Chapter 1 Chapter 1 It was early in the morning, before the sun rose,...
It was early in the morning, before the sun rose, and there was just a hint of paleness on the horizon.
On the hillside at the entrance of Yunshui Village, a tall young man rode in quietly on a shiny chestnut horse.
The young man was wearing a satin riding suit with narrow sleeves. Although it was dark, he could not hide his noble aura.
Just looking at his slim and slender figure is enough to make people imagine what kind of handsome man this is. It’s a pity that he was wearing a veil hat and a scarf to cover his face.
If someone could see the face under the veil, they would find that his face was as white as jade. The knife-like nose bridge and a pair of sharp phoenix eyes combined together make the whole face extremely handsome.
This young man was none other than Xue Fenglin, the eldest son of the Xue family mansion in the capital.
You have to know that Xue Fenglin was of noble status, and because of his outstanding appearance and erudition, he was also a famous talent in the capital. I don't know how many young ladies and gentlemen from powerful families fell at his feet.
How could such a noble young man appear alone in this small Yunshui Village?
Xue Fenglin rode his horse to the door of an old and somewhat dilapidated house.
There are two stone lions, one male and one female, at the gate of this old house. The little lion in the lioness's arms had lost an ear, and the stone hydrangea under the lion's feet was gone.
There is a huge plaque on the lintel of the old house with the words "Chen House" inscribed on it. The writing was mottled with gold lacquer, and it was obvious that it had not been repaired for many years.
When he arrived at the gate of the Shen family's old house, Xue Fenglin became a little timid.
He turned his horse around and waited under a nearby crooked old tree.
I thought, I heard that the young man from the Shen family has been raised here since he returned to his hometown with his wet nurse. I wonder what he has grown into?
Now the rumor is spreading all over the capital, saying that this boy from the Shen family was the child marriage arranged by his late mother in her early years.
If he did not marry, he would be considered unfilial and unrighteous, and the old marquis would also be reported for not being a good parent.
With the intention of ruining his reputation, Xue Fenglin made up his mind and rushed out of the Marquis' Mansion alone. It took him five days of travel to get from the capital to Yunshui Village.
By this time, the sky was already bright, and the villagers got up one after another, had breakfast, and went to work in the fields.
With a creak, the Shen family's door finally opened. Xue Fenglin opened his eyes wide in an instant and looked towards the door without hesitation.
First, a few farmers came out carrying hoes, and looked at him curiously, not knowing whether they were servants of the Shen family.
Xue Fenglin continued to wait, but after just one stick of incense. Then a young man with rouge and powder on his face, with a pale face, came out seductively carrying a basket.
I saw that the boy was not tall and was wearing a light blue fine cloth robe. Although the material is ordinary, the neckline and belt are embroidered with pink lotus flowers.
He drew his eyebrows into the willow-shaped shape that was popular at the time, painted his lips with light red rouge, and pasted a few flower ornaments next to the mole on his forehead. Even so, it can be seen that the foundation is very ordinary.
Could this be the Shen Xuan? Xue Fenglin's heart sank and his face became darker than before.
The boy stretched, looked around, and found Xue Fenglin waiting under the tree.
"Eh? Whose young man is this? He looks unfamiliar. Is he here to look for someone?"
Although the young man could not see Xue Fenglin's face, he saw that he had a tall and strong figure and was wearing silk clothes with exquisite workmanship. He could tell at a glance that he was a young master from a wealthy family. He walked up to him with a smile on his face and asked, throwing a coquettish glance at Xue Fenglin.
Xue Fenglin endured it again and again and finally did not turn his horse around and leave immediately. Instead, he asked to confirm: "Is this your home? Are you the master of this house?"
The boy was stunned, thinking that this young man's voice was so nice. Then he nodded and said, "Of course, this is my home."
Xue Fenglin's mouth twitched fiercely when he heard this. Without any hesitation, he rode his horse and fled from the Shen residence at full speed.
The boy's age and identity match, so he should be the Shen Xuan who had an engagement with me.
Xue Fenglin felt as sick as if he had eaten a fly. He ran all the way into the mountains, his mind filled with the guy's vulgar and flattering appearance.
He was only five years old when his biological mother, Ye, got engaged to the Shen family, and his brother was even younger, just a baby.
After his biological mother passed away, he was suppressed in every way by his stepmother Bai in the Xue family, which made his life very difficult. He only wanted to marry a lady from a prominent family in the future, and her appearance and talent were not important, as long as she could be a helper to him and compete with the Bai family in the Marquis' Mansion.
However, even such a small request was disrupted by the Bai family.
If I marry such a country boy, wouldn't I become a laughing stock in Beijing in the future? His future in the court will inevitably be greatly affected!
Xue Fenglin's mind was in a mess, and he did not notice any unusual movements in the woods around him.
