Chu Huibao argued, "It was Second Aunt who didn't want to come to Xizhou with me, so she asked Second Uncle for a divorce letter and left. On the day Second Aunt left, Second Uncle even knelt down and begged her."
The pain point was brought up, and Chu Jiabao spoke more sharply: "If these things hadn't happened, why would my mother have passed away?"
Chu Huibao couldn't win the argument, so she said with tears in her eyes, "My mother didn't leave, it was Second Aunt who didn't want you, Third Sister, don't blame others!"
Her face was chubby, her mouth was pouty, her eyes were wet like black grapes, and there were tears hanging on her eyelashes. She looked so pitiful.
Chu Jiabao looked at this cousin who had never been very smart since childhood, and pinched her chubby face: "A child with a mother is a treasure. You and your sister are blessed but don't know how to appreciate it. Why did your aunt give birth to two idiots like you!"
Chu Huibao's face was pinched and hurt. She took a step back to avoid her hand. "It's one thing for our mother to be good to us, but when she does something wrong, we have to point it out."
She rubbed her face which was pinched and hurt, feeling wronged and angry: "I don't want to play with you anymore, Third Sister!"
Chu Huibao ran away along the corridor like a little ball of fluff.
Chu Jiabao bit her lip and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
When she turned around and prepared to go back to her own yard, Chu Zhong happened to come out of the old lady's room carrying Chu Yangui on his back. When Chu Jiabao met Chu Yangui's dark and cold eyes, she felt her heart shiver and turned her head to walk away quickly.
Chu Yangui suddenly called her: "Third sister, Yangui has something to tell you."
Although he called Chu Jiabao "sister", he was actually only less than half a year younger than Chu Jiabao. Thanks to the height difference between men and women, he was more than a head taller than Chu Jiabao. He just looked weak because he was too thin and had a pale complexion.
Chu Jiabao froze. She turned her back to Chu Yangui and said, "What are you talking about? Just say it."
Chu Yangui said: "It's about Second Aunt. There's a pavilion in front. Let's go to the pavilion and talk about it."
Chu Zhong carried Chu Yan back to the pavilion. Chu Jiabao followed reluctantly and urged, "Can you tell me now?"
Chu Yangui said to Chu Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, please go outside and wait for me."
Chu Zhong glanced at Chu Jiabao. He had also heard roughly what Chu Jiabao and Chu Huibao had argued about before. He thought Chu Yangui might want to talk to Chu Jiabao. After putting Chu Yangui on the wooden bench in the pavilion, he said, "I'll be waiting at the front corner door. If you have anything to say, just call me."
Chu Yangui nodded.
After Chu Zhong left, when he looked at Chu Jiabao, the warmth in his eyes faded away bit by bit: "You hate me, and you also hate my sister and mother."
Chu Jiabao subconsciously avoided Chu Yangui's sight and said in a timid tone, "You are a family of troublemakers. Don't you want to be so angry? The Chu family has so many manors and shops in the capital, and you can't take them all away! One third of them should have been my dowry! If it weren't for you, my mother wouldn't have left the Chu family!"
Chu Yangui smiled, but his eyes were icy cold: "One third of the Chu family's farm and shop are your dowry? This is what your second aunt taught you before, right? You really dare to think that your second uncle is idle all day long, and his food and drink are all paid by the public. Those family businesses are still under the name of grandfather, and they are already eyeing them."
"As for your mother, ask yourself why she left the Chu family. She was just afraid of suffering in Xizhou! In her heart, you and your father are not as important as herself, that's all."
After deceiving herself for so long, Chu Yangui exposed the truth without hesitation. Chu Jiabao wanted to maintain the last bit of dignity, but she couldn't hold back her tears.
She said viciously: "No, it's all your fault! Otherwise my mother wouldn't have abandoned me..."
In fact, the second branch of the Chu family was the least valued. Although the old lady and the old master were strict with the first son, the first son was the eldest son after all. When there were good things, the two elders would give them to the first branch first. The second son of the Chu family was mediocre in talent and learning. He could not pass the imperial examination and did not have the business acumen, so he lived in a muddle-headed way.
