119 Chapter 119
◎We shouldn't live under the same roof anymore◎
The streets were bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder. Various lanterns were hung in front of the shops, and the lights were on. The vendors were busy all the time. Occasionally, there were jugglers, and passers-by would stand on tiptoe and cheer, making the scene very lively.
Cheng Mu ordered everyone to hold hands tightly so as not to get separated.
Wanli and Tong'erdan were with them. Cheng Mu had no idea where Mu Yun had gone, nor could she care; it was just as well that she couldn't see him. After walking for a while, they encountered a man in brocade clothes wearing the same silver mask. Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi ran over, holding lanterns.
"Mom, let's go to the lantern parade with Dad."
Cheng Mu stood there feeling very embarrassed and wanted to take off the mask immediately.
These two little brats only said that this was for her, why didn’t they mention that it was the same model as Mu Yun’s!
The other person stood there, like the gentle breeze and bright moon, motioned to her, and walked away holding each other's hands.
Huaihua tugged at Cheng Mu's hand, "Madam Cheng, shall we continue walking forward?"
From Baoqing Hutong, they walked along several streets and crossed two bridges. They climbed up the city wall. Many people passed through the city gate and walked towards the suburbs with lanterns in their hands.
I found a sheltered spot on the city wall and looked out. The moon reflected the white snow, sparkling and diluting the darkness of the night. The road was winding, and the lights on the road were dotted like a flowing river of stars.
Huaihua whispered beside him, "It's really beautiful. Madam Cheng, this is my first time climbing up the city wall."
The mute woman took out her handkerchief, dipped the corners of her eyes through her eye sockets, and remembered something.
"People should keep their heads down when doing things, but they should also look up occasionally to see the road ahead." Cheng Mu squeezed their hands and couldn't help but sigh, "The world is vast, and the affairs of the world are endless. If you embrace the world in your heart, your mind will be more peaceful."
The mute woman couldn't speak, and Huaihua couldn't understand her. She just said, "Mrs. Cheng knows a lot."
After coming down from the city wall, Cheng Mu didn't want to go any further, so they turned back.
Passing by a luxurious restaurant, there were many small lanterns hanging from top to bottom. Inside the open windows were people feasting and having fun. Suddenly, someone threw down a handful of golden beans, attracting many people to scramble for them.
There was a tall man who was grabbing the most vigorously. A golden bean rolled towards Cheng Mu and he almost bumped into her. Tonggedan stepped forward to block it and said, "Watch out!"
The man raised his head, and Cheng Mu realized that it was an acquaintance, Master An Cui from Rongchang Escort Agency.
An Cui didn't recognize the masked women, but he did recognize Wan Li. Although he looked a bit downcast, he still tried to maintain some dignity in front of Cheng Mu. He saluted, "Madam Cheng."
"Master An."
He laughed at himself and said, "I am no longer a bodyguard. I am now unemployed."
The crowd cheered, the lantern parade was coming.
Cheng Mu saw a small alley nearby and asked, "Master An, may I have a moment to talk?"
The crowd was getting bigger and bigger, and Cheng Mu didn't like to join in the fun, so Wanli and Tong'erdan protected them and led them to the alley.
Outside the noisy crowd, outside the main street that was as bright as day, An Cui told Cheng Mu about his dismissal from Rongchang.
Cheng Mu only then learned that it was because he had offended Wu Wei that An Cui was beaten by Mu Yun.
"It was an unusual act to offend Madam Cheng at that time. I, An, absolutely did not do it intentionally, nor did I have any other improper intentions."
"There's no point in saying this now. It's already happened. What are Escort Master An's plans for now?"
An Cui said helplessly, "I plan to leave Puyang City or head south after a few days when the weather gets better."
"Still looking for a job as an escort agent in an escort agency?"
"An is not good at farming, but he has some experience in escorting."
"Have you ever thought about recruiting a few people, taking on some assistants, and becoming the head escort yourself?"
"What virtue does An have to establish himself on his own?"
"If you can find a few reliable people and go to Songzhuang to find me in the northwest, I'll hire you as my escort."
He did not immediately agree to the deal because he was not sure. If the goods were lost accidentally, he would not have the money to compensate.
Cheng Mu left him with this message: "Think about it carefully."
When I came out of the alley, the lantern parade had already passed by.
Huaihua excitedly told Cheng Mu, "I just saw Master Mu Yun. He was standing high up. I wonder if the Sixth Young Master and the Seventh Young Master were with him."
At the head of the lantern parade was the City God, with sixteen strong men carrying statues of the City God and his wife, all in a solemn and dignified manner. Behind them were lantern carts funded by various wealthy families and businesses. It's quite possible that the Wuwei Escort Agency produced one.
Huaihua saw Mu Yun, but even if she didn’t see Mu Yun, she knew he saw them.
The mask Cheng Mu wore was made of silver, making it easy to spot in the crowd. Mu Yun saw her standing at the back of the crowd in a small alley, opposite a certain man.
Just that one glance, and my heart sank instantly.
She was no longer in the mood and didn't care that the lantern was specially made for her to see, so she handed the parade over to others and took Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi to guess a few lantern riddles. After the results of the lantern evaluation came out, she went home.
Of course, the lucky draw at the lantern festival was not the simple lanterns they made. Mu Yun bought them the crab lanterns they liked. Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi had a good harvest and didn't mind going home early.
When they got home and saw Wanli and the others had returned, Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi couldn't wait to tell their mother what they had seen and heard tonight.
Mu Yun didn't rush in and asked Wan Li, "Why are you back so early?"
