N-A-A Chapter 144: The Sorrow of Old Age
Chapter 144: The Sorrow of Old Age
Yuan Jin drove a new carriage and stopped it at the foot of the mountain. Rong, Qing and Chenyu went down the mountain first, and the others were responsible for the aftermath.
After the two entered the carriage, Rong Heqing lifted the curtain and said to Chu Suifeng, "Please spread the word that Chenyu and I have something to say. Don't let anyone else get close."
Chu Suifeng glanced at Chenyu, but still didn't completely let down his guard. He gave Rong Heqing a warning look, telling her to be careful.
Rong Heqing smiled at him reassuringly, "Go ahead."
Chu Suifeng closed the carriage door, sat on the edge of the step, and watched the people on the mountain carry the bodies down one by one.
The carriage became quiet. The sunlight came in through the curtains, making Shenyu's face by the window so pale that it was almost transparent, and even the tiny hairs on it were clearly visible.
Rong Heqing suddenly asked, "How old are you?"
Chenyu raised her head and looked at her in confusion. She didn't expect that her first question would be this, but she still answered it obediently.
"Seventeen."
"Only seventeen?" Rong Heqing suddenly realized, "Two years younger than me."
In modern times, a seventeen-year-old who is still studying is still just a child.
Here, she has experienced countless things and is accustomed to both joy and sorrow.
Rong Heqing felt pity for her and poured her a cup of tea. "You know what I want to ask. You took the initiative to save me. Have you already decided to confess to me?"
Her gentle tone made Chen Yu feel a little relieved. She held the teacup and looked at her reflection in the water, pulling her lips, "Whether you are honest or not, it doesn't really matter, because it's useless to say it."
Rong Heqing was silent for a moment. Chenyu observed her expression and thought that she might be annoyed by what she said. She wanted to explain, but she saw Rong Heqing looking up and said sincerely: "But if you speak out and there is one more person to share the burden, you will at least feel better, right?"
Chenyu was startled, her nose felt a little sour, and she pursed her lower lip.
"For so many years, you have been struggling in the dangerous situation alone. Even if I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I can guess what kind of life you have lived. It's amazing that you have come this far." Rong Heqing touched her head and said softly, "I have no intention of exploring your secrets, but I hope you can live a more relaxed life."
She sighed, "You are still so young, at the age of a flower, you shouldn't live in the abyss of darkness."
Rong Heqing took out the wooden fish at some point and started talking while knocking it.
Chenyu listened to the crisp sound, her heart suddenly calmed down, and then the grievances came roaring like waves.
Huge tears welled up in her eyes and fell on the back of her hand with a plop.
She raised her hand to touch it, took a deep breath and then let out a long breath.
[Congratulations to the host, the mission target's evil value has been reduced by ten, and the current remaining evil value is seventy-seven. ]
"I'm sorry, I lost my composure." Chenyu rubbed the corners of her eyes vigorously and looked at Rong Heqing with red eyes, "But the princess was the first person to tell me that she hoped I could live an easier life, and I couldn't help it for a moment."
Rong Heqing wanted to find a handkerchief to wipe her, but when he found nothing, he remembered that he had just wiped the blood and threw it away.
There is no other handkerchief available at the moment.
Seeing this, Chenyu held her hand and said, "No need for a handkerchief. I'm not that delicate. It will be fine after a while."
She sniffed, lifted the curtain on the car window and looked out, "Princess, do you know how many kinds of medicinal herbs and wild vegetables there are on this mountain?"
Rong Heqing shook his head.
"I know. When I was young, my family was poor and we didn't even have enough to eat. I said I was hungry, so my parents asked me to follow the villagers up the mountain to pick wild vegetables and dig medicinal herbs to fill my stomach. I wanted to sell the medicinal herbs I dug, but they snatched them away from me. They said, 'What do you know, just a kid?'"
"I went back to complain, and my father slapped me and said I was meddling. My mother said I was a loser and couldn't protect my own things, which meant I was incompetent."
"I thought so at that time, too. I thought they didn't like me because I was incompetent and weak. But later, when I was seven years old, they had another son. I had never seen such gentle parents. My younger brother cried all day and all night, but they coaxed him kindly. But when I was young, they either beat me or scolded me."
"It was then that I realized that they didn't like me because I was a money-losing girl, not a son who could carry on the family line."
Chenyu's expression was very calm when she said these words, as if she was telling a story as a bystander, but Rong and Qing could clearly hear the frustration behind her voice.
Her fists stiffened.
It was not uncommon to favor sons over daughters in this dynasty. What's worse, some people would drown daughters and keep sons.
But if the family kept their daughter, it was not because they had good intentions. They most likely wanted to use their daughter to gain more benefits.
As expected, Chenyu said, "Later, as I grew up and became more beautiful, they started to think of other things. They stopped beating me, but still made me do a lot of work every day."
Chenyu smiled very lightly, but her smile was cold and without any light in her black eyes.
"When I was ten years old, I went up the mountain to pick wild vegetables. I met a group of men from the village. The oldest of them was in their thirties, and the youngest was only fourteen or fifteen. They gathered together to drink water and rest. When they saw me, they asked me to pass. I didn't think too much about it at the time. I thought we were all from the same village, and some of them were usually very kind uncles, so I passed by."
Ronghe Qingxin felt nervous and vaguely guessed what would happen next, so he was a little afraid to listen.
Chen Yu looked over and smiled, "Princess, do you know that the people around us are not necessarily human beings. Many of them are beasts in human skins."
"After they called me over, they started to touch me, my face, my hands, and some even touched my feet. I realized something was wrong and shouted for help, but the uncle, who was usually very easy to talk to, actually covered my mouth."
The little Chenyu finally realized that something was wrong. She struggled frantically, and while struggling she touched a stone. Without even looking, she smashed it hard at the person who was holding her down. She heard a groan and a scream, and she ran away while they didn't react.
After all, he was a child who grew up in the mountains and was very familiar with the roads there. He disappeared in a short while.
She fell down countless times during the run, but she didn't dare to stop. She endured the pain, got up and continued running.
When she ran to the place where she thought she was safe, she found that her whole body was burning with pain. Her body was covered with bruises and scrapes from the fall, and her clothes were covered with bloodstains.
I don't know when one of my shoes was lost.
Her feet hurt so much that she couldn't run, so she hid in the small cave and listened to the noises outside. She didn't limp down the mountain until it was almost dark and no one came to look for her.
However, as soon as she got home, she was slapped by her father, and her vision went black.
Her mother scolded her for being shameless and having no sense of propriety.
She was completely stunned and had no reaction. Then an aunt came to her house and yelled at her, dragging her by her hair and dragging her to the middle of the village. All the villagers came out to watch the fun, but no one came to help her.
They watched her cry and beg, and remained indifferent.