"...Second Young Master, what about you?"
After a while, Xu Rong asked a question.
Xiao Xin remained silent in the cold night wind.
Xu Rong understood; he hadn't thought of it himself, he had simply thought it out for her.
She wanted to sigh, but couldn't, because she was suddenly in a pretty good mood.
She had barely managed to survive while on the run, and had fallen from the grandeur of the Marquis's mansion to this desolate temple in the wilderness. She had never been so humiliated in her previous life.
However, one thing remains unchanged.
Xiao Xin himself.
So what if he's a son of a marquis? So what if he's an illegitimate child born out of wedlock?
“Second Young Master, you’re not in a good mood right now, so I won’t say much to you. There’s just one thing I want you to know,” Xu Rong said earnestly, “After tonight, you may no longer be the Second Young Master, but you will still be you, and in my eyes, you will not have changed in the slightest.”
The wind howled, and the night grew colder and quieter.
Xu Rong hugged her arms, feeling cold. She wanted to go back; although the temple was dilapidated, at least there was a campfire.
She had just taken a step when suddenly her whole body felt heavy and tense.
Xiao Xin embraced her.
Unlike his usual warm body, his embrace was cold at this moment.
Xu Rong hesitated for a moment, then remained in his arms, neither moving nor speaking.
The fact that his father was not actually his father, and that his biological father was someone else, was still a huge blow, no matter how distant his relationship with Lord Xiao was.
It's not something that can be resolved with a few words of comfort from an outsider.
She didn't know how much time had passed. Xu Rong was freezing cold in his arms, with only a little warmth behind her ears from his breath. She relied on this warmth to survive, but she was finally about to give up.
One lump of ice cannot warm another lump of ice.
She raised her stiff, cold arm and tentatively patted his back: "Second Young Master, shall we go back? Have something to eat and rest. We have to travel tomorrow morning."
Finally, Xiao Xin listened to advice and released her. Xu Rong walked into the temple, and he followed.
Wei stood at the temple gate, looking at them with great concern.
Xu Rong reached out and pushed the two dilapidated temple doors. The doors were somewhat deformed and could not be fully closed, but they blocked the wind to some extent, which was better than nothing.
"alright."
She beckoned Wei Shi and Xiao Xin to the fire. The pastries had been baking for some time and were still warm to the touch, not hard or unpalatable, but Wei Shi and Xiao Xin clearly had no appetite. Wei Shi looked at Xiao Xin, while Xiao Xin stared blankly at the fire. The firelight danced in his eyes, but it did not illuminate his spirit. Instead, it highlighted a sense of inorganic detachment, emptiness, and boundless desolation.
"Second Young Master, you watch the fire first. I'll take a nap, and we'll switch when I wake up."
Xu Rong took the opportunity to find him something to do, and then didn't pay much attention to him. She dragged over a tattered futon from under the altar, patted it a few times, sat down, buried her head in her arms, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
She shouldn't have been able to sleep, but she had been on edge all day. It wasn't until she left the city that she had a chance to catch her breath. The fire was burning warmly beside her, the cold wind was howling outside the temple, and the firewood beside her was crackling from time to time. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
Unbeknownst to them, Xiao Xin soon stopped looking at the fire and instead turned his gaze to her.
She sat there dozing, her peony-patterned jacket covered in dust from somewhere, and a gold hairpin dangling from her hair, about to fall off. She looked small and disheveled.
He had never seen her like this before.
She didn't have to do this in the first place.
Xiao Xin drifted off into thought again, lost in thought, though he himself didn't know what he was thinking. While Wei Shi, unable to stay awake any longer, curled up and dozed off, he remained perfectly lucid.
Having sat by the fire for so long, his hands and feet had warmed up passively, but his heart remained frozen. The warmer his body became, the colder that area seemed to stand out—as if it no longer existed, just an empty hole.
Xu Rong suddenly shivered in his sight, as if she were cold or uneasy in a dream. The hairpin then dropped again. Xiao Xin subconsciously reached out, but the hairpin didn't fall. Instead, she rolled towards him.
She buried her head in his lap, rubbed against him, found a seemingly comfortable position, and then stayed still.
Xiao Xin: "..."
Her small head actually had quite a bit of weight, and it rested intimately and firmly against him. His hand, which was about to help her up, paused.
Suddenly, I felt that my heart was no longer so empty.
...
When Xu Rong woke up, she felt that something was wrong—or rather, something was very wrong.
Before she fell asleep, she was hugging her knees, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself clinging to Xiao Xin like an octopus, her clothes all askew, her sleeping posture extremely twisted, ungraceful, and domineering.
She hurriedly retreated, and when she looked again, the fire had gone out, and daylight was shining through the dilapidated temple. That was good; there was no need to change shifts anymore.
In these extraordinary times, Xu Rong didn't think too much about anything. He saw Madam Wei rubbing her eyes, as if she had just woken up, and quickly turned a hint of embarrassment into more naturalness: "Aunt, Second Young Master, let's go."
Without a word from Madam Wei, Xiao Xin stood up, and the three of them walked out with her as the leader. Brother Hongliu had gone to bed the earliest last night and woke up the earliest this morning. He was outside feeding the big mule that was pulling the cart with the fodder left by the cart owner.
When they came out, they were about to bow and greet them, but Xu Rong waved his hand and said, "When you're traveling, don't be so formal. Let's go."
Hongliu's older brother responded and scratched his head: "Grandma, where are we going?"
Yesterday, the goal was to leave the city, and the destination was clear. Today, we have already left the city, and if we want to continue, we need to know our direction.
"Southward—"
"Go back to Beijing."
Xu Rong and Xiao Xin spoke at the same time.
Brother Hongliu was stunned, looking around, unsure of whose opinion to follow.
