General's humble stand-in

The maroon horse galloped towards the rear grain cart like an arrow that left the string.

Gu Yan regretted a little, and blamed herself for bringing him out for a moment of soft-heartedness.How could he endure this long journey, even though he was accompanied by an imperial physician, there was a famine in Liangzhou, and the harsh environment was not suitable for recuperation.

The grain trucks had already stopped, and a group of people gathered together.

When Gu Yan got off his horse, he stepped on the ice, and his steps were impatient and unsteady. If it wasn't for the fact that he was still holding the rein in his hand, he would have almost slipped and fell to the ground.

"Get out of the way, the general is coming."

Following the shouts, the crowded crowd immediately flashed a path.

Gu Yan stepped forward quickly, knelt down on one knee and hugged the fainted person in her arms, "Tao..."

Seeing the face of the person in his arms, Gu Yan changed the subject, "Send the imperial physician over here."

It was a false alarm, it wasn't Tao Zhuo at all.

Standing up, Gu Yan exhaled slowly to calm down the anxiety just now.Then when he raised his head, he saw that little thing standing opposite to him, holding a piece of steamed bun in his hand and kept sending it to his mouth, watching the fun with the others with relish.

Gu Yan glared at him angrily, and when her eyes accidentally passed over the people around Tao Zhuo, she was surprised and felt that her heart was not well after being tossed by them.

Holding the whip tightly in his hand, Gu Yan stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "You two come with me."

The forests on both sides of the official road were dense and snow-covered, and the three of them waded through the white snow to stay away from the crowd. Occasionally, fine snow fell from the trees, and their hair was dyed white.

Stopping in her tracks, Gu Yan turned around and bowed her hands in salute, "Your Highness, Third Prince."

Xiao Mu, who was dressed as a soldier like Tao Zhuo, raised his forehead, "General Gu, you don't need to be too polite."

"Why is Your Highness here?" Gu Yan frowned.

The matter of disaster relief was originally intended by the emperor to be practiced by the fifth prince, so other princes must not be allowed to intervene.If his identity is exposed, not only will the third prince be punished, but he may also be involved.The emperor is very suspicious, forming a party for personal gain is a felony.

Knowing that he had done something wrong, Xiao Mu drooped his slender eyelashes, clenching his fingers slightly and replied in embarrassment, "Huan'er must be pestering me to go to Liangzhou together, and only Huan'er treats me well on weekdays. I only feel sorry for him. I couldn't bear his sadness, so I took the risk to follow him, and I ask General Gu not to be blamed, and I also ask the general to hide it for me, so that others don't know."

— Pang Taozhuo tore off a small piece of steamed bun and stuffed it into the palm of Xiao Muwei's hand, "The general won't blame you, the general also couldn't bear my sadness, so he brought me here secretly."

so what?Am I holding onto each other with Xiao Mu?Gu Yan helplessly stared at Tao Zhuo again, not knowing what was in his little head, and casually exposed his shortcomings.

"Of course I don't know how to show off, and I ask the third prince to pay attention to his identity, and don't make it difficult for us courtiers."

"Yes." Xiao Mu nodded obediently, "Xiao Mu remember."

Gu Yan didn't say anything else, and walked towards the official road, Tao Zhuo and Xiao Mu hurriedly followed.

Gu Yan never liked the third prince very much, always felt that although he was young, he was very scheming, not as innocent as the fifth prince.

Gu Yan was born in the general family and didn't understand the dangers in the palace. Xiao Mu was helpless and a prince since he was a child.

If there is a choice in life, Xiao Mu also wants to live a simple life like Huan Er.

After walking a few steps, Gu Yan turned around and looked at Tao Zhuo.I saw that although he was stepping on the footprints left by himself, he still seemed to be walking clumsily.

"Come up." Gu Yan squatted down.

Although his complexion was not very good and his tone was displeased, he still carried Tao Zhuo all the way until he caught up with the slowly advancing team before letting him go.

