Dingjiangshan

It is not difficult to settle the prisoners of war, but it is still very troublesome to arrange the whereabouts of more than 5000 people.

According to Ning Yan's intentions, the Anqing Mansion had just been taken back from the imperial court, and the government fields and government troops had to be rearranged, and Ning Zheng's people could not be kept in important places.

Most of the prisoners brought back by Zheng Shaohui were peasants who no longer wanted to join the army, but many of these people had experienced military exercises and drills, and they were good seedlings for the reorganization of the government army.

What Ning Yan meant was that since they were all reorganized, instead of recruiting peasant youths in the local area, it would be better to select these people who had already served as soldiers. Must be available.

Therefore, when Ning Huaijin settled the prisoners of war, he had to pay attention to one or two things, those who could be incorporated into the government army, and those who were useless should be taken to farm.In this way, Ning Huaijin would inevitably have to meet these people with his own eyes and learn about the situation from Zheng Shaohui before making a final decision.

The 5000 people didn't say too much, and they said little and no less. It took him nearly two days to sort it out bit by bit, even though Ning Huaijin was nimble.

In fact, Ning Huaijin didn't need to be so anxious, but Ning Yanben wanted to stay in Anqing Mansion for two more months just to celebrate his birthday.After the birthday is over, he will start to return to the capital, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to spare time to take care of these mundane affairs.

Ning Huaijin hurried, but it was still a little later than previously assumed. It was already dark when she returned to Anqing Mansion, and she was almost locked out of the city.

Now Anqing Mansion is still under the control of the anti-rebel army. There is no illuminated night market in the city, and no shops are open after nightfall. There are only a few patrols patrolling the city with clappers and torches.

Ning Huaijin knew that she was coming back late, she was very guilty, and was afraid that Ning Yan would wait in a hurry, so she did not get off her horse when she entered the city, and rushed to the palace without stopping.

The original servants in the Changle Palace were dismissed long after Ning Huaijin broke the city, and Ning Yan was taken over by the imperial army. Most of the courtyards were locked up, leaving only the front yard and the main courtyard where Ning Yan lived. open.

Ning Huaijin dismounted in front of the gate of the palace, but was surprised to find that the palace was pitch black, not to mention people, not even a lamp.

The gate of the palace was ajar, and the imperial guards who were supposed to be guarding the courtyard disappeared for no apparent reason. Ning Huaijin closed the door behind her backhand, her brows already furrowed.

——What's the matter, he came back late, Ning Yan is unhappy?

This idea flashed through Ning Huaijin's mind, and was immediately rejected by himself.

Based on Ning Yan's personality, if that was the case, he should have stepped up to "collect debts", instead of running away from home without anyone noticing, leaving him an empty palace to pique his anger.

But the situation in front of him is too abnormal. Changle Prince's Mansion is not a small place, and people usually come and go without feeling anything, but now it is suddenly vacant, which makes people feel a little creepy for no reason.

On a cold autumn night, the bright and cold moonlight pierced through a thin layer of dark clouds and fell thinly on the ground, barely illuminating the outlines inside and outside the palace.

—no one was there.

Changle Prince's Mansion seems to have turned into a vacant old house for no reason. If the flowers and plants in the courtyard were not well-groomed and did not look deserted, Ning Huaijin would have suspected that she had entered some ghostly place by mistake.

While feeling abnormal in his heart, he couldn't help wondering whether Ning Yan did it on purpose.So he hesitated for a moment, and finally went inside.

The door leading from the front yard to the back yard of Changle Prince's Mansion was locked with a copper lock, and Ning Huaijin had to take a long detour to go inside.

Probably because of Ning Zheng's preferences, the construction and management of the Changle Palace is not the same as the gardens in the south, more like the style of the capital, square and square, open and closed.

There are many houses in the palace, and Ning Huaijin has not visited it a few times, but only vaguely remembers that there seems to be a large inner garden in the back.He wanted to get to the main courtyard earlier to find out, so he deliberately avoided the long way here, and entered the inner courtyard through the side door next to the small kitchen.

The inner courtyard is the same as before, and it is also unattended.I don't know if it's an illusion, but Ning Huaijin always feels that this scene is a bit too weird.

Most of the crescent moon hanging high in the sky was blocked by a dark cloud, and the already thin moonlight became even more stingy, leaving almost only a few light wisps still falling on the ground.The evening breeze was slightly cool, and it moved the vegetation somewhere, causing a soft rustling sound.

Ning Huaijin stood on the bluestone road in doubt, looked back and forth, and didn't understand whether it was Ning Yan's prank, or whether Ning Yan was really angry with him and thought he missed the appointment, so she didn't want to wait for him at the palace tonight .

But even so, he still forced himself to suppress the uneasiness in his heart, turned around and walked towards the main courtyard.

Many doors were locked in the palace tonight, Ning Huaijin struggled a lot to get to the main courtyard.

The main courtyard was no different from the outside, it was dark and no candles were lit.Even Qin Liu, who had been guarding Ning Yan all this time, did not stay by the door to watch over this time. The entire main courtyard was pitch black. Ning Huaijin stood at the door and glanced in, but did not feel that anyone was in the room.

