嫩草影院地址一二三

Chapter 255 - 255: 255. Beautiful Children (Second Revision)

Gu Ling left last night. Although Su Liang will be leaving soon, and there’s still someone else at home, she still felt somewhat unaccustomed. In the past, after exercising, Gu Ling would have already boiled hot water for her to wash up, and they would make breakfast together.

Today, Su Liang, who had to boil water on her own, had difficulty lighting the stove. After trying several times without success, she realized that she was indeed rusty at this task, which she rarely ever did.

In the end, Su Liang gave up, washed up with cold water instead, and didn’t make breakfast. She planned to go to Bai Dame’s house to eat.

As she was preparing to go out, she remembered Ren Dong and went to knock on her door. She heard Ren Dong’s somewhat flustered voice, “Master, your subordinate is coming right away!”

Soon after, Ren Dong opened the door with slightly messy hair and a nervous expression, her head lowered. “This subordinate should have gotten up earlier to serve Master, I didn’t expect to…”

“Didn’t expect to sleep so soundly?” Su Liang said faintly, “That’s good for you. You should rest a bit since we’ll be hitting the road soon. Comb your hair and come with me to eat.”

Ren Dong felt warmth in her heart and quickly tidied up before standing in front of Su Liang.

Su Liang observed this new subordinate, who was pretty and neatly dressed, pleasing to the eye. “Let’s go,” she said.

As Ren Dong followed Su Liang out, she watched her lock the front door but didn’t ask where they were heading.

Soon, the two of them arrived outside the front gate of Bai Family’s house.

A tall, handsome young man walked out from inside and smiled when he saw

Su Liang. “Master!”

It was Qi Jun. When he noticed Ren Dong standing behind Su Liang, he paused.

“You’re back?”

Having interacted with Qi Jun in the capital, Ren Dong nodded slightly in response, not having met him the night before and assuming he hadn’t come.

“Where are you going?” Su Liang asked.

“Little Tiger and Zhuzi have both gone to school. I asked Erniu’s grandfather to make some wooden swords and wooden knives for the children to practice martial arts. They should be almost done. I’m going to take a look!” Qi Jun said with a smile.

Su Liang nodded. “You go on ahead.”

Qi Jun was somewhat curious whether Ren Dong had completed her mission. Seeing Su Liang taking her around, it seemed as if something had changed since their previous interaction.

Instead of asking directly, Qi Jun went to find Su Dakuan.

As Su Liang entered, Liu’s wife was washing clothes by a well, and Bai Dame was holding her baby granddaughter. Bai Dama wasn’t in sight.

“Little Liang is here!” Bai Dame happily greeted Su Liang upon seeing her. She held her granddaughter’s hand, waving it at Su Liang. “This is your Sister Su

Liang.”

Su Liang smiled, taking the baby who reached out to her, gently swaying her. The fat, white baby girl grinned and drooled. Aunt Bai quickly wiped her mouth.

“Dame Bai, I’ve come for breakfast. Is it too late?” Su Liang didn’t bother being polite with her.

“Not too late at all! What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you. It’ll be ready soon!” Bai Dame said as she rolled up her sleeves.

“Anything is fine.” Su Liang took the baby’s hand away from her mouth, finding her hand gripped tightly by a small finger.

Bai Dame put on her apron and entered the kitchen. Turning back, Su Liang realized that Ren Dong was still standing outside the door, not coming in.

“Come in.”

Upon hearing Su Liang’s call, Ren Dong entered. Liu’s wife was curious, “Who is this young lady?”

“Like Qi Jun, she is my guard.” Su Liang smiled.

Seeing Liu’s wife’s astonishment, Su Liang continued, “A female guard? She must be a very capable person. Please sit down!”

Su Liang never treated Qi Jun as a servant, so neither the Bai family nor the Liu family would ever look down on Ren Dong.

Ren Dong knew that Su Liang had lived in Su’s village for more than a year before winning the title of Martial Arts Champion. However, she also knew that Su Liang grew up in the capital city and was far from a village girl as people had claimed.

Seeing Su Liang’s natural and harmonious interactions with the villagers today surprised and touched Ren Dong.

At one time, she, Golden Flower, and Bai Yang had fantasized about breaking free from Shaoyao’s control and living a peaceful life in a secluded mountain village.

Bai Dame and Liu’s wife were both genuine and enthusiastic. The farmhouse’s courtyard was a pleasant mix of order and chaos. Ren Dong felt as if she were in a dream, watching Su Liang hold the baby and smile brightly, reaching for the tree leaves above.

