Chapter 13 The Rain Over the Mountain: Your current relationship with me, in our world…
Xie Qinghe is likely in Changzhou City, a hundred miles away from her at this moment.
Ning Lu was stunned by this devastating news and tossed and turned all night, unable to sit or lie still.
The next morning at cockcrow, she got up and, with dark circles under her eyes, drifted out to do her errands like a lost soul.
Before leaving, she turned back three times, repeatedly giving instructions, her posture even more pitiful than that of a tragic woman on the stage.
Ji Ming was used to her tendency to amplify her emotions a hundredfold, and knew that she was just acting, so he usually just laughed it off.
Even so, besides listening to the wind under the eaves and reading by the window, guessing Ning Lu's mood when she returned home today also became his pleasure.
As the sun sets and time comes, that's when the mystery will be revealed.
As autumn deepens and dew becomes heavy, the weather in the southwest is particularly unpredictable.
Not long after Ning Lu left, Wan Li Qingkong turned around and his expression changed.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, and a north wind swept across the land. Farmers hurried past outside the fenced yards, calling out to each other to remind each other to harvest their grain.
The autumn harvest is nearing its end, and it's time for winter storage. If the dried grain gets rained on, a year's work will have been in vain.
Despite the chaos outside, Ji Ming simply pulled his clothes tighter and leaned against the wall, not even lifting his eyelids.
The life and death of others are too far removed from his own; worrying about those things is less useful than flipping through the books at hand.
The book was something Ning Lu brought back for him to pass through a village to keep him entertained. Although it was boring, the pages were already worn out from being turned so many times.
The wind howled outside, the chill intensified, and a sense of fatigue crept over me.
As I tilted my head, feeling drowsy and about to close my eyes, a black dot flashed out from the front yard, getting closer and closer.
The door was suddenly flung open, and Yu Niang rushed in, panting, with the child in her arms struggling and her face turning ashen.
Ji Ming lazily raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the child before settling on Yu Niang.
The man's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked anxious. He glanced at himself, then at the increasingly heavy dark clouds outside.
He strode to the bedside, laid the struggling child down in the center of the bed, bowed deeply to Ji Ming, and rushed out like a gust of wind.
Yu Niang practically ran, rolling up her sleeves to tie them up, grabbing the plough that was leaning against the side in the yard, and striding towards the front yard.
He remembered Ning Lu saying that Da Cheng was often in the mountains during the day, and Yu Niang took care of everything at home by herself. As a result, she was often hoarse and frustrated, which also made her capable and efficient.
The baby on the bed was still twitching, and the front yard was now silent.
The suffocating, hissing sounds of a child suffering from infantile convulsions echoed in the room.
Ji Ming, however, seemed oblivious to the world around him, listening to the pattering rain as he leaned back in his seat, lost in thought.
After an incense stick had burned for a while, the child's pupils trembled, the whites of his eyes rolled upwards, and his little face turned bluish-purple.
The sounds from the bed grew fainter and fainter, and Ji Ming finally frowned and got up.
Her slender, narrow fingers clamped down on the child's purplish face and twisted it to one side.
He paused, then took out a plain handkerchief from his sleeve and placed it under the child's face.
The child died, and it was Yu Niang who wailed. The bed was soiled, and it was probably Ning Lu who cried out.
Thinking of the man's tired appearance every day when he returned, Ji Ming frowned slightly, and his gaze toward the infant became even heavier and colder.
Large raindrops pounded on the ground, changing the color of the soil in the yard.
As he patted the child on the bed, the child gradually vomited out the filth in his mouth, chewed a few times, and then fell into a deep sleep.
Ji Ming sat on the edge of the bed, watching the child's breathing change from rapid to regular and long.
He dislikes meddling in other people's business and hates being disturbed by others.
Yu Niang could obviously see through it too. But she pretended not to know.
During the busy farming season, there always seems to be unexpected events in the front yard, and the children who frequently fall ill become a troublesome situation with nowhere to go.
The peasant woman then remembered him. At first, she always asked him questions politely, but when she saw that he either ignored her or refused, and she couldn't find any other way, she simply left the child there and turned to leave.
After doing this many times, she realized the child wouldn't die, and she actually developed a habit of it.
This shameless tactic is exactly the same as Ning Lu's.
