65 Chapter 65
You just don't want to kill anymore.
Cheng Mu looked him up and down again and again. Mu Yun's hairs stood up in respect and his skin felt itchy.
"Mu Yun, I always thought you were a woman. That's why I was angry about you joining the army to fight the enemy. I was afraid that if I asked you to pretend to be a man, you might have changed your mind. I was also worried that you wouldn't be able to hide your gender in the barracks and would be bullied or suffer misfortune. You said you wanted wealth and luxury, but I can also make you rich and comfortable. Since you don't want it, I guess what you mean by wealth and luxury is power. I respect your pursuit, but I still worry about you, lest you accidentally reveal it."
"Haha," Cheng Mu sneered, "So you're not a woman. Mu Yun, did you know from the beginning that I thought you were a woman?"
All the worries are a joke.
"When we first met, you were dressed as a girl."
Mu Yun actually knew, but he didn't dare say that he knew. Cheng Mu was very bothered by this. She was very bothered.
Mu Yun's jaw tightened. "At the time, someone in my family was trying to kill me, so I escaped. If I hadn't disguised myself as a girl, it would have been difficult to evade their search. You lent me your hairpin in exchange for money, and after that matter was resolved, I remember telling you about it. Then you asked me to pretend to be your brother-in-law, so I thought you knew."
"Whether I know or not, you at least know it," Cheng Mu said depressedly: "After moving, in order to save coal, I let you live with me..."
Mu Yun said honestly: "I refused."
Cheng Mu accused: "You didn't refuse me at the horse farm, I held you in my arms while sleeping."
Cheng Mu's face flushed instantly when these words came out. Mu Yun's heart trembled, and he turned away with a bitter look on his face. "The situation was very serious at that time. You were locked up, scared and cold."
Cheng Mu suddenly remembered something very important. "There was blood on the kang that night. I thought you had your period. Later, I gave you a menstrual belt, and you took it."
It was this bloodstain that made her firmly believe that Mu Yun was a girl.
"That's..." Mu Yun's ears were dyed red, "That's my nosebleed. I was bleeding because you held me while I slept."
Mu Yun's tone was innocent, and Cheng Mu felt embarrassed.
There's no more chatting today.
"I'm holding a menstrual pad and telling you about menstruation, and you're listening to a nosebleed?"
Mu Yun said even more innocently: "I don't know what Guishui is..."
Cheng Mu was in a mess and she changed her sitting position speechlessly.
So it's all her own opinion.
She also boasted that she had received modern education and understood knowledge about the relationship between the sexes, but in fact she could not distinguish between men and women.
But Mu Yun used to be delicate and weak, and he couldn't even beat Gui'er. After seeing him dressed as a girl, he didn't look out of place at all!
Cheng Xi couldn't help but confirm again: "How old are you? Tell the truth."
Mu Yun: "Seventeen."
"A year old?"
"Turn over the seventeenth day of the lunar year."
"What's your birthday? Tell me the truth."
"In February. February eighth."
Two years ago, his body began to change. He thought he would be discovered, was afraid of being discovered, but also hoped to be discovered. It can be said that his life was very confused.
My sister-in-law is not stupid, she just doesn't see the truth in the light. It was right for her to leave for a while. Look, she saw it at a glance after she came back.
Mu Yun broke the silence: "If you have nothing to say, shall I go kill the chicken first?"
It was quite a surprise. Cheng Mu was not used to realizing that Mu Yun was a man.
It’s better for men. They don’t have to pretend to be the brother-in-law and worry about being exposed. It’s easier for men to live in this era.
Anyway, everyone around him treats him as a man.
Cheng Xi took a few deep breaths, got up and went to the kitchen to boil some water.
Mu Yun walked into the kitchen, holding the chicken's wings behind his back in his hands. Cheng Mu took out a bowl and handed it to him.
Mu Yun returned with a bowl of red wine.
Cheng Xi stared at the bowl and realized something. "Have you ever killed anyone?"
"Um."