When Ren Dong snapped out of her daze, she found herself seated under the shade of a tree in the courtyard, urged by Liu’s wife. Meanwhile, her master Su Liang still stood nearby, holding the baby and touching the leaves on the tree.

Mrs. Liu didn’t find anything wrong with this and quickly brought out a bowl of warm sugar water for Ren Dong, only for her and not for Su Liang.

Seeing that Ren Dong didn’t dare to take it, Mrs. Liu smiled and put it in her hand, “It’s your first time here, no need to be restrained. We’re not outsiders, and you look so thin.”

“Little girl, your mother can’t even see us, let’s go,” Su Liang said, holding the little girl in her arms.

Ren Dong quickly stood up and handed the sugar water to Su Liang, but Su Liang shook her head, “It’s for you, just drink it, no need to be shy. You really are too thin, if others didn’t know, they might think you’re sick.”

Ren Done silentlv sat down and siDDed the bowl of sugar water. Actuallv. Mrs.

Liu didn’t add much sugar, just enough to make it not plain water. But to Ren Dong, it tasted very sweet, as if it sweetened her heart all at once.

Mother Bai specially made breakfast for Su Liang and Ren Dong, steaming hot and placed on a table made of big wooden stakes in the courtyard.

“What is the young lady’s name?” Mother Bai looked at Ren Dong with a smile, “She’s really pretty, but too thin. Both Liang and you should build up your health.”

Ren Dong told her name, Mother Bai didn’t know anything about medicinal herbs, she just felt that the name was a bit strange since most people’s names rarely include the character “Ren.”

But Mother Bai still complimented her in her own understanding, “Nice name! Endure the winter, and it’ll be warm in spring!”

Su Liang chuckled, “That’s exactly the meaning.”

Ren Dong was stunned. After enduring the winter, could her life really look forward to spring…

After breakfast, Su Liang said she would come again at noon. Mother Bai mentioned that Qi Jun had caught two wild chickens with the children yesterday, and there was still one left, which they would stew for lunch.

Su Liang took Ren Dong out of the Bai’s house and walked to the bridge. She pointed in a direction and told Ren Dong, “Qi Jun went to Erniu’s house, that one over there. You can go find him.”

“What should I do when I find Guard Qi… Ren Dong was puzzled. “You go and see what he’s doing, whether you can help or not,” Su Liang said.

“Yes,” Ren Dong nodded. Seeing Su Liang walking home, she crossed the bridge and headed for Erniu’s house in the direction Su Liang pointed out.

The people sent by Duanmu Chen left the capital city one day earlier than Ren Dong, but they haven’t arrived yet. Ren Dong traveled faster and took fewer rests. Duanmu Chen had hinted to the messenger not to hurry on the way.

Su Liang didn’t pack her bags either, pretending not to know anything, and waiting for the people to arrive before taking further action.

She returned home alone and saw the pumpkin pulp from yesterday lying half-dry in a ceramic basin on a stool near the kitchen door. If Gu Ling hadn’t left, he would have cleaned it up by now, washed the pumpkin seeds, and urged Su Liang to fry them for him.

With Gu Ling gone, Su Liang processed the pumpkin seeds herself. She planned to make a flavored version this time. She added clear water and cleaned pumpkin seeds to the pot, along with the available spices in the house, boiled it for a moment, skimmed the foam, soaked them in the pot after taking out the firewood.

After washing her hands and leaving the kitchen, Su Liang saw Qi Jun and Ren Dong entering the door one after another.

“Master, grandpa Da Kuan’s craftsmanship is really good!” Qi Jun swung a wooden sword in his hand twice.

Ren Dong held a wooden knife in her hand and silently nodded in agreement with Qi Jun’s words.

“Remember to pay for their work,” Su Liang said.

Qi Jun nodded, “Don’t worry, Master, I’ll find a way.”

The reason he had to find a way to pay was that Su Da Kuan, upon learning that it was for the children in the village, refused to take any money and even provided the wood himself.

“What delicious food did you make, Master? It smells so good!” Qi Jun asked with a smile.

Ren Dong frowned slightly. Qi Jun seemed to be a good friend of Su Liang’s, calling her “Master” only as a formality, without a hierarchy involved.

Su Liang shook her head, “It’s a secret.”

Qi Jun laughed, “I wonder if I’ll have the good fortune to taste it. Anyway, when I return to the capital, I have to find my brother and have a good chat with him.

He will surely be envious of me!”

Su Liang snorted, “You’re just asking to get beaten.”

Qi Jun’s lips slightly hooked, “How can I not let my brother know about such a good life? It’s worth it even if I get beaten up!”

Qi Jun was about to go to the school to teach the children martial arts, during their break of study; this was their daily schedule.