To him, a child was nothing more than an ant, and he couldn't be bothered with him. But every time Yu Niang came to pick up the child, she would always bring some of her own stir-fried dishes and put them on the table.
He had a poor appetite, took a couple of bites, and the rest was just enough for Ning Lu to have for dinner.
And that guy mostly praised Yu Niang's cooking skills.
Ji Ming lowered his eyes and coughed softly, pressing down on his aching heart.
Squeak—
The food smelled delicious, and steam rose from the pot.
The child had changed sleeping position at some point, lying sideways on the bed, snuggling up to his side, and curling up in a ball under his arm.
"I'm sorry, Young Master Ji, something came up in the village and I'm a little late." Yu Niang rubbed her hands awkwardly, then smiled apologetically and pointed to the table: "I made some fried pancakes, thinking Ning'er would like them. And this soup, I don't know if it suits your taste..."
Ji Ming turned to look at the sky; it was nearly 3 PM, an hour later than usual.
He pulled his hand out of the child's arms, smoothed out the wrinkles in his sleeve, and fixed his gaze on the lard cake.
Many times, when the aroma of vegetables wafted from the front yard, Ninglu would grumble in frustration, saying that lard was a rare treat.
He knew she was just craving it, not complaining.
Ji Ming's heart swelled, and he blurted out as if possessed: "Half a catty of lard, render three ounces."
"You've gone to a lot of trouble."
Despite their numerous interactions, Ji Ming rarely spoke, always dismissing people with silence or a nod.
Suddenly struck up a conversation, Yu Niang smiled awkwardly: "Young master has helped me a lot, this is nothing."
The toddler next to him, unconsciously seeking a source of warmth in his sleep, kept huddling close to him.
Ji Ming looked down and sized him up.
His face was pale and expressionless. Yu Niang couldn't tell his mood. She hurriedly stepped forward, took the child into her arms, and backed away repeatedly.
"It's getting cold, things cool down quickly. Young master, you should drink it as soon as possible. I'll take the child back first."
“It is human nature to protect young children. But if one’s conscience is corrupted…” Ji Ming paused for a moment, then said slowly, “I fear the gods will not tolerate it.”
Yu Niang paused, frozen in place.
What do you think?
Turning around suddenly, she saw a smile appear on Ji Ming's usually aloof face.
The person who rarely laughs suddenly laughed, and for no reason, a chill ran down her spine, and she tightened her grip on the child.
Yu Niang's original stern rebuttal, which she had come up with for the sake of her child, became stuck in her throat.
"The fried dough is crispy and fragrant; she'll definitely like it. She should also come to your door to thank you."
"No...no need...I should be the one thanking Ning." Yu Niang felt a chill run down her spine and hurriedly said, "The rain is getting heavier, I'll go back first. Please enjoy your meal."
Yu Niang hurriedly rushed out the door, protecting the child as she bent down and ran towards the front yard.
The wooden door still creaked and groaned in the wind and rain.
As he watched the mother and son leave, Ji Ming's smile froze on his face.
He was most adept at feigning innocence and being hypocritical, but today he found it disgusting.
It's absurd to think that she could remain unmoved by the most offensive insults, yet she would stand up for her as a kind person.
This woman is truly cunning.
The autumn rain fell like a woven tapestry, and the gray curtain that hung between heaven and earth grew ever larger.
Behind us, the mountain range stretched out in the clouds, the sky seemed to hang low, and our vision was reduced to just a small circle in front of us.
Snap—
Ning Lu crossed a pond, landed nimbly, and finally turned onto a proper road.
The rain was heavy today, and the mountain path was muddy. She walked carefully, much slower than usual. Fortunately, everything went smoothly. After rounding the big bend ahead, she would reach the locust tree at the village entrance, and soon she would be home.
A cool breeze, carrying a few drops of cold rain, crept into my collar, making me shiver involuntarily.
She tightened her raincoat and quickened her pace.
Amidst the misty rain, scattered, hoarse mutterings drifted over, and Ning Lu squinted in their direction.
At the end of the road, two streetlights and three dark figures walked toward her.
"Help! Why are you going out in this heavy rain? Are you a vengeful ghost or a beast of burden?"
Ning Lu muttered as she pulled her hat brim down lower.
