Side Story 3: Xu Xiuran
Extra (3)
The morning mist in Qingya Village carried the dampness of the river. Lin Xiaoman pushed open the wooden gate and habitually looked towards the muddy path at the entrance of the village.
Ever since that young master surnamed Xu left without saying goodbye, this action has become the start of her daily routine.
On the table was the jade pendant of superior quality, engraved with the character "Wei".
She didn't understand jade, but she knew it was something that ordinary merchants and guards wouldn't possess.
Father said that the man was no ordinary person and told them not to ask too many questions, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was alright now, given how badly he was injured.
"Girl, what are you daydreaming about!" Lin Dashan came out of the inner room carrying a hunting fork and urged gruffly, "Before the sun rises, hurry up and collect the traps you set yesterday."
Lin Xiaoman responded, carefully put the jade pendant into her bosom, picked up the bamboo basket, and followed her father.
The dew in the woods dampened her trouser legs, but she was completely unaware, her mind already wandering far away.
**
Xu Xiuran had just finished a military exercise. He was still in his armor, and there was a hint of fatigue between his brows, but he could not hide his innate noble air.
He walked to the window and looked at the soldiers practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard, but his gaze was somewhat unfocused.
Lieutenant Zhao Feng brought in the military report. Seeing his expression, he couldn't help but tease, "Second Young Master, are you thinking about that Miss Lin from Qingya Village again?"
Xu Xiuran snapped out of her daze and glanced at him indifferently: "Mind your own business."
Zhao Feng chuckled and put down the military report: "I've heard that in the six months since you came back, you've been sending people to Qingya Village every month to deliver things, such as medicinal herbs, cloth, and money... If you didn't know better, you'd think that our military governor's office had set up a branch there."
Xu Xiuran did not deny it.
He was indeed worried about the father and daughter who had saved his life.
Qingya Village is remote and impoverished. Although Lin Dashan is quite skilled, hunting is not a long-term solution.
He sent people to take care of him secretly, partly to repay a debt of gratitude, but also... harboring a selfish motive.
The woman who carefully changed his dressings under the dim oil lamp, with her clear, mountain-spring-like eyes, would always inadvertently enter his mind.
"How...is she doing lately?" Xu Xiuran asked casually.
Zhao Feng immediately perked up: "Reporting to the Second Young Master, we just received news that Hunter Lin injured his leg while in the mountains some time ago. Miss Lin almost fell off a cliff while gathering herbs to treat his injury, but fortunately our men were secretly following him and rescued him in time."
Xu Xiuran's hand gripping the teacup tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning white: "Are you badly injured?"
“Miss Lin only has a scratch, but Hunter Lin’s leg will probably need to rest for a while.” Zhao Feng glanced at his expression and tentatively asked, “Second Young Master, since you’re so worried, why not…”
Xu Xiuran remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.
He is the second son of the Duke of Wei's mansion and a general who commands troops in one region. His marriage involves too many things.
Besides... I can't even sort out my own feelings, so why bother provoking that simple and kind village girl?
**
Life in Qingya Village remained peaceful yet arduous.
Lin Dashan's leg injury required expensive medicine, and the family's meager savings were quickly depleted.
Lin Xiaoman worked day and night to finish her embroidery, her fingers pricked and scarred by the needle, but the money she earned was just a drop in the bucket.
That day, she took the last embroidered handkerchief to town to exchange for money, but the cloth shop owner told her that the market was bad lately and the price had been lowered.
Clutching her few pitiful copper coins, Lin Xiaoman stood at the bustling street corner, feeling lost and uncertain about the future.
"Young lady, have you encountered any difficulties?" A gentle voice sounded beside her.
Lin Xiaoman looked up and saw a well-dressed middle-aged woman with a kind face. She subconsciously shook her head: "No, no."
The woman smiled and her gaze fell on the exquisite embroidery in the girl's basket: "Young lady, your embroidery is really good. I wonder if you would like to take on some work? My lady is looking for a few skilled embroiderers, and the wages are generous."
Having narrowly escaped death, Lin Xiaoman could hardly believe her ears.
She followed the woman to a quiet house in town and met the lady there.
The other party did not show up, but only looked at her embroidery pattern through the screen, and then made an agreement for long-term cooperation. The advance payment was enough for her father to recover from his leg injury.
Lin Xiaoman left with profuse thanks, feeling as if she were in a dream.
She didn't know that the lady behind the screen was just a female guard arranged by Xu Xiuran.
**
Xu Xiuran looked at the message sent back by the guards and learned that Lin Xiaoman had accepted the "job" and had a place to live. His furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
"Second Young Master," Zhao Feng advised again, "I believe that you are not entirely without feelings for Miss Lin. Since you are so worried about her, why not give her a proper status? Even as a concubine, it would be better than letting her suffer in the countryside."
Xu Xiuran stood in front of the sand table, his fingertips tracing the location of Qingya Village, remaining silent for a long time.
He remembered the folk songs Lin Xiaoman hummed while washing clothes by the river, and the sparkling eyes in her eyes when she mentioned the stories told by the storyteller in town.
She was like a raw, unpolished gem in the mountains—clean and vibrant. If she were drawn into the conflicts between the capital and the border, would it be a blessing or a curse for her?
"Wait a little longer," was all he could say in the end.
**
Time flies, and another winter has passed and spring has arrived.
Lin Dashan's leg injury has completely healed, and the family's life has become much more comfortable thanks to the stable "embroidery work," and they have even renovated their old house.
Lin Xiaoman continued to work every day, but her eyes and brows showed less sorrow and more serenity.
She would occasionally stare blankly at the jade pendant, knowing in her heart that the young master Xu, as ethereal as the moon and clouds in the sky, was ultimately someone she could not be with.
That vague feeling of affection was carefully hidden deep in her heart.
That day, she was drying herbs in the courtyard when she suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the village entrance.
Unlike the usual clamor of caravans, the sound of these horses' hooves was orderly and powerful.
She looked up in confusion and saw a group of well-trained guards in light armor surrounding a blue-canopied carriage, which had stopped outside her courtyard gate.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a familiar figure, dressed in a moon-white robe and with a tall and straight posture, walked slowly in, bathed in the warm spring sunshine.
The medicine sieve in Lin Xiaoman's hand fell to the ground with a "thud," scattering herbs all over the ground.
She stared blankly as the man drew closer, his handsome features even clearer than she remembered, though the sense of distance seemed to have faded considerably.
Xu Xiuran stopped in front of her, his gaze sweeping over her slightly parted lips in surprise, over her temples streaked with grass, and finally landing on the scattered herbs on the ground.
He bent down, picked up the medicine sieve, brushed off the dust, and handed it back to her, his voice low and clear:
"Xiaoman, I'm here."
There was no explanation, no promise, just four simple words, yet they were like a boulder thrown into Lin Xiaoman's calm heart, stirring up towering waves.
She looked at the guards standing solemnly behind him, at the luxurious carriage, and then at her own courtyard, which, although renovated, was still simple. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
Xu Xiuran seemed to see through her helplessness, leaned slightly forward, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"This time, I'm not just passing by."
The sunlight was perfect, falling between the two of them, and the air was filled with the fragrance of herbs and a certain palpitation that was about to erupt.
Lin Xiaoman looked into his deep eyes, where her small, flustered figure was clearly reflected.
She suddenly felt that perhaps the moon and clouds were not forever out of reach.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
