Knowing Autumn
She shuddered at his tone, lowered her head, and murmured, "General, I..."
"Since you say you are a man, then take off your clothes and show yourself."
Her eyes narrowed, and she suddenly looked at the boy sitting on the stool.
"General...is this...is this appropriate?" She swallowed hard.
Seeing that she dared to look him in the eye, he frowned and looked at her with his deep eyes. He had his legs open, and water droplets still fell from his hair. He leaned slightly forward, his elbows resting on his knees, and his face had a teasing look on it.
His voice was deep and husky, quite pleasant to hear. He raised an eyebrow slightly: "What? You're afraid?"
Her eyes kept avoiding his gaze, unsure how to deceive him.
His gaze slowly traveled from his dark face down his neck, carefully recalling: "When I was choking you just now, you didn't have a man's Adam's apple, what do you mean?"
"Ah...hahaha..." She felt his gaze was strangely piercing, and gave an awkward, bitter laugh, "I'm still young...I haven't, haven't grown up yet...hahaha..."
"Haven't grown yet?" He chuckled, knowing it was a lie, but still asking with amusement, "How old are you?"
"fifteen……"
"Then why do the people in the village say you're twenty-five?"
"I overestimated it a bit..."
"Did you exaggerate a bit?" He chuckled, finding it amusing. He felt that the person in front of him was inexplicably funny, but he found it quite pleasant to be around her.
He returned to the main point, "Are you really a man?"
"Mmm." She nodded repeatedly.
He laughed when he saw the man insist that he was a man, straightened his back, leaned against the stone table, and glanced lazily at the shadow guard next to her.
“You, take off his clothes. I want to see what kind of thing this guy is.”
"Yes." Upon hearing the command, the shadow guard reached out to Li Xingxiao and tugged at the back of her collar.
"General! You're wrong, you're wrong!" she hurriedly said, feeling the touch on her collar, her male voice turning into a sweet female voice.
"Oh? You admit it?" He looked at her leisurely, as if he already knew the outcome.
"Uh-huh!"
He took a sip of tea, paying no attention to her. He held the teacup in his hand, examining it closely, and interrogated her: "What's your name? Who sent you? What's your purpose?"
“I…I am Zhi Qiu, Miss Pang’s servant…” Her voice trembled slightly as she fidgeted with her fingers and lowered her head as if to confess everything. “I…I…” She didn’t know what to say and was desperately trying to think.
"explain!"
Her voice gradually became aggrieved, "I...sneaked out myself...I didn't have any purpose. It's just..." Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked pitifully at Peng Feizhe, "I just heard that the village could provide good food and lodging, so I disguised myself as a man and went there. I never expected that the general would also be in the village. I had long heard of the general's great name..."
He put down his cup, sat up straight, and listened to what she was saying, his hand supporting his chin, seemingly quite interested.
“Go on.”
“I was thinking… the renowned Major General Peng must be such a handsome young man, right? Otherwise, how could he…” She paused, then a thought struck her and she quickly continued, “why would so many noble ladies from the capital dress up like delicate flowers, just to catch the Major General’s eye? So I…”
"Wait a minute." He frowned, sensing that something was off about what he was saying.
Her words were interrupted, and she looked up at him, rubbing her knees as she knelt on the ground with one hand, her face expressionless but in fact she was already in pain.
"Why did you sneak out?" he asked.
"Ah...I...I was...abused by my master..." She wiped away her tears, feeling wronged, and said earnestly, "I heard that the general's fiancée was her, so I tried to persuade him many times in the village, just because I didn't want the general to suffer...but I never expected the general to be so affectionate..."
"..." He pressed his fist against his lower lip, his dark eyes lost in thought.
He had never heard of Pang Zhichun abusing her servants; he had only heard that ten-year-old Pang Zhichun had suffered a mental breakdown after losing her mother and was constantly distracted. Pang's father, feeling sorry for his daughter, sent her to the Jingxin Academy to recuperate, and from then on, news of her in the capital was scarce.
He knew nothing about her, what she looked like, or what her personality was like. They were complete strangers. At fourteen, he gained the emperor's favor through the imperial examinations and recommendations, and his good friend, the crown prince, also became close to him. At sixteen, he went to the battlefield, proving himself to be both literate and martial, knowledgeable about national affairs. Young and arrogant, he was renowned throughout the land for his prowess on the battlefield.
