Coming out of Zhong Shang's room, Xie Xun crept back to the courtyard in front. She had never been so sneaky before, so she was caught red-handed.
"Ah Xun, where did you go?"
A clear and calm voice came from behind, she shrugged and turned, only to see Xie Rong standing a few steps away with his eyebrows furrowed.
She guiltily said, "Big brother … I, I didn't go anywhere …"
Xie Rong looked at her fixedly before coming to her, "Didn't you go with Miss Gu to the back of the mountain? "Why are you here alone?" The three siblings had grown up together, so it was very easy to guess the mood of Xie Xun. She had written all of her thoughts on her face, and right now, it was obvious that she had done something bad, which made it hard for Xie Rong not to be suspicious.
Xie Xun lowered her head, not daring to look to Big Brother's eyes, "I… Big Sister Ru Yi wants to call Young Master Gu over, I suddenly don't want to go … "
It wasn't that she was lying, it was indeed because she didn't want to go at the moment when Gu Ruyi wanted to call Gu Yi. When she saw big sister Ru Yi later, she would just say it like that!
Xie Xun felt that she was very smart, immersed in her own agility, even did not realize that Xie Rong' gaze was gloomy.
Xie Rong looked at her and suddenly asked: "Why is your mouth swollen?"
Xie Xun opened her eyes wide, subconsciously she covered her mouth and took a few steps back, "What did brother say?"
Seeing that Xie Rong was walking over expressionlessly, she raised her hand to try and see what was going on. She quickly retreated and casually made an excuse: "I miss my mother, I'm going to look for my mother!"
He disappeared like a wisp of smoke.
Xie Rong stood still and stared at her back for a long time. In the end, he turned and walked in the direction that Xie Xun had come from. There weren't many guest rooms in the backyard of the Precious Elephant Temple, and when the male and female guests stayed separately, Xie Xun had obviously come from the male guest rooms. Thinking of this, Xie Rong's face became extremely ugly.
After taking a few steps, he passed through a moon cave door. In front of him was a cobblestone path. On the right was a guest room, and on the left was a gingko tree.
Xie Rong suddenly stopped and looked at the person leaning on the in the porch in front of him.
Zhong Shang was dressed in a blue silk robe with his head lowered, waving the lucky Talisman in the air. A faint smile appeared on his lips, not the casual and naughty smile from before, but a sincere pleasure. Xie Rong stood under the ginkgo tree and glanced at the lucky Talisman in his hands. It was something that belonged to Xie Xun and she had once worn it close to his body.
Looks like it isn't hard to guess what just happened here.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zhong Shang saw someone walking in, and he tilted his head to look. The instant his eyes met Xie Rong's gaze, he raised his eyebrows, and it was only for a moment, without much movement. He kept the Talisman in his bosom, stood up and asked, "Isn't this Young Master Xie? "No matter how you stand there, you still won't say anything."
Xie Rong stood with his hands behind his back, not bothering to exchange pleasantries with him, he went straight to the point: "Where did you get that Talisman?"
Zhong Shang laughed, his arms crossed as he leaned against the pillar, "It's naturally a gift from the girl I like, why not?"
Xie Rong went silent, and thought back to how Xie Xun had acted like a guilty conscience. Although he could not be sure that what he said was all true, but it was still sixty to seventy percent true. Looks like this fellow before me has really taken his little sister's heart away.
Xie Rong frowned, she could not bear to see him so bullying, she wanted to warn him not to provoke Xie Xun again, but since she could not be bothered to continue speaking with him, she turned and walked out, "Ah Xun and the Mr. Gu are only a pair, their marriage is about to be set, I hope Young Master Zhong will behave yourself."
Xie Rong was close to Gu Yi, and understood Gu Yi better than him. He knew Gu Yi's character and character, he never get involved with flowers and grass, and was clean and honest. It could even be said that he was polar opposites with Zhong Shang. After comparing the two, Xie Rong naturally hoped that Gu Yi would become his son-in-law, so he didn't care how angry he would be if he said those words.
Only Zhong Shang stood where he was, staring at the direction he left with a face as dark as water.
The next morning, they went to the front of the restaurant for fast food. The Xie Clan and the Zhong Clan sat at two tables, and in front of them was a row of exquisite vegetarian canteens. Just looking at them would cause one's appetite to increase.
Madam Leng placed an emerald filling bun into Xie Xun's bowl, "After breakfast, we will go down the mountain."
Xie Xun took a bite of the bun and drank another mouthful of the fern bean curd soup.
The Temple of Precious Elephant's fast food was truly excellent. It was clearly a vegetarian dish, but it produced a different taste. For example, Xie Xun had a plate of Four Happy Rice Ball. It was filled with four types of vegetables, boiled in water, and then placed in a drawer to steam for fifteen minutes. It tasted good and was even more delicious than meat balls.
Gu Ruyi had searched for a long time but could not find Xie Xun at the other table. Finally, she found Xie Xun, who said that she left because she had something to take care of. She did not say it explicitly, but Gu Ruyi knew that she was not going because of Gu Yi. She was feeling really bad right now, so she decided to invite Xie Xun after breakfast. "There's going to be a feast at the Eternal Music Marquis Mansion in a few days, how about we go together?"
Xie Xun thought that she would have nothing to do in the next few days, so she agreed.
Returning to the guest room where they were staying, servant maid packed their stuffs and prepared to leave the mountain. It had rained a little last night, and the road was not easy to walk on. The carriage could not get on, so they had to wait at the foot of the mountain. The two families went down the mountain on foot. Because most of them were women, their speed down the mountain was very slow. It took them two hours to reach the halfway point.
