Xie Yu and Ma Bing, following the signal fireworks, arrived at the scene where Zhang Baozhu was sobbing loudly, surrounded by several helpless constables who were at a loss about how to comfort her and could only stand around watching.
When they approached, all the constables simultaneously sighed in relief, as if seeing a lifeline. “Sir, Miss Ma, please come and take a look!”
Huang Fu had already been tied up and placed by the roadside, lying on his side because an arrow was still stuck in his shoulder.
Xie Yu went over and compared Huang Fu with the portrait, confirming his identity. Then he turned to the weeping Zhang Baozhu and asked, “Zhang Baozhu, is that you, Miss Zhang?”
Zhang Baozhu: “Waaahhh…”
Xie Yu: “…”
She continued crying, venting her recent fear and frustration without even glancing at him.
The several constables felt a subtle sense of balance.
See, even Xie Da Ren arrived, so it’s definitely not our fault!
Xie Yu tried talking to Zhang Baozhu a couple more times, but she acted as if she hadn’t heard him at all. Although her crying gradually quieted down, he felt she was just tired from crying rather than willing to talk to anyone.
Seeing Zhang Baozhu’s face smeared with blood, Xie Yu initially wanted to offer her a handkerchief to wipe her face. But as soon as he extended his hand, he noticed her body stiffen and retreat backward repeatedly.
Xie Yu immediately withdrew his hand, stepped back, and signaled to the other constables to move farther away.
He had encountered similar cases before, where women who had been wronged by men would fear all men for a while afterward. Even if they knew it was irrational, they couldn’t control it, similar to the lingering effects of an illness.
Once bitten by a snake, one fears a coiled rope for ten years.
This was not their fault.
Just after dismounting, Ma Bing saw Xie Yu beckoning her. “You go take care of Miss Zhang.”
“Sure thing!” Ma Bing readily agreed, promptly taking out a simple medicine pouch and slinging it over her shoulder.
Hearing someone else approaching, Zhang Baozhu’s body tensed slightly, but she soon heard a crisp female voice. “Miss Zhang, you’re hurt, right? It must hurt a lot. Let me clean it for you, okay?”
Zhang Baozhu’s rigid posture slowly relaxed. She lifted her red-rimmed eyes and saw the other smiling at her reassuringly. That smile was like a breeze blowing through an autumn day, instantly calming her heart.
Seeing that Zhang Baozhu did not resist, Ma Bing sat down beside her and offered her a water bag. “You’ve been crying for so long. Do you feel a bit better? Are you thirsty? Have some water.”
Zhang Baozhu hadn’t felt thirsty initially, but after Ma Bing mentioned it, she indeed felt dry-mouthed and cautiously took the water bag to drink.
Ma Bing didn’t rush into the topic. “I just heard, you ran away by yourself, right? Wow, that’s really impressive!”
Baozhu sniffled, feeling slightly embarrassed by her praise. “No, no, not really.”
It was good that she started responding. Ma Bing first moistened a clean piece of gauze with clean water. “It’s true, everyone admires you. Your face has some dirt and small stones. I need to clean them first. It might hurt a little, but I think you’re so brave, you won’t be afraid, right?”
Zhang Baozhu vaguely felt like she had turned into a little child again. Once, she had accidentally scraped her hand while playing, and her father had comforted her the same way while applying medicine.
“Okay,” she murmured.
Seeing Ma Bing successfully start cleaning the wound, Xie Yu, from a distance, breathed a sigh of relief.
Indeed, it was necessary to have a woman handle this.
“Sir, Huang Fu is still bleeding. Should we ask Miss Ma to handle it?” A constable came to ask.
“Is it urgent?” Xie Yu didn’t even turn his head.
“He won’t die for now,” the constable replied.
“Leave him alone,” Xie Yu said decisively. “And don’t bother Miss Ma. You first take the brothers to search that house over there, preserve all the evidence, and check carefully whether this was his first offense.”
The constables had long looked down on Huang Fu. They had only come to ask out of duty. Seeing that Xie Yu had given a clear order, they were happy to have an excuse to relax and immediately went off to carry out the task.
As they passed Huang Fu, someone unknowingly kicked him. “Hmph!”
These scoundrels ruined the reputation of decent men!
The night outside the city was a bit cold. Zhang Baozhu had run out in a sweat, her clothes soaked through. The evening breeze made her shiver involuntarily.
