Chapter 189 It's Going to Snow
The young woman was enraged, "You're just a..."
"Enough, Miss Xu. If you continue to speak offensively, I will take action." Xie Zheng said loudly. "Guards, take Miss Xu home. Also, warn Mr. Xu to keep a close eye on his child so he doesn't embarrass himself."
"you……"
These merciless words instantly filled the young woman with grievance and shame. "Lord Xie, I have always been deeply in love with you, how could you..."
"I appreciate your kindness, young lady, but I cannot accept it. Please return." With that, Xie Zheng walked forward somewhat stiffly.
Song Chunxue lightly supported him as they brushed past the woman.
Actually, the girl did nothing wrong; her mistake was that she didn't know how to speak properly, and her good intentions turned into forceful coercion.
I'm afraid this girl is going to hate her, but what she said was really unpleasant to hear.
The girl ran away crying.
"Miss, Miss, wait for me."
The maidservant chased after her.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, Song Chunxue released Xie Zheng.
Even if that girl is shameless, she probably won't come back.
To be honest, the young girl is straightforward and has a strong sense of love and hate.
If she hadn't said those things in front of Song Chunxue, making a scholar like Xie Zheng lose face, he wouldn't have said such harsh words just now.
It seems that this peach blossom was forced to fall into her hands.
If she hadn't been able to tell that Xie Zheng had no interest in that girl, she would definitely have tried to introduce him to someone more knowledgeable, reasonable, younger, and more beautiful.
But someone like Xie Zheng, who has seen all kinds of girls in the capital, would only have a fleeting romance with a woman of exceptional talent and beauty if he were to have one in this small town.
Song Chunxue had already imagined that Xie Zheng would have a beautiful love story with a charming and stunning innkeeper who was not swayed by worldly conventions and was still unmarried in her early twenties.
She's either a tavern owner or, at the very least, a discerning lady from a prominent family who's unwilling to marry casually.
Lord Xie is a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and that girl is at least well-read.
Thinking this, Song Chunxue entered the main room and sat down on a chair.
"What happened just now..."
"Just now……"
They both spoke at the same time.
Song Chunxue laughed and said, "The young lady speaks frankly, which may be unpleasant to hear, but it is the truth. It is really... somewhat self-destructive for the master to use me to ward off unwanted suitors. When she thinks about how I was holding the master's arm just now, she will think that the master must be very blind."
"But it's good to let that girl give up, since Lord Xie won't stay in the county anyway. Even if he doesn't return to the capital for a few years, he'll go to a good place like Jinzhou or Qinzhou, where noble ladies are worthy of him."
"If Lord Xie were truly the kind of man easily captivated by a beautiful woman, he wouldn't be ending up in such a small place now."
Xie Zheng's expression was serious as he earnestly explained, "I do not value marriage between equals. The young lady is young, and it is my honor that she was moved by me. I did not intend to hurt her, but her words and actions were bold and inappropriate."
"There is no distinction between high and low status among people in this world, nor between the beautiful rivers and mountains. There may be fewer people and less abundant resources here, but this land has its own unique charm."
He corrected him, saying, “Small places are fine. The capital is bustling, but I have been demoted and forced to leave the capital several times. I am not particularly fond of the people and things there.”
Song Chunxue was somewhat surprised.
Having known him for so long, she was curious about Lord Xie's affairs, but asking would inevitably be presumptuous.
Oh well, she probably won't remember anyway.
Afterwards, they talked about the crop harvest, and Xie Zheng asked her how many poultry she raised. They also talked about interesting stories from other villages.
Half an hour later, Chunshu returned.
He had three land deeds for twenty acres of land in his hand.
It was getting late, and Song Chunxue was in a hurry to get home.
As she led the donkey to Xie Zheng's house, she suddenly remembered that she had packed two guokui (a type of flatbread) before leaving home, but hadn't taken them out yet.
She felt it was somewhat embarrassing to present, so she deliberately forgot about it.
"I apologize for disturbing you today, sir. This is a guokui (a type of flatbread) that I made myself."
They probably won't cross paths again.
Song Chunxue looked at him and solemnly thanked him, "Thank you for your help many times. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to buy the courtyard and these twenty acres of land today."
Her eyes reddened slightly. "I hope that one day I can repay your kindness."
Xie Zheng helped her up with both hands, saying, "I thought we were already friends."
"Or is it that you, sister-in-law, dare not associate with me anymore?" Xie Zheng sighed. "Indeed, I am a dull person. I have traveled to many places, but I have rarely made friends. Did what happened just now frighten you, sister-in-law?"
"..." Song Chunxue rubbed her eyes. When did she ever say such a thing?
"To be honest," Xie Zheng sighed, "because I meddled in matters I shouldn't have, which alarmed many officials in Longxi County. They submitted a memorial impeaching me to His Majesty, and I was punished by being forced to stay here for two more years until the people here live in peace and prosperity, and every household is wealthy and healthy."
Song Chunxue understood; wasn't this intentionally making things difficult?
"So, sister-in-law, you'd better not say things so early. Who knows, Xie might need your help a lot in the future."
Song Chunxue nodded repeatedly, "You flatter me, sir, but I will certainly not refuse if you have any needs."
Xie Zheng nodded. "With that, I'm relieved. It's getting late, sister-in-law, you should head home soon. Let Chunshu take you."
"No need, no need. I'm too old for children to take me." Song Chunxue led the donkey out of the alley. "You can go back now. Goodbye."
Once she was out of the alley, she let out a long sigh of relief.
Clutching her light bundle, she hurried to the pastry shop and bought some snacks, a handful of candied hawthorns, and a handful of lamb skewers.
When she passed by a cosmetics shop, she bought a box of perfume.
I didn't buy anything else.
She's almost spent all her money, so she'll have to be more careful with her spending from now on.
By the time I got home, the sun had already set.
The fourth son has finished all the housework and is just waiting for her to come back and cook.
"What good stuff did you buy, Mother? It smells so good!" The fourth son took her bundle, as happy as a silly child.
Sanwa also came over and exclaimed, "Wow, there are lamb skewers and candied hawthorns! So many!"
Song Chunxue went into the kitchen, scooped out two bowls of flour, and planned to make some noodles to eat that evening.
The children hadn't eaten white flour in a long time.
Before long, Sanwa entered the kitchen with the divided candied hawthorns and meat skewers.
"Mom, these are for you. The three of us will each have three skewers of candied hawthorns with three pieces each, and four meat skewers each." Sanwa said, handing his food to Song Chunxue as he ate.
There was never any unfairness in the distribution of his goods.
"I'll leave the candied hawthorns here, but I won't eat the meat skewers; they'll just get stuck in my teeth."
Sanwa placed the food on the stove. "It's all divided up, Mom, you should eat it. There's still a leg of lamb left. Lao Si said he knows how to grill lamb skewers, so we'll keep these skewers and try grilling them ourselves tomorrow."
"Alright." The fourth brother must have been eating and reading a lot when he was in school.
"It's started snowing lightly, I'm going to sweep the yard."
"Okay, clean it up properly."
Every winter there is no rain, so the water cellars must be replenished. All the snow inside and outside the yard must be put into the water cellars so that there will be water to drink in the spring.
Otherwise, before the next year's rains arrive, everyone will have to fetch water from the river again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
