On the day my childhood sweetheart, General Zhenxi, died in battle, the frontier was lost and the defense line collapsed.
I am in the capital city, the sky is covered with phoenixes and clouds, the gongs and drums are noisy, the sky is red, the guests coming and going are full of praises, and the blessings are heard in my ears.
Looking at this scene, I think I should be happy.
So I picked up the heavy skirt covered with tassels and walked step by step towards my husband, a Yueqi captain.
But no one expected that just three years after getting married, he would bring back his long-lost Bai Yueguang.
Everyone else is waiting for me to become angry and jealous. However, no one knows that my husband is actually the substitute of my sweetheart.
……… free has been completed, feel free to eat!
1
Everyone in the capital envies me. I have been the apple of Lord Shangshuling's eye since I was a child. And at the age when a woman is in love, she married Qi You, the most powerful Yueqi captain in the dynasty.
I should be so happy that I can't help myself, at least that's what it says in the storybook . My husband is not only very powerful in martial arts, but he is also most famous for his beautiful color that even women admire.
has dark hair and shallow eyes, and is extremely handsome. Between his eyebrows there is a cool and unearthly air.
When I was a child, I heard an old man say that the thinner a man's lips are, the more ruthless he will be.
After I said this to Qi You, he kept smiling calmly, then leaned over and touched my head. "Should I bring some of the hibiscus cakes from that store on West Street in the evening?"
said as his warm fingers gently brushed the corner of my mouth where I had just finished eating the cakes.
With a deep laugh coming from his chest, he wiped off the fingers stained with pastry crumbs one by one.
Even though it was such an action, people like him didn't feel disgusted at all when doing it, but rather it was done with some indescribable charm. "You, no one is competing with you, why do you always have to eat to the corner of your mouth."
I lowered my head and looked at his clear and white fingers, and such a familiar joke passed through my ears.
The afternoon sun shines on my shoulders through the window curtains, but it doesn't feel warm. I always feel that something is missing.
He couldn't see the turbulent look in my eyes, so he called me worriedly, "Huaiyan?" The voice seemed far away yet very close, and I responded to him with a smile.
It was getting late, and he, who had never been late or left early, was about to leave for work. I looked at this man who was praised and vilified as a god. He was clearly right in front of me, but I always felt so far away.
I stood up to see him off. Qi You had an extremely slender figure, and the purple dark cloud-patterned outfit was the material I had gone to great lengths to find for him earlier.
Qi You likes to wear clothes, so it’s not in vain that I spent so much time preparing.
"Husband," I looked at his walking back, and finally couldn't help but call out.
"Do you want sugar in the hibiscus cake?" He smiled and waved to me with a hint of hidden affection, "The sun is shining brightly, madam, please go back quickly so as not to expose yourself to the sun." Then he moved quickly. Get on your horse.
The young man beat his horse and crossed the street, the spring breeze blew the willows and returned to his roots. Such an eye-catching picture naturally made the women on the street stop and watch. I stood in the house without taking a single step.
Actually, I don’t like overly sweet cakes, but I don’t want to get into the details of who likes hibiscus cakes with added sugar.
Sang Jin's twenty-third year, summer. It has been more than three years since I married Qi You.
The young man who was a gentle and charming man has grown into a man who is now indifferent and romantic. I got married to him when I was fifteen years old, and now I am only eighteen years old.
Qi You dotes on me, the dignified Yueqi Xiaowei, the popular figure in front of the Holy Emperor in the past few years, dotes on me so unscrupulously and without any bottom line.
He is even more doting on me than my father and brother who gave birth to me and raised me. He has always been obedient to me and has not said a harsh word to me for several days and nights.
Our residence is in the most prosperous area of the capital, but Qi You will ride his horse to buy it for me for me who is occasionally greedy. The most remote pastry shop in the west of the city.
Grandma would always scold me at this time. A woman should not treat her husband like this and should respect him.
I don’t like hearing this, and neither does Qi You. It’s scary when he gets angry with others, but he seems to avoid me.
After being married for so long, I rarely see an angry look on his face. When the servants bite each other's ears, they always complain that the master is too cruel and fierce. Only when the wife is here, he will restrain himself a lot.
I like to hear this sentence, but I also want to see what the look will look like on a face that always wears a calm smile.
Of course, it didn’t take long for me to see it.
