After rebirth, I made the princes cry

The post station at Wuling Pass was built at the foot of Peacock Ridge. Outside the post station was a rice field. The fields between the mountains were mostly reclaimed by the villagers. They did not form thousands of hectares of fertile land, but were mostly small pieces. There were canals between the mountains, so clear that you could reflect your reflection. The wild flowers and plants growing by the canals were extremely lush. Yingshu felt a little depressed, so she walked to the shade of a tree not far from the post station. She saw a rock there, which seemed to be placed there specially for people to rest, so she sat down.

It was only evening, and there were many garrisoned soldiers coming and going nearby. The post station was only a hundred steps away, so Yingshu did not let Wu Bi follow her.

Nanci followed.

"You were in high spirits when we climbed the mountain in the afternoon. Why are you so worried that you even lost your appetite?" Nanci knew that Yingshu would never dislike the simple and unpalatable food at the post station, but he couldn't understand why Yingshu was suddenly so anxious.

"I'm not worried. I'm looking at this village. It looks like a paradise. The people here live a peaceful life. Although they can't avoid the hardship of labor, they should have had no worries about food and clothing in the past. Otherwise, the famous Hanxi Shuangyin would not have chosen this place as their retreat.

But now, with the Qiang soldiers stationed here, the people here can no longer live in peace. I can even imagine that even if we go to Chang'an, meet Jiang Tai, protest and ask him to treat the survivors well, Jiang Tai will agree, but once we leave, the survivors will still have no protection. They have been persecuted and have no way to sue.

If I hadn’t come here in person and witnessed the suffering of the survivors with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have woken up. I used to think that I was fulfilling my duty by speaking in the Jiankang Palace and in the court of Dayu about the survivors being oppressed by foreign races. I never felt the same way about their enslavement and oppression, and I never really considered how to save these survivors. ”

"It's not your fault." Nanci also sat down next to Yingshu.

The mountain stream gurgles, so joyful as it passes by, the water chasing and playing, never knowing the sorrows of the world. This place is indeed like a paradise. In his dreams, it was the place where he longed to grow old with Yingshu. When he climbed up the Peacock Terrace earlier, he didn't even have the interest to look far into the distance. He just wanted to stare at the person in front of him and tell her a flashy old dream.

But Nanci also knew that this place was just like a paradise on earth. There was no other paradise on earth anywhere in the world.

"The fall of Luoyang and the fall of half of the country to the rule of the barbarians were indeed not my fault, but I reflected on it. At that time, I became the Queen Mother of Dayu. I could make decisions on military and political affairs, but I never thought about the Northern Expedition and never seriously considered a plan to rescue the survivors. I was actually not a competent ruler. I clearly knew that there was no other way to truly help the survivors get rid of their suffering unless I took back the lost land and drove the barbarians away."

"It's easy to say the Northern Expedition, but it's not feasible."

"It's not that it's not feasible, it's that I don't have that much ability." Ying Shu suddenly laughed again: "Nanci, I won't fall into guilt and self-blame, because I have started over. This time, I came here, Wuling Pass, this time I passed by, maybe next time I will pass by again, only these two times, but I will always remember this place.

I may not come again, I just need to know that this place will become a paradise, the people living here can regain peace, those young and beautiful women will no longer live in fear, they can be like me, in the evening, they can look at the gorgeous sunset under the shade of the trees beside the canal, they can climb up to the Peacock Ridge and have a distant view, they can even go to Chang'an through this Baoxiadao and take a look at the old capital, no matter how far they go, if they miss their hometown, they can come back smoothly and safely. "

There is no need to negotiate with Jiang Tai.

When Hanzhong is recovered, Wuling Pass must be captured in one fell swoop. This is Sikong Yuehu's battle strategy, but it is only a small step.

Yingshu has a lofty ambition.

Only after destroying the Northern Han and recovering Chang'an did Dayu truly have the foundation for the Northern Expedition.

Let all the survivors be completely free from slavery and oppression.

"Are you hungry now?" Nanci handed over a piece of braised pork in his hand.

The pancake is wrapped in bamboo leaves, so your fingers cannot get greasy through the leaves. The pancake is no longer hot, but when you take a bite, you can immediately smell the rich aroma of the marinated meat. It seems that the meat filling also has fuliu vine added to it, which makes it spicy and chewy, and it is a delicacy.

"In such a small place like Guanyi, the cooking skills of the chef are really amazing." Yingshu praised sincerely.

Nanci saw Yingshu eating pancakes with gusto and said, "Actually, today's dinner is very simple, just braised pork pancakes and wild vegetable soup, but I think it tastes very good. Even Third Brother ate five pancakes. I have never seen Third Brother eat so voraciously. Third Brother wanted to reward the chef, but he found out that this meal was prepared by a peasant woman in her fifties. In addition to doing farm work, the peasant woman's husband would go hunting in the mountains during the slack season. The prey he hunted was cooked by the peasant woman, and the neighbors would gather together for a meal. That's how the peasant woman's cooking skills were honed.

