When He Yan returned to the room, the lights were still on. Two maids were lying on the side couch in the outer room, playing with flower strings. When they saw He Yan, they quickly stood up and said, "Madam."
He Yan whispered, "It's okay, you guys go to sleep, I'll go into the house to rest. Is the young master asleep?"
Cui Jiao shook her head: "Young Master has been reading a book."
He Yan nodded, "I understand. You guys should go to bed early too."
She pushed the door open and entered the inner room. She saw Xiao Jue sitting at the table, flipping through the long scroll in his hand. He was only wearing a white undershirt, which was loosely draped over his shoulders, revealing his jade-like skin, his thin collarbone, and his bright moon-like beauty.
He Yan closed the door, walked towards him, and asked, "Commander-in-Chief?"
Xiao Jue just raised his eyes and glanced at her calmly without saying anything.
"I thought you were asleep." He Yan took off the whip from her waist and hung it on the wall. The colorful tassel hanging on the handle of the whip swayed like a rosy glow as she moved, and a red ruby pomegranate flower was even more wonderful and very eye-catching. Xiao Jue's eyes fell on the colorful tassel.
When He Yan saw him looking at it, he took off the whip and handed it to Xiao Jue: "How is it? Commander, does it look good? This was given to me by the Fourth Master Chu."
"Chu Zilan is really generous," Xiao Jue closed his eyes and said calmly, "It's not a waste to give you such a valuable thing."
"Expensive?" He Yan asked curiously, "Mr. Chu Si said that this pomegranate flower is fake jade and is not worth much. I accepted it because he said so."
"Oh," he sneered, "then he is very considerate."
"Is it really that valuable?" He Yan was a little uneasy, "Then I'd better return it to him tomorrow." If you take something from someone, you should be grateful. In case there is something to be done in the future, it's better to keep things clear about money matters.
Xiao Jue: "Take it. Don't you like him very much?"
He Yan was shocked: "Do I like him?" How could she not know!
"I didn't want to get involved in your business, but I still want to remind you." The young man's eyebrows and eyes were incredibly handsome under the light, and his pupils were dark and deep, with a bit of inexplicable coldness, "Chu Zilan is Xu Jingfu's favorite son-in-law. If you don't want to die, stay away from him."
Xu Pingting was the apple of Xu Jingfu's eye. She seemed to like Chu Zilan. Lin Shuanghe had also told her about this, but what did it have to do with her? Not to mention whether she liked Chu Zhao or not, Chu Zhao was so polite and courteous that he certainly would not look down on a woman who would sit cross-legged on the bed and do boxing.
Xiao Jue is really worrying about nothing.
"Commander, I think you are too nervous about the Fourth Master Chu, and even have a prejudice against me." She squeezed to Xiao Jue's side and bent down to look at the scroll in Xiao Jue's hand: "It's so late, what are you reading?"
Xiao Jue ignored her, and He Yan stood behind him and stretched his neck to look. After a moment, he said, "It's a military defense map! How is it? Did you find any problems?"
"The tone of your voice," Xiao Jue said calmly, "makes it seem like you are the governor."
He Yan immediately took back the hand that was on his shoulder, moved a stool and sat next to him, saying, "I am just too concerned. Princess Mengji's recent transfer of civilians in Jiyang City should soon be known to the Wutuo people. Once the Wutuo people get the news, they will quickly raise an army." He Yan had a headache, "But there are too few soldiers in Jiyang City. Since the Wutuo people dare to come and attack the city, they must have brought no less than 100,000 soldiers."
Twenty thousand against one hundred thousand. These twenty thousand were city gate troops who had not fought a war for many years. No matter how you looked at it, the situation was not very reassuring.
"Weren't you a female general in your previous life?" Xiao Jue leaned back in her chair and pulled the corner of her mouth, "Tell me what to do."
He Yan was stunned for a moment. What was this? He was clearly telling the truth, but it was taken as a lie.
"According to the military defense map, they are coming from the water." He Yan said, "In that case, the only option is... a water attack."
