Chapter 53: Open the window and see
There were seven or eight corpses lying in a disorderly manner in the narrow road ahead.
Chu Ran thought of the sound of swords clashing just now. In just a moment, these seven or eight people died under the swords of that group of people.
"It looks like a group of bandits." Li Jinheng said, frowning as he looked at the corpses in front of him.
Chu Siqian seemed to be frightened. He nestled nervously in Li Jinheng's arms. Li Jinheng lowered his eyes and whispered to comfort him, "It's okay. They are all dead."
Chu Siqian then nodded, seemingly not so scared anymore.
After a while, Li Jinheng said again: "I don't know where the group of people just now came from, and they don't look like soldiers."
Chu Siqian whispered, "Maybe they are the soldiers stationed here."
Li Jinheng shook his head, not quite feeling that it was Chu Siqian, but he did not deny it.
"Well, it's going to rain soon, so let's hurry up."
Others were too lazy to bother with these trivial matters; they just wanted to get to the palace as soon as possible.
As soon as Chu Ran and Li Dingning entered the house, it started to rain heavily outside.
Raindrops as big as beans fell on the eaves, and soon gathered into a stream, flowing down thinly.
Li Dingning sat down and poured himself a cup of hot tea. He couldn't help but sighed, "This night was really hard and dangerous, but fortunately we got to the palace in time and can finally rest for a while. Hey, Xiao Linzi, what are you doing standing there? Come over and have a cup of hot tea."
Chu Ran was standing at the door, holding the door with both hands, looking outside the yard, when he was suddenly called by Li Dingning. Chu Ran came to his senses and walked towards the table.
"Please sit down." said Li Dingning.
When there were people around, Chu Ran was the servant and Li Dingning was the master, and they each kept their own duties. But in private, when Li Dingning treated Chu Ran, he did not follow these master-servant rules.
Chu Ran also got used to it. He sat down and poured himself a cup of hot tea.
However, Chu Ran was not paying attention when drinking tea.
Somehow, when the group of people passed by him just now, the person leading them gave him a familiar feeling.
After drinking the hot tea, Li Dingning stood up, walked to the bed, and lay face down on the bed. After lying there for a while, Li Dingning's muffled voice came from there, "Xiao Linzi, come over and rub my waist. I've been riding a horse all day, and my waist is about to fall apart."
Chu Ran finished the rest of the tea, stood up and walked towards the bed.
"Oh, it feels so good, Xiao Linzi, your massage skills are getting better and better. Keep pressing, don't stop, um..."
After a while, Li Dingning fell into a comfortable sleep.
Chu Ran stopped massaging him only after he saw that he had fallen asleep.
He squatted down, helped Li Dingning take off his clothes, shoes and socks, then straightened his body, rested his head on the pillow, lifted the quilt and covered Li Dingning, blew out the candles beside the bed, and then Chu Ran walked out quietly.
He picked up an umbrella in front of the door, opened it, and walked towards the attic opposite.
…
"Someone, open the door!"
The palace gate was closed, but the guard heard someone knocking on the door, so he went over in the rain and opened it.
There were at least a dozen strong men in raincoats and rain hats standing outside the door. The man standing at the door quickly took out a badge from his arms. The other man took the badge, took a look at it, and immediately opened the door of the palace and let the man in.
The guide held an umbrella for Li Fu and explained humbly, "Tonight, several princes and foreign officials who just returned from hunting are staying in the palace. All the rooms are full, so you have to stay in this attic for the night."
The man led Li Fu upstairs. Along the way, Li Fu lowered his eyebrows, had a cold face, and didn't say much. People who saw him felt inexplicably scared.
When they reached the door, the man pushed it open and invited Li Fu in.
Li Fu raised his eyes and glanced at the man, who felt a chill in his heart and immediately understood, "I'll go get a set of clean clothes."
After entering the house, Li Fu lit the candles in the room. After taking off his raincoat and rain hat, Li Fu looked around the room.
The attic must have been uninhabited for a long time, so there was a damp smell in the room.
Although it was raining outside, Li Fu still half-opened the window.
After a while, the man brought over the neatly stacked clothes and shoes.
Li Fu changed into a set of dry new clothes and planned to go to bed early. He walked to the window and was about to close the window when he accidentally saw a tall and slender figure standing in front of the window opposite. The person lowered his head and was slowly closing the window.
Li Fu paused in closing the window and saw the other party close the window. Then he seemed to walk to the table, bend down and blow out the candle on the table. Then, the attic room opposite became completely dark.