Zhou Jiangcheng was a tough general. He was not very smart, but he was very strong and had a strong body. He was unstoppable in the army.

Baoning was almost scared to death when she saw a burly man rushing towards her. Only when Zhou Jiangcheng was in front of her did she react and subconsciously dodged.

Zhou Jiangcheng staggered and closed his eyes. He took advantage of the situation and knocked down Aunt Liu who was holding an umbrella beside Baoning, and hugged her shoulders tightly.

He looked strange. At first, he called her "Luyun" with a sweet and rosy face. After calling her twice, he became crazy again and suddenly grabbed Madam Liu's neck: "Luyun, are you bullying me? Are you bullying me? Are you stealing the tiger talisman? Tell me it wasn't you, okay?"

Madam Liu screamed. The umbrella in her hand was torn by Zhou Jiangcheng, leaving only a sharp umbrella bone. Madam Liu screamed and stabbed Zhou Jiangcheng's leg with the umbrella bone. Zhou Jiangcheng

opened his eyes in pain and realized that he had hugged the wrong person. He suddenly raised his head and looked at Baoning not far away, and his eyes grasped her.

Baoning stood there in the rain, at a loss, a slender green shadow.

"Luyun?" Zhou Jiangcheng panted like a beast, then stood up and rushed towards her. He was extremely fast and powerful, and tore off one of Baoning's sleeves.

Everything happened in a flash. From the time he rushed out the door to now, it took only two breaths.

The guards at the door were frightened and dared not move. It was Qiu Mingshan who shouted, "Hurry up and hold him down!" Several people took action and pulled Zhou Jiangcheng's arm.

Baoning came to her senses, helped the frightened Madam Liu up, and went into the house.

Pei Yuan just came out of the house. Seeing her wolfish look, he frowned and asked, "Who did it?"

Bao Ning's eyes were wet with tears. Her body was soaked. Her right sleeve was torn and tattered, revealing a piece of white skin. Before she opened her mouth, Madam Liu screamed, "Mad man, that Wu mad man outside!"

Pei Yuan's eyes were full of rage. He took off his clothes and covered Bao Ning's shoulders. With a "snap", he pulled out the sword hanging on the wall and was about to go out.

Bao Ning held him tightly, "Pei Yuan, don't be impulsive!"

Outside, Zhou Jiangcheng had been knocked unconscious by Qiu Mingshan's palm and fell softly in the rain. Several guards were beaten by him and had wounds on their faces. Zhou Jiangcheng was half awake, still in a mad state, with his hand stretched out towards Baoning, mumbling something, and suddenly he started laughing. His smile was not very pretty, and it frightened Baoning so much that she shuddered.

"Idiot!" Pei Yuan was furious, and threw the sword out, rubbing Zhou Jiangcheng's cheek and piercing deep into the ground. His face was scratched and bleeding, and the blood mixed with the rain flowed down.

Aunt Liu screamed and fell to the ground.

Baoning was also scared enough, and pulled Pei Yuan into the house.

It's not that she hasn't seen blood before, but this was the first time she saw such a brutal act of hurting people, and she couldn't help but be terrified. If the sword had been an inch off, it would have pierced Zhou Jiangcheng's neck. When she thought of that scene, Baoning swallowed hard. She was afraid. She was even more scared than when Zhou Jiangcheng rushed over to her.

Bao Ning raised her hand to wipe away her tears. Her wet clothes stuck to her body and she felt cold. She turned to Pei Yuan, wanting to seek some comfort, but when she raised her head, she met Pei Yuan's cold eyes.

His tone was equally cold: "Why did you come here for no reason?"

Bao Ning paused and looked at Pei Yuan in disbelief: "What did you say?"

Pei Yuan frowned and said: "The study is a restricted area. No one is allowed to enter without permission, especially female family members. Don't you know?"

Bao Ning felt like someone had poured a basin of cold water on her head. She looked at Pei Yuan's calm face, took a few quick breaths, and her eyes slowly turned red.

Pei Yuan noticed her expression, clenched his fists at his sides, tightened and tightened, and suddenly released the strength. He helplessly raised his hands to cover Baoning's face, rubbing her eyes with his thumbs: "Okay, don't cry."

