The wife of two taels of silver

The cold winter in Yancheng is gradually coming to an end, but it is still the middle of winter at the border, with biting cold winds and heavy snow.

The weather was so cold that the enemy was quiet for a few days, which was rare.

Gu An sat in the tent. The brazier burning in the middle made a slight crackling sound, and three unfolded letters were placed on the table.

Three letters arrived in the past two days. This was the first time that Gu An had received a letter in such a long time since he joined the army. He was also the first person in the barracks to receive three letters at once. As a result, he was often teased and envied by his comrades.

When he first received the letter, Gu An's brows furrowed more with each reading, and he even felt a little confused.

He could understand each word individually, but when they were put together he found it extremely difficult to understand.

The first letter they read was Lin Haitang's letter asking for a divorce; the second was Liu Shuyun's letter talking about the Red Mansion; and the third was Liu Shuyun's letter saying that Lin Haitang was pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

His eyes were fixed on the letter paper. Gu An read it twice in a row, and his confusion grew even more.

Gu An did not remember that Lin Haitang could write, nor did he think that she had the courage to propose a divorce. As for the Dream of the Red Chamber that Liu Shuyun praised so highly, it was definitely not an ordinary work, and it was even less likely that it was written by Lin Haitang.

As for Lin Haitang's pregnancy, Gu An said it was not surprising, but when he saw that she wanted to abort the child, a chill crept up his brows.

The last time she returned home, Lin Haitang got some vile medicine from somewhere and secretly put it in Gu An's teacup. She drank it herself, and then naturally had a ridiculous night. Unexpectedly, she even gave birth to a child that night.

Although Gu An did not like Lin Haitang, he had never thought of divorcing her, even though he was in such a position now.

Now that Gu An is a third-rank captain, it is not uncommon for him to divorce his wife and marry another one, and he can even marry someone better than Lin Haitang. However, Gu An cannot do such a tasteless thing. He regards Lin Haitang as his wife, so when he saw that Lin Haitang was going to have an abortion, he was a little angry.

This was the first time that Gu An had an urgent desire to go home.

While marching and fighting outside, Gu An seldom thought of Lin Haitang. In the past, he was most concerned about his mother's health. Now that his mother has passed away, what he misses most are his two children, and what he worries about most are also his two children.

Gu An knew that Lin Haitang was afraid of him and didn't like him, and he was the same. Lin Haitang was not kind to the two children, and he knew it. The last time he saw the two children, they looked no different from beggars. He almost hit Lin Haitang, but finally endured it.

Lin Haitang's mind was not clear to begin with, and he couldn't argue with such a woman.

Gu An still remembers the hopeful look in his children's eyes when they first saw him. Even though he didn't like them at first, he had to admit that he had no resistance in the face of blood ties.

He pressed the ruler against the paper, dipped the tip of the pen in ink, and let the tip of the pen hover above the paper. After a long pause, Gu An began to reply.

I wrote to Lin Haitang first: "I'll discuss the divorce when I get home." Brother Liu sent a letter saying you're pregnant but want an abortion, but are you feeling unwell? Here's a hundred taels of silver. If you're worried about the money, don't worry. If you're feeling unwell, it's up to you whether the child lives or not. I miss Mo'er and Lan'er dearly, but I'm unsure when I'll be home. I hope you and your child take good care of yourselves.

The wind started to blow again, and even in the tent one could hear the whistling sound outside. The sound of the wind carried snowflakes as big as goose feathers, and dark clouds rolled up on the grassland where only dead grass roots were left.

Gu An took off his mask, revealing the uneven, ugly scar above his right eye. In the dim candlelight, it looked a bit scary. Even with these scars, you could still see that he had a beautiful face, and his delicate and cold temperament was very prominent. These scars added a hint of ruthlessness to him.

His skin is white and smooth without any scars. In this harsh environment, his skin is still much better than that of other soldiers. It can be seen that if it weren't for these scars, he would be a handsome young man.

Unfortunately, there is no if. Gu An has not gotten over the scar on his face, otherwise he would not have always worn a mask in public.

I still remember the first time I put on the mask. It was not comfortable. No matter how light the mask was, it was still heavy. After a long time, it would leave an indentation on my face, and my nose bridge and ears would also hurt. The inside of the mask was not soft either, and those rugged scars would be rubbed red or even bleed. It took Gu An a long time to get used to it.

He would only take off his mask when there was no one around or in front of people he was very close to.

Gu An only took off his mask in front of two people, his mother and Lin Haitang.

