Mustang

I fell asleep in pain and dizziness, only to wake up in the middle of the night.With a drowsy head and sore limbs, I finished cleaning the wound on my head, prepared a tub of warm water, sat back on the bed, and softly called Chun Chuan's name.

"I've got the water, you go and wash it."

He turned over to look at me, probably seeing the wound on my head, slowly propped himself up, and stared at the wound with red and swollen eyes.

"It's just a skin injury. You take a bath first, and I'll sleep later."

After he loosened the quilt that was tightly wrapped around his body and got out of bed, I collapsed on the pillow as if exhausted.Closing my eyelids, I said to him, "Let's go when it's dawn."

I thought he would ask questions or even refuse directly, but he didn't say a word until I fell asleep again in a mist.

When I woke up again, Chun Chuan was sitting next to me, treating my injuries.I reached out to caress his swollen right cheek, and his tears dripped on my chest.

"Let's go." I said, "Go back to the small courtyard outside the city first, and think about the rest later."

He nodded.

He and I know better than anyone else that the little prince will not let it go, but today we have no time to be afraid or worry.Each of us took a few pieces of important luggage, and we rushed to leave through the back door of the palace at dawn. What happened last night made him a little limping. I wanted to carry him, but he refused.

The day was surprisingly calm.At night, after laying the bedding for him, I turned around to leave, but Chun Chuan grabbed my wrist.I guessed that he was disturbed by the events of the past few days, so he carried his quilt from the next room and squeezed him on the same bed.When he let me sleep on the inside, I only thought he was doing it for the convenience of getting up at night, until I saw him pressing the long sword he carried with him under the mattress.

In the room with the lights off, only the chirping of cicadas could be heard outside the window. I leaned against the wall and turned my head to look at him. He turned his back to me and remained motionless.

I asked him, "Do you regret it?"

"Regret... what?"

"I regret meeting me."

"No," he replied, "Before I met you, I didn't like the palace."

I stood up and asked seriously: "Then why did you leave the troupe and go to the palace?"

"Because of the little prince."

He turned over and lay on his back, and said to the bed curtain above his head: "At that time, the little prince told the class master that if I refused to work as a guard in the palace, he would have no business in the capital. The class master didn't want to offend the little prince. , I didn't want to hurt them either, so I left the troupe myself."

"You have nowhere to go after leaving the troupe, so..."

"I went to all the opera troupes and music workshops in the capital, but everyone seemed to know about my affair with the little prince, and no one would accept me. I thought of Mr. Envoy, and wanted to ask him for help, but found that his house had changed owners. I asked around and found out that shortly after he came back from Dongying, he offended powerful officials in the court, and he had passed away for three months. I was sleeping in the inn that day, remembering the days when I had nothing to eat and was hunted down. In contrast , I feel that the palace is not so scary."

I fell back on the pillow and moved towards him, resting my head on his shoulder.

He turned to me and asked, "Then, Yunze, do you regret it?"

I looked up at him: "Me? What do I regret?"

"I regret meeting me." He smiled.

I laughed too: "You're all laughing, what else are you asking?"

"Go to sleep," he patted my arm coaxing a child, "don't be afraid. I can make a sword and protect you."

I still couldn't sleep all night.

At dawn, I stepped over him and got out of bed lightly.As soon as I took out a clean coat from the bag, I heard him calling me: "Yunze."

"Are you awake too?" I glanced at him, "We'll be on our way after packing up."

"where to?"

"Jiangnan. I used to live in the Jiangnan area. The scenery there is beautiful and lively, and there are more people who like singing and dancing than the capital. In Yangzhou..."

He interrupted me: "The little prince will not let us go."

I looked up at him: "Then I can't send you back."

"I don't want to go back," Chun Chuan said and walked over, "it doesn't matter what I do, but if we run away now, you will be in danger. Stay in the capital, with the prince here, the little prince dare not hurt you. Not only can't you go, you You have to go back and stay with the prince."

"I'm worried about leaving you here alone."

"If the little prince wanted to kill me, he would have killed me two days ago, and he wouldn't wait until now. Besides," he helped me straighten my collar and put on my belt, "if someone really came, it would be useless for you to stay here. I have to protect you."

If I followed my usual temperament, when I heard this, I would definitely say "I don't need your protection" to him, but now I don't even have such thoughts, I just listen carefully, and wait for him to help me sort it out hair crown.

"Don't worry, I'll wait for you to come back." He said.

Recently, my father's spirit has improved. When I returned to the palace, he was sitting on a deck chair in the Huxin Pavilion watching two disciples play chess.I walked to the lake with my qin in my arms, not wanting to disturb them, so I found a stone table nearby and started playing the qin.After a few songs, the chess game was over and the doormen left, so my father sent someone to invite me over.

He didn't turn his head to look at me, but just looked directly at the lake view outside the pavilion: "Do you really sympathize with that Dongying guard, or do you mean that you can't get used to your third brother's behavior and want to use this person to find him unhappy?"

I was taken aback.Although he always knew that everything in the palace could not be hidden from his father, but he never expected him to be so straightforward.

"It turns out that in my father's heart, I am such a 'courageous and resourceful' person," I smiled helplessly, "You actually think that I will deliberately oppose the future prince. Father, I never want to provoke the little prince. If it weren't for you this year If you want to listen to the piano and send people to Jiangnan to look for me, I will probably never return to Beijing in my life."

"As a father, I just want to ask more clearly, there is no other meaning, so don't think too much about it."

I knelt down on the ground: "Father, the child is not filial, dare to beg father for mercy."

"This is the first time you begged me," he sighed, "is it the guard's idea?"

"Chun Chuan only told me not to leave Beijing rashly, for fear that if I leave your protection, I will die as a guest in another country and die unexpectedly. It is my cowardice and incompetence that I have no other choice, so I come to ask you for help."

"Looking at it this way, he really has plans for you. I talked to the prince yesterday, and he promised that I would never harm you in this life. As for the guard—may as well tell you the truth, even if you don't take him away, as long as the prince keeps Take him with you, and I will get rid of him in the future."

"Why..." I stared blankly at my father, "get rid of it?"

"Kill him," he said, as if he was talking about trampling an ant to death, "I also made it clear to the prince yesterday."

"I know everything about the son and the guard, but I just turned a blind eye on purpose. After the death of the princess, he was young and energetic, so I indulged him a little bit, so that he would not remember my father, king, and me. It is even more difficult to discipline. As long as he is good at studying and practicing martial arts, he is just a guard, so he can stay if he wants to. It's just..."

"It's just that in the future he will become a king and become an official in the court. When he gets married and establishes a career, the matter with this bodyguard will definitely damage your family's reputation and ruin his official career—so you want to get rid of his future troubles?"

"I see that you only know Qin as a company all day long, and you really think you are unsophisticated. You understand this truth, and the prince will not understand it. If you really like that guard, let him stay with you. It is also for me. It saves trouble and worries. As for your younger brother, no matter how arrogant he is, he will not embarrass my father. You just keep everything as usual and stay in the capital for the time being, just to accompany me."

"Thank you father."