Su Liang let Ren Dong follow him, and although Ren Dong didn’t know if she could help, she went with Qi Jun anyway.

Approaching noon, Su Liang scooped out the pumpkin seeds that had soaked and absorbed the flavors in the pot, drained the water, and dried them in the courtyard before heading to Bai’s house for lunch.

After finishing lunch and returning home, Su Liang read a book for an hour. When the pumpkin seeds were dry, she slowly fried them over a low heat, stirring constantly.

Qi Jun and Ren Dong returned to find the alluring aroma of roasted pumpkin seeds wafting throughout the courtyard.

“The master must have made something delicious.” Qi Jun said. Ren Dong nodded.

“Why don’t you go take a look?” Qi Jun pointed at the kitchen.

Ren Dong shook her head, “You go.”

As the two of them tried to outdo each other in “letting” the other go, Su Liang came out of the kitchen and poured the roasted pumpkin seeds onto a colander on the stone table in the courtyard, spreading them out evenly.

“Master, what is this?” Qi Jun asked curiously.

“Pumpkin seeds.” Su Liang said.

“Can they be eaten?” Qi Jun looked surprised. Having grown up in Bei Jingwang Mansion with Xing Yusheng, although he was nominally a servant, he lived a better life than the young masters of ordinary families and had never seen this before.

Su Liang gestured for Qi Jun and Ren Dong to reach out their hands, and gave them a small handful each, “You can eat them with or without peeling.”

After peeling one and tasting it, Qi Jun tried another unpeeled one and kept nodding, “Delicious! So fragrant!”

Ren Dong also nodded, ‘Very delicious.”

“Don’t sneak any more of the leftovers.” Su Liang warned.

“Master, are you planning to bring these back to the capital city and give them to someone?” Qi Jun asked.

Looking very serious, Su Liang said, “There’s a beautiful little ermine that came down the mountain to my house a few days ago. It likes to eat these. It’ll come looking for me, and I’m preparing these for it.”

Qi Jun and Ren Dong exchanged a knowing glance.

Qi Jun sensed Su Liang was babbling nonsense, and Ren Dong also thought so, but unfortunately, they had no evidence…

As the sun set, Su Liang wrapped the cooled spiced pumpkin seeds in oiled paper and placed them into an exquisite snack box to keep them from getting damp.

The next day, a messenger from Duanmu Chen arrived at Su’s village.

It was two guards from the Crown Prince’s Mansion who came. They entered the village and asked the villagers, then found Su Liang’s house.

After having breakfast at the Bai Family, Su Liang returned home and was watering the trees in the courtyard. Ren Dong had been sent by her to help Qi Jun again.

After the two guards saluted, they handed over the letter from Duanmu Chen to Su Liang.

The letter was brief and impersonal, saying that the emperor had been suffering from a headache recently, the Empress Dowager’s old illness had relapsed, and Su Liang was commanded to set off for the capital immediately upon receiving the letter, without delay on the way.

Ren Dong had informed her earlier that Duanmu Yi wanted Su Liang to return earlier, but coincidentally, Duanmu Chen sent someone to call her, which appeared to contain hidden implications.

Of course, no matter whose command it was, Su Liang had planned to return anyway since Gu Ling had already left a step ahead.

“The two of you, go to the inn in the town and stay overnight. I’m going to pay my respects to my grandfather today, and I’ll catch up with you early tomorrow morning,” Su Liang said to the two guards after receiving the letter.

Following Su Liang’s instructions, the two guards left the village and went to Feiyan Town.

At the time of burying Su Yuanzhou’s family, Su Liang had kept some incense, candles, and paper money ready. She took them out and placed them in a basket, along with a pot of alcohol, and went alone to the family cemetery.

Su Liang sat in front of Su Yuanzhou’s grave for a long time, burned the paper money, poured out the alcohol, and sighed softly before leaving, “I hope you and your grandchildren find peace in the afterlife. I will come back to see you.” After Su Liang finished speaking, she picked up the empty basket and left.

By the time Qi Jun and Ren Dong found out that two men on horses had come looking for Su Liang, and someone had seen her go to the cemetery, the two went to find her. Halfway there, they saw her picking wild chicken eggs in the tall grass…

Qi Jun held his forehead while Ren Dong suddenly felt like laughing, even though she didn’t really know how to laugh, just twitching the corners of her lips awkwardly.

“Is Master going back to the capital?” Qi Jun approached and took the basket from Su Liang’s hands.

