The richest woman committed a crime with her child - Chapter 15

In the northern suburbs of Yingtian Prefecture, a pile of firewood burned fiercely, with many flying insects swirling around the flames.

Slap!

Xu Mei smacked a mosquito that had bitten her through her gauzy clothing and sighed, “The mosquitoes here are about to carry me away. I should have worn coarse cloth this morning.”

“How about I take off my clothes and give them to you to wear?” Wu Mengying tugged at the front of her male attire and laughed. “What I’m wearing is thicker than what you have on.”

Xu Mei was tempted but said, “But your clothes are a bit ugly. I don’t wear ugly clothes.”

“It’s just you and me here. Your beauty is already etched in my heart, and it won’t fade just because of ugly clothes. So, don’t be shy. I’ll take them off for you right now.”

After Wu Mengying took off her outer garment, she draped it over Xu Mei, then lay down on the leaves and said, “I’ll take a short nap. When you want to sleep, wake me up, and I’ll take over the night watch.”

“Okay.”

Xu Mei touched the clothes on her body, feeling their thickness and practicality. She then glanced at her delicate hands and quickly tucked them into the thick garment.

She moved closer to Wu Mengying, lying down beside her, and looked up at the starry sky. Originally, she had planned to count the stars—one star, two stars—to pass the time. However, because teaching Wu Mengying had drained too much of her energy and strength, her eyes gradually closed, and she fell asleep while counting.

In her sleep, the buzzing of mosquitoes filled the air. Yielding to the instinct to avoid being bitten, she rolled even closer to Wu Mengying.

Not long after, the sound of galloping hooves approached.

Ten zhang (about 33 meters) away, Shen Youting pulled on the reins of his horse, his gaze indifferent as he watched the flickering firelight.

The horse beneath him had a sleek, jet-black mane, a purebred steed capable of traveling a thousand li (about 500 kilometers) in a day.

The Xu family guard woke up to the sound of hoofbeats and, recognizing Shen Youting, immediately stepped forward and greeted him respectfully, “Young Master Shen, you’ve arrived.”

Shen Youting dismounted, handed the reins to the guard, and asked in a calm voice, “Why didn’t you take the young lady back?”

“The young lady said that since she’ll be practicing again tomorrow, it’s too troublesome to go back and forth, so she decided not to return tonight.”

“Practicing what?”

“Riding horses,” the guard replied, pointing toward the sleeping Wu Mengying. “The young lady spent the entire day today teaching that Mr. Wu how to ride. Mr. Wu is quite timid and couldn’t even get on the horse by himself. The young lady had to pull him up and sit behind him, teaching him hands-on…”

As he spoke, he realized he might have said too much and glanced at Shen Youting’s expression. Seeing no reaction, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “It seems the young lady likes Mr. Wu.”

Shen Youting’s eyes darkened slightly. He instructed the guard, “Stay here and keep watch,” then strode toward the two.

Xu Mei had covered her head with Wu Mengying’s clothes, her hands and feet curled up beneath the garment.

Originally, she was taller than Wu Mengying, but now, curled up like this, she appeared shorter than Wu Mengying, who was lying flat.

Shen Youting stood beside her, looking down at the curled-up woman, his dark eyes filled with an unreadable glint.

Xu Mei rolled over again, moving even closer to Wu Mengying, her head resting against Wu Mengying’s shoulder.

Suddenly, the clothes Wu Mengying had lent her were pulled off and thrown beside the fire. The sparks crackling from the firewood landed on the clothes, immediately leaving behind several small black holes.

Shen Youting bent down and picked up Xu Mei in his arms.

Xu Mei suddenly opened her eyes and recognized the expressionless man in the firelight.

“Go back to sleep,” Shen Youting said softly, looking into her eyes.

Xu Mei closed her eyelids again, her breathing even.

She seemed to be in a deep sleep.

Her brief moment of opening her eyes felt like an illusion.