I also asked about today's wild vegetable soup. It was a kind of wild vegetable called red grass by the villagers. It was purple-red, sweet and refreshing. Unfortunately, there were not many red grasses at this time of year, and we couldn't pick much even after spending half a day. The big bowl of soup was shared and drunk up. I saw that Dianjun and Third Brother had big appetites, so I just didn't feel comfortable leaving a small bowl for you. "

"Red grass is not only found here. In Jiankang, it is called mountain red grass. However, in Jiankang, mountain red grass will only turn purple in August."

"Why didn't I hear about it?"

"My father is a well-known glutton. When I was a child, he took me to the farmers' houses in the mountains to eat such home-cooked meals. We came for something new, but for ordinary people, most of the vegetables they worked hard to grow would be sold for money, and they would not eat them themselves. They usually picked wild vegetables, and most of them were reluctant to cook them into soup or porridge to fill their stomachs." Yingshu recalled her childhood: "In fact, many wives of poor people are very capable. They love their husbands and children, and they will think about how to make the wild vegetables they picked as delicious as possible.

Ordinary people couldn't afford fine salt, let alone prepare so many spices, so housewives tried every possible way... Wild vegetables like Sanzhudan were relatively good, as they didn't have astringent or strange tastes, but some wild vegetables actually needed to be cooked in a lot of ways before they could be eaten."

Nanci also recalled some past events.

"I've actually been to Yizhou." He looked at the gurgling water again: "I intentionally didn't disturb He Zhi, and stayed at a farmer's house on the outskirts of Yizhou for a while. The farmer originally had 30 acres of good land, but at that time there were less than 10 acres left. His son unfortunately died young, and gradually he couldn't even support his daughter, so he had to harden his heart and sell his daughter to a noble as a slave, thinking that his daughter still had a chance to survive.

His parents are still alive but old and have to rely on him for support. His wife cried herself blind because of the death of their son and has to rely on him for support as well. He has not been able to eat enough for years and the harvest from his crops, after paying taxes, is only enough to support his elderly parents and his blind wife. He told me that he also wanted to join the nobles, donate his land and become a tenant.

It was just because he was the only laborer in his family of four, and the nobles refused to take in his elderly parents and blind wife, so he had no choice but to endure the hardship. He said that he heard from his neighbors that his daughter was also dead, and he didn't even dare to ask for confirmation, but just concluded that the neighbors were talking nonsense. He could no longer bear more guilt and self-blame.

At first I just wanted to stay at his house and leave the next day, but he saw that I was not an ordinary person, so he gritted his teeth and asked his neighbors for loans, went to the town to buy good wine, and bought ten pounds of pork. He asked the neighbor's wife to prepare it, and invited me to have wine and meat, and asked me to do one thing. He said he wanted to sell his land to me at the market price.

Yingshu had never heard Nanci mention this experience before, so she asked, "What happened next?"

"I asked him, if he sold all his land, wouldn't he have no means of livelihood in the future? He said that his old parents would not survive that winter, but he didn't even have the money to buy coffins for them. He took the money to prepare for their funeral first. He also discussed with his father-in-law about his blind wife, and asked his eldest uncle to take her back to her parents' home to take care of her. Of course, he would have to pay some money. Then he would feel relieved and sell himself as a slave while he still had some strength. He would give all the money to his eldest uncle. That was the only way.

Of course I couldn't bear to see him with no way out, so I paid for the funeral supplies for his parents and even offered to rent one of his rooms so he could stay there for a few more days. I encouraged him not to be so pessimistic. He thanked me profusely and burst into tears.

That very night, his old parents both jumped into the river.”

Yingshu swallowed the last bite of pancake as if she was swallowing a piece of lead.

"The two elders didn't want to be a burden to their son and daughter-in-law, but they hadn't prepared funeral supplies before, and they couldn't let their son bear the stigma of being unfilial. They overheard the conversation between me and the farmer that night, and knew that the farmer could finally take care of their affairs after their death, so they jumped into the river. The farmer's neighbors knew that the two elders had jumped into the river and died, so they helped to take care of the affairs and advised the farmer. They all thought that such a thing was as it should be, that the two elders were gone and buried in peace, and that they would be reborn into a good life in the next life. The farmer had fulfilled his filial piety by purchasing funeral supplies for his parents and taking care of the funeral. Living was too painful, so it was better to be free early. But for poor people, they have no desire to live, and they are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of not having funeral supplies to bury their bones, which would be more disadvantageous for their descendants.

