Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

He immediately turned and walked into the forest, with Aini chasing after him.But he walked so fast that he was out of sight in a short while. "His damned temper!" she stamped angrily. She didn't notice that she was standing so close to the river bank. Her footsteps made the ground loose under her feet, and she couldn't stop sliding down nearly thirty feet, screaming all the way. When she slid to the bottom, Lowe was there, looking down at her with the dagger hidden in his coat. "Who made it?" he asked. Ai Ni gasped in shock. "I slid down," she explained. "I was chasing you and I slid down."

"Oh." He replied dully, putting the sword back into its sheath. He stood there like he didn't know what to do next. "Take me to the river, slave," said Ernie.After a while there was no movement from him, so she had to say, "Please!" He bent down and picked her up and walked towards the river.She wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbing her cheek against his. "Is Dolly pretty?" she asked. He threw her into the freezing river. Ai Ni stood up after waving around for a while, and Lowe walked away again. "You're the worst slave in the world!" she yelled after him. "You have to make it up to me again."

He turned and stared at her. "I won't make it up to you." He growled in a low voice. "Some things in my life are left alone, and...and..." "Ho Dolly," he said, and she was out of the water, her teeth chattering. "Yes, the woman killed—" "Tihu and Shanya." She said. He stopped and stared at her. "Are you mocking me?" he asked. Her eyes beseeched. "Lowie, I never make fun of anyone's misfortune. I'm just asking my husband about his ex-wife. Every woman is interested in another woman in her husband's life, and I've heard Lots of stuff about Dolly—”

"Who told you that?" "That lady." Lowe looked dazed, so she explained again: "I believe she is Seaman's wife, although she is older than him." Lowe had a mocking look on his face. "If I were you, I wouldn't tell Randy that she's older than Seaman." He paused. "Randy will tell you about..." He doesn't seem to be able to name his ex-wife, which confuses Annie.Does he still love her that much? "I've never met Randy, but the lady mentioned her. Lowe, I'm so cold. Shall we walk over there? Go into the sun." Twice today he wanted to go away, but came back both times, and now he was thinking about staying and talking to her.He grabbed Annie's hand.When they were out in the sun, he folded his hands over his chest. "What do you want to know?"

"Is she beautiful? Is it because of her that you swore never to love another woman? Why did she choose Hoadry? Is it because of her that you refused to laugh? Is it possible for me to take her place in your heart?" The question finally stopped, and Lowe stood watching her, mouth slightly open. "How?" she encouraged him. "tell me!" Lowe didn't expect her to ask a bunch of boring, trivial questions.His eyes flickered once. "Is she pretty?" he said. "The moon dare not shine over Murray Castle, for it is afraid to meet... meet..." "Dolly," said Annie thoughtfully. "Then she is prettier than me?"

He couldn't believe she was really that serious.To be honest, he really couldn't remember what his ex-wife looked like. "Much prettier," he said half earnestly. "Her beauty is enough to make..." He wanted to find an appropriate metaphor. "The fiercest war horse tamed." "Oh," Aini sat listlessly on a rock. "Oh." Luo looked at her disdainfully. "She can never wear nice clothes, because it hurts people's eyes. If she rides into the village, she must wear a mask, otherwise passers-by will fall on the road, and diamonds are not as good as—"

Aini's eyes suddenly lit up, and she raised her head. "You're playing tricks on me!" There was hopeful joy in her voice. "What does she look like?" "I don't remember, she was young, brown hair! I guess." Ai Ni knew that the last words were true, he really couldn't remember what Dolly looked like. "How can you forget someone you once loved?" He sat on the grass with his back to her. "I was just a kid and my brother forced me to marry. She...she betrayed us, and Tim and Shanya died trying to save her." She walked up to him and sat down, her clammy body leaning against his warm body. "Did she make you so sad?"

"Sad?" he said. "It's my brother's death that makes me feel sad. Watching them die one by one, thinking that the Huo family took away everything I should have." "Even your wife," she whispered. He turned to look at her.He hadn't really missed his ex-wife for a long time: her looks, her body, or whatever.But now he looked at Ernie and thought: If she was gone, he would remember her.Not just her body, he thought in amazement, he would remember some of the things she had said. He reached out and stroked her cheek. "Are you really as simple as you seem?" He asked softly. "Whether people love you or not, or think you are pretty, is your most important question?"

