Tanhualang

Shen Jing hurriedly took a shower, changed her clothes and went out.

Zhao Heng stood under the tree with disheveled hair waiting for him, the dim light shone thinly on his face, only a thin outline could be seen, his eyebrows and eyes were shrouded in shadows, and he looked thoughtful.

Shen Jing fastened her belt, coughed lightly and stepped forward, taking the clothes in his hand:

"Awaited."

"You move fast."

"Brother Zhong An, thanks for the prize."

Zhao Heng looked down at him, and said with a smile:

"I thought Bai told you."

Shen Jing hugged a pile of clothes, for some reason, she felt that King Yu, who had just taken a shower, was particularly unassuming:

"There are a lot of mosquitoes at night, brother Zhong An don't have to wait for me."

"It's stuffy in the room. It's cool outside." Zhao Heng walked ahead, looking up at the blue night sky, "The night here seems to be particularly dark compared to the capital."

"There are lights everywhere in the courtyard of the capital, so naturally it doesn't feel dark." Shen Jing then looked up, "However, if there are stars and moons at night, it must be extraordinarily bright here compared to the capital."

While talking, the two arrived at the back door of the inn. They happened to see someone pasting red paper in front of the inn door. They pasted one piece every three to five steps, from the door all the way to the stairs on the second floor. Zhao Heng paused as he went upstairs and looked back With one glance, he wondered as he walked:

"This is?"

Shen Jing explained:

"Folk customs, when getting married, the couple must lead the way with red paper, which indicates that the days after the wedding will be prosperous."

"Oh, there is such a thing." Zhao Heng turned his head and glanced, "In the capital, marriages seem to be posted with red double happiness."

Shen Jing said:

"Suzhou and Zhejiang are also posting Double Happiness. Shandong and Anhui seem to be posting red paper."

The two went up the stairs along a row of red paper until they reached the door of the guest room. The road was brightly red. King Yu looked back at Shen Jing and started joking:

"The newcomer hasn't left yet, so it's cheaper for you and me first."

"..."

Silent and speechless.King Yu probably likes taking a bath very much, right?After taking a shower, people seem to be extra lively.

"Miao An is not married yet."

"Not yet."

"Is there someone you like?"

"……No."

"No one is a matchmaker for you?"

"The family is desolate, with no relatives, and dare not drag others down."

Speaking of having reached the door, King Yu heard the answer, pushed the door open and said:

"It's fine if you don't have one. If you don't have a family, you'll save a lot of trouble."

Shen Jing didn't answer, she entered the door and quickly made a bed for King Yu, then picked up the remaining quilt on the bed and spread it on the couch behind the door.After everything was tidied up, the doors and windows were closed tightly, the candlestick was placed on the chair next to the couch, and Zhao Heng urged Zhao Heng back:

"Brother Zhong'an, let's take a rest earlier. The shopkeeper explained that the bridegroom will come to pick up the bride at Riyinshi, and he will definitely make a fuss outside. If you have a full schedule, you can still sleep for three and a half hours."

Zhao Heng walked to the bed in response to the sound, took off his outer clothes, stretched his arms and legs and lay down, sighing comfortably:

"Lie down and stretch, and then I feel really tired. It's like a little mule cart box, it's uncomfortable to sit all day curled up."

Shen Jing turned sideways and blew out the candles on the chair, put his clothes on the couch, and said in a low voice:

"Let's endure for another two days. One day tomorrow, and another day the next day. When we arrive in Nanjing in the evening of the next day, we can have a good rest."

"Where is the rest?" Zhao Heng snorted and turned over, "I'm afraid it will be more tiring than traveling."

Shen Jing drove the car for a whole day, and had to wait for the hotel to eat, dress, bathe, she was already exhausted, she half-closed her eyes and thought to herself: This Lord Yu Wang, for some reason, seems to be extraordinarily talkative tonight.

He just pretended to be asleep and didn't answer the phone.

After a long time, the footsteps coming and going in the corridor outside gradually died down, leaving only the sound of insects stinging and rustling.In the dim sleepiness, it seemed that he heard King Yu sighing in a low voice:

"...If you were born in an ordinary family, study and farm, marry and have children, there must be some fun."

Dimly, half asleep and half awake, he answered vaguely:

"It's no fun... just like ants stealing their lives and letting others trample on them."

Zhao Heng didn't make a sound after hearing this, and asked softly for a long time:

"Miao'an sighed like this, presumably after some accidents?"

The only answer to him was the silence of the room, and the sound of the quiet, regular and long breathing of falling asleep.

The weather in the next two days was not very good. First, the weather was cloudy for a day, but it didn't delay the journey, and it rained lightly that night.On the way early in the morning, Shen Jing had no choice but to ask the innkeeper if there was any rain gear.

The shopkeeper got into the firewood room in the backyard, and after a long time carried out a pile of dusty thatch, and unfolded it to see that it turned out to be a rough coir raincoat:

"Sell it to you for a hundred dollars."

