Chapter 236: Blank (1)
He Changdi held the barbarian woman back and shook his head. Then, he began to explain something to her in the barbarian language.
The barbarian woman shot a careful look at He Changdi before agreeing not to extinguish the lantern with a worried heart.
She anxiously stood up, intending to warm up some sheep milk for He Changdi. This time, He Changdi didn’t stop her.
It wasn’t until the barbarian woman had left the tent that He Changdi started to scrutinise the insides of this broken old tent.
There was a blanket covered by a fur skin in a corner of the tent. Two young boys were sleeping on top of it, one older and one younger. The older one looked to be seventeen or eighteen at most. The younger was most likely not even older than ten. The two boys had pale faces and were both clearly sick. Other than that strong odour of mould in the tent, there was also the light scent of medicinal herbs.
The younger child was still sleeping at this moment. However, the older one had been staring at He Changdi with eyes full of caution ever since he had stepped foot into the tent.
He Changdi’s usually icy expression suddenly turned into a smile. Coupled with the warm glow of the lantern, highlighting his handsome features, he seemed like a deity who had descended onto this mortal earth. The young man lying in bed seemed a little dazed from this sight.
‘Muren’. This young man seemed exactly the same as the first time they had met in his previous life.
Even the caution in his eyes hadn’t changed.
However, in his past life, they had met in the lands of exile he had been sent to, whereas now they were meeting in this small, simple tent.
In his past life, this young man had stood in front of him as a shield, but had been killed by the steel wielded by the guards supervising him. In this life, he had come to meet him three years early in order to protect him and his family.
By the time He Changdi led Laiyue out of the tent, stars had filled up the night sky. Even Laiyue, who didn’t know the barbarian language, had found out that the barbarian woman was called ‘Wulihan’ while the two boys were called ‘Muren’ and ‘Narisong’.
The middle-aged Wulihan escorted He Changdi far away from the tent, before watching as his back disappeared beyond the horizon of the plains. It was only then that she returned home.
Laiyue followed He Changdi under the light of the stars. Although he was curious as to why his master wanted to help a widowed barbarian woman and her children, it seemed like his master had too many thoughts on his mind to pay attention to him.
Their silence persisted until master and servant returned to the little courtyard they had bought in Liangzhou city.
Laiyue had been living in the little courtyard all this time, so it was kept very clean. Most of the things required for normal day-to-day living were also already present, so they could stay there immediately.
He Changdi had only returned for barely a moment when an average-looking man leaped into the courtyard and personally passed a blue cloth bag into He Changdi’s hands.
Laiyue’s face was filled with joy. “Third Young Master, it’s a package from the capital.”
As He Changdi held the package, for some reason, there was a strange sense of expectation in his heart, but even he didn’t know what he was expecting to see inside.
Laiyue followed closely behind his master, waiting for his master to open up the package so he could peek inside as well. If there was jerky inside from Third Young Madam, then his master would definitely share some with him. However, who could have expected He Sanlang to carry the package into his room, locking Laiyue outside of the door.
The moment He Changdi entered his room, his long legs unconsciously walked faster in order to reach the table in record time. Next, he unwrapped the package at lightning speed.
He Changdi was stunned.
He stared at the contents for more than a few seconds before he finally managed to react. A bad premonition rose in his heart. Once he recovered his senses, he pulled out everything inside.
This package wasn’t like the previous one. Not only was there not a single snack inside, there weren’t even any carefully packed pieces of clothing within.
When he opened the package, there were only a few winter tunics inside. Even though they were made of fine fabrics and looked luxurious, he couldn’t wear this type of fabric and styles at the northern border.
He Changdi couldn’t help but remember the last package from home he had received.
The previous package had contained bruise balm, waterproof leather boots, comfortable inner clothes, short tunics for martial arts practice, and even wrist and shin guards. Although there were only a few of each item, they were all things he needed. Even those he hadn’t thought of were there.
Laiyue had said that the wicked woman Chu Lian had prepared those for him.
Having experienced that sort of care and consideration, He Changdi felt an unexpected sense of disappointment after looking at the small package he had just received.
He Sanlang pressed his lips together and suppressed that strange feeling welling up within him. He reached out to move aside the clothing at the top of the package and took out the wooden box below containing letters from the capital.
When he opened the wooden box, his hands were unconsciously trembling and his heart was filled with a sense of uncertainty.
However, the moment he lifted the lid of the fragrant rosewood box, the first thing he saw was the giant leather envelope placed at the very bottom.
That wicked woman! Had she drawn more letters for him?!
Hmph! All she knew was how to skive!
He Sanlang was alone in the room now. If Laiyue had been there, he would have definitely caught a shocking, faint smile on his master’s face.
He Changdi pushed aside the letters on top and took the giant leather envelope out of the box. His slender fingers flipped it over, every movement carrying a sense of urgency.
However, upon removing the stack of paper, He Changdi wordlessly stared at them for a good ten whole seconds. His originally warm eyes frosted over with anger. Finally, his handsome face turned dark and gloomy at a speed that human eyes could barely see. However, with the addition of his thick beard, his expression seemed a little funny instead.
After a few more seconds, He Sanlang threw the stack of papers to the ground in a fit, and even stomped all over them.
Those papers that had been tossed to the ground were actually all blank!
He Sanlang felt like his lungs were about to burst from anger.
That… that wicked woman! How dare she!
In order to deal with him, she had actually sent him blank pages!
He Sanlang hated that he couldn’t just appear in front of Chu Lian and grab her- recklessly bully her for a bit, so that she would finally know her duties as a man’s wife.
The impatient, moody He Sanlang paced about his room. If not for his extraordinary patience, this room would have already been destroyed to bits.