Seeing this, Ma Bing directly took off her outer garment and draped it over her. “Don’t catch a chill.”
Firstly, she had just gone through a tribulation, and after suddenly relaxing, she might easily fall seriously ill. Catching a chill would make things worse.
Secondly, people are often harsh toward women. If she returned in such a disheveled state and some gossips saw her, who knows what rumors might spread!
“No, no, no, that won’t do!” Zhang Baozhu hurriedly declined, but she couldn’t overpower Ma Bing.
Ma Bing quickly grabbed her arms and slipped them into the sleeves, then fastened the garment tightly. “I practice martial arts, so I have a strong body! I used to take snow baths in winter. This breeze is nothing!”
Baozhu was distracted by her words. “Snow bath? Can you really bathe in snow?”
“Of course,” Ma Bing took the opportunity to explain. “Have you been to the northwest? There’s not much rain there, and the winter winds and snowstorms are extremely heavy, covering the sky and earth…”
Soon, Zhang Baozhu was listening intently, even forgetting her lingering fear.
Meanwhile, after Xie Yu had just finished assigning tasks, he turned around and saw Ma Bing, wearing only her undergarment, gesturing animatedly while telling Zhang Baozhu stories. The latter, wearing Ma Bing’s clothes, was listening with rapt attention. If it weren’t for her eyes swollen into two narrow slits, who would think she had just gone through a disaster?
Ma Bing was in the middle of telling a story when she suddenly felt a strong gust of wind coming from behind. Instinctively, she countered with a hand claw.
“Hmm?” The feeling was soft, it was a light blue cloak embroidered with patterns of pine and cypress.
It seemed… it had been on Xie Yu not long ago.
Looking up, Xie Yu had already walked away to continue assigning tasks.
Ma Bing was still confused when Zhang Baozhu whispered, “I think that official wanted you to wear it.”
Ma Bing was startled, looked at Xie Yu again, and finally looked down at the cloak without saying anything.
The cloak was of excellent quality, smooth to the touch, and glistened like water under the dim moonlight.
People in those times loved to use fragrances, and Ma Bing had smelled the faint, crisp scent of pine and cypress from Xie Yu after snowfall more than once.
At this moment, that fragrance was in her hands, complementing the pine and cypress patterns on the cloak.
Dawn was approaching, and the residual warmth on the cloak was quickly taken away by the cool wind.
Soon, it was imbued with another person’s body heat.
Later, after Ma Bing had comforted Zhang Baozhu, Xie Yu gave the order to set off.
When the stone monument with the words “Kaifeng Government” carved on it appeared in the distance, the sun had already risen high.
The desolation and intensity of the suburban outskirts were left behind by the group, growing more distant. Ahead of them awaited the bustling and lively scenes of a new day.
Zhang Baozhu couldn’t ride a horse and couldn’t accept help from men temporarily, so Ma Bing carried her on the same horse. At this moment, she leaned slightly against Ma Bing, looking at the bustling ancient city ahead, suddenly feeling as if she had entered a different world.
In just a few days, in just a few dozen miles, she felt as if she were in a dream.
A nightmare that was unbearable.
“All cried out, now it’s over!” Ma Bing patted her hand from behind. “After hardship comes good fortune. You’ll be fine in the future.”
Zhang Baozhu smiled gratefully at her.
Ma Bing took out a dark plum coated with white sugar from her waist pouch. “You haven’t slept all night. Are you feeling nauseous and hungry?”
Zhang Baozhu hesitated for a moment before picking it up and putting it in her mouth. The strong mint flavor mixed with the sour and sweet plum taste instantly filled her mouth.
So refreshing!
Indeed, the stuffiness and nausea in her chest were significantly reduced.
Seeing that she liked it, Ma Bing also ate one herself and gave the rest to her. “They contain some medicinal ingredients that can stop vomiting and calm the nerves during summer.”
Zhang Baozhu thanked her again, looked up, and asked softly, “Ma’am, I wonder how worried my parents are?”
Her parents were getting old, she hoped nothing had happened to them.
“Uh,” Ma Bing hesitated for a moment, thinking it was impossible to hide the truth, so she tried to be as gentle as possible. “There’s no serious problem, but due to a series of misunderstandings, your family had a conflict with the Li family. Your parents are fine, but your little brother was beaten by Li Mantian. But don’t worry, it’s not serious. He’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”
Zhang Baozhu was both anxious and angry, cursing, “I knew that scoundrel was no good!”
