Chapter 7 Chapter VII

For three days in a row, Aya thought, she could stretch her limbs and lie in the warm sun.At this moment, she was sitting on the ridge, and the carriage was parked at the foot of the mountain behind. There was a sea of ​​flowers in front of her eyes, and there was a beautiful small village in the distance.If she'd been a landscape painter, that's what she'd want to paint, but right now she just wants to sit here by herself and look out at the world—or at least this little part of it. For three days she had tasted the freedom to see the world beyond the walls.From her home to the store selling religious memorabilia and toys, everything opened her eyes.

And food: cream cake, honey cake, grape bread.Although the chefs in the Mei family are skilled, they lack creativity.When Aya saw a loaf in the bakery in the shape of a standing and snarling bear, she nearly passed out with excitement. And Les bought that bread for her.Dear Les, Aya thought, both he and Tom have been very good to her. Ever since that traitor Meng Jieming had scolded her the day before departure, she had vowed never to speak to him again.So far, she hasn't said a word to him either.In the first carriage were Fran, her maid Roland, and coachman George, in the second carriage were Aya, Todd and their coachman Roger, and Jemin and his two men rode horses.

From the first day of departure, Aya was always amazed by the people or things she saw along the way.When they stopped to water the horses that first afternoon, Aya saw four boys playing a game of hookball, and she stepped forward curiously, and since she was small and not much older than them, she soon Played with them.When Rice came to get her back, he told everyone he was a good catcher and was quick to confirm his words.When Tom came to get Rice back, Tom said he could beat anyone in the world, and he showed his hand on the spot.When Jamie came to fetch them back, he found the four children and the three lords having a great time.Jemin stepped forward with a smile, but Aya stopped the game with a straight face, turned around and left.

After the first day, Aya, Les, and Tom became good friends, riding on either side of her and answering all her questions.Todd liked to drive when there was no one on the road, and put Roger to sleep in the carriage, and the four of them would laugh and laugh about riddles and play various games. In the evening, Aya began to paint.Every night, they would park the wagon in a field, and the driver would light a fire and cook dinner as Aya instructed. During the day, Les and Tom would buy food for Aya.Whenever passing through a village, one of them would stop by the local bakery or snack shop—or even the liquor store—to see if there was anything Aya had never eaten or drank.At first, they'd buy two copies of everything: one for Aya and one for Fran; after all, she was the heir.But Fran stared at them like they were idiots. "How do I eat that?" Fu Lan asked angrily. "That would make my hands sticky!"

After the next morning, they stopped buying Fulan's portion, but they liked to buy it for Aya.In the evening, Aya thanked them by drawing what happened in the day.There is a picture of Les reaching for bread, and the baker's wife's spoon is about to fall into his hand; there is a picture of Tom looking at a wooden toy in confusion, racking his brains to learn how to play, next to him There was a little girl looking up at him impatiently; there was one of Todd driving a carriage with a smile on his face—only the unscarred side of his face, of course; A fly hovered above his lips.

"And what about Jamin?" Tom asked softly, marveling at her drawing. Aya glanced at Jemin who was standing a few feet away, picked up a pen and drew quickly, and after a few minutes she showed the picture to everyone. She drew Fulan's beautiful face, but her body was a bag of gold.Jemin looked at Fulan with a salivating expression, and kissed her finger that was protruding from the bag. He held a marriage certificate in his hand behind his back. Nobody wanted to laugh, they all knew it was a caricature, but Roger thought it was hilarious, and when he laughed so hard the others laughed too.

Jamie came over to see what everyone was laughing at. Aya smiled and handed him the picture. "So that's what you think of me," Jemin said, handing the picture back to Aya, and walking away. Now, Aya sat alone on the ridge, enjoying her freedom.She stretched her arms, threw her head back, and took a deep breath of the cool air. "How different the air is here from the air in my father's house!" Grasping this day, Aya thought, three days of freedom had passed, and she didn't seem to do anything except eat half of England.She stretched out her arms, wishing she could fly. "Yes," she said aloud. "I want to fly, I want to..." Yeah, what does she want most?