The chestnut horse under him ran forward a few more steps, then suddenly its hooves stopped, and with a neigh, it was tripped by a one-foot-high straw rope and fell to the ground.
Xue Fenglin flew down from his horse, and with the help of his fists and feet, he rolled twice on the ground to stand up.
In broad daylight, dozens of burly men suddenly rushed out from the surrounding woods, each holding a machete more than a foot long in their hands, with the snow-white blades pointed at him.
Yunshui Village is located quite close to Lezhou. Usually there are soldiers patrolling nearby and there are not even any thieves. So where did so many kung fu-savvy bandits suddenly appear?
Xue Fenglin thought to himself that something was wrong, and he was afraid that he had fallen into Bai's trap.
Seeing that the gang of gangsters destroyed his BMW with a knife, it was obvious that they wanted to kill him to silence him. So he quickly took the opportunity to go into the forest and hide with them.
Three days later...
A mud man covered in blood crawled out from the forest and lay down on the official road at the entrance of Yunshui Village, scaring the passing villagers of Yunshui Village into panic.
The villagers of Yunshui Village were used to a peaceful life and had never seen such a tragic scene. A group of people gathered around, pointing and talking about the bloody man who appeared out of nowhere.
Seeing that there was hardly a single good spot on his body, everyone thought that he would not survive.
The villagers who were watching came and went, many of them just to watch the fun, but no one was willing to rescue the bloody man back home.
At this time, a tall and ragged boy passed by carrying a bundle of firewood. Seeing the bloody man lying on the ground, he frowned and thought for a while before quickly leaving.
The sky gradually darkened, and until late at night, the villagers of Yunshui Village had all fallen asleep. The tall and slender young man had just left and came back, tiptoed to carry the bloody man on his back, trotted across the ridge of the field, and returned to his small hut from the backyard.
He carefully placed the bloody man on the straw bed, then brought a bucket of hot water and slowly cleaned the stains on his body.
The bloody man's whole body was burning hot and he was running a fever. The clothes on his body had long been torn, and it was impossible to tell what material they were made of, and there was no evidence of his identity.
The boy simply cut off all the clothes on him, cleaned the stains, and then changed him into an old set of clothes that he had patched up himself. He only had these old clothes.
It was not until then that the brother realized that the man seemed to have been poisoned.
Although he had many knife wounds on his body, none of them were vital. Although they looked serious, he would be able to recover after some rest.
It's just that there seemed to be a snake bite on his ankle, and it was badly swollen.
Moreover, his face and body were swollen, his facial features were squeezed together, and his lips were a little purple.
The brother frowned and looked at the man in front of him with some worry.
There was no doctor in the village, and he couldn't afford to hire a doctor from the city. The snake venom was deadly, and he was worried that the man would die.
After thinking for a moment, the boy took out a small knife from the corner, heated it over the oil lamp, and then cut the area where the snake venom was.
"Ah——" The man seemed to be awakened by the pain. His body trembled slightly and he let out a cry of pain.
"Bear with it," the brother said to the man, putting his hand on his wound.
A stream of black poisonous blood spurted out, and the brother squeezed it hard several times. Only after all the blood flowing out was red did I dare to use a cloth strip to stop the bleeding from the wound.
At this time he looked at the man again and saw that he was motionless again. It's just that the high fever in my body seems to be better than before, and I don't know whether the temperature has dropped or I am going to die.
Is he going to die? My brother's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to reach out to feel his breath...
"Water..." The man suddenly opened his mouth and said in a very hoarse voice.
Only then did my brother feel relieved. He quickly poured him a bowl of warm water, supported his back, and fed him a bowl of water.
"Thank you." After the man finished drinking the water, he seemed to be more energetic. He looked at his brother with a confused look, and was able to thank him.
The boy was relieved to see that the man seemed to be getting better, rather than just having a last-ditch crisis.
He brought a bowl of rice porridge from somewhere and said, "There's nothing to eat in the middle of the night, so I specially left a bowl of porridge. It has a little more water, but it can fill your stomach."
The man had been hungry for many days, and even though it was just a bowl of porridge, he wolfed it down as if it were a life-saving straw.
"You take a rest first, I'll bring you food tomorrow." The boy took the empty bowl and said to the man.
"Wait." The man suddenly called out to his brother and asked, "I wonder what I should call you, little brother? I will repay you for saving my life one day."
The brother was startled, then he smiled and said, "My surname is Chen, and my given name is Xuan. I'm not a brother, but a brother. You can call me Brother Chen."
After he finished speaking, he left with the empty bowl, not noticing that the man stood there like a stone after hearing what he said.
He is actually Shen Xuan? The man on the straw bed—Xue Fenglin—felt mixed emotions at this moment.
He looked at the direction where Shen Xuan left in a daze, thinking that he had made a mistake that day...
But shouldn’t Shen Xuan be the owner of the Shen family’s old house?
How could someone live alone in such a shabby little hut?
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