Who doesn't like talented people? Various powerful families knew of his existence; some hated him, some resented him, and some tried to win him over, pulling out all the stops to do so. Yet, despite their overwhelming efforts, it was the Pang family head who captured the young man's heart. Why?
He was the head of the Pang family and a high-ranking official of the first rank in the imperial court. He personally came to the Peng residence to discuss the marriage with his parents. He had no choice but to comply with their arranged marriage. The emperor was also quite satisfied with the marriage and issued an imperial decree. However, she was only twelve years old at the time and had not yet reached the age for marriage. The head of the Pang family said that as soon as "she" came of age, the wedding would take place immediately.
He didn't care and accepted the imperial decree. He wondered what he would do if he didn't like her. Since ancient times, what man didn't have three wives and four concubines? He had power, influence, and status, so why should he think about staying with her forever? If he didn't like her or got tired of her, he would just take a concubine regardless of her consent.
"General?" she asked tentatively, looking at the dazed Peng Feizhe, cautiously trying to discern the expression on his face.
"Oh, go on." He snapped out of his daze, his thoughts scattered, and gave her a somewhat annoyed look.
"I've heard that my master is in love with someone and misses him every day. She's praying to the Matchmaker to help her be with the one she loves. General, you should think this through carefully." The author even offered a gentle reminder.
"Oh? Who is the person she loves?" he asked curiously.
"I don't know, but I do know he is a prince."
He gave a cold "hmm" and began to think of all the princes' names in his mind. He couldn't understand why she was so infatuated with that one.
"General, why do you have to do this? There are plenty of beautiful women in the world! Why choose one who has someone else in her heart? Aren't you afraid she'll cheat on you? Sigh..." She sighed heavily, as if it were a pity.
He was moved by her words, "You... seem to be right too."
Seeing that she had succeeded, she was overjoyed and quickly continued, "Yes! Why bother? It would be better to dissolve the marriage now..."
When the topic of annulment came up, his gaze quickly shifted to her, his eyes filled with hostility. "His Majesty has already issued the decree. How do you expect me to annul it?"
She stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment, looking somewhat troubled, "This... um..."
While she was thinking, his gaze suddenly fell on her face, and he realized that her dark complexion was actually quite beautiful. A pert nose, almond-shaped eyes, and a few stray brown hairs framing her forehead. It was just that her dark skin and thick eyebrows made her look somewhat less attractive.
"Get up, kneeling is tiring." He glanced at her kneeling posture and said, leaning against the table with the back of his hand supporting his cheek. He then turned to the shadow guard beside him, "Go and get a clean handkerchief and then leave."
She struggled to her feet; her knees were almost numb, and there was nothing to support her as she tried to stand. She was truly exhausted; her legs were weak and trembling as she stood before him, her heart filled with unbearable hatred.
He knew that this guy had been kneeling for a long time, and it wouldn't be good to let him sit on the ground, so he said, "Can you still walk? If you can, come sit next to me."
Then a clean handkerchief was handed to him, and the shadow guard withdrew, leaving only two people. One was filled with hatred, the other was enlightened.
"Then why did you help that woman? I remember the side courtyard was uninhabited." He folded the handkerchief in his hand and asked.
She was still preoccupied with the pain in her knee, and although she listened, she didn't really want to talk.
He gave a heavy, questioning "Hmm?" but received no reply, so he turned to look at her.
"Huh? Oh, oh, oh..." She touched her knee, hissed in pain, and immediately replied, "We're all friends, so I was just thinking of helping out... If I ever return to my master, I might be able to use this to... reduce my punishment... so..." She was still too guilty to look at him, and her lies were deviating further and further from the original story.
"I see." He got the answer he wanted, and simply replied to her indifferently.
"Then... why didn't you tell me the truth sooner? And why did you approach me as a man?" He thought for a while and asked two questions.
She was speechless; how come there were more and more questions?
She had no choice but to return to her ancestors.
She looked at Peng Feizhe with a frustrated expression, her voice softening: "How can I be frank? General, have you forgotten that you wanted to kill me right away? And I tried to persuade you with all my heart, isn't that being frank? If I approached you as a woman, would you really not be disgusted by me? Besides, I've heard that you are not interested in women and hate women getting close to you. That's why I resorted to this tactic, otherwise how could I have gotten so close to you?"
"That makes sense." He pursed his lips and thought for a moment, realizing that what she said made a lot of sense.
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