Having said that, she carefully raised her eyes to look at Xiao Jue's expression. The young man's expression was as calm as ever. The drinking sword hanging on the wall was as crystal clear as snow and as cold as ice.
Strangely enough, she and Xiao Jue, one of them died in the water in her previous life, and she always had some shadows in her heart towards water. The other's first battle was a water battle, and for him, water attack was not a good memory. But in Jiyang City, such a battle could not be avoided no matter what.
He Yan even suspected that she and Xiao Jue were some kind of fire spirits in their previous lives, which led to their evil fate with water.
"I'm going to the martial arts arena to train tomorrow morning," Xiao Jue said, "You should go too."
"Me?" He Yan hesitated for a moment, "I really want to go, but will Princess Mengji be unhappy?"
In name, Xiao Jue was the commander-in-chief of the Right Army of Wei. No one could train troops and prepare for war better than him, but He Yan was just Xiao Jue's subordinate.
"Don't worry about her." Xiao Jue said, "Come with me."
…
It's late at night.
The man sat in front of a long table in the room, looking quietly at the flower basket on the table.
The sugar painting looked bright red and sparkling under the warm light of the oil lamp. The flowers in the flower basket were blooming luxuriantly. In front of the flower basket, two words were written: Zi Lan. Proper and beautiful.
There seemed to be a smiling voice in my ears.
"Zhao means brightness, and Zilan means fragrant grass. The person who gave you this name must have loved you very much and hoped that you would have a noble character and a bright future, so he gave you such an elegant name."
The person who gave him this name must love him very much?
Chu Zhao never thought so.
His mother was Ye Runmei, the daughter of a minor official in Qin County, born with stunning beauty, comparable to a fairy. It was the same in his memory, a woman with impeccable features, beautiful, charming, and pitiful, with a delicate demeanor and a bit of naivety.
Such a beauty will never be forgotten after seeing her once. Many men in Qin County hope to marry Ye Runmei, but Ye Runmei falls in love with the equally handsome and outstanding Shi Jinbo, Chu Linfeng, who comes to Qin County to do business.
Chu Linfeng was a rare handsome man even in Shuojing. He was generous and had been in the world of women for so many years, so he knew how to please people. Soon, Ye Runmei fell in love with this romantic, affectionate and considerate Mr. Chu.
Not only did they fall in love with each other, but they also spent a wonderful night together.
But in just three months, Chu Linfeng will leave Qin County and return to Shuojing. Before leaving, Chu Linfeng told Ye Runmei that he would come back to marry her. At that time, Ye Runmei was immersed in the beautiful dream of waiting for her lover to marry her. She didn't realize that except knowing Chu Linfeng's name and living in Shuojing, she knew nothing about Chu Linfeng.
After Chu Linfeng left, there was no news of him again.
Not long after he left, Yeh Run-mei discovered that she was pregnant.
She was anxious and afraid, and dared not tell anyone. But her belly was getting bigger and bigger, and she could not hide it. Mr. Ye was furious and asked Ye Runmei who the father of her child was. Ye Runmei herself did not know the other party's true identity, so how could she explain it clearly? She just kept crying.
Finally, Mr. Ye had no choice but to hire a doctor to abort the baby in Ye Runmei's belly. After a year or so, he would send Ye Runmei to get married, and the matter would remain secret for the rest of her life, and she would never tell anyone.
Ye Runmei learned of her father's plan and fled overnight.
She was unwilling to give up the child, whether because of her attachment to Chu Linfeng or for some other reason, she ran away.
Ye Runmei decided to go to Shuojing to find Chu Linfeng.
How could a pregnant woman like her walk such a long distance? But because she was beautiful, she met a merchant on the way who offered to help her and agreed to take her to Shuojing.
Before arriving in Shuojing, Ye Runmei gave birth to Chu Zhao. After Chu Zhao was born, Ye Runmei's miserable days just began.