Baoning waved his hands away: "None of your business, you're so ungrateful."

"Okay, I take back what I said just now." Pei Yuan realized that he had said something too harsh. He grabbed Baoning's wrist and gently brought her into his arms, "I was just impulsive and said something without thinking."

Baoning didn't want to stay in his arms anymore. She struggled to go out. Pei Yuan held her back against his chest: "What are you doing?"

Baoning's shoulders trembled with anger: "Pei Yuan, are you too rude?"

"My fault." Pei Yuan sighed.

He felt sorry for Bao Ning and felt guilty for not protecting her just now. But he was too restrained in expressing his emotions. He had never been a gentle person. Even if he wanted to express his love for Bao Ning, the words came out of his mouth like a reprimand to a subordinate.

Bao Ning pushed him away and put her palm on the bruise left by Pei Yuan during the day. Pei Yuan hissed in pain.

In fact, it didn't hurt that much. He deliberately prolonged his voice to win Bao Ning's love. Bao Ning really noticed it, but snorted coldly and said nothing.

She turned and walked out.

Pei Yuan saw that this trick was useless, so he took two quick steps and stopped in front of her: "I'll take you back."

"You're not needed." Bao Ning tightened her clothes and said in a cold and distant voice, "You should take care of your military affairs. I'm a woman and shouldn't be here."

A few days later, they quarreled again, but this time Bao Ning was really angry and she refused to give in.

The two of them were in a stalemate for a while.

Pei Yuan lowered his head first: "I was wrong, I shouldn't have said that."

Bao Ning mocked him: "No, you are right, you are a man, husband is the rule of wife, I will listen to whatever you say."

Pei Yuan put his big hand on Bao Ning's forehead and coaxed her: "I will take you home, you just got caught in the rain, you have to drink the ginger soup, don't get a fever."

Bao Ning said: "I came here for no reason, I deserve the fever."

Pei Yuan was speechless.

Bao Ning didn't know where the confidence came from. If it was normal, she would have said what Pei Yuan said, and Pei Yuan was not in good health today, she felt distressed.

But today, she couldn't do it, she was holding back a fire in her heart, she felt that if she continued to endure it, and accustomed to Pei Yuan like this, he would not go in a good direction.

Like when they were in the Duke's Mansion, Tao scolded Duke Rong, saying that all men were bastards, and that if you gave him some respect, he could open a dyeing factory, but he would not know how to be afraid of you unless you lower your face.

Baoning always thought that this was unpleasant to hear, but now it seems that this might really be the case.

Pei Yuan pulled her sleeve to stop her from leaving. Baoning turned her head away and ignored him. When she turned around, her eyes fell on the table and saw two exquisite statues of crouching tigers on the table, which formed a whole piece when put together.

Baoning liked these things and couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Both statues are exquisite, and look similar at first glance, but you can see the difference if you look closely. The tiger's expression and color are slightly different.

Baoning suddenly remembered what Zhou Jiangcheng said when he was pressing Aunt Liu. Is his tiger talisman lost?

Baoning figured it out almost instantly. Half of the tiger talisman was lost. One of the two tiger talismans on the table was a fake, so the two pieces could not fit together.

Baoning's heart skipped a beat.

Pei Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at her expression carefully, seeming a little anxious.

He had never encountered such a situation before. His face was still serious, but his eyes unconsciously revealed a hint of flattery.

He turned Baoning's face and gently touched her cheek: "Okay, don't be angry, you go back first, I will go back early tonight to accompany you."

Baoning opened her lips softly: "You..."

Qiu Mingshan's voice came from outside: "I have dragged Zhou Jiangcheng down and tied him to the woodshed. I saw that he looked strange and was worried that he was poisoned by some drug, so I sent someone to check. And the matter of the tiger talisman, the craftsman..."

As he spoke, he walked inside. When he stepped into the inner door, he happened to see Pei Yuan hugging Baoning and stopped talking awkwardly.

Pei Yuan immediately raised his head and distanced himself from Baoning without leaving a trace.

Baoning's heart sank.

