Tanhualang

The driver changed to Shen Jing, urging the simple mule cart all the way east from Xinyang.

Before coming out, Shen Jing looked carefully at the map of this place, and knew that there was a town not far east of Xinyang where he could rest.Originally, if I set off early, I should be able to rush to the town to rest for a night after dark.But because King Yu came late and delayed his journey, it was getting dark and he didn't see the shadow of the town, only a few sparse villages.

Quietly looking at the sky, stopped the mule cart, turned around and raised the curtain:

"temple--"

Halfway through the speech, he realized that he had said something wrong, stopped the conversation, and then said:

"—have you had dinner yet?"

"I came out in a hurry, I didn't have time." Zhao Heng got up and got off the mule cart, moving his tired hands and feet, "I'm really hungry."

Shen Jing turned back and got into the carriage, and pulled out two coarse cloth bundles prepared in advance from under the stool on the side wall of the mule cart. One bag was full of clothes, and the other bag was supposed to be dry food.He opened the bag and took a look, found two cakes, wrapped them in handkerchiefs, and handed them back to King Yu:

King Yu was not picky when he took it, he took a bite and was stung:

"...This cake is quite chewy."

"It's getting hot, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold anything else." Shen Jing turned around and took off the water bag from the car wall and handed it over, "I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to the town in a while. Just take a few sips of water and wait until the town. Seriously eat."

King Yu sat on the shaft of the chariot and gnawed some dry biscuits in the cold water.

Standing quietly at the side, he saw that the prince who had always been pampered and pampered in ordinary clothes was sitting on the simple shaft of the mule cart eating pancakes. How awkward he looked, he took two steps back and turned his back.

Twilight covers the fields.

A round of setting sun in the distance, flowing clouds in the sky, and the dark blue sky, are the silhouettes of sparse villages and curling smoke.

The warm wind in May is like running water, slowly passing by.

Standing silently, watching the flowing clouds and the setting sun in the distance.

Suddenly, King Yu jumped off the shaft of the chariot behind him and came behind him:

"The twilight is very quiet here."

"..."

Quietly turned his head.

King Yu's mouth was still stained with cake crumbs, his words were very peaceful, but his appearance was a little funny:

"When I was in Gansu and Ningxia, at this time of day every day, people on patrol on the city wall could hear people playing Hujia. Inside and outside the city, one after another, it was a tune of homesickness."

Shen Jing picked up the water bag from the shaft, wet the handkerchief, and handed it to him:

"The evening clouds come out of Xiu, and the tired birds return to the forest. It's the same with people. When it's dark, they want to go home."

Zhao Heng wiped his hands and nodded for a long time:

"……good."

"..." Shen Jing stared at the crumbs on his mouth, hesitated for a moment, pointed to the corner of his lips, and reminded, "Dian...cough, here."

Zhao Heng looked at him suspiciously.

Shen Jing had no choice but to say:

"...crumbs."

Zhao Heng quickly wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief:

"……Oh."

The atmosphere seemed a little awkward, Shen Jing looked back at the red sun that was about to sink:

"Get in the car and hurry, or I'm afraid we won't be able to make it to the accommodation."

Zhao Heng nodded, turned around and boarded the shaft.Before putting down the car curtain, he paused and said to Shen Jing:

"I used to take the word Zhong'an, Zhong of uncle Ji, and An of Ping An."

Xu time was approaching and the night was dark, so the two rushed to the nearest town.

Knocking on the door of a small inn, the shopkeeper was old and had a good temper. He personally carried the fodder to feed the mules, and called the waiter to prepare a meal for the two of them.It's just that the guy is young and short-tempered, and his face is not so good-looking when he is called up in the middle of the night.Shen Jing didn't care too much, followed to the kitchen, and handed a handful of copper coins to the clerk:

"It's late at night, I can cook by myself, so I won't delay my little brother. Please help me prepare some water and rice."

The clerk gave way, accepted the copper coins, brought out two bowls of leftover cold rice, a plate of pickled pickles, and half a hard roasted chicken, and pointed to the firewood beside the stove:

"There is water in the tank. The firewood is also ready-made. Save it."

Saying that, he yawned, then turned around and went back to his room to sleep.

