135 Big Plate Chicken

◎What? What are you expecting, sister? ◎

The desert night wind blew the corners of the felt tent, making a rustling sound.

A dim oil lamp was lit in the tent, casting a warm glow on the felt cloth embroidered with grape vine patterns.

Song Jinyi was loosely tied to a wooden stool next to a low couch. The hemp rope on her wrists left shallow red marks, but it was not tied tightly.

Two maids whispered outside the tent.

"Your Majesty has never been interested in beautiful women before, so why did you bring a woman with you this time?"

"I heard that it was she who abandoned His Highness, causing the King to almost die at sea!"

The other person gasped, obviously shocked by the news.

After a pause, she smacked her lips and asked, "It's really strange that the king didn't kill such a scourge on the spot, but brought it back instead."

"Isn't it? You weren't there at the time, and I saw with my own eyes the king carrying the person inside. The look in his eyes was definitely not the look he would have when looking at an enemy..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Someone's coming..."

Song Jinyi heard everything clearly in the tent. Regarding her relationship with him, she felt like she was tangled up in a tangle of colorful woolen ropes, unable to sort it out or see through it.

She smiled bitterly. She blamed him for lying to her, for not recognizing her, and even more for leaving without saying goodbye.

And what about him? He must still be holding a grudge against that incident at sea—otherwise why wouldn't he want to recognize me, and even after I recognized him, he left without a trace of nostalgia.

Now, regardless of my will, I was forcibly tied here.

She had tried to break free from the rope before, and the rope seemed to leave room for maneuver, but she couldn't break free. After trying again and again, she was already exhausted and gasping for breath.

When she heard what the two people outside the door said, she couldn't help but recall what happened in the previous half day.

At that moment, they were surrounded. The soldiers accompanying Song Jinyi recognized them and shouted, "Now that the Western Rong have signed an alliance with our Great Xia, why are you causing trouble here? Do you want to destroy the alliance between our two countries? If your king finds out, what will be the punishment?"

Tuoba Jun sneered and said, "I came here for family matters. If it's a family matter, how can I talk about destroying the alliance between the two countries?"

"This..." The soldier who asked the question was speechless for a moment. Everyone had clearly heard this man calling Madam Song "Sister".

If it is a family matter, they really can't say anything.

Song Jinyi frowned and stared at Tuoba Jun intently. How could he suddenly appear here?

Moreover... he has so many people around him, his status seems to be quite high...

Song Jinyi was filled with doubts, but she couldn't bring herself to ask in public. She gathered herself and simply asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"Sister, I want to take you away!" Tuoba Jun smiled at her. The smile was clean and pure, like freshly picked honey, sweet, as if he had returned to Yunzhou, back to the time when he was still Xie Wuyang.

Song Jinyi's heart moved, thinking that Tuoba Jun was coming back to be with her, but then she changed her mind and was not sure whether he really thought so. She asked tentatively, "Where are you going?"

"Come back to Yuedu with me."

"Impossible!" Song Jinyi blurted out and then paused.

The smile on Tuoba Jun's lips suddenly disappeared. His handsome features seemed to become sharp after the smile faded, and his eyes were so cold that they could scratch people like an ice blade.

And then - the few people she brought with her were no match for Tuoba Jun, and she was kidnapped.

When she thought of this, she couldn't help but struggle with her bound hands.

"Hey..." She felt that the rope was a little loose due to being worn out. She shook her hand and slowly put her wrist into the gap between the stool leg and the stool surface, using the friction of the wooden edge to loosen the knot little by little.

The fibers of the hemp rope were worn to pieces, and after about a quarter of an hour, with a sudden jerk of the wrist, the rope finally came loose.

She rubbed her numb wrist, stood up and walked to the entrance of the tent, listening to the noise outside. The voices of the Xirong people talking outside the tent were clearly audible, as well as the sound of their orderly footsteps.

She held her breath and listened for a moment, and then she began to wonder, why did it sound like a military camp?

She tiptoed to lift a corner of the curtain, and when she saw the scene outside clearly, she couldn't help but gasp.

There were Xirong people everywhere, with countless tents of all sizes. They came and went, and even if a mouse slipped out, it would be noticed immediately.

Her hands dropped, and she stood behind the curtain for a while before returning to the tent. A large blanket was spread under the tent, and in front of it was a coffee table with four cushions. A screen was placed in the middle, dividing the space of the tent into two.