The merchant was not a kind person. He was attracted by Ye Runmei's beauty and wanted her to be his concubine. Ye Runmei refused to obey and injured the merchant. The merchant was furious and sold Ye Runmei to a brothel for ten taels of silver.
Chu Zhao was also sold in, because the brothel's mother thought that since Ye Runmei was so beautiful, her son would not be bad either, and if he grew up to be good-looking, he might be able to earn another sum of money. If he was not good-looking, it would not be a loss for him to be a slave.
Ye Runmei moved into the brothel with Chu Zhao.
In the past ten years, the young lady who had been accustomed to keeping a low profile and was unaware of the dangers of the world, met all kinds of ugly and vicious people in the brothel, who seemed to want to take back all her past successes. Ye Runmei's life was worse than death. The long-term torture changed her temperament greatly. She began to become irritable and irritable. She did not dare to act rashly in front of her patrons, but she vented her inner resentment to Chu Zhao without any regard, and often beat Chu Zhao. If it were not for the protection of other women in the brothel, Chu Zhao felt that she might not live to see Chu Linfeng.
Chu Zhao didn't understand what Ye Runmei felt for him. If she didn't love him, she left home alone to protect her unborn child, suffered a lot, but never gave up on him. If she loved him, why did she keep saying those heart-wrenching words to him, with hatred in her eyes and eyebrows?
She always beat him with a bamboo stick, saying, "I hate you! If it weren't for you, if it weren't for you, my life wouldn't be like this! Why did you show up? Why don't you just die!"
After the vicious curse, she looked at the scars on Chu Zhao's body, hugged him and shed tears: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry to you, Zhao, Zilan, don't blame me, I love you..."
The young boy was very confused, he didn't know whether to love or not. He just looked at the crying woman, and a slight disgust flashed through his heart.
He hoped that days like this would end soon. He hoped that he could grow up quickly and escape from this dirty and hopeless place.
There are more people who think this way. Ye Runmei is also looking for an opportunity.
She never gave up on finding Chu Linfeng. She cursed Chu Linfeng for his ruthlessness, but at the same time she was full of hope for him. She always looked at Chu Zhao, as if she was looking at all the hope. Maybe she left Chu Zhao behind so that when she saw Chu Linfeng again one day, she could stand in front of him openly and tell him: This is your son. Then she would tell him about the hardships she had gone through over the years. Chu Linfeng would feel sorry for her and marry her as he had said to her, making up for all the debts he had owed to them all these years.
Ye Runmei thought so, so she always took the initiative to entertain every guest from Shuojing. She was extremely beautiful, so it was easy for her to become the top prostitute in the brothel. Although she was not in Shuojing, there were always people from Shuojing among the merchants. One day, she actually waited for someone who knew Chu Linfeng.
That person was a friend of Chu Linfeng. When he first heard Ye Runmei telling him about her sad past, he just thought it was for fun, and occasionally he said a few words of comfort to satisfy his kindness as a savior. But when he heard that the person was called Chu Linfeng, that he was handsome and charming, and that he was from Shuojing, his expression gradually changed.
Everyone who knew Chu Linfeng knew that he was a womanizer and was particularly lustful. It was possible that he hooked up with a girl from a small family when he was out. But this was not done in a very honest way. At least he told the truth to make her give up the idea. He didn't leave her there, and she waited for him for many years, but ended up with an evil fate.
"My poor child...I don't know if he will have the chance to see his father in this lifetime." Ye Runmei covered her face and cried.
"There is a child?" The friend was surprised and asked, "Can I see it?"
Ye Runmei asked Chu Zhao to come out.
Chu Zhao's nose and mouth resembled Ye Runmei's, but his eyebrows and eyes were the same as Chu Linfeng's, gentle and affectionate, and he always seemed to have a gentle smile when looking at people. If this face was said to be Chu Linfeng's son, no one would doubt it.
The friend stood up, said a few perfunctory words, and hurried out.
Ye Runmei was extremely disappointed.
