Empress Chu

"Master Zhang, you bake this and eat it." The female voice timidly.

Zhang Gu turned his head and looked at the chubby girl wrapped in a turban: "Ah Fu, this rabbit meat, is it a few days ago? Why did you—"

"I marinated it with herbs, Mr. Zhang, don't worry it's not broken." Ah Fu hurriedly explained, and then wiped the rabbit meat with his hands, "It's not dirty, it's the residue of herbs."

Zhang Gu smiled: "Ah Fu, I don't dislike it, I mean, it's for you, why didn't you finish it?"

Ah Fu shook his head: "I don't eat enough, I can't finish it. You have worked hard, Mr. Jun. Give it to you, Mr. Jun."

"You silly girl." Zhang Gu pushed the rabbit meat back, "Now we are on the same journey, who is working harder than the other? Your thin and small body makes it harder, eat it!"

"Master Zhang Jun is really a kind man." Ah Fu said, his big eyes exposed outside were full of gratitude.

A hand stretched out and took the rabbit meat away.

"It's not good for a small body to eat too much." He said, "It's not enough to make up for it."

Ah Fu didn't speak, Zhang Gu felt a little helpless: "Ah Jiu, don't always make trouble with a child."

Ah Jiu sat down beside him: "What child, Brother Zhang, I am not a few years older than her, and I am also a child."

He also stretched out his hand to make a gesture between himself and Ah Fu.

He sat down with long arms and legs, almost at the same level as Ah Fu who was standing.

"Look, we're pretty much the same." He laughed.

Zhang Gu glared at him, then looked at Ah Fu, Ah Fu had already retreated, sitting quietly by the edge of the campfire, her sister took out dry food and roasted it on the fire.

Ah Jiu only waved the rabbit meat on the fire twice, then tore and ate it.

"Brother Zhang, try it, it's really good." He said.

Zhang Gu snorted and said, "I'm an adult now, I won't compete with your children for food."

Ah Jiu laughed out loud.

The other post soldiers also laughed, took out dry rations and wine, and ate and drank lively. You can't drink too much wine, it's just to keep out the cold, one or two sips for each person is enough.

"That Fu, what, do you want to drink?" Ah Jiu asked deliberately.

I do remember the name Ah Fu, but her sister, who was taciturn along the way, always sticks to Ah Fu's side, like a shadow, and no one remembers her name until now.

"Thank you, Mr. Jun." Ah Fu thanked, "It's good for me and my sister to drink hot water."

Ah Fu's sister hung a small pottery bottle on the campfire, filled with fetched water, and when the water was hot, she poured it on the cotton cloth, took Ah Fu's hand and rubbed it gently.

After washing your hands, take out a ceramic cup and pour water, this is for drinking.

Ah Fu drank water with a ceramic cup in one hand, and was pulled by his sister to apply the ointment in the other hand, and the faint scent of medicine spread out.

It is hard to walk in winter, and frostbite is easy on the hands and face. Ah Fu's sister prepared ointment to relieve her sister.

"As the saying goes, an older sister is like a mother." Zhang Gu also saw it, and sighed with emotion in a low voice, "It's really nice to have an older sister."

Ah Jiu took the jug in his hand, raised his head and took a sip, and said, "No need, it's the same with a maidservant, my maidservant is so careful, no matter season, summer, autumn or winter, she always remembers to wipe the incense carefully for me." paste."

This kid!Master Zhang Jun stared, then shook his head, that's all, this kid grew up in a wealthy and gentle village, how could he know the sufferings of the world.

Chapter 10 morning

Ah Fu woke up from the cold.

Although I have been traveling for so many days, I still cannot adapt to this hardship.

too bitter.

She had never suffered like this in her two lifetimes.

Ale laid all the mats that could be laid, but the field in the wild still hurt her whole body, and she moved her hands and feet with some difficulty.

Ale, who was sleeping next to her, woke up immediately.

"Little—" She woke up suddenly, still a little unconscious, and almost blurted out Miss, but was covered by a hand in time.

In the hazy blue light, Ah Fu looked at her with black eyes, and said softly: "Sister, it's still early, you can sleep a little longer."