Needless to say, his mother was the one Gu An believed he had the most caring person. As for Lin Haitang, it was all because of that night when she scared him. He was dizzy at the time, and the mask was bothering him and making him uncomfortable, so he took it off, causing Lin Haitang a lot of trouble all night. When they both woke up, Gu An pursed his lips, picked up the discarded mask without a word, and put it on. He saw the frightened look on Lin Haitang's face.

Ever since the fire, Gu An had been looked at like this many times. There were expressions of sympathy, pity, disgust, and fear. He had long been immune to it, so he didn't say anything. He went to boil some hot water and brought it to Lin Haitang in the house. He didn't care about anything else.

Thinking about Lin Haitang's previous behavior, she was not clear-headed and had no feelings for her own children and did not know how to treat them well. How could such a woman write an article that impressed Liu Shuyun?

Looking at the paper, the handwriting was elegant and graceful, and the writing was very good. Needless to say, a lot of effort had been put into it. As for who wrote these words, Gu An still couldn't believe it was Lin Haitang, but if what Liu Shuyun said was true, this idea might be overturned. Then again, Liu Shuyun had no right to lie to him.

Gu An opened the curtain, and the swirling cold wind rushed into the tent, rolling up the letter paper on the table and making a crackling sound.

Not far away, patrolling soldiers were walking back and forth, wearing worn, thick cotton coats, with their hands crossed in their sleeves, their rifles tucked into the crook of their arms, a woolen hat on their heads, and a tattered gray scarf around their necks, leaving only a pair of eyes visible.

The weather was so cold that except for fighting when they were lightly dressed, the soldiers wore as much as they could at other times.

After a while, the heat in the tent was about to dissipate, and Gu An lowered the curtain to isolate the cold wind outside.

He added some charcoal to the charcoal basin, and the flames instantly enveloped the new food. He ate it happily and jumped around with joy.

Then he wrote back to Liu Shuyun, exchanged some pleasantries, and asked Liu Shuyun to take good care of his wife and children.

After putting the envelope aside, I'll have someone mail it tomorrow. At the earliest, it'll take at least half a month for it to reach Lin Haitang and Liu Shuyun.

It is very cold, and many of the Xiongnu's cattle and sheep will freeze to death. They will rush to Yixi City to loot before they run out of food, and many civilians will suffer. We must act before that happens and beat them so that they dare not come.

Yixi City was the northernmost city of the Dakang Dynasty. Beyond Yixi was the territory of the Huns.

This year, I can’t go home, Gu An thought.

The next day, Gu An's letter was delivered to the post station in Yixi City and flew to his distant hometown.

Lin Haitang has been staying in the gym in recent days. She doesn't think about Gu Mo, Gu Zhilan, or her life in the 21st century. She just eats, walks, and sleeps.

Today was the day when Taoist Sankong was doing morning prayers, and Lin Haitang sat with the other Taoists to listen. This was not the first time. At first, everyone was discussing among themselves, but after getting Taoist Sankong's permission, no one said anything anymore.

After class, Lin Haitang planned to take a walk in the bamboo forest and had no intention of greeting Taoist Sankong.

At the beginning, Lin Haitang was indeed depressed and wanted to pester the Taoist priest to find out the reason, but the Taoist priest was unmoved. She went crazy in the space for three days and no longer worried about it. She seemed to be detached from the world and didn't care about anything.

The bamboo remains green in winter, and its thin leaves are drooping under the weight of the snow. The snow will fall down with just the slightest vibration.

The cloak drifted across the bamboo body, and snow fell on the red cloak, on Lin Haitang's black hair, and on Lin Haitang's exposed neck. The snow was stained with body temperature and turned into water in a moment.

The snow was cold when it touched her skin, but Lin Haitang acted as if nothing had happened and continued to walk forward.

There is a stone pavilion in the bamboo forest, with a stone table in the middle and four stone benches around the stone table. Lin Haitang brushed off the snow on the stone benches with her sleeves, sat down leisurely, was slightly stunned, and stretched out her hand, which was not white or smooth, to write on the thick snow on the stone table.

Three simplified Chinese characters "Lin Haitang" appear on the snow.

"Miss Lin." It was the voice of Taoist Sankong.

Lin Haitang turned around and looked at him without saying a word.

"It's time for you to go back."

Lin Haitang didn't look at him again, and said with a fake smile: "Don't worry, Taoist priest, I have money. I won't live and eat for free. I will go to the Taoist temple and put some more money in the merit box later."

Sankong used a whisk to brush off the snow on the stone bench, sat down, and continued, "Your two children are not doing well now."

