Chapter 187 Ninth Sister, I'll take you home.
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Even though Li Shiyue wanted to comfort Yan Jiuniang properly, now was really not the time.
Li Shiyue took out her own handkerchief to wipe Yan Jiuniang's tears. She looked into Yan Jiuniang's eyes and said, "Jiuniang, I'll take you home."
Li Shiyue lifted Yan Jiuniang onto the horse in one go. With a strong push of her waist, she also climbed onto the horse herself. Sitting behind Yan Jiuniang, she grabbed the reins with both hands and pulled Yan Jiuniang into her arms.
Once seated on the horse, Li Shiyue looked down at the wooden box on the ground and discovered that there were quite a few holes in the bottom of the box.
I knew it! If there were no ventilation holes, and the person had been hidden in the wooden box the whole way, how could they possibly have survived?
Li Shiyue thought she could leave with Yan Jiuniang, but the two of them left one person behind to deal with the wooden box, while the other person mounted a horse and followed behind Li Shiyue's horse.
Li Shiyue turned around to look, and their eyes met. Li Shiyue remained silent, as did the other person.
After a brief stalemate, the man lost ground, mainly because dawn was approaching.
"The general said that I can only leave after I see Ninth Sister arrive at her destination."
Li Shiyue expressed her understanding, after all, she had taken such a living person away, so she had to make sure Yan Jiuniang was safe.
With a pull on the reins, the horse's hooves clattered, and by the time the three of them reached the official road outside Sanshan County, dawn had finally broken.
These past few days, Yan Jiuniang, who had been feeling anxious and uneasy, looked up at the sun peeking out of the sky, felt the wind, and felt the warmth of Li Shiyue's body behind her. Yan Jiuniang finally felt a sense of peace.
There were hardly any people on the official road in the early morning, so Li Shiyue let his horse run freely. The horse, which had been kept behind the bookstore, hadn't run so happily for a while.
This race brought joy to both the horse and the rider, but it was tough on the person who had been chasing after Li Shiyue's horse the whole time.
The man thought to himself, "No wonder the General has his eye on him; his horsemanship is quite remarkable."
Just as this man began to feel a certain respect for Li Shiyue, the woman riding ahead, he suddenly heard Li Shiyue, who was riding ahead, shout "Awoo!" twice against the wind.
This scared them; they thought there was some kind of surprise attack.
The man put down the reins, drew his sword, and stood up from his horse. Then he heard Li Shiyue's hearty laughter coming from ahead.
Good heavens, only after hearing the laughter did he realize that Li Shiyue had enjoyed riding his horse and was letting out a couple of loud "hoofhoo" sounds to express his feelings, making him sound just like those rude barbarians on the grasslands.
Yan Jiuniang, who was also startled by Li Shiyue's two shouts, wanted to shout a couple of times in return, since there were no subordinates or her father, the Prince of Zhenbei, here.
As a daughter of a noble family, Yan Jiuniang was taught to be chaste and virtuous from a young age. Even though she had broken with tradition, left home as a young lady, built a huge fleet, and become the money bag for the Prince of Zhenbei, and was known as "Mr. Yan" to outsiders, had she truly broken free from those rules and regulations?
Of course not!
If she had escaped, why would she need to write to Liu Tan asking for her rescue?
With the Prince of Zhenbei pressing down on her, when did he ever truly treat her as an independent person?
But isn't Li Shiyue there?
Facing the wind, Li Shiyue whispered directly into Yan Jiuniang's ear, "Jiuniang, just shout if you want to!"
Nobody's watching here, nobody's talking, haha. Even if someone were watching, my horse runs so fast, they wouldn't be able to see it, haha.
As Yan Jiuniang listened to Li Shiyue's encouragement, and occasionally Li Shiyue's lips even touched her ear, all the resentment and sadness she felt about being forced into marriage by the Prince of Zhenbei suddenly surged into her heart.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Yan Jiuniang shouted three times into the wind, letting out some of her pent-up frustrations. However, she also got a mouthful of wind and choked, coughing twice.