Behind the screen is a soft couch with a fluffy and exquisite wool blanket on it.

She walked straight to the couch and pulled the wool blanket beside her to cover herself.

Since she can't run away, she will just wait for Tuoba Jun to come find her.

After an unknown amount of time, there were faint footsteps outside the tent, and a tall figure appeared at the door. The man's dark coat was still stained with the coldness of the night dew.

When the curtain was lifted, an empty wooden bench and hemp ropes scattered on the ground came into view.

The man's face instantly darkened, his jawline was tense, and waves of shock and anger surged in his eyes. "She really ran away after all?" He said through gritted teeth, with suppressed violence in his voice.

There was dead silence in the tent.

Tuoba Jun clenched his fists until his fingertips turned white. He was about to order a search when he heard a very light breathing sound coming from behind the screen.

He walked around lightly, lifted the half-closed gauze curtain, and saw Song Jinyi curled up on the couch, sleeping soundly, her brows relaxed, and even her breathing was steady and rhythmic.

The sudden rage that had just arisen was extinguished effortlessly like a spark extinguished by the evening breeze.

His tense shoulders slowly relaxed. He walked to the side of the couch and looked at her sleeping face in the light. Her stern face was like spring snow, unconsciously melting into a pool of soft water.

He stretched out his finger and gently brushed her brow. He said in a very low and gentle voice, "You're really brave. You can sleep so peacefully here? ...Are you sure I won't do anything to you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Song Jinyi suddenly turned over, and the wool blanket covering her body slipped to her waist. Tuoba Jun watched quietly for a while, then gently pulled the blanket up for her and carefully tucked in the corners.

If Suiyun and the others saw this, they would definitely suspect that he was poisoned.

When she was abandoned and Hunnamu tried his best to save her, when she had a high fever that wouldn't go away, he really hated her so much that he wanted to tear her into pieces. But when he saw her again, the first thing that came to his mind was - missing her.

He missed the days when he and she were together in Yunzhou, he missed strolling through the flower fields together on Yaowang Island, he missed every moment when she was by his side...

Compared with this heavy longing, that hatred seems to be insignificant.

He lowered his head to look at the person sleeping peacefully on the couch. Since he already had her in his hands, he would let her spend her whole life making amends.

******

The next day, just as the sky was getting light, Song Jinyi slowly woke up. She moved her body and found someone lying beside her.

Tuoba Jun changed into an indigo-blue casual suit last night. His golden hair fell on his shoulders like flowing gold. He leaned on the cushion beside the couch with his eyes closed. His long and thick eyelashes cast a faint shadow under his eyelids.

Perhaps the sound of her turning over startled him. His eyelids trembled slightly, his eyelashes twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Their eyes met, and the tent was so quiet that they could hear each other's breathing.

They just stared at each other, neither of them speaking first.

Until several maids came in with clothes in their hands, bowed and greeted the man beside the couch, and then helped him change his clothes.

Song Jinyi was slightly surprised.

She watched silently from the side until everything was cleaned up and Tuoba Jun stood up and walked out of the tent without saying anything. Then she woke up as if from a dream and remembered that she still had questions to ask him.

I quickly got up and followed, but was stopped by the maid who stayed behind.

They came forward with clean clothes in their hands: "Madam, let me help you wash up."

"I can do it myself." Song Jinyi waved her hand and avoided their service.

After a simple breakfast, Song Jinyi casually asked the maid who was clearing the dishes, "You just called him 'the king'? Isn't he... from the caravan?"

A hint of surprise flashed in the maid's eyes, and then she explained respectfully, "Young lady, you may not know this, but our king is the sixth son of the previous king of Xirong. He just won the battle with the eldest prince a few months ago, and now he is our new king."

Song Jinyi's fingers holding the water cup tightened slightly. It turned out that he was already the ruler of a country.

But after not seeing each other for three years, there was... too much distance between them.

She knew nothing about him...

How did he suddenly become the king of Xirong... She couldn't help but wonder: Would the king of Xirong have three palaces and six courtyards like the emperor of Daxia? She remembered Aisha's words again -

She fixed her eyes on the maids who were packing up their things and stared at them for a long time. Her gaze was so direct that they couldn't ignore it even if they wanted to.

One asked, "Madam, do you have anything to ask us?"

