Chapter 10 The Wedding of Two People

  Ma Yun angrily shouted: "You have a big nerve, daring to openly abduct and sell children!"

  Two old women looked at each other in dismay, not knowing why she was so angry. They trembled with fear and said: "We report to the lady, these people are absolutely not ordinary people who were kidnapped by us. They are all children from poor families who cannot make ends meet and have no choice but to sell their sons and daughters. We know that the governor wants to buy slaves, so we specially selected some honest and kind ones."

  Ma Yun only then discovered that she had made another mistake about the era, and thought she was in a police station. However, looking at those more than ten children also seemed pitiful, the oldest being only twelve or thirteen years old, the youngest only seven or eight years old. She originally only planned to buy three or four maidservants, but now her heart softened, and she ended up buying all of these children. The toothless old women did not dare to ask for a high price, a total of eight girls and four boys, twelve children, each asking for only five hundred copper coins. Ma Yun counted out six thousand coins and sent the toothless old women away, taking these children directly to Liu Xin's study.

  Liu Xin couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the children Ma Yun had brought back: "Wife, this is your taste? These are the servants you've picked out? They all look like half-grown kids to me, can they do any work?"

  Ma Yun said discontentedly: "The tooth lady only brought these children, I saw them pitifully and bought them all, anyway you won't be short of money."

  At this time, a little girl said: "Old master, we can do laundry and cooking, so please keep us. If no one buys us in another month, we will be sold to the brothel and become prostitutes. Old master, have mercy on us and save us."

  Liu Xin carefully examined the little girl, about 12 or 13 years old, who was indeed born with a delicate appearance, but looked a bit weak and pale. He estimated that she didn't have good nutrition usually, then said: "You're quite talkative, what's your name? How old are you this year?"

  "My name is Er Ya, I'm fourteen years old this year."

  "Alright, you all stay here then. Since you know how to do laundry and cook, you can make lunch today." Liu Xin turned to Ma Yun, "Wife, take them downstairs and get them settled first. I reckon there's no firewood, rice, oil, or salt in the house yet. Give them some money to go buy some on the street, and have them make lunch first. You come back later, I have something to talk to you about."

  Ma Yun took those children out for a while and came back, panting and sitting beside Liu Xin without saying a word.

  Liu Xin put down the scroll in his hand and asked strangely: "What? Still angry? Arranged so quickly?"

  Ma Yunbai glared at him and said, "I'm not angry, you should be. You're the Taishou of Hejian, the parent official here. Look at these children, how old are they? They can only sell themselves into slavery. Are you really going to let them become slaves in their own homes?"

  Liu Xin gently stroked Ma Yun's fragrant shoulder, handed her a teacup and said: "Good wife, you've been following me through thick and thin lately. I'll use tea instead of wine to toast you first, calm down for now."

  Ma Yun didn't stand on ceremony either, took over the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, saying: "I had Dian Wei take those kids to buy vegetables on the street."

  Liu Xin had just drunk half of her tea when she heard Ma Yun's words, and imagined a two-meter-tall strong man carrying a vegetable basket and leading a group of children to stroll around the vegetable market. She couldn't help but let out a "plop" sound, spitting out a mouthful of water that splashed onto Ma Yun's face.

  Ma Yun said irritably: "What's so funny about you?" After finishing, she grabbed Liu Xin's long gown as a towel and wiped the tea water from her face.

  "Alright, alright, I won't laugh, I won't laugh." Liu Xin gently wrapped his arms around Ma Yun and said, "Come on, let's talk about the important things. Originally, my intention was to take the box cover from my adoptive father to get some money from Liu Chong, then find a quiet place to buy a piece of land, build a house, and live a stable life. Who knew that due to unexpected circumstances, I didn't get much money, but instead got myself a governorship, and our future lives won't be peaceful anymore."

  Ma Yun wiped her face clean and said: "No matter what you do, I'll follow you anyway."

  Liu Xin said, "Listen to me finish speaking. I was thinking of Changshan County, wanting to find Zhao Yun for help, but now that we have Dian Wei by our side, it's not so urgent anymore. But I still made a mistake, this year is 182 AD, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion will break out in the spring of 184 AD, just two years from now. The leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhang Jue, is from Julu County, Hebei Province, which shouldn't be too far from here. And Hebei Province is also one of the central areas of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. It seems that we only have a year of peaceful days left."

  Liu Xin took a sip of water and continued, "It's just this year, the days are probably going to be unstable. Did you notice Li Cheng and Zhang Jun today? They are the second and third in command of Hejian. For half a year now, Li Cheng has been acting as the governor of Hejian, and today he spoke a lot of flattering words, while Zhang Jun didn't say a word. Also, as the governor, I only have two soldiers guarding the gate, and not even one servant is prepared in this governor's mansion. And I don't believe that the old woman only has these few children to sell. Based on these circumstances, I analyze that Li Cheng is trying to give me a warning shot. Of course, he doesn't dare to openly harm me, an official of higher rank, but he will definitely try to undermine my authority."

  Ma Yun thought for a moment and said, "Old man, your analysis makes sense. Since he wants to give us a warning shot, let's just let him fire one! Besides, I think Li Cheng and Zhang Jun are not very harmonious, we can also take advantage of that."

