and continue tomorrow. As soon as he returned to the camp, Baihao sent two letters, one from Miao and the other from his spy in the capital.
Now that Xi'an Prefecture had been taken by the Northwest Army, the Chu and the Tartars were in a standoff, and the prospect of war or peace was still unclear. Sima Hong was eager for the court to start a war to recover the lost territory as soon as possible, but he could only wait patiently for the court's decision. After Xi'an Prefecture was recovered, the Northwest Army's military headquarters was stationed here, and communication with the capital was restored early.
Sima Hong first opened Miao's letter and glanced at it. There was nothing important in it. She just muttered that Lian Jie'er's marriage was over and it was time for him to get married and start a family. After reporting that he was safe, she carefully told him to take care of himself and so on. Then she put the letter aside and opened the second letter.
However, as soon as he unfolded the thin letter paper and glanced at it, Sima Hong jumped up from his chair in shock. His eyes were blank. Bai Hao asked worriedly, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
Sima Hong came back to his senses, panting and nervously reading the letter in his hand again. His face became increasingly ugly. After a while, he sat back in his chair dejectedly, buried his head in his arms, and let out a long breath.
Baihao took the letter from the table and read it. He immediately raised his eyebrows and looked at Sima Hong tentatively, "Master, what... should we do?"
Oh my, now that Lord Lu has proposed marriage, the Second Madam is going to get married!
Sima Hong didn't hear Bai Hao's question. He was immersed in his own thoughts, holding the apple sachet in his sleeve tightly. In addition to confusion, loss and tension, he felt more aggrieved. He thought that they had agreed to wait until he returned to the capital during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Why did she suddenly want to marry Lu Hao? Oh, yes, Lu Hao's official position was higher than his, and he was also a gentle scholar that women liked. But when Mingyu was leaving, she couldn't fake the look in his eyes.
While he was daydreaming, he didn't realize that it was getting late. The food that Baihao brought up had already gone cold, so he had to take it downstairs to heat it up. Sima Hong had read the letter sent by his spy over and over again no less than twenty times, and he was terrified every time he read it. Even when the most urgent military intelligence was presented to him, he was not so nervous.
When Baihao brought in the food again, he happened to see Sima Hong lifting the curtain and leaving. "Hey, sir, where are you going?"
Sima Hong shouted without even turning his head: "Return to Beijing!"
Baihao was anxious. He put the plate on the ground and ran out, shouting, "You haven't told Commander Lu yet, sir, don't be anxious. If you leave your post without permission, you will be beheaded!"
Sima Hong knew what he was doing. He first ordered his men to train the new recruits, and then went to Lu Sheng's residence in Xi'an late at night. After a secret conversation, he rode back to Beijing on horseback.
He knew that if Xu Changqian and Madam Xu were to choose between him and Lu Hao as their son-in-law, he would have no chance of winning. He had thought that he and Mingyu would be able to have a smooth relationship in the end, but things went beyond his expectations and developed in a direction that he could not control.
The night wind blew past his ears, and Sima Hong suddenly felt regretful and frightened. He was afraid that when he returned to the capital, it would be too late, and his girl would have married someone else and become someone else's wife.
Life is only a few decades long, and he and Mingyu have been together for less than a year. Except for the times when he made her angry, it seemed that they had never had a chance to have a good talk. However, he always thought that there would be plenty of time in the future, and never thought that Mingyu would have the time to marry someone else. She was his wife, how could she marry someone else!
"What I want is a lifetime..." Sima Hong murmured under the starry sky, lying on his horse, with only the clattering of horse hooves in his ears. In the silent night, it became the only sound left in the world.