Chapter 53 Chapter 53 Get the first blood, and then sleep with the new soldier...
Ji Yang seemed stunned for a moment, then sat up straighter, tucked his clothes inward, and put away the tiger-head amulet in his hand. He paused with his eyes on her face before whispering,
"Still asleep?"
Jiang Ci lowered his eyes: "Yeah, I can't sleep."
He murmured, "Oh," but didn't stand up or ask any more questions. He simply raised his chin and pointed to the stone steps beside him. "It's cold at night. If you want to sit, sit here. Don't get caught in the cold."
Jiang Ci didn't answer immediately. After a long time, she slowly walked forward and sat down not far from him. Only then did she realize that he was just blocking the wind for her.
Speechless for a moment.
The night wind blew over the lantern under the eaves, causing it to sway gently, and two shadows were cast on the ground, slightly overlapping.
Jiang Ci suddenly sneezed lightly and quickly raised his hand to gather his sleeves. His fingers were already cold.
Ji Yang glanced at her sideways, frowned unconsciously, picked up the coat beside him and handed it to her.
Jiang Ci originally wanted to refuse, but when his fingertips touched his, he suddenly stopped.
The two of them just stared at each other quietly, neither of them taking their hands away. The air seemed to quiet down all of a sudden, and the occasional chirping of insects outside the yard broke the silence of the night.
In the end, it was Jiang Ci who gently took the coat and draped it over his shoulders.
The fabric still retained some warmth, with a faint woody fragrance, like the scent of a forest after the first rain.
She had never smelled anything like this on him. She moved her nose slightly, and the scent became clearer.
She didn't say anything, but just moved a little closer to him.
The distance between the two of them shortened, but Ji Yang didn't notice.
Jiang Ci tilted his head to look at him, his eyes fixed on the edge of his half-open shirt. In the night, the moonlight outlined his profile, making it deep and cold. His lips were tightly pursed, but his eyes revealed a deep tranquility.
She suddenly recalled the scene when he rushed into the ruins regardless of everything and held her in his arms - at that moment, his heartbeat was close to her ear, rapid and heavy, like a drum, like thunder, and she could hear it clearly.
"Commander," she called him softly.
Ji Yang responded and looked sideways.
Jiang Ci raised his hand and pointed at a bright star in the sky, with a faint smile on his lips: "Look at that one."
"I see it." Ji Yang looked in the direction she pointed.
"When I was in Zichuan, I often saw it. Now that I'm in Ningling, I can still see it when I look up at night." Jiang Ci looked at the stars, a hint of tenderness in his eyes. "At this moment, those of us who look up at it together, can we be considered... by each other's side?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Ci carefully moved a little closer to Ji Yang, and the person next to him did not notice.
When Ji Yang heard this, his eyes moved slightly.
He was silent for a moment, then suddenly whispered, "My mother once told me that after death, everyone will turn into a star, hanging in the sky. When you miss them, just look up, and they will be by your side, guiding you in the dark night."
Jiang Ci turned his head to look at him, his voice was very soft, but it was full of indescribable seriousness: "That's because they can't bear to leave you alone."
These words, falling into his ears, were like the night wind blowing through the forest, slow but heart-shaking.
Ji Yang's expression moved slightly, and his eyes fell quietly on her face. Then he retracted his gaze and looked at the night sky quietly.
He hadn't had such a moment in a long time. There was no noise in his ears, no weapons, only a person sitting next to him. It was so quiet that it seemed as if time had slowed down.
I don’t know how long it was before my shoulders suddenly felt heavy.
He tilted his head slightly, and when he looked down, he saw that Jiang Ci had fallen asleep leaning against him.
Her head rested on his shoulder, her breathing was long, her hair was against the side of his neck, gently brushing against his skin, again and again, like the wind blowing across the water, silently, but it made his heart ripple.
She wasn't sleeping deeply, her brows still slightly furrowed, as if she hadn't fully recovered from the shock and pain of the previous day. Ji Yang's eyes fell on her face, and for a moment he didn't dare to move.
The moonlight filtered through the eaves, casting a soft and gentle shadow on her cheek. He slowly raised one hand, very lightly, and pulled the coat draped over her shoulders upwards to cover her shoulders and neck.
The moment his fingertips touched her hair, he felt an indescribable tenderness in his heart.
The next morning, the sunlight outside the window gently shone through the curtains and fell on a corner of the bed through the gauze curtains.
When Jiang Ci woke up, she was stunned at first, then she sat up suddenly, frowning slightly, as if she suddenly remembered something.