"I want to prove that I'm worth more than money!" Aya yelled into the wind.Since she was a child, she has been reminded that she is the heir of the Mei family, especially Fu Lan, who never misses any opportunity. "If he likes you, I guarantee it's because of your money." Fu Lan said it hundreds of times. "He was so nice to you because of your money!" Again and again, always her father's money! "Am I not as good as my father's gold?" Aya asked. "Why does everyone only want my gold? Why—" Todd's whistle stopped Aya, and she walked slowly down the hill toward the carriage.

"What was she doing up the mountain?" Jemin asked Todd, his voice showing exasperation. "She's the weirdest person I've ever met. A minute ago I hated her, and a minute later I—" "But I'm curious about her." Todd finished for him, and Jemin reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Aya's life is cut off from the outside world, she doesn't know what the world is like. Everything is new to her." "Yeah, she was pretty obvious, and she was playing tricks on my men." Todd shook his head. "You'll find that Aya is... well, actually quite a useful person."

"Yes, she helped set up camp." Todd smiled. "You will find that Aya can do more than that, she is very good at managing money." Jemin snorted. "Only a fool would let that brainless shrew touch his money." "That's genetic." "What did you say?" Todd cleared his throat. "I say only time will tell." Jemin walked away with a frown, but Todd's words still affected him.Unfortunately, he was indeed curious about Aya; she was very different from ordinary people.First, she seems to have no concept of class.Her relationship with the Mei family would naturally give her some power, but Aya didn't seem to understand this.Fran is like the heroine of a play, fully aware of her position, but Aya is only too busy doing what needs to be done, whether it's washing dishes in the stream or finding a ring for Fran.