At this time, the mountain road had already flattened and there wasn't much mud on the road. The Xie Clan and Gu Clan were mostly rich and beautiful women that stayed within the pavilion, how could they have walked on such a long mountain path? Xie Xun and Gu Ruyi had long ago stopped walking, especially Xie Xun who had two or three blisters on her white and tender feet.
With her back facing Gu Yi, Xie Xun put on her shoes and socks, and said to Xie Rong: "Big Brother can bring Mother down the mountain first, I'll catch up with you guys after resting for a while here."
How could Madam Leng bear to leave her alone in the wilderness? Then he said to Xie Rong: "Ronger, come down and see if the carriage can get on. If possible, let the carriage driver come over to pick us up."
Xie Rong thought, this plan was not impossible, the mountain road was much easier to traverse, there should be no problems for the carriage to get up. He nodded and said, "Mother, wait for me here. I'll be back soon."
He turned around and said worriedly to Gu Yi, "Please help me take care of mother and sister."
Gu Yi patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry."
He then walked down the mountain.
Xie Xun and Gu Ruyi sat on a boulder to rest their feet. Shuangying and another servant maid was squatting at the side to massage Xie Xun's calves, Gu Ruyi pointed at a small stream in front of them and asked: "There's water over there, do you want to bathe Ah Xun's feet? This may ease the pain in your feet a little. "
The stream did not wish to be so far away. The water jingled, and it sounded extremely clear. Xie Xun was moved, but she did not want to move at all, she shook her head and said: "I will rest here, if Big Sister Ru Yi wants to go, you can go by yourself."
After walking along the way and getting quite a bit of sweat, even if Gu Ruyi didn't soak her feet, she still wanted to bring a handful of water to wash her face. After hesitating for a moment, she stood up and said, "Then I'll go?"
Xie Xun nodded listlessly, "Go."
Gu Ruyi said to Liu Shi and then led the two servant maid to the side of the stream.
The stream was slow and the bottom could be seen clearly. There were a few small fishes swimming under the water. Gu Ruyi took out the handkerchief and dipped it in water. After pouring some water on her forehead, she felt a cool sensation, and her entire body felt a lot more refreshed. She washed her hands in the stream and then got up and walked back.
Not far away, Xie Xun sat on a round stone with a stone wall behind him and a few rocks embedded in cracks above her head.
Xie Xun was holding onto a bamboo tube as she drank water. She drank it slowly, and after drinking it, she handed it over to Shuangying. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Gu Ruyi screaming from the front: "Ah Xun, be careful!"
Xie Xun was startled, and subconsciously looked in Gu Ruyi's direction.
However, Gu Ruyi's eyes continued to stare at the top of her head. A small stone had loosened, it moved, fell off the cliff and faced Xie Xun!
No one noticed her head, and only Gu Ruyi was able to see her from far away. However, it was too late for her to dodge. Xie Xun even raised her head to look.
She opened her mouth in shock, "Help …"
Before she could finish her sentence, a black shadow flashed above her head. One hand wrapped around her waist while the other protected her head, covering her entire body. Xie Xun shut her eyes tightly, unable to hear anything. She could only hear the muffled groan of the person above her, followed by the cries of her mother and Ru Yi, "Ah Xun!"
Xie Xun slowly opened her eyes and saw an extremely familiar face.
Zhong Shang appeared out of nowhere and protected her tightly, but she saw that there were beads of perspiration on his forehead, as though he was enduring a great deal of pain.
Xie Xun moved, wanting to crawl out from under him. He asked in astonishment: "Big brother Zhong Shang, why are you here?"
But when she moved, Zhong Shang became even more pained, "I will always be behind you."
This morning she left with the Madam Leng. He didn't have any reason to stay at the Temple of Precious Elephant. After bidding farewell to the host, he led his horse and slowly followed behind them. If it wasn't for an accident, he probably wouldn't have appeared so early.
Although he had protected Xie Xun, that rock had smashed into his calf. It had fallen from such a high mountain cliff and was even a huge boulder.
The Madam Leng was startled and afraid. He did not have time to ask why Zhong Shang suddenly appeared, and immediately had the people beside him move the stone away, and helped the two of them sit on a round stone.
Zhong Shang saved Xie Xun's life, and even threw a leg in, she then went up to apologize: "Thank you, Young Master Zhong, for risking your life to save me … …"
Zhong Shang looked at the terrified Xie Xun and laughed, but did not say anything.
Xie Xun's eyes were filled with tears, seeing Zhong Shang's pale face from the pain, she thought of the strong hug he gave her. She wanted to talk to him or ask if it hurt. However, due to the presence of her mother and a lot of people, she was still unable to take a step forward.
She rubbed her eyes, just in time to catch Zhong Shang's gaze. Zhong Shang used his mouth to comfort her: "I'm fine, don't cry."
Not long after, Xie Rong brought two carriages over. After knowing what happened, he cupped his fists in thanks and asked his men to carry him back to the General of Agile Cavalry Palace.
followed Madam Leng back to the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, and was unable to stop worrying about Zhong Shang's injuries.
I wonder if his leg injury is serious? Does it still hurt?
Madam Leng was a person who could differentiate between gratitude and grievances. Although she used to have dislike, Zhong Shang saving Xie Xun this time had indeed given her a whole new level of respect. After returning home, he immediately prepared a heavy gift of thanks and prepared to pay a visit to the general's mansion.
But before he could send out the thank you gift, he heard a message from General of Agile Cavalry Palace, saying that the Young Master of the Zhong Family had lost his left leg, and would probably spend the rest of his life in bed!