Pihanjin

After the mother left, every day when Xier finished writing, she would add a bar on a piece of writing paper.

Wait for more and more, fill up this piece of paper, and mother will come back.

Holding the pen, he carefully drew today's bar. After writing, I counted.

Fifteen in total.

He counted again.

Still fifteen.

It is still a long way from the sixty things my mother said.

He pressed it with a paperweight, turned his head, and asked the maid who was closing the window, "Who's arguing outside?"

Just when he was still writing, he heard a loud noise wafting faintly in the wind from outside the yard. It sounded like an elderly woman.

In the horse farm, except for the neighing of the horses and the sound of the strong wind blowing through the pasture, it is very quiet on weekdays. No one among the servants who work here dares to shout so loudly.

The maid closed the doors and windows tightly and tried her best to keep the voice out. She turned around and said with a smile, "Don't listen to the young master. Wait for the servants to leave."

The clamor was intermittent and never stopped.

Xi'er listened carefully for a while, then suddenly walked out.

In an open space outside the courtyard gate, Liang Tuan, who was instructed to guard here, stopped his mother Xie, who was about to forcibly enter.

The sound of commotion attracted people from the racecourse. The crowd stood in twos and threes from a distance, whispering.

When the steward heard the news, he saw the situation and hurriedly drove the people away, and was not allowed to stay here.

Mother Xie was extremely annoyed, and the noise grew louder and louder.

"...I'm the mother of your Jiedushi! I know there's a child here! I'm just here to take a look at the child. How dare you stop me from entering?"

Her fingers almost stabbed Liang Tuan's forehead.

Liang Tuan ordered the guards behind him to stop him and knelt down himself.

"Old madam, calm down. How dare the villain be disrespectful to the old lady. It's just that the villain took the order from the adult before, and no one can let it go without the permission of the adult. I beg the old lady to forgive me."

Mother Xie was so angry that her voice trembled and said angrily: "Am I an outsider? My son will let you stop me? You dare to be so rude! I don't believe that such a small place today can stop me from outside. !"

Mother Xie was an ordinary woman. Although she didn't have much knowledge, she was not considered a wicked person in her early years. It's just that in the past few years, with her son's fortune, she not only had to be appointed by herself, but in Xie County, she was subordinate to local officials. , Down to the neighbors, whoever is not flattering to her, gradually becomes more and more defiant.

She had suspicions about the child Mu's adopted, how could she easily eliminate it? In front of her son, she didn't dare to say anything more, but these days, she felt as uncomfortable as a cat scratching in her heart. I just heard that Mrs. Mu seemed to be involved in the affairs of the natives. If something happened, she had this chance. , If you don't take a look for yourself, how can you give up? I just wish I didn't know where the child was hidden by his son.

Just two days ago, the Jiedu envoy received a tribute from Empress Liu from the capital, which contained some rare fresh fruits in Hexi at this time of year. On the same day, in addition to delivering the fruit to Mother Xie, Qiu Ju inquired about it in every possible way, and came back and told Mother Xie that the steward asked someone to send it to the horse farm. Mother Xie suspected that the child had been hidden in the racecourse. Taking advantage of the fact that her son was out of the city today, she asked someone to prepare a car and found it early in the morning on the pretext of going out to relax.

She worked tirelessly, bumped all the way, and finally arrived, but she didn't expect to be stopped outside, burning with anger.

"Get out of the way!"

After a drink, he raised his cane and hit the opposite side.

Liang Tuan didn't dare to hide, and slapped the stick abruptly.

The steward of the racecourse originally tried to persuade him to ask his mother to go and rest first.

Under the eyes of the public, with such a shame, how could Xie mother give up. Clap clap clap clap.

Liang Tuan didn't give in half a step, and said, "Old Madam, if you kill me, you can't let me go without an order from an adult."

Mother Xie became even more angry, gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, okay, today I'll kill you for the thing you committed! I'll kill you, let's see what my son can do to me!" After speaking, she raised her crutches high.