Aini didn't like that she was so superficial in his eyes. "I'll run the estate accounts, I'll catch thieves, I'll try court cases, I'll—" "Judgment?" Lowe asked, leaning back to watch her. "How can a woman do a fair trial? This is not about dirty floors. This is an important issue." "Give me an example!" Aini said calmly. Lowe didn't want to upset the woman, but he also wanted to teach her a lesson. "A man came to me yesterday with three witnesses and a stamped document. The document proves that the man is the landlord of a piece of land, but the original owner of the land refused to leave. The original owner stamped the document Zhang said that he would repay the mortgage, but his debt was not repaid, but he refused to leave the field. How will you solve this matter?"

"I will listen to the original person's confession before making a judgment. The seal is easy to counterfeit. If he has advanced to have a seal, he will naturally sign it, and he will stamp the document and sign it. I will also find out whether the witnesses are friends of the man. Anyway, the case does not sound so innocent." Lowe looked at her.The seal has indeed been found to be a fake. The man forged it to frame him because he was very angry that his wife had been with the original man's son. "How is it?" Annie said. "I hope you didn't turn that poor farmer off the field."

"I didn't," he said. "I didn't burn people because they ate rats." "You didn't impregnate their daughter either?" she asked teasingly. "No, but the farmer's wife is such a beauty, big—" He gestured with his hands in front of him. "You!" she said, hitting him with her hand. He grabbed her, pretended to be knocked to the ground, then hugged her tightly and kissed her. "I got the sentence right? Didn't I? The document is fake, right?" She lay on top of him, pressing his strong, muscular body underneath. "Your clothes are wet," he said. "Maybe you should take it off and let it dry." "Don't try to be perfunctory, are the documents real or fake?" He looked up to kiss her again, but she turned away. "Really?" she asked. "Fake, it's fake," he said exhaustedly. Ai Ni smiled and started kissing his neck. Lowe closed his eyes.There are very few women in his life who are not afraid of him.The dignified ladies at court were always giving him bad looks, so he told himself he'd rather have country girls.Whenever he frowned and they trembled, the girl laughed at him, yelled at him—and refused to obey. "...then I can help you," she said. "Help with what?" he asked. "Court!" Her tongue played on his collarbone. "Unless I die," he said. She writhed on top of him. "Oh? Do you really want that?" "You are a wicked succubus," he said, kissing her. "How are you going to punish me?" He put his hands behind her head and rolled onto her, his feet between hers. "I'm going to tire you out." "Impossible!" She had just finished speaking, and his mouth was in hers. Footsteps came from behind the woods, but at first the lovers did not hear them. "Biga! I told you it was a bad idea." A man's voice came. "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't find tiger cubs," a woman replied. Ai Ni felt Lowe's body stiffen.He quickly drew his dagger, and leaned over her in a guard posture. Out of the woods came Cooper and a short fat woman.She is holding a little girl in one arm and a basket in the other, with a little boy between them. Ai Ni and Luo Wei looked at each other, not understanding what this meant. "You guys are here!" The fat woman stepped forward. "She told me everything. You must forgive him for being so mean. I am his wife, Biga, and this is our child, Sarah and Joey. I told Cooper that if we were to go with you Come on, I must get to know you first. My father is a knight, no big deal, but he is very respected. I thought Cooper was a lord's son, so I begged my father to let me marry him." She told her The husband glanced over. "Nor have I ever regretted it. Aren't you cold, ma'am? In these wet clothes. Come, let me dry you." Lowe and Aini were surprised and remained silent, and Cooper broke the silence. "It's all right," he said. "Everyone do what she says." The words were harsh, but there was a respect and love in them.They didn't look like a good match, Cooper was tall, handsome, with an angry face; Biga was stocky and, although she had a pretty face, she wasn't pretty.But the smile on her face was genuine. Aini held out her hand hesitantly. She was used to the village women saluting her, but that was when she was wearing silk clothes.Now she is dressed in farm clothes, as if she is the same as them.Biga tidied her clothes and dried her body. "How can brothers fight? I've been telling Cooper that his brothers in the castle will change their minds one day, and I'm right. He's a good man, my dear darling, and he'll do all the work." Son, look at the two of them, they look like twins." Aini turned her head to look at the two brothers standing together, neither talking nor looking at each other. "Is your one as quiet as my one?" Aini didn't know what to do—should I be friends with this woman?In the castle she had almost no one to talk to.But this woman? "If I tied him in one place he'd talk, but not much," she said finally. "Don't give up. If you leave him alone, he'll keep his mouth shut. It helps to make him laugh a lot and tickle him." "Scratch?" Aini asked curiously. "Yeah," Bigger said. "Ribs. They're good guys, and their feelings don't change. Once they love you, they love you forever, unlike other men who love you today and may not love you again until