Chapter 396 Red Fruit

After a few glasses of rice wine, a drizzle began to fall outside.

Li Erniu asked Yan Changwen if he had been to many places. When he saw Yan Changwen nod, his eyes lit up and he insisted that he tell him about what happened outside. Honglan on the side also looked at him expectantly.

Yan Changwen did not refuse. He avoided talking about things in the capital and casually talked about some beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, which made the couple look envious.

At this time, the little girl came in again, holding a tattered book in her hand. She walked to Honglan and asked something in a low voice.

Honglan looked at the words in the book, frowned, and seemed to be thinking hard.

Murong Lian saw this scene and asked in surprise: "Sister, does your girl also study?"

Honglan and the little girl's faces turned red at the same time.

Honglan said embarrassedly: "My father was a student before. He left me some books and taught me to recognize a few words...Now our court is good, women can also read and write, and can even take the imperial examination to become officials!

But at my age, I have no hope of studying, so I hope that Daya and her brother can enter a college and become scholars in the future."

After Honglan finished speaking, she winked at Daya, asking her to take the book to ask Murong Lian.

Daya was a little shy and refused to go over.

Murong Lian smiled and stretched out his hand, "Let me see."

Daya handed her the tattered book, which turned out to be a copy of "Three Character Classic".

"In the past, Meng's mother chose her neighbors carefully. When her son refused to learn, she broke the loom.

Dou Yanshan has a righteous way. He taught his five sons and all of them became famous.

Daya carefully stretched out her hand and pointed to the word "Dou" above.

Murong Lian taught her the pronunciation, and then explained the meaning of the article to her. Daya listened very carefully. Honglan, who was standing by, was also relieved and grateful, and told Daya to seize the opportunity and ask for help if she didn't understand anything.

Just then, there was a noise coming from the inner room, and Honglan said she would go and take a look.

Soon, the sound of a little boy crying came from the inner room, along with Honglan's angry scolding:

"Who taught you to touch other people's things?

Who taught you to touch other people's things? "

As he was scolded, he heard the sound of slapping someone on the buttocks, and the little boy cried even louder.

Several people outside heard the noise and hurried over to see what was going on.

Murong Lin walked forward and saw that the bag he had placed on top of the pickle jar had fallen down, and the things inside were scattered all over the floor.

After scolding her son, Honglan hurriedly apologized to Murong Lian and was about to squat down to help her pack her bags.

"No, no, let me do it." Murong Lin stopped her and put the things in the bag back into place.

Honglan was so angry that she wanted to spank her son again, but Daya suddenly rushed over to protect her brother and pointed at the roof.

Honglan looked up and found that there was a small hole in the roof. It was raining outside, and raindrops dripped in from the small hole, landing right where the bundle had been placed.

Everyone understood that the little boy was afraid that the bag would get wet, so he wanted to move it away, but the bag fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

"The child means well, it's okay." Murong Lin consoled her. Hong Lan looked at her crying son and felt a little apologetic.

Several people went back to the outer room and sat down again, while Daya was still coaxing her younger brother in the inner room.

"Mom, what is this? I found it behind the jar." Daya suddenly came out, holding something in her hand, and looked at it with her head tilted as she walked.

"Zhe...King..."

Honglan took the thing and squinted her eyes to identify it for a long time. "Is this word pronounced 'qi'?"

"Qi... Wang... Qi Wangfu!?"

The room suddenly fell silent, and Yan Changwen's hand holding the wine glass also stopped in mid-air.

Murong Lin's face changed, he stepped forward and took the thing back, secretly cursing himself for being careless and not noticing that the token fell behind the water tank.

Hong Lan stared at them with wide eyes, "You...you are from the palace?"

Li Erniu also stood up subconsciously, looking at Yan Changwen in astonishment:

"Brother, you, you...could it be..."

Yan Changwen suddenly chuckled and waved his hand at him, "My relative is the doorman of Prince Qi's Mansion, so I got this sign to make it convenient for me to do things when I go out."

After saying that, he winked at Murong Lian to quickly put the things away.