In the spring of the twenty-fourth year of Sang Jin, I was raising a baby alone in Qi Mansion. The servants around me were so busy that they even wanted to eat, sleep and wash for me. After all, he is the Yueqi Colonel, oh no, he should be called the Chariot and Cavalry General now.
At the end of summer last year, the border war continued to be tense. My husband was called to go and fought many beautiful battles. Everyone in the entire Sang Dynasty knew and knew about him, so naturally such a good son was praised for a while.
My grandma, who has taken me with me since I was a child, began to persuade me again: "My master is so brave, madam, you should use some means to firmly hold my master's heart."
"It will not be a good end if this continues." My grandma seemed to be chilled by my attitude of not fighting or grabbing, and all kinds of persuasion could not stop me from continuing to enjoy the hot food and drink in the huge mansion.
Maybe some rumors got into my husband's ears, and he rode home after traveling thousands of miles.
It had been four months since he went to the frontier in midsummer last year. There was heavy snow all over the sky, and the snow was even as thick as his knees.
No one would have thought that he would suddenly return home on such a snowy night. He exhausted six horses and finally made it back before New Year's Eve.
I always remember that he was wearing hard armor and hugged me vigorously, as if he wanted to rub me into that cold body.
Even though I was wearing a thick fox fur coat, I couldn't resist the coolness coming from his body.
I was very dissatisfied. I have been most afraid of the cold since I was a child, but I hesitated when I saw his expression when I refused.
I have never seen Qi You so sad, even more sad than the old lady in the house next door whose wife died.
There is a rumor that the Cavalry General had a childhood sweetheart on the border. The rumors were so vivid that he even described the woman's appearance clearly.
I don’t want to ask what happened at the border to make Qi You, who has always been calm, act like this.
Qi You sighed in my ear, "Huaiyan, let's go to the wedding room."
The wedding room, which was three years late, finally fell on me, and I trembled silently in the darkness. Qi You's warm breathing was sticky in my ears. He smoothed my clenched palms and gently kissed away the tears that fell from the corners of my eyes.
Naturally, I was pregnant with the first child of the Qi family in the depths of winter here.
After that, letters were sent back every day, all about me and the baby in my belly, every detail. Staying at home carefree all day, I gained a lot of weight and became more and more fond of doing needlework. They range from the shoes and socks of an unborn child to Qi You's pajamas.
Grandma was very pleased with my change. She praised me for becoming more like an adult. After all, my father and brother would also be very happy.
I still ignored him and just smiled lightly. After following Qi You for a long time, even I got infected with his cold temperament.
During those days of waiting, I always loved to embroider my sleeves carefully, and then sit in a daze.
"Madam, please put on your shoes and socks quickly, don't get too cold." My personal maid is called Mu Huai, she is a little girl I personally bought from a human trafficker a few years ago.
It's funny to say that she still has such a timid temperament after all these years of getting along with her. Even when I threw away the pair of golden lotus flowers in the yard and went barefoot, she looked extremely worried and did not dare to step forward to stop me.
I smiled and ignored her. I was a little restless at the end of spring. I couldn't bear the heat for a moment, so I ordered another bowl of sour plum ice soup.
"If the master knew about it, he would definitely be worried about his wife." Mu Huai was afraid that I would hurt my body during pregnancy, so she had no choice but to move out of Qiyou.
I sat by the pond and continued to ignore her, causing ripples again and again.Qi You doesn't care about this. He always indulges me in whatever I like to eat.
What's more, he's not here now.
Before I could express my thoughts, several servants from the mansion ran in from outside in a panic.
"Don't rush into me, madam." Grandma took out the hot chicken soup from the kitchen, her face a little gloomy.
I pinched my nose and hid behind. I persuaded them with a smile and asked them what they were talking about.
"The master is back." A young boy was lying on the ground and said respectfully.
"Isn't that a happy event? Why are you panicking?" Since I was a child, I have always been observant of people's emotions, so I never let go of this little guy's tense shoulders.
Grandma and Mu Huai beside me also started to hesitate and didn't speak. I sensed something was wrong.
The sound of clothes being rubbed was heard outside the house. I looked out the door with a smile on my face. There had been movement on the front line. I guessed that Qi You would be returning home in the next few days, so I deliberately dressed up for a long time every day.
What she is wearing today is Qi You’s favorite lotus flower sleeve dress. The fabric is light and thin, but it is very complicated to wear.
In the past, I didn’t like this kind of style the most, but Qi You is coming back, I’m happy, and it doesn’t hurt to accommodate him for a while.
