Chapter 5 Sweet and Soft
A few days later, Tang Ying woke up completely in a hunter's house in the mountains near Baicheng.
Xue Yue's attack that day was not very heavy. After Zhang Qing had brought her out of the city with great difficulty, she woke up and ran into the Northern Barbarians head-on, and another fierce battle ensued.
At that time, Zhang Qing was covered in blood and was at the end of his strength. If he had not held on for a breath, both of them would probably have been buried in the city.
Tang Ying inherited all the martial arts from Tang Yao, and usually her sparring partners at home were young and strong men like Tang Jue who had fought in battles. Tang Ying was in great grief and at the end of her rope, so she went out to fight as if she were cutting melons and vegetables, completely disregarding her own safety. She took Zhang Qing with her to fight. When they reached the foot of the mountain, she fell to the ground due to exhaustion, and Zhang Qing discovered that she was seriously injured. Not to mention the other wounds, the knife wound in her abdomen alone was enough to kill her.
"Miss, bear with me for a moment and I will take you into the mountains."
He was originally the son of a hunter. His parents died early, and he lived on the help of his neighbors until he was six or seven years old. He was found by Tang Yao who occasionally went into the mountains to hunt, and was picked up and brought up in his home. Although he did not sign a contract to sell himself, he regarded Tang Yao as his reincarnated parent and was not afraid of risking his life. He just wanted to take her to escape into the mountains first.
Tang Ying collapsed at the foot of the mountain, unable to lift any strength. She felt that she had reached the end of her life. The scorching sun was blinding. She closed her eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "No need. Let's just... stop here."
It turns out that the greatest sorrow is not wailing at the top of one's voice, with tears flowing like a river, but the pain of having one's bones and heart broken, and being in pain and helpless, with no one to turn to and no one to rely on, and one only wishes one could faint and sleep forever.
Even a heartless person would feel sorry for that look of despair.
Zhang Qing secretly guessed that she might have the intention to follow the Marshal and the Major General, and he tried to persuade her with grief: "Miss, if you have a green mountain, you will never be short of firewood. If anything happens to you, the Major General and the Marshal...will not rest in peace!"
Finally, it was a hunter from the same village as Zhang Qing who secretly went down the mountain to inquire about the situation in the city. He ran into the two men, took them deep into the mountains, and picked herbs to treat their injuries.
Tang Ying had a high fever since she entered the mountain that day. Firstly, she had multiple wounds on her body, and secondly, she was mentally devastated. She was unconscious due to the fever and spent many days in a daze.
The hunter who took her in thought that this girl was the young lady Zhang Qing married in the city. They secretly felt sorry that although she was beautiful, she had a bad fate and encountered war. She was afraid that she would not survive, so they secretly discussed the funeral arrangements with him.
Zhang Qing's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He kept saying, "She will definitely survive. She is just sad now."
It has to be said that after so many years of practicing martial arts, Tang Ying's physical condition is still very good. After a high fever for several days, she finally woke up completely, and even her wounds were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Half a month later, she was able to walk out of the small house by holding on to the wall and sit on a big rock in the mountains to bask in the sun.
When leaving the city, Zhang Qing's leg bone was injured and he could not continue the journey for a while. Fearing that she would be worried, he asked his hunting uncle, Uncle Wang, to quietly go down the mountain to find out the news.
Uncle Wang went down the mountain and came back in a beaming mood. He shouted from a distance, "The northern barbarians have been driven away. The second prince led his troops to recapture the city and sent people to chase after them. Once you have recovered from your injuries, you can return to the city."
When he got closer, he started talking a lot, pouring out everything he knew and saw since he came down the mountain: " The day after the city was captured, the Second Prince led his troops here, and took it back easily before the Northerners could gain a firm foothold, and even helped the soldiers defending the city to collect their bodies." He tutted his lips, his face turned respectful, and bowed in the direction of Baicheng: "It's a pity that Marshal Tang and his son, as well as General Yu and his son, all died defending the city... I heard that Marshal Tang only left behind a young lady, who was frightened and bedridden. The Second Prince sent people to guard her, and even found the best doctor in the city to treat her."
Zhang Qing looked at Tang Ying in shock - he had been in the Tang family for more than ten years, could he even confuse the legitimate daughter of the Tang family?
Tang Ying's concentration has decreased recently and her thinking has been unable to keep up. In Uncle Wang's long string of words, she only heard that Marshal Tang and his son and General Yu and his son died in the battle to defend the city. Her mind made a buzzing sound and she could not hear anything else. It was like a film reel in front of her eyes, from her father Tang Yao to her brother Tang Jue, and the young man Yu An with his face raised and a silly smile. She opened her mouth, her eyes went dark and she fainted.
There are some things that, if you don't see them with your own eyes, you will always hold on to a fluke mentality. Even though you already know the worst outcome, you still want to hide in illusions and deceive yourself. You cover your eyes and ears and hide in this small wooden house in the mountains to comfort yourself that it's just a dream.
At the moment the truth was revealed, she still wanted to struggle in vain, wanting to question this mountain hunter, asking why he had believed in rumors and cursed people's life and death without ever seeing it with his own eyes.
When she fainted, she had a fever again. She was mumbling nonsense, calling out "Daddy and Big Brother" randomly, and her teeth were chattering. She was sick for a while. Zhang Qing was so scared that he stayed with her all night and had no time to care about the "Miss Tang" down the mountain.
