Chapter 54 Xie Yushu's Dog
Xie Jianing rushed to the ancestral hall and heard clanging and banging sounds inside, interspersed with Xie Zhian's screams. The servants in the mansion were desperately banging on the door, trying to get the people inside to open it.
Without their master's orders, the servants dared not easily break down the door of the ancestral hall, so they went to invite Xie Jianing and explained the situation.
Xie Jianing didn't know what was happening inside the ancestral hall, but her father's screams were so clear that she immediately shouted, "Break down the doors and windows! What are you standing there for!"
Before the servants could even grab their weapons and bang on the door, the tightly closed ancestral hall door opened.
Two burly men stood on either side of the door. They respectfully opened the door, and Xie Yushu walked out leisurely from between them. Seeing Xie Jianing's anxious and angry face, he didn't bother to pretend and just smiled and said, "You've come at the right time. Father accidentally bumped his head. Go and fetch a doctor."
How could someone possibly bump their head out of nowhere?
Xie Jianing, not bothering to deal with Xie Yushu, ordered, "Take her down!" and strode into the ancestral hall.
I was stunned as soon as I stepped inside. The ancestral hall was in a mess, with almost all the ancestral tablets lying on the ground. Xie Zhi'an was lying among the tablets, struggling and groaning in pain.
"Father!" Xie Jianing rushed over to help Xie Zhian up from the ground. He was terrified by the blood all over Xie Zhian's head and face. He didn't care about anything else and just frantically called for a doctor!
The servants who had tried to stop Xie Yushu outside the door had already been taken down by her and Xiao Dao, who had arrived, and none of them responded to her orders.
Xie Jianing turned back to look outside the door and saw servants lying on the ground groaning in pain. Xiao Dao, dressed as a servant, stood protectively in front of Xie Yushu, trying to take her away.
She was furious. Why was even Xiaodao protecting Xie Yushu? Did Xiaodao also like Xie Yushu?
She couldn't quite pinpoint the source of her sense of loss. During the chaos of war in the prefectures and kingdoms, she was nearly captured by the rebel Song King's men. It was General Pei and Xiao Dao who rushed over and rescued her. These days, she had returned to Bianjing with the army, and it was General Pei and Xiao Dao who had taken good care of her. It wasn't that she had any romantic feelings for them; it was just that from childhood to adulthood, she had always been the center of everyone's attention. Everyone would naturally flock around her, admire her, and favor her, without exception.
But now even a lowly deputy general like Xiaodao is favoring Xie Yushu, as if all the glory and attention are directed towards Xie Yushu. Why? She is not reconciled, she is absolutely not reconciled.
"Xiao Dao!" she called Xiao Dao's name in the local dialect, staring at him and saying, "Have you forgotten General Pei's orders?"
Xiao Dao finally stopped and turned to look at her.
Her face was full of arrogance as she continued to speak to him in the local dialect: "General Pei ordered you to escort me back to the Marquis's residence and then immediately return to your unit. You are not to linger in Bianjing. Are you going to disobey General Pei's orders?"
She told Xiaodao to return to the army immediately and not to do anything more for Xie Yushu.
Before Xiao Dao could answer, Xie Yushu, who was beside him, chuckled softly and then turned to leave.
Xiao Dao panicked and instinctively reached out to grab her arm, but when he touched it, he changed his hand to pull her sleeve and said in a very low and soft voice, "Don't be angry."
He looks like a dog!
Xie Jianing was so angry that she called him again in the local dialect: "Little Knife, why aren't you hurrying up..."
Xiao Dao was furious. He turned his head and glared at her, coldly replying in the Junguo language, "I'm not escorting you back, I'm only doing this to see her! I don't care about Pei Heng's orders at all. Let him kill me."
After saying that, he grabbed Xie Yushu's wrist without caring about the stares of others and strode away with her.
Xie Jianing never expected to suffer repeated setbacks. She was so angry that her whole body was trembling. Why did it have to turn out like this? In just over two years, how could that insignificant illegitimate daughter Xie Yushu have taken everything from her?
She seemed to see her former "unbridled" nature being taken away by Xie Yushu. She dared to disobey her father, dared to smash the ancestral hall in such a rebellious manner, and even dared to injure her own father. Now she just swaggered away like this.
It seems like everyone is backing Xie Yushu up; she can't just let Xie Yushu go like this!
"Guards! Tie Xie Yushu up!" She supported her injured father and gave the order again. She refused to believe that the servants of the Marquis of Yong'an's mansion couldn't handle Xie Yushu!
But to her surprise, the servants rushed over, but looked at each other and did not immediately take action. Instead, they sent someone to report back to her mother.
After such a long time, the servants of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion no longer treated her as their mistress.
Soon, Zhenniang arrived with her mother's words and spoke to her gently, "Madam, you must have misunderstood this matter. How could Miss Yushu dare to lay a hand on Master? It would be better to wait until Master is more sober before asking him in detail."
Even if Xie Jianing was stupid, she could see the current situation in the mansion. Her mother was openly favoring Xie Yushu, even disregarding her father's safety.
It turns out that it wasn't just Song Jie who was supporting Xie Yushu; her mother, the Lady of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, was also supporting Xie Yushu, which is why Xie Yushu was allowed to act so recklessly.
Her heart was completely broken; the words "things have changed, people are no longer the same" filled every corner of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion.
She had underestimated Xie Yushu before.
Standing in the messy ancestral hall, her heart was completely dead. She no longer insisted on taking down Xie Yushu. Didn't Xie Yushu just want to see her and her mother fall out and her father break off their relationship?
She would never let Xie Yushu succeed.
"Since Mother thinks so, I have nothing more to say." She said nothing more, left the ancestral hall, and went to see her injured father.