Who would have thought that what would come into view in the next second would be such a picture. Qi You wore a black and gold sleeved outfit with unicorns embroidered on it today, and his hair was held up high by a golden crown.
Looking further to the left, he saw an extremely slender figure.
The woman had a peach-like face, a slight glance at her willow eyebrows, her eyes were moving, and she was biting her red lips. Very beautiful, this is my first impression of Liu Fuyun.
The servants around him said nothing and were a little trembling. I just found it a little funny and continued to look at the woman in front of me.
Her black hair was pulled into a bun at the temples, and there were a few light blue butterfly hair accessories hanging on her hair. The hair accessories were a little worn, but she looked like she had been carefully prepared for a long time.
Further down, there are faint bruises and red marks on the snow-white neck.
's appearance matches the rumors.
As if he was dissatisfied with my appraising gaze, Qi You turned sideways and barely covered the woman.
is a perfect protector. I raised my eyebrows slightly, as if I didn't expect such a scene. "Why didn't my husband mention in the letter that he would bring his friends back? What if the reception is not good?"
I stood up with a smile and loosened the jade belt around my waist, because the little moon was not very visible. I'm pregnant, but it's natural for women to love beauty, and they don't always want to see fat around their waists.
But now it seems that there is no need to suffer this crime. The woman standing behind Qi You clutched the hem of his clothes as if worried, and shook it gently a few times where no one was paying attention.
It made him frown frequently, and finally he bowed his head to me softly, and said in a deep and pleasant voice: "I'm sorry."
That was the first time I saw a strange look on Qi You's face. He turned out to be so gentle and gentle. Jade's banished immortals will also suffer from distress and self-blame.
But I don’t know whether this emotion is for me, a pregnant woman at home, or for the woman he is protecting by his side.
My husband, he is back, and he brings another sweet and sweet woman with him.
A wonderful celebration party ended so unhappy. Who made me feel unwell after eating too much cold food during the day.
Since that time in the afternoon, my husband has never shown his face again. I was lying on the soft chaise longue, drinking medicine comfortably. It was late at night and he still hadn't come back.
"Madam, why don't you go and explain? It's really you who is feeling unwell," Mu Huai said nervously in the room. Seeing me put down the medicine bowl, she promptly brought the candied dates.
"What are you trying to explain? I'm not angry, and I didn't embarrass that woman?" There was a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, and even the candied fruit couldn't suppress it. I looked at the moonlight outside, and it was the first time I felt so big. The mansion is a bit deserted.
Outside the house were servants who were busy carrying rewards. The bustle and laughter seemed to have nothing to do with me.
Mu Huai stepped aside and said nothing, with a deep sadness in his eyes that could not be resolved. I know what she's worried about.
Mammy seemed to be conveying some news outside the door. Most of the people in this courtyard are from my husband, and the other half are from the Song family.
My surname is Song and my given name is Huaiyan. The legitimate daughter of Master Ling Song, the minister, and the younger sister of Tanhua Lang of the current dynasty.
Before I got married, I was once the most desirable woman in the entire capital.
I had a dream that night. In the dream, there was a high-spirited young man, with his black hair neatly tied up in a golden crown, arrogant and domineering sword-shaped eyebrows, and then a pair of smiling phoenix eyes.
My snowy skin is bright, and the boy’s crimson sleeves are like smoke across my hazy cheeks, leaving only a burst of sandalwood scent.
I saw him turning his head in front, his hair crossing his forehead, raising his dagger-like jaw, and saying with wanton vitality, "Yanyan, follow up."
Then he woke up suddenly, with a thin and dense feeling in his heart. The pain made me unable to distinguish reality for a moment.
The tip of my nose was surrounded by the faint scent of sandalwood, and someone sat beside me as I sank into the bed. Then he sighed helplessly and slowly patted my back with his hand.
"Husband." My throat was a little sore when I woke up in the morning. Looking at the neat and clean pillows and quilts next to me, I knew that he didn't come home all night.
The aftereffects of the dream just now are still there. The tip of my nose is sore for no reason, and tears are about to fall out. Ever since I became pregnant, I seem to be unable to control my temper.
I no longer look like me, and Song Huaiyan’s husband no longer looks like Song Huaiyan’s husband.
I have always had a chaste temper and couldn't even ask him where he went last night. Qi You stood beside the bed and took me into his arms with a sigh.
