Chapter 9 Chapter 9 "Get out of here!"
Xishan Village lies at the foot of Yangshan Mountain. Zhang Jingxian's small courtyard, where she lives alone, is located higher than most of the village. She usually walks down the stream from the backyard to the village, but today, with someone else following her, she chooses the winding path in front of the door, which is smooth and easy to navigate.
The forest is quiet, yet bustling, because all kinds of sounds have nothing to do with people.
Zhang Jingxian walked in front, listening quietly to the movements behind her.
No matter how careful Xie Yun was, the wooden wheel never rolled smoothly.
There were small rocks on the road, or hardwood shells brought by some unknown bird. Whenever they passed by, the sedan chair that Xie Yun was sitting in would get stuck.
He bent down silently to remove the obstacle. After several times, Zhang Jingxian looked back secretly. In just a short moment, the man's elegant appearance was ruined.
Xie Yun's sleeves were stained with grass and dirt, and perhaps due to the pain or the excessive force of controlling the wooden wheel, veins appeared faintly on his forehead and the back of his hands, twisting and distorting them in a terrifying way.
But he had a cold face and showed no intention of asking Zhang Jingxian for help.
Until, a monkey climbing a tree not far away, perhaps finding it interesting, threw a leftover peach pit over. The peach pit was neither too big nor too small, and it just happened to get stuck between the gaps of the wooden wheels.
The chariot stopped, and Xie Yun's face turned gloomy for a moment, his fingers tightly gripping the wooden wheel.
Zhang Jingxian was stunned for a moment, then forced the corners of her lips down and loudly scolded the bad monkey, "You are not allowed to eat my peaches this year."
The wild peaches in the mountains taste sour, but the peaches grown from the peach trees she carefully tends are sweet and soft, and are recognized as a delicacy by monkeys.
In order to please Zhang Jingxian and get delicious peaches, the monkeys have run to her fields at the foot of the mountain to help her pull weeds for three consecutive years.
Otherwise, Zhang Jingxian would have to rely on herself to clear the wild weeds that grew wildly in the □□ acres of land, and she would be so tired that she couldn't even straighten her back.
The monkey was smart and could understand some human language. When it heard that humans forbade it to eat peaches, it scratched its fur anxiously and ran away.
Looking at the direction it ran, Zhang Jingxian curled her lips again. This monkey must be helping her pull weeds.
However, when she turned to face Xie Yun, she was full of genuine concern, without showing any clues. "My dear, please don't move. I will take out the peach pit right away."
The chariot that had only taken a few hours to make was unusable. Zhang Jingxian took out the peach pit and found that the hemp rope had loosened, so she bent down and carefully reinforced it.
After a busy day, she was sweating and her cheeks were slightly red.
Sunlight shone through the leaves, birds chirped one after another, and in the vivid green, Xie Yun easily saw the small mole on the tip of her nose.
The color is very light and fades out of sight at a distance.
His gaze was like a substance, wandering coldly over her face, searching for any evidence of her ulterior motives.
The mole is in this position and it is deliberately dangling under his nose. Is she sure that he will be interested?
However, Xie Yun was suspicious by nature and didn't buy it at all.
"Okay, my dear, you can continue to push the wooden wheel forward." Zhang Jingxian breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the plum and the colorful feather pendant she made, and stood up.
"Well, I wonder where Ah Xian's uncle's house is?" Xie Yun asked her softly, without loosening her tightly clenched fingers.
He forced himself to suppress the rage that surged in his heart, smashed the chariot beneath him, killed the monkey that embarrassed him, and most importantly, forced her to tell him why she was so close to him and why she was showing her charm in front of him!
"My uncle's house, over there." Zhang Jingxian pointed casually, a look of worry appearing on her face.
She came to see her uncle and hoped she wouldn't run into her aunt. Her aunt was still angry and wouldn't let her finish her words.
Xie Yun lowered his eyes and looked in the direction she pointed. Under the shade of the tall mulberry trees, there were children with pigtails playing, women washing clothes by the stream, men carrying hoes and walking hurriedly, and several big yellow dogs wagging their tails.
More than 20 families in this remote mountain village live a simple and peaceful life, as if they have never experienced any hardships.
"There have been frequent wars in the past hundred years, but it seems that this place has never been affected." He recalled the scene of nine out of ten houses in the village being empty, and said lightly.
Hearing this, Zhang Jingxian glanced at him, and after enduring it for a while, she opened her mouth to retort, "The autumn tax increases every two or three years, and there are also conscriptions that never stop. Even if the northern barbarians hadn't invaded here four years ago, life wouldn't be easy for us rural villagers."
Xie Yun sat in the sedan chair, looking up at her from below, his eyes calm.
Born as a commoner, I am able to live a stable life in a chaotic world, working from sunrise to sunset, and I should be content.
Zhang Jingxian looked him in the eye and lowered her voice. "You've met Aunt Qin, my dear. She was originally married to an uncle in the village. Ten years ago, the county conscripted men to build the city wall, and he was taken away. He returned and died within two months. Aunt Qin didn't wait a year before marrying my second uncle. If she didn't remarry, she would have to pay a fine of one hu of grain every year on top of the capitation tax."
She stood on a high place, and seemed to see that everyone was wrapped in a chain, unable to break free, and could only accept the fate that was arranged for them ignorantly.
