Chapter 67 Chapter Sixty-Seven A shadow covered her.
Help? When had she ever asked for that?
Zhang Jingxian tightened her grip around the anthology, unable to read another word. She lowered her eyes and whispered, "My dear, you may not know that tying a woman's hair is something only her husband is qualified to do."
In other words, the relationship between her and Xie Yun was that of guest and host. He was not qualified, and she did not need his help.
"Really?" Xie Yun ran his long fingers through her dark hair, a faint smile on his face. "But Ah Xian provoked me first. Is it any use telling me this now?"
"At first, Ah Xian was just being pretentious, trying to show her affection for me, but later she stabbed me in the heart."
So, no matter what he did to her, she had to endure it.
"These days, I have been working sincerely for you, and have not dared to slack off in the slightest. My dear, are you still angry?" Zhang Jingxian closed the collection of essays and tried to reason with him.
Changling County was his sphere of influence, and the journey from Wuling County City to Changling County was her last chance to maneuver on her own.
Zhang Jingxian didn't give up and wanted to give it another try.
There was a pleading look in her eyes, and a hint of pity that moved people's hearts for no reason.
Xie Yun smiled gently again, but the words that came out of her thin lips were icy, "No, unless Ah Xian you are more obedient and stop saying things that make me angry."
He thought about it and said softly, her giving him acupuncture and risking her life to protect him can make him calm down and slowly forgive her.
Because she was the one he wanted at that time, the one in Xishan Village who loved him.
Xie Yun could feel it.
"Forgive?" Zhang Jingxian felt even more powerless when she heard these two words.
She told him that she didn't hate him, but that didn't mean he could confuse right and wrong. It was obviously him who forced her. Apart from saying a few words that hurt his self-esteem, what else did she do to let him down?
"Yes, Ah Xian, you must work hard to seek my forgiveness. If you do, you will have everything you want." Xie Yun leaned close to her ear and leisurely gave an example, "For example, you can own a Cai family like Cai Shu."
Before leaving, Cai Shu did something quite wise: she expressed her respect to the border troops fighting against the Di people and other foreign tribes, and offered to provide the Northern Army with a batch of food, fodder, and medicinal herbs every year.
Xie Yun agreed and left a handwritten order for the Cai family in front of Chen Junshou and others.
This is the Cai family's life-saving talisman. At the very least, in the future, the officials and nobles in Wuling County will no longer have the idea of swallowing up the Cai family.
The Cai family had escaped danger and was now prosperous again, but Zhang Jingxian was not deceived by his tone. She shook her head and said, "I have my own land and house, and I have enough money and food. I am already content."
Once the matter between her cousin and the villagers was settled, she really had nothing more to ask for.
"Ah Xian is still very silly, so naive that it's laughable." Upon hearing this, Xie Yun's eyes turned cold. Without power or status, she is just a commoner and can be manipulated by others.
No, Zhang Jingxian felt that her past life was truly laughable, believing she could possess him simply by being a peasant girl. She learned to be well-educated and socially savvy, even trying to gain power and status by asking him to do so, so that even someone as arrogant as Gong Chengyue would accept her as his wife.
The result? She was still unqualified, still a lowly and unworthy existence.
Zhang Jingxian remained silent and reopened Prime Minister Xie's collected works.
The atmosphere in the carriage fell into silence, and Xie Yun's face was terribly gloomy. She had tried her best to show off herself, and now he was using various means to force her to bow her head.
But it didn't matter, he still had some patience. She hadn't been false in her previous treatment of him, definitely not.
Wait until she regrets it, wait until she is willing to take back her impossibility, then it will still be too late.
"Ah Xian, you'd better not move." Xie Yun smiled and grabbed a strand of her long hair, putting it behind her head with interest.
No one can stop him from doing what he wants to do.
Zhang Jingxian stared blankly as she felt the man's long fingers moving through her hair. Her heart felt stuffy and she could hardly breathe.
However, she couldn't even struggle, and was discovered by the soldiers outside the carriage, and she would be the only one who would be embarrassed.
So she simply closed her eyes and ignored it.
She thought he would fiddle with her hair for a long time, but as soon as she closed her eyes, he gently inserted a jade hairpin into her hair.
Looking at her in a different state, Xie Yun's eyes darkened, and he ordered her with satisfaction, "Open your eyes."
The two concise words had a dull meaning, and it was impossible to discern his emotions, but he didn't sound angry at all, because his tone was calm and restrained.
Zhang Jingxian's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she looked up at him. His obscure gaze made her instinctively panic. She pursed her lips, as if she had disturbed a well-hidden beast.