The two elders of the Chu family thought that their second son was cowardly by nature, so they wanted to marry him off to a stronger wife so that he could live a good life in the future.
But who would have thought that the second daughter-in-law was so powerful that she basically had the final say in the second house. Mr. Chu had no opinion of his own and listened to his wife in everything.
The second daughter-in-law had a strong personality and was bound to have conflicts with Liu, who was in charge of the household. However, Liu gave birth to a son as her first child, which secured her position in the Chu family. The second daughter-in-law only gave birth to Chu Jiabao, so she felt that she was inferior to Liu and often took out her anger on Chu Jiabao in private.
In the Chu family, Chu Jiabao is the most well-behaved child. She tries her best to do everything to the best of her ability just to make her mother like her more.
She often envied Chu Shubao and her sister, who could say whatever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. Even though Liu scolded them verbally, she never really got angry with them. Whenever they encountered any problems, Liu would always stand in front of her children.
She even envied Jiang Yanyi and his sister. Madam Jiang had done so much for them, risking her reputation and her life... Why was her mother like this
Chu Jiabao cried miserably, "I did everything she asked me to do, why does she still not want me..."
Chu Yangui had been watching coldly until this moment when he said, "Everyone has their own ambitions. Your mother has only lived for herself in this life. There is nothing to say. My sister and I don't owe you anything. If you continue to target my sister in the future, I will not be polite to you."
Chu Jiabao sobbed in silence.
Her crying attracted Chu Zhong. He hesitated outside the pavilion for a moment before speaking: "Master, what happened?"
Chu Jiabao was still squatting on the ground crying with her face covered.
Chu Yangui didn't even look at Chu Jiabao, "Nothing, let's go."
Chu Zhong looked at Chu Jiabao who was crying and hiccuping, and thought that Chu Yangui had difficulty walking and couldn't do anything to her. He thought that the two young masters might have had a quarrel. After hesitating for a moment, he carried Chu Yangui on his back and left.
There was no one else in the pavilion, so Chu Jiabao was able to cry loudly.
Her mother doesn't want her anymore, her father is an alcoholic, and she has no brothers or sisters. She just glared at Jiang Yanyi today, and Chu Yangui had to come and warn her and stand up for her sister.
Chu Jiabao was really sad, but at the same time she envied Jiang Yanyi. Even though Madam Jiang was gone, they could still support each other. Unlike her, no one would care for her wholeheartedly and plan for her in this life...
Someone held up a handkerchief and held it against her face. Chu Jiabao opened her eyes while sobbing, and saw Chu Huibao, who was as soft as a dough ball, standing in front of her, clumsily using a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
Seeing her open her eyes, Chu Huibao said with a guilty conscience: "Don't cry, I will still play with you in the future."
She was originally planning to go to the kitchen to find her elder sister and see how to cook the fish. But halfway there, she felt that what she had said was a bit too much, and she couldn't help but run back to find Chu Jiabao. Unexpectedly, she ran into Chu Jiabao hiding in the pavilion and crying.
When Chu Jiabao heard what Chu Huibao said, her tears flowed even more violently. She snatched the handkerchief from Chu Huibao's hand and wiped her tears herself: "Silly girl!"
Chu Huibao said unhappily: "I'm not stupid."
She rummaged through her sleeve pocket and took out a piece of pine nut candy and handed it to Chu Jiabao: "Here you go, this is the last piece I secretly hid. I couldn't bear to eat it myself."
Chu Jiabao sniffed and slowly stopped crying: "It's so sloppy, I don't want it."
Seeing Chu Huibao was about to take back the pine nut candy, she snatched it away and put it in her mouth: "I was mean to you, why did you come back?"
Chu Huibao said seriously: "My elder sister told me that there is no overnight hatred between sisters."
Chu Jiabao snorted: "You and I are not sisters."
Chu Huibao scratched his hair, unable to remember what the word was called. "Uncle San often said that all of us Chu family members grew up on the same branch of a tree."