There was no smell of sandalwood in my arms, and I breathed a sigh of relief. However, the next second this illusory calm was interrupted outside, and I heard my father's voice.
Realizing Qi You's stiff body, I raised my head and looked at him as if I understood something.
sniffed slightly, and I met his suspicious look: "It's not me." I didn't complain to my father, and I didn't tell my father anything about the government.
Before he finished speaking, the searching look on Qi You's face still made me want to save some face. He looked at me like that, making me feel like I was naked and under scrutiny with nowhere to hide.
After a long time, it seemed that the interrogation was finally over, "You'd better not."
After saying this, he turned and left without leaving a single word. I counted the marks on the table. It had been three months and eight days since we last met.
My husband, he may have missed me, or he may not have missed me. The first thing I did when I woke up was to ask me if I had informed my family.
"Master Yue, why is this happening?"
I heard Qi You's smiling voice coming from the courtyard, and I couldn't help but touch my belly, which was not yet pregnant.
The father asked with slight anger why he came back to Beijing with a white belt woman, and why he secretly returned to Beijing and didn't take his father-in-law seriously.
Qi You apologized repeatedly, and the smile in his voice did not diminish at all, as if the person who was coldly confronting me here was not him.
called the maid to help me get dressed and wash myself. The noise outside the door became louder and louder. I knew who they were waiting for. There was a little maid who looked unfamiliar and she suddenly tore off a strand of my hair. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to make me frown.
She knelt down and screamed for mercy, which frequently attracted attention. I tilted my head and looked at her for a long time.
On weekdays, Mrs. Qi's kindness to her servants is well-known throughout the capital, but today I don't want to be kind anymore. "What are you in a hurry for?" Her indifferent eyes scanned her from top to bottom.
The maids around seemed a little shocked by my performance, and they all knelt down and remained silent.
I inserted the jade hairpin into my temple step by step, and the only sound left in the room was the jade bang of bells.
The maid finally couldn't hold back her tears and cried, disturbing my peace for no reason.
The last step is to fasten the earrings. The golden phoenix and the clouds are the dowry passed down from my mother. I like them very much, but I don’t wear them often.
She moved lightly and walked towards the maid who had just spoken out at a leisurely pace. The white jade hairpin lifted her chin.
Her beautiful eyes were full of tears, which made people feel pity. I opened my lips and asked her with a silent smile: "Are you from your father, or from Qi You?"
I saw her widened eyes, Before he could say anything, Mu Huai, who came in from outside the door, covered his mouth and dragged him away.
took the handkerchief and cleaned his hands. The argument and laughter outside the door intensified.
I lifted up the pleated skirt, looked back at the kneeling maids behind me, and said with a smile like before: "I, Song Huaiyan, no matter how bad I am, am still the mistress of the Song Dynasty, ordered by Song Shangshu. My legitimate daughter."
2
's slightly narrowed peach blossom eyes glanced at the slumped backs of everyone, "It's not your turn to intervene in what I want to do or what I don't want to do." As I said that, I grabbed the hem of my skirt and stepped out. The door of the room rushed towards Mr. Song like a young bird returning home.
"How come father is here today." From the corner of my eye, I saw Qi You beside me, who seemed to be slightly relieved. I said coquettishly to my father, my tone was quite coquettish.
Song Qian's vicissitudes of life showed a look of fatherly kindness and filial piety. "Did Yan'er rest well? I heard you had a cold yesterday?" He glared at Qi You as if nothing mattered.
I lowered my head and chuckled. My husband of four years had never pretended to be a father whom I only saw a few times a year. His face was still expressionless, "Father, who did you listen to? You must reprimand me. Yesterday, my daughter's arrogance gave my husband a headache for a long time."
Qi You, who was aware of praise, quickly answered. I wasn't too interested in the conversation that followed, and I only chimed in occasionally.
's eyes are a little distant. Maybe I haven't been around others for too long like I am now.
A pale white figure seemed to pass by outside the courtyard. I didn't expect that my husband would be so bold as to let an unknown woman enter and exit the mansion at will.
's eyes seemed to be too straightforward, Song Qian also looked over, then blew his beard and glared angrily.
"Qi You, my son-in-law, came back with a charming daughter by his side, and there were rumors all over the capital." The father seemed very angry, and even wanted to take action. I quickly grabbed my father's sleeve in a sweet voice and persuaded him not to get angry.
The look Qi You cast at me seemed to be filled with blame. I knew his complaints, so I could only act as a peacemaker.