  "Alright, let's think this through carefully. I don't want to be a puppet in Hejian either. You should also adapt quickly, we're not in the 21st century anymore, but in Eastern Han." Liu Xin nodded and said.

  The two of them sat back down, flipping through the stack of letters Li Cheng had sent over while discussing their next move. They even ate lunch in the study. The meal cooked by these young children wasn't bad, but it couldn't be considered delicious either.

  For the entire afternoon, both of them spent their time in the study room. Neither of them had any experience in officialdom. After discussing for an afternoon, they only came to one conclusion: to take back control of Hejian from Li Cheng's hands, they needed to have their own power. For now, they could only pretend to be friendly with Li Cheng and secretly recruit some talents to use for themselves. As for what kind of talent was needed, since there was the fierce general Dian Wei here, Liu Xin was not a weak scholar either. Both of them thought that they urgently needed several strategists. Liu Xin made up his mind to find an opportunity to talk to Zhang Jun first. After finishing their discussion, Liu Xin ordered dinner to be served early and had a good rest at night, ready to meet Li Cheng, Zhang Jun, and all the officials under him tomorrow.

  After dinner, Liu Xin came to the backyard and started practicing his kung fu. When he finished a round of punches, he found Er Ya standing beside him, but Ma Yun was not watching him as usual. Liu Xin asked curiously: "Where is Madam?"

  "Madam is a bit tired and wants to rest early, so she's going back to her room to bathe. Has master finished his boxing practice? I'll attend to master's bath."

  Liu Xin said to let Ma Yun get used to it early, but she couldn't get used to taking a bath herself. Having a little girl serve her by her side, she waved her hand and said: "You're not needed here, go take care of the lady, I'll just rinse myself."

  Liu Xin returned to the back house, saw that the lights were still on in the room, and quietly walked in. Er Ya, who was sitting in the outer room, saw Liu Xin come in and was about to stand up to pay her respects, but Liu Xin stopped her and quietly walked into the inner room, where she saw Ma Yun sitting with her head bowed on the edge of the bed.

  "Aren't you tired? Why didn't you sleep earlier?" Liu Xin walked over and held her in his arms, asking with concern.

  "I'm not tired, I'm waiting for you. These kids finally had a full meal today and they all seem to be having a great time here." Ma Yun bit her lip and continued, "We've been together for over a month now. I also want to have a child."

  For more than a month, they called each other husband and wife, but in fact, they just hugged and kissed, without any further substantial action. Under the candlelight, Liu Xin saw a flush on Ma Yun's face, and a faint fragrance like orchid and musk wafted over, he knew that Ma Yun was moved.

  Liu Xin didn't respond to her words, but like a magic trick, he suddenly pulled out a small box from somewhere and handed it to Ma Yun: "It's for you."

  "Deliver mine?" Ma Yun took over the box, somewhat puzzled.

  Liu Xin encouraged: "Well, you open and take a look."

  Ma Yun gently opened it, and inside was a pair of gold rings.

  "How is it? Do you like it?" Liu Xin took out a ring, pulled over Ma Yun's left hand, and put it on her ring finger, asking softly.

  "I like it." Ma Yun gently stroked the ring, with tears in her eyes and asked, "When did you buy it, how come I didn't know?"

  Liu Xin picked up another one and put it on her left ring finger, looking at Ma Yun with deep affection: "This is not bought, I made it myself. I used to learn jewelry processing for a while, but it's been a long time since I did it, and there are no suitable tools, so the appearance is a bit ugly, just wear it, and in the future, I will definitely buy you a better one."

  Ma Yun suddenly rushed into Liu Xin's arms, tears streaming down: "No! This is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen."

  Liu Xin gently helped her wipe away tears and asked: "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

  "I didn't cry, I was just too happy." Ma Yun clung tightly to Liu Xin's bosom.

  "My dear, our situation is special, I can't give you a grand wedding. But I promise to never let you down in this life. Let's have a simple wedding with just the two of us, no host, no relatives, no witnesses!" Liu Xin held Ma Yun's hands tightly and said, "I promise to love and cherish you from now on, through good times or bad, rich or poor, healthy or sick, until the end of time."

  Ma Yun was so excited that she couldn't speak for a moment. Five years ago, when Liu Xin saved her, she began to secretly fall in love with this tall and handsome boy; When she discovered that Liu Xin was actually a thief, she was full of disappointment; When she learned that she and Liu Xin had traveled together to the Eastern Han Dynasty, she knew that she absolutely couldn't adapt to this male-dominated society. Marrying another man made her wonder if she had the courage to survive, and being with Liu Xin, who also came from the 21st century, was only a reluctant choice; But when she learned about Liu Xin's past, what he did, especially when Liu Xin pushed her away in front of a fierce tiger, she realized that she really fell in love with him and couldn't help herself. But this bad guy kept saying that he wanted to find Diao Chan and Er Qiao, without knowing whether it was true or false, and without knowing if he had her in his heart. She didn't expect Liu Xin to come up with such a romantic program, happiness always came too quickly, leaving her unable to adapt for a moment.

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