"Idiot! Uncle San is talking about people of the same blood being related to each other." Chu Jiabao helped Chu Huibao tidy up the messy bun on her head.
The sweetness of the pine nut candy slowly melted in my mouth, seeming to suppress the sadness in my heart.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone in from outside the pavilion, and this winter evening didn't seem so cold anymore.
**
Jiang Yanyi brought a carp, while the Chu family bought a sea bass.
She planned to grill the carp, but the most famous way to eat sea bass is to steam it.
Chu Shubao volunteered to help, but she was obviously someone who had only cooked a few times and didn't even recognize all the kitchen utensils. She herself realized that she was completely unable to help, so she could only offer to help Jiang Yanyi light the fire. However, after filling the stove with firewood, the fire still wouldn't start and she was instead smoked.
She drove all the maids who were in charge of making fire in the kitchen out, so Jiang Yanyi had to go over and help her make fire herself.
"There is too much firewood in the stove, and the air is not circulating, so the fire cannot burn vigorously." Jiang Yanyi pushed some firewood out and blew into it with a bamboo tube, and the fire quickly ignited.
Chu Shubao scratched her head awkwardly: "Sister Yanyi, you really know a lot."
In order to keep the topic going, Jiang Yanyi said, "I only learned about this after arriving in Xizhou."
She returned to the chopping board to continue processing the fish.
Chu Shubao asked: "How is Yan Gui's leg injury recovering?"
"New flesh is already growing on the wound." Jiang Yanyi made a cut at the gills of the carp, picked up a white fishing line with one hand, and tapped the fish body with the back of the knife with the other hand, slowly pulling out the fishing line.
"That's good."
Chu Shubao had just finished speaking when she noticed the thin white thread that Jiang Yanyi had pulled out from the gills of the carp. She asked curiously, "What is this?"
After Jiang Yanyi pulled out the fishing line on one side, he turned the carp over, cut it with a knife, and started pulling the fishing line on the other side. "It's the fishing line of the carp. It has a strong fishy smell. If you don't remove it, it will be difficult to eat."
Chu Shubao walked over, picked up the fishing line that Jiang Yanyi had pulled out, and smelled it, as if she had discovered a new world. Her face was almost wrinkled like a bun: "It does have a strong fishy smell."
Jiang Yanyi was amused by her actions. After washing the fish, she cut it into two halves and laid them flat, made some cuts on the back of the fish, smeared salt, cooking wine, soy sauce and sesame oil on it, and put it in a pot to marinate. Then she started to process the sea bass.
Wash the killed perch and cut it from the spine to prevent the fish from deforming due to shrinkage of the bones after steaming. Jiang Yanyi marinated it with salt and cooking wine, then took a knife and started to cut ginger, green onion and mushroom into shreds.
Chu Shubao was watching from the side with her chin propped up, but she was obviously distracted. She hesitated for a while and said to Jiang Yanyi: "Sister Yanyi, my mother did a lot of things to let you down before. I apologize to you and Yangui on her behalf."
Fearing that Jiang Yanyi might misunderstand, she added, "I don't mean anything else. I just hope that there won't be any conflicts between us young people."
Some damage has already been done, and it is meaningless to ask for forgiveness, but the due apology still needs to be given.
Jiang Yanyi continued to chop vegetables without slowing down, and only asked, "What's the problem?"
Chu Shubao felt a little embarrassed by Jiang Yanyi's answer, but Jiang Yanyi didn't seem to hold a grudge against them, which made her a lot happier.
She is the eldest in the family now, and always hopes that her brothers and sisters can live in harmony.
Jiang Yanyi was reminded by Chu Shubao's words that he had not seen Liu since he entered the mansion, so he couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't I see my aunt?"
Chu Shubao said uncomfortably, "Mother caught a cold and is recuperating in her room."
Liu didn't catch a cold at all. She had been making soup for Old Madam Chu for a while and was tortured enough by it. She really didn't want to serve Old Madam Chu anymore, so she lied about being sick.