Shen Jing listened, and whispered to Zhao Heng that the price was too outrageous, so she wanted to turn around and go to buy it along the way.

Unexpectedly, if Zhao Heng didn't leave, he started haggling seriously with the shopkeeper:

"Too expensive. Cheaper."

Shen Jing: "..."

Shopkeeper: "How much do you give?"

Zhao Heng pointed to the bamboo hat hanging on the wall behind the counter:

"Including that, forty dollars."

The shopkeeper: "Where can I buy this? It costs [-] yuan for a bale of grass outside! Why don't you take the [-] yuan?"

Zhao Heng stretched out five slender fingers:

"Fifty can't be more."

Shopkeeper: "At least seventy."

Zhao Heng: "Forget it. Miao An, let's look elsewhere."

"Hey wait! Seeing that you are on your way, don't worry about it, mine is all new." The shopkeeper said half-truthfully, "Tsk, this master really knows how to bargain."

Shen Jing was dumbfounded, and a quarter of an hour later, wearing a bamboo hat and coir raincoat, he drove the mule cart with King Yu, who was triumphant in bargaining successfully, and set off on the road.

The rain delayed the trip, and it was late at night on the fourth day when we arrived in Nanjing.

At that time, the rain had gradually stopped, but the road was still a little slippery and difficult to walk.The mules and horses had been running around for a day, and their footsteps began to hesitate.I don't know if it's because of the cloudy sky, but as far as I can see, I can't see the lights of the village or town.

Even though he had carefully checked the road signs before, Shen Jing couldn't help but start to worry about whether he had gone the wrong way.

After whipping the mule's hind legs twice, he untied the wet coir raincoat and still hung it on the shaft, lifted the bamboo hat on his head, and turned around and asked:

"I can't see the lights. Should I find a place to rest for the night before leaving, or continue on my way?"

Zhao Heng lifted the curtain of the car and bowed out of the car, first pressed his warm palm on Shen Jing's shoulder, his voice was gentle, but his complexion was a little dark:

"We must arrive in Nanjing tonight. You go in and have a rest, I'll drive the car."

Of course Shen Jing refused to let him go, but King Yu was tall and had long legs. He stepped onto the shaft of the chariot with one step, and firmly grasped the whip in Shen Jing's hand with his slender fingers. With a little force, he snatched the whip away with a skillful force, and his other hand had already taken off his head. Putting the bamboo hat on his head, he said in a deep voice:

"go in."

The strength and imposing manner were disparate, and Shen Jing had no choice but to get into the carriage.First he dug out the baggage, swished off his soaked clothes, took a few sips from the water bag from the car wall, and ate a few sips of dry food with cold water.After he gradually warmed up, he lifted the car curtain and looked out, and finally heaved a sigh of relief:

"I can see the light. I thought I was going the wrong way."

"No mistake, I've walked this way." Zhao Heng drove the mule cart in a dignified manner, "It is estimated that in half an hour, we will reach the city gate."

Sure enough, more than half an hour later, at about three o'clock, the mule cart arrived under the city gate.

In the silent drizzle, two rows of dozens of soldiers defending the city could be vaguely seen lined up under the city gate, surrounded by three or four lanterns in the middle, hanging under the roof of a navy blue oilcloth sedan chair.

Shen Jing bowed and half knelt at the door of the carriage, lifted the curtain and looked out.

The mule cart gradually approached the city gate, and next to the sedan chair, two young men in flying fish suits stepped forward and raised the sedan chair curtain. One of them was holding a large oil-paper umbrella, and from the sedan chair came out a childlike and white-haired man, wearing a cloak and head. An old man in sixties wearing black tulle came.

Zhao Heng reined in the mule cart, dropped his whip, jumped off the shaft, and lifted the bamboo hat on his head.

Shen Jing hurriedly got out of the car with her luggage and followed closely behind him.

I saw the old man at the front of the sedan chair take two steps forward, squinted at Zhao Heng under the umbrella through the crystal rain illuminated by the wind lantern, and then trotted up to meet him laughing and crying:

"Your Highness! Your Highness is here!"

Someone had already handed a black velvet cloak from the side, the old man took it, ran into the drizzle and put it on for Zhao Heng, then knelt down in front of Zhao Heng:

"Old slave Ding Bao, I have met the Second Highness!"

Under the huge oil-paper umbrella, Zhao Heng bent down and helped him up from the ground with both hands, with a smile on his face, and his tone seemed to have regained the introverted and skillful tone he had in the capital:

"Eunuch Ding Bao, I haven't seen you for many years."

"Yes, we haven't seen each other for many years!" Ding Bao looked up at Zhao Heng, laughing and crying, holding his hand tightly and refusing to let go, "When we parted back then, the Second Highness was only half a boy, now Already so heroic and calm!"

Zhao Heng smiled slightly, took out his hand and patted the back of his hand, and said a few words of comfort before turning around and nodding his chin to Shen Jing:

"This is Shen Jing who accompanied me to Nanjing, Shen Miao'an. Miao'an, this is the guardian of Nanjing, Master Ding Baoding."