"Just now, I was quite surprised to hear you say that Tuoba Jun is your king. Your king and I are old acquaintances, but we haven't seen each other for many years, so we've become quite unfamiliar. I wonder how he's doing these days?"

The maid then spoke a little, but when she saw she wasn't very interested, she knew she had other intentions, so she asked meaningfully, "What exactly do you want to ask, madam?"

Song Jinyi twirled her fingertips unconsciously, turning the words around in her mouth a few times. After a long pause, she finally said, "I'm just curious. Your king is so young and handsome, does he have...a queen?"

When she said this, she clearly knew how much this question crossed the line and that it should not be asked from the capacity of a "friend", but she asked it anyway.

"The Queen doesn't have one, but she seems to like someone, a lady from Daxia. Madam Song is our prince's old friend, so have you ever heard of this?"

Song Jinyi's face flushed a little, and she said vaguely, "I'm not sure."

"It's normal that my lady hasn't heard of it." The maid sighed, "I think it's fake. A person like the master, how could he be interested in ordinary women? Few girls from our Xirong are interested in him, let alone those girls from Daxia."

Although Song Jinyi was still polite on the surface, she was worried in her heart: "What's wrong with the women of our Great Xia?"

Another maid said, "I heard that women in Daxia are very capricious and like to play with others' hearts...

"Even someone as good as our king was abandoned and betrayed... As a result, our king has not allowed any women to get close to him since then, and his harem has been empty until now..."

These words made Song Jinyi's face turn red and white. She just forced a smile and said nothing more.

She stayed quietly for a while, and then she realized that the maids were packing up and putting all the utensils in the tent into the carriage.

She had a bad feeling in her heart and asked around. She found out that because of the signing of the alliance, the Western Rong army returned to the capital half a day earlier to show sincerity, and Tuoba Jun stayed there for a little longer because of her.

At this moment, as soon as everything is packed up, we will break camp and head to Yuedu.

After hearing this, Song Jinyi said, "I won't reply." The three words got stuck in her throat. She swallowed them and changed them to "I want to see your king."

"Today we must break camp and depart for Yuedu. Many matters require the king's approval, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to get away. Once we arrive in Yuedu, I'll have plenty of time to catch up with my wife."

Song Jinyi forced a smile on her face. By the time she arrived in Yuedu, the daylily had already gone cold.

She just walked out of the tent for the first time, using the excuse of needing to go to the toilet.

She walked towards a less populated area, keeping one eye on the surroundings as she walked, looking for a stable.

She calculated that she was kidnapped by Tuoba Jun about twelve or thirteen miles away from Huaiyuan City, which only took about an hour. As long as she could grab a horse and run faster, she could run back in no time.

Um?

She caught a glimpse of a figure behind her, and she turned around abruptly to look at the person - it was her maid, who had followed her at some point.

The maid came closer and said, "I blame my negligence. This is your first time here and you are unfamiliar with the place. I was afraid you might not be able to find your way, so I came here to show you the way."

Song Jinyi laughed dryly. This was not to lead the way for her, but to monitor her.

She sat in the carriage, listening to the sound of the wheels rolling, which was like a small hammer hitting her heart. She looked at the unfamiliar scenery outside and became more and more uneasy.

She pinched her knuckles until they turned white, and she couldn't help but regret why she was daydreaming this morning and why she didn't lay everything out clearly.

She had to tell him that she didn't want to go to Yuedu!

Her family and business are all in Daxia, and she can't abandon them.

Along the way, she tried various methods, but the maids seemed to have been told something and kept a close watch on her, not giving her any loopholes.

She could only watch the blue sky change color as the sun rose and set, until it turned into a pitch-black dark blue.

The carriage drove to an open area and set up a makeshift tent. Song Jinyi sat in the tent, bored and waiting for Tuoba Jun. All she could hear was the footsteps of patrolling guards coming and going.

Until dinner was served on the low table in the tent. The copper plates contained shiny roasted lamb, soft and sour lamb trotters, and a large plate of chicken covered in bright red sauce.

When the dish was served, the maid told her, "The king was worried that your wife wouldn't be accustomed to our food, so he specifically instructed the kitchen to prepare this big plate of chicken. This dish incorporates Daxia's cooking methods, and many Han people like it."

As he was speaking, Tuoba Jun lifted the curtain and walked in.

Song Jinyi had no appetite. She had finally waited for the man to arrive. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by him, "You've been traveling all day and you're tired. I asked them to prepare a sumptuous meal for you tonight. You can tell me anything you want to say after you've had your fill."