Li Erniu breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again. "I told you, if you were really a prince, how could you sit here and drink with me? Come on, let's go one more."

Yan Changwen clinked glasses with him, but a sinister look gradually took over his eyes.

…

At night, Li Erniu and his wife gave up the kang in the inner room and slept on straw mats in the outer room with their children.

After closing the door, Concubine Liang felt a little uneasy.

"They just saw the sign. If the government finds out about this place..."

Yan Changwen patted her hands and said, "Mother, you have been traveling all the way. You should take a good rest first. Don't worry about this matter. I will handle it."

Concubine Liang nodded tiredly and said no more.

After Concubine Liang fell asleep, Murong Lian sighed.

"This is my fault, Your Highness..."

After meeting Yan Changwen's gaze, Murong Lin swallowed the rest of his words, paused, and whispered:

"Is this the only way?"

The candlelight flickered, and Yan Changwen's face flickered in the light and shadow.

"Lian'er is smart and knows there is no better solution to this problem."

He blew gently and the candle went out suddenly.

"We have to travel tomorrow, go to sleep."

…

The next day, just after dawn, several people got up.

Murong Lian walked into the yard and saw Li Erniu busying himself. He felt a little nervous and asked him where Honglan had gone.

"The fruits behind the house are sour and sweet and delicious. She picked them for you."

Yan Changwen and Liang Fei also came out, "Mother, the scenery in this countryside is different. Your son will walk with you to the front. Later, Lian'er will catch up in the carriage. Can we go together?"

Concubine Liang nodded, and Yan Changwen helped her walk out of the courtyard.

"Brother, aren't you going to eat before leaving?" Li Erniu asked in surprise.

Yan Changwen turned around and smiled at him, then walked out with Concubine Liang.

Seeing that Murong Lian didn't move, Li Erniu smiled and asked, "Sister, are you hungry? I'll get you an egg..."

After Li Erniu finished speaking, he was about to walk into the house, but when he turned around, he was stunned.

A dark shadow stood in front of him without him noticing.

A flash of cold light——

Before his expression even had time to change from surprise to horror, he fell on his back, holding his neck.

Soon, blood gushed out from between the fingers and spread to Murong Lin's feet.

Murong Lian took a step back expressionlessly, not letting the blood stain the tip of his shoes, and cast his gaze towards the door.

The driver gently pushed the door open and walked in.

The two children are still asleep and won't feel any pain.

Murong Lian let out an imperceptible sigh.

The courtyard door was pushed open again, and Honglan stood outside the gate, with a bright smile quickly fixed on her face.

The bright red fruits fell to the ground with a clatter. She stared blankly at Li Erniu's body, completely terrified.

The groom came out of the house with a knife dripping with blood in his hand.

Honglan rushed into the house like a madman, followed by her hysterical and sharp howls of pain.

Not long after, she rushed out, her eyes bloodshot, holding a hoe that was taller than her, and pounced on Murong Lian who was closest to her.

Murong Lian closed his eyes and did not move.

"I'm sorry..." she said softly.

The driver appeared behind Honglan like a ghost.

Honglan paused the hoe she had raised high in the air. She slowly lowered her head and looked at the extra half of the knife tip on her chest.

She couldn't tell whether it was her own blood or the blood of her two children.

The hoe fell to the ground.

"sorry."

Murong Lian squatted down and picked up a red fruit at his feet.

Turn around and leave.

…

Yan Changwen supported Concubine Liang as they walked along the mountain road. The sound of a carriage came from behind them and finally stopped beside them.

Murong Lian leaned out half of his body and carefully helped Concubine Liang up, and then Yan Changwen also got on the car.

Princess Liang was still a little worried and kept twisting the Buddhist beads in her hand.

"That family...they really won't tell anyone, right?"

Murong Lian smiled and said, "Give them a large sum of money, they won't tell anyone."

"That's good, that's good. Amitabha..."

The carriage rolled through the dust and continued northward.

In the direction we came from, a thick black smoke accompanied by flames rose into the sky, and finally turned into dust.