Musician (IV)
In order to facilitate the reunion of Jiang Yu and Li Chiyin, Xiao Lin and Mu You put in a lot of effort, but fortunately, the maid accompanying the palace lent a hand, which made the meeting between the two so smooth.
The nanny recognized Jiang Yu and could see that the two of them had loved each other for the past eight years, but Li Chiyin was a princess of a country, while Jiang Yu was just a zither player, just a zither player.
But this time, when Jiang Yu was forcibly abducted by Xiao Lin and his gang, the nanny understood and arranged for him to meet Li Chiyin.
Staying downstairs with the nanny, Xiao Lin looked up at Jiang Yu's back.
He was so fragile and cowardly at the moment that it was infuriating.
On second thought, how could a coward like him become the strange man who made himself so haggard and even blinded his left eye in order to save one person?
Xiao Lin was very curious, more curious than ever before.
The bright moon hung in the sky, and the night was as dark as ink, which made the moon look even brighter. The stars were shining, and the silver-gray light spread into the room and into people's hearts.
A drop of sweat ran down Jiang Yu's face, and his forehead was already wet.
He gasped and looked into Li Chiyin's hazy eyes. Even though he had thousands of words in his heart, he couldn't utter a single word in front of her.
Li Chiyin wiped the tears from her eyes, stretched her head to look, and seeing that there was no one in the corridor, she hurriedly pulled Jiang Yu into the room and closed the door cautiously.
In the room where they were alone, the atmosphere gradually became subtle.
Suddenly, Li Chiyin hugged Jiang Yu. She hid in his arms and shed tears. The deliberately suppressed sobs were like swords, piercing Jiang Yu's heart.
The two hugged each other for a long time before Li Chiyin let go and pulled Jiang Yu to sit down.
She lit the candle on the table, and in the candlelight she noticed that Jiang Yu was sweating profusely.
Seeing this, she quickly found a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, asking as she did so: "How did you find this place?"
"I..." Jiang Yu was speechless, not knowing how to answer.
When he was tied to the carriage, Xiao Lin and Mu You told him that if he did not go to Fujue with Li Chiyin this time, Li Chiyin would die in a foreign land in the future, and the cause of death would remain a mystery. If he was really cruel, he could just turn around and return to Beijing.
Although Jiang Yu was a coward, he hesitated for a moment when it came to Li Chiyin's life or death.
He knew very well that his piano music had always existed for Li Chiyin, and his love would only belong to Li Chiyin.
No matter how cruel he was, he couldn't bear to see her leave without knowing the reason.
After much thought, since they were here, even if he and Li Chiyin could not love each other and stay together like ordinary people, as long as he could protect her temporarily and soothe her sorrow with his piano music, it would be enough.
"I saw the imperial horses in front of the inn and figured you'd stopped here. When I came in, I noticed a candle was lit in your room, casting a shadow on the window. As soon as I saw the shadow, I knew it was you, so I quickly ran up..."
Jiang Yu was breathing heavily as he said this, and Li Chiyin was patting his back.
"Then why did you come looking for me again?"
Li Chiyin's question made Jiang Yu stunned. He bit his lip, feeling conflicted about whether he should speak or not.
As he hesitated, Xiao Lin and Mu You's words resurfaced in his mind. He immediately gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and decided to confess everything to Li Chiyin: "I don't want to see you alone in a foreign land. I don't want to never see you again in the future. I know very well that I can't marry you and spend the rest of my life with you, but I am willing, willing to spend the rest of my life playing the zither just for you."
His gaze was firm and powerful, and every word he said struck Li Chiyin's heart hard.
She loved the person in front of her so much, yet she felt so powerless about their blank future.
He knew that there was no way he could possess her, so he gave himself to her.
The evening breeze blew gently, and the candlelight in the room swayed gracefully. The two sat facing each other for a long time, chatting in a low voice about the interesting things that happened in the past two months, as if the present was still the same as the past.