Ah Le woke up and turned over: "Little sister, I'm not sleepy anymore, you didn't sleep well?" She pushed the clothes under her body towards Ah Fu, "Put mine on it too, and you sleep again." for a while."

Ah Fu shook his head at her: "I'm not sleepy anymore."

The two whispered to each other, and the slumped soldiers sleeping on the other side of the campfire murmured displeased.

Ah Fu hissed at Ah Le, and the two got up gently, carrying a small bag with a kettle, and whispered to the two postmen on duty: "We're going to wash up."

There is a small river nearby, and there is a dense forest beside the river, which is very convenient for girls to solve personal problems.

The postman on duty nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but only told: "Be careful, there are wild beasts around."

Ah Fu thanked him and left with Ah Le.

The river water was icy cold, Ah Fu had no interest in washing up, and solved her third urgent need. She sat on a stone by the river in a daze.

"I'll bring water back and heat it up, and you can wash it again." A Le said, she rolled up her sleeves and simply washed with cold water.

Ah Fu shook his head: "No need, a little dirt is fine."

Ah Le looked at the girl's face, she didn't wear a hat or scarf, before going to bed last night, she wiped her face with hot water and applied a little balm to avoid frostbite, only in this way her skin appeared fair and delicate in the morning light.

Miss is so beautiful, if she showed her true face, the journey would not be difficult, but dangerous.

Along the way, Miss called everyone a kind person, but Ah Le knew that none of these people was really a kind person.

"Then apply some more medicinal powder." Ah Le whispered, taking out a small porcelain bottle from the small bundle.

Ah Fu nodded, raised his face, Ah Le dipped his hand in powder and wiped it gently for her.

"Ale, you are really good." Chu Zhao looked at Ale and said, "You can make medicine powder to hide your appearance, you can make ointment for frostbite, and you can smoke hare and pheasant jerky. Without you, I can do nothing. If you don’t do it well, you’ll probably die.”

Ale was taken aback: "Sister, don't say that, I only know these useless and vulgar things, I will embarrass you, thank you miss for not blaming me, and wanting me, I thought I would never see you again It's Miss."

She said her eyes were red and weeping.

Ah Fu didn't correct her address either, and there was no one else around the river in the early morning.

Seeing A Le who was crying, she felt a little complicated. In fact, A Le was right. According to the trajectory of the previous life, she and her have indeed never seen each other again.

It's funny to say, when she just woke up, she forgot about A Le, the maid.

……

……

Ale is the maid who grew up with her, two years older than her.

It is better to say that she is a playmate than a maid.

Ale is an orphan from the frontier. He has been living in the market since he was a child, and made a living by stealing, until he stole from her father who brought her to the market to watch juggling, and was caught by his father.

The father didn't punish her, and asked her to change her livelihood, not to steal, and to accompany the young lady to learn how to ride a horse.

In this way, the two learned to ride horses together, danced swords and guns together on the martial arts training ground, and swaggered through the market together, and then went to Beijing together to come to their uncle's house.

But as soon as he entered the house, Ah Le, who had never been a serious maidservant, lost his face and ate the bath beans brought by the maidservants to wash his hands as a snack, which made the maidservants burst into laughter.

She was also so ashamed because of this, she entered the capital and saw how the noble ladies behaved, she would never use a maid like A Le again, so she asked her aunt to send them away, and found another best maid in the family.

From then on, Ale disappeared from her memory.

At that time, she woke up after falling from the rockery in the garden of Chu's family. When she was about to leave the Chu's house, she didn't think of A Le. It was when she climbed over the wall that night that she met A Le who was waiting outside the wall.

Ah Le lowered his head and hid in the darkness, lest she would get angry if he saw him: "I'm just worried about you and want to see you."

Only then did she recognize her and remember her.

Then took her.

After bringing her along, I realized that this A Le, who can't be a decent maidservant, can do a lot of useful things to survive on the road.

Ah Fu looked at Ah Le and wondered what would happen to Ah Le in his last life?Whether he was sold by his aunt, or sent back to Bianjun, or stayed in the Chu family all the time, but no matter what, Ah Le must have no good end.

She didn't end well, and neither did Ah Le, who made her her maid.