"Are you not afraid?"
"I'm afraid. I also have nightmares."
Seeing that she wanted to listen, Mu Yun said, "It's not so bad on the battlefield. If you don't kill, you will be killed. When the big knife pierces, it will hit the bone. That will explode your brain and you won't be able to hear anything."
Cheng Mu heard something else, "Have you killed people outside the battlefield?"
"They raided the homes of many people. They were part of the Yan Party, the rebels in the south, and during their purge, they raided the homes of many people. To be honest, it's rare for a normal person to be so cruel to someone they have no grudge against. I've never been bullied by them."
Cheng Mu looked at him, "So you didn't quit your job because you missed home too much. You just didn't want to kill anymore."
Mu Yun's eyelashes trembled slightly.
Cheng Mu reached out, took the red bowl, and put it somewhere where it would not be knocked over.
Mu Yun put down the knife, scooped up water to rinse his hands that were covered with chicken feathers, said nothing more, and silently went to the stove to put firewood.
The water in the pot began to steam and produce dense bubbles. After a while, the water boiled.
Next, scald the chicken and pluck its feathers.
Qi Bo came back with a bag of corn and took over the processing of the chickens while Cheng Mu and Mu Yun were grinding cornmeal.
No one spoke anymore and everything was the same as before.
After learning that Mu Yun was a man, Cheng Mu should have sent Mu Yun and Qi Bo to live in the hills behind the house, but the incident of the thief last night was still on her mind. For safety reasons, she arranged for them to live in the two back rooms in the courtyard.
After dinner, Cheng Mu was sitting on the kang making planting records when Gui'er came in.
"Madam Cheng, let me tell you something."
Cheng Xi put away her thread-bound notebook and asked, "What's the matter?"
Gui'er sat down on the kang and said, "You agreed to let me take another husband. Winter is coming soon, and farm work has basically stopped. Can we get it done?"
"Are you anxious?"
"Chen Hu wants to give him a name."
"Have you chosen?"
"I've tried. It can last quite a while, Madam Cheng, let me tell you—"
"Don't tell me," Cheng Mu quickly interrupted her desire to talk and share, "Your mother will be back soon, you can choose a date."
"Why choose a date? The proper wedding has already taken place. This is just like taking a concubine. All we need to do is get a sedan chair and carry her into the house."
Cheng Mu shut up, "Okay then, I'll give you Chen Hu's indenture."
Gui'er nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, I will pay you the ransom money."
It’s okay not to give it, but Cheng Xi can’t guarantee that there won’t be a next time, so it’s better to set a threshold for her.
"Li Yu is the first one. Consider it my encouragement. I didn't ask for too much money to redeem you. Chen Hu has to redeem you properly."
"How many?"
"Ten taels."
Guier was silent.
Cheng Mu: "Why don't you think about it again?"
"Ten taels is ten taels. I'll give it to you in a few days. Madam Cheng, I'm going to live in Songzhuang."
"Go ahead." There was no place for her to bother here.
Cheng Mu opened the box beside the bed and searched for her indenture, but couldn't find it after searching for a long time. Then she remembered that when she went to the county town to seek refuge, this house was uninhabited and she took all the important things with her.
"Gui'er, your indenture is at the house in Puyang City. I need to ask someone to take a message and bring it back when Aunt Yu returns in a couple of days."
"Okay." Gui'er stood up, "I'll stay in Songzhuang tonight."
"Go ahead. Call Sister Xiuying over."
After a while, Xu Xiuying asked at the door, "Mrs. Cheng, you called me?"
Cheng Mu patted the edge of the kang. Before Xu Xiuying sat down, she took off the apron in front of her and held it in her palm.
Cheng Mu said, "Gui'er is staying at Songzhuang tonight. There's a small courtyard there. Why don't you decorate it and move in there?"
Xu Xiuying thought it was Yu and the others who were coming back soon, so she offered to vacate the wing room for them. "Okay. It's convenient for me to stay over there and look after the greenhouse. But, Madam Cheng, are you going to do all the cooking yourself these days, or will I move in when Auntie comes back?"