There were footsteps outside the tent, and Wanniang lifted the curtain and came in, holding a bowl of steaming medicine in her hand and a gentle smile on her face.
"Miss, are you awake? The governor brought you back last night. He was very careful and didn't even dare to step too heavily for fear of waking you."
Jiang Ci was stunned, and the scene from last night slowly emerged in his mind.
She fell asleep leaning on his shoulder, and he let her lean on him without moving.
She clearly remembered wanting to say "I'm going back", but before she could say it, she was dragged into a deep dream by sleepiness.
She murmured softly, sitting up straight and taking the medicine bowl. The medicine was still warm, and she drank it slowly, mouthful by mouthful, a slight bitterness on her lips, her expression a little lost.
It wasn't until her eyes fell on the side of the bed that she came back to her senses.
It was a coat, neatly folded and placed quietly beside the bed. It belonged to Ji Yang.
Jiang Ci was stunned for a moment, handed the empty bowl in his hand to Wan Niang, and lowered his head to pick up the coat.
The coat was not made of high-quality material, and the color was old. The hem and cuffs were slightly worn, some threads were still sticking out, and the seams were slightly loose. It was obvious that it had been with him for many years.
She reached out and gently stroked the corner of her clothes, and couldn't help but sigh.
He didn't care much about these trivial matters. After years of military service, no matter how old the clothes were, as long as they could still keep him out of the wind and rain, he would continue to wear them. Besides, Madam Ji had a free and easy personality and didn't care much about these trivial matters of her two sons.
Jiang Ci looked at the slightly rough seam made with stitches and thread, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.
In the afternoon, the sun is shining brightly.
Jiang Ci changed his clothes and took Yin Shuang to the largest cloth shop in Ningling County, where he carefully selected the cloth.
She walked over to a piece of gray-blue cotton wool, pinched it with her hand, then touched another piece of navy blue cloth, her eyes carefully considering it, her expression somewhat focused.
Yin Shuang watched from the side and couldn't help asking, "Young lady, why did you suddenly want to make clothes for the governor?"
Jiang Ci's fingers brushed across the fabric, his tone calm, "The hem of that dress... is frayed. He's alone, so he wouldn't really care about that."
Yin Shuang tilted her head to look at her, her eyes somewhat meaningful: "I've never heard the young lady say she wanted to sew anything for anyone before."
Jiang Ci lowered his head and smiled, his voice soft and gentle: "If there is someone who has no one around to worry about these things for him, then if I care about him a little, he... will probably feel that he is not without someone who cares about him."
She selected a piece of soft gray-blue woolen cloth and added, "We are family after all. If I do more for him, over time, he'll feel that Liangzhou isn't so cold anymore."
After hearing this, Yin Shuang opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing. She just followed her and held the cloth in her arms.
Back at the house, Chu Yao ran to Jiang Ci with a piece of thin paper covered with words in her hand and handed it to him carefully: "Big sister, do you think my writing is okay?"
Jiang Ci took it and looked at it carefully for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "Your handwriting is a little skewed. Come, take a pen."
Chu Yao picked up the pen as instructed. Jiang Ci held her hand and guided her to write a few words, stroke by stroke. His tone was gentle: "The most important thing when writing is to be calm, steady, and not impatient."
Chu Yao nodded obediently: "Thank you, big sister, I understand, I will practice again!" After that, she ran away with a smile.
Jiang Ci watched her leave, got up and went back to the inner room, took out Ji Yang's old coat, took a wooden ruler to measure the size of the lapels and cuffs, spread out the new cloth, outlined the lines with charcoal, carefully depicted each shape of the clothes, and then took out the scissors and cut along the marked marks bit by bit.
At this time, Chu Yao on the other side returned to her room, threw the pen away, and the smile on her face disappeared.
She sat at the desk, her eyes darkening little by little as she thought of Guan San's threats that day.
She lowered her head, took out a thin dagger from the drawer, and tucked it into her wide sleeve. When dusk fell, she went out alone and headed all the way to the Guanyin Temple outside the city.
The temple was deserted and shabby, overgrown with weeds. Guan San had been waiting there for a long time. He was standing on the steps of the dilapidated temple. When he saw her coming, he held a piece of grass in his mouth and looked at her with ill intent, looking like a scoundrel.
"Oh, isn't this our Miss Chu? She's dressed quite decently, and even her walk looks like the wind." He spat out the grass stem from his mouth and smiled frivolously.
