Dongyin

?A group of people pretended to be a cloth caravan and arrived at the foot of Jiulong Mountain without hindrance. Because of the days of trekking, although it was only after noon at that time, most of the accompanying attendants were exhausted.Seeing this, Duan Hong ordered the two guards to explore the road first, planning to set up camp and rest for a day before leaving.Everyone was overjoyed when they heard that, and hurriedly set up camp and lit a fire to cook food.

This is not the palace compound, there are not so many scruples, the tired guards soon relaxed, and were noisy and clamoring outside the carriage.Duan Hong opened the window of the car, and saw the clear sky outside, and the guards sat in a pile of three or five to bask in the sun.In the twelfth lunar month of winter, such good weather can be described as perfect.

Duan Hong closed the window and wanted to get out of the car and go for a walk, but when he turned around, he saw Chu Xiying sitting opposite was pale and sweaty on his forehead.Chu Xiying had her menstruation in the past two days, and she knew it in her heart, but she had always avoided it, so she didn't ask much.I don't want to be so powerful today, "Are you okay?"

Chu Xiying gritted her teeth and nodded.

Duan Hong sat down to support her, when Ying'er came in with a bowl of black things, seeing the situation, she complained, "Isn't it like this before, what happened this time?"

Duan Hong was speechless, staring at the steaming bowl, lost in thought when he didn't pay attention.She still remembers the first time she ran into a letter from Bai Yan, and she gave her a cold face for a few days.These memories are still vivid in my mind, but they always feel so far away.A subtle feeling passed through her heart, but Duan Hong didn't catch it. When she recovered, she caught a glimpse of Chu Xiying looking at the window from the corner of her eye. She didn't know what she was thinking, but her complexion was much better.

Ying'er went down at some point, Duan Hong asked, "Do you want to go down for a walk?"

Chu Xiying nodded.

The two got out of the carriage, the guards sitting outside hurriedly stood up, and Yang Zhen came over with his hands down to wait for orders.Duan Hong glanced at him and asked, "The two pathfinders are back?"

"Return to Your Majesty, not yet."

It's been so long and you haven't come back yet?Duan Hong waved at him, and said to Chu Xi, "Let's go for a walk over there."

Duan Hong was referring to a bare mound, where the sun was just right, and the few green grasses on the mound trembled in the breeze, which was particularly eye-catching.

The two walked over there side by side without speaking. Suddenly, Duan Hong asked, "Why do you want to go back with me?"

Chu Xiying paused, looked at Qing Dai in the distance and fell silent.At this moment, what appeared in her mind was Shan Junxiang's deep eyes, 'Did you decide? ’, she nodded in the coldness of the moon, and Shan Junxiang laughed, ‘You believe it too, don’t you? ', you also believe it, those words hit her heart, she was speechless.She doesn't believe in fate, and she doesn't want to admit that Duan Hong will become a murderous tyrant, but subconsciously, she wants to be by her side when Duan Hong is accused by everyone.

Unexpectedly, Duan Hong couldn't help but feel a little depressed because she didn't hear her answer after waiting for a long time.

At that time, they had already reached the side of the mound, and the attendants laid out cushions on it, and the two sat next to each other.Duan Hong seemed to be in a good mood, but couldn't sit still.She looked around and saw Chu Xi gazing at a crushed grass on the ground. For some reason, she suddenly felt compassion, and leaned forward, carefully straightening it up.

That rapt look stirred up waves in her heart.Chu Xi stared blankly at Duan Hong, with mixed feelings.

"I've never seen it before, do you know what it is?" Duan Hong sat back and looked at her suspiciously.

This kind of grass can be seen everywhere, but what Duan Hong sees are large clusters.Chu Xiying looked back at her, opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

Duan Hong waited for a while, but still didn't see her reply, he was suddenly annoyed, got up and was about to leave, but someone grabbed his sleeve.

"Hong'er" Chu Xi lingered, "I don't want to talk now, can you sit with me?" Her voice trembled, as if every word was extremely difficult to say.Only then did Duan Hong remember that she was unwell, and wanted to sit down but couldn't save face, so he just stood there stiffly.

At this time, there were several coughs from the right, and Duan Hong looked over vigilantly, but it was an old woman with a cloth scarf holding a wooden staff, walking towards them staggeringly.

The two looked at each other, Duan Hong quietly pulled her up, and whistled towards the camp.All of a sudden, the surroundings became quiet, and everyone's eyes stopped on the old woman.Everyone clenched the handle of the knife, watching everything here without moving.

Yang Zhen led a group of people quietly around the mound, but the old woman didn't notice it.She just supported her stick and walked towards Chu Xiying step by step, "Girl, are you going up the mountain?"

This man's face was full of deep folds, and he was very old.Chu Xiying couldn't help but took a step forward and said, "Old man, we are going to do cloth business in Qi State. These are winter goods, and we have to ship them there before the New Year's Eve."

"This mountain can't be crossed," the old woman said tremblingly, "Hurry up and go, the dragon that disturbed us will die..."

Duan Hong was startled, and asked, "What is the meaning of this?" What dragon?

The old woman showed a sad expression, she turned around and walked back in a daze, muttering in her mouth, "Let's go, let's go. If you stay here tonight, you will die."

Seeing this, Yang Zhen hurriedly ordered someone to chase him.

Duan Hong stopped him with a look, and motioned for the two to follow secretly.

"There must be a village nearby." Duan Hong looked at the direction where the old woman left, pondered for a long time, and asked Yang Zhen, "The two explorers haven't come back yet?"

