An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

The boat at the mouth of the Xijiang River was ultimately unable to get up the river. Not only that, it also led Nie Ce and the team behind him all the way back to Cangwu.

The few people who stayed behind were playing cards in the side room of the post station. Dai Chengjun sat cross-legged on the felt mat, speaking and behaving carelessly. He glanced at Sang Ling at the door, and immediately turned his eyes back to the card table, "Why are you back again? The wind is too strong to sail the boat."

"Ling Zhen." Sang Ling called her in a low voice.

In this room, only A Zeng and Wei Chu had good eyesight. They threw down the cards in their hands and hurried forward to bow.

Dai Chengjun grabbed the card and turned his head, and saw several dark shadows behind it. He couldn't help but look up, but saw a face that was so cold and creepy.

This person is Nie Ce.

I still know people who were her classmates.

but--

Who is the person behind Nie Ce?

"Wow." She couldn't help but sigh softly. In her life of more than ten years, this was the first time she saw someone who looked like a fox. Although he was big and strong, his pair of slender phoenix eyes were really beautiful.

Nie Ce ignored the daughter of the Dai family at the table and found a soft seat in the corner to sit down.

Wei Chu, A Zeng and Yin Fu were very tactful and followed Ying Bu Shi who was waiting beside him, without paying any attention to Sang Ling who was still standing at the door.

After all, as a servant from a marquis's mansion, he still knows that the marquis comes first.

Wei Xiao and Jin Sheng stood beside Dai Chengjun. As for the soldiers who came with Nie Ce, they were all guarding the door.

Everyone stood in their positions in an orderly manner, which made Sang Ling feel at a loss.

Although she was also a host, she should have calmly found a seat and sat down, but seeing that Nie Cezhou looked like he was going to hold her accountable, she inexplicably did not dare to move.

He was completely different from the way he was at home. In the house where they lived together, they could talk and laugh with each other, and she even felt a little spoiled at times - but now, she suddenly felt a little strange.

So strange that I didn't dare to approach easily for a while.

Maybe it was because of the way he was dressed, but Nie Ce wore casual clothes made of soft fabric at home, and he was always relaxed when facing her, so she never felt a sense of distance.

But now - with the cold and hard armor on his body, the long sword at his waist seemed to become colder and more stern along with him.

Sang Ling felt that this person had the words "Keep away from strangers" written all over his body.

"Come sit here." Nie Ce signaled her with his eyes to sit across from him. She moved over mechanically and obeyed his orders.

"Why didn't you tell your family?"

The voices that reached her ears were not gentle either. She exhaled and answered, "I thought they wouldn't agree, so I didn't say anything."

The room was silent for a while. Everyone except the General of Chariots and Cavalry dared not breathe, and listened silently to the interrogation between the couple.

"Why did you come here?" Nie Ce asked again.

"I--" She stammered and thought for a while.

The wind from the window was mixed with a hint of coolness, which managed to drive away the damp heat in the southern air. The girl's hair on both sides of her temples was blown in front of her eyes intermittently. They both fell silent again. Sang Ling looked at the gradually blurry scene in front of him, and suddenly he felt the sadness from the bottom of his heart.

If Nie Ce was really gone, perhaps her life would have changed drastically - although she would not love him to the point of committing suicide, at least she would not have to mourn for her husband for as long as the women in the feudal period.

If that time really came, she might take Le Yile out of the mansion and find a way to make a living on her own.

"I'm afraid you're dead." Then his tone became heavier, and he looked back.

This glance made Nie Ce swallow a little, but he frowned again and remained solemn, "Kill them all and abandon the wilderness. Life and death on the battlefield are unpredictable. You just wait at home. You ran out secretly like this, you know--" His voice was a little choked, and he didn't say the rest of the words.

"What if I can't wait? Nie Ce, you should know that I'm never the kind of person who sits and waits for death."

"It's not that easy for me--" The young general's tense posture was finally broken, but before he could finish his words, they were snatched away again.

