"Zi'an, Ling'er was selected by me from a group of girls who were admitted to Wanchun Garden. She was only nine years old when she came to Wanchun Garden. As I told you, the prince saved me back then. Then I was asked to open the Wanchun Garden, which was to serve as an eyes and ears in the market, and to allow some girls from Wanchun Garden to control some officials in the court. This plan was made by the prince, and I originally I don't want to do this, but I can't convince the prince, so I can only do it." Under the flickering candlelight, Qin Xiqing softly told Fang Zian about Shen Ling'er.

Fang Zian nodded and said, "I remember what you said. There's nothing you can do about it."

Qin Xiqing said: "At that time, there were many people fleeing from the north in Lin'an City. The city was in chaos. Suddenly there were hundreds of thousands more people in the city. These people could not be accommodated at all, so their livelihood was in question. Many families They had to sell their sons and daughters in exchange for some money to survive, and at the same time to find a chance for their children to survive. I, Wanchunyuan, bought many girls in those two years. Almost all of them were Children from poor families have no choice but to do this in order to survive."

Fang Zian nodded and said: "I understand, is this how Shen Ling'er came to Wanchun Garden?"

"Yes. At that time, I had to select some girls with good qualifications and good looks to train. In the future, I would rely on them to win over some officials from the DPRK and China. Ling'er was one of the people I selected. I still remember what she looked like back then. , she stood among a bunch of girls in rags, everyone else was crying, but she didn't. She just looked at me straight. She caught my attention, and I walked over to talk to her. She was not afraid, and she spoke clearly and fluently. At that time, she was short, with very dark skin, and was not good-looking. Originally, according to the selection criteria, she would not have been selected, and the most she could do was stay in a building outside. She worked as a maid until she grew up and became an ordinary brothel prostitute. But I still kept her because I thought she had something that other girls didn't have." Qin Xiqing said softly.

Fang Zian smiled and said: "You always have good taste. Look at Shen Ling'er now, she is so graceful and graceful, she can be regarded as a first-class beauty. It's really a woman's transformation, the ugly duckling has turned into a white swan. Xiqing can always see a person's potential in the future and admires him."

Qin Xiqing smiled and said: "Thank you for the compliment. Why do I think you are praising yourself?"

Fang Zian smiled and said: "You saw it, hahaha. So what happened next? Who did she learn her martial arts from? Her martial arts are quite powerful, so she should have a solid foundation."

Qin Xiqing nodded and said: "Zi'an is right. I found out that she knew martial arts only after I took her in. At that time, a group of selected girls practiced martial arts hard in the back garden of Wanchun Garden every day. They had a lot to learn. , chess, calligraphy and painting, singing and dancing, reading and calligraphy, and even female celebrities and some methods to please men, all need to be learned. These are all methods to please men and what attracts them, so they must be learned."

Fang Zian smiled and said: "This business in the flower world is really not easy."

Qin Xiqing said softly: "They are all miserable people, Zian, don't make fun of them."

Fang Zian hurriedly put away his smile and cupped his hands to apologize. Although he didn't mean to make fun of him, he still tried his best not to misunderstand Qin Xiqing in front of her.

Qin Xiqing continued

Said: "Ling'er didn't pay any attention to learning these things, and she always failed to learn them. Not only that, she also had conflicts with the teachers who taught them. One day, the person who taught the girls came to complain, saying that not only did Ling'er not learn She was willing to learn, but instead she injured the two teachers who taught them. She asked me to uphold justice and punish her severely. I couldn't believe it, how could a nine-year-old girl injure two teachers, and the beatings were just fine. But when I went to the yard, I found that it was really what happened. The two instructors were beaten to the head and bleeding, and their bodies were covered with blood marks from the whip. When I asked, I found out that it was Ling'er who refused to learn. , did not study seriously, so the two teachers scolded her and beat her with whips. She suddenly burst out, snatched the whip and whipped her, but instead knocked the two teachers to the ground and whipped her severely. Although the two instructors are women, they are still in their thirties, and they are actually powerless to fight back in front of her."

Fang Zian said in surprise: "She must have learned martial arts. Shen Linger has indeed been so unruly since she was a child."

Qin Xiqing nodded and said: "I was very angry. I wanted to punish her severely. But seeing her little appearance, I couldn't bear it. The two instructors said they would never teach her again. If she stayed, they would I quit. I thought that Ling'er might not be the one, so I took her out. Ling'er told me that she didn't want to learn those things. She wanted to learn martial arts to protect me. She said she had learned from her father since she was a child. Martial arts. I was doubtful, so I asked the nurse to try her martial arts. Unexpectedly, the tall nurse had to go to great lengths to catch her, and she even kicked her a few times. I Only then did I believe what she said.”

