phoenix jiuxiao

Chapter 81

The rain seems to be a little lighter, and the sky is gradually starting to brighten up.

Su Hailing walked out of the room, only to see Li Ting walking by with several spears on his back.

"Villager Li!" Su Hailing yelled, chased after her and walked side by side with her, saying, "I have something I would like to ask, I wonder if the village master is convenient?"

"It's nothing inconvenient." Li Ting stood the spear in the corner, turned around and said with a smile, "But I don't know anything, the second sister is in charge of everything in the village, she just took people down the mountain to work the day before yesterday .”

Su Hailing knew that her so-called "work" was robbery, so she skipped over and said, "I'm also from Dayong, is Dayong really in this mess?"

"Who said it wasn't?" Li Ting let out a long sigh, and said helplessly, "If it wasn't for helplessness, who would want to leave their hometown and live by robbery?"

"But I heard that Her Majesty is still very wise." Su Hailing tentatively said.

"Since His Majesty fell ill three years ago, our life has become more and more difficult every day." Li Ting shook his head and said, "All kinds of miscellaneous taxes have increased several times, and the little grain in the field is not enough, so the officers and soldiers are in the village. arresting people everywhere...my second younger sister is a knowledgeable person, she came from Beijing and rescued us, she couldn't stay in Dayong any longer, so she slowly fled here."

"Oh?" Su Hailing's eyelids twitched, came from the capital?
"I think Miss and Husband are also in distress. If you have nowhere to go, you might as well stay here." Li Ting laughed.

"Thank you, village master." Su Hailing couldn't help feeling warm in his heart, no matter in which time, space, or era, the people are always the most simple, as long as they can survive, they can endure any kind of suffering.

"But there's nothing to eat in the village. If the second sister doesn't come back..." Li Ting sighed again, but didn't continue.

"The construction of this village, the sentry of the sisters, etc., were also arranged by the second village master?" Su Hailing asked suddenly.

"That's right, we vulgar people don't understand, what the second sister can say." Li Tinghan said with a smile.

Su Hailing's eyes were fixed, and he was secretly weighing in his heart.

Although this cottage is simple and simple, it vaguely has the shadow of a military camp. Those sentry posts are also commonly used in the army. It seems that the mysterious second village master is really not an ordinary person.

"By the way, is Miss's husband in poor health?" Li Ting asked worriedly. "There are no doctors in the village, so we have to go to Sanhe Town."

"It doesn't matter, I have a little understanding of medical skills." Su Hailing said hurriedly.

"That's good." Li Ting said, "Just tell me what you need, and I'll go to work."

"En." Su Hailing thanked again, seeing that the dark clouds in the distant sky seemed to have dispersed, he slowly let go of his heart.

In any case, as soon as the rain stops, they will leave here immediately.

The pursuers behind couldn't be sure which route they were from, but...staying here would only hurt people like Li Ting.

Turning around and going back to the room, she saw that Mei Junhan had changed into clean clothes and was holding up her long hair with a wooden hairpin.

"I'll help you." Su Hailing stepped forward to take the hairpin and took over the rest of the work.

Mei Junhan gave him a cold look, but did not stop him.

The freshly washed long hair is soft and smooth, slipping from the fingers, just like stroking the touch of fine silk.Su Hailing carefully pulled up her hair and fixed it with a wooden hairpin.

"Okay!" Mei Junhan stood up uncomfortably.

"Are you all right? Don't sleep for a while." Su Hailing said.

"I'll be fine after soaking in hot water. I'm not so delicate." Mei Junhan said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, this cold poison won't break out so easily. Otherwise, there are so many people who want to kill me, I'll kill you sooner." I don’t know how many times I’ve died.”

Seeing that he had indeed recovered, Su Hailing felt relieved, and said, "No matter what, you can't get in the rain for the time being. We'll leave when the rain stops."

"Okay." Mei Junhan nodded in agreement, and said, "Have you found out the origin of this cottage?"

"I'm afraid you know it too." Su Hailing smiled, making it clear that he didn't believe that with his Xuanming Palace's ability, he wouldn't be able to understand even such a trivial matter.

"Dayong's people in exile." Mei Junhan frowned, "There was nothing suspicious at first, but I have never been able to find out the origin of the second village master. If it weren't for...we shouldn't have come here."

"I don't think they are malicious." Su Hailing shook his head, and said again, "It's a pity that the second village master is not here, otherwise I would be very interested and want to meet her."

"At this juncture, it's better not to cause trouble." Mei Junhan said, went to the window to look at the sky, and continued, "It's almost time for us to leave. It's not suitable to stay here for a long time."