"I don't want to be happy without a father." Sang Ling continued.

"Le Yile?" He didn't even know his daughter's nickname.

Her emotions were already rising, and now she was the host. She felt that she was the one who was wronged and angry. However, before she had the chance to explain herself, Dai Chengjun spoke first, "Your daughter, General Nie."

As soon as the daughter of the Dai family opened her mouth, she was shocked by the glance that Nie Ce gave her. She hurriedly stood up, knowing what he meant, and stepped out with her hands folded. "You guys chat, I'll go get a room."

When Dai Chengjun left, Wei Chu dragged Ah Zeng and Yin Fu with him, and the three of them, including Ying Bushi, all left in disgrace. Ah Zeng looked back and walked a little slower, so Wei Chu pulled him again and closed the door.

The room was completely empty. Sang Ling frowned and looked up, only to see the man in front of him resting his hands on his waist and letting out a long sigh.

"I won't die that easily." His tone softened after all.

"Who knows? You weren't there when the child was born. Even if that's OK, doesn't it mean she can't even see her biological father?"

Nie Ce sighed again.

The bean-shaped lamp cast a shadow behind the gauze curtain, and the color was soft in the eyes. The fire in the boy's heart did not know when it dissipated, and he only heard the complaints slowly coming to his ears.

"You're so fierce as soon as we meet. Isn't it easy for me to get here?" The Sang family girl raised her voice a little, "I spent so much money and suffered so much, but you start talking like you're trying a criminal. I did do something wrong -" She paused, "but didn't you do anything wrong?"

After saying this, Nie Ce was a little confused.

"How did you find us?" The Sang family's daughter suddenly changed the topic. Nie Ce didn't react. Seeing her raise her chin, he forgot who was angry with whom. "At first, the soldiers in our yard sent a message. Later, my family also sent a letter saying that you were missing. They were looking for you in Jingzhao. I sent people to check at various checkpoints in the north. At that time, it was the flood season of Dongting Lake. I thought you would go to Ganjiang River, but I didn't expect you to go to Xiangjiang River."

"And then?" The daughter's tone was still dissatisfied.

Nie Ce stared at her and answered seriously, "Yang Huan found a document at the Lingqu Pass with a name called Dai Chengjun on it, so he chased after you, but when he got there he found that you had already headed south. He chased after you all the way to Cangwu, and almost caught up with you twice, but he didn't expect you to leave overnight, so he had to run to Xijiangkou in advance to block you."

It turned out that Dai Chengjun was exposed. Yang Huan was also working in Beijing, so it was not surprising that he knew Dai Chengjun.

"The Lingqu Envoy asked us to hand over two kilograms of gold." Sang Ling complained about this incident. Nie Ce understood quickly and hummed, "I'll send someone to look for him later."

"The money was paid by Dai Chengjun, and I will just pay her back when the time comes." She continued.

Nie Ce nodded, looked at her again, took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is Le Yile okay? What will she do now that you're here?"

It seems that his attitude would take a sharp turn for the worse whenever his daughter is mentioned.

Sang Ling was a little amused when he suddenly heard Nie Ce calling her by this name. He coughed and said seriously, "I don't know how to take care of a child. She has been taken care of by the wet nurse and those old women since she was born."

As soon as she talked about this, she opened up. She turned her head and looked at Nie Jialang. "I was in pain for a whole day, and I gave birth at night. My aunt and cousin came, and my mother came back from the palace at night. Le Yile had a little jaundice when she was just born. They were worried that I would be anxious and unable to sit still during the confinement period, so they kept it from me and told me afterwards. Also, when she just came out of the confinement period, she had a heat rash. It was very pitiful. The wet nurse was invited in by Fang Ni because she had a lot of milk, but she was young and didn't know much. She yelled at me to call a doctor. Later, Cheng Ni, who had experience, said that it was just the heat."

Nie Ce listened very carefully. Although he didn't understand, he still asked, "Is everything recovered now?"