When the friend returned to Shuojing, the first thing he did was to go to Shi Jinbo's house to find Chu Linfeng and ask him if he had had a brief affair with a beauty in Qin County many years ago. Chu Linfeng thought for a long time and finally recalled a little vaguely. He vaguely remembered that it was a very pretty woman, but unfortunately he was a little stupid and believed what he said.
"That woman is now living in a brothel," the friend said, "and she gave birth to a son for you. I have seen the child, and he looks very similar to you, and is extremely beautiful!"
This was beyond Chu Linfeng's expectations.
Mrs. Chu was ugly and unsavory, and never cared about his romantic affairs outside, so he was happy and free, and brought 19 concubines to his house, all of whom were beautiful. Unfortunately, Mrs. Chu had only one condition: he could take concubines, but the child could only come out of her belly.
Mrs. Chu gave birth to three children. Chu Linfeng was not interested in having many children, so he thought it was enough. The only regret was that none of his three sons inherited his looks. They were plain-looking. He knew that his colleagues and friends laughed at him behind his back. He had been obsessed with beauty all his life, but it was a pity that his offspring were mediocre and unattractive.
Now someone came to tell him that he actually had a son who was left behind, and that he was very outstanding, and that his features were very similar to his? This was like a godsend to him. He immediately wanted this child to recognize his ancestors, so that if others said that Chu Linfeng could not give birth to a good-looking son, he could slap them in the face.
But Chu Linfeng had treated his wife with respect for many years. Although Mrs. Chu seemed dignified and generous, she was not easy to mess with. Otherwise, the concubine in the Chu family would not have no sons. Chu Linfeng had no choice but to ask the old lady, his mother.
Although Madam Chu didn't think much of the illegitimate son, he was a descendant of the Chu family after all, and it was not good for him to be living outside, especially in a brothel, so she went to find Madam Chu in person. Madam Chu talked with the old lady in the house for an hour, and when she left the house, Madam Chu personally ordered someone to go to the brothel in Dazhou to bring the illegitimate son back.
It’s just that the bastard didn’t mention Ye Runmei.
Although Shi Jinbo was not all-powerful in the capital, he was still a high-ranking official, and even more unattainable to the people of Dazhou. When the letter flew from Shuojing to Dazhou, Ye Runmei could hardly believe her eyes.
She knew that Chu Linfeng was not an ordinary person. He was so magnanimous and his demeanor was very different from those men in Qin County. He must have a good family background. But she never thought that he was the current Shi Jinbo. He was someone she had never dared to think about in her life.
As if all the years of forbearance and planning had finally borne fruit, she hugged Chu Zhao and cried with joy, "Zilan, your father is here to pick us up, we can go home..."
Chu Zhao quietly let the girl's excited tears fall on his neck, with an indifference that was not in line with his age on his young face.
Go home? Who can be sure that this is just jumping from one fire pit to another?
After all, in all these years, the men he met in brothels were greedy and vicious, and the women were stupid and weak. There was no difference.
But Ye Runmei didn't think so. She spent all her savings to buy a lot of beautiful clothes and jewelry, dressing Chu Zhao like a young master from a wealthy family and herself up as charming as a flower. She looked at the girl in the mirror. The girl was still beautiful, but her skin was not as smooth as when she was young. The innocence in her eyes was gone, and she no longer had the charming look she had in the past.
She shed tears. The spring scenery was still there, but the beauty had faded.
But the man who promised to marry her has not come yet.
Ye Runmei thought that since Chu Linfeng was the Marquis of Shi Jin, he would definitely not marry her, but he could make her his concubine. Her son was also the son of Marquis Shi Jin. She had been suffering in the brothel, doing things according to people's wishes. Being a concubine of an official was more noble than being a prostitute here.
She wanted to dress herself up to be particularly attractive, and when she saw Chu Linfeng, she wanted to tell him how pitifully she had suffered for him over the years, and how determined she was in her love. Ye Runmei thought smartly that when a man in the world hears that a beauty loves her so much, he will definitely feel proud in his heart, and this pride will make him pity and love the beauty even more to show his heroic feelings.
