Chapter 11 Night

  Liu Xin looked at Ma Yun who was dazed and asked softly: "What's wrong, wife? Don't you want to?"

  Ma Yun trembled and said: "I'm willing! I swear, I will love you for a lifetime, be your obedient and faithful wife forever! Mmm... Ah...", before she could finish speaking, Liu Xin's lips had already pressed against her red lips, the two passionately kissing each other, everything felt so natural...

  The second daughter-in-law, who was sleeping in the outer room, first heard the old master and mistress talking in the inner room. Their voices were very low, and she couldn't make out what they were saying, but it seemed like the mistress had cried. Then came the sound of the bed creaking, which continued until midnight before gradually subsiding.

  Although Er Ya looked small and thin, it was all due to poor nutrition since childhood. In fact, many girls of her age had already married and given birth. Although she had not experienced anything, she understood what Master and Madam were doing. She felt both ashamed and embarrassed, tossing and turning on the outer bed, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

  Although they had spent a passionate night together, Liu Xin still woke up before dawn, a habit he had cultivated through long-term training. Ma Yun was still lying in his arms like a lazy cat, her face still flushed. Liu Xin tried to gently remove the hand that was propping her up on his body, but accidentally woke her up instead. Ma Yun opened her eyes dazedly and said, "Husband, why don't you sleep for a while longer?" Liu Xin patted her firm buttocks lightly and said, "You keep sleeping, I'll go outside to practice some boxing." Ma Yun murmured in agreement, turned over, and fell asleep again. Liu Xin got out of bed, touched the teeth marks on his left shoulder that Ma Yun had bitten, and thought to himself, this girl is crazy from the very beginning.

  Liu Xin put on her clothes and walked to the outer room, where Er Ya was already dressed and waiting. Liu Xin saw that Er Ya's eyes were red, obviously she hadn't slept well last night, and suddenly understood, it seemed that the rules for serving in the outer room needed to be changed.

  Liu Xin finished his boxing, had breakfast and felt refreshed. Last night Liu Xin had been up three times in a row but still showed no signs of fatigue. He was only holding back because he knew Ma Yun was still recovering from her illness, while Ma Yun fell asleep directly under him and hasn't gotten out of bed yet.

  Liu Xin had been paying attention to the changes in his body since he killed the tiger that day. He found that although he had persisted in practicing boxing and internal strength, his progress in internal strength had been minimal recently. It seemed that this skill was not something that could be achieved overnight. The reason why his strength suddenly increased during the previous period was probably due to his persistence in practicing for ten years, coming to a new world, and replacing the impure air inside his body with pure air, thus bringing out the power he had accumulated over the past decade. In order to increase his strength in the future, he would still need to persist in his training and it was impossible to achieve overnight. Long-term exercise not only maintained a strong physique but also benefited from abundant energy.

  As for the death of that tiger, it's likely that the flying knife was more responsible, because according to Ma Yun's observation, at that time the flying knife had already penetrated deep into the tiger's skull, and it's possible that it had already suffered brain death, which is why it could shatter its internal organs. And yet, in that situation, the tiger was still able to use its tail to sweep itself far away, it seems that the saying "a fallen tiger still has its might" is indeed true, one must have a clear understanding of oneself and absolutely cannot think that one's martial arts skills are that high and strong, at least not for now.

  Outside, the military officer came to report that County Magistrate Li Cheng was leading his subordinates and local elders, gentry, and wealthy families to pay their respects. County Magistrate Li introduced them one by one: there were Longshi Zhang Jun, Gongcao Shi Lin Run, Wu Guan Jian Ma Ping, and others such as Hu Cao Shi, Zou Cao Shi, Ci Cao Shi, Fa Cao Shi, Wei Cao Shi, Zei Cao Shi, Jue Cao Shi, Bing Cao Shi, Jin Cao Shi, Cang Cao Shi, the five departmental directors, Cao Jian, and the chief historian. Liu Xin was originally unfamiliar with the Han Dynasty's official system, and after hearing these official titles, his head began to ache and he thought to himself, "Why are there so many 'Cao' officials? No wonder Cao Cao could divide the world into three and take two." As for those officials and local elders' names, they seemed not to have been mentioned in Mr. Luo Guanzhong's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", probably because they were all mediocre people.

  According to the plan discussed yesterday, Liu Xin didn't say much to them either. He just told Li Cheng that he was new and wasn't familiar with many things yet, so Li Cheng would continue to manage for now, and he would take over after getting familiar with the situation.

  It wasn't easy to get rid of everyone, but Liu Xin finally returned to the backyard, where Ma Yun was already up and sitting in front of a copper mirror, combing her hair. It had been over 40 days since they arrived in Eastern Han, and Ma Yun's short hair had grown out a bit, barely enough to tie into a bun. The copper mirror wasn't very clear, and Liu Xin stood behind her without being noticed until she put her hand on Ma Yun's shoulder, startling her.

  Liu Xin anxiously asked: "How is it? Is it still painful?"

  Ma Yun turned back and said excitedly to Liu Xin: "Husband, you're back. How dare you say that with such great force? What's going on up ahead?"