When it was about to hit again, the door on the opposite yard suddenly opened, and a child came out of the door and said, "Old lady, are you looking for me?"

Xie mother followed the sound and looked over, her hand suddenly stopped in the air.

The maid chased after her and said anxiously, "Little Young Master, don't go out!"

Xi'er didn't seem to hear it, and walked quickly to Liang Tuan's side, and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Liang Tuan was afraid that he would be frightened, and said, "It's nothing to do with the little one! Young master, come in quickly!"

The child shook his head, turned his face, and looked at Mother Xie.

"Old lady, are you the mother of Mr. Xie? They are all good people. They didn't mean to make you angry. Don't hit them."

"Little son!" Liang Tuan and the guards were very moved.

Mother Xie reacted, looked around, and saw that everyone was looking at herself and the child in front of her, embarrassed and annoyed, and she was still a little suspicious.

In front of so many people, she couldn't do what she had just done, and continued to splash on a child. Slowly put down the crutches, staring at the child without making a sound.

"The old lady heard that the young master is here and cares about the young master, so she came to visit!" Qiu Ju hurriedly interjected.

"Thank you old lady for visiting me, Xi'er is fine." The child bowed respectfully to the old lady in front of him.

"Please come in and sit down."

He turned his head and looked at his maid.

At a young age, he has a calm demeanor.

The maid hesitated, walked up, greeted Mother Xie, and said, "Old lady, please come in."

Mother Xie's face was red and white for a while, and she froze for a moment, muttering: "That's it, I have something to do, I'll go first..."

She glanced at the child one last time, turned around and took the person, and hurried away.

That night, Xie Changgeng, who learned the news, did not return to the city, but came here first.

He ran into the room and saw the little figure sitting at the table, writing by candlelight, and stopped abruptly.

Xi'er turned around and saw him coming, with a smile on her face, she immediately put down the pen, climbed down from the stool, and shouted, "Thank you, Lord!"

Xie Changgeng stepped forward quickly, hugged him, touched his small arm, and asked, "The old lady came during the day, are you okay?"

Xi'er shook her head: "I'm fine."

"Really okay?"

Xi'er nodded, thought about it, and asked softly, "Sir, that old lady, is she really your mother?"

Xie Changgeng responded in a low voice.

Xi'er hesitated and said, "The old lady is here. They won't let her in. The old lady is very angry. My lord, please don't blame them. The old lady has beaten them."

Xie Changgeng said, "I won't blame them."

Xi'er seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, with a smile on her face: "Sir, you are so kind."

Xie Changgeng stared at the beautiful brows of the child in his arms, and a warm feeling of satisfaction slowly poured out of his chest.

From that woman, he would never have heard such words or gained such closeness. he knows.

He lowered his head, glanced at the piece of paper on the table that was pressed by the paperweight, with lines drawn on it, and asked, "What is this?"

"After my mother left, one day passed, and I drew one. When I filled the paper, she came back," said the child.

Needless to say, Xie Changgeng also knew that there were fifteen bars on it.

He carried the child to the bed and said, "Sleep." His tone became more gentle.

Xi'er closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.

As soon as Xie Changgeng came out of the room, his expression turned cold. Liang Tuan and the steward of the horse farm were waiting outside. Seeing his gloomy expression, they hurriedly knelt down and pleaded with him for offending the old lady during the day.

Xie Changgeng ordered to tell the truth.

The steward was busy blocking Xie's mother, and slapped Liang Tuan with a stick in anger. The young master heard the sound, stopped him, and treated each other with courtesy. The old lady finally told the whole process of her own departure. After he finished speaking, he dared not look up.

Liang Tuan said in a low voice, "It's not that I'm disrespectful to the old lady. It's because the lord told me before that no one can put in without the permission of the lord. The lord never mentioned the old lady at the time, so the subordinates dare not let me go. Please, my lord. Forgiveness!"

Xie Changgeng said coldly, "Do you know where your sins are?"

The two did not dare to answer.

"I told you that no one can put it in, but you let my mother enter the racecourse and break into here!"

