Dingjiangshan

After dinner, it was dark outside.

At the beginning of the Xu Dynasty, the vendors on the street were almost tidy, and the number of people on the street gradually increased.Ning Yan ordered people to remove the table, and drank tea with Ning Huaijin for a while, until the end of the hour, when the lights outside were lit, Shi Shiran stood up and invited Ning Huaijin to go out for a stroll .

There is a curfew in the city on weekdays. After careful calculation, there are only a few New Year's Eve days in a year when there are night markets. Therefore, even though it is New Year's Eve tonight, the streets are still lively.

Ning Yan finally went out, not wanting to have fun, so he didn't bring any guards on the surface, only the hidden guards were nearby.

Fortunately, it was convenient for shadow guards to hide in such a crowded and noisy place, so Ning Huaijin didn't say much.

Today is New Year's Eve, half a month before the Lantern Festival, but one or two stalls selling lamps have sprung up on the street, but the business is average, and it doesn't look lively.

In contrast, some stalls selling candied fruit and the like are doing better business.

"Don't talk about Huaijin, think about it now, the last time I went to the market with you in Beijing was more than ten years ago." Ning Yan said.

What Ning Yan was talking about was the time when he lived in Prince Gong's Mansion on loan before he ascended the throne.

At that time, Ning Huaijin didn't even think that Ning Zongyuan actually cared about him. He only regarded Ning Yan as a little cabbage in the palace without the care of his mother and concubine, and he was not so careful when he brought him by his side.

At that time, he didn't live in the palace, Ning Huaijin had the final say on everything that Ning Yan did, and the rules weren't that big, so Ning Huaijin would take him out every now and then.

It's just that they don't go to the night market much. Every year during the New Year's Eve, most of them have to go to the palace to pay Ning Zongyuan's peace, so naturally they don't have time to go out to play.

On one occasion, Ning Zongyuan happened to catch a cold during the New Year's Eve, so he wiped off the Lantern Festival dinner, and didn't ask anyone to enter the palace to serve him.

That year Ning Yan was four years old, and it was the time when he saw everything new. On the way home, he couldn't stay idle, lying on the car window and watching for a long time, insisting on begging Ning Huaijin to take him to see the lights.

Ning Huaijin was still young and her ears were soft, so she took him along because she couldn't listen to his pleadings.

It's a pity that Ning Yan was still young at that time, and Ning Huaijin didn't dare to take him for a casual walk outside, so she just bought him a string of candied haws, walked around a little and then went back, not having much fun.

"You were still young at that time." Ning Huaijin smiled: "I still think you don't remember."

"I remember everything related to Huaijin clearly." Ning Yan tilted his head and said proudly, "Even when I was sent to your house and you came out to pick me up, I still remember Woolen cloth."

Ning Huaijin knew that he was talking nonsense. Ning Yan was only very old when he went to him, let alone remembering things, and he was not very good at speaking.

But he wouldn't really compare the truth with Ning Yan, he just smiled and praised him a few words.

Ning Yan smiled and said nothing, he could see that Ning Huaijin didn't believe it, but he didn't explain much.

In fact, Ning Yan couldn't remember most of what Ning Huaijin wore and what he looked like that day.At that time, he was too young, and he was confused about everything, and he couldn't even remember the situation when he was taken away from the palace.

At that time, Ning Yan, who was still young, didn't even understand what it meant for him to go out of the palace. Occasionally, there were loyal old servants wiping tears behind his back, and he just stared at their backs in a daze.

But there is only one thing that Ning Yan still remembers very clearly.

When he was sent to Prince Gong's mansion, Ning Huaijin hurried out from the door to meet him, and carried him off the carriage in person.

At that time, Ning Huaijin didn't know what he was doing before going out, his hands were quite cold, Ning Yan was frozen by his hands, subconsciously hugged his neck tightly, and leaned against his shoulder.

At that moment, he smelled a very pleasant plum blossom fragrance.

The fragrance was special and light, mixed with a momentary cold touch, which Ning Yan remembered for many years.

It's just that Ning Yan only regarded this matter as his own little secret, and didn't intend to say too much in public, so he smiled and pulled the topic away.

"Huaijin knew to buy candied haws for me last time when I went out, why didn't I mention it this time?" Ning Yan rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Just now I said that I would give all the salary to me, but now I'm being stingy gone."

Ning Huaijin sighed, and looked at him helplessly: "Are you old this year? Are you still clamoring for candy?"

"Then what's the matter?" Ning Yan raised his eyebrows and said, "Even if I wanted to eat candied haws when I was 40 or [-], wouldn't Huai Jin buy it for me?"

——That is really not possible.

Prince Gong was coaxed and tricked by Ning Yan to the front of the candy stand, and when he arrived, he still bought strings of candied haws.

Ning Huaijin had no choice but to pay for him.

"Didn't you have dinner just now?" Ning Huaijin asked.

"Then what's the matter." Ning Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled, and said, "Everyone can have children, so I'll have fun even if I'm not happy."

"How old are those children? Are you ashamed when you compare yourself with them?" Ning Huaijin said.

"What's the matter?" Ning Yan said confidently: "When I was young, Huai Jin would often hug me and carry me on the back. It's a pity that now that I've grown up, I have to be sneaky."

