Chapter 187: Autumn Has Arrived, Osmanthus Thins

In the courtyard, on the blue‑brick floor, Mu Rong Miao Zhen, dressed in a white martial outfit, moved like a swimming dragon, her long spear flying.

Where the spear tip passed, a gust of forceful wind rose, causing the surrounding flowers and branches to sway, petals fluttering down, and a faint sweet fragrance rose amid the light scent of earth.

Niu Dingtian's footsteps had just entered the courtyard; his eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of sharp light flashing in them.

In an instant, the technique snapped violently, the long spear becoming a dragon that roared out, its tip slashing through the rain curtain, charging straight toward Niu Dingtian's face.

Yet this fierce move, when it reached Niu Dingtian's eyes, seemed as feeble and soft as a child's play.

With a slight flick of his curved finger, a surge of energy shot from his fingertip, striking the spear tip directly.

"Ding~"

The clashing metal rang through the courtyard, and Mu Rong Miao Zhen was instantly shocked, her wrist going numb.

Suddenly, the long spear slipped from her hand and flew, and amid the whistling sound it skewed into the osmanthus thicket.

"Sister Miao Zhen, are you planning to murder your husband?" Niu Dingtian crossed his arms over his chest, smiling as he walked toward Mu Rong Miao Zhen.

Mu Rong Miao Zhen snapped back to her senses, met his faintly flickering gaze, and immediately felt uneasy.

"Hmph~"

Regaining her composure, she let out a light hum, quickly tore off the tight martial shirt clinging to her skin, and turned to walk back into the house.

Compared to Niu Dingtian, who seemed untouched by the rain, her martial outfit had already been soaked through by the lingering drizzle.

If it were as usual—no one in the courtyard, daily morning training uninterrupted—she wouldn't care even if the rain grew heavier now.

She never expected that Niu Dingtian, who hadn't entered her courtyard for half a year, would suddenly visit at the crack of dawn.

"What a cheap shot at his dog eyes!" Mu Rong Miao Zhen thought resentfully.

She then ignored Niu Dingtian behind her, slammed the house door shut with a "bang", removed her martial attire and undergarments, stepped with her long graceful legs, and slipped her proud body into the bathtub that had been prepared beforehand.

After a short while, the bathwater splashed, her hair bun loosened, and she was already languid and content, a faint blush spreading across her face.

"Did you leave?" Mu Rong Miao Zhen's slender fingers brushed the bathwater, tracing her collarbone and chest, and she whispered to herself.

The spear she had just thrust carried some resentment; she had expected that whether Niu Dingtian was angry or not, he would come after her and bang on the door, but outside, only the pattering rain fell, and there was no other sound for a long while.

Through the Green Phoenix Mirror in front of the bathtub, she surveyed the doors and windows, yet saw no eyes peeking.

"What marriage engagement? In his eyes I'm just stolen clothing, worn at will, discarded at will—a prisoner he doesn't care about at all," Mu Rong Miao Zhen couldn't help a sigh, her bright eyes gradually dimming.

In these times, marriage hinges on parental decree and matchmakers' words; with parents absent, the elder brother naturally acts as a father.

Even though she was forcibly taken here, she was still betrothed publicly by her brother.

Now both her person and her status lie in Niu Dingtian's hands, yet he keeps her cold here; he hasn't shown up for half a year. Thus, her place in his heart is easy to imagine.

"Looks like I have to find a way to escape," Mu Rong Miao Zhen thought, her hand on the soft garment covering her chest, unintentionally pausing.

Thinking of this, she murmured, "Even if I die killing the Tatars on the battlefield, it's better than being trapped here like a canary. He already has a harem of women; even a noble aunt wouldn't be surprised by him."

"As long as I escape back to Shandong, hide in the Red Vest Army, can the one surnamed Niu still break into the camp and take me?"

Speaking, she couldn't help letting out a light hum, and the dimness in her eyes seemed to start fading.

However, at that moment, a faint voice suddenly came from behind her: "Sister Miao Zhen, where do you want to go?"

"Who!" Mu Rong Miao Zhen's pretty face changed, she turned her head and shouted coquettishly, and at the same time, with a "whoosh" sound, she suddenly stood up in the bathtub.

But when she recovered, her blossom‑like face turned pale in an instant, and she hurriedly covered her proud chest and crouched back into the water.

Afterward, ashamed and angry, her face flushed red, she shouted toward the outside, "When did you come in! No looking! Get out quickly!"

"Naturally I came in with Sister Miao Zhen," Niu Dingtian bowed his head, stood at the desk, and lifted his brush.

When the brushstroke ended, he glanced at the paper, looking very satisfied, then grasped the brush again and leisurely recited: "Embroidered boudoir fragrance swirls, a charming girl stirs the bath. Jade skin like solidified fat gleams like pearls, a slanted hairpin unadjusted, posture elegant."

"Warm smoke gently caresses the shy face, autumn eyes angry, scolding, yet tender. It stirs the water ripples, the heart in turmoil, after the bath the flowers bloom even more beautifully."

