Chapter 26 The girl on the white horse with a ghost face is wearing a light yellow clean face...
The girl on the white horse was dressed in a goose yellow brocade with a pattern of four joys and auspicious wishes, and a white silk double-breasted jacket on the outside, which made her face, with its snow-white skin and cherry lips, look as beautiful as a lotus emerging from the water.
Yingying glanced at the young man behind her with displeasure. There was no smile on her face, and she looked cold and delicate. She glared at him and turned her head away.
Xue Yu's heart was moved by the cold and coquettish look in her eyes. She smiled warmly and explained helplessly, "That dress is too bright."
"Then I'm not gorgeous? Do I look good in this? Brother-in-law is just afraid that he won't look good in it, but he doesn't think about the fact that I look like a butterfly in it, do I look good, huh?" Yun Yang snorted and laughed.
Yun Yang knew that Xue Yu usually wore elegant, light-colored clothes, so she wanted him to try this colorful dress. She wanted to see if he would look as ridiculous as she did. He stood there, and when the shopkeeper tried the red dress on him, he looked truly stunning...
Yun Yang was stunned, secretly cheering for her sister in her heart, her brother-in-law really has a good appearance!
But he refused to wear it.
"...It looks good." Xue Yu said seriously.
It was such an unexpected lie that Yun Yang cried out, and when he turned around, he met Xue Yu's handsome and gentle eyes.
There was a faint smile in his narrow eyes, he was wearing a moon-white shirt, and he looked handsome.
Her heartbeat suddenly quickened, thump-thump. That smile seemed to have struck her heart...
She quickly turned around, took a deep breath, and then another deep breath.
"I, I won't tell you anymore. Anyway, I will change out of this outfit when I return to the Yun Mansion." Yun Yang said quickly with his head lowered.
After walking for another half a day, they arrived in Youzhou at dusk.
Along the way, there were many women holding children, with numb expressions, wearing inappropriate cloth clothes, and walking in the mud with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
These were women who had lost their husbands in the flood. The children in their arms saw the handsome young man riding on the horse and the young girl dressed in brocade, and they babbled and pointed at them.
The women looked up and saw the golden boy and jade girl, like a fairy couple in the clouds, glowing in this dirty environment. They were so different from them in the mud that they couldn't help but feel ashamed.
Xue Yu frowned and looked towards a row of sheds not far away where the imperial court was distributing disaster relief grain.
A woman carrying half a bag of rice looked up at Yun Yang, sighing that the eldest daughter of the Yun family had married into a good family. Suddenly, her expression changed and she said, "Ms. Yun, something happened in your family. Your aunt jumped into a well!"
Yun Yang was stunned, her face pale. She didn't bother to explain that she recognized the wrong person. She hurriedly said to Xue Yu: "Brother-in-law, hurry, hurry!"
Xue Yu looked calm, raised his whip and galloped towards the Yun Mansion.
Yun Yang clenched her hands tightly and twisted them hard. She knew that she was murdered by her aunt. Besides trying to escape all the way, she wanted to ask her in person why.
But before she could return home, her aunt committed suicide by jumping into a well.
As soon as I entered the mansion and walked around the screen wall, I saw a corpse lying in the spacious courtyard. The corpse was covered with a white cloth, and there were water stains under the corpse.
Yun Yang stood in the yard in a daze, unable to believe that the aunt who had cooked for her the last time they met had turned into a thin, watery corpse.
What's more, I can't believe that my aunt admitted to harming her without any explanation.
He committed suicide by jumping into a well because he knew she was coming back.
When officials learned that Xue Yu had returned to Yun Mansion in Youzhou, they came from all directions in an endless stream, holding official documents for approval.
They surrounded Xue Yu, as if they didn't see the corpse in the yard and the silly girl.
The flood took away so many people that it was no longer surprising that every household had dead bodies and corpses were kept.
"Sir, the weather is not cold enough now. There are too many dead bodies and no one to collect them. If they are not buried in time, it will cause an epidemic and it will really bring disaster to the people." The green-robed official said hurriedly.
He had just finished speaking when a black-clad yamen runner rushed in from outside the mansion. He looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old and said, "Master Xue, the two elders of the Yun family found a man who was washed downstream. His body has been soaked. He is now parked in the backyard of the yamen, waiting for your return!"
Yun Yang turned around suddenly and stared at the bailiff in disbelief.