Fortunately, there were no other delays along the way. When night fell, we arrived in Liangzhou, and the local officials were already waiting at the post station.

Zhao Chengwen, the county magistrate of Liangzhou, nodded and bowed to welcome Xiao Heng, Gu Yan, and Xu Tianlei into the wing room on the second floor.I saw that the banquet had been prepared, and several gentry from Liangzhou knelt here to welcome him.

Xiao Heng has never suffered, but today he was so exhausted that he didn't even have a mouthful of hot food.Suddenly seeing a table full of big fish and meat, he hurried forward and stuffed a piece of stewed meat into his mouth.

He just chewed a few mouthfuls and frowned suddenly, and asked, "Isn't Liangzhou suffering from famine and lack of silver taels? Isn't the food on this table too extravagant?"

Zhao Chengwen hastily explained, "I can't afford it. I didn't hear that His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince and the General came here. These rich locals in Liangzhou pooled their money to specially prepare such a table of good wine and food. Please invite Your Highness Don't be disgusted."

Xiao Heng had no idea what had happened, so he could only turn his attention to Gu Yan.

"Your Highness, if you eat people, you will treat them softly. There are dining standards for receiving officials in the post station. Even the prince can only have five dishes, one soup, three meat and three vegetables." Gu Yan reminded aloud.

Swallowing his saliva at the delicious food on the table, Xiao Heng closed his eyes cruelly, "Leave, and exchange for the food at the post station."

"Your Highness, General..."

Zhao Chengwen wanted to explain in a hurry, but Gu Yan said in a cold voice, "Master Zhao should do as His Highness said, the people in Liangzhou are hungry now, if I touch your banquet with His Highness, wouldn't it be like smoking The flesh and blood of the people. If Mr. Zhao has a lot of money, please do more work for the court and benefit the people during the disaster relief."

"Yes, yes." Zhao Chengwen nodded repeatedly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Gu Yan turned her head and whispered a few words in Xu Tianlei's ear, Xu Tianlei said "ah" in surprise, then nodded and left the room.

In a short while, two people were brought back behind him.

Gu Yan explained to Zhao Chengwen, "This is His Highness's confidant, and they are going to eat with His Highness, and please Master Zhao to prepare a separate residence for them."

Tao Zhuo suppressed the smile on the corner of his mouth, no matter how he looked at Gu Yan, he felt that he was handsome and extraordinary, even when he was telling nonsense in a serious manner, he was so handsome and heart-warming.

During the meeting, it was inevitable to talk about the disaster, and as they talked, they mentioned that the last time there was a famine, it was eight years ago.

Zhao Chengwen said, "The official who went to Lin County to relieve the disaster was Mo Heng, a university scholar. He heard that he had embezzled millions of taels of disaster relief money, so he was ransacked and exiled later."

There was a "crash", and the bowls and chopsticks fell on the ground startled everyone.Gu Yan slapped the table and stood up, her phoenix eyes were bloodshot like a raging beast.

"Master Mo was innocent all his life, how could he allow you to frame him. If you dare to talk nonsense, don't blame me for being rude."

After finishing speaking, he walked away angrily, leaving everyone to look at the trembling Zhao Chengwen with blank faces.

Tao Zhuo lightly blinked her almond eyes, then turned her head and asked Xu Tianlei in a low voice, "What is the relationship between Mr. Mo and Mo Ziping?"

"Oh, it's his father." Xu Tianlei explained for Tao Zhuo.

No wonder...

Tao Zhuo lowered his head and smiled wryly, even his relative Gu Yan was also protecting him, anyone who was related to Mo Zizhi was Gu Chan's restricted area.What about Mo Zizhi?It must be the reverse scale on his body, no one can touch it.

The moonlight is clear, reflecting each other with the white snow in the world.

Xiao Mu took off the heavy soldier's armor and put on a suit of normal clothes. He was about to turn off the lights and take a rest when he heard a knock on the door.

