Chapter 16: She Can't Go Back to Her Past
"Okay." Shi Jianli looked at her curved eyes and nodded slightly.
Every time she saw Ming Yuelin, she would think of herself as a child. At that time, her father was the governor of Duzhou, and he had the final say in Duzhou.
She spent the first half of the day learning to read, play the piano, and paint with her teacher, trying to be elegant; in the second half of the day, she would put on riding clothes, walk the streets, and go to the villages near the provincial capital to fish and hunt birds with others, rarely worrying about anything.
That was when she was happiest.
But since her father and mother passed away, she has not been happy.
Even if you are good-looking, if you have no one to rely on, you cannot protect yourself.
The new governor of Duzhou is fond of male philanderers and young girls who are about to bloom. He took a fancy to her and wanted to force her into his government.
She was only twelve that year.
She would take advantage of the situation and say that her aunt was the second wife of the Duke's Mansion, thinking that the prefect would be wary.
But he was not afraid. The lustful new prefect, relying on the emperor's remoteness, repeatedly threatened her. He said that physical evidence could be erased, but witnesses could be silenced.
Her father was a good person, but her uncles and aunts who had not dared to approach her in the past were treacherous and greedy. They knew that she was the only orphan in the family, and they heard that the new magistrate liked her, so they wanted to give her to the new magistrate on their own initiative in order to make a small profit.
She escaped, carrying Lanxing Xianyue with her, smashed her uncle's head with an inkstone, and fled to the capital overnight.
Three half-grown girls disguised themselves as dark boys and got help after escaping, but they were also kidnapped.
After two months of begging, hiding, and traveling through mountains and rivers, they finally arrived in Beijing. Her aunt almost didn't recognize her.
Seeing her aunt's loving eyes, she thought that she might have someone to rely on again.
But she could never be the person she was before she was twelve.
When they arrived at the Duke's Mansion, her aunt asked her uncle for help. The prefect Xin Duzhou was removed from office, and her uncles were also punished. Only then did Shi Jianli gradually erase those ugly faces from her mind.
"Sister Li, why are you staring at me in a daze?" Ming Yuelin saw that she was in a daze and shook her hand.
Shi Jianli came back to her senses and raised her eyelashes, "I was thinking of some old things from my childhood."
"Is that happy or unhappy?"
"It's a mixed bag." Shi Jianli pinched her face, looked at her bright and concerned eyes, and raised the corners of her lips slightly.
"Then forget about the bad things. Sister Li is so capable. Everything will go well for her in the future." She held Shi Jianli's hand, "I will protect Sister Li too."
"Um."
"Sister Li, have you skipped class?" Mingyuelin came closer and asked in a low voice.
"Escaped."
"Ah? You don't look like someone who would skip class." Sister Li looks like a good girl.
"I ran away when I was a child. I thought what the teacher taught was too simple, so I ran away after I understood it. The teacher often complained to my father about it." Thinking of the scene in the old house where the old teacher glared at her father, Shi Jian's face also smiled.
"Now that we can drive, should we go fishing quietly?"
Mingyuelin didn't think that fishing and catching shrimps were rude. Appreciating flowers and reciting poems were so-called elegant things that would get boring if done too much. It was just right that he came to the farm to find some wild fun.
"OK."
With her consent, Mingyuelin pulled her back quietly. While they were learning to control the imperial guard seriously, he pulled Shi Jianli and she ran away.
Shi Jianli's mood couldn't help but improve. She was going to drive today, so she didn't wear the restraint or the collar. It felt really good to take big strides, and she felt like she was running without any restraint.
Lanxing and Xianyue were like Shi Jianli, usually silent, but always keeping an eye on their daughter. Seeing their daughter run away, they exchanged a glance, Lanxing quietly followed, while Xianyue stayed where she was.
Ming Zhouhe was bored and watching the half-grown children learning to drive with his hands folded. He noticed that the place where the people were standing was gone. He looked around and saw that Shi Jianli had skipped class. He felt helpless.
He kicked Xuanyun beside him and raised his chin, "Go and follow him, but don't get too close."
If they were any closer, they wouldn't be able to have enough fun.
"Oh." Xuanyun touched his numb knee and left after receiving the order.
The young master kicked him and hit his muscles, causing him to limp when he walked.
There was a small river in the farm. Shi Jianli and Mingyuelin borrowed the tenant farmer's axe to sharpen fishing sticks.
"Sister Li, you look so skilled." Ming Yuelin looked at the axe and was a little worried that she would cut herself.
"When I was little, my mother would sometimes say I was like a wild child. The ferry was very mountainous, and I would often go play in the mountains with my guards and the children of the hunters."
Her grandfather was a hunter who also knew how to farm, and her father went hunting a lot when he was not studying. He was also tolerant of her curiosity about hunting.
He said that girls can be pampered, but there is no need to be so pampered. It would be better if they knew some martial arts.
Although Shi Jianli is not good at martial arts, she is good at archery.
"That sounds like fun, Sister Li. There's an autumn hunt this year, and we can go. There's also a women's hunting competition. You're such a good archer, you're sure to get a good ranking." Ming Yuelin thought for a moment and said, "It's okay if we don't want a good ranking, just having fun is fun too."
She discovered that Sister Li didn't really like quietness.
"Okay." Shi Jianli responded.
By autumn she should be engaged, and I hope her future husband will have a better character.
After sharpening the branches for fishing, Shi Jianli gave one to Mingyuelin and gave the axe to Lanxing, asking her to return it.
The two walked towards the river. There were several huge rocks by the river. Shi Jianli could step on them without getting his shoes wet.
She squatted down and crouched down with Mingyuelin, waiting for the fish to swim over.
There are especially many fish in the river on this farm. They must have been raised by throwing fish fry into it.
"Sister Li, we caught a fish with our fork. Shall we take it home and eat it?"
"You can send it back to the mansion, or you can leave it to the tenant." Shi Jianli looked at the fat fish gathered in the water and felt that she had made a stupid mistake.
She blinked, a bit bewildered for once. "If they're raising fish, the farmer should have a net, so we don't need to sharpen the harpoon."
"It's already been peeled. We're here to have fun. I'll learn how to spear fish, and then catch a few to bring back home." Ming Yuelin poked the pitchfork into the water.
The fish swam away quickly, and two of them even surfaced and spit out a stream of water, as if mocking her uselessness.
Shi Jianli tilted her head to look at her with puffed cheeks, lowered her head and smiled silently, and saw a lazy fish under the stone that didn't run away, so she used a tree fork to poke the fish out.
She lifted the fish up, and it was still shaking and trembling. Drops of water fell on her smiling eyes. "I got it."
Shi Jianli explained: "The fish is in the water, so it will appear a little off to us. The harpoon should be thrust slightly below the fish in order to pierce it."
"That's amazing, I'll try again!"
Shi Jianli nodded. She squatted and watched Mingyuelin crouching down waiting for the fish to come.
Mingyuelin tried several times but almost caught one each time, which made her very angry. She vowed to catch one with her own hands.
She seized the opportunity, thrust the harpoon into the water, and successfully plucked a fat fish out.
She was so happy that she raised it with some effort and shouted, "Sister Li, I got it!"
"Bang!" A black shadow flew in front of me.
"Really..." Before he could finish his words, Shi Jianli was carried backwards by inertia and sat down on a rock. He was completely dazed. He held the fish and stared at Mingyuelin in a daze, blinking.
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