Chu Shubao didn't want to ruin her mother's show. Liu had been using cold water when cooking these days, and her well-maintained hands had frostbite. She cried and yelled in the room, so she had no choice but to take her sister to serve Madam Chu in her room.
Jiang Yanyi just asked casually. When he heard that Liu was ill, he said, "The weather is getting colder. We should put a few more charcoal basins in Auntie's room."
Chu Shubao responded that he had released him.
Jiang Yanyi didn't continue the topic. She put the sea bass on a plate, stuffed scallion and ginger slices into the fish belly, and sprinkled shredded ham and mushrooms around it.
When it comes to steaming dishes, the key is the heat. If the heat is not right, the taste of the dish will not be right.
Jiang Yanyi boiled the water under the steamer over high heat before putting the sea bass in to steam.
Chu Shubao saw her doing all these in an orderly manner and said enviously, "You know how to cook so many dishes."
Jiang Yanyi was slicing ginger and garlic at the side. "I just learned a little bit from the chef in the store."
Chu Shubao rolled up her sleeves when she heard this: "Are you still hiring a kitchen helper? I'll go help you, too!"
Jiang Yanyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I don't have such plans for the time being."
Chu Shubao felt a little discouraged when she heard this.
Jiang Yanyi smeared the marinated grilled fish with the prepared sauce and placed it on an iron plate, then put it in the earthen kiln oven and began to grill the fish. While busying himself, he said, "If you want to learn how to cook, you can also learn from the chef in the mansion."
Chu Shubao said disdainfully: "The dishes they cook are boring to me, so I'd better not learn them."
She fiddled with the kitchen utensils on the stove, and suddenly asked mysteriously, "By the way, do you have a crush on someone?"
Jiang Yanyi was taken aback by her tone. He neither denied nor admitted it. He just asked, "Why are you talking about this all of a sudden?"
Chu Shubao looked around and made sure that no one was around before she said, "I accidentally heard my grandmother talking to my third uncle about your marriage a few days ago. My grandmother said that if my third uncle hadn't adopted you and Yan Gui, she would have wanted Brother Chengmao to marry you. That way, no matter what happens in the future, no one will dare to bully you."
Jiang Yanyi's hands shook and he almost cut his fingers.
Chu Shubao was frightened and quickly went forward to check: "Are you okay?"
Jiang Yanyi put down the kitchen knife: "It's okay, it's okay."
Chu Shubao said, "Look how scared you are. I've been fed up with my mother's nagging about marriage for a long time. I don't even bother to listen to them anymore. When I save enough money, I'll open a shop like you and be the shopkeeper myself!"
Jiang Yanyi didn't want to talk more about marriage, so he followed up her question and asked, "What kind of shop do you plan to open?"
Chu Shubao touched her chin and said, "Rouge, rouge and powder are what I tinker with the most."
Hearing this answer, Jiang Yanyi's eyes moved slightly, "If you really want to open a rouge shop, I can open a place for you in my store so that you can try it first."
Chu Shubao's eyes widened, obviously feeling that this was something she had never seen or heard before, and she hesitated and asked, "Selling rouge in an antique soup shop?"
Jiang Yanyi told her his previous ideas. Chu Shubao couldn't help but glowed with joy after hearing these ideas: "It seems to be quite profitable. I will go to your store to sell rouge tomorrow!"
Jiang Yanyi said, "We haven't decided what kind of rouge and powder you want to sell, and which ones can be given to female customers for free. Wait a few days to prepare thoroughly before deciding. Besides... your mother may not agree with this."
Chu Shubao smiled slyly: "Don't worry, I have my own way!"
This girl is always full of energy. Jiang Yanyi was infected by her and smiled more often, concentrating on cooking.
After steaming the sea bass for half a quarter of an hour, you can turn off the heat and then use the residual heat in the steamer to "soft-steam" it for a few minutes. The fish steamed at this temperature is just the right tenderness, and when you open the lid of the steamer, the fragrance will fill the air.