Su Liang nodded, “Be careful, don’t break the wild chicken eggs. Get ready, and we’ll leave early tomorrow morning. The people from the capital are waiting in the town. ”

“Were they sent by the emperor?” Qi Jun frowned. “Didn’t they say you were allowed to stay here longer?”

Su Liang snorted, “Are you questioning the emperor?”

Ren Dong watched Qi Jun quietly. His expression was calm and not panic-stricken, “I just feel a little regretful. I promised to teach the children a set of swordsmanship, but I haven’t been able to.”

“You can stay here.” Su Liang said.

Qi Jun sighed slightly, “How can that be?”

“There’s me.” Ren Dong blurted out, realizing her slip of the tongue and quickly explaining, “I didn’t mean it like that…”

Qi Jun noticed that the girl seemed to have an intention to compete for Su Liang’s first guard position…

“You two fight? Whoever loses stays behind?” Su Liang laughed lightly.

Ren Dong nodded, “Alright.”

Qi Jun shook his head, “Not alright.”

Upon returning home, they found a visitor: Hu Er.

Su Liang asked Qi Jun and Ren Dong to take the pheasant eggs and other ingredients from their home to Bai’s family while she entertained Hu Er in the courtyard.

“Did you find someone?” Su Liang asked.

Seeing Hu Er sigh, Su Liang knew that it must have fallen through again.

Hu Er explained, “Actually, it’s not too far away. I personally took some people there to have a look. The boy’s age and birthmark indeed match, but he looks exactly like his father, and has quite a resemblance to his uncles, so it definitely isn’t Miss Su’s friend’s younger brother!”

Su Liang nodded, “If that’s the case, it probably isn’t. But thank you for going through all the trouble.”

Hu Er waved his hands repeatedly, “Compared to the great kindness Miss Su has shown me, what is this? If it isn’t this one, we’ll keep looking!”

Then Hu Er took out a pile of gifts for Su Liang, insisting that she accept them, saying they were from his brother and sister-in-law, to thank Su Liang for allowing their grandson to attend school in Su Village.

Su Liang accepted, saying that she would set off for the capital the next day.

When Hu Er came from the town, he saw two guards of the crown prince’s mansion, who were clearly not locals, and guessed they were looking for Su Liang.

After chatting for a few more moments, Hu Er took his leave.

Su Liang took the dessert in the gift to Bai’s family.

At night, Su Liang packed her luggage and, thinking of something, went out to call Ren Dong.

Ren Dong immediately came out of the cabin and asked Su Liang for her orders.

“There are two old pumpkins in the storage room in the backyard. I want to bring them back to the capital, so remember to pack them in bags tomorrow and put them in the carriage.” Su Liang finished and went back to her room. The pumpkins they grew themselves had to be taken with them if they weren’t finished.

Ren Dong came to her senses, looked up at the sky, and saw the moon was very round, seemingly brighter than it was in the capital. She used to think the moon in the palace was covered with a layer of shadow, or perhaps it was the shadow in her eyes…

Before going to bed, Ren Dong whispered, “Bring the pumpkins.”

As soon as dawn broke, Aunt Bai had already prepared breakfast and brought it over.

It was winter in the village, and Aunt Bai had made a pair of finely knitted cotton shoes for Su Liang, which she had made herself. Su Liang liked them very much, so she put them in her suitcase.

The first thing Ren Dong did when she got up was to go to the storage room in the backyard and pack up the two pumpkins and place them on the carriage.

The carriage crossed the bridge and headed for the village entrance. Bai Xiaohu and Zhuzi waved their hands, their eyes red from crying.

At the entrance of the village, they saw Su Bai and Su Dakuan, as well as many villagers, gathered there, waiting to accompany Su Liang on her journey.

Qi Jun drove the carriage, while Ren Dong waited on horseback by the side.

Su Liang got off the carriage to say goodbye to everyone, saying that she would come back if she had the chance.

Su Bai repeatedly urged Su Liang to take care of herself.

The carriage moved once again, leaving Su Village.

In the carriage, Su Liang flipped through her books and found that the one torn in half by Gu Ling that night was not in the box. But she had clearly sandwiched it between two books, and all the books had been packed away last night. Could it be that Gu Ling had returned that night after she had fallen asleep and taken away the broken book? There was no need to be so stealthy…

Qi Jun laughed and asked, “Has Master’s beautiful little friend not arrived yet?

Can I have a share of the delicious food that Master prepared for him?”

Su Liang closed the book box, “He is very fierce and dislikes sharing food with others. You better not think about it, I’m telling you for your own good.”

Qi Jun’s mouth twitched slightly, deeply doubting whether the beautiful friend Su Liang mentioned was really a little marten. Why did it sound so mystical….