"Okay, let's say goodbye to Lord Li Zhai." Su Hailing said.

Mei Junhan tidied up her clothes, covered her face with a black gauze, and came to the main hall of the cottage with her.

Unexpectedly, before entering the door, I heard a hearty voice from a distance: "Sister, I brought a lot of food this time, enough for everyone to survive this winter, but it was a bit wet due to the heavy rain, it's a pity Already!"

Su Hailing was stunned, and a burst of doubts surged in his heart.

Hearing this name, it should be that the Second Village Lord has returned, but why is that voice so familiar...

"What's wrong?" Mei Junhan turned his head and said.

"It's nothing, let's go in." Su Hailing shook his head, took his hand and walked inside.

Mei Junhan struggled slightly, but she couldn't prevent her from pulling him even tighter, so he had no choice but to let her go. Fortunately, there was a veil covering her, so she couldn't see the blush on her face.

It's really... I didn't care about these at first, but after piercing that layer of window paper, it became awkward instead.

Su Hailing glanced over quietly, and regardless of the gazes of the women along the way, he graciously pulled him into the main hall.

"It's a coincidence that Miss came here, this is my second sister." Li Ting said with a smile.

Su Hailing smiled and turned his head away, just so happened that the commoner woman also turned around to look, when the four eyes met, both of them couldn't help being stunned.

"Hailing?" Mei Junhan bumped into her quietly.

"Lu...you are Lu Tong?" Su Hailing asked innocently.

The woman's mouth was wide open, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't say it, her face flushed red for a moment.

"Miss knows my second sister?" Li Ting asked doubtfully.

"Sister, this lady is an old friend of mine." Lu Tong calmed down, turned his head and smiled and said, "Long time no see, let's catch up on the past first."

"Okay, you guys talk, I'll take the girls to unload the food." Li Ting didn't notice anything, just thought that they were old friends reunited, and he was even more happy in his heart, and went out with a smile, and took two doors with him wooden door.

After waiting until there was no one else in the main hall, Lu Tong straightened his face, knelt down on one knee and said, "Lu Tong sees Your Highness the Princess."

"Get up, I'm not Princess Ruiqing anymore." Su Hailing smiled wryly, and helped her up.

She never dreamed that she would meet Lu Tong, the former deputy commander of the guards of Chaoyang Palace and Haoyue's adjutant, in a bandit cottage in Nanchu.

I think that when she escaped from the palace, she kept the deputy commander in the dark. I am afraid that she will be implicated later, so she came here.

"Your Highness will always be Lu Tong's master." Lu Tong said.

"You are..." Su Hailing raised his eyebrows in surprise.She didn't stay in the palace for long, and she didn't remember any benefits to Lu Tong. Strictly speaking, Lu Tong was still hurt so badly by her.

"Lu Tong received three life-saving graces from Haoyue Commander, and the master he identified is Lu Tong's master." Lu Tong said without hesitation.

Su Hailing couldn't help being stunned. It turned out that the "righteous man" really existed in ancient times.

"By the way, why don't you see Commander Haoyue?" Lu Tong said.

"I'm going to pick up Haoyue right now." Su Hailing smiled faintly and didn't say much.

"This son is..." Lu Tong looked at Mei Junhan suspiciously, not knowing what to call him properly.

"He is my Shijun Mei." Su Hailing looked at Mei Junhan, with a trace of tenderness in his eyes.

"My subordinates will see Lord Shijun." Lu Tong was startled, and quickly looked away.

The princess' servant may be in the future... She lowered her head and at the same time hid the sparkle in her eyes.

Abandoning the name of Princess Ruiqing, but calling her husband-servant the "Servant Lord" of the royal family, this His Highness's intentions are completely undisguised.

"There's no need to be too polite." Mei Junhan's voice was so cold and alienated that Lu Tong was amazed.

I am afraid that the identity of this Mai Shijun is not simple, he does not have the cowardice of ordinary men at all, but shows shrewdness and strength everywhere, and he will definitely be His Highness's right-hand man.

"Lu Tong, what happened after I left? Why are you here?" Su Hailing sat down with Mei Junhan and asked.

"The Chaoyang Palace caught fire that day, Her Royal Highness the Princess and Commander Haoyue were missing, and the life and death of Mr. Situ who brought him into the palace were also unknown. In a fit of anger, His Majesty locked up all the guards and attendants of the Chaoyang Palace and sent them to prison." Lu Tong Recalling, he said slowly, "The next day, when I heard the news that Her Majesty was assassinated and was in critical condition, no one came to take care of us. In the end, we were dismissed as a citizen and expelled from the palace and never hired. They went their separate ways."