Lin Haitang's heart tightened, and then a wave of irritation dragged her to the bottom of the sea. She sneered and asked, "Master, do you know what I was like before?"

The three voids are silent.

"The real me is 28 years old," Lin Haitang said, tears welling up in her eyes and her voice choking. She took a deep breath to suppress her excitement and said, "It's the best time of my life. I have a job I've worked hard for for years and a social status I'm satisfied with. I've earned it for myself." The more she spoke, the more excited she became, and her sobs became louder. "I have a very happy family and savings. I had planned to take some time off to spend time with my parents and rest, but then I was suddenly brought here."

Tears rolled down her cheeks, and Lin Haitang's tone was filled with disbelief: "I've never been in a relationship, and I've never been married, but now I've inexplicably become a mother of two children."

"I have taken over this body, but this is not what I wanted. My soul is not the biological mother of those two children!"

"Oh, right," Lin Haitang said with a sarcastic smile, "There's another one in my belly right now. What's even more ridiculous is that I can't get rid of it even if I want to."

Turning around and wiping away the tears from her face, Lin Haitang asked, "Master, can you tell me why?"

"Could it be that I, Lin Haitang, committed some unforgivable crime in my previous life?"

Taoist Sankong looked at Lin Haitang with eyes full of pity and reluctance, but he advised: "Miss Lin, since you are here, you should make the best of it. Everything has its cause and effect. All we can do is move forward."

Just like time, what’s past is past, there’s no turning back.

Lin Haitang didn't say anything else. She wiped her tears and sat there expressionless. It was hard to tell that she had just cried.

"Miss Lin, you can't bear it." After saying that, Taoist Sankong left. His footsteps made no sound, just like a breeze blowing, leaving no trace.

Yes, Lin Haitang couldn’t bear it. She was kind by nature and couldn’t just ignore those two children.

Lin Haitang was competing with herself. Although she was obviously anxious, she forced herself to not stand up, just to see how long she could hold it in.

The more anxious she was, the more time went against her. It passed very, very, very slowly. Lin Haitang stretched out her hands and tapped the table. She told herself to count to ten thousand and then leave.

Lin Haitang counted faster and faster. She didn't know how much time had passed. When the number ten thousand settled in her mind, she suddenly stood up and walked out with big strides.

Her horse was kept in the backyard of the Taoist temple. After untying the rope, Lin Haitang touched the horse's head twice and jumped on it directly.

"drive!"

With a wave of the whip, the sound of horse hooves rang out, and they rushed out of the Taoist temple.

Lin Haitang's hands were red from the cold, the snow on her eyelashes was blown away by the wind brought by riding, her bright red cloak was blown by the wind, and her hair fluttered in the air.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Lin Haitang met Liu Shuyun who was about to go up the mountain.

"Uu——"

Lin Haitang reined in the horse and stopped it in front of Liu Shuyun's carriage. The horse neighed, exhaled two puffs of hot air, and moved its four hooves twice before steadying itself.

Liu Shuyun lifted the carriage curtain and dismounted, saying, "Miss Lin, I was just going to look for you, and I happened to run into you—"

Before he could finish, Lin Haitang interrupted him: "Where are Momo and Lanlan?"

"At the Liu Mansion," Liu Shuyun got off the car and stopped, looking at Lin Haitang's anxious and worried expression, and said, "Don't worry, nothing will happen to them at the Liu Mansion."

"How many days have you not been back to your home?" Lin Haitang asked with a frown.

"Almost five days." Liu Shuyun looked at Lin Haitang, whose brows were getting increasingly furrowed, and he also felt uneasy. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Momo and Lanlan?"

"Something happened to them." Lin Haitang answered with certainty.

Without saying a word, Liu Shuyun untied the horse from the carriage, climbed on top, and said, "I'll go back with you."

Led by Liu Shuyun, the two men rode their horses to the Liu Mansion.

Both of them were a little anxious. After getting off the horses, they didn't bother to lead the horses to the mansion, nor did they bother to talk to the servants who came up. They walked in with frowns, striding towards the Yangyuan with big strides.

Before I even entered the yard, I heard a commotion.

"Gu, why don't you get out of here right now? Do you want to be beaten again?"

Lin Haitang and Liu Shuyun looked at each other and quickly ran over.

"Don't think you're great just because you have a maid backing you up. She's my maid, and she still has to listen to me!"

"Young Master He! Do you want to play on the swings? There are many in Tinghe Courtyard. Can I ask someone to take you there?"

When entering the yard, Liu Shuyun finally heard an extremely familiar voice. It was Caiyun.