The two were stunned for a moment, looked at each other, and hurriedly said: "It's the villain who neglected his duty! I won't dare to do it again!"

Xie Changgeng turned around, mounted his horse and left.

He galloped all the way, returned to the city, entered the Jiedu envoy's mansion, and knocked a few times before he came to his mother's door.

Mother Xie came back from the racecourse. The more she thought about it, the more angry she became. How could she fall asleep? Although it was very late, she was still sitting on the bed, talking with Qi Lingfeng, who was with her, when she heard a knock on the door, and a servant girl came from outside. The sound of the announcement said that Jiedu was coming, and Qi Lingfeng winked and said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." After that, he lay down, closed his eyes, and groaned. .

Qi Lingfeng went to open the door, bowed her head and stood aside.

Xie Changgeng walked in.

"Geng'er! You can come back to see my mother!"

Mother Xie covered her heart and sat up tremblingly.

"Today, my mother went to the racecourse with good intentions. I heard that the child was there and wanted to take a look at him and bring him back. I didn't want to be blocked by the people over there, and they wouldn't even let me in! Is there you? You have to decide for your mother! The mother is so angry that her heart hurts, and everyone will die!"

"Amao, tell the steward to go and invite Langzhong immediately!"

Xie Changgeng stopped in the room and instructed the cat outside the door who kept looking around.

Ah Mao let out a "hey" and walked away.

"Hey, no need, no need! I used to be so angry that my heart was hurting. Fortunately, Feng'er was there and rubbed it for me for a while. It's much better." Xie Mu said hurriedly.

"Mother is really okay?" Xie Changgeng asked.

Seeing her son looking at her, Mother Xie hesitated and nodded.

"That's good. Tomorrow, my son will be fine. Send your mother out of the city and go home." Xie Changgeng said.

Mother Xie stayed for a while: "Go home?"

"Yes." Xie Changgeng looked calm.

"This is a borderland, and it's hard to get through in the middle of winter. It's not suitable for your long-term residence, not to mention that it's not peaceful recently. My son wanted to talk to you for a long time, but it was not available before. Come back today, take advantage of the free time, and talk to your mother. , pack up your things and go back tomorrow."

Mother Xie came back to her senses after a long while, glanced at Qi Lingfeng, and covered her heart again: "Geng'er, what are you talking about! They bully your mother, you don't care, mother finally came here, how long has it been, You're going to send your mother back! Mother's heart hurts again, and she can't leave..."

Qi Lingfeng came hurriedly, supported her mother Xie on the bed, rubbed her chest for her, turned her head and said, "Sir, the old lady is really distressed. I didn't tell the adults."

"Qiu Ju! Qiu Ju! Quickly get a hot woman for the old lady!" Qi Lingfeng shouted.

Xie Changgeng looked calm, looked at his mother who closed his eyes and screamed, and said, "Tell A Mao to get it. A maid, who doesn't serve people well, sows discord and spies on the Lord all day long, what's the use of keeping it?"

When he was speaking, there was a faint sound of screaming in pain mixed with crackling, as if a board was hitting the flesh.

Qi Lingfeng's face changed slightly, and Mother Xie stopped moaning and opened her eyes.

"Geng'er, what are you talking about?"

She sat up abruptly.

"The steward called someone to beat Qiu Ju's board!" Outside the door, A Mao ran in with a white face and shouted.

Mother Xie hurriedly crawled off the bed and ran to the door with Qi Lingfeng, and saw Qiu Ju being pressed by two servants in the open space of the yard, and the other person took a board with a thick slap and slapped her on the buttocks.

Qiu Ju screamed like a pig, and when she saw Mother Xie and Qi Lingfeng coming out, she shouted, "Miss Qi, old lady, help!"

Mother Xie's face turned pale, she hurriedly turned around to look for her son, and shouted, "Geng'er, what are you doing? Let go!"

Xie Changgeng walked out, without even looking at it, he just said to the steward, "Ask her, who gave her the courage to spy on your ordering someone to deliver the fruit. If she can't tell, she will be killed on the spot."

After he finished speaking, he walked away.