Chapter 68 Familiar Stranger

Wen Zhiheng turned Chen Shiyi's body over and spoke seriously.

"Just enough for our family's consumption. No need for anything else. There's news from my father as well. His former subordinates are secretly planning for him. We just need to wait for news."

Chen Shiyi pursed his lips and nodded.

"Master, who exactly is Brother Lan?"

"He used to be a general on the Mobei border. At the age of thirteen, he followed his father to the battlefield and swept across Mobei. Later, because of his great achievements, the emperor transferred him here on the grounds of the importance of the Fengming Mine to manage the patrol and defense here."

A sneer appeared on Wen Zhiheng's lips.

"Such a man of character was humiliated in this way. It must have chilled the hearts of the Mobei generals."

"What happened in between?"

Wen Zhiheng shook his head.

"I'm not sure. Maybe even my father doesn't know."

"You are in high positions and your life is very difficult."

"Yes, one night in heaven and one night in hell, but overall it is a minority."

"Every time I met him, he was always calm and unperturbed."

"That's just what he wants you to see. Everyone has a side that they don't know."

Wen Zhiheng was silent for a long time and spoke softly.

"Eleven, why have you never asked me why I was poisoned by that drug?"

Chen Shiyi felt depressed whenever he mentioned what happened that day.

"Why?"

"Wang Xianzong brought it to me."

"He might as well give you a woman instead of giving you that medicine..."

After Chen Shiyi finished speaking, he looked up at Wen Zhiheng. The expression on his face seemed to be very bad, pale but with a hint of embarrassment.

"I told you before, I've been through some things before."

Chen Shiyi looked at him seriously.

Wen Zhiheng said softly.

"When I was fifteen, I was fearless and ran around everywhere, not knowing how dangerous the world was. One day, I was kidnapped by someone by accident..."

Chen Shiyi listened quietly.

"Wang Xianzong did it?"

Wen Zhiheng closed his eyes slightly and nodded.

"He gave you medicine, yes..."

Chen Shiyi couldn't continue.

"It's too easy for this beast to be let die like this. He should be chopped into pieces and die a slow death..."

Wen Zhiheng looked at Chen Shiyi with dim eyes.

"Eleven, do you think I'm dirty?"

Chen Shiyi finally understood why he always smelled his own odor and why he always had to take a long time to wash whenever he came into contact with strangers and got covered in dust.

"You are the victim, there is nothing wrong with that. The ones who are wrong are the beasts. Don't look for the reasons on yourself. It is the dirty human hearts that are dirty."

Wen Zhiheng pursed his lips and smiled.

He stroked Chen Shiyi's face and looked at her intently.

"You know what? I like your eyes the most."

Forever clear and pure, angry is angry, happy is happy, caring is caring, and there will be no intriguing look afterwards.

His Eleven is cherishing him!

"It's okay. My guards rescued me in time and didn't let them succeed. I want to tell you that I know exactly how you felt that day. You felt helpless and lost, as if the sky was about to fall. So, even if I died, I would never touch you in that situation. Do you understand?"

The transparent candle on the table was flickering, with a long candle string and short wick, and the candle was dripping with tears. The room was filled with orange and yellow, and Wen Zhiheng's increasingly close breath made Chen Shiyi feel strange and at a loss.

She turned her head and put her hands on Wen Zhiheng to stop him from getting closer.

Wen Zhiheng's eyes were full of tenderness. Seeing Chen Shiyi's rejection, he frowned slightly and replaced the hand that was holding her cheek with a hand that gently hugged her waist.

"Eleven, look at me."

Chen Shiyi lowered his head, revealing a white neck.

Wen Zhiheng's eyes were burning, and his head rested on Chen Shiyi's shoulders and neck.

"Eleven, please don't keep rejecting me, okay?"

"You are my woman."

Chen Shiyi felt an inexplicable irritation in his heart.

She didn't know where this irritability came from, making people feel upset.

Sometimes she thought that she liked Pei Luoshu's embrace more. It was so deep, so forbearing, and so cautious. It was not at all like the overbearing, hot, and hard to ignore embrace of the eldest young master...

She pushed Wen Zhiheng away suddenly, looked at his shocked and hurt expression, and couldn't help but speak.

"I'm still young. Can we talk about it later? It's late now. Go back and rest. You're still injured."

Wen Zhiheng held his forehead with a frustrated look on his face, and spoke quietly as he looked at Chen Shiyi.

"You knew I was injured?"

Chen Shiyi thought about how he had shielded her from an arrow today, and felt a little guilty.

"Does it still hurt? Do you want me to change the bandage for you?"

Wen Zhiheng stared at Chen Shiyi, his eyes filled with brokenness.

He exhaled slowly, lowered his eyes, stood up, and walked out without looking back.

Winter has gone and spring has come. The courtyard has gone from the broken and chilly winter to the sunny March in the blink of an eye.

Time flies.

In a blink of an eye, they had already spent three years in the courtyard.

Chen Shiyi is now seventeen.

Ever since Wen Zhiheng left her room that night, he disappeared for a long time and no one knew what he was doing.

Once when he came back by chance, Chen Shiyi greeted him. He just glanced at him lightly, with all the warmth in his eyes gone, and said indifferently.

"When we return to the capital, I will give you your indenture and set you free."

After that, he never spoke to her again, like the most familiar stranger.

Chen Shiyi thinks this is a good idea.

She found it difficult to cope with his passion and dominance.

Still doing odd jobs, Chen Shiyi followed Xue Lianxing to the county town. Although she didn't earn as much as before, it was better than nothing. Besides, she felt less depressed when she went out more often.

However, there is one very happy thing: the Marquis's family has a new baby.

The second young master Wen Zhiyuan welcomed his second child.

Rui'er has a younger sister now.

Chen Shiyi carefully picked up the kitten-sized child. The child was soft and chubby, spitting bubbles from his mouth. His heart was filled with tenderness.

When the kitten smiled at Chen Shiyi, her eyes sparkled.

"Mrs. Second Young Master, look, she's smiling..."

Wen Zhirou was also happily teasing the little kid.

Wen Zhiyuan gave her a nice name, Xiaozhi.

This was a happy event in the Marquis's Mansion, and Madam Wen asked Chen Shiyi to prepare a table full of delicious food and wine.

Except for the Second Young Master's wife who was in confinement after giving birth, everyone else sat at the table.

"This is a great event for the Marquis's Mansion. In the past, all the famous families in Kyoto would send out invitations, and there would be constant exchanges of greetings and gifts. But now, given the circumstances, we can just make do with the fun."

Everyone drank some wine, even Chen Shiyi, who didn't drink, drank a glass with a frown, and it was so spicy that she stuck out her tongue.

Mrs. Wen looked at Wen Zhiheng, who was drinking in silence, and said.

"How long have you been away from home? Are you so busy that you don't even have time to sleep?"

Wen Zhiheng explained.

"We found a new mine site over there. It's a bit far from home. I thought it would take too much time to go back and forth every day, so I just found a place to stay."

Mrs. Wen sighed.

"You've lost a lot of weight recently. How about this? I'll let Eleven take care of you for a while. Your body won't be able to handle it if you keep doing this."

Chen Shiyi raised his eyes in shock, and decided not to do it!

Wen Zhiheng glanced at Chen Shiyi and spoke softly.

"My sister-in-law just had a baby, and the family needs someone right now. I'm fine, don't worry."

Only then did Chen Shiyi calm down.