A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 449: Old Zhou apologizes under the moonlight, and the imperial court successfully recruits h

The border town on the western border of Xiyue Kingdom was silent under the bright moonlight. The recent sandstorms had finally subsided. The night sky was cloudless and starry, and the cool breeze was humming softly. Honghua sat alone on the roof of the inn, staring at the bright moon in the distance in a daze. Her charming face showed a rare sense of tranquility and contentment.

"Oh, I didn't expect that Madam Honghua would have the leisure and elegance to come out and enjoy the moon." When everything was peaceful, a cough was suddenly heard. Old Zhou appeared on the roof with a wine jug. He sat down three steps away from Honghua and joked at her with a smile.

Honghua said nothing, but gave him a glare and continued to look at the bright moon above her head and murmured: "Time flies so fast, it's almost the beginning of autumn."

"I've found out that a group of merchants will be going to Guyun Country tomorrow. We can go with them." Hearing Honghua's inexplicable sigh, Lao Zhou wanted to say something but stopped talking when he saw that she looked calm. He drank half a sip of wine and continued.

"It will be very dangerous to go further west, so don't regret it, Mr. Zhou." Honghua responded, then turned to look at Lao Zhou and suddenly smiled.

"Of course I regret it. Why don't you go by yourself tomorrow? I, Old Zhou, am too old and afraid of death, so I'll go back to the interior first." Old Zhou snorted coldly, drank another half sip of wine, turned around and joked at her.

"Since you are so afraid of death, why did you agree to come with me in the first place? Now you start to regret at this critical moment. Are you still a man?" Honghua knew that he was joking, but she pretended to be serious and frowned, saying angrily.

"Look, look, I was just joking and you're so angry again. You're really asking for trouble." Old Zhou couldn't figure out Honghua's thoughts, so he naturally thought that she was really angry. He frowned, shook his head helplessly and sighed.

"What? You can joke, but I can't?" Honghua laughed, and before Lao Zhou could react, she stood up and stretched, and continued lazily, "Since we have to travel tomorrow, let's go back to the house and rest early."

"Ahem... um... I'm sorry..." Honghua was about to get off the roof when she heard Lao Zhou cough lightly and then stammer and apologize. She didn't understand what the man meant and turned around to ask:

"I'm sorry for what?"

"What I said outside the city that day...I didn't mean it, so don't take it seriously." Old Zhou hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Honghua was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said faintly, "I thought it was something else. You were right that day. My sister was indeed implicated by me. All the sufferings in her life were caused by me. If I hadn't sold her to the Shadow Sect, she wouldn't have lost all her skills and become a cripple. She would not have been poisoned by the damn flower bite. The root of everything is because she has a trouble-making sister."

Looking at Honghua's leaving figure in the moonlight, Lao Zhou was silent for a long while before he couldn't help but sigh.

Although the Great Heat was about to pass and the Autumn Festival was approaching, the dog days of summer were still as hot as a furnace. After noon, everyone in the Li residence was drowsy and was still taking a short rest. There was no sound except for the noisy chirping of cicadas in the trees outside the house.

An Ge had just rushed back from the farm. She went to Qingyun Garden and saw that the young master was still taking a lunch break, so she came out again. When she passed by the Plum Garden, she caught a glimpse of the delicate figure of Hong Nu under the plum trees and couldn't help but smile gently. Her feet had already entered the Plum Garden uncontrollably.

Although Ange deliberately slowed down his pace, the lion cat lying under the Merlin Pavilion still heard the noise and raised its head. It meowed at him softly and then turned to look at the girl outside the pavilion.

Hong Nu, who was sitting drowsy under the plum tree, opened his eyes when he heard the lion cat's cry. Seeing that it was An Ge, he did not get up, but smiled lazily at him and asked, "When did you come back? Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, I just came back from having lunch at the farm." Ange replied, smiling as she squatted in front of Hongnu. She raised her hand and took a leaf off her head. She carefully looked around her before asking with concern, "Why don't you go to sleep in the house? Aren't you afraid of bugs crawling under this plum tree?"

Unconsciously, Hongnu has been in the Li family for a year and a half. She is loved by Mrs. Li because of her clever mouth. In addition, Li Yunye and Ange take good care of her. Although she lives under someone else's roof, she also regards the Li Mansion as her home. She and Ange have developed feelings for each other in ignorance. Although they have not expressed their feelings in words, they have been together for so long that they have already had a tacit understanding. A glance is enough.

"It's a bit stuffy in the room, but it's cooler in the plum forest." After Ange's reminder, Hongnu also hurriedly stood up and shook off her clothes. As she spoke, she saw his sunburned face and hurriedly said with concern: "Look at how sunburned you are? There's nothing urgent, why do you have to rush back in this hot afternoon?"

