Chapter 64 Xie Zhuo has already left Wenzhou and Lanzhou...

Xie Zhuo had learned from Wen Conglan that they were currently still in Huaiyang County, so he could send a letter to A Jinzu's family and then have someone deliver it to the Princess to report the situation.

Being attacked on the way to one's post is no small matter for a government official.

Xie Zhuo glanced thoughtfully at Xie Baoqiong, who was holding a bowl of porridge and shoveling it into her mouth.

The group's destination was Qiong'er, and the fact that they were in Huaiyang County made him think carefully about the coincidence.

The best course of action is to pass this message on to the eldest princess.

As Xie Baoqiong finished slurping the last mouthful of porridge and put down the ceramic bowl, she happened to meet Xie Zhuo's gaze.

The worry in Xie Zhuomei's eyes was instantly replaced by gentleness:

"Are you full?"

The porcelain bowl was placed back on the table, revealing its empty bottom. Xie Baoqiong loosened her fingertips from the rim of the bowl, her gaze lingering for a moment on Xie Zhuo's slightly pale face before she nodded.

Taking advantage of Wen Conglan's absence, Xie Zhuo whispered to Xie Baoqiong:

"Qiong'er, do you still have the little seal your grandmother gave you?"

Xie Baoqiong raised his hand to touch his chest. The small jade pendant that Lin Yu had given him when they first met had been tied with a knot by Xie Rongjing and hung around his neck. Later, he found that it would bump into the jade pendant when he ran, so he took it off and put it in his sleeve.

"It's still here." Xie Baoqiong's eyes showed a hint of worry: "Is Father going to pawn it for money?" Wouldn't he eat Xie Zhuo out of house and home?

"How could that be? Father wants to send a letter to the Princess explaining the current situation."

But all the keepsakes she carried were lost after she fell off the cliff; Qiong'er lent her father her little seal.

Xie Baoqiong handed over a small stamp: "Aren't you going to write a letter to your brother?"

"I sent a letter to the Marquis's residence when I was in Lian'an Town. Judging by the time, Jing'er should already know that you are safe and sound."

If he knew that we were in danger again, he would probably come directly from the capital.

"The perpetrator who attacked us has not yet been identified, and I'm worried that Jing'er might encounter danger on the way," Xie Zhuo explained.

"Young Master Lin, here's the paper and pen you requested." Wen Conglan's voice came from the doorway.

Xie Zhuo took the paper and pen, thanked him, and bent down on the table to write.

Wen Conglan stacked the empty bowls on the table and carried them to the water vat outside the door.

Xie Baoqiong glanced at Xie Zhuo writing, then remembered the calligraphy she had to practice every day at the Marquis's residence. She stood up and chased after him.

"Aunt Wen, let me help you."

Just as Wen Conglan placed the bowls and chopsticks into the wooden basin filled with water under the eaves, she saw Xie Baoqiong following behind her. Xie Baoqiong was a guest, so she naturally had no reason to ask her to do chores, and politely declined with a smile:

"There are only a few bowls, you don't need to help. Go play."

Xie Baoqiong stood behind Wen Conglan and saw that Wen Conglan had cleaned the bowls and chopsticks in no time. He knew that he was not of any use, but he did not want to go back to the house. When he looked up and saw Wen Mao chopping wood, his eyes lit up.

"Snap," "Tap."

Half a split piece of firewood fell at Xie Baoqiong's feet.

Xie Baoqiong stopped, picked up a piece of wood from her feet and threw it into the pile of firewood, then moved closer to Wen Mao.

"Cat Bro".

"Slap."

Another piece of firewood grazed Xie Baoqiong's face and flew backward.

"despair".

Xie Baoqiong turned around and looked at the firewood that had fallen into the mud behind her, landing precisely where her shadow's head was.

The slanting morning sun cast a long shadow, which was quickly swallowed up by a taller, larger shadow.

