Chapter 15 Life History
Song Yuzhu did not follow the army out of the city. He had to stay to treat the Eighth King's injuries.
Zhao Xiao was afraid that he would not be able to get used to the living there, so he found him a clean place to live and stayed with him all the time.
After dinner, Song Yuzhu saw that he had not left yet, and said with some embarrassment: "You...you don't have to stay with me all the time." Yang Yuanqing asked him to protect him but did not say that he would protect him closely for twelve hours!
Zhao Xiao said helplessly: "To be honest, if I don't follow you, there is nothing I can do. The Eighth Prince doesn't trust me."
Although Yang Yuanqing appointed him as a captain, he rarely used him. After all, he was a guard trained by King Jing and he was afraid that he would be disloyal to him.
Song Yuzhu nodded in understanding: "Then don't stand there. There is a bed here for you to rest. There should be nothing unsafe in the city."
Zhao Xiao walked to the bed opposite Song Yuzhu and sat down. He took off his armor and stretched his muscles. He was tall and the bed was small, so he could not lie down well. He had to put his long legs on the shelf next to him and lay on the bed with his head resting on his hands.
It was still early and Song Yuzhu was not too sleepy, so she just started chatting with him.
"How come you followed the Eighth Prince's army and became an official?"
Zhao Xiao sighed, "It's a long story. I came out of the clinic that day and finally returned to Jinzhou after hiding from many places. Only then did I find that the city had changed its owner. I had no choice but to seek refuge with King Jing's younger brother, King Qing."
Song Yuzhu turned around and asked, "How old are you?"
"Nineteen, what's wrong?"
"It's okay. I just think you're pretty amazing. You're already King Jing's bodyguard at such a young age, and you even know martial arts."
Zhao Xiao laughed. "Those are just some mediocre skills I learned in the acrobatic troupe. They're not that great. They just make me jump a little higher and stronger than the average person."
"Acrobatic troupe?" Song Yuzhu suddenly became curious about him.
"Well, I don't remember clearly when I was too young. I just remember that when I was five or six years old, I started traveling around with a circus troupe to perform for a living."
Song Yuzhu said, "It must be hard to start learning skills at such a young age, right?" Although he also started learning medicine at the age of five, he was an adult after all and his heart could not be expressed in a single word.
"Learning a skill is not hard, but being beaten is more painful. Among the four or five kids who learned the skill with me, I was the only one who died in the end." Zhao Xiao didn't know what was wrong with him. He had never told anyone about his childhood before, but he had a special desire to talk to this young doctor.
"Why did you get beaten?"
"Oh, there are many reasons. If you don't study well, you will be beaten. If you say something wrong, you will be beaten. If the class owner is drunk, the beating will never end. The worst time, he whipped my back with a whip and it was so painful that I couldn't wear clothes. Maybe I was lucky. I was sick for three or four days without drinking a drop of water, but I didn't die."
Song Yuzhu took a deep breath. Isn't this blatant child abuse?
"But then I ran away and beat him up before leaving!"
"I'll never feel satisfied even if I beat this scum to death!" Song Yuzhu said viciously.
It was the first time that Zhao Xiao saw him like this, and he couldn't help laughing: "Well, you're right, I should have killed him, but unfortunately I was too young to do it back then."
Song Yuzhu coughed awkwardly, feeling that she had lost her composure.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zhao Xiao said, "You are quite amazing. You are so skilled in medicine at such a young age. And who did you learn your unique method of treating diseases through surgery from?"
Even though Zhao Xiao had been a bodyguard for many years and had killed many people, he still couldn't use a knife to cut a living person's body without changing his expression.
When Song Yuzhu helped him remove the arrow before, he didn't see the specific process. But when he removed the arrow for Yang Yuanqing, he watched it from beginning to end. With that skillful operation technique, he would not doubt that Song Yuzhu had killed someone.
Song Yuzhu lied, "This is a craft passed down from my ancestors. I've tried it many times with rabbits before, so it looks pretty skilled."
After chatting for a while, they realized it was getting late, so they tacitly stopped talking.
After chatting all night, the relationship between the two people was brought closer. After all, they could be considered "friends for life".
*
The next morning, Xu Bing asked the soldiers to pile up the collected property and register it.
Jiangcheng County was not very big, with only about 60,000 people in total, but the money they looted filled up half the street! Not counting the gold and silver jewelry, there were more than 200,000 taels of silver alone, and the copper coins filled seven or eight horse-drawn carriages, bending the shafts. With this money, the army could spend some time.
However, it was a tragedy for the common people of Jiangcheng County. Their hard-earned wealth was taken away overnight, and they had no place to seek justice. Many people were so angry that they committed suicide.
Only the Song family benefited from Song Yuzhu's help, and even the front door was not broken into. Nothing was missing from the house, and it looked the same as when they left.
The army set out after noon. Song Yuzhu helped Yang Yuanqing check his wound. Apart from a little redness and swelling, there was no infection or pus accumulation. He changed the medicine and re-bandaged it.
When changing the dressing, Yang Yuanqing could not help cursing again: "It's a pity for that guy who shot the arrows yesterday. I think we should cut off his two arms and feed them to the bears first, and then eat the rest slowly in a few days! Ouch! Be gentle!"
Song Yuzhu bandaged him with trepidation and quickly retreated with the medicine box.