She couldn't help reaching out to caress A Le's face. In just a short time, A Le's face was already rough. A Le only had time to pound out a little of the ointment to prevent frostbite, and she was only willing to use it for the young lady——

"It's really sisterly love."

A drawn-out voice came, interrupting Ah Fu's trance.

You don't need to look to know, it's that Ah Jiu.

Ah Fu withdrew his hand to wipe his tears, and pushed Ah Le: "Sister, don't be sad, I'm fine, I won't cry anymore."

Ale lowered her head, she couldn't speak, in order to avoid being exposed, she seldom spoke.

Ah Jiu came over with his robes uncovered, and said with a half-smile, "You are so delicate, you don't look like a child from a poor family."

This postman named Ah Jiu has always been suspicious of her, staring at her, examining her, testing and beating her with words from time to time, it is really difficult and annoying.

She endured it a few times before, but this time it was probably because she was thinking about her previous life and she was in a bad mood.

"Master Jun." Ah Fu raised his head and looked at Ah Jiu, "Actually, when my mother was not sick, our family was able to live well, and, with parents around, which child is not Jiao Didi."

After finishing speaking, he took Ale's hand and walked away quickly.

Ah Jiu didn't catch up to beat him, but only sneered behind him.

Ah Fu led Ah Le back to the campsite, and the post soldiers were already up, checking on the horses while chewing dry food.

"Ah Fu, you are back." Zhang Gu greeted, "Ah Jiu came to find you on purpose, eh? Why are you crying?"

The postman next to him smiled: "Ah Jiu must be bullying people again."

Zhang Gu frowned: "This Ah Jiu—"

"No." Ah Fu hurriedly shook his head, raised his hand and wiped his eyes, "My sister and I missed my mother, I don't know how she is now."

Speaking of this, the nasal voice was thick and choked.

Zhang Gu hurriedly persuaded: "Don't think about it, look ahead, go see your father quickly, everything will be fine."

Ah Fu hummed and bowed to Zhang Gu.

"Hurry up and get something to eat, we're leaving now." Zhang Gu said kindly, watching the two girls walk to the campfire, thought for a while and said, "Don't get angry with Ah Jiu, this kid has suffered I am fined to do this errand, and I am holding back my temper."

punished?Ah Fu thought to himself, what is the origin of this Ah Jiu?It seems that he is pampered, but he is full of ruffian, which is weird.

But, forget it, what does it have to do with her.

"Yes." Ah Fu nodded gratefully to Zhang Gu, "I wrote it down."

Chapter 11 The Way of the Cross

The post soldiers traveled very fast, and both men and horses seemed to run forward desperately, almost without stopping in a day.

Ah Fu, whose horse was bumping, clenched his teeth.

I can't sleep well, I can't eat well, the scabs on my thighs and buttocks are scabbed and torn, if it is not supported by Ale's herbs, I am afraid that it will be festered and unable to walk.

She remembers that when she was a teenager, she was very good at equestrian skills, and she rode wildly every day without any discomfort. It may be because of the people in her body. She has become a pampered and pampered woman in her 20s for many years, and her body has become uncomfortable. .

Ah Le could immediately see her gradual backwardness and forbearance, and she also fell behind, closely following her.

"Or, just rest for a while." Ale couldn't help but whispered.

Ah Fu shook his head, looking at the post soldiers galloping ahead, no, she couldn't stop, or else she would get caught, that Ah Jiu would definitely throw her off.

What's more, she didn't want to stop.

"I want to get to Bianjun as soon as possible." She said, looking ahead, "I want to see Daddy."

She hadn't seen Daddy for a long, long time.

She never thought that there would be a chance to see her father again.

When she said these words, tears flowed down her face, and her face was cut with pain by the cold wind.

Ah Le's tears also flowed down, she understands, the young lady grows up so big, how can she be wronged, she is going to be tied up by the old man and sent to the official——

In this world, there is one and only general who loves the most miss.

Although Ah Fu and Ah Le didn't say anything, Zhang Gu still quickly noticed the strangeness of these two girls.

"Ah Jiu." He urged his horse to catch up with the young man at the front, "Don't hurry today, stop and rest at the station ahead."