Chapter 1 World One
In the three-legged agate incense burner engraved with floating cloud patterns, a few wisps of smoke drifted out from the small hollow carved holes.
This was supposed to be an incense that could calm the mind, but the woman beside the incense burner frowned slightly.
There were hurried footsteps outside the house. A maidservant, without even having time to salute, said anxiously, "Miss, Young Marquis Mu is here!"
Li Qingyu had just put away the sad expression on her face when she saw the young Marquis Mu mentioned by the maid come before her.
"Nanxing."
When Mu Nanxing heard Li Qingyu calling his name, the voice was natural and intimate. His originally tense face relaxed instantly and revealed an extremely happy smile.
He was handsome, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and because of his young age, he had the unbridled boldness that only a young man could have. However, because he was used to keeping a stern face in the military camp, he inevitably had a cold air about him.
But at this moment, Mu Nanxing was extremely well-behaved, with her eyes fixed on Li Qingyu. Even the maidservant beside Li Qingyu had her ears reddened by her focused gaze.
Li Qingyu seemed unaware and asked Mu Nanxing to sit down and asked the maid to serve tea and snacks.
"Today, His Majesty mentioned going south to provide disaster relief, and I accepted."
Mu Nanxing didn't touch the snacks on the table at all. It seemed that there was only room for Li Qingyu in his eyes.
Li Qingyu avoided his gaze and spoke softly.
"When you leave, I'll prepare something for you..."
"Leave immediately."
Li Qingyu paused slightly as he was adding milk to the tea, and there was a hint of surprise in his tone.
"So urgent?"
Mu Nanxing lied. When he agreed to the disaster relief task, the emperor had already prepared the luggage and horses, but Mu Nanxing asked the emperor for permission to return home to bid farewell to his elders.
But when he turned around, he came to the Li family, which was a few miles away.
"If this goes well, His Majesty has promised me a favor, I..."
Li Qingyu seemed to have sensed something, and her eyes showed some earnestness, which made Mu Nanxing hide the words he wanted to say back in his heart.
Mu Nanxing left. Compared to his previous high spirits, his back seemed a little lonely when he left.
While the maid was tidying up the untouched tea and snacks, she asked her young lady what she was thinking.
Although Mu Nanxing was a few years younger than Li Qingyu, everyone in the mansion knew of his admiration for her. Li Qingyu could only sigh and say, "I only treat him as my younger brother."
A-di, whom she had seen grow up, but she didn't know when Mu Nanxing had such feelings for her.
Li Qingyu had long heard rumors in the capital that the young Marquis Mu was extremely disgusted with women. At the Lantern Festival, a bold woman gave him a sachet, but was thrown to the ground by Mu Nanxing.
Li Qingyu didn't believe it when she heard it for the first time. It was obvious that when she was doing needlework, Mu Nanxing took away a sachet, so why didn't he take one from other women?
It was not until the look in Mu Nanxing's eyes when he looked at her became more and more passionate that Li Qingyu felt as if a basin of cold water was poured on her head and she distanced herself from Mu Nanxing.
Mu Nanxing took the relief money and food and left the capital with the soldiers appointed by the emperor himself. They traveled under the stars and moon all the way, and even if they stopped, it was only for a moment.
The crescent moon was like a hook. Mu Nanxing took the water bag off the horse. The aroma of brewed malt filled the air. The wine was not strong, but Mu Nanxing stared at the moon in the sky and felt a little drunk.
He reached out and touched the sachet in his arms. The spices inside had lost their fragrance, but he still couldn't bear to throw it away.
On the official road leading to Fuling City, the victims affected by the river burst were walking in groups of three or four.
Because of the hasty escape, many people did not have time to bring gold, silver and food.
Even if you bring food, you will have almost eaten it by the time you get here.
Along with hunger and fatigue, chaos also grows.
A scream was heard from the crowd, followed by the old woman's crying and cursing. Seeing that no one helped her catch the thief who stole her bag, the old woman had to do it herself.
But after running only a few steps, she collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, and could only point at the thieves in the distance and continue cursing.
The thief who robbed her was stuffing dry biscuits into his mouth. When he heard this, his eyes widened instantly. The old woman was so scared that she didn't even dare to curse.
With this thief taking the lead, the others also became suspicious. Within a few days, many people's food was stolen.
"Hey! Your bag is bulging, what's in it?"
The person he called turned around uneasily, his face covered in mud. The man turned his eyes away and tore open the bundle, revealing a few scattered pieces of clothing.
The man searched everywhere but couldn't find any trace of food. He could only curse and curse, which scared the owner of the bundle so much that he trembled and then strode away.
Baoshan, shaking himself, watched the people walk away, then picked up the bag and held it tightly in his arms, refusing to let go.
Seeing that she had no food on her, others stopped trying to take advantage of her.
During the break, Baoshan avoided the crowd and found a quiet place. After making sure that no one was paying attention, he dared to take out an egg from his clothes.
Baoshan felt much better now that she was pregnant. Touching the gold foil lining her clothes, she remembered what her father and mother had told her before they left, and her eyes filled with tears.
Tears washed away the dirt on her face, revealing her snow-white skin, as white, tender and delicate as a freshly peeled egg.