It was not until the first autumn rain fell that Tang Ying was completely recovered. Although her body had not recovered to its former condition and was still weak, she was finally able to return to the city along the mountain road.
Zhang Qing's leg bones had healed and he only limped slightly when he walked. It was obvious that he had been injured.
The two men thanked the hunter and his family, walked down the mountain in silence, and it felt like a lifetime ago when they stepped into White City.
The soldiers guarding the city had been replaced long ago, and no one knew where the second prince had transferred these soldiers from, but they were definitely not familiar faces.
No one knew how the northern barbarians ravaged this important northern city in the two days after they entered the city. Many shops and houses on the street seemed to have been destroyed in the war. The smell of varnish from the newly built houses was still there, and everything had changed.
The Marshal's Mansion had not been greatly modified. It was said that after the northern barbarians invaded the city, the commander-in-chief stationed here, so the Tang family's house was preserved.
Zhang Qing went forward and knocked on the door. The old grey-haired man who opened the door was very polite and asked, "Who are you looking for, young man?" But he looked unfamiliar and was not an old servant of the Tang family.
"Isn't this the residence of Marshal Tang?" Zhang Qing asked in surprise, "My young lady is back home, I wonder where the old man sent her from?"
The old man looked up and looked him up and down. He was wearing a coarse cloth shorts. A few steps away, the woman was tall, thin and pale. She also looked like a poor girl. She was wearing coarse cloth clothes. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is your young lady back home?"
Seeing that the old man didn't believe him, Zhang Qing became anxious, fearing that Tang Ying would be upset, and hurriedly said, "My young lady is the daughter of Marshal Tang. Isn't this the Marshal's residence? Who sent you to guard the gate? Why don't you call the old servants of the Tang family out?"
The old man rolled his eyes and spat at Zhang Qing's feet, cursing, "What nonsense are you talking about in broad daylight? Marshal Tang died in the war, and his only daughter fell ill out of grief. The Second Prince took pity on Miss Tang, who had no one to rely on, and took her back to the capital. The young lady of the Tang family is now in the capital. Are you crazy because you are poor? How dare you come out and pretend to be Miss Tang? I'll beat you to death!"
The old man turned around, pulled out a broom from the door, and hit Zhang Qing with it without any clue.
Zhang Qing was a stubborn man. He was hit hard by the old man several times. Relying on his youth and strength, he grabbed the broom and turned pale with anxiety: "Where on earth did you come from, old man? It's ok that you don't recognize my young lady. My young lady has just returned home after a narrow escape from death, and you dare not let her in!"
The old man probably didn't expect that someone would dare to be so bold. He shouted and several young servants in blue clothes ran out from the door. They were all unfamiliar faces. After hearing what happened, they rushed to beat Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing was hit several times, and he was still shouting at the top of his voice: "Who are you? Where are the old servants of the Tang family? Call them out quickly..."
With help from his friends, the old man cursed even more vigorously: "These swindlers who are so poor that they dare to extort money from the Tang family. They know that all the old servants of the Tang family died to protect the young lady, but they still dare to come to the door. Ni Er, go to the government office and ask the governor to arrest this pair of swindlers and put them in jail, so that they can stop cheating everywhere!"
Tang Ying looked up at the familiar mansion. It used to be the warmest place in her life, but all her relatives had passed away and it was now just a house. After entering, she might be reminded of the past and even more sad, so it was better not to go in.
"Zhang Qing, let's go."
Zhang Qing couldn't believe it: "Miss——"
"let's go."
Tang Ying turned around and left first, and the sound of footsteps was heard behind her. Zhang Qing walked in a hurry, and was so angry that he was about to explode. His clothes were torn. He wanted to go up and fight with this bunch of ignorant servants again, but seeing Tang Ying's calm expression, he didn't dare to say anything more.
The two of them wandered around Baicheng for most of the day, and many familiar places had changed.
Tang Ying dressed as a man since she was young. After she turned fifteen, she followed Tang Yao as a personal soldier, entering and leaving the military camp. Even many soldiers in the camp really thought she was Marshal Tang's personal guard, not a lady from the Tang family.
There are only rough men in the family. There is no rule in raising a daughter. They just do it based on their mood.
Tang Ying had never liked needlework since she was a child. Occasionally, her maid would chase her to sew an ugly purse for her old father, and she would receive a lot of praise from Marshal Tang. If she could perform a set of wooden warehouse tricks with her father and drink a jar of wine together, she would be able to please the old man even more.
Anyway, there is always a silly boy Yu An chasing after her, so she is not worried at all about the choice of son-in-law, Marshal Tang. Therefore, she raises her daughter as she pleases and does not have to worry about her not being able to get married.
Over time, except for Tang Yao's close subordinates and family members and the servants in the house, no outsiders knew Miss Tang's true identity.
Ordinary people in the city knew that there was a young lady in the Tang family, but they had never seen her parading on the streets. They just thought that Miss Tang was a lady from a wealthy family. Even though she was wearing women's clothes and walking around the city casually, no one recognized her.
The two men passed by a house and saw an old and vigorous apricot tree with half a branch sticking out from the top of the wall, which had not been burned in the war.
Tang Ying stood at the foot of the wall, looking up for a long time, and suddenly said softly: "The apricots on this apricot tree are the most delicious, sweet and soft. In previous years, Yu An would always climb over the wall to steal the apricots."