"We walked to the city gate, climbed the tower and came back. Madam Cheng said there were too many people, so we didn't go to see the lanterns."
"Did you meet anyone?"
Wanli thought for a moment, thinking that Young Master Muyun must have known who he had met since Madam Cheng hadn't told him not to tell. He replied, "I met Master An, formerly of the Rongchang Escort Agency. He was the one who had ill intentions towards Madam Cheng at the Wufu Temple. Madam Cheng had a private conversation with him."
Mu Yun couldn't help but ask, "What did you say?"
Wanli scratched his head. "The lantern parade was passing by at the time. It was so noisy that I couldn't hear what they said."
Mu Yun stared at him darkly, and Wanli straightened his back despite the pressure, since he was being watched anyway.
Mu Yun stood outside the study, while Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi inside enthusiastically described some of the lanterns they had seen and some of the riddles they had guessed. After listening to a few sentences, he returned to his room and lay down with his arms as a pillow.
Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi stayed at Cheng Mu's place for a long time in a burst of excitement. The lamps they brought back illuminated the study, and the desk was filled with beautiful lamps they had drawn from memory.
Cheng Mu opened the notebook she had sewn with thread and took down the lamp and other drawings that the two children had made a mess of. For the parts that they really couldn't think of, Cheng Mu would improvise on her own as long as the overall look was harmonious.
"Sister-in-law?"
Someone called out from outside and he pushed the door open and came in.
"You came at the right time. If you don't come to see me today, I will come to see you tomorrow." Cheng Mu became angry instantly and took the initiative.
Mu Yun stood at the door in a daze, as if he had been cast under a spell.
Cheng Mu pretended to be relaxed and said, "Come in and sit there."
Her tone was unfriendly, and she asked him to pass by with a coldness that kept him at a distance.
Mu Yun's heart continued to sink into the abyss. He moved step by step to the desk and sat down opposite her.
"You should move out tomorrow." Cheng Mu said straight to the point, "We shouldn't live under the same roof anymore."
"Why did you treat me like this?"
"You were drunk and acted crazy on New Year's Eve, but you weren't really drunk! I told you, you dared..." You dared to disrespect me, you dared to cross that line. Cheng Mu couldn't even utter these words, and could only vaguely omit them. "We don't need to have any contact in the future."
"What's wrong with me?" Mu Yun didn't look at her. "I just expressed my feelings."
He paused, swallowed, and then restrained his thoughts.
Cheng Mu felt a swelling in her head and her heart was beating wildly for some unknown reason.
Last time he was like a wolf lurking in the dark, but today he has become a dejected dog. How could he be like this!
She took a few deep breaths.
"Mu Yun, I'm six years older than you, and you're not even eighteen yet."
To be precise, it's not just six years older, but a lifetime. Yes, there is a lifetime between them.
Mu Yun was silent.
Cheng Mu was also silent. She found that she could not find a second reason, which made her feel confused.
Huang Nian'an once said to her seriously, "You are a widow and I am a widow, are you willing to come with me?" She and Huang Nian'an shared a secret and were a good match in every way, but she refused immediately because she could not imagine doing anything more intimate with Mr. Huang.
Fan Qingsong also bravely said, "I will be your man, Madam Cheng, are you willing?" She rejected his reasons one by one without leaving any room for negotiation.
Mu Yun is good in every way and does things properly. He is neither timid nor blindly follow others.
She had shared the secret of the space she carried with him a long time ago, and he had treated it as normal until now, as if it was just one of her things, and he did not pursue it or have any evil thoughts about it.
All in all, he is a very good brother-in-law.
If it weren't for his treatment of her - no, before that, when Cheng Xi learned that he was going to marry someone else, she had already made plans to exclude him from her life.
She... is quite shameful. Cheng Xi said nothing more.
Mu Yun stood up and stared down with his charming eyes. Cheng Mu's eyelashes flashed and she looked away hurriedly.
Mu Yun said slowly, "I will be eighteen on the eighth day of next month. I will come to see you again."
Cheng Mu: ...
Oh no! Is she mean?
Mu Yun moved out, and Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi didn't even ask.
She didn't know what to do with Wanli and Tong'edan Cheng Mu, who were at the door, so she just told them that she would return to Songzhuang on the second day of next month, and the two bodyguards would no longer have to endure the inconvenience of being doormen and could do as they pleased.
On the first day of the new year, Liu Zandian and several other people from the yamen came to pay New Year's greetings. After the yamen opened, on the eighteenth day, the magistrate of Puyang County came to invite Cheng Mu, and Cheng Mu went to the yamen.
The county magistrate's wife and mother entertained Cheng Mu very well. Cheng Mu also talked to them about many things in the fields and invited them to visit Songzhuang when they were free. After they came back, she gave them some potted plants that were inconvenient to bring back.
The county magistrate's purpose in inviting her to a banquet was to encourage her to plant good crops, and Cheng Mu naturally accepted. On the first day of the new year, Xu Xiuying arrived with sugar. The sugar beets Cheng Mu had her try were very productive. She made her sugar according to the recipe, and it was finer and sweeter than the sugar from the south. So Cheng Mu lobbied the county magistrate to allow the planting of sugar beets.
On the second day of the second lunar month, the Puyang County Magistrate led a group of people in setting up a temple outside the city's south gate to offer sacrifices, praying for a year of good weather and good harvests. Cheng Mi packed her belongings and, with the help of Sao Hu and Li Yu, traded her two horses for a donkey. She drove two donkey carts out of the city through the west gate and returned to Songzhuang.
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