"Bao Ning is here too." Qiu Mingshan first asked her a few questions to see if she was frightened. Seeing that Bao Ning was in good spirits, he felt relieved and said, "I just saw the nanny next to you leave, and I thought you left too, so I came in without hesitation." He explained.

"Well, you two talk first, I'll come in later." Qiu Mingshan tactfully left them some space and turned to walk out.

Pei Yuan had a cold expression. He put his hand on Bao Ning's back and pushed her forward a little: "I'll take you home."

Bao Ning said: "I won't..."

Pei Yuan scolded her: "Stop talking nonsense. This is not the place for you."

Bao Ning scratched her palm with her fingernails, suddenly looked up and said: "I can help you."

Pei Yuan asked in surprise: "What?"

Bao Ning said word by word: "If you want to forge the tiger talisman, I can help you."

Not only Pei Yuan didn't believe it, Qiu Mingshan also looked hesitant: "Baoning, can you really do it?"

Bao Ning said: "At least it can be more like the half on the table."

Qiu Mingshan still didn't believe it, and Bao Ning didn't say much, but the matter was imminent, and there were only three days left, so they could only try their best.

Qiu Mingshan gritted his teeth and said, "Baoning, if you can really do it, whatever you want, your uncle can find it for you."

Baoning glanced at Pei Yuan, and smiled at Qiu Mingshan, "General, I don't want anything, I just need Pei Yuan to promise me three things. As for what they are, we will discuss it ourselves after we go back."

Pei Yuan raised his eyebrows and looked at her. Baoning noticed his gaze and said nothing.

...

Early the next morning, Baoning followed Pei Yuan to a more secret place in the suburbs of Beijing. It was a small house for refining gold, with all the tools inside.

There was a goldsmith waiting there. The half tiger talisman that Zhou Jiangcheng found was forged by him.

Baoning didn't talk to him all night last night. Now that they arrived at the place, she got off the carriage alone and didn't let him help her. Pei Yuan touched his nose and followed her.

When they reached the door, Bao Ning suddenly stopped and turned around: "Do the three agreements we made in the study of the general's mansion still count?"

Pei Yuan said seriously: "Of course."

"First," Bao Ning said: "I want you to apologize to me for your attitude yesterday. You need to write a letter of repentance of more than 500 words. Memorize it and read it to me with emotion."

Pei Yuan's face gradually darkened.

He patiently asked: "Then what?"

Bao Ning pursed her lips: "You still have to wash my feet for a month, and in this month you have to help me dress and eat every day. You have to do whatever I ask you to do in life."

This request is acceptable, at least it is easier to accept than a letter of repentance, but only a little.

Pei Yuan's lips tightened: "What's the other one?"

"I haven't thought about it yet." Bao Ning lowered her eyelids, "We'll talk about it later."

She no longer paid attention to Pei Yuan, lifted her skirt, stepped over the threshold, and walked into the house.

Pei Yuan followed her.

The goldsmith's name was Meng Fan. He got the news late last night that a woman was going to take over his job. He felt insulted and did not sleep all night, waiting for Bao Ning to come.

Bao Ning sat down at the table and discussed with Meng Fan. They did not agree on what to say. Meng Fan was armed and said several times. Pei Yuan still sided with Bao Ning in his heart. He wanted to get angry, but was stopped by Bao Ning.

Meng Fan finished his speech and snorted coldly: "The tiger talisman has two halves, like a person's left and right hands. Now only the left hand is left. No matter how fine the mold is, you can't replicate the right hand. You can only carve it one by one. But the remaining half of the tiger talisman is old, the color has changed, and there are complex wear marks. Even if you have supernatural powers, you can't make something exactly the same. I have been learning the art for ten years, and I can only do this. You are a little girl who has not experienced the world, so you might as well go home quickly."

Pei Yuan looked at Bao Ning nervously. He didn't want Bao Ning to be hit, so he deliberately protected her and whispered in her ear: "If it doesn't work, we will go back now. I will pretend that it never happened. You don't have to feel embarrassed."

Bao Ning suddenly smiled with her lips bent: "You should worry about yourself first."