Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Ai Ni sewed the last stitch on her embroidery cloth, and then bit the thread.It took her only one week to complete a dragon-shaped pillowcase.She keeps her head down all day, because keeping her hands busy keeps her from thinking too much. She has been a prisoner in Huo's house for five weeks.When she recovered, they gave her a sunny guest room and provided her with all the necessities for embroidery.Dolly occasionally came to work with her. Apart from Dolly, Ernie saw only the servants who cleaned the house, and they were ordered not to speak to her.In the first few days, she paced the room desperately, and didn't rest until she couldn't walk anymore.Later, she tried her best to be a female celebrity again, trying to forget the news Dolly brought every night.

The Huo family continued to closely monitor Lowe's movements.They saw Lowe training people every day, hunting with his brother on horseback, and chasing girls in the countryside. Derry issued another ultimatum to Lowe, saying that Ai Ni fell in love with his brother.Lowe's only answer was: Don't forget to invite him to the wedding. Aini stabbed down hard with a needle, and her thumb was poked, tears welled up quickly.Damn beast!she thinks.If she can go out one day, she will never see these dirty and hateful Ou family members again.She wanted them all, including that half-woman Thrall, to fall into their own stinking moat and drown.

Dolly and Aine had known each other so well, almost to the point of friendship, for some weeks.On the sixth week, Dolly came into the room wrapped up, with a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?" Annie asked. "I don't know. Dre is very angry. He wants to force Lowe to fight." Dolly sat down heavily. "I'm not very clear, but it seems that he wants to fight Lowe one-on-one, and whoever wins will own the castle." Dolly buried her head in her hands. "Lowe is much younger and stronger than Dre, and Dre must die." Annie put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand your feelings. I once thought I loved my husband."

There was a commotion to their right. "What's that?" Dolly raised her head and asked. "The servant is cleaning the toilet." "I didn't know anyone was here." "I forgot myself, they all come and go quietly," said Aine. There was another noise. Aini walked outside the toilet. "Get out of here." She ordered a hunchbacked old man who had been in charge of cleaning for the past three days. "But I haven't done it yet, ma'am," he protested softly. "Go away!" Aine said again.She stood watching the old man walk out of the room with a lame leg.

When they were alone again, Ai Ni came to Dolly. "What did Lowe say about the challenge?" "I don't think Dre has mentioned it to him yet, and Dre isn't sure he can win. Oh, Ernie, this mustn't be allowed to happen." "Then let me go," said Ai Ni. "Help me get away. Dre won't be so angry when I'm gone." "I don't know." Dolly rubbed her hands nervously. "I must be faithful to my husband, and I cannot help you escape. He is already very unhappy when I come to see you every day. No," she said firmly. "No, I will humiliate him if I betray him."

Betrayal, Aini thought.The history of the Ohio family is a history of betrayal. Dolly stood up suddenly, and hurried out of the room, as if afraid that if she stayed a moment longer she might change her mind. The next day, Aini was very nervous and jumped up when she heard any sound.The lock of the room was unlocked, and she looked up, but it was only the cleaning old man.She bowed her head in disappointment to do his embroidery. "Take the plate away and don't do it again," she said angrily. "Then where are you telling me to go?" It was a very familiar voice, and Aini couldn't help shivering down her spine.She raised her head slowly, and the person standing in front of the door was Luo Wei.He wore a blindfold pushed up on his forehead, a cloth bag on his back, and cloth wrapped around his legs, making him appear to be limping.

He smiled at her, as if expecting her hugs and kisses. Instead she grabbed the empty glass from the breakfast tray and threw it at his head.He flashed and the glass shattered against the door. "You bastard!" she yelled. "Shameless beast! I don't want to see you again!" She picked up one thing after another and threw it at him. "You let me mold and rot here! You don't want me anymore, you never wanted me! You didn't tell me that Shir was a girl! You went hunting with Ximan on horseback, and chased girls in the village, And here I suffer! You—" "That's Cooper," Lowe said.