As there was no soy sauce for steamed fish, Jiang Yanyi directly used soy sauce instead. He poured two spoonfuls of it on the fish and then spread the chopped green onion on top. He heated oil in a pan and when the oil came up to temperature, he used a large spoon to scoop half a spoonful and poured it on the green onion. With a "sizzle", the freshness of the fish and the fragrance of the green onion were all brought out. He then garnished the fish with a few pieces of coriander and a plate of steamed sea bass was ready.
The grilled fish was still being roasted in the earthen kiln, and Jiang Yanyi started to prepare the vegetarian dishes.
The most common vegetarian dishes in winter are lotus root and potatoes, which are also standard accompaniments for grilled fish. The lotus root is crisp and the potatoes are soft and glutinous, which can enrich the taste.
Jiang Yanyi cut the potatoes into thick strips, fried them in wide oil until cooked, and then took them out, leaving only a small amount of oil in the pan. She added ginger and garlic to stir-fry until fragrant, then poured in the fermented black beans. When the fermented black beans were fried in the hot oil, the smell was so strong that Jiang Yanyi couldn't help swallowing her saliva. She quickly put the lotus root, bean sprouts and fried potato strips into the pan and stir-fried them until they were tasty.
When the fish is cooked, place the vegetables on top of the fish, then put it into the earthen kiln and bake for a quarter of an hour. Take it out, pour a spoonful of hot oil on it to stir-fry it, and sprinkle with coriander.
The air was filled with the aroma of fermented black beans and fish. If Chu Shubao hadn't worried that these two dishes would be easily spotted after being eaten secretly, she would have wanted to use chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish to taste it first. She said with a sad face, "Let's make pickled fish next time."
When making pickled fish, she can take a bite to satisfy her craving.
All the members of the Chu family had dinner together in Old Madam Chu's yard. In addition to the two fish dishes, there were also pork rib stew and smoked goose breast prepared by the Chu family's chef early in the morning. The soup was black chicken soup that had been simmered over a low heat for a whole day. It had a rich and fragrant taste, perhaps because of the medicinal herbs in it, as there was a faint bitter taste when you smelled it carefully.
Although Mrs. Chu is old, she likes to eat food with strong flavors. She really likes the grilled fish tonight. On the contrary, it is Old Master Chu who likes the steamed sea bass.
Uncle Chu and Uncle Chu II hardly spoke during the meal, but a few younger ones were chattering away at the table.
Chu Huibao bit her chopsticks, feeling a little disappointed because the pickled fish was not her favorite. "It's not pickled."
Chu Shubao picked up a piece of sea bass with chopsticks and asked: "Is it not delicious?"
"It's delicious, but the pickled fish is the best." Chu Huibao muttered softly while holding the bowl of rice.
Chu Jiabao suddenly said, "I like grilled fish with black bean sauce."
Everyone at the table was stunned. Uncle Chu looked as if he had seen a ghost, and Uncle Chu was always a taciturn person. Only Chu Yangui glanced at her, and soon lowered his eyes to eat his meal.
Chu Jiabao didn't care at all about the confusion his words brought to everyone at the table. He picked up a piece of grilled fish with chopsticks and put it in his bowl without changing his expression.
After a brief moment of shock, Mrs. Chu smiled from ear to ear and picked up a piece of grilled fish for Chu Jiabao: "Eat more if you like it."
He turned around and picked up some fish for Jiang Yanyi as well, and said with a smile, "Yi girl, eat too."
Jiang Yanyi thanked Madam Chu. She didn't expect Chu Jiabao to suddenly praise her fish, but the little girl no longer had any hostility towards her and Chu Yangui, which was also what Jiang Yanyi was happy to see.
The meal was as harmonious as ever.
It was already late after dinner, so Jiang Yanyi and her brother stayed at the Chu family.
**
For the sake of her rouge business, Chu Shubao decided to start with Old Madam Chu. After dinner, she acted nice in front of Old Madam Chu and proposed that she wanted to open a rouge shop. Since there was a precedent of Jiang Yanyi opening her own shop, Old Madam Chu did not object to her selling rouge.
