Traveling through troubled times, he fled with his stepson

On the second day, they were hit by another rainstorm when they were originally scheduled to set out in the morning.

The long-lasting rain stopped them from setting off on their journey, and they could only rest temporarily in the city lord's mansion.

When it was raining heavily outside, Cheng Feiyue walked into the house, brushing the rain off his body, and just in time saw Li Yuan sitting on the couch in front of the window with a chessboard in front of him.

"You are quite leisurely and elegant, and you can calm down and play chess here."

Cheng Feiyue stepped forward. It was a short distance, but his hair was still a little wet from running. When he came up, a drop of water fell onto the table.

Li Yuan's eyes fell on the drop of water. Seeing his appearance, Cheng Feiyue hurriedly got off the bed and said, "I just came here. You can't ask me to go back, right? Where is the towel prepared in the room?"

Li Yuan, who had just given birth to another son, pointed his finger in a direction.

Cheng Feiyue went in that direction to get the towel.

The towel looked like it had never been used. Cheng Feiyue didn't have so many requirements, especially after having spent the past two days in the wilderness with poor food and clothes, he really didn't have any requirements at all.

"You're weird, too." Cheng Feiyue took off his headband and said, "Normally you can't do this, and you don't want to do that, but when it comes to special circumstances, you can do anything."

He was referring to Li Yuan's eating raw meat and the tattered clothes he wore on the road.

Li Yuan did not comment, "The situation does not allow it. I have no choice but to do it."

Cheng Feiyue agreed with this. After wiping the surface until no water dripped, he did not grab his hair, but went straight to the couch with his hair loose, ready to take over the other side of the chessboard and fight with Li Yuan.

When Li Yuan saw him pick up the white piece, he let him see the direction of the chessboard first. His eyes followed Cheng Feiyue's scattered hair to his casual shoes.

"You are becoming more and more outrageous in front of me." Li Yuan said after taking a sip of tea.

Cheng Feiyue, who didn't understand what he said, followed his gaze and smiled when he realized what he meant, "You and I have lived together day and night, and we are as close as brothers. Who doesn't know how I was when we were little?"

When he said this, his eyes were naturally fixed on the chessboard, and these were completely subconscious thoughts in his mind.

As close as brothers.

Thinking back to when Wei Qiqi once said that they were inseparable, his tolerance for Cheng Feiyue was second only to that of Qi Niang.

But people's hearts are separated by their stomachs. Even if they are as close as brothers, when it comes to what they want, they will still scheme against each other.

Li Yuan did not respond to his words. Seeing that he had finally made a move after a long period of hesitation, he used a black piece to block the gap in the white piece.

The black and white pieces each occupy half of the chessboard. The white pieces' moves are impulsive, and although they have thought it over again and again, they still lack stamina.

I don't know if the black piece did it on purpose, but it is on par with the white piece. Every time the white piece wants to swallow the black piece, the black piece will counterattack. However, the white piece wants to keep its own territory, but the black piece is in trouble.

After being blocked again, Cheng Feiyue angrily threw the white piece in his hand into the chess hole, "You are just kidding me!"

Seeing that he was very angry, Li Yuan calmly began to deal with the situation.

"You chose to play chess, and you got on the throne yourself, so how can I play tricks on you?"

It's like you are the one with ulterior motives, and you are still the one who says we are as close as brothers.

Cheng Feiyue was discouraged. From childhood to adulthood, he had never defeated Li Yuan as long as Li Yuan tried his best.

"Hey, if you want to win, no one can beat you. Even if they beat you, with your brain, you will probably win back quickly."

Cheng Feiyue said, sighing: "Li Yuan, you are so powerful, I will have to live in your shadow all my life."

"shadow?"

Seeing that Li Yuan was willing to pay attention to him and talk to him today, Cheng Feiyue suddenly wanted to talk.

"Yes, you are better than me in everything. Before you came, I didn't even want to read books. But now that you are here, I feel like I am possessed and want to compete with you. I want to compete with you in everything, but I can't beat you in anything."

Li Yuan fell silent again. It was not because of what Cheng Feiyue said later, but because of the previous sentence that made him at a loss for words.

He said he lived in his own shadow all his life.

A lifetime, what he was thinking about was actually a lifetime.

"Cheng Feiyue."

Li Yuan was silent for a long time, then suddenly spoke.

"Huh?" Cheng Feiyue was talking happily when he was suddenly interrupted and turned around to look at him.

Li Yuan looked serious and said, "If one day I am in danger and need your help, are you willing to help me despite the risk?"

After hearing his words, Cheng Feiyue was stunned, and then he couldn't help the gloating on his face: "Are you stupid? What is our relationship? Let alone danger, I have to help you even if it means death."

"You seem strange today. Why are you asking such... sad questions that don't suit your status?"

Li Yuan laughed and breathed a sigh of relief silently.

Cheng Feiyue had no second thoughts. Even if he had other ideas, neither he nor Cheng Feiyue would ever attack each other in the future.

The two of them stayed together quietly for the whole morning. The rain became much lighter, but it still didn't stop.

The calmness that was just beginning to rain was gone, and after staying there for a long time, Cheng Feiyue became impatient.

He seemed unable to sit still and kept pacing around the room.

This made Li Yuan, a calm person, become impetuous.

"Li Yuan, let's go ask Uncle Ling if we can leave?"

This was the third time Cheng Feiyue said this.

Li Yuan ignored him.

He himself said: "I have seen the heavy rain in Xuzhou."

"If it rains for another six or seven days, we won't be able to grow crops during the Spring Equinox in Xuzhou..."

The boy seemed to have just gotten a glimpse of the difficult life of the lower class people.

Li Yuan finally put down the book in his hand and looked out the window together.

The dripping rain never stops.

It was the third day in a blink of an eye.

The rain was much lighter that day, with drizzles floating in the air, making everything wet and annoying.

When Ling Feng said it was still raining and they had to wait, not to mention Cheng Feiyue, even Li Yuan couldn't wait any longer.

Been away for ten days.

Li Yuan lowered his head and thought.

After a while, Li Yuan borrowed an umbrella from a servant in the mansion and went out.

Cheng Feiyue saw the man leave in a flash and hurriedly followed him.

It was still raining outside, and people of all kinds passed by on the road from time to time. These people had not yet run out of food.

But the fear of hunger has always lingered in the hearts of people inside and outside the city.

The continuous heavy rain is gradually eroding people's hope of survival.

They were extremely eager to have the heavy rain stop so that they could plant crops. Although the autumn harvest would be hard, they would have food and drink for the next year.

Li Yuan walked on the street and saw people's gloomy faces.

Chen Feiyue followed him, walking and stopping, and finally, before the rain got heavier again, Li Yuan returned to the mansion.

He didn't know what Li Yuan had suddenly run out to see, so he asked carefully, "Why did you suddenly..."

Li Yuan raised his eyes and looked at him: "Let's leave as soon as possible."

"Um... ah?"

"The defenses in the city are not right. I didn't see the Lord of Xuzhou yesterday or today. Even if he is busy, he will come to meet with guests and people who have done him a favor once a day."

Cheng Feiyue didn't understand what Li Yuan said.

What Li Yuan wanted to say was that something more important must have happened.