She was referring to Li Mantian.
In the past, she would never have spoken so bluntly.
But after experiencing life and death, she suddenly saw many things clearly, as if she had undergone a transformation and become completely renewed.
Zhang Baozhu bit her dry, cracked lips and hesitantly asked, “Is he also very worried?”
After all, she had willingly married him and wanted to spend her life with him.
Ah, this…
Ma Bing remembered something and, instead of answering, asked, “Do you still want to go back to the Li family?”
Zhang Baozhu hesitated for a moment, her mind flashing through the past few years with Li Er, the sweetness and bitterness intertwined. It was hard to let go, but eventually, she slowly and firmly shook her head.
It was breakfast time, and many common people were sitting in the street-side shops, most of them with their families.
Looking at those couples, young and old, affectionate or just going through the motions, Zhang Baozhu slowly said:
“Before, I didn’t understand. I always thought that once married, I should stay with him forever. But now I suddenly see things differently. Since the Li family doesn’t like me, why should I insist on staying? My parents raised me with great difficulty. It’s not for me to willingly suffer and be mistreated.”
Perhaps Li Er did love her in the beginning, but it was definitely not as much as she loved him. And over the years, how much of that affection remained, even Li Er himself might not know…
If a man truly loves you, he will never turn a blind eye to the grievances you bear.
The details are the most touching. Just like the official earlier, who, upon noticing that Ma Bing had no outer garment, silently threw over his cloak without a word.
But reflecting on her years of marriage to Li Er, had he ever cared whether she was well-fed or warmly clothed…
Perhaps each of these might seem like small matters, but isn’t daily life for ordinary people made up of such small things?
Accumulated over time, these small matters become significant.
Zhang Baozhu’s eyes gradually became resolute. She paused and added, “Moreover, if it weren’t for my younger brother’s incident, I might still tolerate things a bit more. But… Li Mantian is his younger brother. If he had even a bit of genuine feelings for me, he would never have allowed Li Mantian to go so far!”
She knew Li Mantian well. Although Ma Bing had spoken vaguely, since Li Mantian had resorted to violence, it was certainly not just a minor injury.
“They assaulted my parents and family. If I still remain stubbornly attached, wouldn’t that be unfilial?” Zhang Baozhu said.
Ma Bing sighed in relief, “That’s good then.”
Zhang Baozhu noticed the implication in her words. “Is there something else?”
“Uh,” Ma Bing awkwardly pinched her brow. “Actually, early yesterday morning, someone from the Li family came to pay the medical fees for your brother’s injury. Before leaving, they also casually asked about the matter of dividing the family property… Oh, and Li Mantian is still in jail now.”
At first, Zhang Baozhu didn’t understand how this related to her previous question, but after a while, she slowly realized the implication, and her heart sank to the bottom of her bones.
Haha, so that’s how it is, so that’s how it is!
Compared to his wife whose life was uncertain, Li Er was more concerned about his career prospects!
It made sense too. If his wife was gone, he could remarry, maybe even gain another dowry. But if his career was ruined, everything would be lost.
Although the verdict hadn’t been decided yet, Li Mantian’s criminal record was already certain. If Li Er didn’t want to be implicated, the best and most effective way was to separate the family immediately!
Despite Li Mantian’s many faults, this time he had acted for Li Er’s sake. Who would have thought that once trouble arose, he would hastily try to distance himself, disregarding their brotherly bond!
If he could be so heartless toward his own flesh and blood, how could he be expected to care for a wife with no blood relation?
Ma Bing kept a close eye on Zhang Baozhu, fearing she couldn’t bear it.
She saw the girl’s expression rapidly changing, first bewildered, then shocked, then sorrowful and despairing, and finally she laughed bitterly.
The nearby Xie Yu and others had expected Zhang Baozhu to cry or make a scene, but they never imagined she could laugh.
“Miss Zhang?” Ma Bing, holding the reins with her right hand and subtly reaching for the needle pouch at her waist with her left, prepared to administer a calming needle if the situation worsened.
However, after laughing for a while, Zhang Baozhu gradually calmed down.
She steadied herself, turned to Ma Bing, and asked, “Sister, how hard is it to go to the government office to dissolve a marriage?”
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