Aya's willingness to help makes everyone's life a lot easier.On the first day of camp, he found the three servants doing their jobs silently and efficiently.In his experience, new servants were often overwhelmed unless they were told what to do.After questioning, Jemin discovered that Aya had given them clear instructions long before setting up camp. At first, Jemin resented her for being "nosy", and he swore he would never let Aya control him like she controlled poor Fran.But when he discovered that the stew was tastier with the addition of wild thyme (which Aya gathered during a break), and that there was always fresh bread for dinner, he forgot to "control "One thing. The strangest thing is that she took good care of Fulan.Jemin was worried that Aya would climb into Fulan's carriage in the middle of the night and hurt her, but the result was just the opposite. Aya taught Fulan's daughter how to obey Fulan.If she hadn't always spoken sarcastically to Fulan, Jemin would have thought she would be an excellent maid. In short, after three days, it was difficult for Jemin to determine what kind of person Aya was, and "ask Aya" had become the most frequently heard phrase in the camp.She seemed to know where everything in the wagon was, that Les liked red meat and Tom liked white meat.When buying bread, she insisted on buying caraway bread for Fran.And Todd!I am afraid that even the prince has not received so much care. The only person Aya ignored was Jemin.She would instruct the coachman to pitch the tent for Les and Tom, but Jemin would—every night—had to pitch the tent himself.Every morning Aya would brush everyone's clothes, except for Jamin's, which still had the dust from the day before.Aya paints everyone, even Fran, but she just ignores Jemin. However, the more it happened, the more Jemin couldn't stop paying attention to Aya.Although irrational, he still pays attention to everything Aya does for others, and resents Aya for not doing it for him. For the first time in his life, Jaymin found himself desperate for a woman's attention.There was a hint of a smile on the corner of Jemin's mouth, showing courtesy to Fu Lan would definitely get Aya's attention. An hour later, when everyone was sitting around the campfire, Jemin turned to Fu Lan with a smile, and jokingly said to her, "I wonder if the heir to the Mei family looks a lot like Mayboken?" Fulan was only thinking about things and didn't notice what she said, her voice was full of sarcasm. "How would she know what he looked like? She'd never met her father." Everyone fell silent immediately, and Fulan tried to cover up her mistake in a panic. "I mean, I never met my father." "Never met your father?" Rice asked. "Not once?" Fulan looked down at her plate so as not to be seen flickering in her eyes.This guy called Les who only pays attention to Aya has made her very angry.He had given her some heart-sipping biscuits two mornings ago, as if she were a child, and he hadn't looked at her since then. When Fulan raised her head, there was sadness in her eyes. "Yes, he only wrote to me and never visited me in person." Jemin frowned and looked at Fran sympathetically—as did the others. "I've always been jealous of people having lots of family, because I don't have a mother or a father," Fran said, looking at the campfire. "The only family I have is Aya. And Todd, of course." Aya opened her mouth to refute, but Todd reached out and held her down, indicating that Aya was the one who wanted to play the game. Aya didn't like it when people slandered her father.Whatever he did, she believed there must be a reason for him.If she doesn't know, that's her problem, not her father's. "The heir of the Mei family got something else as compensation," Aya said. "Like love?" Fu Lan retorted, then turned to Jemin with tears in her eyes. "I don't ask for sympathy, but the heir's cousin never even gave her a Christmas present, and the heir always gives her cousin a present, can't you, Aya? Todd, you can swear I'm telling the truth, yes Right?" She looked directly at Todd. "You're right, Fran," Todd replied coldly. "The heir's cousin never sent anything to the heir, nor did he express his gratitude to the heir." Aya felt all eyes were on her, and she found she had to defend herself—or was it for Fran? "Maybe because the heir's cousin can't afford gifts, what can she buy for the richest man in England?" That was what Fran said to Aya a thousand times. To Aya's disbelief, Fulan laughed. "No money! Aya, you are the richest person in the family!" Aya was so confused that she couldn't speak. Does Fulan want to tell the truth now? Fulan turned to Jemin, still smiling. "You've never seen anyone like her. Do you know what she does with the apples and berries in the orchard? She transports them to the village to sell!" Fulan paused deliberately for effect. "Aya cuts every flower in the garden to make perfume, I tell you, she is a greedy little profiteer, not a lady at all!" Aya calmly put the disk on the ground, then stood up. "Fulan, I would rather eat a mouth