He was full of complaints but didn't dare to say them out loud. When he looked at Duan Tingxuan, the second master knew what his elder brother was going to do. This was clearly throwing the burden to him so that he could appease his wife and show off in front of his elder sister-in-law. Treacherous, too treacherous, using public power for personal gain, not distinguishing between the important and the unimportant, unworthy of being a brother, unworthy of being a minister...
Master Duan cursed inwardly, but he didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly ordered the guards to go forward and tie up the people. The members of the butcher gang were not so useless that they would just sit there and wait for death when they saw that the situation was hopeless. However, they wanted to stand up, but they were powerless. Duan Tingxuan was really cruel and ruthless, and he used his folding fan to hit the joints and acupoints, so that none of the gangsters were fatally injured, but they were all groaning and unable to get up.
Seeing the bandits being tied up like a bunch of rice dumplings and squatting by the wall, the monks of Pushan Temple and the servants of Anping Marquis's Mansion finally put their minds at ease. The monks were fine, their daily practice and chanting were not in vain, although they could not be calm, but on the surface they were calm and at ease. At this time, the aftermath was cleaned up, and except for the abbot and a few monks who stayed behind, everyone else returned to their own posts and continued to be busy.
The servants of the Marquis' Mansion were different. From what the prince said just now, they knew that they would at least get a few taels of silver as a reward after returning to the mansion this time. They were excitedly talking to each other in a low voice when they saw a few people quietly coming out of the back hall, lowering their eyebrows and approaching them. Everyone understood immediately: these cowards didn't dare to come out just now, and now they were afraid of being discovered by the prince, so they wanted to take advantage of the prince's concern for grandma to come in and fill in the gap.
But at this juncture, who would be willing to let these unqualified guys take credit for the work? Who knows, there might be some of them secretly colluding with the bandits. What if their kindness turns into a crime? Who can they turn to for redress?
So everyone distanced themselves from the few people out of a common hatred for the enemy. The hot-tempered and mean-mouthed old woman asked angrily, "You didn't come out to fight to the death just now, but hid inside thinking of surrendering to the enemy to save your lives, right? Why are you coming out now? Seeing that I am here, are you afraid of being punished?"
Those people's faces turned pale immediately. They really relied on their good relationships in the mansion and never offended anyone. They thought they could get away with it this time as before. Even if someone was resentful, they would not rashly expose it and offend them. But they didn't know that all the people who fought here had experienced a near-death experience, and this achievement was earned with their lives. How could they tolerate such a cowardly guy to sneak in?
Sure enough, when Duan Tingxuan heard the noise, he looked over. No need to ask. After hearing a few discussions and arguments, the young marquis understood what was going on. His face turned pale, and he walked over holding Su Nuannuan's hand and said in a deep voice: "You guys, even the wife came out just now. You are hiding inside, what do you want to do?"
"Please spare our lives, my Lord. We...we were frightened for a moment..."
Several wives knelt down together. Their bodies were shaking with fear, and tears were streaming down their cheeks. They did not dare to argue at this time. So they only said half of their words and could not continue. They just kept kowtowing and crying bitterly, "We know we are wrong and will never do it again. Please spare us, my lord..."
"Tingye, tie up these servants together and beat them to death in the mansion." Duan Tingxuan gave the order coldly, causing Su Nuannuan beside him to suddenly widen her eyes and turn to look at him in disbelief. At this moment, she felt that the familiar person beside her was so strange, so strange that it made her flesh and blood shiver.
Duan Tingye and other servants, including Aunt Jing, all had a matter-of-fact expression, as if they had known this would be the outcome: these servants were not ordered to be beaten to death by Duan Tingxuan because they were afraid of death, but because of their intentions. It is easy to imagine that in order to survive, they must have planned to serve the enemy. Such servants would bring disgrace to the Marquis's mansion. If they were not caught, it would be fine. If they were caught, they would surely die. Otherwise, it would not be enough to maintain the mansion's reputation.
Duan Tingye agreed, and several maids jumped out, rolled up their sleeves and tried to tie up these pretty wives, with a hint of excitement on their faces. This was human nature. They had just fought the bandits for themselves and Su Nuannuan, but now they had to attack their own people without any mercy, and suddenly turned from loyal servants to vicious maids with fish eyes.
"etc."
Su Nuannuan finally couldn't hold it in any longer. Just as she shouted, she saw Duan Tingxuan turned back and said, "Nuannuan just had a shock. Don't worry about these things. Let's go inside and talk."
Su Nuannuan didn't want to go into the house and talk, she wanted to say it now, but when she saw Duan Tingxuan's eyes as deep as the sea, which seemed to contain infinite affection, but no displeasure or warning, she subconsciously didn't say anything more, and intuitively felt that the scumbag did this for her own good.
