Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 117 Memory
Although Jusai City is a military city, there are still markets and houses in the city.

In a small courtyard not far from the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion, Gu Jingnian met Miao Chunniang again.

The courtyard was simply decorated without any unnecessary objects. In the hall, a woman in coarse linen mourning clothes knelt in front of the desk, turning the rosary in her hands and chanting scriptures softly.

The linen dress was loose, but it could not hide her graceful figure. Even the few strands of scattered hair had an alluring charm.

But the atmosphere here is clearly very solemn.

Hearing the noise, Miao Chunniang turned around, with a hint of sadness on her beautiful face.

Gu Jingnian's eyes fell on the spirit tablet on the table, and saw that it was written "the seat of my late husband Gu Jizu".

Lu Maoxiu stepped forward, picked up three incense sticks, lit them over the candle flame, bowed three times towards the tablet with meticulous respect, and inserted them into the incense table.

"Thank you, General."

Miao Chunniang bowed to express her gratitude, which was also the standard gesture of a widow.

"Young Madam." Huo Bo said, "This old servant has brought back the murderer of the eldest son. Please testify in front of General Lu."

Hearing this, Gu Jingnian felt very strange. Miao Chunniang not only committed adultery with him, but also stabbed Gu Jizu's mount at the Deadwood Cliff. How come Huo Bo seemed to have completely forgotten about it?

On second thought, Gu Jingnian was not sure whether Huo Bo knew about his adultery with Miao Chunniang. After all, they were very secretive every time.

As for what happened that night, could it be that she had something to explain to Uncle Huo?

"General Lu, on the night my husband was murdered, Huo Bo and I did see my eleventh brother shoot my husband with a bow."

She described this incident in a complicated way, emphasizing the word "saw".

Lu Maoxiu was very smart and understood the hidden meaning of her words. He asked, "Is there anything hidden?"

Miao Chunniang said, "I am very confused. He is not like other children of the Gu family. He has never been to the battlefield. He should not have such archery skills."

Lu Maoxiu asked: "What's going on?"

Only then did Miao Chunniang look at Gu Jingnian, her eyes as clear as autumn water, seemingly containing deep meaning.

Gu Jingnian understood what she meant from her eyes and said, "My arrow was shot to kill the assassin who wanted to kill my elder brother. Chu Danqing had a Feiren under his command, who raised his hand to fan the wind, and used the wind force to wrap the arrow and shoot my elder brother to death."

"It was indeed a misunderstanding."

Lu Maoxiu didn't want to dwell on this matter any more, so he came to a conclusion immediately and turned to Huo Bo, saying, "You old slave who doesn't know what's good for you, are you convinced now?"

There was confusion in Huo Bo's eyes, and he stood there at a loss.

"Why don't you apologize to the Eleventh Young Master?" Lu Maoxiu scolded.

Huo Bo immediately looked at Miao Chunniang, and seeing her nod slightly, he politely said to Gu Jingnian: "This old servant... has wrongly accused the Eleventh Young Master."

Lu Maoxiu was quite satisfied and said, "In this case, I have done a good job as a peacemaker."

He was still busy with military affairs, so he raised his hand and asked Gu Jingnian to go with him.

Gu Jingnian still felt something was wrong and said, "I want to keep vigil over my elder brother's spirit for a while."

"Alright."

Lu Maoxiu then went to do his work, and Gu Jingnian asked Pei Nian and Zhang Xiaofang to go and rest first.

Soon, Gu Jingnian and Chun Miao Niang were the only ones left in the hall, facing Gu Jizu's tablet, one sitting cross-legged and the other kneeling and chanting.

Huo Bo stood in the yard, keeping a distance so that he could see them but not hear them talking, with the dutiful attitude of a servant.

After a while, Gu Jingnian spoke first.

"How did you get to Jusai City? How come Huo Bo didn't kill you?"

"I explained it to him." Miao Chunniang said, "The dagger is not under my control."

"Is it that easy to explain?"

"Yes."

Gu Jingnian was originally very confused, but faced with Miao Chunniang's perfunctory answer, he had nothing to say even though he didn't believe it.

The two sat in silence for a long time, and Miao Chunniang suddenly stood up and said, "Come with me."

Gu Jingnian glanced at Huo Bo.

"It's okay, don't pay attention to him."

As Miao Chunniang spoke, she walked slowly along the side corridor, and Gu Jingnian followed her into the main house at the back.

"how?"

Gu Jingnian glanced around, trying to see if she wanted to show him something or say something.

Miao Chunniang locked the door, turned around, and hugged his waist, resting her head on his back, and whispered, "Don't move, let me lean on you, you are the only one I can rely on."

These words sounded pitiful. Gu Jingnian was about to pull her hand away, but he paused and said, "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"Do you really want to get to know me? I don't think you care about me."

With just two soft words, Miao Chunniang aroused Gu Jingnian's sense of guilt.

It reminded him of the night at the Deadwood Cliff when she almost died at the hands of Huo Bo. She went through a lot of hardships to get to Jusai City, and when they met, he didn't show any concern, but instead asked her what secret she had.

Gu Jingnian felt his back was a little wet and asked, "Are you crying?"

Behind him, Miao Chunniang sobbed, "I have only been close to you in my life. From now on, I really don't know what to do."