Cheng Mu laughed, "Do you know why Gui'er moved there today? She asked me for Chen Hu, and she wants to take another husband."
"Good girl." Xu Xiuying was full of admiration. "Guier is indeed a heroine."
"So I remembered, aren't you and Sao Hu..." Cheng Mu understood the unfinished words herself and said, "I was thinking, why not give you Sao Hu's indenture?"
Xu Xiuying pretended to be surprised, "Mrs. Cheng is so generous."
"No, no, this is to pay for your wages. Do you want to accept it?"
Xu Xiuying laughed heartily. "I'm free now. I have things to learn, a house to live in, and a man to enjoy. Madam Cheng has delivered it to my mouth. I'd be stupid not to take it!"
"If you agree, I'll send someone to deliver a message, asking Aunt Yu to bring back Chen Hu and Sao Hu's indentures. Move over to Songzhuang as soon as possible, the sooner you get there, the sooner you can enjoy it."
"Oh, Madam Cheng, you are really..." Xu Xiuying laughed until tears came out, "You only care about letting others enjoy themselves, but you should also take care of yourself. Is there nothing in this ten miles around that you like?"
"Not really."
She did have aspirations, but unfortunately she never met anyone she was attracted to in her previous life and had never been in a relationship.
I couldn’t find it in my previous life, and it’s even harder in this life.
The next day, Saohu came specially to pay her respects to Cheng Mu.
Cheng Mu was surprised and said, "You are very polite."
Sao Hu said excitedly, "Madam Cheng has never been harsh on me or treated me badly. She has provided me with three meals a day and clothes for all seasons. Sao Hu never thought I could live like this when I was in Puyang City. Now Madam Cheng has arranged a marriage for me. Madam Cheng is my parents reborn! My reincarnated father and mother!"
"You should thank yourself for letting go of your old temper and doing your duty. God will not let you down."
"From now on, if you have any orders, Saohu will obey them."
A few days later, Yu and Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi came back, and Mu Yun went to pick them up personally.
The two children were a little reserved and distant at first, but when they returned home they became as familiar as before.
"Mom!" Xiaoliu got off the ox cart and ran to Cheng Mu. "My dad killed a weasel, and Grandma Yu said she could make me a pair of winter boots!"
Xiao Qi came over happily, holding a gray rabbit in his hand. "Daddy gave me a gray rabbit. I can make a rabbit hair brush!"
Xiao Liu said, "Grandma Yu clearly said she would make you a rabbit fur vest! Mom, do you know that Daddy is such a good archer that he can even shoot down wild geese in the sky!"
Cheng Mu was still looking, "Did you shoot a wild goose too?"
"Xiao Qi and I have gifts. We asked Dad to shoot down a wild goose and give it to Mom. Dad asked me to ask you first if you want one."
Send wild geese? Ahem.
Mu Yun untied the rope that pulled the cart, led the horse around, and turned his gaze as well.
They seldom spoke in the past few days. Cheng Mu tried her best to treat him as the Mu Yun of the past, but there was always a fresh feeling reminding him that Mu Yun was a man. He had fought in wars and killed people. His voice after his body changed could not be ignored. He was no longer the child he used to be.
Cheng Mu glanced away, "Mother doesn't want anything. Hurry up and put your things down, wash your hands, and then move your own luggage."
With tears of joy in her eyes, Yu held Cheng Mu's hand. "Madam Cheng, after you left for Yunzhou City, my heart was in suspense every day, fearing that you would be tortured by evil people. I never thought that seeing you again would be such a great joy!" Yu patted the back of Cheng Mu's hand heavily. "Now it's all good. No evil people dare to bully you anymore, and Xiaoqi will succeed in the imperial examination. How fortunate! How fortunate!"
"The banquet will be held the day after tomorrow. Aunt Yu, please take care of the arrangements."
“I couldn’t ask for more!”
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