The door was opened, and the man who bought Ling Xiao walked in, looked Ling Xiao up and down, and said with a smile: "It's quite a sign after dressing up, not bad." Ling Xiao ignored him.

After a while, the man saw Ling Xiao sitting there and ignored him, and said, "I bought you, gave you food, and gave you a place to live, shouldn't you thank me?" ”

"What are you buying me for?" Ling Xiao's tone did not have a trace of warmth.

"I thought I had bought a fool, but it turned out to be thoughtful. Tomorrow is my brother's twenty-first birthday, and you are a gift from me to him, and you are lucky enough to be his first concubine. He said.

"I won't be anyone's concubine." Ling Xiao said in a tone of arrogance with frost.

"I can't help you. Show me a good look. The man finished the second half of his sentence to his subordinates, and then disappeared from Ling Xiao's sight.

The door was locked again, and Ling Xiao knew that now only the window might be the key to her escape, and she tried to open them one by one, but they were all dead there, unable to open them.

The sky was already slightly bright, the moon was faintly hanging in the sky, a few stars were twinkling in the blue sky, the breeze was blowing, and most of Ling Xiao's sleepiness was gone. After a sleepless night, she finally escaped through the window. The people who locked him up would never have dreamed that she would carry a dagger with her and break the wooden strip in one night.

This mansion is not big, but the structure is complicated, all kinds of paths are intricately circulating, and because Ling Xiao is not familiar with this, it is not easy to find a way out, what she didn't expect is that they quickly found that she was no longer in the room, and the people in the mansion immediately looked around for her whereabouts, and it became noisy for a while. Ling Xiao thought that she could get away with it, but how could there be so many luck in the world. They eventually found her behind a rockery.

"Big lady, someone has found it." Ling Xiao was brought to a woman, and a family member said to the woman.

"The lord bought you back with food and drink, this is your blessing, and you dare to run away, I don't know what to do. Family law service. The woman had a majestic and angry expression.

"Big lady, this is not good, today I have to send her to the second master, if she is injured......" An older subordinate said.

"Let her have a long memory, I'll tell the second master, and he will understand. Use the family method. "That woman is the master mother of this mansion, and the person who bought Ling Xiao yesterday is the master in their mouths.

It didn't take long for a maid to bring a long whip and hand it to a manservant, Ling Xiao's body had just been scabbed over by the whip marks on his body a few days ago, he never thought that he would usher in a second time so soon, the man whipped mercilessly, each whip fell on Ling Xiao's skin like a flame swept by, she frowned, trying not to let herself make a sound, she didn't know how many whips she had received this time, and in the end her whole body was numb, and the woman shouted to stop.

"Take it down and freshen up, the second master is low-key, and she never makes a noise on her birthday, but you can't wronged the second master, dress her up beautifully and send her over." After the woman finished speaking, she glanced at Ling Xiao, and then Ling Xiao was taken away by two subordinates.

Ling Xiao was dragged around like a puppet by two maids, taking a shower and changing clothes, and making up and hair, and the whip marks on his body were stained with water, which actually made Ling Xiao really feel like he was sprinkling salt on his wounds.

Soon after noon, Ling Xiao was taken to a courtyard, and then the door of the courtyard was closed, no matter how she knocked on it, the door did not open again, and when she turned his head, he saw a weak young man sitting in front of the stone table under the shade of the tree, his face was pale, but it was difficult to hide his handsomeness, he looked at Ling Xiao quietly, without words. Ling Xiao looked around, this is an ordinary courtyard for her, but for non-official families, this is already a luxury, Ling Xiao thought that this is probably the difference between classes, in ancient times, no matter how rich a merchant was, it was also the bottom of society, even if the economy is prosperous now.

The noon sun baked the ground, and the heat wave hit Ling Xiao wave after wave, Ling Xiao didn't look at the man, and entered the house alone. was beaten twice, but she still didn't give up any chance to escape. Now for her, figuring out how to escape is the most important thing, not torturing her body under the scorching sun.

The room was filled with a strong smell of herbs, and Ling Xiao didn't care about it, and sat on the mat in a trance. Her ten-day appointment with Lu Jingxing had arrived, and Ling Xiao thought that he should also go back to the wooden house now and see the corpse on the ground. This time she was separated, and I don't know if there is any possibility of seeing her again in the future, Ling Xiao originally planned to let Lu Jingxing teach her martial arts, but now it seems unlikely to be realized, and she can't help but feel a little lost in her heart.