Fang Zian smacked his lips and said: "Amazing, amazing. I don't know how she ended up in this situation. How could her father, who has martial arts skills, end up selling his sons and daughters."

Qin Xiqing said: "I was also puzzled, so I asked about her life experience. After asking, I found out that her father was originally a hunter living at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, and he took her to hunt and cut firewood in the mountains to make a living. When the Jin soldiers came, Qingshan, her father and others In order to protect the village, the hunters formed a team to resist the golden soldiers. When the golden soldiers came, they fought with the golden soldiers and killed many golden soldiers, but in the end they were still outnumbered. Dozens of hunters were killed by the golden soldiers. She and other women and children hid in the mountains She witnessed all this in the grass. After that, she, who was only six years old, followed the fleeing people all the way south. Finally, she escaped to Lin'an City. When our people were looking for girls on the street, they heard that they could have enough to eat. After eating, the aunt next door who led her to escape asked her if she wanted to find a way to survive. She knew that she would starve to death if she continued like this, so she agreed, signed a deed of betrayal and entered my Wanchun Garden."

Fang Zian said in surprise: "It turns out that her father was a righteous person who fought against the Jin Dynasty, and her life experience is similar to yours. They are both descendants of the righteous people who fought against the Jin Dynasty."

Qin Xiqing nodded slowly and said: "Yes, after hearing about her life experience, I felt quite sympathetic to each other. Her life experience was similar to mine, which aroused my feelings. So I thought it would be good to keep her by my side as a maid. .She has learned martial arts from her father since she was a child. She has some foundation in martial arts. The prince happened to send martial arts masters to serve as guards in Wanchun Garden, so I asked those people to teach her martial arts. She can't learn other things, but she is very good at martial arts. She is fast and extremely talented. After five years of training, she has grown up and her martial arts skills have improved, and she has become the most powerful personal guard around me. Even the prince wanted to take her away from me after seeing her martial arts. But she didn’t want to, so she had no choice but to give up.”

Fang Zian said softly:

"But it's also an anomaly. If you plant flowers intentionally, they won't bloom, but if you plant willows unintentionally, they will become shades. She is the material for learning martial arts. But... what is going on... between her and you?"

Qin Xiqing rolled her eyes at Fang Zian, stood up, walked to Fang Zian, reached out and touched Fang Zian's forehead, and said softly: "There is no fever, which means the wound is fine. Zian, are you tired? Do you want to sleep for a while."

Fang Zian smiled bitterly and said: "How can I sleep if you ask me to sleep at this time? Just keep talking."

Qin Xiqing nodded and was about to return to her seat. Fang Zian reached out and grabbed her arm. With a slight exertion, Qin Xiqing fell into Fang Zian's arms.

"Don't mess around. You can't mess around with your leg injury." Qin Xiqing said with a red face.

Fang Zian smiled and said: "What are you doing? I just want to hold you and listen to you. You smell so good. What kind of soap did you use?"

Qin Xiqing was held in Fang Zian's arms. She muttered a few words and simply lay in Fang Zian's arms, resting her head on Fang Zian's shoulders.

"Do you want to listen anymore? Why are you asking me questions again?"

"Listen, of course you have to listen. It's whatever you say." Fang Zian put his arms around Qin Xiqing's slender waist, squinting and gently caressing her soft waist.

Qin Xiqing exhaled a breath like orchid and said softly: "Because my life experience is similar, I am naturally very kind to her. She eats and lives with me, and I treat her like a biological sister. She also knows my life experience, She has no family, but she is very attached to me. On winter nights, sometimes when it is too cold, we will sleep together to keep warm. In short, we are like sisters, although outside, she is my maid, But I never thought of her as a servant."

"It's human nature. You are actually lonely too. You two have similar life experiences, so you naturally cherish each other." Fang Zian said: "When did you realize that something was wrong with her?"

Qin Xiqing said softly: "I only discovered something strange about her in the past two years. I am not taboo about her, and I don't avoid her when I undress and take a bath. She stares at me every time, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable. .One night, she got into my bed and told me that she wanted to protect me all her life and that she didn’t want me to get married. I didn’t understand what she meant at first, but then I thought about it and felt that something was wrong with her. But I still didn't think about anything else. I just thought that as she grew up, she would always have some strange thoughts in her heart when she was a girl, so I didn't count them. Later, I found that all the guests who said teasing words to me , she would punish others, and I just regarded her as protecting me. But gradually it got too much, so I warned her. At the same time, I also felt that I was too good to her that she couldn't tell the difference. She thought she could do whatever she wanted, so I asked her to move out and live in the side yard. She seemed to have calmed down a lot after that, but every time I sang for guests or talked to men, she looked a little unhappy. .I can actually feel it, but how can I say it out loud? I just hope she can adjust her mentality on her own."
Chapter completed!