The shrill north wind sliced through the sky above the Nawuerhai Grassland like a blade. Vultures flew furiously against the wind, their black wing feathers scattered by the hurricane, swirling down with the thunder, rain, and hail filling the sky!
"Mom!" The child, tightly pressed in the woman's arms, murmured in a low voice with her big, round eyes open. "The enemies are all gone!"
The woman on top of her had bloodshot eyes and was already frozen stiff. She simply protected her child among the piles of corpses. Maybe before she died, she still held a glimmer of hope, hoping that her child could survive.
The eight - year - old child only half - understood death. She thought her mother seemed to be asleep, but also felt that this time her mother had been sleeping for an extremely long time...
So long that she was almost unable to hold on.
"Mom, Qingqing is hungry. Get up and make dumplings for Qingqing."
"Mom, you're so heavy. Let me crawl out, okay?"
"Mom..."
No matter how much the child murmured, the woman on top of her remained motionless.
"Boom!"
A sudden thunderbolt split the distant sky, making the entire grassland tremble.
Immediately afterwards, the muffled thunder rolled in like a raging tidal wave, continuously approaching from afar, growing stronger and stronger. Along with the ferocious lightning that filled the sky like the hideous face of a demon...
"Ahhh! Mom! Qingqing is scared!" Qingqing hugged Sheng Jiangli tightly. Her strength was surprisingly great, and her body was trembling violently. "Mom! Don't leave me! Ahhhhh..."
Sheng Jiangli was originally angry that the little girl had intruded, but now hearing her heart - rending cries, it didn't seem to be fake.
Mom...?
Sheng Jiangli's lips twitched slightly. Where did he look like her mother?
He paused for a moment, then took out a fire starter and lit the oil lamp in the corner. Looking down, he saw -
The little girl who was clinging to his chest had a pale and bloodless face. He could clearly feel that the hand behind his waist was clenched into a fist that couldn't be pried open.
The cold wind mixed with rain drifted in sharply through the narrow skylight, blowing away the messy hair in front of the little girl's eyes and hitting her dazed eyes.
It was very much like that year when his father was beheaded with a single sword, and his head rolled on the ground.
It was also like when his mother let out a shrill scream and rammed her head against the city wall.
At that time, his expression was probably like this too.
Dazed, helpless, and hopeless.
Sheng Jiangli raised his hand. His eyes were sharp, but finally his big palm still held the back of her head and pressed her head closer to his body. He said in a deep voice:
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
The heavy rain showed no sign of stopping. The dark sky was like the eye of hell, watching everything in the world.
"God is blind! Is our Lan family doomed to suffer such injustice, and our descendants will never be able to hold their heads up?"
Lan Jinqin stood in the rain, angrily raising her head and looking at the silver lightning streaking across the sky. Her eyes were blood - red. She let the rain hit her face and roared:
"If you have the guts, just strike me dead!"
"You only bully the good and fear the evil! You only pick on the weak!"
"What goes around comes around? Where is your retribution? Our Lan family has been loyal to the country, pleaded for the people, and done good deeds. But you are blind and let our Lan family suffer!"
"You just dare not punish those villains, so you make up such nonsense as 'the retribution is just delayed'!"
"I only believe that revenge should be taken on the same day!"
Xiao Rencheng, who had just brought hot soup from the kitchen, was shocked to see Lan Jinqin standing in the rain. The soup bowl in his hand clattered to the ground. He snatched the umbrella from a servant and rushed into the rain.
"Madam! Are you crazy!" Xiao Rencheng held the umbrella with one hand and grabbed her waist with the other, lifting her up and walking towards the house. "Do you want to kill yourself by getting soaked like this?"
As soon as he entered the house, he quickly took off Lan Jinqin's wet clothes and stuffed her into the quilt, wrapping her tightly. He continuously gave orders to the servants at the door:
"Get a set of clean clothes!"
"Go to the kitchen and heat up water and prepare the bathtub!"
"Prepare ginger tea! Hurry!"
After giving the orders, Xiao Rencheng stretched his strong arms into the quilt.
