Bend Over [ 折腰 ] - Chapter 4

[Chapter 4 The Woodcutter]

Under the shadow of the moon, Da Qiao finally broke free from the young man’s hand, turned around and walked away. After only two steps, the man hugged her waist tightly from behind.

She stopped, but after a moment she broke free again.

The man stopped chasing after her, just stopped there to watch her retreating back, and finally knelt down slowly, knees on the ground, a black figure seemed to freeze, motionless.

Xiao Qiao’s heart was pounding, and she hurried back in a hurry. The maid was still asleep, Xiao Qiao walked past her and returned to the inner room, climbed onto the bed, lifted the quilt and lay back, just closed her eyes when she heard a slight creaking of the outer door, and the sound of small footsteps, Da Qiao also came back .

Perhaps because she was unsteady, when she passed by the maid’s bed, her foot accidentally hooked on the small stool in front of the maid’s bed. When I opened my eyes, I saw a figure nearby, I was startled, and was about to call out to identify Da Qiao.

“It’s alright, go to sleep. I just let go.”

Da Qiao’s voice came, as if nothing had happened. The maid did not suspect that he was there, and hurriedly went down to straighten the small stool. After a while, Xiao Qiao heard a slight rustling of undressing outside the tent. Then, the tent was pulled open, and Da Qiao gently climbed onto the bed, facing away from Xiao Qiao, and slowly lay down. go down.

She didn’t move at first, as if she fell asleep when she lay down, but after a while, her shoulders began to shrug slightly.

When Xiao Qiao was at war between heaven and man in her heart, and was hesitant to make a decision, she suddenly heard that Big Qiao was choked up by the pillow. She was afraid of waking herself up, and her voice suddenly swallowed back, but her arms twitched even more. .

She slowly opened her eyes, turned her face, looked at the back of her tightly curled into a ball, gritted her teeth and finally made up her mind, and pressed towards her cousin who was facing away from her, stretched out her arms from behind, lightly He hugged her soft waist lightly, leaned into her ear and said in a low voice, “Sister, don’t cry. When you went out just now, I followed you. I saw it all.”

Da Qiao’s body froze, and soon, she turned over and hurriedly said, “Manman, don’t misunderstand! Sister is just…”

Xiao Qiao covered her mouth with her hand, motioning her to keep silent. Immediately got out of bed, walked to the door lightly and listened, heard the outside maid making a slight grinding sound, then came back, lit the oil lamp, and turned to look.

Da Qiao has slowly climbed up from the couch and sat up, her blue silk crows slanted down and piled loosely to her neck and shoulders, her hands nervously grabbing the quilt around her waist, her face pale, her eyelids glowing just after crying. The light pink of her face, her pink cheeks still had a few residual tears, she stared blankly at Xiao Qiao’s appearance, I see Kan Lian as a beauty.

When she saw Xiao Qiao holding the oil lamp on the bedside lampstand, she regained her senses, hurriedly grabbed her hand, and said anxiously in a low voice, “Manman, sister really didn’t think about anything else. , it’s so cold outside, I don’t want that person to wait in the garden all the time, and in case someone sees it, it’s a disaster for no reason, so I let him go…”

Her hands were cold, trembling slightly, Just like her voice right now. Xiao Qiao took Da Qiao

‘s hand instead, looked at her and said, “Sister, I saw that person. But don’t be afraid, I won’t tell others. You like him, don’t you?”

A pale blush slowly appeared on his pale cheeks. After hesitating for a moment, he met Xiao Qiao’s gaze, nodded, and said softly, “His status is low, but he is very good, really good…”

…

This boy grew up on the Qiao family’s horse farm. He is taciturn, like a mute, but he is strong and powerful, and he can sprint to chase the wind. Moreover, he is a horse, no matter how fierce a horse is, he will become obedient in front of him. He was transferred to serve as the head of the family and travelled as a manu, and just like this, he began to appear in the sight of the eldest daughter of the envoy, Da Qiao.

But for a long time, for several years, this young, strong, handsome slave with a pair of different pupils left Da Qiao with the impression that every time he knelt down and acted as a human stool to help him get on and off the carriage, he was more Stepping on other horse slaves is much more stable.