Gradually, Li Chiyin put her arms around Jiang Yu's arms, snuggled up to his shoulder and slowly fell asleep.
That night, she had a good dream.
I dreamed that she was stepping onto a green field with lush grass and singing birds, running freely under the warm sun. The tips of the grass brushed against her skirt, and dewdrops hit the toes of her shoes. She was walking forward with light steps.
Then she saw the sun rising at the end of the road, and a figure appeared vaguely in front of her.
The figure was against the light, engraved in her eyes inch by inch - that was her childhood playmate, her lifelong confidant, the man she dreamed of marrying in thousands of dreams.
She dreamed that she ran up to hold the man's hand, and finally the two of them disappeared together in the white light cast by the scorching sun, accompanied by the beauty of the world.
Soon, the rooster crowed and Li Chiyin woke up from his dream. Then he let go of Jiang Yu's arm.
She found the father-in-law who led the team and told him that she wanted to include Jiang Yu in the marriage team. Only then was Jiang Yu able to walk beside Li Chiyin's carriage with a legitimate reason.
Xiao Lin and the other two watched from a distance, feeling both happy and anxious.
"Boss Chu." After the marriage party walked away, Xiao Lin turned around and faced Chu Mo. "Jiang Yu successfully joined the marriage party. What should we do next?"
Chu Mo took a deep breath and pretended to be thoughtful. "Come to think of it, Liu Xiangju also has a shop in Fujue..."
"Fujue?" Hearing this, Mu You exclaimed, "You...why did you open a shop in another country?"
"Why? I have enough financial resources, why not open it?"
"Do the people over there also like to drink tea?"
“There are always people who love this.”
Well, I can't beat him.
However, it is indeed a good thing for Xiao Lin and Mu You that Liu Xiangju can open a room in Fujue. After all, having a place to live allows them to stay there longer.
Although at the moment, they only lacked the tea soup, but now that they had entered the game, they wanted to find out what kind of injustice Li Chiyin had suffered in Fujue and how he died in the vast snowfield?
Everything in between is full of conspiracy.
Maybe in the end, they could save her life? And truly change the ending?
Without further investigation, Xiao Lin and Mu You both looked at the departing marriage team, memorizing every inch of Jiang Yu's figure in their hearts.
After Jiang Yu came, Li Chiyin's face became noticeably rosier and his mood improved a lot.
The nanny who facilitated the meeting between Li Chiyin and Jiang Yu saw everything they exchanged, and she felt that something was wrong, so one night, she found Li Chiyin without permission.
"Your Highness, I have something to tell you." The nanny knocked lightly on the door.
Li Chiyin immediately opened the door for her, politely invited her to sit down, and asked, "What's up, Ma'am?"
"The person your highness is attracted to is Jiang Yu?"
Li Chiyin remained silent, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her.
Mammy got her answer at a glance and sighed deeply.
"Princess, you are traveling to a distant country to marry. Your mission is not to pursue your own marital happiness, but to calm the anger of others and put an end to the war. Don't let your children's personal feelings bind your hands and feet. The affairs of state are of great importance and cannot be delayed in the slightest..."
Li Chiyin remained silent and fell into deep thought.
"Princess, I am but a humble servant. I am not as well-read as you, Princess, who understands the great principles of righteousness. But along the way, I saw starving people and refugees from disasters. The closer we got to the border, the more frequent these horrifying scenes became. I am afraid that this will happen in the imperial city. I am afraid that the people begging for food along the road in rags will not be others, but our own family members!"
The nanny became more and more excited as she spoke, and she pounded her chest with her fists. It was these muffled sounds that woke Li Chiyin up.
She looked up at Mammy's face, and her heart trembled.
"You are a princess now, and in the future you will become a king, a queen, a mother, and an eternal presence in the bloodline of another nation. But it is your existence and dedication that have maintained long-term peace for future generations! Reality is always cruel, and we need someone to sacrifice. This old servant only wants you to always remember that you are a princess and must be loyal to your husband. You must not reveal any flaws, because you are my only hope..."
