1.
The area around Juzhou is a place where bandits often commit crimes. This was originally a treasure land of geomantic omen in Nanye Kingdom. The rainwater is abundant all the year round to irrigate the fertile fields, and the people live well.
As time goes by, it is inevitable that the gangsters will make trouble.
That night, the street that had been silent for a long time was covered by the sound of violent fighting, and the gangsters were attacking the men on the opposite side with machetes.
The man was covered with large and small wounds, but he couldn't hide his cold breath, and his long and narrow black eyes were fixed on the bandit leader.
Right now he is already at a disadvantage, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get out.
The leader of the bandit walked around him dangling with a knife on his shoulder, "Why, Mr. Wen, didn't you say that you want to kill us all, come on!" The other
gangsters laughed triumphantly, only Wen Ce kept panting without saying a word, his eyes following the bandit leader's footsteps all the time.
At this time, the bandit leader suddenly stopped, raised his machete and slashed at Wen Ce fiercely. Fortunately, Wen Ce was on guard, and when the sword was hit by the knife, it made a piercing noise.
Wen Ce kicked him away violently, took out the smoke bomb and threw it, and the choking white smoke immediately covered Wen Ce's whereabouts, and when the smoke cleared, Wen Ce had long since disappeared.
Liao Ji spat hard, and pointed at both ends of the street: "Chasing!"
The street was empty, the doors of every house were closed, Wen Ce had nowhere to hide, so he picked a mansion and tried his best to turn it over. , the body fell to the ground with a muffled sound, this is the backyard of the female relatives.
The maid Xiaosui was guarding outside, when she heard the noise, she hurriedly took the guard over to have a look, and saw a man in black lying on the ground.
Xiaosui reported this matter to Li Yanran.
The man in black was lucky not to be thrown out, because within a short while, the gangster was going door to door harassing the dignitary.
Li Yanran was also afraid, so she just asked the nurses to hide the man and clean up the blood on the ground. When the man was dragged away, seeing Li Yanran's nervous appearance, he didn't dare to say anything.
The gangsters were too rampant, they murdered innocent people without seeing Wen Ce, and many of them were killed by the butcher's knife.
The gangsters soon arrived at Li's mansion, and when they saw the expensive decoration of the mansion, they felt malicious.
Before the gangsters came to the door, the master of the Li family rushed out with his servants, Liao Ji was dumbfounded, he had never seen anyone who took the initiative to kill them. From this direction, Wen Ce could just see her face clearly. Li Yanran half covered her cheeks, and looked at him reproachfully: "Why do you look at me like this..."
Fortunately, the guards were good at it, even though the gangster was carrying a knife, he was gradually lost. Liao Ji suffered a big loss, seeing his brothers fell to the ground one by one, he had no choice but to put away his knife and run away.
The man in black was considered safe, so Li Yanran took a general look at his injuries and invited a doctor to treat Wen Ce.
When bandaging, Wen Ce was always awake, and the doctor was relieved to see that he was so patient, but Wen Ce's gaze was always on Li Yanran.
"Although this medicine is bitter, it is good for the disease. You must take it on time, my lord."
Li Yanran bowed her body, "We will let him take the medicine well, thank
you doctor.
" , this lady of the Li family is very polite, although the Li family is a rich businessman, they don't act arrogantly, but they often help the poor.
The doctor stroked his beard and thought, he would also be willing to see the Li family.
Master Li came over to say hello, and the doctor walked out quickly.
"I'm sorry Zhang Lao ran so late."
Li Yu carried him to the front hall, and Li Yanran and Wen Ce were left in the room.
Wen Ce's gaze was always on Li Yanran, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Li Yanran was born beautiful, with her slender hands folded half-tucked in her cuffs, standing obliquely facing the bed, graceful and generous but also proud. Wen Ce endured the pain and explained: "Thank you, miss, for saving me." Li Yanran nodded slightly: "It's just human nature, you don't need to care about it." " No, miss has kindness to me, how can I not remember this kindness. " Wen Ce struggled to stand up, and Li Yanran couldn't get too close to him, so she called someone to put a cushion behind him. "Thank you, thank you." Li Yanran asked, "Where are you from and where is your family? I'll let them tell your parents."
Wen Ce stopped talking, and pursed his lips tightly in a sad gesture. Looking at it like this, Li Yanran felt that he shouldn't have said that.
"If it's inconvenient, sir, you can tell me your name first."
"Wen Ce."
"It's nothing. I was going to visit my relatives in Qizhou, but I was robbed by that villain who stole things and even hurt me Fortunately, I can escape with a bit of skill."