"What do you think? Immerse yourself in it. The man sat down across from Ling Xiao after entering the room, but Ling Xiao not only did not answer his question, but turned his head away and ignored him. After a long time, he stretched out his hand to touch Ling Xiao's face, but Ling Xiao quickly avoided it, his hand paused in the air, and finally slowly retracted it, and then asked gently, "Does it still hurt?" Ling Xiao knew he was referring to the whip marks on her cheeks, but she didn't bother to answer. He was not annoyed, and continued: "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you, now that you have become my concubine, then I will be your husband, and this is your home." Ling Xiao mocked in his heart, only a wife has a husband, and a concubine is just a tool for a man to vent his desires.

The man got up and took out a box of ointment from the cupboard: "This ointment is very effective when rubbed on the face, and the most taboo thing for girls is to leave a scar on the face." ”

Ling Xiao didn't pick up the ointment, he looked a little helpless, put the ointment on the table, and said, "Sister-in-law has already told me that you must be unwilling to escape and be arrested." However, I still advise you to dispel the idea of running away again, the Zhang Mansion is heavily guarded, and you can't escape. Besides, it is better for you to have no worries about food and clothing here than to wander around outside, and I think you have suffered a lot from the North Vietnam Kingdom to the Central Plains Kingdom, and you should know what it means to live a stable life. Seeing that Ling Xiao still didn't say a word, he didn't care about Ling Xiao anymore and read the book by himself. Ling Xiao still lived in his own world until the sun sank in the west, and the servants brought dinner and left. Because of the man's birthday today, the dishes are very richly prepared.

"You serve me dinner." He naturally instructed the present.

"I don't have hands?" Ling Xiao asked emotionlessly. It was the first time that someone dared to drive Ling Xiao, she could do her own thing independently, but if she wanted to serve others, it was a dream.

The man was slightly stunned, and he had to serve the food by himself, "You finally spoke, but no one dared to speak to me like this, and you impressed me." He laughs.

Ling Xiao ignored him, picked up the chopsticks and ate them.

"It's not good to go out for a walk with me." Ling Xiao agreed, if she wanted to escape successfully, she must first understand the layout of this mansion.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled a piece of brilliance, the flowers and trees on the side of the road suddenly seemed to be plated with a layer of golden pearl, at this time the heat dissipated a lot, the two of them walked slowly on the quiet path one after the other, occasionally a trace of evening breeze blowing, and added refreshment.

"You haven't told me your name yet!" Ling Xiao was silent, he continued: "If you don't have a name, then I'll help you get it." Then you will have the same surname as me in the future, and your character will be like this lake lotus, arrogant and clear, and not stained with debris, so you will be called Qinghe. ”

Ling Xiao said helplessly: "If you like it, then keep it for yourself." ”

"Don't you like it?" He asked.

"Light smoke." Ling Xiao wouldn't tell him his real name, but in order to make him quiet a little, it could only be like this.

"Light smoke? It's a nice name. He affirmed.

"Yes, you don't know my name yet." After a while, he spoke again.

"I'm not interested in knowing." Ling Xiao said bluntly.

"Whether you're interested or not, remember, my name is Zhang Xun." Zhang Yan said.

The afterglow of the setting sun had disappeared, the sky was gradually darkening, and along the way, Ling Xiao was familiar with this mansion a lot, but he still didn't know how to escape smoothly.

"It's late at night, go to bed." As the night grew darker, Ling Xiao sat alone since he came back, staring at the burning oil lamp, and he didn't know where he had gone. If it weren't for Zhang Yan's words, Ling Xiao thought that she would still not be able to return to reality.

"Dress for your husband." What Zhang said is reasonable.

"What about the next person? Let me state that you are not my husband. I want to find someone in a wide coat. Ling Xiao also felt strange, there were few people in this courtyard.

"On weekdays, I don't like a lot of people, so there are only two Xiaosi, and now that you are here, of course they have to go out." Zhang Yan said.

"I never serve anyone." Ling Xiao didn't care about the consequences of resisting at all, it was a big deal to be another whip, she was used to it, and it didn't matter if she beat her more.

"You don't dress me wide, and I don't care, but you don't even sleep? Silly sit there. Zhang Yan took off his coat himself.

"I'll just sleep on the ground." Lu Jingxing's roof can be used as a bed to sleep, so what if Ling Xiao wants to sleep on this floor.

"You don't want to be my real woman?" Zhang Yan asked.

"I was forcibly brought by you, do you think I would be willing?" Ling Xiao asked rhetorically in a cold tone.

He was stunned for a moment after listening to Ling Xiao's words: "Okay, I will wait until the day when you are willing." Now I don't force you. It's just that it's cold on the ground, so let's sleep in the bed. ”

"Just give me the futon." Ling Xiao couldn't sleep with a strange man.

On the afternoon of the second day, Zhang Xun's eldest brother walked into the house And at this moment, the two subordinates were busy boiling medicine, and when they saw him come in, they hurriedly saluted: "Master is here." ”

"Big brother, you're back." Zhang Yan looked very happy to see his eldest brother.