"It's me who made you suffer." Su Hailing sighed.

When she took away Haoyue and Situ Ye, she thought that none of the people in Chaoyang Palace were loyal to her, most of them were the eyeliners placed by Su Xueling, Su Yuling and others by her side, so she never considered whether it would implicate them question.

"I'm alone in the rivers and lakes with swords, but I'm at ease." Lu Tong smiled nonchalantly, and continued, "Two years ago, when I passed a small village on the southern border of Dayong, I happened to encounter the government's forced tax collection. I found a way to survive, and fought with the officers and soldiers. I couldn't stand it anymore, and drove the officials away, but if I leave like this, the officers and soldiers will definitely take revenge on those innocent villagers in the future, so I took them away from home and came to Nanchu Coincidentally, when we passed by here, the bandits in the village wanted to rob us, but I captured the leader and took the village. Thinking about the fact that the villagers had nowhere to go, the bandits in the village were willing to surrender, so They simply reorganized the cottage and settled down here. On weekdays, the old and weak men plant some easy-to-survive miscellaneous grains in the back mountain, and the strong women do heavy work. Occasionally, they go down the mountain to rob those who are rich and unkind, and they can live on."

"That's great, the commander of the dignified bodyguards, it looks like he changed his career to become a robber." Su Hailing laughed.

"Your Highness, don't make fun of me." Lu Tong said awkwardly, "If there is a way to survive, no one wants to live such a life of licking blood with knives. The Nanchu government has also been here a few times. Finally, the sisters are desperate. After reading some tactics, I managed to deal with it, but I don’t know what to do in the future.”

As she spoke, there was a trace of bewilderment and helplessness in her tone.

"What are your future plans?" Su Hailing asked after being silent for a while.

"Lu Tong is willing to follow His Highness." Lu Tong said without hesitation, "Your Highness always needs people around, and Lu Tong knows the basics, so His Highness can rest assured."

Su Hailing pondered for a while, she also believed in Lu Tong's intentions, after all, the meeting today was just a coincidence, it was absolutely impossible for her to arrange everything and wait here two years ago.

After a long time, she asked, "Are the people in this cottage trustworthy?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness." Lu Tong nodded and said, "Most people in the village are great Yongliang people. Sister Li Ting is the original village head. Although she is straightforward, she is very kind and everyone listens to her. As for Those robbers, in the past two years, I have driven all the disobedient and evil ones down the mountain, and those who stayed have gotten along well with the villagers, and some of them have intermarried."

"That's good." As Su Hailing said, he took out a cryolite and a bank note from his pocket and handed them to her. He also asked for a charcoal pen to write a handwritten letter on white silk and gave it to her. He ordered, "This place After all, it is not a long-term solution. You can organize the cottage well. If you are willing to follow you, you can take them to Haiyue Mountain Villa in Xijing for resettlement. If you don’t want to, you can share some money and let them settle down. The mainland is so vast, there is no place that can’t live?"

"Thank you, Your Highness." Lu Tong looked at the things in his hand and was moved.

"You can arrange things here, we still have something to do, so it's inconvenient to stay for a long time." Su Hailing stood up.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. After the arrangements are made, the subordinates will wait for His Highness's return at Haiyue Villa." Lu Tong said seriously.

"There is a young master surnamed Mu in Haiyue Villa, but he is His Royal Highness's attendant, and he already has His Highness's flesh and blood in his belly, so he needs to take good care of him." Mei Junhan said plainly.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, your subordinates will save it." Lu Tong was taken aback for a moment, and quickly replied.

Su Hailing smiled, and still took Mei Junhan's hand to go out.

Lu Tong already had an idea in his mind, and he didn't let Li Ting come over again, but just sent them down the mountain by himself.

Although the rainstorm has passed, the mountain road is still muddy, not to mention that there are no pursuers behind them. The two of them are on the same horse. After that, I packed some dry food, and did not leave the mountain until dusk, and came to Sanhe Town.

"I've been here last time, the inn at the end of the street is clean and spacious, and the food is also good." Mei Junhan said.

"Then go to this place." Hearing this, Su Hailing lightly kicked the horse's belly, urging the horse to run fast, and said with a smile, "I haven't slept all night, and I have been eating dry food for another day. I miss the high bed, soft pillow and Delicious food."

Only Mei Junhan still remembered what happened in the cottage in the morning. When he heard the words "high bed and soft pillow", the blush on his face spread to the base of his ears, and even the veil couldn't cover it...

(End of this chapter)