Zhou Xiaolian bit her lips and looked at Qin Yining. She could see Qin Yining's concern and sincerity. Finally, she nodded. "I, I'll listen to you, sister."
"Good." Qin Yining smiled and said, "Then, you must promise to listen to me in the future. After we go out, you will stay by my side. I will teach you how to read and how to live in the outside world. You must also promise me that you won't leave me, okay? "
"Okay." Zhou Xiaolian nodded heavily.
Qin Yining thought for a while and said, "Don't forget your roots. From now on, you will be called Lian Xiaozhou, okay?"
"Lian Xiaozhou?" Zhou Xiaolian's eyes widened. "Lotus seed porridge."
Qin Yining didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's the Lian with the surname Lian. If anyone asks you in the future, you can say that your surname is Lian and that your father was a hunter in the mountains. He has passed away now. I met you in the mountains by chance and took you out. Your name is Xiaozhou, which is your original surname. In fact, I just reversed your name. "
"Lian, my surname is Lian. Father is a hunter. My name is Xiaozhou, lotus seed porridge. Lotus seed porridge is delicious, so I'll call it lotus seed porridge. "
Qin Yining felt that he had lost to her.
This child had a deep obsession with lotus seed porridge.
But since she liked it, why not call her Lian Xiaozhou?
Beiji had been destroyed, so Princess Yongfu and the tyrant's favorite little princess Zhou Xiaolian no longer existed in the world.
The heavy past was a shackle to this child.
Since he had decided to start over, he would give her a name that had nothing to do with the past. It might be a good thing for her to forget those memories.
"Okay, then from now on, you will be called Lian Xiaozhou. Lian as in lotus seed porridge."
Zhou Xiaolian, who should now be called Lian Xiaocong, nodded her head heavily and smiled with her eyes curved.
Qin Yining smiled and said, "Alright, let's eat first. When we're full, I'll boil some water for you to take a bath." She found a large wooden basin behind the house. It must have been specially prepared by the "uncle" in the past.
Lian Xiaozhou chewed the moderately salty roasted sparrow and drank the rabbit soup, nodding repeatedly.
Qin Yining did not know how the child had lived all these years. Anyway, he had prepared the bathwater. Once the child entered the water, the water turned completely black.
Just to wash his hair, he used three big wooden basins of water. Wiping his body was needless to say.
In any case, Qin Yining just kept adding firewood to the stove and bringing snow back. The water in the wooden tub was dirty, so she let Lian Xiaozhou wrap her cloak around her and wait for the water to boil before continuing to wash.
After tossing and turning like this until the afternoon, a fair, tender, and beautiful child was standing in front of her.
Because of malnutrition, the nine-year-old child looked like she was only seven or eight years old. Her hair was a bit yellow, but it was very soft and smooth. Her face was white and tender, and her round cat eyes were moist and bright. When she smiled, her eyes turned into crescents. There was also a pair of small dimples on her rosy cheeks, just like Qin Yining's.
If people did not know, they would probably believe that Lian Xiaozhou was Qin Yining's biological sister.
Qin Yining took out a few of the "uncle's" unlined clothes from the cloth bundle and temporarily gave them to Lian Xiaozhou to wear. She wrapped her own jacket tightly around her and let her play in the house by herself. After that, he washed the clothes that she was originally wearing from the inside out and hung them outside the house to dry. Then, he cleaned himself up as well.
By the time she was done, it was already dark.
Qin Yining heated the rabbit soup and the two of them ate together. Qin Yining used her five fingers as a comb and combed Lian Xiaozhou's hair.
Children's hair was soft and smooth, so it was very easy to take care of. She combed Lian Xiaozhou's hair into two twisted braids, removed the light blue ribbon that decorated her skirt, and tied two beautiful bows on the ends of the braids.
Lian Xiaozhou happily played with her own hair. She simply loved it so much that she could not bear to part with it.
When they went to bed at night, Lian Xiaozhou snuggled into Qin Yining's arms. She hugged her and was unwilling to let go. She kept saying, "Hello, Older Sister. I like Older Sister."
Qin Yining's heart softened when he heard this. He was even more determined to keep her identity a secret. He could not allow anything that could threaten her safety to happen!
Two days later, Lian Xiaozhou's clothes were completely dry. Qin Yining dressed her properly and wrapped her in a clean animal skin. Lian Xiaozhou, who was not afraid of the cold, took Qin Yining to hunt in the mountains.
When Qin Yining and Lian Xiaozhou were hunting, they constantly paid attention to their surroundings to see if anyone had left any traces behind. After confirming that the pursuers were not nearby, she used the few times she went out to bring back the skeletons of the "uncle" and the other three Zhou Dynasty soldiers. She buried them in the forest downwind behind the house.
"Little Congee, we should leave this place."
This morning, Qin Yining solemnly said to Lian Xiaozhou, "Before we leave, I must burn everything here, including the secrets of your past. This is because I cannot let anyone have the opportunity to find out about your past."
Lian Xiaozhou nodded. She did not have any objections. She had been very happy with Qin Yining these past few days. She also knew that Qin Yining was sincerely doing this for her own good.
Qin Yining and Lian Xiaozhou packed up their luggage.
In the end, Qin Yining burned the letter that the tyrant had written to the "uncle". He used a machete to dig out the frozen soil at the corner of the wooden house. After spending a lot of effort, he dug a deep hole and buried the imperial jade seal in it. Then, he set the wooden house on fire.
Lian Xiaozhou pulled Qin Yining's hand and pointed at the wooden house anxiously, "Sister, there's a fire."
"Yes. Don't be afraid. It's snowing heavily now. Although the fire will burn, it won't destroy the entire forest. Also, I've observed that the wind has been blowing from the northwest recently. As long as we face the wind, the fire won't burn us. Sister, you've been in the mountains for so many days. There must be people outside looking for me. The bad guys who wanted to kidnap me must have retreated by now. Sister's family will know that I'm here when they see so much smoke.
Lian Xiaozhou did not understand half of what Qin Yining was saying, but she still nodded obediently.
Qin Yining watched as the entire wooden house was set ablaze. Even the forest where she had buried the four corpses was burning. She could finally relax a little.
Although she had caused a forest fire, she felt very sorry for the small animals in the mountains.
However, in order to save Lian Xiaozhou's life, she had to destroy all evidence that could expose her past.
This included the uncle, the three soldiers, the military uniforms, the letter, and the imperial jade seal.
The imperial jade seal could not be destroyed by fire. Qin Yining also could not carry the imperial jade seal with her.
If she did not need it in the future, then it might not be a bad thing to leave the imperial jade seal in the mountains.
If she needed it in the future, it would not be difficult to find the origin of the fire. She would be able to get the imperial jade seal by digging up the wooden house.
Qin Yining had already planned everything properly. After confirming that there was nothing left out, she brought Lian Xiaozhou to hide.
At the same time, Pang Xiao, who had been searching in the mountains for five or six days, looked in the direction of the billowing black smoke and finally revealed a relieved smile.
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