But as an experienced person after all, Mrs. Chu was more thoughtful. She held Chu Shubao's hand and reminded her: "Although you are sisters, you still have to settle the money in the account clearly. If the account book is not settled at the beginning, it will be more complicated later, and there will be no shortage of disputes."
Chu Shubao gently shook the old lady's hand and said coquettishly: "Grandma, don't worry, your granddaughter won't have to worry about it."
Madam Chu sighed: "You are a careless person. You need to be more careful when running your own business. Also, don't cause trouble for Yi girl."
Chu Shubao patted her chest and assured: "Absolutely not!"
When Chu Shubao went back and told Liu about this, Liu, who was "recuperating" in bed, was almost angry to death.
She said sharply, "That girl from the Jiang family is willing to be a lowly person and do these high-profile businesses. Why is she encouraging you to go there now? I know she has bad intentions!"
Chu Shubao rarely looked serious and retorted, "Mother, what are you talking about?"
Liu was overwhelmed by her daughter's momentum and stammered, "I...what was wrong with what I said?"
Chu Shubao asked her, "Since you think it's correct, go and tell your grandmother again!"
Liu was so angry that her eyes went dark. "You have been against me since you were a child, and now you have learned to use your grandmother to pressure me?"
Chu Shubao said with a straight face: "Mother, I am not going against you. You are not able to distinguish right from wrong! How can doing business mean being willing to be lowly? Didn't you want me to marry a businessman before? Did you want to harm me at that time?"
Liu's fingers were about to poke Chu Shubao's face, and she said angrily, "You... you really want to piss me off to death! Can a man's business be the same as a woman's? Do you still want to have a reputation as a girl who is out in the public eye? If you had agreed to the marriage proposal, you would have been the young lady of the mansion and enjoyed endless wealth and glory in your life. Is this harming you?"
"You are totally unreasonable! How can making money honestly ruin your reputation? What's the difference between a man doing business and a woman doing business?" Chu Shubao became more and more angry as she spoke: "My grandmother agreed with my business, and I like being a female shopkeeper."
Liu was so angry that she wiped her tears: "What a sin! How could I have given birth to a daughter like you!"
Chu Shubao looked at Liu and said, "Mother, we are now able to survive in Xizhou only because of our uncle. All our food, clothing and daily expenses are paid with money from the government. How long will the money we brought from the capital last? Are we going to rely on our uncle to support us all our lives?"
After hearing what Chu Shubao said, Liu was a little embarrassed: "This..."
Chu Shubao didn't expect to be able to make all the arguments with Liu. Seeing that she softened her attitude, she said, "I know how to do things properly, so don't worry about me. If you have nothing to do, why not make some clothes for your brother's children? Your brother wrote to you earlier saying that your sister-in-law is pregnant and will probably give birth soon."
When it comes to her son, Liu started to complain endlessly: "Your eldest sister-in-law is jealous. She has been married for two years without any children. She relies on her high social status and even turned her face away when your brother took a concubine. If he doesn't take a concubine, I don't know when I will be able to hold my grandson."
Chu Shubao rolled her eyes: "Sister-in-law is well-educated and well-mannered, and she is a perfect match for my brother. It's like a flower stuck in cow dung!"
Although Chu Chengbai's first wife was the illegitimate daughter of the former Dali Temple Minister, she was marrying a woman who had no achievements at all. If Chu Sanye had not been the general of Yunzhou at that time, this marriage would not have been possible at all!
She really couldn't bear to listen to what Liu said to poison her ears. Without waiting for Liu to say anything more, she pulled Chu Huibao, who had already finished half a plate of cakes, out of Liu's room and said, "It's very late. Mother, you should go to bed early. We will go back to our rooms too."
Chu Huibao was dragged away by her sister by the collar, staring at the plate of unfinished pastries.
Liu and Chu Shubao often quarreled. At first, she was caught in the middle and was so anxious that she burst into tears. Later, she learned to ignore them and enjoyed her food.
***
The heavy snow continued to fall in Xizhou City that night, and the city was full of searching troops.
