The next morning, Gu Zhen was about to set off again when the waiter brought him a brocade box containing a jade pendant. The jade pendant was as green and transparent as waves, and the flowers carved on it were lifelike and vivid.
"What is this?" Song Jiaren was already used to helping the Crown Prince put on his outer shirt in the morning. Now she came closer to him and looked at the jade pendant in the brocade box together.
Gu Zhen had a vague impression of the floral pattern on it. "A token of the Situ family."
Such a valuable token, and was given to him so easily? I'm afraid they already know their identities.
Gu Zhen put away the jade pendant, opened the door and hurried downstairs, saying to Changfeng who was waiting for him for breakfast, "Take it away and eat it on the way. We'll set off immediately!"
Changfeng and Shitou got up and went back to the house to pack their things. The guards took breakfast and bought some dry food, then went to the backyard to lead out the horses and carriage to wait for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"Pack your things and leave now." Gu Zhen picked up the sword on the table and said to the woman sitting at the table waiting for dinner.
Song Jiaren got up dazedly and packed her things. "Leaving now? Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Then you stay here and wait to die?" Gu Zhen pursed his lips and said slowly.
After saying that, he turned and left.
Song Jiaren took a deep breath, packed up all her clothes at a sprint speed, strode out, and quickly jumped into the carriage at the door of the inn, as if someone was chasing her from behind.
Gu Zhen stood beside the carriage, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, suppressed his surging anger, and pretended not to see the woman who treated him as air, ran past him, and jumped into the carriage in a very ungraceful manner.
"Let's go, let's set off."
Changfeng and Shitou didn't dare to look at His Highness's face, which was as dark as ink, for fear of implicating innocent people. They suppressed their inner turmoil and mounted their horses to drive.
His Highness was made the Crown Prince since birth. He has never shown his emotions since childhood, and has always been calm and composed in the face of difficulties. However, since he took in the concubine's daughter of Mr. Song, he has become more emotional.
Changfeng is introverted and has followed His Highness the longest, but he cannot always guess His Highness's intentions. However, after a stone hit the concubine of the Song family, she was punished to squat in a horse stance all night and could not walk steadily the next day. This shows that His Highness values her.
Even if she was just a concubine, she was not someone that these guards could look down upon.
The low-key carriage continued to move forward in the morning light, the wheels making a lonely and monotonous "clack-clack" sound. The guards ordered the horses to be handsome and strong, and the horses' hooves tapped the ground.
Song Jiaren took a scallion pancake in her hand and stuffed it into her mouth. She was really hungry. She set out on her journey without eating breakfast and was jolted in the carriage for the whole morning. It was already noon and they were given a piece of pancake to fill their stomachs after they had finished eating.
Song Jiaren mistook the cake in her hand for the Crown Prince who was resting with his eyes closed next to her, and bit it viciously.
After leaving Jiangbei and the town, they walked onto a mountain path lined with dead trees. The temperature difference between morning and evening was large, and they felt cold even with cloaks when they came out. Changfeng estimated the speed of travel and the remaining distance, and was afraid that they would have to spend the night in the wild on the road.
Song Jiaren was full and drowsy in the carriage. She leaned against the carriage, covered with a cloak of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and fell asleep.
Gu Zhen opened his eyes when he heard her light and even breathing. The woman looked very beautiful when she was asleep. Unlike usual, her eyes were lively and her every frown and smile revealed a playful look. Even if her face was charming, it only looked bright and attractive. Only when you looked closely could you find that she was an alluring beauty.
Song Jiaren was woken up by the urge to urinate. She pushed aside the door curtain and looked out. The sun was setting, still moving along the forest path.
"Stop the car, I want to get off."
Gu Zhen asked Changfeng to stop the carriage, and Song Jiaren jumped down nimbly and went into the woods nearby.
Shitou thought she was going to run away, so he clutched his sword and asked Gu Zhen in the car, "Your Highness, do you need to catch her?"
Gu Zhen looked at him as if he were a fool, and felt that Shi Tou was indeed an example of a person with strong limbs but a simple mind.
Changfeng dragged Shitou out of the car and scolded him, "You are stupid! He has been in the car for a whole day, so he should go out to relieve himself. Why did you come up to him and ask if he should be brought back? You are the smart one!"
Shitou knew he had made a fool of himself. He was embarrassed and at a loss as to what to do. He got back on his horse and ran to the front to lead the team.
Song Jiaren returned to the carriage and the group continued to move forward. Changfeng urged Shitou in front of him to hurry up and find a sheltered place to spend the night before dark.
Not long after walking, Song Jiaren felt that she must have caught a cold. She had to urinate frequently and urgently, and she needed hot water.
"Stop a moment."
“…”Gu Zhen.
"I want to go out for a while."
“…”Gu Zhen.
Song Jiaren returned to the carriage with a look of despair on her face, and couldn't help but reach out to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for help, "I need hot water, I might have caught a cold..."
Gu Zhen frowned and looked impatient. "There is no hot water."
Song Jiaren pouted and took back her hand that was grabbing Gu Zhen's sleeve with a wronged look. If there is no such thing, then there is no such thing. After all, she is just an insignificant concubine now, and her words carry little weight.
Song Jiaren lowered her eyes and sighed softly, "...Alas."
Then he hummed softly, "Little cabbage, the ground is yellow, only two or three years old, and no longer has a mother..."
Her voice was pitiful and sad, and coupled with her pale face, it really sounded like she had suffered a great injustice.
Gu Zhen said helplessly, "We may have to sleep outdoors at night and make a fire to boil water."
Song Jiaren: "...His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is truly a kind person who cares about his subordinates, is considerate and thoughtful."