Perhaps she was too uneasy along the way and never had a good rest. After crying, Baoshan felt sleepy and had a dream in her hazy state.
In her dream, she arrived in Fuling City as she wished, but her money was discovered by someone, who became greedy and robbed her of all her property.
Penniless, she soon fell into begging on the streets like other disaster victims. When she finally found out about the house of her parents' friend, the son of that friend harbored evil intentions towards her, bullying her for not having her parents to look after her and ruining her innocence.
The dream was so real that Baoshan still felt a palpitation after waking up.
But when the gold foil in her hand was snatched away and she saw face to face with the same face as the dandy who had ruined her innocence in the dream, Baoshan finally believed the dream completely.
Zhang Shang felt extremely unlucky. This group of lowly refugees were naturally incompatible with him. He had just been scolded by his father because of them, and the next moment his clothes were soiled by one of the refugees.
Before Zhang Shang could say anything, the little refugee ran away like a frightened rabbit.
Looking at the fleeing figure of the little refugee, Zhang Shang felt a slight movement in his heart.
But he did not expect the little refugee to compensate him for his clothes, so he did not take this feeling to heart.
Mu Nanxing was riding on his horse, looking at the refugees in the city with his brows furrowed. Before he could speak, the horse's hooves suddenly stopped. In front of him was a refugee kneeling on the ground, with blood stains on his palms.
Seeing that the guards were about to drag the refugee away, Mu Nanxing became more and more impatient. He stopped the guards, took out a silver ingot from his arms, and dropped it right in front of the refugee.
Bao Shan raised his head and his eyes met Mu Nanxing's.
Her crow-feather eyelashes trembled slightly as she grabbed the silver ingot.
Mu Nanxing didn't take Bao Shan's gaze seriously and lightly turned his eyes away.
Baoshan didn't look away until the person left.
The dream was her fate, and only that man could change it.
In the dream, Bao Shan also saw Mu Nanxing's fate. She knew that the man on the horse was sent by the capital to provide disaster relief, and that he had a woman he loved in the capital.
But the woman, concerned about their age, refused to accept. After several twists and turns, the two finally came to terms with each other. Although it was Baoshan's own dream, her own joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness were only briefly mentioned. However, Mu Nanxing and the woman were vividly portrayed in Baoshan's dream.
The moment she saw Mu Nanxing, Bao Shan was absolutely certain that only this man could reverse her fate of having her innocence destroyed.
It was just that the timing wasn't right. She looked like a beggar, and even if she begged humbly, Mu Nanxing wouldn't let her get close.
Bao Shan touched the silver ingot in her hand, just like just now, Mu Nanxing had not even said a word to her, but used a silver ingot to solve the problem of her, an injured refugee.
Baoshan turned and went into the pharmacy.
Mu Nanxing met the official of Fuling City. His surname was Zhang, he had only one son, and he was a relatively kind person.
After Mu Nanxing arranged the food and money, he was invited to a banquet by Lord Zhang.
Mu Nanxing raised his brows and was about to get angry when he was stopped by the guard beside him.
Seeing that Mu Nanxing accepted the invitation, Lord Zhang quickly ordered people to check the food and drinks at the banquet again, and there must be no mistakes, as this was to entertain the disaster relief envoys from the capital.
At the banquet, Mu Nanxing looked at the dazzling array of food. He had been in the military camp for a long time and his appetite was bigger than that of ordinary people. He could not finish all these cold dishes and hot roasts.
When Lord Zhang saw Mu Nanxing looked suspicious, he quickly winked at the people around him.
Soon, the sound of stringed instruments was heard, and four women with graceful figures came slowly.
Mu Nanxing's fingers tapping on the table showed that his anger had reached its limit.
When the song ended, four young ladies with beautiful faces looked at Mu Nanxing who was sitting in the main seat with loving eyes.
They knew they were sending it to the disaster relief envoy, but they didn't expect him to be so handsome, so...
The next moment, their pretty faces turned pale. The reason was simple: the disaster relief envoy had left his main seat at some point and placed a snow-white sword next to Lord Zhang's head.
Master Zhang was so frightened that he was trembling all over. He asked with a forced smile, "Young Marquis Mu, what does this mean? Is it that the food is not to your liking, or that these singing girls are not to your liking..."
Mu Nanxing's voice was as loud as a drop of jade, but in Lord Zhang's ears it sounded like a ghost.
"Your house is like a paradise."
The refugees outside were starving, but in the palace there was singing and dancing. I heard that one of the dishes on the table was made with the belly meat of dozens of crucian carps.
As for where the rest of the fish meat went after the freshest and tenderest fish belly meat was taken away, it is unknown.
Lord Zhang swore repeatedly that he had never treated the people harshly.
Mu Nanxing didn't believe it either, but he finally took the long sword away from Lord Zhang's head.
The next day, notices were posted in the city announcing that the capital had allocated food, and that all the refugees in the city could go and get food. For a time, the refugees finally felt at ease.
Baoshan had changed into a coarse cloth dress and the dirt on her face had been washed clean. Although she was wearing a linen dress, her beauty could not be concealed.
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