the day after. Well, That's better." She paused. "This morning, people in the village are talking about who is the mysterious person who defeated Cooper. You can't go back to the village." Her face suddenly lit up. "I brought some food and we can eat in this beautiful place." Biga didn't tell Ai Ni that this thing cost her a year's savings.Beneath her happy exterior, she is an ambitious woman - but not for herself, she is for the man she loves. When she met this handsome and ruthless Cooper when she was twelve years old, she was determined to get him at all costs.Her father wanted her to marry well, but she persisted and finally persuaded her father to propose marriage. Cooper married her for her dowry.The first year of their marriage wasn't great, and Cooper had a lot of women out there.But Bijia's love surpassed his lust, and he gradually began to notice her and love her.After the child was born, he found that he already liked family life very much. In six years of marriage, Uncle She has turned from a prodigal son to a successful businessman. He had recognized Ser Lowe the first time he saw him that morning, and a resentment that had lain dormant for so many years flared up again.He returned home a few hours later, and after some hard-pressed confession from Pijia, he told her about the forest.Ashamed of himself for sneaking up on people from behind, he told Bigger about Sir Lowe's suggestion, but said they had to get out of there quickly because he had no face to see Sir Lowe again. Biga thanked God for giving her a glimmer of hope.She used all her skills to break Cooper's insistence, and then she began to plan the second step.She knew that the lordship and his wife were both dressed as civilians, and this was her golden opportunity to work hard on these two people. So she took out the money she usually hid, bought beef, pork, chicken, bread, oranges, cheese, dates, figs, and beer, and put them all in a basket, and set out to find her husband's brothers. With Bijia around, Ai Ni doesn't have to talk too much, and neither do the others, because Bijia can talk as much as a large group of people.At first Ernie didn't like the situation, she could have been alone with Lowe. But after a while Annie began to soften.It's really nice to hear people talk.She hardly had any guests at Murray Castle, Lowe had to open his mouth to speak, and the old lady was often locked behind the door. At the same time, Ai Ni also likes the way Biga adores Cooper.She looked at her possessively like a wife, like a mother, like a lover, and like a female monster trying to suck his soul.I don't know if I look at Lowe in the same way?she thinks. Still a little dazed, the two men didn't know what to say or do, and finally Biga suggested that Lowe teach Cooper how to use a long stick. So the woman sat and ate the cheese, watching the two fight.Lowe knocked Cooper into the water three times, but Cooper also had the blood of the Ou family after all. The fourth time he dodged Lowe's stick, and with one stick Lowe was thrown into the water. Ai Ni immediately ran to her husband.He stood still in the water and seemed not to understand what was going on, Aini couldn't help laughing.So did Biga, and even Cooper smiled.Lowe laughed too after a while. Aini reached out to pull him, but he smiled and pulled her into the water too. "It's not fair—" she cried. "I almost did it all." He stood up, picked her up with both hands and walked to the grass on the shore, and after putting her down, the two sat together.He took off his shirt, and when Ai Ni couldn't help shaking, he pulled her into his arms.Aini knew she had never been happier in her life. "What can I eat?" Lowe asked. "I'm starving." Biga took out all the rich food in the basket, and the four adults and two children began to eat.Most of the time it was Biga who was talking.Gradually, Ai Ni felt that Luo Wei began to relax.He began to ask Cooper about the wool trade, and even asked him how he could increase wool production at the Au family. Biga's youngest daughter, Sarah, was just toddler. She wobbled up to Lowell with a date and looked at him with bright black eyes.Lowe didn't pay attention to children before, but he found that this little girl was very cute. The girl offered him the dates, and Lowe accepted.She seemed to think it was an invitation, so she lay on his lap and climbed up on top of him. Lowe stared in horror at the squishy little thing. "She's never met a stranger," says Biga. "This is Sarah." "Take it away," Lowe said to Ai Ni in a low voice. "Get her away." Aini didn't seem to hear. "Here, Sarah, give this fruit to Uncle Lowe." The little girl took the figs seriously and put them to Lowe's mouth.When he tried to take it, she screamed in protest, as if he had done something terrible.So he opened his mouth and let her stuff the fruit in. Ai Ni pretended to concentrate on talking with Big Jia, but kept asking Sarah to feed Lowe.Finally Sarah got tired of the game and fell asleep against Lowe. The sun was setting, and Ai Ni knew it was time for them to go back.She didn't want this happy time to end, she didn't want to go back to the cold Murray Castle.The two of them were close together, and there was a sleeping little girl on his lap. "This is the best day of my life," Ernie said softly. "I really hope it never ends." Lowe hugged her even tighter.The whole day was wasted, and he would never be so bored again.But he also agreed that the day was... well, kind of enjoyable. When Sarah woke up crying, they knew they had to go back. "Will you come tomorrow?" Ai