Winter was approaching and the days were getting shorter. When Liu Yao woke up, it was still dark outside. He got up from the bed and stared at the Xipa on the pillow with some worry.
After two nights of unremitting efforts, Liu Yao finally succeeded in embroidering a complete mandarin duck. Unfortunately, the shape was weird, more like a wild duck with messy fluff by the river than a mandarin duck.
Liu Yao sighed and couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.
There were manors, shops, and boxes full of betrothal gifts. Yin Yueli had done everything he could to deal with this overly hasty marriage, even far exceeding expectations.
On the other hand, not only can't I be of much help, I can't even embroider a small hikerchief neatly.
"Why are you still in a daze?" Aunt Feng Wen opened the door and came in, putting the hot water in her hand on the shelf, "wash your face quickly, your Aunt Gu is coming over later. The wedding dress you bought earlier doesn't fit well. Let her help you change it."
Because the wedding date was so urgent, the wedding dress and wedding quilt were all bought in a silk and satin shop.
It's okay to be happy, as long as there are no mistakes in the pattern, but Liu Yao was born thin, and the newly bought wedding dress was more than a circle bigger than him, and it couldn't hang at all, so it had to be altered before it could be used.
Aunt Gu was from Quanfu and was good at needlework. If anyone in the nearby village needed help getting married, they would usually go to her.
By the way, needlework is good.
Liu Yao's eyes lit up, "Aunt Gu, if you have some free time recently, after you finish changing the wedding dress, can you also let her teach me simple needlework?"
"I guess not," Feng Wen thought for a moment and said, "A big event happened in their village last night, and people are in panic. It's rare to find time to help you change your wedding dress. I shouldn't have time to teach you needlework."
Aunt Gu lives in Mingxi Village, not far from Jiuqiao Village, and can be reached on foot in a quarter of an hour or two.
"What big thing could happen?" Liu Yao asked doubtfully.
In a small village like theirs, just losing a pig or a sheep can be considered a big deal.
"I don't blame you, Aunt Gu, for being worried. Something big happened," Feng Wen said softly, "Liang Jinlong, the carpenter your parents found for you before, went crazy last night."
Carpenter Liang is dead?
Liu Yao was startled, almost thinking that he heard wrongly.
Just as his aunt said, by the time Liu Yao had breakfast, news about Carpenter Liang's death had spread everywhere.
To be precise, Carpenter Liang did not die of madness directly, but a neighbor found a female body in a dry well at his house and reported it to the Yancheng government, which led to the government officials leading people to Mingxi Village in the middle of the night.
And the female corpse was none other than Liang Carpenter's last wife, who was said to have been washed away by the river, and even her body could not be found.
"It's so scary." My sister Cui Lian'er came over early in the morning and pulled Liu Yao into the house with a pale face. "How could there be such a vicious person in this world? They all said that Carpenter Liang's wife couldn't bear the beatings she made. Come on, he jumped into the river and died, who would have thought that he was strangled to death with a rope by his own hands."
Liu Yao frowned when he heard this.
Cui Lian'er stroked her chest, "What retribution. A neighbor noticed that there was something wrong with the smell in his yard. He climbed over the wall and went in to check. After finding the body, he reported it directly to the Yancheng government, and they brought the yamen officers over to arrest him that night."
"So it was the government officials who killed him. There were rumors that he was crazy..." Liu Yao was a little confused.
"No," Cui Lian'er shook his head, "The government officials only came here to capture the murderer and did not intend to kill him. It was Liang himself who was crazy. He didn't throw the body into the dry well. His wife came to find him, then."
Cui Lian'er paused and felt a little chilly.
"Then, he pushed away several government officials and threw himself at the hatchet in the corner. No one could hold him back and he cut his neck directly."
In fact, there are many more rumors.
For example, the young yamen officer who reached out and tried to hold him was stunned when blood was splashed all over him.
For example, the friend who went with him found a black mark on the back of Carpenter Liang's neck. The mark was slender and small, and seemed to be the palm print of a certain woman.
Cui Lian'er knew that her brother was not very courageous and didn't want to really scare him, so he just twisted the handkerchief and didn't continue talking.
"But it's a good thing," Cui Lian'er comforted after a long silence, "He was always troubled by the gift of silver, but now he doesn't have to worry at all."
"There is also Li Zheng's distant relative, the one named Xing Wei. I heard that he became insane some time ago and almost broke his neck. I guess he won't be able to trouble you. In short, you can just wait for your marriage in peace. There’s no need to think about anything else.”
Liu Yao nodded blankly.
Indeed, the people who could hinder his marriage were gone, but why did he still feel that he had overlooked something.
Strong dizziness hit, making Liu Yao couldn't help but shake his body.