The life and death of common people are never worth mentioning.
For this realization, Zhang Jingxian knew she had to thank the man by her side.
Born as a peasant girl, she had never touched a book and only knew a few words on the signs in Wuyang County. In her previous life, he taught her how to read and told her the stories and profound truths contained in books.
Kings, generals, talented men and beautiful women, famous scholars and romantics, countless people have lived lives that were either sensational, brilliant, tragic, or unrestrained.
But millions of people, like her and the villagers of Xishan Village, were transformed into the same two words in the book: common people.
They have never been cared about.
Even though we have to work so hard to get the only food and clothing we can have, we should still be told that we should be content.
For the first time, Xie Yun noticed that her gaze did not avoid him, and he even saw some anger and sadness in it.
She was a commoner, the lowly peasant girl he spoke of, and had never received real respect from him.
Silence spread silently and no one spoke.
At this time, a wild peach with a red tip fell from the sky and almost hit Xie Yun's injured leg.
There's no need to look, nine times out of ten it was thrown by the monkey just now as an apology.
Xie Yun grabbed the wild peach, pursed his thin lips, and a chilly air emanated from his body. He spoke slowly, "If wild animals hurt people, they must not be kept alive."
If he had a bow and arrow, he would have shot the monkey to death with one arrow.
Zhang Jingxian pretended not to understand his hint and walked towards her uncle's house.
The peach, with its red tip, still tasted quite sweet. The monkey had been naughty, but he had already apologized. In a way, he was more polite than humans.
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As they approached the village, Xie Yun's presence began to become conspicuous, and many people looked at him curiously.
"Ah Xian, could he be the noble man?" An auntie passed by carrying a wooden basin filled with dirty clothes and asked boldly.
What secrets could a small village like Xishan Village have? The fact that Zhang Shuanghu's niece Ah Xian carried a noble man down the mountain and stayed at her home to recuperate became known to everyone in just two days.
When the family was alone behind closed doors, every household had heatedly discussed the identity, height, and appearance of this noble man, making up all sorts of fantastic stories.
Someone went to ask the village elders and learned that the nobleman was seriously injured. They were worried that the death of the person in the village would bring disaster.
But today, I saw that he was a noble man!
This kind of appearance is like what the Zheng family members were muttering about, such as "Zhanbi" and "Luzhu". Although they didn't quite understand what they said, they were praising the young man's handsomeness. Auntie couldn't help but glance at Xie Yun's face. When she heard Zhang Jingxian's response, her expression quickly became uneasy.
The nobleman smiled and nodded to her and greeted her. She didn't dare to respond vaguely and hurriedly walked away with the wooden basin.
The rest of the people only dared to take a sneak peek and mutter in their hearts.
The village elders told everyone that the noble man was seriously injured. Not only could he not walk, he also couldn't remember his family. This doesn't seem to be the case. At most, his leg injury has not healed.
"They are just curious and have no bad intentions. Please don't mind it, my lord."
Zhang Jingxian walked to her uncle's house and whispered an explanation for the villagers' behavior. She was very careful not to let him feel disgusted with her and Xishan Village.
Just one of his close confidants was too much for the common people to afford to offend.
Xie Yun, Marquis of Changling, was an even more unreachable existence to them.
High above, living only in the horizon.
"Ah Xian's worries are unnecessary. I'm not so narrow-minded as to get angry if someone looks at me for even a second longer." Xie Yun said lightly, and reminded her with a smile that it was time to knock on the door.
The mulberry tree nearby is laden with fruits that will be fully ripe in a few days.
Zhang Jingxian plucked up her courage and knocked on the wooden door twice. A pale red mulberry fell down and the door opened. Zhang Xiaer called out "Big Sister" in surprise.
"It's Xia'er, is your uncle home?"
Zhang Jingxian bent down and asked her little cousin in a gentle voice, then handed her a few big, round plums in her hand.
"Sweet!" Little girl Zhang Xiaer took a bite and couldn't stop smiling with joy. She knew that as long as her elder sister came over, she would have something delicious.
Last time it was honey and this time it’s plums.
It was strange, why was it that only the elder sister could find these? The elder sister told her that it was because the elder sister often went into the mountains.
Little girl Xia'er felt something was wrong. Her parents and the adults in the village all said that there were man-eating wild beasts in the mountains, such as tigers, wolves, and bears. There were many of them, and children could eat them in one bite without even spitting out the bones.
The elder sister is clearly not injured!
"Father is not at home. He went to the fields to weed." The little girl answered crisply after eating a plum. When she saw Xie Yun, her mouth opened wide again.
A person I have never seen before, and he is so tall, sitting... "Xia'er, what are you doing standing at the door? You want to be lazy again, why don't you learn from your sister."
Liu Pingniang walked over with a soup spoon in her hand and a look of anger on her face. When she saw Zhang Jingxian, her face suddenly changed.
"Get out! Get out of here!"
In anger, she threw the spoon in her hand straight over.
Zhang Jingxian did not hide. She closed her eyes and calmly faced the coming pain.
However, the spoon did not hit her.
She opened her eyes and looked at the hand that was clasping her arm, a bruise appearing on it.
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Mmm~ Changed to a simple and clear cover~
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