Lan Jinqin blushed with shame and anger and struggled. "What are you doing? I don't want to..."
"Don't move. I'm just rubbing your body to warm you up." Xiao Rencheng said in a rare cold voice with a straight face. "If you move again, I'll really touch you."
"You..." Lan Jinqin sniffed, and a face full of disbelief emerged from the brocade quilt. "At a time like this, you still think about..."
"Then be good. I promise I won't touch you." Xiao Rencheng said in a deep voice, with a tinge of pain and anger. "I know you hate the injustice of the world and are dissatisfied with the emperor's decision. The matter of the Lan family has disappointed you. I haven't been able to help you for the time being, but you must not give up on yourself because of this, and you must not do anything to hurt yourself!"
Lan Jinqin was rebellious because of his overbearing words. "Why?"
Wasn't she even allowed to vent her anger?
However, despite saying so, her intense struggle gradually stopped.
Xiao Rencheng's eyes were deep, even longer than the bottomless night. He looked down at Lan Jinqin and firmly said, "Madam, you are now Xiao's woman. Your body, your person, all belong to Xiao."
"You..." Lan Jinqin had never met such an overbearing man. She was so angry that she wanted to struggle again. However, when she saw his cold expression, her heart trembled, and for a moment, she couldn't say a word.
Seeing that Lan Jinqin was willing to be obedient, Xiao Rencheng quickly rubbed her body to warm her up and then wrapped the brocade quilt tightly around her.
At this time, the maids had already prepared the ginger tea and new clothes, and the hot water in the bathhouse was also ready.
Xiao Rencheng picked up the ginger soup, blew it to a suitable temperature as usual, fed her to drink it, and then, regardless of her strong opposition, carried her into the bathhouse and washed her from head to toe.
Just as he said, as long as she didn't struggle, he wouldn't touch her.
After all this was done, Xiao Rencheng also took a bath and then got into the brocade quilt, encircling her in his arms again.
"Although the emperor's reaction this time was beyond all our expectations, there is always a way out. Madam, you must believe in me and in His Highness the Prince of Yan."
"His Highness the Prince of Yan is still kneeling in the rain outside the Chengde Hall to fight for a retrial of the Lan family's case. If we don't get the chance this time, there will always be a next time."
Lan Jinqin looked up in surprise. Listening to the thunder and rain outside the house, she couldn't help but feel worried. "Your Highness the Prince of Yan... won't he be in trouble?"
If something happened to him, her third younger sister would probably be heartbroken.
"It's okay. The emperor was just embarrassed by him today, so he punished him to kneel outside the hall. This is enough to prove that the emperor has no intention of harming him. Tomorrow, I'll contact the court officials to persuade the emperor to calm down. Once the emperor has a way out, he will naturally let His Highness go back to his mansion."
"He'll just have to suffer for a couple of days. His Highness the Prince of Yan is strong and has excellent martial arts skills. He'll be fine."
"Okay." After hearing this analysis, Lan Jinqin felt relieved.
Suddenly, Xiao Rencheng asked, "Is it that you don't want to today or you won't want to in the future?"
"Huh?" Lan Jinqin was confused by the question. She lifted her head that was being pressed against his chest and looked at Xiao Rencheng in surprise.
Xiao Rencheng asked seriously again, "Madam just said you didn't want to. Do you mean you don't want to do that with Xiao today or you won't want to in the future?"
Only then did Lan Jinqin realize what she had said.
The next second, her face turned bright red. "Xiao Rencheng! How can you ask such a question..."
Even if she wasn't a young maiden, she still came from a noble family. How could he ask such a vulgar question?
"Then how should I ask?" Xiao Rencheng countered. "The question of whether Madam wants to or not is related to our intimate affairs. Naturally, I'm very concerned."
"Stop talking!"
It was getting more and more outrageous.
Lan Jinqin impatiently reached out to cover his mouth. "Don't ask anymore!"
A tremulous muffled laugh came from the man's chest. He removed her hand and continued to ask:
"In Madam's heart, am I such a brute?"