full of needles than continue to sit here with you." Aya turned and left. When Fu Lan looked back at the crowd triumphantly, she found that no one smiled at her.what happened?Didn't Mengjiemin, who was an earl, say the word merchant with disgust?He hates lowly businessmen, doesn't he? Tom got up first, and said he wanted to go to bed, since he had to start early in the morning after all.A few minutes later, Rice said the same thing. When only Fulan and Jieming were left, she covered her face with her hands and said softly: "They don't like me, I know they don't like me." Jemin knelt before her; he hated seeing women cry. "Of course they like you, I'm sure they do." "No, they like Aya. Ever since I was thirteen, everyone has liked Aya better than me! You can't imagine the life I lead, my father cuts me off from the outside world, and people only care about me money!" "Like me?" Jemin whispered. "You know that I want to marry your father's gold with all my heart." Fulan put her hand gently on the nape of his neck, close to his face. "You really only care about my father's gold? Don't you think I'm charming?" "Of course you're charming." Jemin approached her lips, ready to kiss her. But he didn't get to kiss her, because Aya kicked the flaming branch to the ground next to Jemin's legs, instantly setting his tank top on fire. That alarmed everyone, and Todd and one of the coachmen rushed to put out the fire, while Les and Tom jumped out of the tent with swords in hand. Jemin was not hurt, but he was shaking with rage. "Sorry," Aya said, smiling at him. "I may have kicked too hard, I hope I didn't disturb your pursuit of my rich cousin." "Aya," Fran said angrily. "I will take revenge!" Jemin began to regain the ability to speak. "You sleep in my tent tonight, and I'm going to watch over you so you don't endanger others." Aya smiled at him. "I'd rather bury my face in horse manure than sleep in the same tent as you." Jemin walked up to her, but Todd stood in front of him. "I'll watch over her and protect her." "Protect her?" Jemin gasped in surprise. "Then who will protect us from her?" "I'm not hurt," Rice said. "Are you hurt, Tom?" Tom smiled slightly, his father was the businessman Fran despised, so he stood by Aya's side. "I was not injured either. It seems that only one person here was injured by the merchant's daughter." Aya looked at Tom and Les with emotion. Jemin raised his hands. "All go to sleep, I don't care where you want to sleep!" So, they slept in two tents and two carriages that night. "Wake up." Aya whispered to Todd.He and Roger slept under the painted carriage, while the interior of the carriage was left to Aya. Todd was half asleep. "Aya, it's not dawn yet, go back to sleep!" "Where are the carriages going?" With half-closed eyes, Todd saw many carriages passing by on the road a few yards away, "I don't know, I've never been here before, go back to sleep!" "If you don't tell me, I'll ask them." Meaning she's going to wake everyone up and keep everyone from sleeping. "Probably today is market day, and they're going to sell things in the village," he replied, before falling back to sleep. Aya stood up and looked at the carriages.Market day!She had always wanted to go to the market, and what Fulan said last night was true: Aya did ask people to transport the agricultural products to the village to sell, and then she would ask the peddlers hundreds of questions. She bent down and shook Todd awake again. "Get up, we're going to the market." "I..." Todd said with a frown. Aya knew what he was worried about, he didn't like being seen. "Don't worry, you stay in the carriage, no one will see you." Todd slowly climbed out from under the carriage. "No, he'll be angry." "He already hates me, so what does it matter?" "Aya..." Todd warned her. "Please," she whispered. "You know what kind of life I'm going to lead. Do you think my husband will let me go to the market? Will he show me around like a freak?" The words "freak" and "show" made Todd agree. "But he'll hear—" "Get behind those wagons and you won't be heard. Oh, Todd, please, I can't let this man shut me off from the outside world. Maybe he'll hear, but at least we can try." Todd grinned. "We can try to seize the day, shall we?" Aya wrapped her arms around his neck impulsively and hugged him warmly. "Thank you!" Aya didn't have time to see how her embrace affected Todd. She climbed under the carriage to wake Roger up, and then slipped away quietly from Meng Jiemin's sight. "She's gone!" Jemin was so angry that he could hardly speak, otherwise he would surely make all the stars fall from the sky. Les climbed out of the tent and looked at the place where the carriage was parked last night.Over the past few days, he has enjoyed watching Aya's dragon and lion more and more.Under normal circumstances, he would worry about whether Aya was kidnapped, but now he knew that if there was any problem, Aya would solve it.He yawned, wondering what Aya would bring back for dinner. "Where has she taken the carriage?" Tom looked