Chapter 64: Hu Lijing

  Huli Jing was actually a child with a bitter fate. Her parents died early, and it was her older brother Huli Bing, who is also the father of Hu Zhongren, who raised her to adulthood. Huli Bing was much older than his sister and took great care of her, which made Huli Jing not feel too much pain from losing her parents. However, this good situation did not last long. When Huli Jing was 13 years old, a frightened horse carriage completely changed her fate.

  Brother sacrificed his life to save his sister. At the moment of his last breath, Hu Li entrusted his son and sister to his elder brother-in-law Yang Zhong. However, Hu Zhongren's mother, Hu Lao Furen, also known as Hu Yangshi at that time, was extremely puzzled and couldn't believe it was true. She vented all her resentment on Hu Lijiang, hating the young woman for causing her husband's death. Although she didn't dare to take Hu Lijiang's life due to pressure from Brother Yang Zhong, she treated Hu Lijiang cruelly.

  Huyang forced Hulijiang to move out of the Hujia estate and live in Hongcui Villa, where she lived with servants and labored alongside workers. He also decreed that anyone who took care of Hulijiang would have to leave the Hujia household. As a result, although everyone sympathized with Hulijiang's plight, no one dared to help her. She did all sorts of chores, from gathering herbs to packaging medicine, and was completely unrecognizable as the young mistress of the estate. She kept herself busy and hidden her emotions in public, only allowing herself to cry at her brother's grave on nights when the moon was full. At those moments, Hulijiang wished that she had been the one to die instead of her brother. If her brother were still alive, her sister-in-law would not have treated her so cruelly, and she would not have become the subject of gossip and speculation among the townspeople.

  Her sister-in-law's anger would erupt from time to time, and as long as she was unhappy in her heart, she would come to torment herself. When would such days end? Sometimes, Hu Lijiang really wanted to die, but her brother had sacrificed his life, wasn't it just to let himself live a good life?

  It's another full moon night, Hu Lijiang came to her brother's grave again to pay respects. She also poured out her heart to her brother. Here, no one is willing to talk to herself, but today, a boy who came handed over an olive branch, although she was afraid that her sister-in-law would know and punish the boy, so she refused him, but in her heart, she still felt the warmth of human feelings.

  This boy is Chen Shi. He came to the Hong Cuishan Manor in search of fame, to learn the art of making herbal medicine and business skills. Here, he saw Hu Lijiang, who was so beautiful and diligent, she was exactly the target of his heart's selection for a wife. Today, seeing Hu Yangshi wildly tyrannizing, not only scolding and beating Hu Lijiang, but also throwing away her lunch to feed the dogs, and not allowing anyone to approach her. He had a strong urge to protect Hu Lijiang, but he endured it. Past experiences told him that helping Hu Lijiang when Hu Yangshi was angry would only increase Hu Yangshi's anger, which was also why his master Yang Zhong didn't intervene. The more people intervened, the more Hu Yangshi would cruelly torture Hu Lijiang.

  Chen Shi secretly kept his own meal, waiting for Hu Yang to leave before coming out of hiding and giving his food to Hu Lijiang to eat. At this time, everyone was taking a noon break, while Hu Lijiang was forced to kneel under the scorching sun until everyone finished their break, only then could she get up and go work with everyone else.

  Huli Jing looked at the tall and sturdy boy in front of her, looking at his kind smile, looking at the full bowl of food. She felt infinite gratitude in her heart. This was a good child, he was not afraid of his sister-in-law's tyranny, but also wanted to help himself. But how could she harm him? She had also heard everyone talking about it, this boy had great ambitions and came to learn craftsmanship. He shouldn't be affected by her own troubles and lose the opportunity to learn. So Huli Jing put on a cold face and ignored him. After being rejected, he would leave soon.

  Chen Shi looked at this delicate girl and understood that his coldness was just a pretence. She was only afraid of implicating herself, so she deliberately acted like this. He burst into a bright smile, "Hurry up and eat! Everyone is resting, no one will discover us!"

  Huli Jing was almost bewildered by Chen Shi's radiant smile, softened, but ultimately awakened by the painful lessons she had learned from being helped by good people in the past. She steeled herself and shouted, "Get out! Who wants your fake kindness? You're all bad people who want to harm me, get out, I tell you to get out!"

  Chen Shi saw that Hu Lijiang was unwilling to accept his help, so he pretended to be angry and said, "Hmph, you think I want to take care of you? It's not good for me, I won't take care of you anymore. I'd rather offer this food to the Land God!" After saying that, he put the food and the big bowl on the ground in front of Hu Lijiang and walked away.

  Huli Jing looked around and saw that there was no one nearby, so she quickly picked up the food on the ground and started eating. Chen Shi, who was hiding in a dark place, smiled with satisfaction.

  Huli Jing thought of the events during the day and a pleased smile appeared on her face. She also knew Chen Shi's good intentions, knowing that he had deliberately placed the bowl there. If it weren't for the bowl of rice that Chen Shi had discarded there, she would have definitely not made it through this afternoon. After moving medicinal herbs all afternoon, she was very tired. Now sitting in front of her brother's grave, looking at her blood-stained hands, she silently thanked Chen Shi.