Wen Mao, carrying an axe, brushed past Xie Baoqiong, picked up the half-firewood, and threw it into the pile of firewood.

As he walked back, he glanced down at Xie Baoqiong:

"My name is not Cat, and I am not a cat."

Xie Baoqiong tilted her head back, staring at the backlit figure in front of her, and slowly and deliberately called out:

"Mao, Mao, brother."

Wen Mao said nothing and picked up the unchopped firewood from the side again.

Before the axe could fall, Xie Baoqiong's voice rang out first:

"I can help you chop wood."

Wen Mao glanced at Xie Baoqiong's body. The two of them knew each other's identities perfectly well, and chopping wood was not a difficult task for Xie Baoqiong.

They don't know.

"If you're bored, you can find something else to do," Wen Mao said casually, his gaze sweeping over the conspicuous Xie Baoqiong beside him.

"Cat Brother, I'm not bored."

Xie Baoqiong moved even closer, his gaze shifting to the pile of firewood behind Wen Mao as he moved.

A long knife wrapped in strips of cloth leaned against the pile of firewood. Xie Baoqiong examined it closely and recognized it from the exposed hilt as the very knife Wen Mao had used to cut him the night before.

Xie Baoqiong's gaze extended upwards, and Wen Mao's indifferent expression came into his view.

Just as he was about to speak, Xie Zhuo's voice suddenly rang out behind him:

"Xiao Bao".

Xie Zhuo was carrying two buckets in his uninjured hand as he walked towards him.

“Go with Dad to fetch some water.”

The water in the Wen family's water tank had run dry after being used that morning, and had not yet been refilled.

After writing the letter, Xie Zhuo had nothing to do, so he took on the task of carrying water, which also gave him the opportunity to observe the village.

Xie Baoqiong glanced again at the long sword wrapped in cloth, then bid farewell to Wen Mao:

"See you later, Cat Bro."

Xie Zhuo took Xie Baoqiong's hand and walked out of the courtyard.

Stepping out of the courtyard, Xie Baoqiong belatedly remembered something:

“Dad, I’m not Xiao Bao anymore, I’m Lin Mushi now.”

The soft morning light enveloped Xie Zhuo's face, casting a halo around it, and a slight smile played on his jade-like lips:

"Yes, Father knows."

But Mushi is also his father's little treasure.

Xie Baoqiong's fingers, which were being restrained by Xie Zhuo, twitched slightly.

He walked around to a spot one step ahead of Xie Zhuo, then backed away, following Xie Zhuo's steps. Looking at Xie Zhuo's smiling face, he asked uncertainly:

"The same?"

"The same."

Xie Zhuo quickly realized the meaning behind Xie Baoqiong's seemingly random sentence, and he uttered the same words with a more certain tone.

"Xiao Bao is Xiao Bao, no matter how he changes, he is still his father's Xiao Bao."

Looking at Xie Zhuo's calm face, Xie Baoqiong felt that Xie Zhuo was lying. If he were to reveal his true form in front of Xie Zhuo now, Xie Zhuo might not be able to say such a thing.

In that instant, he suddenly realized why Xiaochun was angry when she found out he had lied.

It feels really bad to know that someone has lied to you.

But Xie Baoqiong said nothing, after all, he had also lied a lot to Xie Zhuo.

The earthy smell mixed with moisture entered Xie Baoqiong's nasal cavity.

He watched as Xie Zhuo lifted the two wooden buckets, which were filled with well water, and then, as he had brought them, also lifted the full buckets, his brows furrowing in a frown.

"Father, the wound on your arm hasn't healed yet."

"It's alright." Xie Zhuo was calculating the size of the village and the number of residents in his mind while talking to Xie Baoqiong.

Xie Baoqiong looked down at the calm surface of the water in the wooden tub, and hesitantly began to speak:

“I can help Dad carry it.”

"Xiao Bao even knows how to care for his father now." Xie Zhuo gathered his thoughts and looked down at Xie Baoqiong with slight surprise:

"The bucket is heavy, give it to Dad if you can't lift it anymore."

