Placid Chang'an

two months later.

There is a border town in the northwest called Sangmutuo. It is located at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, at the border between Beiting Duhufu and the Turks. There are Han people and Tibetans. There are even some blond Persian people everywhere.Every [-]th day of the Lunar New Year is a big market. At that time, thousands of people will be empty, and everyone will gather on a main street in the south of the town. Without currency and language barriers, they will adopt the simplest barter, sheepskin blankets, cheese, and dried meat for salt. The cloth was exchanged for tea, and the goods and goods were paid off, but there was no dispute.

There is a new stall in Daji Dongtou recently, which is a little different from the ones sold here. There is no dried sheep skin, no salt and tea leaves on this stall, and there are only paintings on display.

There are green mountains and green waters, flowers, birds, insects and fish, maids with hairpins, and strange pines and rocks.This stall owner not only sells paintings, but also can paint for you on the spot. As long as you are famous, with a pair of skillful hands splashing ink, you can make all kinds of things in the world come alive on paper.

A lot of people gathered at the booth today. The people in Saibei had never seen the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. It was really strange to see the small bridge and flowing water. There were two mandarin ducks lying on the water with their necks crossed.

As soon as Su Cen put away his pen, he heard someone click his tongue, "The painting is a good one, but...it's too plain."

Su Cen looked up, and saw that the person who spoke was wearing a sheepskin cloak with a bulging waist, like a businessman from outside the customs.Immediately, keeping the brush in hand, he discarded the ink and took the vermilion, lit a couple of peach blossoms, and drew two golden pheasants under the tree.

Someone sighed and left, a good painting was ruined.

The man in the sheepskin cloak slapped his thigh, "That's right, I bought this painting!"

When the ink was dry, Su Cen rolled up the painting for someone, and when the person left, he weighed the money in his hand with satisfaction, closed the stall and left.

Passing by the only inn in the town, I ordered another pot of kumiss and half roasted leg of lamb.As soon as he left the store after packing, he saw a group of people and horses coming from the east, all dressed as officers and soldiers, riding horses through the market, bringing a trail of smoke and a burst of curses.

Su Cen hid in the dark and gradually frowned, and only slowly poked his head out when the person disappeared completely.

Immediately, instead of staying in the town for too long, he took his things and headed in the opposite direction to the group of people just now.

There is a small hut on the edge of the town, located at the foot of Tianshan Mountain, with a low-hanging hut, isolated and secluded.

The chai door squeaked softly, Su Cen pushed the door open and came in, only to see that the two newly opened thin fields in the yard had just been watered, and the man who watered it was squatting in front of the wet land, staring at the loess all over the ground in a daze .

Su Cen also leaned over and followed Li Shi's line of sight for a long time without seeing why, so he could only ask aloud, "What are you looking at?"

Li Shi frowned slightly, with a serious face, "Why hasn't it germinated yet?"

Su Cen: "...you just planted it yesterday."

"Plant one grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand seeds in autumn. Time is so tight, shouldn't this thing be different every day?" Li Shi stretched out his hand and hesitated for a moment, "Did I bury it too deep?"

"Even if you hold the seed in your hand, it won't sprout right now." Su Cen hurriedly grabbed the hand that just wanted to be mischievous, and then pulled him up, "Business is good today, and I ran into a big boss." , let’s have meat today and have a good meal.”

Li Shi was led into the room by Su Cen, and took the things in his hand for others, "What did you draw?"

"It's worthless to make a pair of paintings that are worth a few pennies." Su Cen turned around and shook the wine bag in his hand at Li Shi, "There is no good wine in this town, so I bought you some local wine." I don’t know if you are used to drinking kumiss.”

"You don't have to worry about me, I'm used to it, I'm afraid you won't be used to it."

Only then did Su Cen remember that Li Shi had stayed in Mobei, so he naturally knew the customs here better than him.

Li Shi reached out and wrapped his hand with a pair of warm big hands, pinched his frozen red fingertips, and rubbed them gently.

It's not as cold as inland, but a bit colder than Chang'an City. Even though it has been spring for many days, the wind across Mobei is still like a knife, and its power remains undiminished.