Xue Yu's robe fluttered in the cold wind, and his eyes were like cold pools as he looked at the young man who delivered the message. Yun Yang looked at him, his eyes went dark, and his body went limp.
*
Yun Yang cried for several times when she heard the bad news.
I never thought I would lose my father so early. I cried myself to sleep and had nightmares when I fell asleep. I dreamed that my father's swollen body was lying next to my mother. I woke up in fright and continued to cry.
He was in a daze, completely unaware and unaware that when someone dies, there needs to be a funeral and a final farewell.
By the time she came to her senses, she was already kneeling in front of her father's mourning hall.
His father's funeral was handled by his brother-in-law Xue Yu. Yun Yang didn't know how he managed to travel back and forth to the disaster-stricken area, mobilize troops to block the breach, and direct the disaster relief work at the same time, while still handling the funeral in an orderly manner.
There was even a Taoist temple.
The funeral was held in a very decent manner, completely in accordance with the standards of the nobles who came to the capital. Almost every family in the city had a funeral, and there was only one temple within a hundred miles. I don't know where he found the old monk from.
After a great sadness, Yun Yang finally calmed down. He raised his red, swollen and moist eyes and saw Xue Yu, who had lost a lot of weight in less than half a month. His face was even thinner, but he was still calm. If it weren't for his red eyes, you wouldn't know that he was so tired.
He had a solemn expression and said little, but he bowed to greet and see off those who came to pay their respects.
He also wore mourning clothes.
Although they were all wearing the same plain clothes made of coarse cloth, Xue Yu had a completely different demeanor when standing among her cousins.
When those cousins spoke rudely, Xue Yu pursed his lips slightly, and his narrow eyes, with a coldness like a cold pond, were able to give great pressure to those with bad intentions.
Yun Yang woke up as if from a dream, realizing that her father was dead, her mother was missing, her elder sister was married... She was the only one left in this family.
It's very subtle.
These days, he must have blocked a lot of unpleasant words and people with ulterior motives for her.
Moreover, the servants in the mansion are now scattered, and the simple meals and dusty beds are nothing compared to the days of luxury in the Xue Mansion. It is difficult to go from luxury to frugality, and he is definitely not used to it, but he endures it silently and sends people to take good care of her.
Yunyang's tears fell again.
"Master Xue, please don't think we're being harsh. It's not appropriate for Yangyang to live alone in such a large mansion. She's also afraid. Why don't we let her live with us? We'll support her and find her a good husband."
"Uncle's funeral is over, and Yangyang is in a bad mood. Let her get married so soon? Why not let her come to our house? Having a younger sister to keep her company will help her relax."
"Sister Jin is only five years old. How can she keep her company? I think she should come to our house. My nephew and Yangyang have been good friends since they were young. They even rolled around in the mud together when they were little. Now that Yangyang has reached marriage age, why not cultivate a relationship with my nephew..."
"Didn't your nephew get married last year? Does Yangyang have to be his concubine?"
"My nephew passed the imperial examination last year. What's wrong with her being a concubine? Even if she is a concubine, she can be a noble concubine from a scholarly family! And can you guarantee that you'll find her a wife?"
"Yun Yang is different from Jianiang. Yun Yang's temper is too wild. Oh, who would dare to marry such an unrespectable wife?" A voice came, low but clear, "She's pale and thin, and whether she can bear children is another matter."
Xue Yu's eyes were cold, and he clenched his fists in his sleeves. Why was Yun Yang so pale and thin? Why was she so pale and thin? She had clearly been well taken care of by the time we went to the capital!
Yun Yang looked back at those people in a daze. It turned out that those kind and amiable relatives were just her fantasy?
The Yun family only had a small fortune, and after losing their leader, they all became so hateful, revealing their hidden fangs, as if they wanted to devour her.
My sister married and moved to Shangjing. A daughter who is married off is like water spilled on the ground.
But she was unmarried, so it was impossible for her to take her property to her husband's house.
Yun Yang lowered his head, no longer showing any self-pity, and said calmly, "I'm not going anywhere."
She cried for several days and didn't speak for several days. When she uttered a few words at this moment, her voice was hoarse, slightly choked, and low, which made people feel distressed.
Someone else wanted to say something, but Xue Yu's face was gloomy, and his tone was filled with suppressed anger, "After you have paid your respects to your ancestors, you may leave."
After saying that, he looked at Yun Yang. Yun Yang still had his head down, and his shoulders began to tremble slightly again.