Just then, Zhao Xiao walked up to him with a horse and asked, "Can you ride a horse?"
"No." Song Yuzhu shook her head.
"All the military carriages are being used to transport goods. If you don't mind riding with me, how about that?"
Song Yuzhu looked at the horses. She felt it was strange to see two men riding on the same horse, but she had no experience in riding horses, so she could only nod resignedly.
Zhao Xiao held Song Yuzhu's armpits with both hands and lifted her onto the horse.
The horse was probably a little shy, and it snorted and moved around, scaring Song Yuzhu so much that she held on to the saddle tightly and dared not move.
"Don't be afraid, you won't fall because I'm here."
Song Yuzhu took a deep breath, pretended to be calm and sat up straight.
After leaving the city, Zhao Xiao jumped on his horse and sat behind Song Yuzhu, putting his hands around his waist and grabbing the reins.
"Don't be afraid when you run later."
Song Yuzhu moved awkwardly and said, "It's just riding a horse, there's nothing to be afraid of." Wasn't driving a car at 120 miles per hour much faster than riding a horse in the previous life?
As a result, he was slapped in the face as soon as he said it. When driving, at least there are windows and a roof, but when riding a horse, there is a 360-degree panoramic sunroof. The oncoming wind made it impossible for him to open his eyes, the sound of tens of thousands of horse hooves made him deaf, and the violent shaking seemed to throw him off the horse's back.
Song Yuzhu was shaking with nervousness. Zhao Xiao thought he was cold, so he pulled his cloak back to block in front of him. He could vaguely smell the faint scent of Chinese medicine again.
Song Yuzhu stopped trying to be stubborn. She leaned on him, turned her head and watched her familiar hometown gradually disappearing into the distance. A feeling of sadness about leaving her hometown surged in her heart.
Fifteen years later, he had already integrated into this dynasty without realizing it. He didn't know when he would be able to come back, and whether he would be able to eat the dumplings made by his mother and listen to his father's jokes in the future.
*
The Qing army came and went in a hurry, wiping out Jiangcheng County like a swarm of locusts.
Only after all the troops had withdrawn did the people in the city dare to go out and look around.
The people on the streets were all asking, "How much money was taken from your family?"
"Only eight taels? You took away all the fifteen taels I saved for my son to marry off!"
"These damned officials didn't even leave me a single penny!"
The common people complained bitterly, and the wealthy businessmen were even more heartbroken. Decades of savings were wiped out, but they still had land deeds and shops, so they were better off than the poor people.
It was three days later that the Song family received the news that the army in the city had withdrawn. Song Bai and Jiang Shi could not wait to rush back by car.
These days, the couple are in a very difficult situation, and only they themselves can understand how it feels.
Ever since Song Bai and Song Dayi came back from the journey that day, Jiang Rong fell ill and lay in bed crying every day.
Old Madam Song came to visit her once and comforted her: "Third daughter-in-law, think more positively. You and Bai'er are still young. Take good care of your health and have another child..."
Her words stirred up a hornet's nest. Jiang threw back the quilt and sat up from the bed, looking at her coldly with squinting eyes: "Is this what you want? You've been looking forward to my son's death every day!"
Old Madam Song covered her chest and said, "What are you talking about? When did I ever hope that Yuzhu would die?"
"Zhu'er isn't dead yet, and you're already thinking about us having another child? Isn't this just hoping for his death?! Even if Zhu'er is gone, I won't give your Song family another boy or girl!" Jiang had disheveled hair and a crazy look on her face, and she didn't care about anything anymore.
Song Bai rushed in upon hearing the noise: "Rong'er, mother, what are you doing?"
Old Madam Song said with red eyes: "You are hurting my heart if you think of me like this! Bai'er is my own son, and I know best how it feels to see a young person die! How can I bear to hope for Yuzhu's death!"
Song Bai pulled the old lady out and said, "Mom, please go back!"
Old Madam Song threw her son away and said angrily, "It's true that I favor the second wife, but there is a reason for that!"
When Song Bai and Jiang heard this, they were stunned. She actually admitted it.
Song Bai: "What on earth is going on?"
Old Lady Song saw that she couldn't hide the truth, so she sighed and said, "Back then, your wife was hit by a carriage and had a miscarriage. She gave birth to Yuzhu when she was only seven months pregnant. The child weighed less than two pounds when she was born, her arms were not as thick as a thumb, and her cry was weak. It looked like she was not a child born of good fortune."
Song Bai said: "I know Zhu'er was born prematurely, what does this have to do with him?"
Old Lady Song continued, "The child was so old, and your wife was still at the gates of death. You had to focus on taking care of the adults, so I asked the mother-in-law to bring the child to me to raise. Do you know that I didn't get a full night's sleep in that month?"
Jiang Rong had calmed down by now, and choked up as she said, "I know it wasn't easy for you back then."
Mrs. Song sniffed and continued, "This is your first child. He is so small and weak. I am afraid he will not survive."
Things are often the case that the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen. One morning when she woke up, the maid who was serving her suddenly shouted, "Old lady, something bad has happened! The young master is dead!"
Old Mrs. Song said in a trembling voice: "I saw with my own eyes that his whole body turned purple and he stopped breathing..."
Song Bai said in disbelief: "Zhu'er is dead? Then who is this child?"
(End of this chapter)
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