The man following behind Li Shiyue's horse was also startled by Yan Jiuniang's shout. He made a serious note of the shout in his mental notebook, thinking that he would have to tell Liu Tan about it when he reported it later.
When they were almost at Liujiatun, Li Shiyue slowly stopped the horse and waited for a while before the other person caught up.
“I’m taking Jiu Niang home. If the general wants to send someone to visit in the future, please do so under a different pretext, such as coming to see our village build bridges and roads to prepare for the autumn trade market. That would be a good reason.”
On horseback, Li Shiyue cupped his hands in greeting to the man. After the man returned the greeting, Li Shiyue pulled the reins and led Yan Jiuniang into Liujiatun, back to her own doorstep.
The man watched as Li Shiyue led Yan Jiuniang into the village and disappeared from sight before turning his horse around and leaving.
Li Shiyue stopped her horse and jumped down first. Standing on the ground, she stretched out her hands to Yan Jiuniang on the horse and said with a smile, "Come on, I'll catch you. Just jump down."
Without hesitation, Yan Jiuniang jumped down and landed in Li Shiyue's arms.
Yan Jiuniang opened her eyes and looked at Li Shiyue, who was smiling happily at her: "Shiyue, you actually have such great strength! You are really amazing!"
"Haha," Li Shiyue was about to say something after being praised when a familiar "Shiyue" rang out.
Li's mother, carrying a bucket of water, stood at the entrance of the kitchen, looking at the horse standing at the gate of the yard and Li Shiyue standing next to the horse holding someone, and was very surprised.
Li Shiyue put down Yan Jiuniang, whose face was already flushed with embarrassment, and led the horse into the courtyard with one hand and Yan Jiuniang with the other. Then, she smiled and said to Li's mother and Zheng Meiniang, who came out of the kitchen with a piece of firewood, "Mother, Aunt, this is Mr. Yan. He will stay with us for a while."
We just got back and we're hungry, Mother. Do we still have some flour at home? Let's make some pancakes."
Although Li Shiyue only said these two sentences, Li's mother had more than just these two questions in her mind.
"Why are you the only one who came back first? Where's Stone? Where are Autumn and Summer?"
"How did Li end up bringing Mr. Yan home?"
What's wrong with her?
Why are you going to stay at our house for a while?
"What...what should we prepare for them?"
Food? Supplies? There's nothing in this house!
However, this was clearly not a good time to talk, so Li's mother had to swallow her questions and instead beckoned Yan Jiuniang to come inside and get on the kang (heated brick bed). Then she went into the kitchen to boil water for Yan Jiuniang.
Yan Jiuniang stood in the courtyard, bowed to Li's mother and Zheng Meiniang, and said, "Greetings, Aunt and Madam."
Then, she stood there somewhat awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
She looked at the large yard, with a donkey shed and several small dogs in the corner, barking at her.
In another corner, there was a fence made of wooden strips, and she could already see five or six fluffy little chicks inside.
Having grown up in luxury since birth, Yan Jiuniang had never seen such a pristine farmhouse before. With curiosity in her eyes, she carefully observed everything.
Li Shiyue ignored Yan Jiuniang. She led her horse to the stable, added roasted beans to its feed, gave it water, and even brushed its body. Then she carried a bucket of water to the yard, used a cloth to wipe her face and head.
She called out to Yan Jiuniang, who was sitting in the main hall, "Jiuniang, come here, let me wipe your face clean, it's covered in ash."
Yan Jiuniang obediently walked over, sat on the stool, and obediently let Li Shiyue "manipulate" her, facing the sun.
"I'll boil water for you to wash properly tomorrow. Just bear with it for tonight and make do for one night."
After you eat, go to bed and take a nap. You've been traveling so much, you probably haven't had a good night's sleep."
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