The fingers slowly warmed up in Li Shi's palm, bringing out a little tingling pain.He stood on the big market for a long time, and held the pen for a long time, and now he slowly came to his senses.Under Li Shi's movements, his fingers and his body warmed up. While Li Shi was looking down, he leaned forward and kissed the person's lips like a superficial touch.

When Li Shi raised his head and looked over, he saw that the person involved had returned to his seriousness, but the bright red spots on the tips of his ears were like the peach blossoms in the painting.

Li Shi continued to be rubbed by the person calmly, but he used a little dark energy to draw the person back slowly, until he was unable to retreat and hit the wall.

Su Cen looked into Li Shi's eyes, clearly saw the unspoken meaning inside, and looked away in a panic, "What...why?"

Li Shi smiled softly, and his deep and mellow voice was close to Su Cen's ear, "The lady has worked hard to earn money and support the family, I will feed you something good for my husband."

Baixue dislikes the evening of spring, so she wears garden trees as flying flowers.

In the afternoon, the sun was still shining brightly, but it was snowing for no reason.The snow seemed to come from the sky, and it seemed to come from the mountains. It passed through the courtyard and the courtyard, and soon covered the ground with a layer of white.

Li Shi set up a table on the kang, on which the bubbling wine was simmering on a small fire, Su Cen simply didn't bother to put on his clothes, hugged the bed quilt without letting go, nestled in the corner and let the steaming kumiss Wet eyelashes.

It was rare for Fusheng to be free for half a day, the two chatted without saying a word, and when they calmed down for a while, only the bubbling sound remained.

"I saw a group of officers and soldiers in the town today," Su Cen said suddenly, "It looks like they are dressed like postmen."

Li Shi pursed his lips and remained silent for a moment, and finally said: "Then we can't stay here anymore."

Su Cen lowered her head while holding the wine, and was also silent.

At the beginning, they really ran all the way outside the pass.Li Sheng acted resolutely, and they walked all the way, and along the way, they saw notices posted everywhere to apprehend them.Su Cen held the handwritten letter that Shen Yugui had given him in his hand, and it was indeed the safest way to go outside the pass.They walked all the way here, only one step away from the gate, but stopped again.

It might be a small border town where Li Sheng's orders could not be issued for a while, or it might be because they still have feelings for this hometown, they had a little luck, and finally stopped here.

A thatched hut and two pieces of Susukida are just a temporary place to stay, less than one ten-thousandth of Xingqing Palace, but it carries the meaning of "home".Here, Li Shi is not a prince, nor is he an adult. It is rare for the two of them to let go of their strict hierarchy and prejudices, and live the lives of ordinary people.

He suddenly understood why Li Shi was so anxious to see the seeds germinate. In such precarious days, one more day of stability was a charity from heaven.

"How about..." Su Cen tentatively said, but stopped in the middle of the sentence. They took a huge risk to get to where they are today, and they can't fall short because of the last bit of soft-heartedness.

"Let's go to the town tomorrow to have a look," Li Shi said, "I'll go with you, don't scare yourself, it's not necessarily just arresting our sea arrest documents."

Su Cen nodded while holding the cup, so she had no choice but to do so.

In the early morning of the next day, the two of them simply packed up and went out together. Su Cen carried the imitation customs clearance document in his arms. If the notice posted in the town was really a notice to arrest them, the two of them would leave the customs immediately, so there was no need to turn back. up.

The two of them didn't have many things, so Su Cen brought a few lake brushes, an inkstone, and a few pieces of clothing that he loved, and after thinking about it, he brought a set of white-glazed blue-and-white porcelain tea sets.Before leaving, looking at Susukida that still hadn't germinated, he suddenly regretted that he exchanged these seeds with a jade pendant on the spur of the moment.

When you have hope, you will have thoughts, and you will be reluctant.

Looking back, Li Shi was standing a few steps away waiting for him, his eyes were deep and calm, then he locked the door and took a few steps to catch up.

The town was still very lively, and the inns and tea shops he frequented were open as usual.

The notices in the town were posted on the outer wall of the county government office, and the two of them squeezed through the crowd to get closer to see the contents of the notices.

The two looked at each other, and both saw the worry in each other's eyes.

What is pasted there is not the arrest document, but the funeral newspaper of the obituary——

The Empress Dowager Chu died.