Chapter Twenty-Two: Xiao Lian

  Xiao Lian carried a lantern and headed towards the Phoenix Pavilion to find Hu Shao. Along the way, her heart was filled with memories of past events. She recalled how she first met Hu Shao, when he was 18 years old and she was only 10. At that time, Hu Shao was a young master who enjoyed hunting in the fields and mountains, while Xiao Lian was just a shepherd girl from a farming family.

  Ten years ago.

  It was a crisp autumn day, with the wind blowing gently and the sky clear. Xiaolian was herding sheep in the valley when a doe suddenly ran up to him, fell down, and began to cry out in distress. Xiaolian looked closely and saw that the doe had an arrow lodged in its body, clearly shot by a hunter. Who could be so heartless as to kill a pregnant doe? The doe's legs were trembling, and it lay on its side, struggling to give birth. A fawn's head emerged, and Xiaolian quickly helped the doe deliver the baby using his experience from delivering lambs. The fawn struggled free from its mother's body, wet and shaky, but managed to stand up. The doe used all its strength and then lost its breath. Xiaolian saw that the fawn was still trying to nurse from its dead mother and tears fell from his eyes like pearls. He held the fawn in his arms and thought, "The doe is dead, what will happen to the fawn? It's just as helpless as I am!" He felt a deep hatred for the person who had killed the doe. Just then, a young man rode up on a sorrel horse, wearing white clothes and carrying a bow and arrow. He looked handsome and powerful, like a god. He dismounted his horse and approached Xiaolian, scolding him, "This is clearly the deer I shot, why are you taking it for yourself?" Xiaolian thought to himself, "I wasn't looking for trouble with you, but you came running out here." He shouted at the young man, "You heartless killer! Can't you see that this was a pregnant doe? You still had the nerve to shoot her. Now the fawn has been born, but it's lost its mother. How can it survive? You're saying it's your deer? You're a ruthless person, I want you to bring the doe back to life!" Xiaolian charged at the young man, kicking and biting him.

  The young man who came was Hu Zhongren. At this time, he also saw clearly that the one on the ground was a newborn fawn, and its fur was still wet. The mother deer on the ground had already died. He endured Xiaolian's scratching and biting, feeling guilty, his tone softened "If I knew it was a pregnant doe, I definitely wouldn't have shot her."

  Look at his attitude, it's quite sincere, and Xiaolian's anger has subsided a bit. But how can we save Xiao Lu's life? Without the mother deer, Xiao Lu will definitely die without milk to drink.

  "Hu Zhongren thought for a moment and said, 'Why don't we let the little deer drink the nanny goat's milk? I'll give you some silver, and you can raise this little deer, okay?'"

  Xiao Lian looked at Xiao Lu's pitiful eyes, and her heart had already softened. But with an empty home and being alone, how could she afford to raise him?

  "I'm all alone, can't even take care of myself, and yet I'm taking care of this little deer!" Xiaolian spoke the truth. Since Grandpa passed away last year, she's been living a solitary life, how could she possibly take care of this little deer?

  "Well," said Hu Zhongren after a moment's thought, "why don't you come to my home and we can raise him together? Are you willing?"

  "I know who you are, I'll go to your home and raise deer with you?" Xiaolian retorted.

  "My name is Hu Zhongren. The house in front of us is my home. He pointed to the Hong Cuishan Villa on the mountain and said, 'Look, the Hong Cuishan Villa up there is our home.'"

  "It turned out to be Hu Shao, I admire you the most." Xiao Lian heard that he was from Lake District and immediately felt at ease. Because Hu Zhongren's name is renowned in Kyoto, spread throughout China, and is an extraordinary young merchant.

  In this way, Xiaolian entered the Hu family. As she had more and more contact with Hu Shao, her admiration for him grew day by day, and she had already secretly developed feelings for him. Now, seeing Hu Shao so heartbroken, she couldn't help but want to suffer on his behalf.

  Xiao Lian walked slowly forward, and from a distance, she heard a elegant sound of the guqin. She knew that Hu Shao was not in Feng Qi Lou, but in You Xuan Ju. You Xuan Ju was located at the southeast corner of Feng Qi Lou, facing south towards the mountain, with bamboo planted all over the mountain slope, and surrounded by water on three sides. The west and back sides had wide and deep waters, and on the left side of You Xuan Ju, there was a one-meter-wide small path that connected the traffic between Feng Qi Lou and You Xuan Ju. Above the roof of You Xuan Ju was the wooden bridge leading from Feng Qi Lou to the mountain top, which was the main path for medicinal herbs to be transported down the mountain.

  Xiao Lian walked along the narrow path less than a meter wide towards Youhuiju, with several waterways flowing beneath her feet from the reeds pond into the deep water on the right side. Under the quiet night, she heard the gentle gurgling of the water flow. On the left side of the water grew many reeds, in the middle were water lilies, which couldn't be seen clearly in the dark night, but during the day, the reeds were emerald green and the water lilies were pure white. It was very beautiful.

