Chapter 76
After Fan Changyu took Changning to the tent that Gongsun Yin had allocated to the two sisters, he fetched some water and helped Changning wash up.
While tying Changning's hair into a bun, she asked, "Ningniang, do you still remember how you were captured?"
Chang Ning counted on his fingers and recalled carefully: "Ajie hid us in the cellar. Later, Aunt Zhao took Ning Niang to escape. On the way, they met soldiers. They walked a long way and sent us to an inn. Aunt Zhao said that was the city of Jizhou and we were safe."
Fan Changyu realized that the inn Changning was referring to was the post station where the government of Zhuzhou temporarily accommodated them, and asked hurriedly, "What happened next?"
Chang Ning still felt a little scared when she thought about how she was taken away at the post station. Her eyes became red again. "Later, the inn suddenly caught fire. A bad guy hacked Aunt Zhao with a knife, tied her up, gagged her, put her in a box and took her away..."
At this point, she couldn't help crying out loud: "Sister, Aunt Zhao lost a lot of blood. Is Aunt Zhao dead too?"
Fan Changyu patted her back and coaxed her, "Aunt Zhao is fine. She is still in Jizhou now. You can see her when you go back."
Only then did Changning stop crying.
Fan Changyu asked her, "Was Ning Niang put into a box by those villains and taken out of the city in a carriage?"
Chang Ning nodded and continued, "When Ning Niang was released, there were mountains everywhere. They threw away the boxes and carriages, took Ning Niang away on horseback, and brought her to a large house. They locked Ning Niang in a dark room. After several days, a fierce nanny took Ning Niang out. The nanny asked Ning Niang to play with Bao Er."
Fan Changyu was a little puzzled: "Isn't Bao'er locked up like you?"
Chang Ning thought for a moment and said, "She was locked up, but those fierce maids and servants were trying to tease Bao'er. They called Bao'er "Little Master", but Bao'er ignored them. Bao'er said that a bad guy had locked up his mother, and he could only see his mother again if he was obedient."
The more Fan Changyu listened, the more confused he became. What Changning said about being locked up sounded more like imprisonment.
Moreover, those servants called Bao'er Young Master. Could it be that Yu Qianqian's husband was from that mansion?
Even if Fan Changyu was not very smart, he knew that this matter was related to counter-insurgency and was probably not a simple one.
Chang Ning looked up and asked Fan Changyu: "Sister, when my brother-in-law's injury is healed, can we go together to rescue Baoer and Aunt Yu?"
Fan Changyu said: "After we get down the mountain, Sister will go to Chongzhou to get the news."
Changning was happy again.
Fan Changyu noticed something tied with a red string around her neck and asked, "What is this?"
Chang Ning took out a very delicate little pig jade pendant. She said, "Before I left, Baoer gave it to me. The one he gave me last time was left at home. He said he always wore the straw cricket I gave him, so he gave me this little pig pendant again so that I can always wear it."
The jade pendant that was given to her before was a bit big, and it was shaped like a jade lock. It was fine for Yu Baoer to hang it outside her clothes on weekdays, but when Chang Ning hung it outside her clothes, it looked a bit out of place.
In order to avoid arousing envy and also to prevent Changning from accidentally breaking the jade lock while playing with the kids in the alley, Fan Changyu asked Changning to leave the jade lock at home.
She picked up the piglet jade pendant and looked at it carefully. Even if she didn't know much about jade, she could clearly feel that the texture of this jade pendant was softer than the jade lock. It must be worth a lot of money. There was a word "treasure" engraved on the bottom of the jade pendant, as if it was specially made.
Fan Changyu guessed that this was some gift that Yu Qianqian had prepared for Yu Baoer in the past. As for why it was carved into the shape of a pig, considering that Yu Baoer was about the same age as Changning, perhaps Yu Baoer was also born in the year of the pig?
She felt that the meaning of this jade pendant to Yu Baoer might be more important than the last jade pendant.
When two children meet an old friend in a foreign land, they probably regard each other as their only playmates.