Lu Linyuan searched the city for Jiang Yanxi under the pretext of investigating a case, and was extremely anxious when he saw the armored army that was directly under the jurisdiction of the palace.
The murder weapon belonged to Jiang Yanxi, and this murder case was bound to be related to Jiang Yanxi. If he had found Jiang Yanxi first, then there would be room for maneuver. But now Feng Shuo's direct army intervened, and the government office did not dare to confront them head-on.
The servant Qingsong put his hands in his sleeves and said, "Sir, we have basically walked around the entire Xizhou City. Do we still want to continue looking?"
After a whole day of anxiety, Lu Linyuan now had a splitting headache. The cold wind blew and he felt dizzy. He said, "Keep looking."
Jiang Yanxi came all the way to Xizhou for him, how could he ignore her
There were few people on the street at this time, and Lu Linyuan was interrogated by the army several times.
While Lu Linyuan was having a headache, an idea suddenly occurred to him. The armored troops of Fengshuo Mansion suddenly searched the whole city so closely. Did something happen to the Turkic prince? After all, the last time such a large-scale search was carried out, it was also to capture the Turkic prince.
He originally thought that the capture of the Turkic prince had changed his fate, but at this moment he felt that he might not be able to escape his destiny.
The dead man had the wounds from being kicked by a man, and the hairpin that Jiang Yanxi dropped in the snow... If the Turkic prince escaped, would he have happened to meet Jiang Yanxi
At this moment, in a dilapidated temple, the tattered temple door could hardly block the raging cold wind. The burning fire in front of the Buddha statue was blown by the wind, and the flames almost fell to the ground.
Jiang Yanxi looked at the "woman" with countless wounds of varying sizes, and tears fell down in anxiety: "Girl, hold on..."
She left Lu Linyuan's house last night. Because she didn't know the way and it was pitch black outside, she could only walk in the direction of light. Unexpectedly, she ended up in the red-light district by mistake and was molested by a drunk in the corner.
Just when she was about to lose all hope, someone climbed over the wall. She instinctively cried out for help. The woman who came over kicked the lecher away, but he was too weak from his injuries and wanted to take revenge. The woman pulled out the butterfly hairpin on her head and stabbed him to death.
The woman who rescued her was seriously injured and could not walk alone. She could not find a place to rest late at night, so she had to be supported and brought to this dilapidated temple where beggars gathered.
As soon as they arrived at the dilapidated temple, the woman fainted. Jiang Yanxi found deep blood marks on her wrists and ankles. If she used more force, the tendons in her hands and feet would probably be broken. She didn't know where she got the willpower to hold on for so long.
Jiang Yanxi wanted to help her clean the wound, but as soon as she touched the woman, the woman, who was semi-conscious, almost broke her wrist and told her to get out fiercely, so Jiang Yanxi had to give up.
The scene of Dengtu Zi's death had always been in Jiang Yanxi's mind. Although she did not kill him, she was still afraid. She huddled in the ruined temple to guard the woman who saved her and dared not go out. When she was hungry, she used her earrings to exchange for some food from several beggars nearby to barely fill her stomach.
After hearing from the beggars that someone had died in Huajie, and the soldiers and officers in Xizhou City had begun a large-scale search, Jiang Yanxi became extremely frightened.
When Ugusdan woke up, he heard someone sobbing beside him. He frowned in annoyance: "It's so noisy..."
As soon as I opened my mouth, I found that my voice was extremely hoarse, my throat was sore, my head was aching, and my limbs were sore. It was not the kind of pain that came from an injury. My head felt heavy and my feet felt light. This was because I had caught a cold.
Ogustan suddenly felt like cursing.
When Jiang Yanxi heard him speak, she burst into tears of joy: "Girl, you finally woke up!"
She just thought that Ogustan's voice was hoarse, and did not notice that his voice was not like that of a woman.
Ogusdan had a severe cold and felt dizzy. He looked at the tearful face in front of him and said with difficulty, "Give me a sip of water."
Jiang Yanxi said helplessly: "No... no water..."