She was so thin that she looked unrecognizable. If he hadn't found someone to coax and force her into drinking ginseng soup to keep her hooked these past few days, she would have probably fainted.
Her chin was pointed, making her eyes look particularly large, and a teardrop as big as hers dripped down her chin onto the mat.
All the relatives of the Yun family have noticed in the past few days that the son-in-law who came from the capital is in charge of everything, as if he wants to see this matter through to the end.
Although he is not a member of the Yun family, he is a high-ranking official and the Imperial Censor for Disaster Relief. He is the sole commander of Baizhou and Youzhou.
What can you do if you don't accept it? You can only endure it.
After the crowd dispersed, a cool breeze blew, fluttering the white prayer flags hanging high. The girl was still kneeling on the cushion, motionless, like a stone sculpture. Xue Yu sighed and walked over.
Once you accept the fact that your father is gone, you can also accept that your mother is in danger.
Yun Yang was both terrified and bewildered. Every major and minor event in her life had been decided for her by her parents. Even if she was extremely unwilling and her opinions differed from theirs, she dared to act recklessly because she knew that her parents would always give in and cover for her.
Suddenly her father died, her mother disappeared, the servants in the house scattered, and her relatives wanted to bully her and marry her off so that they could seize her family's land and property.
Her peaceful and stable life was broken. Yun Yang didn't know who to listen to in the future, and who could make decisions for her. She felt helpless and terrified, as if she was left alone in an open space with no one to rely on.
The mourning hall was quiet, with only Xue Yu and Yun Yang present.
Yun Yang could clearly hear the sound of sparks popping from the burning candle, and the whistling cold wind blowing the white prayer flags up.
She lowered her eyes and threw the copied Buddhist Scriptures of Rebirth into the brazier with her slender hands, not knowing what she was thinking.
From Xue Yu's perspective, he could see her jet-black hair, white and shiny earlobes, and thin, bony shoulders that made her look fragile and lonely. The hem of her skirt hung on the ground, covered in a little dust.
Xue Yu didn't know what to say to him. He had been indifferent to life and death since he was a child. When his mother passed away, his father suffered for seven days and seven nights without food or water, and almost died himself. He didn't care at all that he had a son.
Later, my father resigned from his official position and traveled far away. I felt bitter and helpless when I said goodbye for the first time, but later I got used to it.
Life is like this, a farewell that can be seen everywhere.
It is actually futile to say anything at this time. Birth, old age, sickness and death are compulsory courses that everyone cannot escape. Sooner or later, everyone must learn to accept them.
Just as he was about to speak to try to comfort her, she reached out and grabbed his sleeve, shook it gently, and whispered, "Thank you, brother-in-law."
Xue Yu was stunned. The hard work these days was nothing, but for some reason, seeing her crying unconsciously, seeing her ignoring everything around her because of sadness, and ignoring him as if nothing happened, he felt an indescribable anxiety in his heart.
But now, she said four words lightly, and the anxiety dissipated, and her heart became soft again.
Dark clouds blocked the sunlight and the mourning hall became dark.
The Buddhist scriptures in the brazier burned out, but some words with flame-colored edges were still struggling.
"Why did you want to harm me, Auntie?" Yun Yang finally asked.
Now that things have come to this, she wants to get to the bottom of it.
Xue Yu finally told her about Aunt Chen. Aunt Chen had an affair with her second uncle Yun Bai, and attempted to seize the Yun family's property. She was also suspected of murdering the mistress.
I thought she was an orphan and it would be easy to deal with. Aunt Chen also remembered her feelings for her and wanted to marry her to her nephew Jiang Heguang. Unexpectedly, she brought Xue Yu with her.
The two were afraid that something might happen if they delayed, so they took advantage of Xue Yu's official trip to Baizhou and hurriedly sold Yun Yang to a human trafficker.
When Xue Yu was on his way to look for Yun Yang, Yun Bai had already been imprisoned. It was not surprising that Aunt Chen, seeing that the truth had been revealed and her lover was half dead, committed suicide by jumping into a well out of shame and regret.
"No wonder I didn't see my second uncle." Yun Yang murmured, confused. "He is my real uncle."
Xue Yu didn't dare to think about what would happen if he didn't follow her back this time.
Her father died in vain and her mother disappeared. She would probably be hastily married off as a concubine or sold away, and bullied and abused in a place he didn't know. He didn't know all this and just thought she had returned to her hometown to get married.
Just thinking about it made him feel an unbearable tightness in his chest.
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