Yang Zhen bowed his head and said yes, Duan Hong stopped asking, turned around and walked towards the camp.

The old woman must have seen those two people before she kindly came out to remind them to go.It seems that the weird incident in Jiulong Mountain was deliberately done by people, but what kind of secret is there that deserves them to create such terrifying rumors.

Dragon, what does dragon mean?Sitting in the tent, Duan Hong couldn't figure it out, when he saw the seal on the map, his brain flashed and he was shocked.

When Chu Xiying came in, she saw her tilting her head and looking at the case with an unbelievable look, because she asked, "Have you thought of anything?"

Duan Hong came back to his senses and saw that she was the one who came in with the food, and then looked at the darkness in the tent, it was already dusk, "It's nothing, are you feeling better?"

Chu Xiying turned her head away and responded softly.

“We can't stay here tonight”

Chu Xiying looked at her in surprise, Duan Hong paused, and then continued, "You want to sleep in the open, can you hold it?"

It turned out that Duan Hong wanted to change positions, Chu Xiying thought in his heart, I am afraid that this is the only way to quickly control the enemy.

"I'll send someone to take you away..."

"It's already this time, what are you talking about?" Chu Xiying interrupted her, sat down on the table with the bowls and chopsticks, and said lightly, "Let's eat first."

As night fell, the sky gradually cooled down, even if it was warmed by a fire, it was so cold that it made people's teeth chatter.Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the guards quietly evacuated the camp and ambushed all around—fortunately, they were pretending to be cloth merchants, otherwise, in this cold night, people would have to freeze to death!

Even though Duan Hong was sitting in the carriage, half of his body was numb from the cold, so he couldn't sleep.She looked at Chu Xiying, who was squinting across her face, and saw that she was still holding her palm tightly, trying to bear it.

Why don't you talk about the pain? !A nameless fire surged into Duan Hong's heart, but in an instant, the fire disappeared without a trace.She sat down and separated her clasped hands, her heart was surging, she really didn't know what she had done in her previous life to deserve her to be treated like this in this life.

Chu Xiying turned around to 'wake up', she looked at Duan Hong suspiciously, and asked softly, "Is there any news?"

"No." Duan Hong stared at her, gently took her into his arms, and said, "No, let's make a detour."

Wasn't Duan Hong anxious to leave this sad place? Chu Xiying struggled to raise his head to look at her, but saw her staring deeply at the candlelight on the wall of the car, her eyes sparkling.Chu Xiying was startled and fell silent.

The car was so quiet that only the sound of each other's breathing could be heard, but the sound of a horse's hooves suddenly broke the silence.The guards outside the car were restless, but after a while, the sound of horseshoes came to the front of the car, and a gasping and excited voice said loudly:

"Your Majesty, fifteen men in cross-dressing have been caught."

Duan Hong was not as happy as expected, she just said hello.

The carriage moved on again, jolting violently.Chu Xiying sat upright and turned her head. Through the curtain of the car, she saw the flames of the camp getting closer, but the warmth in her heart gradually disappeared.

Duan Hong glanced at her when he got off the car, but still didn't say anything.

Chu Xiying's world returned to calm again. Ying'er came up wearing a thick coat, looked at her excitedly without realizing it, and said, "Master Yang's arrow is so accurate..." After saying this, she saw that she didn't respond, and hurriedly asked "Miss, are you not feeling well?"

Chu Xiying shook her head, Ying'er seemed to say something again, turned around and went down.

The fire was burning outside, and there was a lot of excitement.The continuous screams, accompanied by the noise of the guards and the explosion of firewood when they were burning, came together overwhelmingly. Chu Xiying slowly closed her eyes. She knew that all this was just the beginning.

I don't know how long it took, but the sound outside gradually became quieter.Ying'er got into the car, and before she got out of her panic, she stared blankly at Chu Xiying and said, "Miss, Your Majesty asked you to go out and enjoy the fire."

"Understood." Chu Xiying finally stood up and opened the curtain.

The outside is much better than expected, except for the faint smell of blood in the air, there is nothing else.Chu Xiying sat alone by the fire, her thoughts gradually drifting away, she felt a weight on her shoulders in a trance, she came back to her senses, but saw that it was Duan Hong who was bending over to give her the cloak.

Chu Xiying dodged to the side subconsciously, and the cloak fell to the ground.Duan Hong stared at it for a moment, then sat down and said, "If you are sleepy, go to the camp to rest."

Chu Xiying only avoided her eyes, bit her lips and said nothing.

Duan Hong stopped talking and quietly lit the fire.

After a while, Yang Zhen came back to his life.Duan Hong said, "What did you ask?"

"Return to Your Majesty, not yet"

After using so many criminal laws, I couldn't even ask a word.Duan Hong's hand that raised the flames stopped, and she turned her head to look at Yang Zhen coldly.

Yang Zhen took a step back in fright and knelt down on one knee.At this moment, an attendant ran over, holding a hand-drawn map and said, "Your Majesty, the two guards who followed the old woman have returned today."

Duan Hong took the map, unfolded it for a look, then got up and said, "Call [-] people, I want to go in person."

"Yes" the attendant backed away respectfully.

Duan Hong walked towards the barracks, and stopped within ten steps. She looked back at Chu Xiying, saw that she hadn't responded at all, sighed in her heart, and said to Yang Zhen, "Send Miss Biao back."

These words hit like frost, Chu Xi lingered agitated, she hurriedly turned her head to look at Duan Hong, only to see that she had already turned and left without looking back.