Aini frantically dropped the plates and cups and started tearing off the sheets, but the strips just floated at his feet. "You Ou family are all bad embryos, broken to the bone. I almost died when you were having fun, but you didn't care. I almost lost my child, and you didn't care, you—" "It's Cooper hunting on horseback, and I'm here," Lowe said again. Aini kept throwing pillows. "You will just put the blame on others, this poor, innocent and upright Huo family. If someone cuts off his wife's hair, Huo will never stand aside, he will—" she Suddenly stopped, there was nothing to lose in the room. "Here? You've been here all this time?" There was doubt in her voice.

"I have been looking for you here for three weeks, and the room you live in is highly classified." Should Ai Ni believe him? "How could you not be recognized? The Huo family can recognize you at a glance." "I'm afraid their eyes aren't as good as they thought. Their spies saw Cooper hunting, not me. I'm here painting the walls and sweeping the floors—seeking information." Annie began to believe it. "Can you clean?" she said. "Who are you trying to fool? You don't even know which end to use with the broom!" "If I had one in my hand right now, I'd know which end to spank your ass with."

This is real.Oh god, it's true, he's been looking for her.Aine felt her knees go weak, she sat down on the bed, buried her head in her hands and began to cry. Lowe dared not touch her, he stood among the clutter and looked at her.He never expected to see her again. He was stung by nettles the day she disappeared, but he thought his wife would prepare warm water for him.He walked into the sunroom and found it full of weeping women.Biga told him that Aini was taken away by the Huo family, and Hodry sent someone to send a message saying that if he wanted to redeem Aini, he had to hand over Murray Castle.