Shen Jing lit the stove by herself, first boiled a large pot of water, scooped out two pots and brought them to Zhao Heng's room in the backyard for washing.Then I went back to the kitchen and put the leftover cold rice into the pot, picked a few decent pieces of chicken and shredded them into the pot, boiled three bowls of soft chicken porridge, and brought them to Yuwangfang with pickled melon inside:

"There is nothing decent in the back kitchen. Use it simply, and rest early."

King Yu had just washed up and was wiping his hands with a towel. Hearing this, he threw down the towel and turned to sit on the table. He brought a spoonful of porridge to his mouth and nodded:

"good."

Quietly stood aside and waited.

Yu Wang quickly drank a bowl, and was about to serve the second bowl, when he paused, he looked up at Shen Jing:

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Shen Jing stepped forward to collect the empty bowl, and brought the remaining two bowls of porridge on the tray in front of him:

"There is still in the pot."

King Yu glanced at him, pushed one of the bowls to Shen Jing, and said concisely:

"Sit down together."

Even though he was dressed in civilian clothes, King Yu was still King Yu, and he still had the bearing that he could not refuse.Shen Jing hesitated for a moment, then obediently sat across from her.

The two finished their porridge quietly.Shen Jing packed his things, hesitated for a while, and asked:

"I'll bring the quilt and sleep at the door. In case of uneasiness at night—"

"No need." King Yu stood up neatly, while untiing the long belt around his waist, "It's nothing. Go back and sleep well."

Silent all night.

Shen Jing was a light sleeper, but was awakened by the sound of the inn at dawn the next day, so she got up and went to the street outside to buy some food.When we returned to the inn, many people were eating around the table.Shen Jing wanted to ask the shopkeeper for hot water, so she stood at the door for a while, and then heard someone discussing while eating:

"...Wang Biao is in prison, what about the chief envoy, Wang Bingtang?"

"I heard that two were arrested, but there were no chief envoys. One was Wang Biao, the commander, and the other seemed to be a general from Ningxia. His surname was Fang. He was called Fang or something. He was here to quell chaos. It seems to be Henan. The prince used to be under Ningxia's subordinates."

"Isn't Xinyang in chaos?"

"No chaos, it seems that there is an eunuch from the capital to lead the army. Now the city is hunting and killing the rioters. Yesterday, more than 100 people were killed! There are also many officials in the yamen who followed the refugees and made trouble. killed!"

"so smart?!"

"Under the eyes of the dignified prince, he actually killed the court official. Where is the prince's face? That is a prince who has led soldiers! Isn't it trivial to kill these people?"

"Tsk tsk! Now there is only one king left in Henan's 'two kings'. I don't know if this Lord Wang Biao will grow up or not."

"Who knows. I heard that King Yu is still in Xinyang. If he doesn't relieve his anger, he might be killed anytime soon."

…………

Shen Jing returned to her room, sitting on the head of the bed full of thoughts.

Wang Biao and Fang Tingxiang were imprisoned, and Cao Feng took over the military power in Henan.What happened early yesterday morning is still vivid in my mind, Wang Biao and Fang Tingxiang knelt in front of King Yu's carriage to plead guilty.

Because the Xinyang Rebellion angered the king of Yu, who was overwhelmed by power, and a provincial commander was implicated and imprisoned, it seemed logical.

But no matter how Shen Jing thought about it, she felt a little weird—where was the blame?

Just as he was thinking, someone knocked on the door and opened it to come in.Shen Jing turned around and saw that it was King Yu, and got up quickly:

"Woke up so early."

Zhao Heng nodded:

"Ah."

Shen Jing put the breakfasts she bought on the table one by one:

"Breakfast is ready."

King Yu took his seat and looked up at Shen Jing:

"sit down."

"I've already eaten." Shen Jing put away her luggage, "You take it easy, I'll go down and harness the mule cart."

Zhao Heng took a bite of the hot pancake, chewed it slowly, and said:

"Miao'an."

Turn around quietly.

King Yu raised his head, glanced over with long and narrow Danfeng eyes, and smiled slightly at Shen Jing:

"Although there are only you and me on this road, Xiaoyou and Cao Feng have already made arrangements in advance. There are guards watching from the dark in every town we settle down along the way. Although we can't say it's safe, you don't have to be so nervous."

"Yes."

King Yu nodded:

"Go."

Shen Jing nodded, walked out of the room with her luggage, went to the shopkeeper to settle the bill, then went to the backyard of the inn to set up the mule cart, and waited for King Yu to come out before embarking on another day's journey.