around, as if the carriage might be hidden behind stones. Only Jemin was very angry. "It seems that neither of you thinks there is anything wrong." "She's with Todd," Tom said. "He will be looking out for her safety and I am sure she will be back soon." Jemin looked at his men like they were crazy, they didn't seem to care that he was hired to escort the heir to her fiancé's house, and this—this Aya was going to fuck him every chance she got. "I must find her!" Jemin turned to the woman who was preparing breakfast. "You must wake the lady—" He stopped talking suddenly, because Fulan was slowly getting out of the carriage, and he found that Fulan who just woke up was not so beautiful. "She stole a carriage and ran away," said Jemin, without explaining who "she" was. "I have to get her back" Fulan didn't like waking up early in the morning and having to face Aya's villainy. "She's gone to the village." Fu Lan said, taking a glass of cider from the maid.Her dress was crepe, and she was angry that Aya hadn't folded it properly when she packed it. Jemin was too busy saddling and twitching to hear Fran, but Les and Tom—hands full of cheese and bread—turned to Fran. "Why is she going to the village?" asked Tom. "Of course it's to make money!" Fu Lan replied. When the three men looked at Fu Lan in astonishment, she tightly closed her lips.When did she become Aya's guardian? "There's a market around here, isn't there?" Her voice was sarcastic. "Wherever there is money to be made, Aya will be there." She narrowed her eyes at Jemin. "I told you she was a rapist—" She didn't finish her sentence, because Jemin had jumped on his horse and disappeared into the rising sand. As he rode, Jemin thought he didn't believe Fran's words.Why would the girl who lives with the heir of the Mei family want to go to the market?Even when he remembered Todd's saying that Aya was good with money, he still couldn't believe that shrew could do anything but paint.Her life is isolated from the outside world, how could she have any ability? No, Jemin corrected himself, it was Fulan's life cut off from the outside world.Aya has family, lived with them before, and now visits them regularly. "Excuse me, have you seen a car—" When approaching the village, Jemin began to ask passers-by, but he didn't finish his sentence, because someone pointed at him and said, "It's him! That Dragon Slayer! It's him!" Gritting his teeth, Jemin rode away from the man.Aya was indeed here, and the villagers had seen his portrait on the hideous carriage. Aya always seemed to have a way of humiliating him, and since meeting her, his life had turned into farce. "Or Greek tragedy," he muttered, riding through the crowd. "Dragon Slayer!" He heard that sentence more than once.Ironically, how did they recognize him?The scratch marks on his cheeks are still visible and one eye is still bruised. Near the end of the village was a large crowd, and over their heads Jemin saw the color of the carriage, and—believe it or not—he heard Aya's voice.How could such a petite woman have such a loud voice? In order to get close to the carriage, Jemin had to go around the crowd and pass from behind.Since he was riding a horse, he could see the scene in front of him clearly. At the beginning, he bought the carriage just for camouflage, and he didn't think of what it would be used for.Todd told him there were some cloths in the cellar, so he decided to use them as a camouflage, but now he found that the carriage had been turned into a cloth stall.One side of the carriage was lifted up, supported by two posts, to form a door, and at the bottom of the door there was a shelf, which served as a counter.Aya hung a large cloth on the inside of the carriage as a curtain, and Todd must be hiding behind it so as not to be seen.Luo Jie was rushing to measure and cut the cloth according to Aya's instructions, and the two were very busy. However, what puzzled Jemin was why there were so many people around the carriage, had they never seen the cloth merchant?Or attracted by the pattern of the carriage?These villagers snapped up cloth like crazy, and Jemin knew that the pile of cloth in the carriage was very high a few hours ago, but now it seems that there is not much left, replaced by a large piece of cheese, several bags of flour, a cow Hind legs and (unless he guessed wrong) two chickens.Those were only what he could see; he believed there were more things lying on the floor that he didn't see. He rode his horse forward a few steps, but Aya's roar stopped him, "My ancestors were the greatest merchants who ever lived!" Aya shouted, even though she seemed to be speaking only to a man in front of her. "See how these cloths shine? It's the dragon's scales that make them shine! Do you know the story of the dragon slaying? The great knight killed them, yes, but my ancestors skinned them , salted and hidden for future generations. Then my grandmother, with the blessing of the gods, discovered a way to spin the scales into yarn. Then my great grandfather built a huge loom that would The