Lowe rushed into their bedroom without saying a word, and then all he could remember was being pinned to the ground by Seaman and Cooper.There was chaos in the room.He no longer remembers how he chopped off all the wood and iron furniture with an axe, and tore all the clothes.Seaman and Cooper broke through the door before rushing in and grabbing him before he cut himself. Lowe became very calm after regaining his senses, so calm that Seaman became angry. "We're going to attack," Seaman said. "Now that we have money, we can drive the Huo family out." Lowe looked at Seaman, imagining his younger brother being placed in the coffin - just as he had looked at the two older brothers.Lowe knew that he could not act rashly. To conquer a place as vast as Huo's house, he had to plan carefully. He worked and drilled all day until he could no longer swing his sword, and then fell into a heavy sleep. A few days later, when a Huo family knight delivered a wooden box, Lowe was directing his men to put the weapons in the carriage.He chopped off the iron bolt with a knife, opened the cloth bag, and saw Aini's hair inside.He managed to keep his composure, but grabbing Agnes's satin-soft hair, he started running up the tower. Seaman catches up to him. "where are you going?" "It's between me and Hodry," Lowe said. "I'm going to kill him." He gritted his teeth. "He hurt her, and I want him to pay." "Can you think it through?" Seaman pleaded. "As soon as you enter the gate of the Huo family, your whole body will be filled with arrows. What will your wife do then? Come on, come and prepare for the battle with us. We will beat the Huo family to pieces." "Frozen?" Lowe snorted. "Is it the same as before? At that time we had five brothers, and the Huo family defeated us. How can we win now?" "Do you think you can beat them all by yourself?" Lowe didn't answer.He went into the meditation room and locked the door, where he remained for twenty-four hours.When he came out again, he already knew what to do.At the last market, he and Ai Ni dressed up as farmers and women, so that they could easily enter and exit Murray Castle.He had never noticed these rough-dressed people before, and it wasn't until he became one of them himself that he discovered their freedom.On the contrary, an armed person will be questioned ten miles away, let alone pass through the city gate. Lowe called his two brothers into the contemplation room, and for the first time saw Cooper as family.It's all because of Ani, he thought, who gave him this precious gift: another brother.Lowe told them that he was going to sneak into the Huo family castle disguised as a farmer. Seaman's protest made several pigeons fly wildly.He yelled, yelled, even threatened and lured him, but he couldn't shake Lowe. Cooper, who had been silent all this time, spoke at last. "You need a good makeover. You are too tall to be recognized easily. Bijia will dress you up so that even Mrs. Aini can't recognize you." So Lowe, Biga, and Cooper were busy making preparations that day, and finally transformed into a lonely, hunchbacked and lame old man.Seaman was too angry to help, but Lowe begged him to help.Lowe knew that Huo's spies were watching his movements at any time. He wanted Seaman to make them think that Lowe was still in Murray Castle, and he wanted them to think that Cooper was Lowe. Then Lowe went to Huo's house alone.When he and Seaman parted in the forest, Seaman held Lowe's hands tightly.This was a move that would never have happened before. "Bring her back," Seaman said softly. "And... I don't want to lose another brother." "I'll find her," he cast a last look at Seaman. "Take good care of Sal." Seaman nodded, and Lowe left. Lowe struggled with a drag on one foot, and his hunched back was growing sore.The people of Huo's family always kicked and beat them when instructing him to do things. He secretly remembered their faces and waited for them to avenge them when they met on the battlefield. He does everything in the castle.Mopping horse manure, painting walls, and cleaning toilets, he did everything possible to get close to those who love to spread the news.He ate whatever he stole, and the Huo family had plenty of food, and they never cared about how much food was missing.Sometimes he slept in the stable, and sometimes he slept in the straw pile by the roadside. In the third week, just when he was about to give up hope, someone kicked him in the lower back and knocked him to the ground. "Come with me, old man," he said. Lowe got up and followed the man up the stairs, thinking of his death.The man threw a broom to Lowe. "Go in and clean up." He said as he opened a heavy iron lock. Here Luo Wei stood and blinked his eyes for a long time, because in front of him was Ai Ni, whom he had been looking for for a long time.He couldn't move, just stood there staring at her. She lifts her eyes. "Hey, hurry up," she said. "You have something else to do but stare at the prisoner!" He worked, still listening attentively.When he heard that it was a woman, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.Then he heard Ernie calling her Dolly.This Taoli is his ex-wife? He left the toilet and started cleaning the room, neither of the women paying attention to him.He looked at the woman named Dolly, but couldn't be sure.Their marriage was short and long gone, not to mention that Dolly