After hearing this, she shut up tactfully. He was right about one thing: she had to eat her fill first before she had a chance to escape.

She picked up a piece of chicken with chopsticks. The chicken was unexpectedly tender, as if it could drip water. The sauce was also very special, thick and red with a hint of mild spiciness. It was a bit like ordinary braised food, but also very different.

Before he knew it, he had eaten three or four pieces. Halfway through, the maid brought a bowl of white wide noodles and poured them into the basin. The white noodles were dipped in the bright red soup and suddenly became delicious.

The small dish that finally arrived on the table made her slightly startled. What was it? It looked like a scallion, but it was thinner and longer.

When she learned that this dish was called "sand onion", she saw it for the first time and found it novel.

After taking a bite, I first tasted the fragrance similar to that of leeks. After chewing it carefully, I tasted a bit of crisp and tender sweetness. After swallowing it, there was still a faint grassy fragrance in my mouth, which added a bit of wildness compared to the cold-mixed bamboo shoots in the south of the Yangtze River.

Her eyes lit up, and she took a few more chopsticks and said with a smile, "It looks like green onions, but it's actually nothing like green onions."

Song Jinyi had something on her mind and ate a hasty meal. Observing that Tuoba Jun looked relaxed, she thought he must be in a good mood, so she said, "You want to take me back to Yuedu."

Xie Wuyang paused while cutting the mutton with a knife, and without even looking up, asked, "What do you think I want to do, sister?"

Song Jinyi said: "I think you still resent what happened back then, so..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air pressure around Tuoba Jun seemed to turn into a tangible weight, pressing heavily on Song Jinyi's heart. He looked at her expressionlessly.

Although they were both sitting, he gave her a feeling of being looked down upon. "Sister, do you think I want to take revenge on you?", he said. The smile on his lips became deeper, but his eyes were dark.

"If I really wanted revenge on someone, I would chop off their hands and feet and throw them where wolves feed; or dig out their eyes and throw them into the vast sea of ​​sand to die; or tie them to a stake and let vultures eat their flesh."

After saying this, he looked at Song Jinyi, his eyes dark and turbulent, "How can you let someone sit here in one piece?"

It was the first time that Song Jinyi saw him like this. She felt a little strange and turned her head slightly, not daring to look at him.

He looked at Song Jinyi's expression and realized that his tone was too harsh, so he softened his voice, "I just want my sister to be by my side, just like before."

"But I... can't leave Daxia like this." Song Jinyi hurriedly looked up and couldn't help but say, "Li He is still waiting for me in Huaiyuan City. She hasn't seen me return for a whole day and night. She must be worried. There's also the business in Shengjing and my family in Yunzhou..."

Before she could finish her words, Tuoba Jun's face suddenly darkened, the corners of his mouth were pursed into a cold straight line, and even his eyes were icy.

"They are all more important than me?" He sneered, the self-mockery in his tone piercing like a needle. "Indeed, in my sister's eyes, I have always been the least important one."

Song Jinyi's heart sank when she saw his suddenly cold eyes.

The excuse that was on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back in an instant. The air in the tent seemed to freeze, and only the faint sound of the flickering oil lamp remained.

She knew she couldn't go on talking. He wasn't listening to her at all now. The more she talked, the worse it got. She had to make another plan.

Dinner ended in such a silent atmosphere.

When the maids were clearing away the dishes, they were all acutely aware of the low pressure in the tent and even moved much more gently.

It was late at night and they were the only two left in the tent.

Song Jinyi sat on the edge of the couch, her fingers unconsciously picking at the pattern on the blanket, her heart beating inexplicably faster.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of fabric rubbing against each other.

Looking up, I saw Tuoba Jun untying his outer robe, his dark cape sliding off his shoulders, revealing his inner garment embroidered with dark patterns. He moved calmly, his golden hair swaying slightly as he moved, and his green eyes, under the light, looked particularly deep.

Song Jinyi held her breath for a moment, her eyes were a little evasive, but her cheeks were uncontrollably hot.

This subtle movement did not escape Tuoba Jun's eyes.

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and his tone was a little teasing: "What? What are you looking forward to, sister?"

【Author’s words】

Song Jinyi OS: Why do I feel like they are pua me?

Author's OS: Do you want to see some scenes not suitable for children in the next chapter? [吃瓜]