His dark robes pressed down on her, trapping her in a corner on the side of the carriage.
The oriole in the nest heard the human's breathing suddenly become heavy and rapid, raised its head to look over, and cried out in confusion.
Where were its human friends? Why was it that the bird only saw the back of the male human who frightened it? His back seemed like a heavy mountain, with dark shadows everywhere.
The little bird was a little anxious, so it used its wings to knock open the door of the wooden cage, but the door was only slightly closed by its human friend.
It flew to the top of the carriage and looked down, and this time it found its human friend.
It turned out that her entire body was completely covered in the shadow by another tall figure, with only a few strands of hair exposed.
The little bird tilted its head and couldn't help but see more clearly. The undulating and heavy mountains slowly returned to calm.
Finally, its human friend showed a face.
It is red, like a kind of berry it likes to eat.
-
When Gongcheng Yue discovered that only a thin piece of his feather fan was left, the carriage had already left Wuling County.
He sighed in frustration. Now there was no way to change it, so he could only wait until the next city.
"That guy Xie Yun shouldn't be so bored." Gong Chengyue's first suspect was his good friend Xie Shijun. After all, he would attack his feather fan whenever he was dissatisfied.
This time, he already had two feather fans folded in his hands.
But this time it was too weird.
Gong Cheng thought more and more that something was wrong, so he came to Xie Shijun with a feather fan to ask for clarification, but the moment he approached the carriage, he stopped.
There were birds singing in the carriage.
Thinking of the oriole that had landed on the feather fan and stared at it for a long time, Gong Chengyue raised his eyebrows and rode away on his horse.
Forget it, let the bird’s owner, Madam Zhang, compensate him later.
Now, he should not go and ask for trouble. If he is not careful, the vindictive Xie Envoy might really want to retaliate against him.
Inside the carriage, Zhang Jingxian heard the sound of horse hooves approaching and then receding, and her breath slowly returned. She calmed her pounding heart and asked if the chestnut mare was prepared for her.
In her previous life, she also couldn't ride a horse because she was Mrs. Zhang and should stay in a comfortable carriage without having to endure the hustle and bustle of traveling.
But now, she is a female guest and wants to ride on horseback openly like the other soldiers outside.
Xie Yun's dark eyes stared at her rosy lips and her messed up bun, without saying a word.
This peasant girl who likes to play dumb actually understands some things very well.
"My dear, among so many people, I am the only one who can't ride a horse." Seeing that he had an expressionless face and remained silent, Zhang Jingxian softened her tone and said seriously that she wanted to learn how to ride a horse.
Xie Yun continued to ignore her and instead grabbed the flying oriole and stuffed it into the wooden cage with a cold and roughly look on his face.
Why did she think that just a few words would make him agree to teach her how to ride a horse?
"Don't worry, my dear. Prime Minister Xie hasn't dealt with the eldest son yet. Even if I learn to ride a horse, I won't run away."
There was a hint of pleading in Zhang Jingxian's eyes again, and she looked at him eagerly. She knew that he was easy to talk to at this time.
As long as he remained restrained, she would try her best to carefully maintain basic balance in the limited space.
Before Prime Minister Xie makes his decision, try not to anger him and tear off the last thin layer of white paper with him.
After a while, Xie Yun showed no expression and nodded calmly, "Tomorrow."
Tomorrow they will completely leave the territory of Wuling City and go to a deserted place with few people. He will teach her how to ride a horse.
Having achieved her goal, Zhang Jingxian quietly took out her water bag.
Tomorrow she wouldn't have to ride in the same carriage with him. Since she couldn't ride, she could ask Yi Yu, Wei, and the others for guidance. The precious medicinal herbs Cai Shu had given her were a fitting token of gratitude.
-
The next day, they came to a flat woodland, and Xie brought the mare that he had raised for a few days as instructed by Xie Yun.
It was in excellent spirits and condition, and it walked to the front of the carriage with the clatter of its hooves, waving to the two black horses.
Then, it looked at the two humans who were staring at it in the carriage with a very smart look, as if it knew that one of them would become its master.
"Alang, why don't we give it a name?" Xie suggested. The horses they rode all had their own names, such as Wujun, Tamo, etc.
Xie Yun glanced at the docile mare indifferently. The whole body of the mare was dark red, with only a little white on the hooves and back. The name "Chiyun" almost came out of his mouth.
But he shifted his gaze to the peasant girl with sparkling eyes, looked at her for a while, and when Xie couldn't help but speak again, he asked her softly, "Ah Xian, what name do you want to take?"