There was no pot or rack to put the pot in the dilapidated temple, and she didn't dare go out. When she was thirsty, she would go outside to make a clean snowball to eat.
She said, "Wait a minute!"
Ogustan only saw her running away, and she ran back a moment later and stuffed a snowball into his mouth. "Swallowing the snow can also quench your thirst."
The snowball entered my mouth, cooling my throat all the way into my lungs.
Ogusdan swore that if he hadn't been seriously injured and caught a cold, and hadn't even the strength to raise his hands, he would have broken the neck of this Central Plains woman!
She clearly wanted to kill him!
He had been lurking carefully since he entered prison, figuring out the changing rules of the guards and the number of people on duty at night, and pretending to be dying to let the guards down. He had previously worked with Xie Zhizhou and had made the worst-case scenario plan. He had also seen the construction plan of the Xizhou prison and memorized the terrain inside.
After finally escaping, he went to the base in Huajie to meet with his subordinates, only to find that the base had been destroyed long ago. In order to hide his tracks, he burned the bloody clothes he wore when he came out of the prison and changed into women's clothes.
Given the shrewdness of the King of Liaonan, he would definitely send people to various strongholds to block him if he knew he was escaping. Ogusdan knew that he could not stay in the red-light district any longer, so when he rushed out, he happened to see someone molesting a woman. He was seriously injured at the time, and running so far had consumed a lot of physical strength. If he walked alone, he was afraid that he would faint before he could find a place to hide temporarily. So he rescued the molested woman and wanted to take this opportunity to hide in her home.
Unexpectedly, the woman had a poor sense of direction. She held his hand and walked him around in circles in the city for a long time. His tendons, which had been severely tortured, were almost broken, and he almost died on the road.
Jiang Yanxi saw his dissatisfaction and knew that he was still ill. She became anxious and tears fell: "It's all my fault for being so stupid..."
Ogusdan wanted to yell at her, "It's good that you know it," but he had a hard time speaking now, so he saved the energy to yell. He glanced at the dilapidated temple with drafts on all sides, and saw that Jiang Yanxi was dressed quite decently, so he asked weakly, "Why don't you go home?"
He didn't care whether she came home or not, he just wanted to hide in her house for a while, not expecting anything else, just hoping to have some hot water to drink.
The cold can’t get any worse!
Jiang Yanxi hugged her knees, lowered her head, and said in a muffled voice, "I don't have a home."
As soon as she said this, she began to wipe away her tears.
Oguzdan: ...
The overall situation is important, so be patient.
He thought she had run away from home, so he patiently comforted her: "Did you have a fight with your family?"
Jiang Yanxi treated him as a big sister she could talk to, and choked up and said, "I don't have any family here."
Oguzdan: "... Where did you live before?"
Jiang Yanxi's face showed a trace of sadness: "I came all the way to Xizhou just for one person, but he doesn't want me."
Ogustan lay on the ground, his face green.
He was not interested in other people's stories of eloping! He just wanted to find a place where he could temporarily recover and drink hot water!
The author has something to say: Turkic Prince: I don’t have high demands, I just want to drink hot water, thank you!
Bow to you qaq, I was stuck last night and couldn't finish it. I stayed up all night and only wrote this little. There will be a second update today.
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2020-12-22 23:59:44~2020-12-24 07:40:28~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the rocket launcher: pp 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Changhe 2; Alice is good at dreaming, Guo Xiaolan 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Little Star 50 bottles; Jarods 40 bottles; Habitual Toothache, A Tree, Girl Fruit, Meow Music, 41663822 20 bottles; Meng Meng, Dancing Like a Swan, Orange, Kui Kui, Min Er, Half a Pack of Yogurt, PP, Ordinary Overtime Little Genius, Sui Ling 10 bottles; Benming Hot Pot 9 bottles; Tong Xing'an, Mountain Wind, Haha, Super Big Wall, Poisonous Rose is the Cutest, Charming, Wood Forest 5 bottles; 20249026 2 bottles; It's 00 La, Snow Shadow, 48601657, A Little Flower 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!