Xie Zhuo hadn't intended for Xie Baoqiong to carry it, but considering that she wanted to try, he didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm, so he handed one of the buckets to her.

Xie Baoqiong easily lifted it with one hand, and her free hand naturally held Xie Zhuo's hand.

The latter's hands were still wet with water droplets, exuding the coolness of well water, bringing a refreshing feeling on the morning when the heat was beginning to rise.

Xie Zhuo's gaze swept over Xie Baoqiong's relaxed appearance, a dark glint flashing in his eyes, before he finally uttered only a word of praise:

"Xiao Bao is really strong."

Back at the Wen family courtyard, before the father and son even got close, a growing arguing voice came from the crowd gathered in front.

"Dad, there are so many people at Aunt Wen's house."

Xie Zhuo led Xie Baoqiong to place the bucket in the corner of the wall:

"Let's go take a look."

"Wen Conglan, don't push your luck!" A furious shout erupted from the center of the crowd.

Xie Zhuo's expression changed slightly. Before he could even think about what was going on, Xie Baoqiong grabbed him and forced his way through the crowd of onlookers.

"Feng Laosan, don't be so harsh. Dr. Wen has helped us a lot in the past. We all have to rely on Dr. Wen when we have a headache or fever."

A peacemaker in the crowd offered his advice.

Xie Baoqiong squeezed forward faster than usual, and after squeezing through the gaps between people, she didn't forget to turn around and pull Xie Zhu out as well.

"Pah, you're not the one who got scammed. It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering the consequences."

Feng Laosan turned his attention to the man who had tried to mediate and spat in front of him.

When the person trying to mediate saw that the fire was burning him, he immediately stopped talking and had no intention of continuing the argument.

After berating the peacemaker, the man known as Feng Laosan continued to yell at Wen Conglan:

"If I hadn't searched for so many days in the mountains, your little brat would have been dead long ago."

You promised to pay me, that's why I helped you find someone.

All these years have passed, and you still haven't given me any money.

"Since your spouse has been dead for so long, why don't you just marry me? Consider the debt you owe as a bride price."

Xie Baoqiong looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man dressed in coarse cloth standing in front of Wen Conglan in the center of the crowd, while Wen Mao, who had been chopping firewood in the yard before leaving, was nowhere to be seen.

Wen Conglan's face turned ashen: "Mao'er came out of the mountains on his own; you didn't find him."

When Mao'er came out of the mountains, my family slaughtered a pig and invited the whole village to eat.

You privately told me you didn't want pork, you wanted money, and I gave it to you...

Feng Laosan, however, interrupted Wen Conglan without a care:

“You gave it to them, but who saw it?”

As he spoke, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing a gruesome bite mark:

"This scar was from when I was bitten by a tiger in the mountains while searching for someone. Ever since I got this scar, I haven't been able to find a wife..."

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Hey, Feng Laosan, is it because of that scar that you haven't been able to find a wife?"

"Someone like you, who would dare marry their daughter to you?"

"Who is it? They dare not say it to people's faces, but they gossip behind people's backs."

Feng Laosan's face revealed a long-suppressed resentment, and his fierce gaze swept across the crowd.

The peacemaker spoke up again: "Old Feng, Dr. Wen is a blessed man who practices medicine and saves lives. Those who offended Dr. Wen before didn't necessarily have a good ending..."

"Pah! If she's lucky, why did all her family members die so young? And when her only son was found, he was so frightened that he acted like a completely different person?"

With each word he uttered, Wen Conglan's expression grew increasingly grim.

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Author's Note: Xie Baoqiong: Cat Brother...

Wen Mao: Don't call me cat

Xie Baoqiong (nods) (slows down her speech) (speaks slowly and deliberately): Mao, Mao, brother

Wen Mao: From now on, we should shout it like this.

Xie Baoqiong: Okay! Cat Brother

Wen Mao: ...