Li Yanran was startled when she heard that, and felt more sympathy for Wen Ce.
Xiaosui came over with the medicine, and Wen Ce felt the pain on his arm when he saw this, "I'm going to trouble Miss again, I'm afraid I can't even take the medicine bowl."
Wen Ce wanted Li Yanran to feed the medicine by himself However, he has a good impression of this girl, and when he finds the opportunity, he will tell his father to come to hire her when he returns.
Xiaosui glared at him angrily: "You are such a toad who wants to eat swan meat! My lady is kind enough to save you, but you want to take advantage!" Li Yanran stopped
Xiaosui, and said gently and rationally: "Mr. Please forgive me if I’m not in the right place in contact with foreign men.”
Wen Ce looked a little disappointed, and was about to say “no problem”, when Xiaosui took the medicine and rushed over, “Xiaosui is better, I’d like to see What kind of tricks are you playing!"
"..."
Li Yanran smiled helplessly, bowing down apologetically to Wen Ce.
"Mr. Wen, my daughter should go out and report to father first. If there is something to tell Xiaosui, it's fine."
Before Wen Ce had time to call her, Li Yanran turned and walked out.
A scholar in white clothes came to meet him, Wen Ce only heard Li Yanran call the man "cousin", and the man also called her "cousin" with a smile on his face. The two seemed to have a very good relationship, which made Wen Ce feel an inexplicable sense of crisis .
The man's name is Li Tong, and he and Li Yanran are also childhood sweethearts, so the relationship is naturally close.
Wen Ce looked at the unhappy Xiaosui and coughed twice.
"Xiaosui, I'm a little hungry, can you tell your lady to get some food?"
Xiaosui put down the bowl and glanced at him.
"Wait, don't disturb Miss and Master Cousin talking about family affairs."
"..."
Li Tong glanced at the room, "Cousin, I just heard from my uncle that there is a sick person at home."
Li Yanran replied "Yes, "It is said that he was going to visit relatives in Weizhou, and
he was injured by that evil bandit." Li Tong suddenly said, "It's pitiful, let him go when he recovers.
" Slowly recovering, Li Yu saw that he had an extraordinary temperament, he didn't look like a child from an ordinary wealthy family, so he didn't think about getting close to anything.
Li Yanran is the only daughter in the family, Wen Ce knew early on that he was not married, so it would be inappropriate to propose marriage now.
What's more, Mr. Li doesn't want his daughter to marry far away. It's not close at all from Juzhou to Qizhou, and it takes a day and night to travel.
Just when Wen Ce thought so, he heard the conversation between the master of the Li family and the young lady.
After Wen Ce recovered from his injury, he offered to repay his kindness, and Li Yu didn't want to delay his visit to relatives, so he took money and sent him on the road, but Wen Ce insisted, Li Yu also had an idea after seeing his good martial arts.
In the end, Li Yu still kept Wen Ce at the mansion as a bodyguard.
Wen Ce was diligent and prudent in his work, and Li Yu was happy to see him, and he brought Wen Ce with him when he went out to do errands. Outsiders thought that Wen Ce was a relative of the Li family. Because of Wen Ce's handsome appearance, many girls liked him very much. Send a handkerchief, a fragrant fruit, etc., but he declined them all.
Li Yu also felt that he was a little ostentatious with Wen Ce, so he asked him to stay at home and watch the yard, and saw Li Yanran more often every day.
Every time he walked through the corridor, he could see Li Yanran sitting on a stone bench not far away basking in the sun, Xiaosui tried to persuade her to stay longer, Wen Ce was fascinated by it, Li Yanran lazily leaned against the table, Her body was soft and boneless, Wen Ce thought she was going to fall down at any moment, and wanted to go over to support her several times.
But these are just her daughter's delicate family, Li Yanran has a gentle temperament, embroidering a flower and pricking her fingers, and the tears rolling around, I feel pity.
The love between men and women, just looking at each other every day is enough.
When Wen Ce met her face to face, Li Yanran waved and smiled at him, and it became a habit after a long time.
"What are you embroidering, Miss?" The two were chatting, Li Tong waved and called his cousin. "cousin?"
When Wen Ce came back from work, Li Yanran was embroidering at the stone table.
Seeing him approaching, Li Yanran showed off her embroidery skillfully.
"Father's old friend was promoted, so I will give him a different gift."
Wen Ce was surprised: "Oh? Master, he is friends with officials."
"That's really prestigious."