The beautiful figure in the distance seemed to be startled, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
I grabbed my father and said, "My father doesn't know yet, but that sister is the cousin who was found by her husband and is living outside. How can she be regarded as someone else? It can be said that I did not treat her well and lost the etiquette of our Song family."
There was nothing wrong with what I said, but it temporarily calmed Song Qian's anger. When he waved his sleeves and left, he did not forget to whisper a warning. "Sister-in-law Qi You, I know you are in the prime of your life, but don't forget your original intention of being able to sit here."
I knew that my father meant something, but I didn't expect that it would be made public now. Say, you no longer need to pretend to hide it from me. He probably took this opportunity to take advantage of me and give him a beating.
After all, my brother has been targeted by the Imperial Guards and his group in court recently, and my father always wants to find someone to vent his anger to.
After my father left, I shook my newly pleated sleeves, yawned and wanted to go back to the house. However, Qi You grabbed his wrist midway.
I raised my eyes to look at him. This man, who has never been anxious in front of me, made an exception for the first time. Not for me, but for one short sentence. The bright moon and breeze that had always hung on his face was replaced by a scowl.
"Why do you say that?"
I looked at his frown and felt a little bored. I pulled off his big palm that grabbed my wrist and put it in my hand to play with. Qi You's hands were large, covered with calluses from martial arts practice, and had various scars. "Yan'er doesn't know what she said to make her husband behave like this."
He let me play with his palm, and the other hand rested on his forehead tiredly, "Why do you say Fuyun is my cousin?"
It turns out that the woman's name is Fuyun. , with such a graceful figure, it is worthy of the name.
I smiled and asked him in an honest manner, "Why not? My husband is so strange. Why are you questioning me when I help you out? What did Yan'er do wrong to let her husband treat me like this?"”
His slightly dilated pupils seemed a little shocked, and he didn’t understand why his wife, who had always been weak and easy to fool, suddenly became sharp-tongued.
I smiled and rubbed my face against his rough palm. My delicate cheeks were clearly in pain, but I was extremely attached to him. I liked this action very much.
He didn't say anything for a long time, so he had to answer. He explained the busyness of the next few days again, and finally told me to take care of the baby with peace of mind.
I obediently agreed and turned around and entered the house. Mu Huai nodded lightly to me. I knew that she had taken care of the slave who had just committed the crime, so she continued to enjoy my sleep time.
The sun was at its peak when I slept. My grandma complained while serving me food, wishing I had a mouth to curse people. "That vixen actually ordered the rose sorbet that the kitchen only made for one portion. Don't these idiots know that this is what our ladies eat on weekdays!"
The weather was a little hot, so I raised my hand to scoop up a few bowls of mung bean soup. Letting Mammy calm down, she was rather mistress-like and magnanimous: "It's just a plate of ice cream. If she wants to eat it, I can afford ten more portions in Qi's Mansion."
A lunch was taught to Mammy on the lesson of hating that iron cannot become steel. At the end, I told Mu Huai to pack her things and prepare for leaving the house in the afternoon.
Ever since my husband left for the front line, I have been taking my time to take Mu Huai out of the house and to the most luxurious shopping mall in the capital. There is a prosperous commercial building there, the largest garment factory and restaurant in the entire imperial city.
"Miss, you're ready." After passing through the crowd of people and shaking off the following eyes from the house, Mu Huai came in from the window wearing men's clothes.
"We have found a substitute. Miss, put on these clothes and we can set off."
I took over the men's clothes made of coarse cloth and put them on with ease. The snowy skin exposed outside the clothes was rubbed with red marks. Mu Huai looked at it with special distress. After a long while, she hesitated and said, "Miss, your body."
"Didn't the doctor take a look at it a few days ago? It's stable, and everything will be fine." I interrupted her doubts and gently held her belly, which was not yet pregnant. , nothing can be seen under the loose robe, I am very satisfied.
went out like this a few days ago, and accidentally met some refugees. It was obvious that they did not save the child during the lightest day of the month. No one except Mu Huai knew about this matter, which was a fluke.
"You said it wrong again, what do you want to call me outside?" I rubbed some powder prepared in advance on my face, and the next second the bronze mirror showed a man with a sallow complexion and thin muscles.
"Brother Song" Mu Huai's face turned redder.
"Ready, Brother Mu, let's go." I held Mu Huai's shoulder carelessly, hugged her out of the restaurant, and headed straight to the most remote corners of the imperial city.