"Go back," Xiao Xin said first this time.
After a night without eating a single grain of rice, his voice became even hoarseer.
Xu Rong shook her head: "I'm not going back."
The two men are facing off.
Xu Rong had a reason to persuade him, but suddenly she didn't want to. She looked into his eyes, the corners of her mouth turned up, and simply asked, "Second Young Master, do you really want me to go back?"
"..." Xiao Xin couldn't bring himself to say "yes" because the word stuck in his throat.
Xu Rong, having won the battle, announced to his brother Hong Liu, "Let's go, south."
The mule cart left the dilapidated temple and began to wobble and sway along the road.
"Aunt, let's talk." After simply stuffing two pieces of pastry into her hands, Xu Rong said to Madam Wei.
Ms. Wei nodded, unsurprised—she had been prepared for this, and the fact that Xu Rong only asked her the question now showed that he was being very lenient.
“When I was at home, there was a family next door surnamed Lin. That family was different from ours; they were a military household. For generations, an adult member of the family had to serve in the army,” Madam Wei said slowly. “By Uncle Lin’s generation, his fate was particularly bad. He died of illness less than ten years after joining the army. Aunt Lin lost her source of income and was heartbroken. She followed him after only a year, leaving behind an only son named Bao’er.”
“Bao’er was about the same age as Da Xiong, only ten years old at the time. I felt sorry for him and treated him the same as Da Xiong. Whenever there was food, I would secretly give him a share. When his clothes were torn, I would call him over to mend them.” As she spoke, she seemed lost in memories, her eyes a little unfocused. “Bao’er was much better behaved than Da Xiong. I treated him well, and he helped our family with chores. Actually, he was so young, who could expect him to do anything? He always helped out, chopping wood and fetching water, for years without fail. Later, when he grew a bit older, he went out and wandered the streets and alleys, doing some kind of business. When he could earn some money, he gave it all to my parents. If I didn’t want it, he would buy it for them. My parents didn’t know how to be polite; they accepted whatever he gave them.”
"Later I got anxious and forbade him to send any more money. I told him to keep the money for himself to start a family. Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin passed away so early. If he doesn't save money for himself, who will he rely on in the future? I told him that if he didn't listen to me, I would never talk to him again. Who knew that he would agree to my request, but then—" Madam Wei lowered her voice a little, "he turned around and ran to my house to propose marriage to my father."
“At that time, Daxiong was fifteen years old. He was already showing signs of being a good-for-nothing and was not as diligent as Bao’er. His parents couldn’t do anything about him. When they saw Bao’er, they were moved and made one request.”
Xu Rong straightened up and listened attentively.
"Father wants Bao'er to marry into our family and become our son-in-law, so that he can support us parents together. Bao'er agreed."
Although she had a premonition, Xu Rong was still greatly surprised to hear this: "You and..." She glanced at Xiao Xin, then skipped the question, "are engaged?"
Mrs. Wei seemed puzzled, but nodded: "Of course, otherwise, otherwise—"
She was too embarrassed to say the whole thing in front of Xiao Xin.
Otherwise, why would she have lost her virginity to him before marriage?
Xu Rong stared at her and asked, "Do you have any documents?"
Mrs. Wei shook her head: "None of the five people in our two families are literate. We're just getting engaged. Who's going to write the paperwork?"
In ordinary families, when a couple gets engaged, they simply check each other's birth dates and times. The formal marriage certificate is only written on the day of the wedding, or sometimes it is not written at all. They invite relatives from both families to come, and after bowing to heaven and earth and having a feast in the presence of their relatives, the engagement is considered complete.
Xu Rong's mind raced: "Are there any other witnesses?"
Madam Wei hesitated for a moment and thought for a moment: "Bao'er is a spendthrift. Although it was an engagement, a banquet was held. Since he had no relatives, he invited the neighbors to fill the seats. But I haven't been back since then, and I don't know if they are still there or if they remember me."
I will definitely remember.
If Wei had married Lin Bao'er in an ordinary way, the scene of their engagement would have been buried in the past and passed by in a blur. But then Lin Bao'er went out and met with misfortune, and Wei married into a high-class family. How could the neighbors forget such a dramatic development?
It's impossible to say how many times it's been chewed.
Moreover, while one or two neighbors might move away, it's impossible for them all to leave. People are naturally reluctant to leave their homeland, and this testimony can certainly be found if one looks for it.
Xu Rong then asked the next crucial question: "When the Marquis wanted to take you as his concubine, did he know you were already engaged?"
Madam Wei nodded immediately: "I told him then that I was already engaged and didn't want to be his concubine. But he wouldn't listen, and my parents were greedy for wealth, so I had no choice but to tell my mother that I had already become Bao'er's real husband and couldn't be with anyone else. Who knew that my mother still wouldn't give up? She...she went to a brothel and asked for a way to hide a needle in my hand..."
Her voice lowered again, and Xu Rong could guess what she was going to say next. She had to prick her finger to pretend to be a virgin on her wedding night. It was stupid to use blood to prove her virginity. She had Xiao Xin's help and could easily get away with it. Although Lady Wei didn't have Lord Xiao's help, with the help of a professional, she had professional techniques to teach her. It wouldn't be difficult to fool her for just one night.
On this point, she had no sympathy for Lord Xiao. Men oppress women with ignorance and stupidity. Even in her time, there were still such fools. Being killed in retaliation was only what she deserved.
Her expression was perfectly normal, without any disdain. Wei's voice gradually grew louder: "I didn't mean to lie. I really had no other choice at the time. My mother was so bewitched that I really didn't dare to tell her that my period hadn't come that month. If she knew, she would definitely force me to abort it. This is Bao'er's child. If Bao'er is gone like his father, never to return, then that will be Bao'er's only bloodline. I must protect it."
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