"What the hell, in this awful weather, we still have to deliver messages. Those old fogies start crying and wailing as soon as they open their mouths. It's like we're going to make things difficult for them. The higher-ups mean we'll just get ourselves into trouble."
She heard every word of the other person's complaints and pouted.
Judging from that... it sounds like cattle or horses.
“If you ask me, we should go find a shop up ahead and have some hot wine. Lord Wei is from the capital; he’s seen a lot, he’ll surely have some interesting stories to tell.” Another fawning voice chimed in, “Lord Wei, don’t you think?”
"No problem, this weather is perfect for drinking. It's a rare treat to be far from the emperor's reach and enjoy this comfortable weather."
Ning Lu tried to turn into a side road to avoid it, but heard the person on the other side shout to stop her.
"Who goes there! Stop right there!"
I've been here for a while now, and I've gotten used to the original owner's body and skills, but I haven't gotten used to her face.
Without her memories, Ning Lu always feels instinctively nervous whenever she meets a stranger.
As the lamp drew closer, three figures were cast in the reflection of the puddle.
Ning Lu pulled her hat brim down again, squinting as she tried to discern the identity of the person opposite her through the reflection in the water.
The three men were wearing slightly different clothes; two were red and one was blue. The red ones were from the Pingcheng government office, clearly indicating they were soldiers.
The one in blue...
She mustered her courage and peeked over; the clothes were finely stitched, and it had wrist and elbow guards—everything she needed. It must be the magistrate from the capital they had been talking about.
What are you doing?
Ning Lu stopped, lowered her head even further, and replied in a hoarse voice, "I borrowed the medicine from the village at the west end."
The leader glanced at her, and seeing that she was a girl, he lowered his guard a bit: "You look unfamiliar, you're not from Zhujia'ao."
"No, I've come to stay with my sister. My sister, Yu Niang, is married here."
A gaunt soldier stepped forward, circled her twice, and deliberately bumped her shoulder while clicking his tongue.
"You're unfamiliar with this place, and you're expected to go borrow medicine?"
Ning Lu staggered to her feet, stepped back, and said in a trembling voice, "It's busy with farming lately, and they're all at home tending to the rice."
The soldier, with his pointed face and monkey-like features, took a step forward and made a move to put his hand on her shoulder. Ning Lu instinctively moved faster than she could think and silently slid to the side to avoid him.
Only then did Lord Wei, who was standing behind the two, begin to look at her properly.
After looking her up and down, he reached out and straightened her straw raincoat: "Where did you come from, young lady?"
"North."
"Nonsense! This is the southwest, not north. Answer my question properly!"
"Oh, it's alright. Don't talk to a young girl like that! Are you trying to be gentle and considerate?" Lord Wei waved his hand dismissively, laughing and scolding the other party for being rude, while switching back to his gentle and considerate demeanor towards her.
"Have you seen a gentleman, young lady? He... also speaks with a foreign accent, has phoenix eyes and thin lips, is eight feet tall, and possesses an extraordinary bearing."
Every word the other person said seemed to be a trap set for Ji Ming.
Ning Lu's heart was pounding in her chest. She gave an awkward laugh and said, "The person you're talking about, is he a big shot? He doesn't sound like someone we could meet."
"Why are you asking so many questions, woman? Just answer whether you've seen it or not."
The man in the lead, with a broad face and a thick beard, continued to urge them on in a rough voice.
“We toil in the fields every day, and all we see are roughnecks. If we’d ever seen someone like this, we’d definitely remember them vividly.”
She scratched her hands, looking embarrassed yet eager: "I've never seen it before, but I was just thinking of asking a few more questions, maybe I can provide you with some clues, sir?"
The official, Lord Wei, smiled and stepped aside to reassure the bearded man, his tone light and cheerful: "Whether he is a big shot or not is not important. What matters is that this person is of vital importance to the court. If you can provide information, young lady, you will certainly be rewarded."
"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it." Ning Lu waved her hand with a smile: "The military and the people are one family, rewards and such are not the most important thing."
"However, I have never seen this person before."
Her own identity was unclear, but Ji Ming was the person she knew best in the world.
Regardless of his background, he was her only ally. She wasn't stupid; she wouldn't hand him over easily.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
"Please wait, young lady. You just said you were going to borrow some medicine? May I take a look at it?"