Stepping on his shoulders, her feet did not move, and they were as stable as a rock.

Da Qiao remembers this slave from three years ago, when her fiancé died. Although the two have never met, it is still a sad thing for her. For a while, she often accompanied her mother to the Changsheng Temple outside the city to burn incense. One day, on the way back, the horses were frightened, they threw the coachman out of the carriage, and dragged the carriage to run wildly. She and her mother were locked in a wagon that could overturn and even fall off the road. A sharp whistle came, and then someone quickly caught up, so the horse slowly lowered its speed, and finally stopped on the side of the road.

When she was still in shock, her face was white, and when she looked out of the car window, she saw the man who had just chased up to resolve the frightened horse, stood beside the horse’s head, and hugged the snorting horse’s head, While stroking the horse’s mane, he leaned into the horse’s ear and whispered something she couldn’t understand in a soft tone, as if to comfort it.

The horse was finally completely quiet.

The rest of the entourage arrived at this time. The steward whipped the whip in anger and wanted to slap the horse. The black whip was tightly wrapped around his muscled arm, and the blue blood vessels under the skin were meandering and protruding, as thick as her pinky finger.

The steward was even more angry, and when the stalemate was stalemate, the manu turned his head, looked at Big Qiao who was looking at him, and cast his eyes for help.

She still remembers that day when the sky was clear and the wind was gentle. Under the sun, that blue eye was as strange as crystal.

From that day on, she remembered his name: Bi She.

…

Da Qiao hates herself for being clumsy, and she doesn’t know how to use words to convince her in front of her sister who suddenly discovered her secret, and convince her that Bi She is very good, really good, at least, in her eyes.

Her face flushed red, her eyes widened, and she looked at Xiao Qiao anxiously.

Xiao Qiao smiled slightly and said softly, “Sister, I don’t need you to tell me, I know he’s very good. He asked you out just now, and he wanted to take you away, right?”

Da Qiao seemed to be taken aback. She shook her head at first, and after a while, she slowly lowered her head. When she raised her head again, her expression became much calmer, and she slowly said, “Manman, I will not go with him. , I made it clear to him just now. Don’t worry, I won’t see him again in the future.”

“Sister, let him take you away, don’t stay.” Xiao Qiao said.

…

Even if Da Qiao is married and loses her, it will only be a temporary slap in the face, and the Qiao family will also be wiped out in the future. It’s better to give it a go, as my father thinks, maybe there is another way out. As soon as Da Qiao left, his uncle had nothing to do. It would be much easier for his father to speak again at that time.

…

Da Qiao was stunned, looked at Xiao Qiao for a moment, smiled, with a bitter smile, and said: “Fool, are you thinking that I am not clear, are you afraid that I will be found after marrying? Don’t worry, I will be with him. Innocent, nothing.”

“It’s not because of this.”

Xiao Qiao leaned into her ear.

“Sister, you must go. The Wei family will definitely agree to the marriage. If you don’t go, you can only marry. If you marry like this, your life will be over. Besides, don’t you have a man you like?”

Da Qiao was distracted for a moment, and finally shook his head gently: “This way I can’t leave. If the Wei family agrees to get married, but I leave, what will happen at home? Good or bad, who calls me the Qiao family? Daughter, these are all things I should promise.”

Xiao Qiao paused, exhaled secretly, raised his eyes and said, “Sister, if I tell you that I want to marry Wei Shao instead of you, will you fulfill me? Da

Qiao was stunned again and stared at Xiao Qiao with wide eyes. After a while, Fang was confused and said, “Manman…Why do you suddenly think like this? Aren’t you and Liu Shizi going to get married next year? Besides, that Wei Hou, I heard that he…he…”

She hesitated, not daring to say the comments she heard about “cruel, tyrannical and immoral”.