I kept it a secret from the farmer and asked about his daughter. She did die young. She died of a minor illness. I didn't tell the farmer, but I went to question the noble family. It was so easy to save his servants from death, so why was he so heartless? ! "

Yingshu already knew the result.

"The noble you are questioning had no idea that a servant in his family had died of illness."

Nanci didn't say anything.

Yingshu didn't say anything either.

Nanci was silent for a while before he said, "That experience made me realize that I am actually a cold-hearted person. I don't even know the names of most of the hundreds of servants in my Guisu Mansion. I have never paid attention to their birth, aging, illness and death. Because of my indifference, the housekeepers and servants will also be indifferent. I criticized that nobleman for taking human life lightly, but in fact, there is no difference between him and me."

"It should be different." Ying Shu was not trying to comfort Nanci, she was just talking about the matter at hand: "Using the excuse of not knowing the truth to shirk responsibility shows that even if you knew the truth, you still felt that it had nothing to do with you. You and the farmer were just casual acquaintances. If you were like the noble you questioned, you would not even think of asking about the farmer's daughter's life or death, nor would you question the noble. You would think that the master had no responsibility to protect the servants, and that it was the farmer's incompetence as a father who could not support his children, and he had it all his own fault."

"Afterwards I left Yizhou, and I don't know what became of the farmer and his blind wife."

"Nanci, if it were you now, what would you do?"

Nanci fell silent again.

Yingshu felt thirsty, so she simply walked to the side of the canal, squatted down, and scooped up a handful of canal water to quench her thirst.

Nanci also wanted to drink a handful of canal water.

But his mood now was actually heavy.

He just walked closer to the canal and looked at his dark shadow in the water.

"The suffering that farmer suffered is not an isolated case. There are quite a lot of people who are not persecuted by foreigners. They are good citizens of Dayu, but they still cannot live and work in peace. I can help one person, or a hundred people, but to help, no, I can't say help, I should protect them and let them live and work in peace. I don't know what I should do now."

Compassion alone is not enough.

Outside the post station, Gao looked at the two figures not far away and asked the Lord of Shenyuan Palace with a smile: "It seems that the Fifth Prince and the Female Minister of your country are in love with each other."

The Palace Lady was also worried about Yingshu, but she didn't know whether she should show it too obviously. Later, when she saw that the Fifth Prince had gone to Yingshu first, she felt even more embarrassed to disturb him. When she heard this, she suddenly looked embarrassed. Then she heard another sentence -

"The Fifth Prince came to Han for the Imperial Court Lady Historian, and the Third Prince must have come for the Imperial Court Lord."

The Lord of Shenyuan Palace seemed even more at a loss.

"What does Your Majesty want to tell me?" I suddenly heard a voice.

The Lord of Shenyuan Palace turned around and saw the guard kneeling on one knee...

It’s Liang Hui, the leader of Liang.

"I also want to go for a walk, so I asked Ling Shang Gong to inform Commander Liang." The Lord of Shenyuan Palace realized that Liang Hui was here to rescue him.

Of course she remembered Commander Liang. He was the first commander of Dayu that she met. He was also her savior, who escorted her all the way until she met Xinsu Jun. At that time, she was actually quite nervous, worried that her identity would not be recognized. She was worried that even if she produced the ancestral "proof" - the Zhigui jade pendant, the royal family of Dayu would no longer need her as a descendant of the Xuan family. She was worried about too many things.

But she met two good people.

"Thanks to Commander Liang, I was just...already panicking."

After Dianjun finally got rid of Gao, he thanked her in a low voice.

"You should be panicking." Liang Hui lagged behind slightly, but he raised his eyes and saw one side of You's black hair being caressed by the mountain breeze. He didn't care how helpless this woman was now, but the moment she stood up for Dayu's country, she became the bravest woman.

He was certain that the Lord of Shenyuan Palace had earned his admiration.

"Ashu also said that I don't need to hide my emotions, but I am always worried that I will cause trouble for her."

"The less thoughtful the prince is, the more room Deputy Envoy Wang has to play. Gao was testing him just now. She wanted to know whether the prince has feelings for the Third Prince."

"Why...why is she trying?"

"She has to make a judgment, who is more important to Dayu, the Palace Lord or Deputy Envoy Wang."

The Lord of Shenyuan Palace became more and more confused.

"Your Majesty, whether it is the Deputy Envoy, the two princes, or even me... we have a common belief that we must ensure your return to Henan. If you are ruthless to the Third Prince, then we will treat you ruthlessly. Whether you are confused or suspicious, the fact is that you are simple-minded, but whether it is the Deputy Envoy or the two princes, they are very cunning. Gao will be sure that His Majesty will never condone the King of Han to go back on his word."

This time, the Lord of Shenyuan Palace finally understood.

Gao was not loyal to Northern Han, she was the eyes and ears of the Northern Zhao emperor.