  Xiao Lian stood at the entrance of Youhui Residence, which faced east. The lanterns illuminated the three black characters on the doorframe, "Youhui Residence", using Wang Wei's poem as inspiration. On the right side was "Sitting in seclusion playing an ancient zither, a long sigh with no one to understand" and on the left side was "Living deep in the forest, inviting the bright moon for a drink, with guests arriving".

  Xiao Lian listened in a trance, unaware of what tune it was, but felt that the emotions and feelings were entwined, with endless sorrow and grievance, and couldn't help but cry out loud in front of the gate of You Xuan Ju. When the music ended, the lingering sound still echoed, Hu Zhongren opened the door to take a look, only to see Xiao Lian crying uncontrollably, Hu Zhongren was extremely moved, "Xiao Lian, it's so late, you're not resting at Madame Jiuxi's place, why are you crying in front of the gate?"

  Xiao Lian sobbed: "I saw you coming out dispirited earlier, and I couldn't put my mind at ease. Madame Ji has already fallen asleep, and Yingying is by her side, so I came up to take a look at you. I didn't expect you to be so miserable, playing such a mournful tune on the zither."

  Hu Zhongren was deeply moved, "You actually understood?"

  Xiao Lian burst into tears and laughed: "How can I not understand? Although I don't know what this melody is, but it feels lingering and affectionate, with deep emotions, so I couldn't help myself."

  Hu Zhongren sighed and said, "This is a 'Phoenix Seeking Phoenix', I didn't expect that you, Xiaolian, would be a kindred spirit. It's hard to find a kindred spirit throughout the ages, so let me play a tune of 'High Mountain and Flowing Water' for you to celebrate our encounter with a kindred spirit."

  Hu Zhongren previously sang a song called "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix".

  Encountering is fate, longing gradually entwines, yet meeting is difficult. The mountain is high and the road is far, only sharing the same moon a thousand miles apart. Due to unfulfilled desires, the mandarin duck's dream becomes an empty fantasy, so I take your portrait, entrust it to the wild goose, and hastily send it on its way.

  Delighted to open the seal, holding the jade mirror, carefully examining, but seeing only cherry lips red, willow eyebrows black, starry eyes sparkling, feelings deep and endless. How can boundless love be expressed? Longingly gazing east and south, a phoenix seeks its mate.

  Now, he played "High Mountain and Flowing Water", Xiao Lian stood on one side adding incense, frowning and listening intently. She surprisingly also heard the good parts and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: I seem to hear the sound of wind passing over the mountain valley, flowing water flowing over the dangerous shoals, it's truly as if it were right before me.

  Hu Zhongren played with all his heart, and Xiao Lian suddenly hugged Hu Shao's shoulder. "The long night is desolate, but with someone who understands me by my side, I won't be lonely. Hu Shao, I want to be with you!"

  Xiao Lian's straightforward words startled Hu Zhongren, causing him to accidentally snap the string. A look of puzzlement appeared on his calm and collected face: "What are you talking about? I've always thought of you as a child." Hu Zhongren had never paid much attention to this little girl before, but now under the lamplight, she looked like a flower, delicate and lovely, with a shy expression that seemed to understand the emotions between men and women.

  Xiao Lian saw Hu Shao staring at her intently, becoming even more shy and flustered, hastily blowing out the lamp, and tightly embracing Hu Zhongren with both hands.

  She said: "Hú Shǎo, I know you only have Ninth Lady in your heart and don't really like me. I shouldn't be so presumptuous, but since I've been promised to you as a concubine, do you really want me to spend my whole life alone in the spring chamber? If I can't comfort you when you're lonely, how am I supposed to repay your kindness? Tonight, I hope you can give me a reason to follow you and Ninth Lady for a long time."

  Hú Zhōngrén listened to Xiǎo Lián's words, "I can guarantee you won't be wronged, do you have to do it this way?" "But I want a child of my own."

  Hú Zhōngrén also understands Xiǎo Lián, a woman regards her husband as heaven, and her mother...

  Relying on one's children is noble, thinking from a long-term perspective, it seems what Xiaolian said also makes sense.

  Xiao Lian, although not shy, was quite proactive and bold. She knew that Hu Shao had been thinking about Liu Qingqing in his heart, and even had a deep affection for Xiu Lian. However, she really wanted to comfort Hu Shao's sorrowful mood at this moment. So, she leaned her head against Hu Zhongren's chest, gently stroking Hu Shao's body, finally making him lose his rationality, relying solely on instinct, slowly moving down along his soft neck, over his chest and abdomen, only caressing himself with excitement, vaguely hearing Hu Shao's seductive voice, "Baby, call out, beg me, huh?"

  Xiao Lian was so shy that she heard herself make a moaning sound, which seemed to be not her own voice, but the voice of Madame Liu Qingqing who had learned from her that night.

  "Ah, Zhong Ren, I love you, I love you so much! Ah, you're so brave and fierce! You're so powerful! I'm too happy, I want to soar into the sky! Please, be even more fierce, even more fierce——————” Xiaolian shouted loudly, her body writhing wildly, her cries shaking heaven and earth, exciting Zhong Ren's blood vessels, with one thrust, he pierced deep into ***, Xiaolian completed her transformation from a girl to a woman.