Fan Changyu helped Changning put the jade pendant into her collar and said, "Then you should wear it carefully and don't lose it. After rescuing Bao'er and her mother, you can return the jade pendant to Bao'er. This gift is too valuable. Bao'er is still young, so we can't accept it. Do you understand?"
Chang Ning nodded. "Just like last time, if Aunt Yu agreed to give it to you, then you can accept it, right?"
Fan Changyu smiled and touched her head: "Yes."
Changning hadn't had a good sleep in the past few days. That night, he stayed next to Fan Changyu and yawned after not talking for long.
Fan Changyu coaxed Changning to sleep, and thinking that when he saw Yan Zheng during the day, there was still some blood on his body that had not been cleaned off, he fetched a basin of water and went to his tent.
He has always been a clean person. If he had not been injured so badly, he would definitely not be able to stand the smell of the herbal residue and blood stains on his body.
When Fan Changyu passed by, the light in Xie Zheng's tent was still on.
She didn't know if there were any new wounded soldiers transferred to the military camp after she left, so she called out at the door, "Yan Zheng, are you asleep?"
"Not yet." A deep voice came from inside.
Fan Changyu went in carrying the basin of water. When he opened the curtain, he found Xie Zheng with his upper body naked, wrapping the gauze around his waist again and again. There were two empty golden medicine bottles on the table beside him.
There was cold sweat on his forehead. Perhaps the pain made him feel a little bad. When he looked at the door, his expression was a little cold. When he saw that it was Fan Changyu, his eyes softened a little. "Why are you here?"
Fan Changyu said, "I'll bring you a basin of water to wash yourself with."
She noticed that the gauze he had changed was stained with blood again. Thinking of the previous hug, she looked guilty: "Did I squeeze the wound before?"
Xie Zheng had already tied the gauze, put on his robe and said, "No."
Although he denied it, Fan Changyu still felt guilty. He felt even more guilty when he thought about how he got hurt saving Changning. Seeing that he was about to tie up the laces of his robe, he said, "Don't put it on yet. Let me wipe it for you."
Xie Zheng's brows wrinkled consciously: "You help me?"
Fan Changyu just thought that this was not the first time she had done this. When she first picked him up, she pressed him down and applied medicine. There was nothing to avoid, so she nodded generously and said, "Your wound cannot be exposed to water, and you can't wipe your back by yourself. If you feel embarrassed, I can go outside and find a little brother to help you."
Xie Zheng had already untied the laces and said, "Come on."
The ink-black robe was open, casting a dark shadow under the candlelight. The solid and evenly-proportioned texture was as white as warm jade. The gauze that was wrapped diagonally from his shoulders to his ribs set off his cold brows, making him look fragile yet strong.
Fan Changyu picked up the handkerchief and wiped his face bit by bit.
Xie Zheng was sitting at the head of the bed, and seemed to be stunned for a moment, as if he had not expected her to wipe her face first.
Fan Changyu gently and patiently helped him wipe the blood and dirt off his face. He smiled and said, "When I found you, you were much dirtier than you are now. Your face was covered in blood and you couldn't even recognize your original appearance."
Xie Zheng said nothing, but just watched Fan Changyu's every move quietly.
Her facial features were extremely beautiful, and under the candlelight, her entire body seemed to be covered in a layer of soft light. Just by looking at her, I felt that all the anxiety in my heart had subsided.
After wiping his face, Fan Changyu rolled out the handkerchief again and wiped his upper body. He stopped when the handkerchief was about to touch the gauze. He raised his hand and gently touched the scar that ran across his chest through the gauze, and whispered, "It must be very painful, right?"
Xie Zheng still only answered: "It doesn't hurt."
Fan Changyu stopped talking, and when he raised his head after a moment, his eyes were slightly red.
Xie Zheng raised his hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, looked at her for a while, then suddenly lowered his head and placed a kiss on her eyelid.
It was so light that Fan Changyu felt like being brushed by a feather.