※
The doctor had already bandaged Xie Zhi'an's wound. Fortunately, he had only bumped his head and had no other injuries or signs of being beaten.
Although not serious, it was the most severe injury he had ever suffered in his life, and it was his own daughter who had done it. He was furious and ordered his men to bring Xie Yushu back to the Marquis's mansion.
Xie Jianing coldly stopped him, saying, "Mother will not agree. Mother will definitely protect her."
Her tone even turned sarcastic: "Father should know very well that not only will Mother protect Xie Yushu, but the Meng family will probably also applaud and support her."
She found it hard to say anything more vicious to her father, but wasn't he "deserving" of what he had done today? If her father hadn't wronged her mother first, how could her mother have become estranged from him? How could he have allowed a concubine's daughter to commit such a rebellious act?
Looking at his daughter's indifferent face, Xie Zhi'an knew very well that his daughter also thought he deserved it. Overwhelmed with grief, he burst into tears.
All the anger he had endured that day erupted at this moment. He held his daughter's hand and wept bitterly, saying, "It's all my fault for letting you and your mother down... You and your mother can blame me however you want, but Jianing... I've cherished you since you were little and never hit or scolded you... Even if I'm not a good husband, I'm still a good father, right?"
Xie Jianing didn't want to be soft-hearted towards him, but seeing his gray hair made her eyes red. She couldn't deny how good her father was to her; there was no better father in Bianjing.
"Father already knows he was wrong, and Father will no longer consider bringing them into the manor... What else do you and your mother need to forgive Father?" Xie Zhi'an asked her, crying, "Jia Ning, what do you want Father to do? Father will do his best to make it up to you and your mother..."
Looking at her father who had doted on her since childhood, Xie Jianing felt a tearing pain in her heart. She held back her tears and said, "If you really want to make it up to me and Mother, then send that woman and her child out of Bianjing."
Xie Zhi settled in.
"You can give them whatever amount of money you want, but you absolutely cannot let them stay in Bianjing, and you can't go see them again." Xie Jianing said ruthlessly, "Since Father wants Mother to forgive you and wants to live well with us, you must at least do these things to make Mother believe you."
Xie Zhian saw a strange ruthlessness in his daughter's eyes; the Jia Ning of the past was not like this.
"Can't even do this much, Dad?" Xie Jianing asked him. She wanted to help her mother drive away Ye Xizhu and her daughter, and to make her father completely change his ways. As long as her father really changed, then this family could still be saved.
She wanted to drive Xie Yushu out of her territory as if she were reclaiming lost land.
After leaving her father's room, she summoned the foreign attendant who had accompanied her back and asked him to inform General Pei that Xiaodao had been taken away by Xie Yushu.
She wasn't lying about this; Xiao Dao did indeed follow Xie Yushu and get into her carriage.
The gatekeeper of the Yong'an Marquis's residence came to report to her that not only had Xiao Dao gotten into Xie Yushu's carriage, but Prime Minister Song's carriage had also blocked hers. Prime Minister Song personally went to her carriage to ask her to get down and talk.
Xie Yushu didn't get off the carriage at all, nor did he speak to Prime Minister Song. He simply ordered the carriage to turn around and leave.
Xie Jianing looked down on Song Jie even more after hearing this. Before, Song Jie had been chasing after her, but after she left, he started chasing after Xie Yushu, who resembled her. Was this love?
He doesn't understand love at all, nor does he know how to love.
Her aunt used to tell her to stay away from Song Jie and tell her about Song Jie's past, and she felt sorry for Song Jie. Now she understands that her aunt was right. Someone like Song Jie, who was never properly loved by his parents, would not know how to love others.
He's like a dog that's been beaten and scolded since childhood. As long as someone treats him a little nicely, he'll wag his tail and beg for favors from that person.
If someone else treats him better, he will try even harder to please that person. This is not love; it is just fear of being abandoned or beaten.
It would be incredibly easy for her to reclaim the lost territory belonging to Song Jie.
※
After the guests left and the banquet was over, it started raining again in Bianjing.
Xie Yushu's carriage stopped outside the back gate of the Pei residence, where Jin Ye and Yin Ya stood under the eaves of the back gate waiting.
Only Xie Yushu and Xiaodao remained in the carriage.
Before she could speak, Xiao Dao hurriedly explained that he would escort Xie Jianing back to the mansion because this was the only opportunity he could come back to see her.
Pei Heng originally intended to take him back to Bianjing with the army and go directly to the palace to see the emperor, but he wanted to see Xie Yushu first, because he didn't know if he could leave the palace smoothly this time...
He explained for a long time, but Xie Yushu remained silent, only looking at him.
Xiao Dao felt flustered and couldn't help but kneel down closer to her and ask, "Are you angry?"
The interior of the car was dimly lit. He had removed his straw hat and face mask, revealing a pale honey-colored face in the dim light.
He's gotten a bit darker, but he's also more muscular.
Xie Yushu reached out and gently touched a new scar on the right eyebrow. The scar was still tender red, as if the scab had just fallen off.
"I'm not angry." Her voice became very soft. "Was this a wound sustained during the war?"
Her gentle fingertips and tender voice so easily broke Xiao Dao's heart. Even though he had suffered many injuries and didn't care about this pain at all, being touched and cared for by her made him feel weak and his eyes inexplicably welled up with tears.
"Are there any other injuries?" she asked him, her eyes scanning his face.
She wasn't angry with him; she was just worried about him.
Xiao Dao couldn't hold back any longer and reached out to hug her, burying himself in her arms. The scent of her made his heart and throat go hoarse: "I think about coming back to see you every day..."
Every day, every moment on the battlefield.
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Author's Note: Song Jie is about to suffer a lot, so I'm giving you a heads-up. [Let me see...]
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