An Ge knew that Hong Nu was concerned about him, so he smiled and said nothing. Ever since the accident between the master and Butler Fang, he was appointed as the new butler of the Li family. He had been walking on thin ice all the way and dared not be negligent in the slightest. As a result, he developed this restless character over time.

"There's some cooling soup in the room. I'll go get it." Seeing that he didn't say anything but just smiled foolishly at her, Hong Nu also smiled at him coquettishly, then turned around and went into the house.

"No need to rush. The young master has woken up and I have to go over there to report." At this time, Ange heard the noise in the attic and hurriedly pulled her, saying with a smile.

"How long does it take to make a bowl of cooling soup? Why are you in such a hurry when Master Li just woke up?" Seeing Ange's worried look, Hong Nu pouted and dragged him into the house.

Ange was helpless and didn't dare to refuse, so she had to follow her out of Merlin and into the house.

"Have you heard any news about the young lady and Sister Honghua recently?" Hongnu handed a bowl of summer-relief soup to Ange and asked.

"Don't worry, Miss Huanyu is now in Sanxiu Pharmacy. With Master Zeng and Miss Siyao by her side, nothing will happen to her. As for Madam Honghua, you don't have to worry about her. She is good at using poison, smart and alert, and she has Mr. Zhou with her, so nothing will happen to her." Ange shook her head, then comforted her.

"That's true." Hong Nu also sat down next to Ange and smiled blankly.

"Are you thinking about Miss Xuanyu again?" Seeing her in a daze, Ange asked with concern.

"I haven't seen you for such a long time, so of course I miss you." Hong Nu suddenly felt a lump in her nose, and her eyes were half red.

"Miss Xuanyu must miss you too. Just wait a little longer. She will come to the Li family to see you after the poison in her body is cured." Ange continued to comfort her.

Hong Nu wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, looked up and smiled at Ange, but she was still worried that it would be more dangerous for the girl to leave Sanxiu Pharmacy after the poison was removed. After all, Yingmen had no intention of letting the girl and Sister Honghua go.

When Ange came out of the Plum Garden, he happened to bump into Mu Liang who was going to Qingyun Garden. Ange felt a little guilty, so he stepped forward and bowed, then hurriedly explained that he came to the Plum Garden to talk to Hong Nu while waiting for the young master.

Mu Liang naturally noticed the panic on Ange's face, but he didn't ask any questions and just smiled without saying anything. The two of them continued to enter Qingyun Garden together.

Although Mu Liang had never experienced love affairs, he had been in the business world for many years and had seen and heard a lot of romantic things. He had long seen the flirting between An Ge and Hong Nu, but he was sure that An Ge would be self-disciplined and would not mess around during the Li family's mourning period, so he saw through it but did not say anything.

"Is mother doing well at the farm? Has she mentioned when she will be back?" In the attic, Li Yunye, who had just finished his lunch break, was still sleepy and asked An Ge beside him while yawning.

"Madam is fine and she hasn't mentioned coming back. I guess it should be the same as in previous years." Ange replied with a smile.

"Although it's almost the beginning of autumn, it's still very hot now. My stepmother has certainly not thought about this." Mu Liang also smiled at Li Yunye.

"I asked too early." Li Yunye replied, sitting next to Mu Liang, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan.

"When I came back today, I heard something. The imperial court offered amnesty to the two mountaintops in Yanjiaopo and Yangjiang. Now the bandits in these three places have all surrendered to the imperial court. They are gathering together holding the imperial edict and are actively suppressing bandits near Chaoyun City!" There was silence in the room for a moment, and Ange continued to speak to the two young masters in front of him.

After hearing the news, the two brothers looked at each other in surprise. Even An Yun, who was waiting at the door of the outer room, walked in curiously and asked in confusion: "Bandits fighting bandits, isn't this the flood that washed away the Dragon King Temple?"

"If you surrender to the imperial court and change your appearance, you are naturally no longer a bandit!" Li Yunye glanced at An Yun and sneered.

Although he was laughing, Li Yunye couldn't help but wonder in his heart. Even he could see that the imperial court was just letting the bandits kill each other, so why didn't Yanjiapo think of it? But then he thought, aren't these people going up the mountain to become bandits for their own selfish reasons? Now the official career and wealth promised by the imperial court are much more glorious and respectable than being a bandit. I'm afraid that few people can resist this temptation, so he was hot-headed and didn't think too much.

Mu Liang remained silent. The imperial court was planning to reap the benefits, so ordinary people like them could not make any comments to prevent any trouble from arising from their words.