There was almost no rest in the middle of the day. According to the plan, the two hurried to a larger town in Anhui before dark.There was a stall selling apricots on the street, Shen Jing stopped the mule cart for a while, bought two catties of apricots, asked someone about the situation of the inn, and then drove into the town, and finally stopped at a place in the east of the town. Great inn.

Firstly, the location here is a little secluded and not very eye-catching; secondly, it is convenient for the two of them to get up early the next day and continue on their way east.

Unexpectedly, the two parked the car in front of the door, and only after entering the inn did they realize that there was only one guest room left.

"Tomorrow is a good day. I want to get married with the previous family. The bride's house is elsewhere. It is convenient to live here to pick up the bride tomorrow morning. The woman accompanied many relatives, and they all live here." The shopkeeper explained to Shen Jing , "However, the guest rooms in the store are quite spacious, so you two might as well squeeze in."

Shen Jing couldn't help frowning when she heard this, and looked back at King Yu:

"Then it will definitely be noisy tomorrow morning. Why don't you change the place."

King Yu was free to say:

"Anyway, I have to get up early tomorrow, so let's stay here."

"..."

Shen Jing had no choice but to agree.

After a simple dinner in the room, Xiao Er brought hot water, and before leaving, he said courteously:

"The floor outside the back window of the kitchen has just been built with green bricks a while ago, and it's fairly clean. It's hot, and if you two don't dislike the simplicity, you can go to the back to take a shower before sleeping, and it will be more comfortable."

Just as Shen Jing was about to refuse, King Yu had already nodded in agreement:

"Okay, thank you."

After speaking, he stood up and looked back at Shen Jing:

"Miao An?"

"..."

Shen Jing waited for Xiao Er to close the door and go out for a long distance, then whispered to dissuade:

"There are so many people here, I'm afraid it's not very convenient."

King Yu was quite sharp:

"It's not that particular about going out."

"..."

Shen Jing had no choice but to turn back and take out the clean clothes, and followed slowly.

It was already dark, and the two of them were walking towards the backyard. They met two or three people coming out from the back of the kitchen with disheveled hair. They must have just returned from a shower.

The two went directly to the back of the kitchen, and saw a dim yellow lantern hanging from the eaves, the floor was indeed paved with blue bricks, and there were two large porcelain vats under the window, very clean and tidy.

Fortunately, there was no one around at this time, so there was no need to share a bath with strangers, which saved a lot of embarrassment.Shen Jing breathed a sigh of relief, said "wait a minute" to King Yu, then hurried into the kitchen, brought out a pot of hot water and put it on top of the porcelain jar, scooped cold water in, wiped the sweat from his head, and looked at Yu Wang. king:

"Cold water hurts. Use hot water."

King Yu frowned, didn't say anything, and started to untie the long belt around his waist.After all, Shen Jing felt embarrassed, turned around and walked to the kitchen, but was stopped by King Yu:

"Won't Miao An wash it?"

"...You go first, I'll wait."

Standing quietly in front of the kitchen, she was relieved to hear the intermittent sound of water coming from behind.

Even though there is a difference in respect and inferiority, after a few months of acquaintance, Shen Jing's impression of the rumored cruel and irritable Prince Yu has changed a lot.Although he is under one person, powerful and scheming, he is still a young man in his twenties, irritable when he is sick, likes to eat snacks, addicted to chess, and has the same emotions as ordinary people.If the other party is an ordinary person, maybe they can become friends who can talk like Xiaoyou.

But Shen Jing suddenly remembered the discussion that he heard at the inn in the morning: King Yu started a massacre in Xinyang, killing more than a hundred refugees.

... Human life is worthless.

Shen Jing felt that she was not soft-hearted, but she still couldn't help feeling cold in her heart.

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard Zhao Heng calling him from behind:

"...Miao'an?"

He quickly responded, and heard Zhao Heng say again:

"Where are your clothes?"

Only then did Shen Jing realize that she came out in a hurry just now and forgot to put down her clothes for Zhao Heng.

He hurriedly carried the package and headed back, when he looked up, he suddenly saw the half-naked Zhao Heng.

"..."

Zhao Heng was only wearing trousers, standing wet under the light of the rear window, and was wiping his loose hair with the changed clothes. There was a hideous scar on his thin waist and abdomen, which was very glaring even under the dim oil lamp:

"I've finished washing. You come."