The other person bent down, placed his hands on his knees, and looked directly into her eyes.
The medicinal herbs were precious and could not be exposed to water, so I had her put them in her bosom early in the morning.
He wanted to see it, so Ning Lu reluctantly took it out and handed it to him, glancing at his face as she did so, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Isn't this one of the soldiers who stopped her and Dacheng at the foot of the mountain that day?
The man seemed oblivious, sniffed the medicine, and muttered to himself, "The young man I'm looking for is also a frail scholar."
The torrential rain was blown sideways by the wind, and water droplets clung to Ning Lu's face. She didn't dare to raise her hand to wipe them away, but just held the hem of her clothes and smiled foolishly, refusing to answer any further questions.
The skinny, pointed-faced soldier lost his patience first: "Lord Wei, if you ask me, you won't get anything out of a little woman. If you're in a hurry to find someone, just take a portrait and search through each village tomorrow."
"Sigh. You two know my master. If he gets impatient, he might mess things up, which would be worse than failing to get it done at all. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent me out to look for him and had my older brother stay home to keep watch."
When the man surnamed Wei mentioned his master and elder brother, the two men behind him immediately shuddered and fell silent.
Ning Lu pursed her lips, snatched the medicine back, and hugged it to her chest again: "My lord, if there's nothing else, I really have to go now."
"Sure, sure. But it's all so dark outside, are you scared, young lady? Would you like me to give you a ride?"
Lord Wei smiled and his eyes crinkled upon hearing this, as if he was determined to carry on his chivalrous and tender-hearted ways to the very end.
She simply didn't respond, running off without looking back.
Halfway there, he realized that someone might be following him, so he took a few more turns before turning into an alley to go home.
The man surnamed Wei was quite eloquent, and the two constables on either side of him kept trying to curry favor with him; after all, he was a high-ranking official.
Every piece of information the other party provided corresponded perfectly to Ji Ming in the family, and they kept saying that he was of vital importance to the court.
Ji Ming's flint alone was worth three taels of silver, not to mention his refined manners and speech. I also recalled how he had said just two days ago that he had no home, and the numerous old wounds covering his body. Now, soldiers were searching for him again…
Ning Lu rubbed her hands together, both surprised and frightened, and a thought popped into her head.
"Could he be a noble young master who escaped after his family was raided and exterminated by the imperial court?!"
This completely explains why he was interested in Xie Qinghe last night.
"In front of us are ruthless and powerful ministers, and behind us are sickly and suspicious scions of aristocratic families. The world really is a giant storybook."
Ning Lu quickened her pace and bumped into the figure under the tree with a thud.
"Huh? Who is it? Walking alone at night without a light?"
"Huh?! You?!"
Upon seeing who it was, she covered his face with one hand and looked back with the other to make sure no one was behind her. Then, she slapped the straw raincoat on his face and pushed him back.
"What are you doing out in the rain?" Ning Lu asked angrily, lowering her voice.
"It's 11:45 PM." The person walked forward slowly, following her momentum, without paying any attention.
Seeing that she was nervous and couldn't help but look into the darkness, Fan Ninglu slapped her across the face again.
"What's wrong with Hai Shi (9-11 PM)? Are you worried about me?"
He held an oil-paper umbrella in one hand and a straw raincoat in his arms to cover his face, looking awkward, embarrassed, yet funny and cute.
"I just came to check if you're alive or dead."
If something happens to her, he will be in big trouble.
He wasn't lying to her; that's how Ji Ming convinced himself to go out.
"Please, Ji Amin. In our society, our current relationship would be considered a sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship. You should be a little more polite to me."
"Is that so?" Ji Ming paused slightly, turned his head and turned to the side, glancing at the darkness behind him again out of the corner of his eye, before seemingly unintentionally looking back at the person in front of him.
He said, slowly and deliberately, "I thought it was a case of the young master and the maid eloping."
Ning Lu stood there stunned, her face turning red before she could even speak.
Did he hear everything?
After a moment of realization, he quickly caught up: "Hey! Well, I did this to save you, I wasn't trying to take advantage of you."
An old tree with bent branches, a figure flashes by, water droplets sink and shatter the moon, and the two people's back-and-forth banter disappears into the darkness.
A note from the author:
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