Chapter 39
Chapter 38 – 038
Early the next morning, Yuan Cixian followed Lu Shiqing and left Zhu’s Mansion, left Tangzhou, entered Huainan Road, passed through Shenzhou, Anzhou, and Huangzhou, and entered the border of Qizhou in early September.
The local officials in Huainan were ordered by the third prince, King Ping, to come to receive them. The connection from county to county was almost seamless, as if the first sentence from above was immediately echoed from below.
Moreover, Yuan Cixian found that most of the officials he met in Shannan Dongdao, which is adjacent to Gyeonggi, were overly enthusiastic, nodding and bowing, flattering and flattering constantly. No one even remembered that Lu Shiqing was going south to supervise disaster relief matters this time. The behaviors of the states and counties in Huainan are completely opposite.
What I saw along the way, even a small official, treated Lu Shiqing neither humble nor overbearing, and his words were not far from the situation of the disaster, asking when the next batch of disaster relief supplies would arrive, and concerned about the court’s measures to prevent the spread of the plague after the disaster . Although the meals for the two of them were not bland, they were by no means exquisite. They all said that they wanted to “be the same as the people”. I hope they will be more tolerant.
Yuan Cixian was really surprised by the unity of officials in Huainan. Lu Shiqing’s attitude was always indifferent and alienated, no more than a nod to them, and he never said a pleasant word.
Once, Yuan Cixian asked him, these people seem to be the generation who care about the country and the people, so if you comfort them a few more words and let the superiors make their wishes, it will not help to stabilize the hearts of the people. criticized. However, Lu Shiqing only answered her with four words: If you go too far, you will lose everything.
Seeing that she didn’t seem to understand for a while, he asked: “If this disaster happened under your father’s rule, would all the officials in southern Yunnan be able to do this?”
Yuan Cixian thought for a while and said, “No.”
“There are frequent wars in southern Yunnan. The officials, the people, and the people all depend on your father. You can’t guarantee that when a natural disaster is imminent, everyone will be united. Huainan, which has always been stable, suddenly encountered a catastrophe. Why did you do this in just a few months?”
When asked by him like this, Yuan Cixian felt that her rank was still a little low, and after thinking about it again, she realized that the officials along the way were not so much for the people as they were for the people, but why they acted for the court. watch. It’s just that things must be reversed when they are extreme, too much is too much, their acting skills are too hard.
Thinking of this, Yuan Cixian couldn’t help but thump in his heart. Why does she feel that her acting skills are quite strong? Lu Shiqing has seen through those officials with such piercing eyes, didn’t she also have a clear insight into her tricks?
Yuan Cixian fell into introspection, and didn’t do anything to curry favor with Lu Shiqing for a few days, and didn’t bother him in his carriage, until one evening when he was about to leave Qizhou, there was a heavy rain, and there was a flash flood in the border area of Shuzhou. The road was blocked by mud and stones, and the convoy was forced to leave the official road and take a detour. However, due to the harsh terrain of the wild road, Lu Shiqing’s carriage sank into the quagmire. The tenon was broken, causing the wheels to fly off the cart, and the carriage also collapsed and fell apart.
Lu Shiqing stood in the rain with an ugly expression on his face. Zhao Shu, who was holding an umbrella for him, was also startled. Yuan Cixian in the carriage behind saw this and couldn’t care less about “reflection”, and hurriedly told Shi Cui to go down pick him up.
Shi Cui came over stepping on the mud with one foot shallow and one foot shallow, and raised her voice: “Lu Shilang, it’s cold and rainy, the county lord please go to her carriage to take shelter from the wind.”
Lu Shiqing glanced at her, nodded slightly, explained a few words to everyone, and walked back. Behind him, Cao An quietly rubbed his red hands.
This carriage was built too well, and the tenons were stuffed too tightly, God knows that Lang Jun’s calm and breezy “abandon it” almost caused him to break his finger. But he was in pain and happy.
Seeing the back of Lang Jun running towards happiness, Cao An showed a gratified and proud smile.
Lu Shiqing lifted the curtain and brought in a gust of cold wind, Yuan Cixian shivered, and handed him a clean handkerchief, his lips trembled from the cold, so he didn’t have time to ask him to wipe it.
But he already understood what she meant, he took the veil and put it aside, started to undo his belt without saying a word, and took off his outer robe in two or three strokes.
Yuan Cixian was stunned for a few times before remembering to avoid it, blinked quickly, and turned her head away.
She reckoned that Lu Qing had been seen by her before when she landed, and because the carriage fell apart, she was angry for a moment, so she simply broke the pot, but she was not used to this, she was a little restless, she turned her head to avoid the sound of rain for a while, and asked Said: “Have you wiped it?”
Lu Shiqing didn’t continue to take it off at all, but just left the slightly wet robe to dry in the carriage, and asked, “It’s been done a long time ago, why?”
As soon as she turned her head, she saw that he was really sitting upright. Although he didn’t have his outer robe, he didn’t expose an inch of his skin.
The weather in the autumn season was much colder than when the two of them left Beijing at the beginning of the year, and the clothes that were too thin could no longer be worn, so Lu Shiqing’s outer robe was not an inner garment, but a thin lining that was close to the body. When he took it off, his clothes were not disheveled, as he was in the Shangzhou post station last time, but he showed his tightly pinched girdle, his waist was strong, and his tough lines were fully revealed.
Yuan Cixian’s breath stagnates at the first glance, and he gulps saliva. This “still hugging the pipa half-hidden face” appearance is even more imaginative than stripping off, and there is a picture of him naked again in her head.
But he is still decently dressed like this, and it would be too hypocritical to avoid it, so Yuan Cixian could only look directly at him, and turned the conversation as if nothing had happened: “It’s nothing, just to remind you, this place is not far from the place where the flash flood broke out, or It’s best to leave as soon as possible.”