At this point, she choked up and continued, "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this to ask you to protect me. It's just... it's just... I'm very happy to see you after not seeing you for a long time."

Gu Jingnian remained silent and did not move for a long time.

His relationship with Miao Chunniang was not his choice, but the fact was just as she said, he was her closest person, and it seemed that he had to be responsible for Miao Chunniang's future life. Gu Jingnian turned his head and saw a pair of eyes that were misty with tears and full of affection.

Miao Chunniang was still wearing the linen dress. She raised her head without saying a word, and her two lips without rouge gradually moved closer to Gu Jingnian's mouth.

The next moment, Gu Jingnian pushed her away.

"What's wrong?" Miao Chunniang was a little surprised and a little uneasy.

"Uncle Huo is still outside."

"I told you to ignore it."

"Why not ignore it?"

Before Miao Chunniang could answer, Gu Jingnian had already pulled the bolt and walked out.

He walked straight to the front yard and asked Huo Bo who was standing there in a daze.

"My eldest sister-in-law stabbed my eldest brother's beast. What do you think?"

"what?"

Huo Bo turned around, his eyes showing confusion, and asked: "When did the young lady do this?"

Gu Jingnian looked at his expression carefully and asked, "You don't remember?"

Huo Bo seemed to have never thought about this question before. When he thought about it carefully, he frowned with a headache and became even more confused.

"You remember that I shot my eldest brother. Other than that, what else do you remember?"

"I remember... the young master jumped off the battle platform on a thief beast. There was chaos all around. You first shot the thief beast dead with one arrow, and then shot the young master dead with another arrow. Then, you fell off the battle platform, and I rushed over to burn you with fire."

"What happened before this? What else happened?"

Huo Bo couldn't answer. He squinted his eyes and thought hard, then shook his head.

Seeing him like this, Gu Jingnian understood that his memory of Miao Chunniang's assassination of Gu Jizu had disappeared, and it was probably washed away by Miao Chunniang. Therefore, he continued to respect Miao Chunniang as a young lady and escorted her all the way to Jusai City.

Thinking of this, Gu Jingnian turned around and saw Miao Chunniang coming out of the house.

She wiped the tears from her face and looked at him with pleading eyes, looking extremely weak.

But when their eyes met, Gu Jingnian realized that she was also an alien, far more terrifying than she appeared. And for so many years, he had not discovered this, and he didn't know how many times his memory had been erased or even tampered with.

Speechless for a moment.

The curiosity in his heart had been answered. Gu Jingnian did not want Miao Chunniang to disturb his memory, so he left the house directly.

He walked through the streets of Jusai City and returned to the residence that Lu Maoxiu had arranged for him.

This is a two-courtyard house. Although it is not big, it has all the necessary buildings and furniture. The only drawback is that it is too close to Miao Chunniang's residence.

In the yard, Pei Nian and Zhang Xiaofang were cleaning up.

Seeing Gu Jingnian's expression when he came back, Pei Nian was a little confused and asked, "What's wrong?"

"nothing."

Gu Jingnian didn't say much. He went to wash up and lay on the couch. He closed his eyes and couldn't help but recall the time when he had made love with Miao Chunniang, trying to determine whether the memory was true or false.

The more he thought about it, the clearer the picture in his mind became. He could recall the cause and effect of each time, as well as her different clothes, the different patterns embroidered on her bellyband, and even the various features of her body.

She had long, soft hair that was easily wet by sweat, very long eyelashes, and her cheeks were particularly prone to redness. There was a mole under her left armpit, and her feet were narrow and long with small toes.

Continuing to think back, Gu Jingnian could even recall her soft moans and how she felt at that time...

Pei Nian had just washed her hair and came in wiping her wet hair. She was about to sit down beside the couch, but she saw the changes in Gu Jingnian. She was stunned for a moment, and instead of sitting down, she turned her back.

"I'm going to go out, calm down first."

"I'm calm."

"You don't look calm."

Gu Jingnian watched Pei Nian walk out and wanted to explain something, but there was really nothing to explain about this matter.

He turned over and stopped thinking about Miao Chunniang. Regardless of whether the memory was true or false, it didn't make much difference to him. It would be better if it was false, which would make him feel more at ease.

The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark. Pei Nian came back in after drying his hair and asked softly, "Are you calm?"

"Ah."

Gu Jingnian was already drowsy and almost asleep, so he didn't hear clearly and just responded randomly.

Pei Nian then lay down beside him.

The conditions were limited as they were on the road, so they had no time to wash. The most they could do was wipe themselves with a towel. Today they used osmanthus cream to wash their hair, and their hair still had a faint fragrance. They lay in the thick bedding, feeling very comfortable.

Seeing that Gu Jingnian was about to fall asleep, they did not study the language any more that night.

In the middle of the night, Pei Nian felt something warm on his back and something pressing against him from behind. The next moment he realized that Gu Jingnian was not calm.

She moved forward and said, "You are being a little rude."

Gu Jingnian said nothing, but turned his back...

The next day, Gu Jingnian woke up and felt quite embarrassed when he thought about what happened in his dream last night.

He thought that it would be great if he had Miao Chunniang's ability to erase memories.

In the afternoon, Qu Jizhi sent someone to invite him to go out of the city to welcome King Xin.

The target of assassination has arrived...

(End of this chapter)