After reciting, Niu Dingtian turned his head, looked at the Mu Rong Miao Zhen whose half head protruded from the bathtub, and asked with a smile, "Sister Miao Zhen, how did I do with this poem?"

Hearing that, Mu Rong Miao Zhen was mortified, her beautiful eyes seeming ready to burst into flame; clinging tightly to the tub rim, she couldn't help extending a snow‑white arm and, pointing at Niu Dingtian, shouted angrily, "You! You are shameless!"

"The one surnamed Niu!"

"You get out right now!"

While berating him, she nearly wanted to burst out of the tub and swallow the scoundrel whole.

Although Mu Rong Miao Zhen was adept at brandishing a spear and riding a horse across battlefields, she also came from a respectable lineage and had read poetry and books.

How could she not hear the lewd, fragrant undertones in those lines, a true depiction of her jade‑like body emerging from the water.

Niu Dingtian shook his head, looked at the verses on the desk, and sighed softly, "I haven't read the Spring and Autumn Classics for over a decade, and now I can only produce these cloyingly perfumed, oily pieces."

"But for a woman like Sister Miao Zhen, who can make a distinguished innate master pick up a brush to compose poetry, she truly is one of a kind."

"I even gave your brother the betrothal gifts and dowry, yet you still think of sneaking away—are you trying to cheat the marriage? According to Great Song law, you'd be imprisoned and beaten."

After speaking, Niu Dingtian glanced sideways, his gaze landing on her drippingly beautiful face, with a hint of mockery.

Mu Rong Miao Zhen, seeing this, her pretty face suddenly froze in shame and anger, and unconsciously her aura weakened a few points.

No!

How could the aunt be in the wrong? Realizing, she shouted, "Nonsense! Utter rubbish! When did I ever say I would escape!"

"It was you who trespassed into a daughter's inner chamber, spying on someone bathing! You are shameless! You are vulgar! You have disgraced a generation of masters!"

"When did I ever spy?" Niu Dingtian didn't argue, looking closely into her eyes, "I came over with good intentions to see you, and you just stabbed me with a spear, how could—"

Mu Rong Miao Zhen lifted her eyes to meet his, but her gaze kept darting away; she bit her lip, her jade cheeks flushed red, and she said irrationally:

"You didn't even stab me; at most you'd let me stab once, yet you wouldn't allow it!"

Niu Dingtian hummed, "I didn't even peek at you; at most I'd let you look once, yet you wouldn't permit it."

"You!" Mu Rong Miao Zhen, angry, pointed at Niu Dingtian with a furious stare; she had never seen anyone so brazen! In the end, she suppressed her fury into a coquettish shout: "Get out!"

Niu Dingtian ignored her, took out a sheet of paper, laid it on the desk, and while lifting his brush continued to write, he said softly, "You are my woman; what does it matter if I look at you a few times? In the past few months I've been swamped, even had no time to return to the mountain, let alone come to see you."

"Since we now have a status, you must stay faithfully by my side, nowhere else allowed. If you dare run off to steal a man, I will kill your brother and then wipe out the Red Vest Army."

"You're the one trying to steal a man!" Mu Rong Miao Zhen, both embarrassed and angry, was so furious that she directly...

She had been pampered by her father and brothers since childhood, and was also treated with respect and reverence; when had she ever suffered such humiliation and slander? Thinking of the grievance, her eyes reddened and she choked out, "You, Niu… you are shameless!"

Niu Dingtian, seeing a good moment to stop, said warmly, "I only wanted to give Sister Murong Miaozhen a reminder; I cannot tolerate sand in my eyes. But since you are my woman, I will do my best to cherish you. You should practice martial arts and study military strategy. When the time is ripe, within the next one or two years I will let you command a unit, experience the feeling of being a female general. If you become capable enough, later you could even become my female marshal, not impossible."

As his words fell, Niu Dingtian's brushstroke also ceased; he glanced at Murong Miaozhen, saw her red‑eyed stare, surprised and dazed, and smiled while reciting:

"In the embroidered inner chamber, fragrance fills the room, the delicate maiden lightly stirs the bath."

"Jade skin, condensed fat, water shimmering bright, a slanting hairpin not yet set, graceful."

"Warm mist swirls, brushing the shy face, heart intoxicated by this scene, a dream of celestial vines."

"Originally a mortal's stunning beauty, after washing the flower face, even more a nation‑toppling beauty."

"You…"

Murong Miaozhen snapped back to herself, hearing the last two lines, instantly both shy and embarrassed, angry and urgent, pointed at Niu Dingtian, her face reddening again.

"How could I? I've saved nineteen years of ink and poured it all on you, Sister Murong Miaozhen, what else are you dissatisfied with?"

Murong Miaozhen subconsciously froze, not knowing why, wanted to get angry but could not summon any fire.

She suppressed her shame, bit her lip, glanced at Niu Dingtian, hesitated, then, somewhat awkwardly, asked, "You… what you just said is really true?"

