"Do you know what it means to be a maid?" Yi Qing recalled the two unruly maids beside Xue Miao'er and couldn't help but feel a headache. She felt that Xiao Tian and Deng Xiao had jointly dug a deep pit for her.
"Sure. There must be a lot of servants around the general's wife. If I go, I'll just protect her safety. Usually, I probably won't even get close to her."
Yi Qing: ???
When did she become an old woman?
Xue Miao'er, do you have some misunderstandings about the general's wife's age?
Yi Qing asked expressionlessly, "How old do you think the general's wife is?"
"Must be in her forties or fifties, right?"
"How old is Xiao Jinghan?"
"If he were still alive, he'd probably be in his forties or fifties too."
Xue Miao'er really thought so. Apart from anything else, it would take time to build such a long list of military merits.
She thought it was quite modest of her not to say the general was in his seventies or eighties.
She was so relaxed now because she thought she'd be serving an old woman who would surely be kind - faced, like a grandmother, and wouldn't make things difficult for others at will.
Yi Qing pointed at her own nose and said, "I was born in the same year and month as the general's wife."
She refrained from saying they were born on the same day as it might arouse suspicion. Although this silly girl in front of her probably wouldn't notice, Yi Qing still held back.
"Ah?" Xue Miao'er was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out. "How could she be so young? Is Xiao Jinghan a dirty old man going after a young woman?"
"Xiao Jinghan is two years older than me."
Xue Miao'er was even more shocked. After a long while, she said, "It's a pity, such a genius died so early. It's really a great pity."
However, after her sigh, she started to worry. She couldn't help but ask Yi Qing, "Have you met the general's wife? Is she easy to get along with?"
"Not really." Yi Qing replied.
Xue Miao'er said, "No way. Don't scare me."
"…She's a bit like me."
Xue Miao'er immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good."
Yi Qing never thought she was a popular person. Hearing this, she couldn't help but turn to look at her and slowly said, "You think I'm easy to get along with?"
"Sure." Xue Miao'er said carelessly. "I just like being with you."
Yi Qing thought silently that maybe Xiao Tian and Deng Xiao were right. She hoped she wouldn't be literally angered to death by Xue Miao'er in the future.
"Will the wedding be held on the mountain?" she changed the subject and asked.
Unexpectedly, a look of melancholy appeared on Xue Miao'er's face.
"No, it can't be held on the mountain." Xue Miao'er sighed. "You see, no matter how lively it is on the mountain, no one has said how to celebrate the wedding day grandly, right?"
"Because of your identity?"
Xue Miao'er nodded. "Although it's common knowledge that my father has dealings with the Meng family, we still have to give the imperial court some face. We can't seem like officials and bandits are in the same boat on the surface. So I have to go down the mountain."
"I see." Yi Qing nodded.
"But my father has changed his mind," Xue Miao'er added. "Originally, he said we should hold a grand wedding. The livelier, the better. Everyone should know about it so that I can be completely tied to the Meng family…"
Now she no longer hid her identity from Yi Qing.
"Now he doesn't plan to have a grand wedding?" Yi Qing asked lazily. In fact, she knew the reason very well.
"Yes," Xue Miao'er said. "My father said that I'll still get married when I go to the capital. It would be embarrassing if it seemed like a second marriage. So the fewer people who know about this marriage, the better. It's okay for it to be lively on the mountain. In the future, when I enter the Meng Mansion, I won't let Meng Qinglong get close to me. He disgusts me."
"Don't grit your teeth like that. Now he's the one who should be more afraid. He can't beat you, and he can't divorce you. What are you afraid of?"
"If it were before, I naturally wouldn't be afraid. But now it's different." Xue Miao'er looked troubled.
"How is it different?"
"I have a mission now. I'm a spy! I have to be more steady."
Yi Qing looked at her serious look and was speechless. "Just be as arrogant as you used to be. Do you think the people in the Meng family are fools if you suddenly change your personality?"
"Right!" Xue Miao'er slapped her thigh. "Why didn't I think of that? These days, I've been wracking my brains thinking about how to suppress my fiery temper! It's better not to bear it. I'll definitely beat him black and blue every day!"
"Restrain yourself a bit. Don't end up a widow first."
Xue Miao'er stuck out her tongue. "Don't worry. I know how hard to hit."
The day before the wedding, Yi Qing went to accompany Xue Miao'er for a while. The latter said she wasn't nervous, but she still looked a bit uneasy.
After being comforted by Yi Qing, Xue Miao'er finally calmed down.
Yi Qing left after achieving her goal. When she returned to her room and planned to discuss something with Xiao Tian, she suddenly found that, unusually, he wasn't waiting for her in the room.
Yi Qing was puzzled but didn't think much about it. She packed her few belongings into two bags.
As an older "maid" to accompany the bride, it would be unreasonable if she didn't have any luggage.
After she finished packing, Xiao Tian still hadn't come back. She then went to the kitchen and asked for two plates of snacks. She chatted and laughed with everyone there for a while before coming back.
Xiao Tian still hadn't returned!
This was very strange. Yi Qing inexplicably had a bad feeling and even couldn't help but guess that maybe Xiao Tian had been discovered and captured.
But that didn't seem right either. If they caught a spy on the mountain, for these bored people, it would be a great joy. It would have already been a huge commotion.
She waited and waited. It wasn't until the sun set that Xiao Tian finally reappeared.
When Yi Qing saw him standing at the door bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, she felt relieved. But she said, "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen it before!"
Xiao Tian came in, closed the door, and leaned against it. He stared fixedly at Yi Qing with a complicated look in his eyes that Yi Qing couldn't understand.
"Where have you been? Have you lost your soul?" Seeing his state, Yi Qing couldn't help but tease. "What's the urgent matter? You didn't even tell me when you went out. I've been looking for you everywhere."
Xiao Tian didn't say a word. Suddenly, he walked over quickly, reached out and hugged her tightly, holding her firmly in his arms.
Yi Qing was completely stunned. She was almost suffocated by his tight hug. "Xiao Tian, loosen up, loosen up. I can't breathe… What kind of stimulation have you received?"
Xiao Tian didn't say a word for a long time. He just kept hugging her and wouldn't let go.
He had gone down the mountain once. Because of a message sent by carrier pigeon, the secret guard down the mountain asked him to go down, saying that the emperor had sent a letter.
He read that thick letter over and over again. His mood went through a complex and indescribable process of disbelief, suspicion, panic… Finally, he managed to suppress all these emotions and came back.
"Yi Qing, we'll get married after we return to the capital." Xiao Tian said. "This time when we go back, we'll get married immediately. We can't wait a single moment."
Yi Qing looked completely confused. "Xiao Tian, can you first tell me what on earth has happened?"