“Yes, that Wei Shao is not a good person,” Xiao Qiao said on her behalf, “but sister, there are only two kinds of women who marry. The former is like you, staying with the person in your heart until old age, rough food and poor heart. That’s enough! But I’m different from you. What I want is not for my husband to paint my eyebrows in front of the mirror, but for the status and power he can bring. I used to like Liu Shizi, but now I know that he is not me The person you pictured. He is weak in nature. If I marry him, even if he succeeds the throne of Langya smoothly in the future, with today’s situation, what is a mere king and concubine of Langya? Wei Shao is different. I expect him In the future, it will be an extraordinary weapon. Since the two families are married, how can I pass up such an opportunity?”

Da Qiao looked at his younger sister, who suddenly seemed to have changed her personality, in confusion, and after a while, she said, “Manman, you Do you really think so? It’s not to fulfill me?”

“Sister, I asked you instead, please fulfill me!”

Xiao Qiao’s tone was firm.

Da Qiao was stunned for a while, and finally a ray of hope that had not been seen for a long time finally flashed in his eyes, but he was still not sure, he looked at Xiao Qiao hesitantly, and murmured: “Is it really possible? I can really let it go. Is everything gone here? Will my father blame me? Will my mother be sad…”

“Sister!” Xiao Qiao squeezed her hand tightly, “After you leave, I will take care of your parents on your behalf. Wait. After a long time, my uncle and aunt will forgive you. Besides, think about it, if you just got married like this, what would that person do?”

Da Qiao’s face was pale, but her cheeks were red, she closed her eyes and muttered. Tun said: “I’ll think about it… let me think about it…”

“Sister, I won’t force you, just think slowly.”

Xiao Qiao helped her lie down, covered her with the quilt, and blew the light , and lay down beside her. After a while, he slowly said: “Sister, didn’t I often have nightmares before? I didn’t tell you, in fact, I had a dream about you and that manu. In the dream, you married someone else’s wife, early Death, in this world, there is only one grave left. He also lives alone. Do you know what he did in the end? Finally he found your tomb, raised you from the ground, took you with you Let’s go together…”

“Don’t say it…”

Da Qiao murmured in a low voice, tears falling silently along his cheeks and seeping into the pillow.

…

Three days later, Mrs. Ding took Shuang Qiao to the Changsheng Temple again to burn incense and make a wish. After burning the incense and adding the sesame oil, she was tired from the long journey, so she went to the back room to take a nap as usual. However, she felt that her daughter, Da Qiao, seemed to be different from usual. She had a heavy mind and was on the verge of speaking. She held her hand tightly all the time, even when she lay down, she sat next to her.

Madam Ding didn’t think much about it, she just thought that her daughter was worried about the marriage with the Wei family, she stroked her hand, smiled and said: “My son, just before the Buddha made a wish, as long as you can have a happy marriage in the future, mother. Even if it is a longevity, it is also willing, and I expect that the Buddha will fulfill his wishes, so don’t worry anymore.”

Da Qiao held back the sadness of parting, held the hand of her loving mother, and was reluctant to let go for a long time.

There is a secluded

mountain trail behind Changsheng Temple, which is trampled by nearby woodcutters who go down the mountain every day to chop firewood.

Da Qiao, who changed into Chinese clothes and a coarse shirt, left side by side with the man beside her along the mountain path. They walked for a while, and when the figure was about to be completely engulfed by the shadows of the trees on both sides of the mountain road, the young man with one green eye suddenly stopped, turned and walked back to Xiao Qiao, knelt down towards her, and walked for a while. Great gift.

“Young lady is on top, if you have a mission in this life, you only need

to serve your life!” He said word by word.

This was the first time Xiao Qiao heard him speak. The voice is mellow and steady, which makes people unconsciously feel a sense of trust.

After he gave the big gift, he got up and walked quickly towards Big Qiao, who was constantly looking back at the Prime Minister. The two figures quickly disappeared from Xiao Qiao’s sight.

“…Hua Xutu once sleepwalked, the first floor of the world…”

When Xiao Qiao slowly returned to the Changsheng Temple, he suddenly heard a few woodcutters singing from the depths of Lin Yue, and the voice was thick. Kuang Yuan actually seemed to carry a bit of an immortal spirit from the world.

[End of This Chapter]