On the evening of the seventh day of the first lunar month, Hong Xiaoduo and the others had dinner at a restaurant in the alley and then strolled back to the inn.
"Young Lady Hong, please wait." An unfamiliar voice came from behind.
The two adults and seven children stopped and turned around, only to see a young soldier looking nervously at Hong Xiaoduo.
"My general would like to invite you for tea, young lady. You'll be traveling alone." The messenger finished speaking and pointed to the direction diagonally opposite.
Hong Xiaoduo and the others looked over, and Lin Ansheng, who was standing there, was also looking in their direction.
"Brother Quan, why don't you take them back first?" Hong Xiaoduo said frankly.
I roughly guessed why General Lin wanted to see me; it was probably related to what happened on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
"He's only now remembering to thank me? Isn't that a bit too late? Or is there something else going on?" Quan Jinghuai guessed the same thing.
Hong Xiaoduo shrugged and laughed, "It should just be a thank you, what else could it be? Does he want me to take responsibility for him?"
Quan Jinghuai was immediately amused by her words: "Then you should marry him. He's a general, so you won't be at a disadvantage."
The seven children had no idea what had happened, so they were completely confused by the conversation between the two. How could their mother marry General Lin?
"Marry him? Forget it, he's not my type. You guys go back first." Hong Xiaoduo said casually and walked towards Lin Ansheng.
Seeing her walk over, the soldier who delivered the message visibly breathed a sigh of relief and followed her at a distance.
"General Lin, are you inviting me for tea at this hour? Don't you know that drinking tea at night can easily cause insomnia?" Hong Xiaoduo joked as they approached.
Lin Ansheng gestured for them to enter, and the two went into the teahouse. The waiter led them to a private room on the third floor.
"General Lin, was it Prefect Wu who plotted against you that night?" Hong Xiaoduo asked impatiently as soon as she sat down and the waiter brought her tea and left.
"How did you find out?" Lin Ansheng asked somewhat awkwardly.
Hong Xiaoduo laughed and said, "That's my analysis. You see, you've been stationed here for several years and you've always kept to yourself and never bothered him. How come it's only been a short time since you had that incident before the New Year, and now the governor has come here?"
This afternoon, while we were in a restaurant, we overheard people talking about how Prefect Wu had abused his power to embezzle public funds and had been escorted to the capital.
Lord Zhao of Baishi Town, along with several other county officials, were also escorted away.
"General Lin, you've eliminated quite a few corrupt officials in the court. You've avenged your personal grudge, rid the court of a menace, and also rid the people of a menace—a triple win!" He then gave Lin Ansheng a thumbs-up.
"However, this Prefect Wu really courted death, daring to use such despicable and vile methods against you. He's probably regretting it to the core now. People who are never content and are too greedy will eventually head down a dead end," Hong Xiaoduo added.
Originally, Lin Ansheng felt embarrassed and awkward thinking about what happened that night, but unexpectedly, she brought it up so naturally, which made him feel that what happened to him that night was nothing.
"I have no recollection of what happened that night. I invited Miss Hong here today for two reasons: first, to thank you, and second, to apologize to you. If I did anything improper or said anything I shouldn't have to say to you that night, please forgive me."
Of course, if you, Miss Hong, are still bothered by this, I, Lin, am willing to take responsibility for what happened that night. I am willing to marry you and accept those seven children...
Before Lin Ansheng could finish speaking, the person sitting opposite him was so startled that they spat out a mouthful of tea.
Hong Xiaoduo looked at the person opposite her in disbelief. She never expected that Quan Jinghuai would actually be right!
"General Lin, are you running a fever and have you lost your mind? What nonsense are you spouting?" Hong Xiaoduo had truly learned something new today.
She had indeed seen many of these kinds of irresponsible plots in ancient romance novels, but she thought they were exaggerated.
Unexpectedly, I actually encountered this meme?
“Young Lady Hong, I am serious. If you…”
"Stop, don't say anymore." Hong Xiaoduo realized he was serious and quickly stopped him from continuing.
"I'm sorry, nothing special happened between us that night. You didn't say anything inappropriate or do anything inappropriate to me. So, there's no question of taking responsibility or not taking responsibility."
When I found you that night, you were already unconscious on the roadside, so General Lin, please stop making things up in your head.” The other person seemed very serious, forcing Hong Xiaoduo to lie and deceive him; she dared not tell the truth.
Given his personality, if he knew about the night he forcibly held her in his arms, Hong Xiaoduo felt that he might stubbornly insist on taking responsibility for her to the end.
No, that's too terrible. She absolutely cannot let that happen.
Not to mention that she never intended to have any romantic entanglements with men of this dynasty, even if she wanted to fall in love and get married, it wouldn't be in this way.
That's why they say ancient feudal society was utterly evil.
According to his line of thinking, would women who squeeze onto subways and buses every day to get to work be able to get married if they inevitably have physical contact with men?
"Is it true, Miss Hong? Did I really faint by the roadside and lose consciousness?" Lin Ansheng asked nervously.
If that's the case, that would be great! It's a shame he hesitated for so long!
“Really, if General Lin doesn’t believe me, I can swear to God.” Hong Xiaoduo stated firmly.
If required, she would actually swear a solemn oath. But what good would it do? She doesn't believe in any oaths anyway.
How many people around the world swear oaths every day? If God could hear them, he'd be too busy to keep up!
So many scumbags swear oaths, but who has ever heard of a scumbag being struck by lightning?
Lin Ansheng kept staring into Hong Xiaoduo's eyes and expression, and only when he saw her like this did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Miss Hong, have some tea." Lin Ansheng, now free of her worries, poured her some tea.
Feeling relaxed, he was in the mood to joke: "When I was unconscious, how did Miss Hong manage to bring me back to the inn?" He asked this, but in his heart he was thinking, if she was supporting him, that kind of physical contact couldn't be considered as a matter of propriety between men and women, could it?
"If I said I would carry you back, General Lin, wouldn't you feel embarrassed?" Hong Xiaoduo thought for a moment and said cautiously.
There was no other way; she was terrified that a careless remark might cause her a lot of trouble.
I didn't dare lie and say that I asked a man to help me get back to the inn, in case this person wanted to find him to thank him and would ask me all sorts of questions...
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