She would not miss this opportunity. She wanted to regain Chu Linfeng's favor. Even though she was a concubine, she was the most attractive one among his concubines.
But Ye Runmei didn't expect that Chu Linfeng didn't come.
The ones who came were two old women and a group of maids. They looked down at Ye Runmei with contempt in their eyes, as if looking at her any longer would pollute their eyes.
The leading woman asked, "Where is Master Chu?"
Ye Runmei felt humiliated and wanted to get angry, but in the end, she put on a humble smile. "Change clothes in... in the next room." She had told Chu Zhao in advance to put on the jade hairpin, which made him look elegant and lovely.
"Just right." The old woman lowered her eyes and said with a forced smile.
Ye Runmei felt a little uneasy. She asked, "What do you want to do?"
A maid came over and pulled her hands back, and another maid covered her mouth with a handkerchief. Ye Runmei's eyes widened, realizing what they were going to do to her. She struggled desperately and said angrily: "How dare you...how dare you! Aren't you afraid that Chu Lang will find out if you do this? Chu Lang will kill you!"
The old woman looked at her coldly, her smile was chilling, "Such a big matter, how dare we make a decision without the master's permission. Miss Mei--" She called Ye Runmei by her name in the brothel, "Could it be that our Shi Jinbo Mansion would accommodate a prostitute who has been ridden by thousands of men and slept with by tens of thousands of men in a brothel? Do you want people to laugh at the master, or do you want people to laugh at your son?"
Ye Runmei struggled desperately, but she was slender and weak, no match for the enemy, and gradually she lost her strength.
"It is a gift to you to leave the mother behind and keep the son."
Ye Runmei's legs gradually became unable to move, and she fell straight to the ground with her eyes wide open.
She waited for her husband for her whole life, and happily thought that she had finally gotten through it, but what she waited for was her own death.
Chu Zhao inserted the hairpin on his head and looked at himself in front of the mirror for a long time before walking to his mother's room with orderly steps. He wanted to knock on the door, but when he stretched out his hand, he hesitated and gently pushed a small gap to see what the "father" looked like.
Then he saw two women carrying Ye Runmei like a dead pig. They hung a white silk cloth on the beam and put Ye Runmei's head inside. Ye Runmei's face was facing the door, and her eyes met his.
Surrounded by pearls and emeralds, and dressed in beautiful snow-white makeup, she will go to the underworld with hatred in her heart, and will not close her eyes.
He stumbled a bit and covered his mouth to prevent himself from screaming out.
The people in the room were still talking.
"She is beautiful, but how can she be so stupid and still expect to marry into the royal family? Don't you think about which wealthy family would take someone from a brothel as a concubine?"
"After all, he was born in a poor family and didn't know what it meant to leave the mother and keep the son. If he had stayed in Qin County, he wouldn't have lost his life."
"Tsk, it's not greed."
Chu Zhao backed away slowly, and when he was far enough away from the door, he suddenly broke into a run. He ran into a house of an unknown family, closed the door tightly, gritted his teeth, and cried silently.
It seemed as if a woman's voice fell into his ears, with a rare tenderness.
"You are as gorgeous as Yunshen, and as bright as Weiyang. From now on, you can be called Ah Zhao. One day, our Ah Zhao will be like Yunshen, wearing gorgeous clothes, with a bright appearance and infinite brilliance."
"As for the name, let's call her Zi Lan. The orchid is luxuriant and fragrant. Mother, you used to like orchids the most."
He said in a naive and flattering manner: "In the future, Ah Zhao will buy me lots and lots of orchids."
The woman's laughter gradually faded away, and his eyes fell on the flower basket in front of him.
The fire was emitting a slight heat, and Chu Zhao paused for a moment before throwing the flower basket on the table into the fire. The flames licked the basket, but after a moment, the syrup flowed everywhere, exuding a burnt sweetness.
He walked away with a blank expression.