Chapter 52 It's easy to invite a god, but difficult to send him away.
Xiao Mingzhang woke up on a soft bed.
The incessant rain outside hadn't stopped, relentlessly pounding against his ears. With heavy eyelids, he wearily scanned the room, unsure of where he was or whose house he was in.
There were no lights on in the room. His drowsy head felt as if a huge boulder weighed down on it, making it impossible to turn. He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his forehead and, as expected, felt a shockingly hot burning sensation.
“Water…” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he uttered a single word through his parched lips. Immediately, he felt a cup of water being unceremoniously brought to his lips.
Xiao Mingzhang paused. The room was dark, and he couldn't see who had come in. But after slightly clearing his muddled mind, he opened his mouth again and asked softly, "Yunzhu?"
The water delivery person didn't answer, only saying, "Didn't you want some water? Get up and drink it yourself."
It really was her.
Xiao Mingzhang felt relieved instantly. He propped himself up on his arms and tried to get Yunzhu's water, but the excruciating pain all over his body made him too weak. He had just managed to lift himself up when he immediately fell back down onto the bed.
He could only weakly smile in the darkness toward Yunzhu.
Yunzhu couldn't see his smile, and since Xiao Mingzhang wouldn't get up, she simply placed the teacup on the table to the side, waiting for Xiao Mingzhang to be able to get it himself.
She got up and walked out of the house with practiced ease.
Hearing footsteps, Xiao Mingzhang hurriedly called out again, "Yunzhu!"
Yunzhu stopped and turned back towards the bed, wondering what else he wanted to do.
"Thank you..." But Xiao Mingzhang forced a hoarse voice, only wanting to say these three words to Yunzhu.
Yunzhu remained silent for a moment, did not reply to him, and then went out the door.
Two hours ago, Yunzhu discovered that Xiao Mingzhang had fainted outside her door because of her neighbor's shouts.
The rain tonight is heavy, the first rain since autumn began in Hanze Town. The clouds and moisture, carrying the wind and rain from the Tianshan Mountains, have traveled south along the grassland and descended upon this fertile land, casting a golden hue upon the autumn landscape.
As the saying goes, "One autumn rain brings one chill," and tonight's rain in Hanze Town is still filled with the coolness of the Tianshan Mountains.
Yunzhu had planned to go to bed early tonight, but Xiao Mingzhang's appearance disrupted all her plans.
The old lady next door found him, but she couldn't take care of him. His cries attracted more neighbors, who all recognized him as her annoying older brother who had been visiting them a while ago.
Even if her brother is disliked, he has now fallen into a coma in the rain outside her house, so it's hard for the neighbors to fully consider Yunzhu's feelings.
"Let's wake him up first. If he still forces you to do things at home after he wakes up, then call us again, and we'll take care of things for you!" they said.
Yunzhu was helpless. She had told the lie herself. She hadn't expected that although Hanze Town was isolated and its people were simple and honest, they were so honest that even when she revealed Xiao Mingzhang's name, no one bothered to check his true identity.
In front of the neighbors, she had no choice but to bring him back temporarily.
The courtyard where she and Ayan now live has a kitchen and a washroom, as well as two bedrooms. Ayan lives alone in one of the narrower rooms, while Yunzhu lives with the child in the other, which is more spacious.
Now that Xiao Mingzhang has brought her back, it would be inappropriate for her to stay in Ayan's room, so Yunzhu could only temporarily arrange for him to stay in her own bedroom.
She told Ayan to take Mu Zhaozhi to her room to sleep that night, while she tidied up Xiao Mingzhang and sat in the room waiting for him to wake up.
Now that she had finally woken up, Yunzhu left without any burden.
Being awake means you're not dead.
She returned to Ayan's bedroom, where little Mu Zhaozhi was already fast asleep, lying on her side on Ayan's bed, covered with a quilt, her delicate face still tender.
Ayan, however, kept her eyes open and hadn't fallen asleep yet.
She walked over and kissed Mu Zhaozhi's warm cheek as she slept, then heard Ayan ask, "Is he awake?"
Yunzhu replied, "Yes."
Ayan pursed her lips and looked at Yunzhu with a guilty conscience.
As for what happened with Xiao Mingzhang tonight, Ayan didn't know if she had done the right thing. She had discovered Xiao Mingzhang's existence early on, but she hadn't told Yunzhu. If she had told Yunzhu earlier, wouldn't Yunzhu have driven him away sooner, and she wouldn't have to take him in and take care of him now?
The thought that Xiao Mingzhang was now lying under the same roof as them, and that Yunzhu would have to take care of him tomorrow, made Ayan feel even more afraid to face Yunzhu. Even though Yunzhu had told her to rest with Mu Zhaozhi, she couldn't fall asleep.
Her intentions were good, but she really didn't know if she had made things worse.
"Ayan, when you went out to gather firewood tonight, did you see him standing outside the door?" Ayan was feeling annoyed when Yunzhu suddenly asked this question.
Ayan suddenly shuddered and nodded helplessly.
"I didn't think that much at the time. I just thought if he wanted to get wet in the rain, so be it. Telling you would only make you more upset, so I didn't want to tell you. Who knew he would faint..." Ayan wanted to explain to Yunzhu, but she was not good at sweet talk, and her explanation was dry and unconvincing.
Yunzhu smiled helplessly.
"Why are you so nervous? Are you worried that I'll blame you because of Xiao Mingzhang?" Yunzhu sat down next to Ayan, her coldness from when she was facing Xiao Mingzhang completely gone, replaced by gentleness.