In a blink of an eye, the ashen-faced wives were dragged away. Su Nuannuan and Duan Tingxuan returned to the monk's room. Su Nuannuan did not bother to ask Duan Tingxuan why he came so quickly. She simply pulled his sleeve and whispered, "It is human nature to be afraid of death. Although they did not come out to fight, their crime is not punishable by death. Duan Tingxuan, you can't do this evil."
Duan Tingxuan looked at her seriously and said softly, "Nuannuan, you should understand that they chose to die not because they were afraid of death, but because they wanted to surrender to the enemy."
"They shouldn't die." Su Nuannuan insisted, "Death is the only hardship in the history. Madam Xi is not the only one who is sad. Madam Xi remarried King Wen of Chu, and Wang Wei still defended her. You keep saying that these slaves are of humble origins, but you ask them to have a noble spirit of dying at the critical moment of life and death, which even noble women may not be able to do. Isn't this too unfair?"
Duan Tingxuan was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked softly: "Nuannuan, who are you?"
It was a sentence as light as a feather, and if you didn't listen carefully, you might not even hear it clearly. However, when it fell into Su Nuannuan's ears, it was like a scorching thunder on her head. Extreme panic surged in her heart, but Su Nuannuan bit her lips stubbornly and stared at Duan Tingxuan, not saying a word and refusing to show weakness.
The two of them were silent, the atmosphere suddenly became solemn, and slowly, the defensiveness and persistence in Su Nuannuan's eyes turned into helplessness: Haha, it turns out that I still don't have the ability of my predecessors who traveled through time. She couldn't give up delicious food, so she could have so many innovative ways of eating, but even if she could resist her greed, her three views could not be changed anyway, let alone traveling through time, even if she traveled through time as a baby, after more than ten or twenty years of feudal education, there was no way to change the spirit and belief rooted in her bones and blood. Duan Tingxuan is such a treacherous guy, I'm afraid he has begun to doubt me since he saw me for the first time, but for some unknown reasons, he never said it out loud, but since you choose to pretend to be confused, just pretend to be confused to the end, just a few servants, right? Even if I let them go, it's okay, I won't violate your bottom line, right?
"Since you don't want to say it, I won't force you." Duan Tingxuan smiled, raised his hand to help Su Nuannuan tidy up her hair that was a little messy because of the battle, then suddenly hugged her in his arms and said in a deep voice: "You just need to know that I like you, from the bottom of my heart, Nuannuan, I don't care if you are a human or a ghost, a demon or a monster, in my heart, you are just my Nuannuan. I thank God for letting you come to my side. This is the greatest and most precious gift God has given me in my 23 years of life."
Su Nuannuan's body was a little stiff. After being exposed, she was immediately followed by such a passionate confession. The change of rhythm made her unable to think at all. She could only murmur instinctively: "But Duan Tingxuan, I can't love you, I can't love you."
"I know."
Duan Tingxuan sighed. Although he never thought deeply about Su Nuannuan's identity, her thoughts that were different from those of people of this era, which she sometimes revealed in her daily life, also made him understand this woman little by little. As long as he had three wives and four concubines, she would not commit herself to him.
However, Duan Tingxuan could not be wholeheartedly devoted. No, it was not that he could not do it, but that he could not do it. His wives and concubines might have various problems, but they were all innocent girls who had entrusted their lives to him. His love could now selfishly only linger on Nuannuan alone, which was already unfair to others. How could he have the heart to divorce them and expel them from the house when they had done nothing wrong, ruining their reputations or even killing them? He really could not do it.
“For me, this is great news.”
After sighing, the young marquis let go of Su Nuannuan and suddenly smiled and said, listening to the tone, it seems that he is really grateful. This made Su Nuannuan confused, thinking to herself, could it be that I just acquiesced to my identity and stimulated this guy to be stupid? No, God, if Daxia loses a pillar because of my time travel, I will become a sinner for all eternity.
"Don't worry, I'm not crazy or stupid." Looking at his wife's eyes, Duan Tingxuan knew what she was thinking. He couldn't help but laugh and cry. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then smiled bitterly: "At least what you said just now was that you can't love me, not that you don't love me, then I still have a chance, right? No matter how many years it takes, maybe I still have a chance to wait for you, Nuannuan."
"Are you such a contented person?" Su Nuannuan was in awe. Did she underestimate Duan Tingxuan's character in the past? It turned out that the man she called a scumbag was the kind of sage who could be both a playboy and a philanderer? Oh my god, this is too horrifying. I really don't want to believe it. Instead of this, she would rather believe that Duan Tingxuan has a dual personality.
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