Chu Yao glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention, then approached him, put on her usual smile, and said in a soft and innocent voice, "I haven't collected the fifty taels yet, please don't embarrass me."
Guan San raised an eyebrow, walked closer to her, and whispered, "My dear girl, your status is different now, right? You are doing well with the governor's wife, so you shouldn't be short of this little money."
Chu Yao brushed the hair by her ear, chuckled, and walked closer. Her fingertips lightly brushed the front of his shirt, her eyes flickering, "I really haven't collected enough... But, how about today... I'll use my body to pay the interest first, brother, you won't lose out."
Guan San's eyes lit up, and he embraced her, smiling into her ear: "If you had known better earlier, wouldn't everything have been easy?"
He lowered his head and took a deep breath on her neck, saying obscenely, "People who are with the Madam are different. Even their fragrance is alluring."
Chu Yao's face showed a moment of disgust, but her voice was still gentle: "As long as you like it."
The next moment, her eyes suddenly turned cold, and she suddenly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and stabbed Guan San twice in the abdomen, quickly, fiercely, steadily and accurately, without hesitation.
Guan San seemed to be completely unaware, his entire body slumped over her shoulder, his eyes wide open, his lips trembling as he tried to speak, but no sound came out. He shuddered, struggling to push Chu Yao away, looking down at the blood gushing from his abdomen, his hands frantically covering it.
Chu Yao narrowed her eyes, took another step forward, raised her hand and slashed open his chest with a knife, the dagger piercing deep into the bone: "Guan San, you shouldn't have come to me. Anyone who stands in my way must die."
After saying that, she slowly pulled out the dagger, and blood spurted out, splashing all over her face.
She stood there, looking down at Guan San slumped to the ground, her expression cold and silent.
When Chu Yao left the Guanyin Temple, night had already fallen.
The wind blew across the riverbank, shimmering the water. She took off her coat, bent over the riverbank, and washed away the blood that had splattered on her sleeves, her lapels, and even between her fingers, bit by bit, very carefully.
She held the dagger in her hand for a moment, then silently dropped it into the water. The surface of the water rippled slightly, and soon no trace of it remained.
She stood up, her face pale, her hair sticking to her cheeks, and her clothes heavy from being soaked in water. She did not tidy herself up, but stood quietly for a while before walking towards the county magistrate's office.
As soon as I entered the yard, I bumped into Yue Bai.
Yue Bai was startled, and looking at her embarrassed appearance, he frowned: "You...what's wrong with you?"
Chu Yao lowered her head, her eyes slightly red, as if she was extremely aggrieved: "I... I went to burn incense for my parents today, and on the way back I fell into the river..."
Her voice was so soft as if she was afraid to disturb anyone, and every word she spoke was moist.
Seeing her like this, Yue Bai didn't know what to say for a moment, so he just said, "There's something hot in the kitchen. Wait, I'll take you there."
Chu Yao nodded and followed with somewhat unsteady steps.
In the kitchen, the fire was not completely extinguished and the pot lid on the stove was still steaming.
Yue Bai went in first and squatted down to look for food. Chu Yao stood by the door, glanced at him, turned around, and quietly closed the door.
"These are still hot." Yue Bai stood up with a piece of cake in his hand. Just as he turned around, Chu Yao slipped and her toes hit the corner of the firewood pile. She staggered and fell towards him.
Yue Bai was quick to move and grabbed her shoulders.
She lay in his arms, small and limp, like a wounded bird.
She suddenly reached out and hugged his waist, her voice choked with sobs: "Brother Yue, I...I really miss my parents."
Yue Bai paused, his hand still raised, not having time to put it down.
"I just feel so lonely." She raised her head, her eyes moist and blurry. "Brother Yue... can you hug me like family?"
At that moment, he didn't know which corner of his heart was touched.
He finally put down what he was holding, reached out somewhat awkwardly, and hugged her. His movements were a little stiff, as if he didn't know how to respond to this emotion.
Chu Yao was so close to him that he could feel the warmth of her breath.
She moved closer, her breath sliding across his neck, carrying warmth and something disturbing. Yue Bai shuddered slightly, instinctively wanting to retreat, but he didn't know when he had reached the point where he could no longer retreat.
His ears felt hot and his steps froze.
The next moment, Chu Yao's hand slowly slid down his back, as if looking for something, until she found it.
Yue Bai trembled, and he subconsciously grabbed her wrist. Just as he was about to say something, Chu Yao kissed him on the lips.
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