scales are woven into cloth. See! How they glisten in the sun? Dragon cloth!" Aya called. "Dragon cloth auction, never worn out!" It took Jemin a long time to make sense of the lie he had just heard.Dragon cloth?Never wear out?How could she lie like that?how could she- Jemin wasted no more time thinking about it, and rode straight through the crowd to the front of the carriage. "Why—" Aya saw who was coming. "Closing, man, the devil has eaten the sun," Aya called to Roger and Todd behind her. "Come down!" Jemin said to Aya sullenly. A man standing at Jemin's feet (with a fat goose under his arm) looked up at Jemin and couldn't help shouting, "Dragon Slaying—" But Jemin's stern eyes immediately silenced him. Voice. "Come down immediately!" Jemin ordered Aya. "Leave the carriage to the gentlemen," he said, turning to Roger and Todd, who must have been listening. "Drive the carriage back to the camp immediately." Roger just nodded, and Aya opened the door and walked out. "Can anyone ask this gentleman what he's mad about?" Aya asked, her eyes squinted by the sun, looking at the crowd but refusing to look at Jemin. "Or did I offend him by being alive and breathing?" Jemin didn't want to make himself a laughing stock anymore. "Hey!" he called to a burly man, "carry her over here." He didn't want to be near the villagers who compared him to the drawing of the wagon. The man's face lit up, as if he had the key to the kingdom, and he immediately lifted Aya down and placed her in Jamin's saddle, sitting her in front of him.As he was about to let go, he found Jemin's dagger against his chin. "If you want to keep your fingers," Jemin said. "Don't mess around." The man looked in awe, and the crowd, who had already been excited by the carriage and Aya's quality assurance of Longbu, found that the scene fit their imaginations.A man standing behind Jaymin shouted: "Dragon Slayer!" After a while, everyone shouted "Dragon Slayer!" "Dragon Slayer!" "Dragon Slayer!" Jemin glanced resignedly at the sky and rode away from the village, but he didn't ride fast because he wanted to communicate with Aya one more time. "You've got us noticed," said Jemin, who wanted to find a place to dismount, but he couldn't wait. "If you show off everywhere and make us the center of attention and the laughing stock of everyone, why should we pretend?" Aya said nothing. "Don't you have an answer?" Jemin demanded. "Don't you ever give a little explanation to your actions? Don't you ever think before you do things?" Aya sat sideways in front of him, her body was encircled by his arms, her left side was pressed against Jemin's body.Even though she was determined to hate him for what he'd done (especially since he didn't recognize her as Diana!), it felt so comfortable to lean on him. "Aya," Jemin said sternly. "Don't you want to defend yourself?" Aya tilted her head. "Horse, do you hear someone talking? No? Neither do I. It must be the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves." Jemin sighed heavily. “When I got a letter from Mayboken asking if I would like Tong to escort his daughter out of England, I thought it would be a good way to make money,” Jemin said, as if talking to himself. "But now I'd rather fight the mobs of the Scottish Highlands than deal with..." As usual, Aya seemed unmoved. Jemin took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Aya," he said softly, holding her like this now, he would think of her as a woman, most of the time he only remembered Aya as a whole little witch. "You can't just disappear in a carriage like this. You and your cousin are under my protection. I have to know where you are and what you're doing at all times, understand?" Jamin waited again for her answer, even though it was to the horse, but when he looked down at Aya, she found her asleep against him. No wonder, Jemin thought, she worked twice as much as everyone else.Although Aya had never done anything for him, he had seen what Aya had done for others.Now, judging by the contents of the carriage, he would not have to buy grain for the next week.Maybe, Jemin grudgingly thought, Todd was right when he said Aya had a knack for money. However, he had to admonish Aya for the outrageous lies she told "Dragon Bu". He saw the camp just a few hundred yards in front of him, and knew that the others were waiting for him to go, but instead of going there, he turned his horse impulsively and rode up a small hill, where a huge oak tree stopped.He dismounts Aya carefully (as if she were a child), which is not easy, but he doesn't wake Aya up.He sat under the oak tree, Aya fast asleep on his lap. She slept for nearly an hour, and Jemin held her hand, and realized that she was so small, maybe only her temper was big, and at this moment when he looked at her small hand, he found that her head could not even touch his chin At that time, I felt very protective, as if he was really the dragon slayer that Aya drew on the carriage. He held Aya tightly in his arms, leaned his head against the tree, and fell asleep unknowingly.