Ni asked Biga, and she saw tears of gratitude in the woman's eyes.Aini has already figured out what to let Bijia take care of. Bijia can be responsible for supervising the housework of the maids, so Aini can spend more time with her husband. After a while they started back to Murray Castle hand in hand, and the sky was already dark.Lowe looked ahead at the castle. "I really hope we can live a simple life like Biga and Cooper." Ai Ni dreamily said. "How much they love each other! I can see it in Biga's eyes." She looked up at Lowe. "That's how I must see you." Luo Zuo still looked forward thoughtfully.They left too hastily this morning. What if the Huo family pretended to be a business traveler and asked to go in?He has to strengthen the guard. "Did you hear what I was saying?" Annie asked. Maybe he should order that farmers or merchants who come into the city to buy and sell wear headbands, although headbands may be stolen, but-- "Lowell!" Ai Ni stopped, grabbing his hand and stopping him too. "What's up?" "Are you listening to me?" she said. "Exactly," he replied. "Maybe don't use a headband, maybe—" "what did I say?" Lowe looked at her blankly. "What did you say?" She pursed her lips tightly. "I'm telling you I love you." Maybe use a password, change one sentence every day.Perhaps the safest way is to only allow regular people in, no new faces. Lowe was startled as his wife shook off his hand and came up to him.From the way she looked, she must be very angry. "What's the matter?" He has been following her all day, but she is still not satisfied. "What's wrong?" "Oh, you're noticing now," she said. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you and hope I didn't bother you," she said angrily. "Of course, I'm sure a hundred women have said that to you. Ho Dolly probably says it every day!" Lowe began to understand her attitude. It turned out that this was another thing for those women. "I don't remember a single woman telling me she loved me." "Oh," Aini snorted softly, and put her hand back into his arm.They walked in silence for a while. "Do you love me?" she asked. He squeezed her hand. "I've loved you several times, and tonight I'll—" "Not the kind of love, I mean, in your heart, like you love your mother." "My mother died when I was born." "Okay!" Ai Ni said helplessly. "Then let's talk about your brother, will you miss Luther when he dies?" Lowe thought of his strong, powerful brother, and it took him a while to reply, "I think about him every day," he finally said. Ai Ni lowered her voice. "If I die, will you miss me? Well, if I get the plague." He looked down at her.If she dies, his days change back to how they were before.His clothes will be full of lice, his bread will be full of sand, and the Sunday girls will return.She's not going to bug him around, humiliate him in public, or let him waste his time.He frowned, yes, he would miss her. But he didn't want to miss her at all. "Then I won't have to go to the fair," he said, leaving her. Aini stood there as if rooted.In the short time they had been together, he meant a lot to her, but she meant nothing to him.She swore to herself: no matter what, she would never let him find out how sad she was. But when Lowe turned his head, he saw his pretty little wife pouting, with tears in her eyes.He racked his brains and couldn't figure out what was going on with her.Was she afraid of going back to the castle? He walked over and lifted her chin with his fingers, but she turned her head away. "You don't care about me at all," she said. "If I die, you can still find a rich man's daughter and cheat her of the dowry." Lowe shrugged. "Marriage is too much trouble," he said. "My father's energy is equal to a thousand people, and he only married four wives in total." No matter how hard Aini endured, the tears still couldn't slip. "If I die, you will undoubtedly throw my body into the moat. Because you managed to get rid of it!" Lowe looked confused. "If you die, I will..." "How is it?" she asked, raising her wet eyes. "I'll...notice that you're missing." Aini knew that this was already a good answer.She quickly wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him repeatedly. "I knew you cared." Suddenly, the two were astonished to hear applause from all around them.It turned out that they were so focused on arguing that they didn't notice that people started to watch. Lowe was even more embarrassed than Aine.He grabbed her hand and walked towards the castle, but stopped not far from the city wall.Even he couldn't bear to let this beautiful day end. Nearby there was a peddler with a wooden tray attached to his shoulders and a wooden figure attached to a stick.The peddler saw Lowe glancing at him, and ran to show them the funny little figure.When Ai Ni laughed at the little doll, Luo Wei found that he actually took out two precious copper coins to buy the wooden figure. Aini grabbed the doll excitedly.Even if Luo Wei bought her some gems, she would not be so happy.She looked at Lowe lovingly. Lowe looked away.What a frivolity!What a boring, wasteful day, but... He hugged her shoulders with one hand and looked down at her playing with the wooden doll.He felt very peaceful and serene, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.He leaned down and kissed her hair.He had never kissed any woman in all these years except in bed. Aine pressed against him, and Lowe knew it meant he made her happy.And the absurd thing was that her happiness could make him happy too.He sighed softly, hugged her and walked back to the castle.