"Become my female general?"

"Hmm~"

"Naturally it's true."

"Then you go out first."

"…"

Niu Dingtian suddenly felt a surge of literary inspiration.

His gaze fell on a painting scroll on the wall; his eyes suddenly brightened, and he promptly lifted his brush, dipped in ink, concentrated, and began to write on the large blank area.

"Stop!"

Murong Miaozhen saw this, let out a startled cry, hurriedly rose, almost leaping out of the bathtub.

Reacting, she instantly squatted, her voice sweet yet scolding, "You, Niu! How dare you defile my thing, aunt! I'll stab you dead with a spear!"

"That was left to me by my father! My elder brother just sent someone to deliver it! Quickly take away your stinky Niu hooves!"

Yet, no matter how she cursed, Niu Dingtian remained as if in meditation, deaf to her words.

If one looked closely, besides the brush and wrist still moving slowly, his whole body seemed ethereal, as if about to merge into the void.

Half a quarter hour later,

The wrist dropped the brush, the curses abruptly ceased, Murong Miaozhen raised her powder‑pink fist and punched the water surface, sorrowfully closing her eyes.

Meanwhile, Niu Dingtian's face looked fatigued; he exhaled heavily, a few beads of sweat appeared on his nose and forehead.

Putting down the brush, he turned slowly toward Murong Miaozhen, smiled lightly and said, "My characters have been successfully written; if my uncle, who knows beneath the spring, should also thank the ancestors of the Murong family."

"But remember, this painting shall bear the Niu name in the future, a perfect heirloom for our future children."

"Pah!"

Murong Miaozhen opened her eyes, beautiful eyes shy and angry, her face reddening, she glared fiercely, spat, "Who wants to have children with you! You ruined my painting!"

Seeing Niu Dingtian's steps never cease, even moving toward the bathtub, she suddenly felt a bit cowardly, hurriedly shouted, "You stop! You, you, you, you go out first! I don't want you to ruin it!"

But Niu Dingtian seemed unaware, his eyes flickered, still moving forward, softly said, "Sister Murong Miaozhen just said… whose aunt are you? And who wants to stab me with a spear?"

Murong Miaozhen hurriedly pulled her slender pink neck back into the bath; fortunately the water contained fragrance and herbs, milky white, with hidden spots.

She lifted her flushed pretty face, hair disheveled, loosely coiled into a knot, with a jade hairpin slanted, about to fall.

When Niu Dingtian reached the bathtub, her eyes panicked, completely bewildered, she stared wide‑eyed at him, unknowingly her pink chin was lifted.

"Open your mouth!"

Murong Miaozhen felt her mind blank, instinctively opened her mouth.

When she regained composure and hurriedly closed her mouth, she felt two foreign objects had somehow been shot into her mouth, and in panic she swallowed them.

"Cough cough~"

"Bastard!"

"What did you feed me!"

Murong Miaozhen quickly lifted half of her snow‑white body, opened her mouth, kept picking at her lips.

Yet before Niu Dingtian could glance twice, she, cheeks red, hurriedly squatted again, angry‑shy, "You… bastard!"

At this moment, she suddenly had an urge to rush out and fight this dog thief, unknowingly having been glanced at a few times by the fellow, and facing him honestly felt somehow different.

Niu Dingtian smiled, "Since I entered, I've only seen you once; you exposed yourself to me. You are my little lady, sooner or later it's bound to happen."

Saying that, Niu Dingtian turned and walked outward, without looking back, "When you go back, remember to find your sister Jin'er, let her teach you a decent inner‑cultivation method, quickly refine the energy within your body."

As his words fell, he disappeared at the doorway while Murong Miaozhen stared dumbfounded.

Clearly, Murong Miaozhen at this moment also felt the abnormality inside her body.

When she regained composure, she hurriedly rose, stepped out of the bathtub, put on clothes; this set of actions was far faster than usual.

She rushed to the outer room, looked up at the wall painting scroll, and the next moment she was instantly stunned.

In the portrait his father personally painted for her, the blank area contained a few short lines of text, like iron hooks and silver paintings, as if a handful of swords drawn from their scabbards, sharp and awe‑inspiring, the faint aura they emitted made it hard to stare for long.

When she endured the eye discomfort and barely finished reading, a flower‑like pretty face instantly turned bright red.

She smiled faintly, glanced toward the doorway, her eyebrows and eyes curved, unable to help but stroke a tangled strand of hair on her chest and began to chant:

"Poppy, expressing love"

"Autumn has arrived, osmanthus thin, each petal urges the falling. Slanting wind, fine rain erode the morning, yet the world still has unreturned people."

"Silver paper full of words of that time, tightly bound hearts together. For her I wish to be a dream person, only call true true in the night of the painting."

"…"

"…"

PS: Again, declare that there will be no cutting of the book; the earlier content this month has basically been revised, and we will improve the foreshadowing and character personalities. It is being revised word by word, sentence by sentence, chapter by chapter; some chapters will even be completely replaced. (End of chapter)