  Liu Xin gently stroked her shoulders and said, "As we discussed yesterday, I'll pretend to be weak first and send them all away. You take a good rest, and I'll immediately take Dian Wei to Changshan."

  Husband, take me with you.

  Liu Xin shook her head and said, "This time I'm going to ride with Dian Wei, you stay home and rest well. Also, remember to practice the fist method and flying knife I taught you, soon it will be a chaotic world, self-defense skills are still necessary."

  Ma Yun heard that she had to ride a horse and knew she definitely couldn't go. Not to mention that she didn't know how to ride a horse, even if she did, her lower body was still sore. Just getting out of bed earlier required Er Ya's help. She could only instruct Liu Xin to be careful along the way and to return quickly, whether or not they found Zhao Yun. As for Ma Yun's safety, Liu Xin wasn't too worried. The Yellow Turbans hadn't rebelled yet, although Li Cheng was certainly unhappy about his arrival, everyone still maintained a facade of civility, and he didn't dare openly mistreat the prefect's wife.

  Reluctantly bidding farewell to Ma Yun, Liu Xin set off with Dian Wei. Although Changshan County's Zhending County and Hejian County were not far apart, Liu Xin had only recently learned to ride a horse, and the horse did not have stirrups. Fortunately, he was agile and barely managed to keep up with Dian Wei. The two of them dared not delay, inquiring as they went along, until finally finding Zhaojia Village in Zhending County at dusk.

  As soon as he saw the destination in front of him, Liu Xin couldn't help but get excited and wanted to see what the legendary Zhao Yun was like. However, from a distance, he saw a burst of flames rising from the direction of Zhao's village. Liu Xin was shocked and said to Dian Wei: "Evil comes, your horse is fast, you go ahead and take a look first, I'll be right there."

  Dian Wei responded with a loud shout, holding up a pair of large iron pikes and urging his warhorse forward like flying towards Zhaojia Village. Liu Xin's horse also suddenly broke into a gallop, fortunately Liu Xin reacted quickly, tightly grasping the reins, otherwise he would have been thrown off the horse. The two rushed to the front, only to see the village in chaos, villagers busily rushing about, some carrying water, others waving brooms, putting out fires. The villagers suddenly saw Dian Wei's ferocious appearance, were shocked, let out a shout, and scattered in all directions fleeing.

  Liu Xin couldn't help but rush down the horse, blocking the villagers and shouting: "Everyone don't panic, saving the fire is urgent, we are not bad people." After finishing, he snatched a water bucket from a villager's hand and joined the ranks of firefighting. Dian Wei saw the situation and also jumped off the horse. He had great strength and actually hugged a broken water tank by the roadside, rushing to the burning house, pouring all the water over, and the fire suddenly subsided a lot. The number of houses on fire was not many, and the crowd had already rescued for some time, so it didn't take long to extinguish them all.

  Although the fire has been extinguished, the village is already in a state of disarray, with scattered goods and food everywhere, and many households' doors have also been smashed. The villagers who came to their senses cried together.

  Liu Xin was about to find someone to ask, when an elderly villager came over and said: "Thank you both for your help, I am Fan Jing, the village head of this village, and I haven't asked for your honorable surname yet."

  Liu Xin replied, "So it's Fan Lichang. No need to be polite. Seeing injustice on the road and drawing one's sword to help is what should be done. I am Liu Xin, the newly appointed Magistrate of Hejian, and this is my bodyguard Dian Wei. May I ask if this village is Zhaojia Village? What happened in the village just now seemed like a robbery."

  Fan Jing sighed and said, "Alas, this year was supposed to be a bumper harvest, but just a few days after the villagers finished harvesting their crops, a group of bandits came and robbed grain from every household, setting fires everywhere. Fortunately, no one was killed."

  Liu Xin only then remembered that it was now the autumn harvest season, and with agriculture being the main economy, the autumn harvest was a top priority. As a prefect, he should have been paying attention to the harvest in his own county, but he had not done so, which was indeed derelict of duty. However, having arrived in Zhending, he couldn't be bothered with many things and could only wait until he returned to Hejian to deal with it. Thinking of this, Liu Xin asked Fan Jing: "Do you know what these bandits are up to? Has anything like this happened before?"

  Fan Jing shook his head and said: "Your Honor, these bandits are all riding horses, coming and going like the wind. We really don't know who they are. This kind of thing has never happened before."

  Liu Xin was just about to ask about Zhao Yun's situation when he saw a white horse galloping from outside the village, with a young couple riding on it. In an instant, they arrived nearby. The young man on the horse was seven feet tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, red lips and white teeth, and a clear-cut face that showed a heroic spirit, holding a bright silver spear in his hand. He reined in his horse, pointed his long spear at Dian Wei, and shouted loudly: "Where did you come from, bandit? How dare you cause trouble in my Zhao family's village!"

  ！

  Click on the "+" in the top right corner of WeChat, select "Add Friends", search for public account "_17K" and follow us.

  Reply "big prize + your QQ number" to participate in the activity. 10 iPhone 6 and 10,000 QQ members are waiting for you to claim!