30 A Knock on the Door (2/2)

In all honesty, she believed that Madam Lin did not care whether they lived or survived. It was merely a comment that she had made on the carriage.

Soon, as expected, there was a knock at the door, and Ru An, played the dutiful role of a servant, opening the door, to be met with suspicion.

”Who's there?” A voice called out.

There was no need to call out, they could all see her and she could see them, there was no need to say a word at all.

[This was clearly a small hut, yet there was a maidservant here, along with her mistress who is dressed in the finest clothes imported from the south.]

Seeing the two lost in thought, Ru An frowned. It was fine allowing her to stand there, but how could she continue allowing the cold wind to seep into the hut.

”Who are you?' She asked.

The young man dressed in brocade let out a cough: ”This young lady, we are merchants, and were unfortunate enough to get robbed on our way to the capital, would you be so kind as to allow us to stay the night?”

It was truly an awkward feeling for him to explain to a maid, yet he knew that she would be at the door until she deemed that he would not be a threat to her mistress.

”Ru An, let them in.” Madam Lin said with a gentle smile.

”Thank you.” The man dressed in brocade said as he pulled his wounded guard into the warm hut.

Madam Lin's gentle smile froze as she saw the young man's face and those eyes. She could feel her breathing speed up as she immediately tried to calm herself down.

Once again, an amiable smile graced her lips as she offered them some delicious stew.

”Young man, we were just in the middle of having dinner, would you care for some?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, kindly gesturing towards the pot that was still warm, over the dying fire.

”It's kind of you.” The young man nodded and agreed to eat some.

Madam Lin smiled a gentle smile full of motherly love, carefully laddeling some into two plain wooden bowls and giving it to the two men.

Xiao Wu looked at his master, preparing to caution him, when he saw his young master take the bowl and put it up to his lips, downing the bowl completely.

Once he saw his master completely drink the contents of the bowl without question, he placed the bowl up to his lips and drank it too.

To his surprise, it was not as crude as he expected from a hut in the forest, the stew was fragrant and the meat, tender and chewy when it entered his mouth. The wild vegetables made for good compliments to each other, with neither too overtaking.