Yes, she is a princess, she is a princess who was married off to a foreign country.
Her comrades-in-arms are not her own children, but her millions of people. Her heart is not filled with the wishes of her own family, but the heart of protecting all nations!
How could she, such a woman, let her own faults cause her people to survive in the flames of war?
This is her birth mission!
When she thought about her love for her son, which might one day turn into saltpeter that ignites the flames of war, she couldn't help but feel fear.
If the price of her and Jiang Yu staying together is unrest in the country, then she... then she...
For a moment, the moral principles of benevolence, righteousness, and propriety that she used to recite every day, clashed with the selfishness that was now budding in her heart. They pulled, entangled, and fought against each other, and finally trampled the tender bud into the mud.
"Mammy, thank you for your reminder. This princess...knows..."
Li Chiyin lowered her head, not wanting others to see her helpless and tearful appearance, but the nanny beside her stretched out her arms and hugged her: "Child, if you were not a princess, how wonderful it would be..."
But she happens to be a princess.
In the vastness of time and the depth of war, her affair with him was as ethereal as mist, so insignificant that it could not be described.
After a few more days, the marriage team finally arrived at the capital of King Fujue.
The royal capital, filled with exotic customs, made this group of people coming from the Central Plains seem out of place.
The one who came to welcome him was Huyan Jun, the youngest son of Prince Fujue.
Unlike the people of the Central Plains who were so elegant, Huyan Jun's skin was tanned by the sun. His custom of eating cattle and sheep made him big and strong, with a flamboyant face, and looked scary.
After entering the royal capital, Li Chiyin quietly lifted some curtains and peeked at the tribesmen doing business on the roadside. They were dressed differently and doing their own thing, but most of them were still talking about them.
The Fujue clan has always been known for its bravery and fighting skills.
They are good at riding and shooting, and are the well-deserved wild kings on this vast grassland. Therefore, their clothing is also quite distinctive. Men's clothes must be sewn with wolf hair, women's clothes are fox hair, and children's clothes are rabbit hair.
According to the ancient books that Li Chiyin had read before, in the Fujue clan, the more noble one's status, the closer the wolf fur on their clothes was to inky black, and the closer the fox fur was to pure white.
She secretly glanced at Huyan Jun's clothes. Although the fur on it was black enough, it still lacked some density.
It was not known whether it was because she had stayed on the battlefield for too long or for some other reason, but Hu Yanjun found fault with Li Chiyin just by glancing at him. The next moment, his fierce gaze pierced her eyes.
Li Chiyin was so frightened that he quickly lowered the curtains.
This Huyan Jun is not a simple person.
At the same time, Xiao Lin and his group hurried, changing from a horse carriage to a donkey cart, and finally back to a horse carriage. After many twists and turns, they finally settled down in Fujue.
This time, Mu You revealed the truth in one sentence.
The people in Fujue really don't like drinking tea, so the shops in Liuxiangju here are less than half the size of those in Tianling.
But although small, it has everything. Such a small teahouse still has rooms for Xiao Lin and Mu You to stay overnight.
Before this, Xiao Lin was still struggling. If she didn't go into the palace with Jiang Yu, how would she know the truth about Li Chiyin's death?
Soon, Chu Mo gave her an answer.
"The Fujue clan has always advocated sharing joy with the people, so there isn't much of a barrier between the royal family and the people. The royal family invites the people to participate in many of their banquets."
This really saves trouble. At least I don't have to go to the palace to serve others. I can stay in Liuxiangju and be a waiter, which gives me more freedom.
So the three of them quickly settled down in Liuxiangju, waiting for the wedding banquet to begin.
In a blink of an eye, on Li Chiyin's side, after several bumps, the marriage party finally arrived at the palace.
With the support of Jiang Yu, Li Chiyin got off the carriage and stepped onto the land that did not belong to her.