"Brother?" Cui Lian'er was startled and stepped forward to support him.
"It's okay, let's not talk about it anymore," Liu Yao smiled, ignoring the discomfort just now, "The tea house sent me a lot of cakes this morning. There is your favorite glutinous rice cake. It tastes good. You can try it too. Taste it."
"Okay." Cui Lian'er didn't want to continue such a scary topic and nodded quickly.
Not far from the yard, the cold wind blew on my face.
Tian Yu stood silently, his expression gradually becoming serious.
He struggled all night, hesitating whether to tell Liu Yao the truth he had just learned.
Even though this matter was beyond the limit of what he could bear, Tian Yu still couldn't help but watch his friend jump into the fire pit.
But speaking directly...does Liu Yao really believe in himself?
Judging from the two people's interactions yesterday, Liu Yao was obviously very close to that person, and his eyes always followed that person's figure. Whenever the two of them looked at each other, Liu Yao's face would always turn red first.
Tian Yu had only seen such a happy and satisfied expression on the face of his previously married cousin.
Tian Yu clasped his hands together, feeling the cold wind around him, and sighed deeply.
After sending his sister out of the door, Liu Yuanyuan saw Tian Yu's figure in the distance and walked over in confusion.
"It's such a cold weather, why don't you go inside? What are you doing outside?"
Tian Yu lowered his head, barely daring to look directly into Liu Yao's concerned gaze.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Liu Yao worriedly noticed that something was wrong with the other party's condition since yesterday. "You are still encountering some difficulty. Do you mind telling me about it? If I can help..."
"I," Tian Yu gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind, "I went to Li Zheng yesterday and heard some things related to you."
Is it related to yourself?
Liu Yao was confused.
"Yes..." Before Tian Yu could finish his words, someone suddenly came up behind Liu Yao and put his arm around Liu Yao's shoulders.
"What are you talking about?"
Tian Yu's breath was stagnant, and he suddenly forgot everything he said.
"Yueli," Liu Yao looked surprised, "Didn't he say that he was going to the city to do some business and wouldn't be able to come back until evening?"
"It's done." Yin Yueli wore an azure robe today, which matched his fair complexion. He helped Liu Yao straighten out his messy collar.
"Sorry, did I interrupt your conversation?"
Different from yesterday's indifference, the young man's attitude today was gentle and even a little weird. When he turned to look at Tian Yu, his eyes were filled with bright red blood.
But Liu Yao was still leaning against him, with a smile on his lips, as if he didn't notice anything unusual at all.
Tian Yu's breath froze, and his heart suddenly sank to the bottom. It took him a long time to squeeze out a word, "No."
"That's right, Xiao Liu'er is getting married soon. I have a peace talisman here. I specially asked for it from the temple a few days ago. I want to give it to him as a congratulatory gift."
It was a peace charm folded into a triangle, sandwiched in a lotus-colored purse, with two magpies embroidered on it.
Yin Yueli raised his eyes, but his expression didn't change much.
"Thank you, I will wear it often." Liu Yao reached out and took it.
"I'm sorry." Tian Yu whispered, unable to hold on anymore, turned around and left quickly.
Liu Yao looked at his purse and then at Tian Yu's fleeing figure, feeling baffled in his heart.
So this person has been struggling for so long just to give himself a peace talisman?
Since Yin Yueli came back early, after Liu Yao finished changing his wedding clothes, he simply accompanied him to the manor to help take care of things for the wedding.
Of course, it is not accurate to say that he is helping. There are many servants in the manor, and Liu Yao can only give instructions, and someone will help him arrange the rest.
After simply cleaning up the outer room and inner hall, the sky had completely darkened. Liu Yao rested for a while, picked up his things and prepared to go back to his uncle's house.
"Are you leaving?" Yin Yueli sat on the newly made bed and raised her hand to hold him.
The candle flames flickered, casting a layer of warm light into the room. The incense burner in the corner burned quietly, emitting a faint smoke.
Not strong, seems to be sandalwood.
"Well, it's hard to go back any later." The decorated bedroom was full of festive red at first glance. Liu Yao didn't know what he thought of, and his face felt hot for no reason.
"Then stay." Yin Yueli said.
"No," Liu Yao was stunned, shaking his head like a rattle, "It was just in the mountains before, but now we are about to get married, what's the point of staying overnight."
"Well, take a rest early. I'll come see you tomorrow."
Liu Yao broke away from the young man's hands and put on his robe as quickly as possible, fearing that he would become soft-hearted and stay if he delayed for a while longer.
After watching Liu Yao go away for an unknown amount of time, Yin Yueli looked at the ground.
Countless black shadows were swarming around his feet, making strange neighing noises.
"It will be soon," he said with a flat expression and his voice without any warmth, "There's no need to rush."