Gu Zhen had become immune to this hypocritical compliment and closed his eyes, not wanting to see her hypocritical face.
The wilderness was quiet at night. Led by Shi Tou, the team marched through the woods to a sheltered place at the foot of the mountain. Several guards piled up dead leaves and laid a mat on them for Gu Zhen and Song Jiaren to sit down and rest.
Several other guards picked up branches and started a fire nearby. Shitou took a bow and arrow and went into the woods with a guard to hunt game. Changfeng took out a bottle of medicine powder and threw it on the ground nearby.
Song Jiaren was originally sitting on a pile of dead leaves. Seeing Changfeng's movements, she asked, "What are you doing?"
Changfeng glanced at His Highness first, and only after receiving a signal from His Highness did he answer, "This is a powder to eliminate odors. There might be wild beasts roaming the forest at night. Sprinkling this powder will eliminate the odors, and the beasts won't come near because they can't smell it."
"Is that so." Song Jiaren didn't expect that the ancient people in this place were so smart. They knew that wild beasts would come here by following the smell, so they eliminated the smell in advance.
"Boil some water." Gu Zhen saw the look Song Jiaren gave him, as if he was a heartless man.
He didn't forget to boil water as promised!
The guard took out a small basin from his luggage and poured some water from the water bag.
Song Jiaren sat waiting by the fire, watching the branches piled together and burning. The chill of early autumn was also dispelled, and the flames were hot and blazing, warming her cold hands and feet.
"Is this the frontier?" Song Jiaren turned and asked the Crown Prince who was sitting next to her.
Only the frontier could be so desolate and desolate.
Gu Zhen was wiping his sword. The cold scabbard was engraved with intricate patterns and inlaid with several colorful gems.
Seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ignored her, Song Jiaren turned her head to look at Changfeng who was sitting not far away.
When Changfeng dealt with the prince's concubine, he knew to be as tolerant as possible, otherwise the prince would blame him.
"The border is not a place. Even if we enter the border area now, the terrain here is remote and the temperature difference is large. Although there is abundant food, the winter is very cold and there is a shortage of warm things."
What Changfeng didn't say was that although there was enough food, the people got very little. Most ordinary people were starving and cold, and many froze to death in the winter. There had been famines in previous years, and in serious areas, tree roots, grass roots and animals were eaten up, leaving a desolate scene.
Gu Zhen focused his eyes on the sword in his hand and listened to what Changfeng said. He also knew that the part he didn't say was the real life of the people.
The purpose of his voluntary request to be exiled here was to do his best to improve the bitter cold at the frontier.
The hot water was already boiling. The guards took out a few cups and filled them with hot water for each of them to drink to warm themselves.
Shitou returned from the forest with his hands full of harvest. He grinned happily and said, "Your Highness, look, there are rabbits and pheasants! Hehe!"
Changfeng took the plump pheasant and rabbit from his hand and said, "They are quite fat."
Song Jiaren has a very creative mind. I wonder if she would say at this time, "Don't eat rabbits, rabbits are so cute."
Will I be beaten?
Changfeng and Shitou skinned and cleaned the pheasants and rabbits, then roasted them over the fire. They also took out a small bag of salt from their luggage and sprinkled it evenly on the sizzling pheasants and rabbits. The oil slid down the grain of the plump meat and fell into the fire, making the fire burn more vigorously.
The aroma filled the air, and the pheasant and rabbit were roasted until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Changfeng tore off a chicken leg and handed it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness had been traveling all the way these days, sleeping in the open air, and he had become thinner and thinner. It turned out that even in the palace, he would not be in such a hurry to go out.
He felt sorry for His Highness to be in such a situation.
If I had fought for it back then, I would be in my current position...
Your Highness gave up voluntarily.
Changfeng didn't dare to think further after reaching this point. Even if His Highness stayed in the borderland forever, he would always follow His Highness.
Gu Zhen took the chicken leg but didn't eat it in a hurry. He turned it around in his hands and looked at it.
Song Jiaren had been craving for it for a long time. Although she had eaten meat in the inn, it was nowhere near as delicious as the wild game. If it were in modern times, it would be a delicacy on the level of roasted whole lamb.
Gu Zhen deliberately tempted her, and found it amusing to see her looking like she couldn't wait to pounce on him and take a few bites.
"Don't you want to eat it?" Song Jiaren looked at the tempting chicken leg.
Gu Zhen said calmly, "Wait a while before eating."
“It won’t taste good if it’s cold!”
"No."
Damn His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! Song Jiaren glared at him angrily, puffed up her cheeks and turned her head away, ignoring him.
Seeing that she was angry and that he had teased her enough, Gu Zhen threw the chicken leg into her hand and said, "It's too greasy, you eat it."
Song Jiaren picked up the chicken leg with surprise and smelled it, and Gou Tui smiled brightly. "Thank you, Your Highness. You are such a caring and considerate person!"
Gu Zhen's mouth curled up slightly. Only this woman could repeatedly use the same sentence to get rid of him without any sense of incongruity. She kept praising him with the same sentence and didn't even bother to think.
Song Jiaren finally ate the delicious chicken drumstick as she wished, smacking her lips in satisfaction, "It smells so good, hahahaha."
Shi Tou looked at the chicken leg in her hand and didn't understand why Her Highness didn't want to eat it. What was so greasy about it? Why should she be given it?
Changfeng secretly pulled the hem of Shitou's clothes, fearing that he would say something wrong again and be punished, and then gave all the chicken breast to His Highness.
The other chicken leg was left for His Highness's concubine.
Anyway, His Highness will give it to you later.
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