Is she coming to pick it up? Zhang Jingxian was stunned for a moment, and inexplicably felt a sense of nervousness in her heart.
What's a good name for a chestnut-colored, gentle horse?
"Foal, it's a horse, so we should call it a foal." A mountain cat is called a lynx, an oriole is called a yellow oriole, a red fox is simply a red fox, and a monkey is just a monkey, so it is completely reasonable for a horse to be called a foal.
Simple, but straight to the essence.
Xie Yun thought of the natural way she had mentioned before. He was not surprised. The two words Chi Yun were quickly erased from his mind. He smiled while biting the words.
"Okay, let's do as Ah Xian said and call it Colt."
"Foal."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Jingxian immediately spoke happily to the maroon horse.
The horse was completely unaware of the loss of a beautiful name. It heard that the human girl was calling it and lowered its head slightly to show that it accepted the name.
It seems that she is the master of her own future.
Around noon, people and horses stopped to rest.
Taking advantage of this free moment, Zhang Jingxian took out some millet that she had asked Yi Yu to buy earlier, and held it in her hands to feed the foal.
Since she wanted to ride it, she must not treat it badly and had to feed it well.
The taste of millet was obviously irresistible to a horse. After the foal took a few bites, the mane on its tail began to swing slowly.
Finally, it placed its head affectionately in the human girl's palm and nuzzled it.
A black horse nearby tried to come over and grab a bite of wheat, but was bullied by the beast by raising its hoof.
Not far away, Gong Chengyue saw this scene while waving his feather fan and suddenly said, "Qilang, we are about to arrive at Changling."
Has he decided whether it will be a female guest or a young lady?
Hearing Gong Chengyue's question, Xie Yun's face darkened and he remained silent. For the first time, he truly experienced the feeling of being out of control. He looked at the smile on her face and hesitated, wanting to hand the decision-making power over to her.
It was obvious that she just wanted to be a respectable female guest.
But how could he allow her to be just a guest he recruited, free to leave at any time?
Seeing that his friend didn't answer for a long time, Gong Chengyue frowned. He didn't understand why Xie Yun was hesitating when they had obviously had physical contact.
"Qi Lang, you must make a decision about Madam Zhang soon. Either let her go before she reaches Changling, or grant her a real status."
If you dislike being called Madam, then Madam Zhang is also fine.
"Madam Zhang is your savior, Qilang. Her status should be higher, just below the future wife. This is not an insult to her."
Gongcheng Yue said very rationally that Envoy Xie's future wife would definitely be a noble lady from the Wang or Chao family.
The Wang and Xie families formed a close political alliance, with intermarriages spanning many years. Xie Yun's elder sister, Xie Fuyun, married into the Wang family. The Chao family, however, boasted a distinguished Grand Marshal, who collaborated with and conflicted with Prime Minister Xie, potentially requiring a marriage to smooth things over at some point.
The Wang, Xie, and Chao families, collectively forming the dynasty's most powerful aristocratic families, were increasingly at odds with imperial power. With the Di people as their external enemy, they could maintain a semblance of equilibrium. However, if that balance were to be broken, a fight to the death would ensue.
Gong Chengyue could see things more clearly, and he didn't believe that Xie Yun didn't understand.
After all, the incident that changed Xie Yun's temperament was closely related to the struggle between the aristocratic and royal families, and the young Xie Qillang almost became a victim of the struggle between the two.
"Everything is not settled yet, Yue, I don't want to hear these words from you again." Xie Yun raised his eyelids and looked at his adviser gently.
The war with the Di people is still going on, and no one has the right to interfere in his marriage.
Seeing him like this, Gong Chengyue's arms froze. They'd known each other for years, but his faint smile was even scarier than a cold face.
"...What if it was Prime Minister Xie who spoke up? Qilang, people are born into compromise, and this is especially true in the dynasty we live in."
If there had not been mutual compromise between the royal family and the aristocratic families, the dynasty would have perished long ago.
It is now on the verge of collapse, and even the Cai family, who are merchants, have smelled something unusual.
"Qi Lang, a qualified hero will not indulge in love affairs."
"My uncle can't control me. I regard him as my own father." Xie Yun's eyes flashed with coldness, and his expression was chilling. "But I am neither a gentleman nor a filial son."
He has always scoffed at propriety, morality and ethics.
He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Past experiences have taught him that most things in this world are fake, and only what he truly gets belongs to him.
"However, Ah Xian is my savior, so it has to be something special."
Xie Yun's expression softened a bit, "As for Changling, she is still my guest."
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The author has something to say: Kisses, I barely wrote an update and a half, I tried my best.
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