She blinked a little uncomfortably and stared at Xie Zheng blankly. She was obviously not used to this sudden intimacy, but she didn't reject it either.
When she was in a daze, her eyes were clear and innocent, and she also had a bit of honesty that made her easy to bully.
Xie Zheng's voice sounded a little deep in the silent military tent: "Why are you staring at me?"
Fan Changyu was silent for a moment, then said something shocking: "You kissed me?"
The curtains were not drawn tightly, and the mountain wind blew in from outside. The candlelight flickered, and the shadows cast by the two people were also stretched to pieces.
Xie Zheng looked at her and hummed softly, but his eyes were so deep that it was shocking.
There was another long silence.
Until Fan Changyu suddenly stood up, touched him on the forehead quickly, and said, "It's even."
Then he picked up the basin and left the tent.
Xie Zheng stared at her back and was unable to come back to his senses for a long time.
He had clearly kissed her more aggressively, and could feel the tenderness that still remained on her forehead, but he could not stop the joy in his heart at that moment, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
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Fan Changyu didn't sleep well that night after she returned home. Having known Yan Zheng for such a long time, she almost always treated Yan Zheng as a family member and friend, so she was so angry when he suddenly flirted with her last time.
Not only because of his rudeness, but also because I had always trusted him, but he betrayed this trust.
But after going through so much, the anger she had at that time had long since disappeared, and she just hoped that everyone she cherished would be well.
Knowing that his life or death in the mountains was unknown, she subconsciously wanted to find him.
As for what to do after finding him, she wanted to live the same life as before. It was not like she couldn't afford to support him with an extra mouth to feed.
But what happened tonight suddenly made her a little confused. He kissed her again, but she was not angry. She just kissed him on the head more vigorously!
Fan Changyu turned over in bed irritably and found that the quilt on Changning had been rolled away. He quickly turned back and covered Changning with the quilt again.
It was not until four o'clock in the morning that she finally fell into a light sleep.
After daybreak, Fan Changyu got up with a panda eye, helped Changning wash up, and went to the Fire Battalion to get food for the wounded soldiers. He heard complaints from the Fire Battalion that they had not caught any game in the past two days, so they could not provide food for the wounded camp.
Fan Changyu remembered what the military doctor said about Xie Zheng's body needing to be nourished. How could he do that without eating meat?
She planned to go deep into the woods with the hunting soldiers after breakfast to see if they could hunt anything good.
She delivered medicine and breakfast to Xie Zheng. Because of what happened last night, she was afraid that it would be more awkward when they met, so she asked other soldiers to do it.
Gongsun Yin went to Xie Zheng early in the morning to report official business and found that Xie Zheng had an extremely bad temper. After some indirect inquiries, he learned that Fan Changyu had not been to Xie Zheng all morning. He was very puzzled and went around looking for Fan Changyu.
Fan Changyu had already packed her things and was about to go into the mountains. She was planning to send Changning to Xie Zheng first and ask him to help look after her. When Gongsun Yin arrived, she asked him to take Changning over.
Gongsun Yin was very surprised to learn that Fan Changyu was going into the mountains to hunt. Fearing that something might happen to her as a girl, he secretly sent two more bodyguards to follow her.
When he took Chang Ning to find Xie Zheng, he discovered that the two twisted buns on her head were really ugly and eye-catching.
He couldn't help but ask, "Little girl, didn't your sister comb your hair this morning?"
Chang Ning touched her hair and said, "I combed it and even re-tied it!"
Gongsun Yin: "..."
How can it be that combed hair looks uglier than uncombed hair?
He endured it all the way, but finally couldn't help it and took off the bun on Changning's head and tied it again.
Facing the confusion of the other guards, the guard who had followed Xie Zheng the longest whispered, "Mr. Gongsun sometimes just can't stand things that are not neat, like the kid's hair tied up in different heights, which can make Mr. Gongsun uncomfortable for the whole day."
The author has something to say:
Gongsun (spreading his hands): Is it my fault that you have obsessive-compulsive disorder?
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