After finishing speaking, Wen Ce sat down. Watching her embroidery from the side, Li Tong saw them here when he came.
Li Yanran chatted with him while embroidering: "Father used to be the county magistrate of Hagi County, probably at that time." "Later,
father resigned from his official position and went into business, so he is what he is today."
Wen Ce smiled: " The master is really talented." Li Tong looked at Wen Ce, "Master Wen, the master asked me to tell you that you can leave tomorrow, and we don't want to delay your family visit." The sentence "we" means Putting his hearing policy aside, Li Tong didn't want this man to stay any longer. I have seen him peeking at my cousin several times, afraid that something bad will lure the wolf into the house. Wen Ce lowered his head and said nothing, and answered after a while. "I see." "Yeah." Li Tong responded briefly, and when he saw the exquisite embroidery on the table, he asked in surprise, "Cousin is still doing these? " You can also take a good rest." Li Tong was about to put away the embroidery, but Li Yanran took it behind him first. "It's okay, I was just idle and bored, so my cousin asked me to finish the embroidery and give it to my father." Li Tong smiled dotingly and stopped interfering in her affairs. The closeness of the two was seen by Wen Ce, and this scene was also seen by Mrs. Li.
Wen Ce also saw Mrs. Li, thinking that something was wrong with her, Wen Ce ran over diligently and without a trace.
"What are you looking at, ma'am?"
Wen Ce looked at Li Yanran and Li Tong along the line of sight, feeling a bad premonition.
Mrs. Li laughed happily, not paying attention to Wen Ce's expression at all.
Do you think she and Dong'er are a good match? Wen
Ce was stopped by these few words, and it turned out that the old lady had this idea.
Wen Ce bowed and bowed, "Miss is beautiful, talented and talented. It will be a blessing if someone from a family can marry her." " Li Yu was drinking tea in the front hall, and his wife pulled him over to mention this matter. Li Yu didn't believe it at first, but he didn't mean it when he saw the two of them. Wen Ce heard it clearly from the side, and also wanted to know that Li Yu would promise Yanran to her. A man with what conditions. Li Yu stroked his beard and thought: "At least...he must be well-off, right, what do you think ma'am? "Hey, that's the reason, otherwise Yan'er would be wronged. " Mrs. Li added: "Don't promise her to the official family. The officials don't know what kind of villains they are. Our magistrate's son is going to play in the red building today. His wife almost gave her away in the past. " The building has been demolished, don't provoke this powerful official, I'm afraid he will treat us Yan'er slowly. " Wen Ce was hesitant to say anything. Not all men in the official family like to drink flower wine, just like him, he would not go by himself, and actively helped his father to make meritorious deeds. If it wasn't for the accident this time to suppress the bandits , the imperial court will reward their family. Don’t beat them to death anyway. Just as Wen Ce was thinking, Li Tong and Li Yanran came over. "Daddy, my daughter wants to go to the street to buy some rouge and gouache. " Li Yu's baby girl is too baby, so let Li Tong go with her.
was so happy that she got closer to Wen Ce.
Wen Ce helped Mrs. Li walk to the front hall, but his mind was on Li Yanran.
Wen Ce took the initiative to stand up, "Madam, why don't you let me go, I'm good at it, and I just protect Miss Zhouquan."
Li Yu let them go out together without thinking much.
On the contrary, it was Li Tong who took care and waited for the person to leave before speaking out.
Hearing this, Li Yu didn't dare to be careless anymore, how could her daughter like someone of unknown origin. He only said to let Wen Ce leave the Li Mansion tomorrow.
Wen Ce was tall and tall, and he stayed by Li Yanran's side all the time. This carefully protected appearance made many passers-by stop and watch.
This man and woman walking together is really weird, servants are not like servants, just like a newlywed couple who are afraid that their wife will be noticed by other men.
Wen Ce followed Li Yanran closely, holding a lot of gadgets in his hands. Thinking of Li Tong's threat, he couldn't help being curious.
"It's rare to see cousins from a rich family live together."
Li Yanran said patiently as she walked, "My cousin has a hard life. He lived with his aunt when he was a child. Later, when his aunt died of illness, his parents treated him as their own son." Raise them."
Wen Ce didn't say anything, but just walked around with her from shop to shop.
As soon as he went out, he bumped into his subordinate, Wen Ce gave him a wink and told him to back down.
When Li Yanran was measuring his clothes, Wen Ce happened to go to meet someone.
Liu Zhi knelt down on one knee to greet him: "Your subordinate is late, please punish me."