  The moon is high in the sky, with a thin layer of cloud floating on it. The starlight shines for thousands of miles. Hu Lijiang gazes up at the starry sky, thinking about her parents and brother. Are they doing well in heaven? Are they also watching over her? Is this Chen Shi, a god sent by her loved ones to see that she is suffering too much in the mortal world?

  Chen Shi's figure flashed before her, and Hu Lijiang felt ashamed for herself. How could she not forget someone just because of a bowl of rice? She quickly got up and hurried back.

  The tree shadows were uneven, and the road from the cemetery to the Youqing An was shrouded in darkness. Hu Lijiang felt like someone was following her, and she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. Was it her brother or parents who had come out? But people and ghosts are on different paths, and she didn't dare meet them face to face. Thinking this way, her footsteps quickened, and in an instant, she tripped over a protruding tree root and fell to the ground. She simply pretended to be dead and refused to get up.

  A pair of strong arms held her up, the hands were warm, they were a living person's hands. Hu Lijiang had heard that a dead person's hands were icy and numb, she looked at the shadow under the moonlight, standing shoulder to shoulder with her, the shadow was cast clearly on the ground. Oh, Hu Lijiang let out a long sigh of relief. It was a person.

  "Don't be afraid, it's me." A gentle voice sounded in her ear.

  "I brought some fruit for you to eat." He pulled out an apple from his body and stuffed it into Huli Jing's hand, then turned around and walked away without waiting for her reaction.

  Huli Jing knew who it was, Chen Shi. She quickly destroyed the evidence. She swallowed the apple in big mouthfuls, not letting anyone see. So she didn't enter Yun Cui An, she ate up the apple, and then slowly walked back to Yun Cui An.

  Inside the thatched cottage, a single lamp shone like a bean. The silence was empty and deserted. Only Hu Lijiang lived here alone. This was also one of Sister Hu Yang's punishments for her, after finishing her work during the day, she had to recite Buddhist scriptures in front of the Buddha until late at night, repenting her sins, praying for the gods to bless the Hu family to prosper, and blessing her nephew Hu Zhongren to grow up quickly and inherit the family business, and make the Hu family's career flourish.

  Huli Jing knelt in front of the Buddha, devoutly praying. This was something she wanted to do herself. Looking at her lively and lovely nephew growing up, her guilt deepened. Her nephew was still young, and her sister-in-law's anger was understandable. It was true that she had caused them to lose their husband and father. When she had the ability in the future, she would definitely repay her brother's kindness of saving her life, give her sister-in-law a happy old age, and pave the way for her nephew's growth.

  Chen Zhen secretly watched Hu Lijiang, his expression solemn and serious as he prayed under the lamp. The moonlight made him look even more pure. Until Hu Lijiang finished reciting the scriptures and returned to her room to rest, Chen Zhen quietly returned to his own room, still unable to fall asleep, with waves of emotions surging in his heart.

  I am more and more fond of the young lady. However, I am just a commoner, and my family is not on equal footing with the Hu family, so I'm afraid there's no chance for me to marry her. I wonder who will be lucky enough to take her as his wife. I also want to keep away from her, but how can I control this excited emotion? For such a long time, I have been secretly watching her, and I must avoid the surveillance of Hu Yang's spies. If they discover my feelings for the young lady, it will be easy for me to suffer, but what worries me more is...

  Miss Lian was implicated and suffered as well.

  Later, I must be more discreet. The young lady only goes to two places: the cemetery and Qingtui An. Qingtui An is where she lives, but from now on, I won't be able to go there myself. All I can do is hope that she often visits the cemetery. However, the young lady only goes to the cemetery on the 15th of every month or when she's feeling wronged. This way, wanting to meet her while fearing that she'll feel wronged, my heart is in a knot, making it hard for me to fall asleep.

  However, as Lijiang grew up, she became more and more enchanting, and some families didn't mind Hu Yang's cold words and still asked matchmakers to propose. This made Hu Yang even angrier and stricter with Hu Lijiang, who suffered more and more hardships. Seeing Miss being beaten by Hu Yang until her body was covered in bruises, Chen Shi really wished he could suffer for her.

  Hu Lijing, however, remained calm and composed. When the two of them met at the cemetery, she would always comfort Chen Shi with kind words, telling him not to worry, that his sister-in-law was just venting her anger and wouldn't do anything to harm her.

  On the fifteenth, Chen Shi went to the cemetery to pay respects to Hu Lijiang. When the moon was high in the sky and still hadn't seen Hu Lijiang arrive, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He then came to Yincui An to take a look, but found that the door was tightly locked, and couldn't help feeling downcast. It seemed that from now on, there would be no more opportunities to see Miss again.

  With a heavy heart, Chen Shi returned to his residence, but saw someone sitting at the table in the house. It was none other than his own master, Yang Zhong. Chen Shi was startled and stood there, not daring to make a sound.