Ayan shook her head. She knew that Yunzhu wouldn't blame her for these things, but she just couldn't help feeling guilty.
He blamed himself for his inappropriate actions and for holding the princess back.
"Who hasn't made mistakes? I've lived in Yunzhou for three years, and I still misjudged people, didn't I?" Ayan was still blaming herself when Yunzhu actually comforted her with something from the past.
Ayan's eyes widened instantly, and she hurriedly said, "This is nothing! He pretended to be lying to you, it's his fault!"
"He deliberately stood there today; he was the one who wanted to faint. It was his fault." The two of them had grown up together for so many years. Ayan understood Yunzhu, so how could Yunzhu not understand Ayan's thoughts?
She said slowly and patiently, "Ayan, you really don't need to blame yourself."
With a princess who cares for her like this, what grievances could Ayan possibly have in this life?
She immediately hugged Yunzhu and said, moved, "Princess, I'm afraid I really can't live without you for the rest of my life."
Yunzhu smiled again.
She hugged Ayan back.
Yunzhu's thoughts on Ayan were always simple: if Ayan met a suitable husband and wanted to get married, she would let her go and prepare a generous dowry for her. If Ayan never wanted to leave her and wanted to stay with her, she would take care of her for the rest of her life.
Yunzhu never negated all emotions in the world because of her own failed marriage, nor would she force her people to get married. In her view, there was no reason like hers to insist on getting married, and marriage was always a matter of mutual consent.
Of course, if Ayan ever has the idea of leaving on her own, Yunzhu will let her go.
With the vast sky and boundless earth, and her exceptional skills, she shouldn't be confined like a caged bird.
The master and servant cherished each other, and that night, they cuddled together for warmth. After a long time, they finally lay down on the bed together and went to sleep.
No one paid any attention. Outside the bedroom door, which was separated from theirs by only one wall, Xiao Mingzhang finally got up and went out to relieve himself.
He was standing outside the door when he overheard Yunzhu and Ayan's conversation.
Xiao Mingzhang, who was originally planning to go to the clean room, leaned against the wall, but after a long, long time, there was still no new movement.
It wasn't until a few wisps of cool breeze sneaked in through the crack in the door that he suddenly shivered and slowly moved his feet.
—
Xiao Mingzhang finally woke up, but his fever had not subsided.
The next day, after Yunzhu and Ayan woke up, they checked Xiao Mingzhang's body again.
Seeing that his fever had not subsided, Yunzhu asked, "You should have brought your own guards with you when you came here, right? There were many people last night, so I didn't want to ask too many questions. Now that you are awake, call your guards to come and take you away. Our house is too small to accommodate someone as big as you."
"I didn't bring any guards." But Xiao Mingzhang's few words, spoken casually, interrupted Yunzhu's idea.
He said to Yunzhu, "The war with the Western Regions has just ended, and Liangzhou is short of manpower, so I asked them all to stay in Liangzhou and came here alone."
After all these years with Xiao Mingzhang, it would be a miracle if Yunzhu believed such nonsense.
She said sarcastically, "Yes, the war with the Western Regions has just ended, and you, a dignified commander, dare to set off alone and run around everywhere. Are you really not afraid that the Western Regions' secret guards lying in ambush in the Central Plains will secretly assassinate you?"
Xiao Mingzhang relaxed and leaned back on the headboard. No matter what Ren Yunzhu said, he was as thick-skinned as a city wall and refused to admit that he had indeed brought many guards with him.
Seeing that he remained unmoved no matter what she said, and knowing she still had to rush to teach the children that day, Yunzhu finally lost her temper.
"Then you can just wait to starve to death. Our family won't prepare any food for you, nor will we provide any dishes or tea. You'll just stay here and see when your people come to collect your corpse!" she said harshly.
"..." Xiao Mingzhang smiled bitterly. Was Yunzhu cursing him to die? That was probably the cruelest thing he had ever heard from Yunzhu.
Yunzhu still didn't understand. There are thousands of ways to kill a person. Starving to death is the least torturous. He had seen other ways, such as being torn apart by five horses, having one's head fall to the ground, or being pierced by ten thousand arrows. Even if he were to starve to death in her bedroom, it wouldn't be a particularly painful thing in his eyes.
After a wry smile, he remained silent, staring quietly at Yunzhu.
It's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away. Yunzhu had no way to deal with Xiao Mingzhang, so she finally turned her back on him and left.
"How is it?" As soon as she stepped outside, Ayan rushed up to ask.
Yunzhu glanced at Ayan, and Ayan understood the result from her eyes.
Ayan's expression immediately changed, and she spat in the direction of Yunzhu's former bedroom, angrily cursing, "What kind of person is he? We asked him to leave nicely, but he wouldn't! What are we going to do? Should we call someone to carry him away?"
Yunzhu shook her head and told people to come and carry it away. All the neighbors would see it and would have their own thoughts about her.
Xiao Mingzhang just wants to stay here, doesn't he? He just wants to live under the same roof as her and their daughter, doesn't he? She thought, she has plenty of ways to make him unable to stay and to make him leave on his own!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Here it is, this is the first chapter...
I only realized these past two days how tiring it is to be a bridesmaid. Yesterday, I worked non-stop from 3 AM to 8 PM. I thought I could go to bed early and wake up early when I got home, but while I did manage to go to bed early, I didn't wake up until 4 PM... and that's how I ended up writing this late QAQ. I'll start writing the second chapter now, see you in a few hours...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