was not a wife that attracted his attention very much. He listened to two women talking about his news, how he was drinking, how he was having fun, and how his wife's kidnapping seemed to have nothing to do with him.When he found out that Ai Ni believed everything, he couldn't help being angry too.Don't women understand what trust and loyalty are?He gave up other women for her, gave her food, clothes, and even ran to save him. Why did she doubt him so easily?But when he heard that Annie was pregnant with his child, he couldn't help smiling. In the next few days, he tried all kinds of methods: bribing the guards, opening the joints, so he came to Aini's room for three consecutive days to be responsible for cleaning.Only now did he reveal his identity to her. "What are you doing outside the castle?" he asked, frowning. "I ordered you not to leave the city." He saw that the little cloth cover on her head covered her very short blonde hair.If he caught Hodry, he thought, he would have to kill him badly. "I'm going to pick herbs for nettle wounds, and Biga said you rolled up there." She sniffed loudly. "Nettles!" he said in a low voice. "Is it all because you're looking for herbs for nettles?" Ai Ni gradually began to understand that what she heard was from the Ou family deliberately misleading the Huo family, and that he really came to find her.She jumped up from the bed and put her arms around his neck, covering his with her lips. He hugged her so tightly that she could barely breathe. "Ani?" She caressed his cheek as tears rolled down her face. "You haven't forgotten me!" "Never," he said, and his expression changed. "There is no moon tonight, I'll come to you, let's go together." "How to go?" She looked back at his face, which, despite all the hard work he had done for three weeks, was— "Are you listening?" "Oh, with all my attention," she said, twisting her thighs around him. "Be good, listen to me. First, don't trust Huo Taoli." "But she helped me a lot, she saved my life. I had a high fever and she—" "Swear to me," Lowe said eagerly. "I swear you won't trust him and tell her I'm here. She betrayed my family before, and if I let her get her way this time, I'll die. I can't beat the enemy like this. Yes I swear!" "Okay," Aine said feebly. "I swear." He put his hand on her and cursed. "I have to go now, I'll come to you tonight." He smiled. "By the way, clean up this room. I've started to like cleaning." After he kissed her hard and violently, he left. Aini dreamily picked up the things on the ground.He wants me too!She thought, he didn't abandon me! As the sun started to set, Ernie started to rule out romantic thoughts and think about the whole thing practically, and also started to get scared.What if he fails?Hodry would kill him for sure.As she thought, the fear grew deeper and deeper into her heart.She took off the silk dress that Dolly had put on her, and put on her old peasant dress, and sat on the bed and so on.She didn't touch dinner, just waited frantically and quietly for Lowe. Near midnight, the door opened very slowly, and Aine stood up. It was Dolly who entered the room, her eyes searching the bed before she saw Ernie standing. "I thought you were asleep." "What's going on?" Annie asked. "I don't know. Derry is angry, I heard..." She was very reluctant to tell Aini what she heard.Dre was very reasonable in other respects, but as soon as the Au family was mentioned, his mind completely lost control.Today she heard that Derry was going to kill Ai Ni and send the body back to Lowe. "You must come with me," said Dolly. "I'm going to hide you." "No," said Aine. "I'm going to stay here and wait—" "Waiting for someone?" Dolly asked. "Are you waiting for someone?" "There's no one," Aini said hastily. "How can anyone know I'm here, is it?" She closed her mouth.She couldn't tell Dolly that Lowe was here, Dolly would tell Dre.But if she left, how would Lowe find her? "I just want to stay here for one more night. It's very comfortable here. I don't want to be locked in a cold room again." "Now is not the time to focus on enjoyment. If you still want to save yourself and your child, follow me now." Aini knew she had no choice.She trudged along with Dolly down the stairs, through the cells, to one of the huge towers.They descended steep stairs into a dark room filled with piles of grain.The only openings for ventilation inside were small square windows several feet high. "You don't want me to stay here?" Ernie whispered. "It's the only place I can find that's unguarded. The corn isn't needed until spring, so no one's going to be here at the moment. I've put a few blankets in it, and there's a fur pit in the corner." "Who will clean it?" Ai Ni asked. "That old man who used to go to my room seemed stupid enough." "Not this time. I'll come back tomorrow night. I can't trust anyone but myself." She was worried that if Derry found out that she was missing, a reward would be announced, and everyone would hand her over by then. "Sorry, I know this place is scary, but it's the only safe place. I'll be back tomorrow." After Dolly left, Ernie stumbled to find two blankets.She tried to smooth out the undulating bales, then covered them with two blankets, and finally lay down on the hard grain pile. She began to cry involuntarily.Out there her dear Lowe was risking his life to save her, and she could only hope he