But the only thing that Ning Huaijin cared about was that the door of the main house in the main courtyard was also ajar - just like the outside door, there was a narrow gap, like the word "Please come in".

Ning Huaijin hesitated for a moment, then walked in.

He walked very cautiously, first pushed open the door, stood at the door for a while, did not hear any abnormalities, and then slowly walked into the room.

It's just that Ning Huaijin had just stepped into the house and was about to turn into the interior to have a look, when he felt a sudden sound of very light footsteps coming from behind, and then a hand stretched out, trying to cover his eyes.

Ning Huaijin instinctively wanted to fight back, but before he raised his hand, he recognized the owner of that hand, so he let go of all the tension in his body and let him do it.

That hand covered Ning Huaijin's eyes, and then, a warm body came up and wrapped around Ning Huaijin's waist.

"Why are you so careless? Don't try to resist." Ning Yan rested his chin on Ning Huaijin's shoulder and said, "What if I'm a bad guy?"

"I smell the medicine on your body." Ning Huaijin blinked under Ning Yan's palm, and said, "It seems that His Majesty has taken some medicine recently."

Ning Yan smiled lightly.

"It's because I was too careless. I soaked in some herbal tea and ointment every day, and it almost smelled so bad." Ning Yan complained coquettishly, "Dr. They don’t even give candied fruit after eating.”

Ning Huaijin understood what he meant, so she couldn't help but also smiled, and coaxed him: "Then next time, I'll tell Dr. Cheng that when I ask him to boil the medicine, I will also use sugar to hydrate two dried fruits." .”

Ning Yan succeeded in suing, and couldn't help but be very satisfied. He kissed Ning Huaijin intimately and pillowed on Ning Huaijin's shoulder.

Ning Huaijin was itchy from his warm breath, so she couldn't help but smiled and turned her head to hide.

"I'm late." Ning Huaijin took the first step and sincerely "admitted": "It's true that I lost a military register this afternoon. It took a long time for General Zheng Xiao to find it, so it was delayed."

"It's okay, Huai Jin came back just in time." Ning Yan said.

At this time, he had already missed dinner, and Ning Huaijin couldn't help but feel puzzled. He wanted to turn his head to look at Ning Yan's expression to confirm whether he was speaking the truth or words of comfort, but Ning Yan stopped him again.

"Huaijin close your eyes first." Ning Yan said.

Ning Huaijin didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in his gourd, so he could only close his eyes in a daze.

Not long after, he felt Ning Yan's hand move away from his eyes, and then something cool and soft covered his eyes instead of Ning Yan's hand.

Ning Huaijin subconsciously raised her hand to touch it, and found that it was a piece of thick material.Ning Yan folded the silk in two, and it was slightly thick as a finger. It was soft and delicate to the touch, as if it was silk.

Ning Yan wrapped the satin around the back of Ning Huaijin's head, then tightened it slightly and tied a knot, then took a step back, temporarily leaving Ning Huaijin's side, not knowing what to do.

Ning Huaijin tentatively opened his eyes, but the stitches of this satin were so dense that it completely blocked his sight.

Not long after, Ning Huaijin only felt a very thin halo coming in through the silk and satin material, and Ning Yan's footsteps sounded, coming to his side from the inner room.

At the same time, that gentle light also approached - it seemed that Ning Yan had lit a lamp.

Before Ning Huaijin could ask, Ning Yan walked up to him again and grabbed his hand that was hanging beside him.

"This way, Huai Jin." Ning Yan said.

Ning Huaijin was gently tugged by him, and the halo that came through the fabric also turned around at any time.Ning Huaijin took Ning Yan's hand backhand, and took a tentative step.

Walking blindfolded is actually not easy. Although Ning Huaijin didn't say anything, she did hesitate every time she took a step.Fortunately, Ning Yan has always been meticulous and walked slowly, reminding Ning Huaijin of the situation at his feet from time to time.

Except for places like threshold steps where it is easy to fall, Ning Yan would remind Ning Huaijin even if he turned from the bluestone road to the dirt road, for fear that Ning Huaijin would feel uneasy about it.

It was precisely because of this that after Ning Huaijin followed him carefully out of the main courtyard, he realized that the lamp in Ning Yan's hand was probably lit for him.

——Although the moonlight outside is not bright, for Ning Yan, seeing things is absolutely no problem.And he was blindfolded, and Ning Yan could lead him wherever he went, so it stands to reason that the lamp was very poorly lit, but after Ning Huaijin thought about it, he realized that Ning Yan was probably afraid that he would feel uneasy if he was blindfolded. , That's why we want to get this little light, so that he can have a guide to distinguish the direction.

Thinking of this, Ning Huaijin felt relieved for some reason. He identified the direction of the halo through the satin material, then held Ning Yan's hand tightly, and tentatively walked a few more steps towards his side.

"Xiao Yan, where are you going?" Ning Huaijin asked.

Ning Yan answered quickly, with a smile in his voice, and it seemed that there was a sly smile in his voice.

"Go and see the surprise I prepared for Huai Jin." Ning Yan said.