As Ning Yan said, he stretched out his hand to pull Ning Huaijin's sleeve under the cover of the cloak, his fingers crawled half a circle along his cuff, and then slid down his wrist, intertwining with his fingers. tight.

Ning Huaijin hooked the corners of her lips uncontrollably, and seemed to feel that she was being rude, so she suppressed the smile on her face, and quietly tightened the cloak, but did not let go of Ning Yan. hand.

"The bigger you are, the more clingy you are." Ning Huaijin joked half-truthfully.

Ning Yan snorted softly, twirled the bunch of candied gourds around with the bamboo stick in his hand, and said, "Isn't it okay to stick to you?"

The candied haws had just been poured out, and the syrup on it was thin and translucent like an ice shell, and it was dotted with white sesame seeds, which looked really sweet and sour.

Ning Huaijin didn't dare to let Ning Yan eat outside food so casually, but she also knew that she couldn't stop him, so after much deliberation, she came up with a compromise.

He took Ning Yan's hand, bent slightly and leaned forward, and took the top hawthorn away with Ning Yan's hand.

Ning Yan: "..."

—— Ning Huaijin is such an adult, yet she can still do such things as snatching food.

"Try it for you." Ning Huaijin said cryptically, "After all, outside is not the same as at home. There are people doing this job."

Before Ning Huaijin finished speaking, she frowned very lightly and let out a soft moan.

"What's wrong?" Ning Yan asked.

Ning Huaijin shook her head, swallowed the hawthorn in her mouth, and said, "It's okay, it's a little sour—but it tastes good, you can try it."

Ning Yan loves sweet food, and has always been indifferent to sour and bitter food. Hearing this, his interest in the bunch of candied haws in his hand immediately dropped by five or six points.

So he just ate a small piece of sugar-coated outside, called Qin Liu, and handed the candied haws to him.

Ning Huaijin's goal was achieved, and she couldn't help being satisfied in her heart, but she still suggested empathetically: "The food from these small stalls is not to your liking, otherwise, before going back, go to the century-old preserved fruit shop in Beijing to buy some peaches." Go back."

"Well, that's also good." Ning Yan said.

Most of the bazaars in central Beijing are filled with vendors of various kinds. They are no more worshiping gods and ancestors than those in the south. Generally speaking, they lack a lot of novelty.For Ning Yan, when he came out, he just wanted to watch the excitement, and occasionally enjoy the feeling of sneaking out of the palace with Ning Huaijin. He felt a little emotional.

"Actually... I want to lift the curfew slowly." Ning Yan said suddenly.

Ning Huaijin turned her head to look at him, as if she didn't know why he suddenly said such a sentence.

"When spring comes next year, there will be transferred officials to take over the Anqing and Jiujiang prefectures." Ning Yan said, "In about half a year, these two fiefdoms will be stable. When I was in Nanyang prefecture, I actually thought about it." , When these things gradually stabilize, I also want to gradually relax the curfew."

"Is it because you want to open the night market often?" Ning Huaijin asked.

"It's not all like that. Although the treasury spent a lot of money after the war, after the third brother and the Shu family copied it, it probably made up a lot." Ning Yan said: "The curfew is to prevent thieves. There is little chaos, but if the world is stable, there will be no need for a curfew."

"The peace of the world, the peace of the country and the people are the people's hope." Ning Yan said with a smile: "The prosperity and beauty of the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers is also my hope."

Ning Huaijin understood what he meant.

What Ning Yan said was not just such a trivial matter as the curfew. What he meant was that he wanted to clean up the country and return to legal principles, so as not to give those thieves a chance to take advantage of the curfew, but also to make all people in the world live a better life.

He wanted to stand inside the walls of the imperial city and watch the lights stretching all over the world, and he also wanted to be as lively as today day and night.

"You are still young." Ning Huaijin smiled gently, and said, "So you have plenty of time, and you will definitely be able to achieve what you want."

"Of course." Ning Yan also smiled at him, turned his head to Ning Huaijin's ear, and whispered: "I have an uncle, so naturally I can get whatever I want."

Ning Huaijin knew early on that Ning Yan was not a monarch who could be satisfied with success.He is young, sharp, has big ambitions in his heart, and has the means and strategies to match him. His eyes will never be set on the three-acre land in front of him. Sooner or later, he will go further afield.

The world is safe and the society is Ji Ning. Now that Ning Yan has finished the first half of the sentence, he is about to start the second half.

He is not yet 20 years old this year, and he still has a lot of time to realize his ambitions. Whether it is An Sheji or Ping Tianxia, ​​Ning Huaijin can't predict where he will go in the end, but no matter what, he will always He will go down with Ning Yan.

"You just need to follow your heart, step by step, and keep your feet on the ground. I will always follow you." Ning Huaijin paused, and said: "With me here, you don't have to worry about being alone .”

When Ning Huaijin spoke, she tilted her head slightly, and Ning Yan's slightly cool lips just happened to brush against the side of his face.

Ning Yan was stunned when he heard this, and kissed him lightly and quickly on the face.

"It's a deal." Ning Yan said.

"It's a deal." Ning Huaijin said.