wouldn't do something stupid when he found out she was missing.But even if he stayed on, he couldn't find her.Only Dolly knew about this place. Dolly didn't come the next day.Aini had nothing to eat and no water to drink all day.As the sky gradually darkened, she lost all hope.As for Dolly, Lowe was right: she couldn't be trusted. But in the middle of the next night, Dolly came quietly. "Ani?" she called softly. Aini was too weak to answer. Dolly groped for the grain bag, looking slowly.When she touched Aini, she exclaimed. "I've brought you food and blankets." She lifted her skirts and began to untie the bag.She handed the water bottle to Aini, and Aini drank greedily.Then she brought out the cold bread and cheese and beef. "I couldn't come yesterday. Derry suspected that I had something to do with your disappearance. He ordered everyone to watch each other. I'm afraid even my maid started watching me. I pretended to be sick and asked them to bring food to my room, so that to get you something to eat." "Do you want me to believe that you left me your own rations?" Aine asked, stuffing her mouth full of food. The room was very dark, Ai Ni couldn't see Dolly's expression, but Dolly froze for a moment. "What happened?" she said. "What's the matter?" "I don't know what you're talking about. It's just that I've been here in the rain, cold, thirsty, and hungry, and no one has come to see me." "But it saved your life, too," Dolly replied. "I'm here to help you." "Adventure? What kind of risk? Is it your lie?" Aini wished she hadn't said it before she finished speaking. "What lie? Annie? What happened? What did you hear? How did you hear what?" "Nothing," said Ernie. "I'm locked in a secret room, there's no way I can hear anything." Dolly walked away from Ai Ni, she took a deep breath and looked at Ai Ni. "I decided to tell you the truth. My husband is going to kill you, which is why I took you away. You are of no use to him now. He thought he could use you to force Lowe to hand over Murray Castle, but Who knew Lowe, huh! That bastard Lowe would be so indifferent. I never thought he'd leave his own flesh and blood to die!" "He didn't!" Annie shouted impulsively, but then bit her tongue. "You do know something!" Dolly grabbed Aine's shoulders. "Help me save you! It's only a matter of time before Dre's men find this place. If you're found, there's nothing I can do." Aini refused to speak.Lowe made her swear she would never trust Dolly, and she was determined to keep the oath. "Okay," Dolly said feebly. "Whatever you want, I'll try to get you out as fast as I can. Can you swim?" "No." Annie said. Dolly sighed. "I'll do my best," she said, and left. Aini couldn't sleep all night.She couldn't tell Dolly Lowe was here, she'd run and tell Dre.But what if Dolly hadn't cheated on her?They'd find her before long, and if they caught her, would Lowe stand by and watch her get slaughtered?No, Lowe was going to come forward, and Hodry would get them both. In the morning, there were loud voices outside the wall.It took Ernie a long time to pile up the sacks of millet, and then she climbed up and looked out of the window. The square is full of excitement.People came and went, doors and windows were thrown open, and horses were pulled out of the stables.She knew they were looking for her. She stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance. In the distance, there was a lame old man walking with a hunchback and shuffling feet. "Lowie!" She whispered, then looked at him with all her attention, trying to get his attention, and told him to come over.And as if he could feel the message, he slowly walked in her direction. As he got closer and closer, Ai Ni's heart almost jumped out of her chest.If he was any closer, she could call him.As she came closer, Aini opened her mouth. "Hey! You!" a Hawker called to Lowe. "You still have two hands, come and pull the carriage out." Ai Ni watched Lowe clumsily pull up the carriage, she sat down and cried.Dolly was right, even if Hodry demolished this place, he would still find her, if not today, then tomorrow. Something deep inside her told her to trust Dolly.Her only hope of survival is to tell Dolly Lowe that he is here and that he is going to take her away.If she didn't believe in Dolly, she was dead.But if she believed in Dolly, she and Lowe still had a chance of survival. Before Dolly came that night, Aine struggled painfully between two choices. "I've arranged it," said Dolly. "I've tried my best, but I don't know if it will work. I'm afraid one of my maids has told my husband everything. Come with me now, we have no time." "Lowell is here." Ai Ni suddenly said this. "Here? This room?" Dolly's voice was full of fear. "No, he was helping in the courtyard. He was taking me out of here the night you brought me here." "Where is he? Quick! We urgently need your husband's assistance." Aini's fingers pinched into Dolly's arm. "If you dare to frame us, I swear I will make you very sad for the rest of your life." Dolly crossed herself. "If you get caught, it's all because of your precious time threatening me. Where is he?" Ai Ni described Lowe's appearance. "I've seen him. He must care about you very much to take such a big risk. Wait, I'll be right back." Ernie sat down on the grain pile, and she knew right away if she had made the right decision.If she's wrong, she's half dead.