"Do you still like the birthday gift I gave you this time?" He pointed to Ling Xiao and sat opposite Zhang Yan.

"Big brother is busy with things, and he still worries about me, I am happy." Zhang Yan added a cup of tea for him.

"Although this woman is not as good as the country and the city, it is also a sign, but this temperament is too indifferent, which is also my temporary negligence." Zhang Yan's eldest brother said regretfully.

"If it's the kind of woman who only greets, I don't like it, this light smoke is just what I like, and I have been attracted to her since she stepped into this courtyard." Zhang Yu said.

"She has a noble temperament, she must have been a rich lady before, this temper is naturally there, if she upsets you, just tell me, I'll change you to a better one." Ling Xiao didn't expect this man to care about his younger brother so much, but he treated women as anything, like a plaything in his hand.

"Big brother, we haven't played chess for a long time, why don't we play a game?" Zhang Yu said.

Ling Xiao didn't know how to play chess, the two brothers were playing there, Ling Xiao watched from the side for a while, but he really couldn't understand it, so he stopped looking, sat down in front of the desk away from them, and thought about things with his hands on his head.

Ling Xiao didn't know how long they had been playing chess, she actually fell asleep on the desk, and when she woke up, she saw Zhang Yan looking at her quietly and smiling at her: "It turns out that you still have a brother." ”

Ling Xiao was confused by what he said: "How do you know?"

"You should have dreamed of your third brother in your dream just now, and you called out to the third brother in a whisper." Zhang Yan said softly.

Ling Xiao dreamed of Zhong Limu, the Zhong Limu who went to see her whenever he had time, no matter how busy he was with official duties, the Zhong Limu who often took her out, and the Zhongli Mu who helped her push the swing under the peach blossom tree...... Unexpectedly, in just a few months of getting along, what she couldn't let go of the most was Zhong Limu, and Ling Xiao realized that she was also a person with a heart, and she cared so much about the love of her brother and sister. She didn't know if it was the people of the Hou Mansion who changed her, or if she herself changed herself, that ruthless Ling Xiao was changing little by little. Before Ling Xiao knew it, two lines of tears flowed down.

"Don't cry, this is your home in the future, and I will treat you like your third brother." Zhang Yan was about to wipe away Ling Xiao's tears, but Ling Xiao avoided his hand.

"My parents died when I was very young, and it was my eldest brother who took care of me for so many years, like a father and a brother. I know your feelings for your third brother. Zhang Yan said silently, just wanting to comfort Ling Xiao.

"You won't understand." A person who has lived alone for twenty-five years, and suddenly has an older brother who cares about him, how precious it is, Ling Xiao only blames him for not realizing it at that time.

"What's your third brother's name? How about I help you find it? Zhang Yan said again.

"You better stop asking for trouble." Ling Xiao thought that if he really found Zhong Limu and saw her injury, the lives of the entire Zhang family would be difficult to protect.

"It's not troublesome, I'll arrange an errand for him in the house then, so that your brother and sister won't be separated." It was normal for Zhang Yan not to understand the meaning of Ling Xiao's words, but his intentions were good, but he just used the wrong person.

"You can't find him." Ling Xiao said.

"Okay. You're bored here, why don't I teach you how to read? Zhang Yan finally said.

"You can just find "Chu Ci". Ling Xiao told him that on the night she was kidnapped, Ling Xiao was copying the nine chapters of "Chu Ci" and Shijiang, and now she wanted to finish copying that fragment, and she didn't like to do only half of it.

"Can you understand "Chu Ci"?" Zhang Yan looked a little surprised.

"Understood." Ling Xiao replied.

Ling Xiao felt that it was better to have something to do than nothing, and in this way, time passed faster.

"Why do you write the word 'Mu' when you start writing?" Zhang Yan saw Ling Xiao writing a "Mu" on the paper, curious.

"If you want to write, you can write it. My third brother's name. Ling Xiao didn't want to hide it too much, just one word.

"Your handwriting is not like what a woman should be, delicate and vigorous." What Zhang Yu said was that because Ling Xiao's handwriting was mixed with the shadow of Zhong Limu's handwriting, when he first practiced, he couldn't write well, and the master was afraid of offending Ling Xiao, so he didn't dare to correct it, and only Zhong Limu was outspoken and patiently demonstrated.

"It's normal." Ling Xiao replied.

"Words are like people, and words are like your character." Ling Xiao no longer spoke to Zhang Yan, Ling Xiao thought that she was different in the eyes of all people, and Ling Xiao also saw that the arrogant nature of women was not suitable for living in ancient times.