"Third brother." Xiao Heng's clear voice came in.

"Enter."

As the door was pushed open, Xiao Heng, who was wearing a yellow Shu brocade robe and embraced a jade pillow, walked in, and before he could speak, he sneezed.

Xiao Mu hastily stepped forward and closed the door tightly to prevent the cold wind from intruding.

"You don't sleep at night, what are you doing in my room?" He asked, but he had already stretched out his hand to lead Xiao Heng to the bedside.

"I can't sleep." Xiao Heng rubbed his big round eyes, looking pitiful, "Usually, my concubine hums a song to coax me to sleep, but now that my concubine is not here, I can't sleep."

A little bit of envy and jealousy flashed in Xiao Mu's eyes, but it quickly returned to normal, as if he had never shown any emotion.

"Then what should I do?" Xiao Mu smiled, "I don't know how to hum."

"Third brother." Xiao Heng looked up at Xiao Mu with a small face full of grievances, like a little milk dog being bullied, his round eyes almost blinked tears.

Xiao Mu had nothing to do with him, and said helplessly, "Go to bed and lie down, I will sing for you."

Sitting on the edge of the bed and patting Xiao Heng, Xiao Mu hummed a tune that was incomplete in his memory.

It seems that there was someone who patted Xiao Mu and hummed the tune like this when I was a child, but the memory of that person was blurred later, and the tune was also broken.

Gradually, the tenderness in Xiao Mu's eyes turned into Linglie's hatred, and his handsome appearance was stained with a layer of distortion by the memories.His mother was just an unfavored court lady, but she still couldn't escape the bad luck and was forced to death in Yeyouting.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of tiles colliding on the roof, and vaguely heard someone scolding, "Damn it, it's so slippery, it scared me."

After interrupting all the memories, Xiao Mu looked down at Xiao Heng, only to see that he was sleeping soundly, with a trace of saliva on his lips.

Standing up, Xiao Mu quietly left the room.

Although he is not favored, Xiao Mu, as a prince, has learned the six arts since he was a child. Although he has no attainments in martial arts, it is not a problem for him to jump a wall in the last room.

Flying up to the eaves, I didn't want the tiles to be extremely smooth under the polishing of snow and ice. I almost fell before I could stand still. Fortunately, I was grabbed by someone, and my palm felt warm.

"Third Highness?" Xu Tianlei looked surprised, "What are you doing?"

"I still want to ask you, what are you doing on the roof?" Xiao Mu frowned.

Shaking the jug in his hand, Xu Tianlei said with a smile, "Appreciate the moon, appreciate the snow, and appreciate life."

Xiao Mu didn't say a word, but he was somewhat envious of his wantonness.

Sitting on the spine of the roof, Xu Tianlei opened the cork on the jug, and the aroma of the wine immediately overflowed.

"Would you like to have a drink together?" Xu Tianlei invited, "I bought three pots."

Xiao Mu thought for a moment, then silently went to sit beside Xu Tianlei.

Xu Tianlei burst into tongues when he entered the spicy drink, "It is said that Liangzhou is rich in fine wine, and it really lives up to its reputation, good wine."

Xiao Mu also took a big gulp, raised his sleeve to wipe the wine stains from the corners of his lips, and reminded in a low voice, "Be quiet, don't wake up Huan'er."

The two brothers are one year apart, but why are their temperaments so different?One naive and one mature.Xu Tianlei didn't dare to say more or ask more questions, so he drank his head and kept silent.

At this moment, two people came from the quiet courtyard, and by the moonlight, they could be seen as Gu Yan and Tao Zhuo.

Suddenly Tao Zhuo hugged Gu Yan, tiptoed and kissed Gu Yan's lips.

On the roof, Xu Tianlei almost spit out his drink, and hastily raised his hands to cover Xiao Mu's eyes.

"You are young, don't look at evil."