She was bluffing, implying that she did not misunderstand that he was going to take off his clothes just now, let alone looked away because of nervousness, but just observed the surroundings through the car curtain.
Lu Shiqing glanced at her reddish ears, and calmly said: “You don’t have to worry about it, I just ordered people to go ahead to explore the road, and we will find a place to stay soon.” What’s more, he ordered Cao An to abandon the carriage. Just looking around, there will be no flash floods here, and in a moment, the rain should stop.
Yuan Cixian nodded, “Oh”, and suddenly realized something after a moment of silence, and asked, “Hey, Shicui, why didn’t you come in with you?”
Of course he was dragged by Cao An to explore the way.
Lu Shiqing chuckled inwardly, and said indifferently on his face, “I don’t know.”
Yuan Cixian thinks that’s fine, this time being alone is God’s will, and it’s not something she deliberately created, so it’s not likely that Lu Shiqing will feel that she has ulterior motives.
She was quiet for a while, and when her heartbeat gradually stabilized, she was ready to seize the opportunity to “do business”, and finished the “nearly” one “set” that fell in the past few days, and said with a smile: “In this case, there is nothing to do right now. , let’s sneak in a game of chess.”
Lu Shiqing said “whatever you want”, and when she dragged out the chessboard and chess jars from under the table, arranged them one by one, reached out and took a jade, and was ready to drop it.
Yuan Cixian said “Hey” and stopped him: “Why did you go down first?”
He raised his eyebrows: “Why not?”
“You have eaten six years more food than I have. It’s all right if you don’t let me have a few children. How can there be any reason to seize the opportunity?” Her tone was slightly coquettish, and her bones were crisp.
This seemed to be a seduction equivalent to taking off his coat in one fell swoop.
He was silent for a while, and just about to speak, he suddenly heard someone knock on the wall of the car, followed by Cao An’s apologetic voice: “Your Majesty, the situation is not good, there are no people around for several miles, I’m afraid I will have to sleep in the open tonight.” .”
Lu Shiqing’s face turned gloomy: “You have been with Zhao Shu for a long time, and you are out of control. It is not enough to destroy a carriage, and you can’t even find a place to stay?”
Yuan Cixian felt that it was pitiful for Cao An to run so far in the pouring rain, and said something nice to Lu Shiqing for him: “It’s okay to sleep outside, there are beds and couch in this carriage, it’s very comfortable.”
Cao An took the initiative to take the blame and said: “County Lord, this time it is indeed a villain’s fault. Sleeping in the open is nothing, but the gentleman’s carriage is broken down, and if you can’t find a place tonight, the two of you will have to make do together. …”
As soon as he reminded her, Yuan Cixian suddenly woke up, opened her mouth, but didn’t speak for a while.
Cao An’s tone was so sad that she couldn’t bear to be harsh.
She thought for a while and asked outside: “Is it true that Lu Shilang’s carriage can’t be repaired?”
“With a few important tenons missing, I really can’t put them back together.”
“Don’t we still have a carriage?” Xiao Hei “lived” in that carriage.
Cao An continued to say sadly: “That car is really small, just big enough for your pet dog to sleep in. It couldn’t be used by people in the first place, not to mention that it contained your belongings, and now because of the destruction of the gentleman’s carriage, several people have been resettled.” Official documents stacked one foot in thickness… These things are very important, and it is not suitable to move them out, in case it rains and gets wet…”
Lu Shiqing frowned deeply: “Then continue on your way until you find a place to live.”
Cao An was embarrassed and advised: “Mr. Lang, the sky is getting dark, and this wild road is not as solid as the foundation of the official road. It is too dangerous to do so.”
Lu Shiqing glanced at Yuan Cixian when he heard the words, as if asking her what she meant.
She twisted her face and said hesitantly: “Little life is important, so let’s not leave… Find a safe place to settle down first, at worst I will give you the carriage, and just find a rock outside to sleep on. After all, you are more important… “
Oh, this is retreating. Knowing that he couldn’t tell her to sleep on a stone.
Lu Shiqing smiled and pointed to the chessboard in front of him, “To be fair, whoever wins will sleep in the carriage, and the game will determine the outcome.”
Yuan Cixian thought about it for a while and agreed, secretly thinking that Lu Shiqing probably wanted to give up the carriage to her, but he was embarrassed to say so, so he found a way for himself, and used such a roundabout way.
Sure enough, he didn’t rush to play first, and gave her three hands, so that she was far ahead in the next situation.
Yuan Cixian secretly felt that Lu Shiqing’s face was cold and soft-hearted, but in fact he was very kind to her, and because she did have a real life-saving favor, it seemed inappropriate for her to approach him with the mentality of using him all the time. After wandering around like this for a while, he suddenly heard the person on the other side gnashing his teeth: “Yuan Cixian, can you concentrate?”
She returned to her place of fascination and looked down at the chess game.
No, how could she lose…
No wonder Lu Shiqing was angry, she couldn’t win if he let her like this, so it was a waste of his painstaking efforts.
She hastened to stay vigilant, but unexpectedly, she had no way to save the game, and she retreated steadily all the way. It was only because of Lu Shiqing’s frequent concessions that she reversed her inevitable loss and barely gave her a tie.
She rubbed her nose in embarrassment, and asked, “It’s a draw…how should I calculate it?”
small theater:
Lu Shiqing: Of course they slept together in the carriage. 🙂
Cao An: I feel a little wronged for destroying the carriage with my bare hands. I hope Mr. Wang will give me a raise.
Director Gu: (⊙o⊙) The second watch is late, this time I will definitely sleep, but it’s just a literal sleep, I refuse you to think deeply.