Chapter 57: The Future is Promising
A Lian was held in Feng Kui's arms, listening to the man's steady breathing, and imagining their happy future life together. They even had their wedding date picked, but Feng Kui was a little hesitant.
He seemed to have made a great decision: "Alian, actually I heard some rumors outside His Highness's study a few days ago. It seemed that His Highness had some doubts about the identity of your young lady..." The woman in his arms froze.
"...Really?" Although the man's arms were as warm as spring, A Lian only felt a chill rising from the soles of her feet.
"You are mine now, how could I lie to you?" Feng Kui kissed her on the cheek: "Anyway, even if your lady is not the real Miss Tang, you are my wife."
A Lian's heart sank to the bottom. She thought this matter was perfect. Since Tang Ying pretended to be Tang Yao's daughter and never appeared in public, she was eventually exposed.
She trembled and hugged Feng Kui tightly, as if she was holding on to the last piece of driftwood: "Erlang, you really won't lie to me?"
Feng Kui swore solemnly: "If I lied to you, let me be struck by lightning." For a guard like him who was raised in a small mansion, the interests were above everything else. As for being struck by lightning - it was just a joke and should not be taken seriously.
But A-Lian was full of affection, and felt that she had met her true love. She wanted to open her heart to him. Moreover, Tang Ying's identity had been leaked, and she was even more worried. This man was her lifelong destination and support, and there was no need to deceive him. She choked with sobs and said, "Erlang, save me!"
Feng Kui was still afraid that she would defend the fake Miss Tang to death. It would be troublesome if she turned out to be a loyal servant. However, he didn't know that the woman was not trustworthy and she told everything out after being slightly threatened by him.
"...I am indeed Miss Tang's personal maid, but my lady died in the battle in Baicheng, and we had nowhere to go." She cried sincerely: "Erlang, I told you everything, but you promised not to lie to me! I am yours now, you must believe me!"
Feng Kui coaxed her softly, sent her back, and went to the study to report to the second prince in person.
"I heard that Miss Tang was quite skilled in fighting. When she was escorting them out of the city, she was worried about Marshal Tang's safety, so she fought her way back into the city and never came out again..." His voice echoed in the room, and Yuan Lang had a strange expression on his face.
"Did you hear correctly? A-Lian said Miss Tang is quite skilled?"
The person is already dead, and since A Lian has already told Feng Kui the truth, she will no longer hide the affairs of the Tang family from him.
"Alian said that Marshal Tang's wife died during childbirth, so he loved Miss Tang very much and brought her up by his side. When she was little, she was dressed up as a personal soldier and brought into the military camp. Marshal Tang even taught Miss Tang all her martial arts skills. The people of Baicheng thought Miss Tang was not feeling well and was recuperating in the backyard, but they didn't know that Miss Tang had been in the military camp the whole time."
Feng Kui didn't expect that Miss Tang was actually a woman who was as brave as any man, but unfortunately she died in the battle in Baicheng.
Yuan Lang seemed to have solved a major issue that had been bothering him for a long time, and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Feng Kui: “…Your Highness?” Are you possessed?
Although Yuan Lang was puzzled as to why Tang Ying was so skilled in this life and why such a good lady from a noble family became a personal soldier, he was overjoyed to learn that she was still alive: "Feng Kui, did you know that Miss Tang is still alive?"
Feng Kui: "Your Highness, A-Lian said Miss Tang died in the battle, how could she still be alive?"
Yuan Lang: "Actually, you have seen her too."
"Have you seen it?"
"In Fu Chen's house, Zhang Ying cured Teng Yun. She went to Beijing under the pseudonym Zhang Ying. Maybe she heard that I took Miss Tang away from Baicheng, so she came to Beijing to see what happened?"
Feng Kui suddenly realized: "It turned out to be her! When Tengyun saw the young master, he naturally no longer wanted to die!" He thought to himself: Even a horse knows to be loyal to its master. I wonder what expression A Lian would have when she saw her old master.
It was already midnight when A Lian was sent back by Feng Kui.
Tang Ying already knew that she was going to meet Feng Kui at night, but ever since they reached a tacit understanding in Baicheng, they had been acting in accordance with each other's wishes. They both just wanted to get a good marriage and a good home, and as long as they could use the identity of Marshal Tang's only daughter, it would be convenient for both of them.
But now that the Second Prince has requested an imperial decree to grant the marriage, he suddenly becomes suspicious of Tang Ying's identity. However, A-Lian feels that she and Feng Kui are in a perfect relationship, and she is determined not to give up Feng Kui and stand on Tang Ying's side.
As she lay in her bed, she tossed and turned, hesitating whether she should confess to Tang Ying. But before falling asleep, she secretly made up her mind: she was just a little maid, and no matter whether Tang Ying was the daughter of Marshal Tang or not, her identity as a maid would not change. Why should she go down this path to the end?
With Feng Kui as her support, she could still smell the pleasant scent of a man. She fell asleep with joy in her heart, but she suddenly dreamed of her old master.
It was vaguely the dining room of Baicheng. Tang Yao was sitting at the head of the table. Tang Jue walked into the dining room briskly. He might have just finished his morning exercise. The young man was in high spirits. "Where's your sister? Are you staying in bed again?"
"Daddy, go beat my brother! He's saying bad things about me again!" A tall and slender figure strode in from the dining room door with a bright smile, as if even the morning light was filled with joy.
The girl walked up to her, leaned in close and asked her with a smile: "Alian, I heard that you asked someone to impersonate me?"
Even in her dream, A-Lian's head was buzzing. She stammered, "Miss...Miss, I didn't mean it. Miss, please be magnanimous...I thought you were killed in the battle..."
A'lian explained haltingly and felt very guilty in her dream. It was as if when she met Tang Ying's forthright smile, she trembled all over as if she had been sentenced to death.
"I was... I must have been possessed by a ghost!" she muttered to herself in her dream.
"Are you calling me a ghost?" The smiling face approached, and suddenly became bloody, with half of the body broken. It whispered in her ear: "Alian, you have such a cruel heart..."
A Lian sat up suddenly and found that she was covered in cold sweat and her back was wet. There was a dim white light by the window.
She couldn't sleep anymore, so she got up, put on her slippers, and opened the window, only to see a white scene outside. It turned out that a thick layer of snow had fallen while she was sleeping, and the dark world seemed brighter.
"I'm not afraid of you!" she said.
"I'm not afraid of you at all!" She whispered the first sentence, but the second one was firm, as if she was talking to herself, and also to Tang Ying who was in an unknown place. Her face was grim and she said fiercely: "When I was a child, I didn't freeze to death in the snow, and I wasn't taken away by wolves. I was able to enter the Marshal's Mansion alive, so I can live well forever, live well!"
It was also a snowy day. She still remembered that after her father passed away, she heard her stepmother wanted to sell her into the cellar in the middle of the night. She escaped from the village in the thick snow and met Tang Yao who was patrolling the border in the snow. She pretended to be a fool and was taken back to the Marshal's Mansion. She stayed with Tang Ying and became a little maid.
She is called a maid, but in fact she is a playmate.
The sky gradually turned blue, and the sun would come out soon. A Lian looked towards the east with full confidence, feeling that the future was promising.