Huyan Jun looked at them with disdain. He walked arrogantly at the front of the team and led them into the palace.
After passing through the corridor, Li Chiyin arrived at the main hall under the guidance of Huyan Jun.
As soon as he entered the hall, Hu Yanjun immediately clenched his right fist and beat his chest to pay his respects to Prince Fujue, then reported: "Father, I have brought the princess from Kuixi here."
King Fujue, sitting on the high throne, supported his head with his right hand, raised his left arm and waved at Huyan Jun, signaling him to step down.
Li Chiyin held Jiang Yu's arm even tighter.
The front that she couldn't see because of the veil was just like her future that was covered by the clouds. She could only keep her eyes on the ground and move forward cautiously.
She remembered that the current King Fujue was named Huyan Nu, who was already over fifty years old and had three sons, namely the eldest son Huyan Hu, the second son Huyan Xiao and the youngest son Huyan Jun.
As the eldest son, although Huyan Hu was a brave but foolish man, he was still the legitimate crown prince of Fujue.
But how can the fight for the crown prince not be jealous? The second son Hu Yanxiao's mother's power is particularly strong. All forces have speculated that his mother is very likely to help him seize power.
However, the youngest son, Huyan Jun, seemed to have a greater reputation among the people. He had made great military achievements and was favored by the people as the King of Fujue. However, apart from the people's hearts, he had no other interests to fight for.
Therefore, although the crown prince had been appointed, the three sons were still secretly competing with each other.
Even though the battle for the crown prince is raging, it has nothing to do with Li Chiyin.
The person she wants to marry is Huyan Nu, who is currently sitting on the throne.
"Why does Princess Kui Xi cover her face? Is it because you are ugly and afraid of scaring us? Hahaha!" Hu Yannu's condescending voice suddenly sounded in Li Chiyin's ears, frightening her so much that she couldn't help but tremble.
The accompanying eunuch took this opportunity to reply: "Your Majesty, during the wedding, only the eunuchs are allowed to see the bride's appearance, so it is our custom in Kuixi to cover her head with a veil..."
"When you arrive in my Fujue, you must abide by the customs of Fujue! Take off your veil for me!" Hu Yannu's voice was like a loud bell, which scared the members of the marriage team.
Li Chiyin was also frightened. She clutched the hem of her skirt and took a deep breath. Then she slowly raised her hand and slowly pulled off her veil, revealing her beautiful face to everyone in the hall.
At this time, Jiang Yu stood aside with a look of concern in his eyes.
The people of Fujue have always been rough, and even the women are born with big and dark faces. It was the first time they saw the appearance of Li Chiyin, the princess of the Central Plains - beautiful and elegant, with skin as white as cream and hands as soft as catkins.
When Li Chiyin took off her veil, she was met with thunderous discussions and even whistles from the people around her, which made her feel extremely humiliated.
Not only Fu Jue, the minister in the hall, but even Hu Yannu laughed out loud when he saw her like this, leaving Li Chiyin and others standing there to be humiliated.
The laughter was like drumbeats, beating against Li Chiyin's insignificant yet strong self-esteem.
She unconsciously clenched her teeth.
After laughing enough, Huyannu ordered people to help them settle down and told them that the wedding banquet would be held at night and they had to attend the wedding banquet.
As for Li Chiyin's wedding dress, she naturally had to take off her so-called Central Plains dress and wear Fujue's animal skin.
No one dared to resist the orders.
Li Chiyin's bedroom was intentionally placed at the end of the corridor. Fortunately, the moonlight could still shine in there, and she could also glimpse the direction of her hometown through the window.
Everything is not too bad yet, Li Chiyin thought.
But how could everything not be bad?
From the moment they entered the palace to the moment they were humiliated in the hall, Li Chiyin's inner defenses had long been broken.
The unknown future and the unknown present made her feel suffocated.
She felt deeply that the wedding banquet that would be held later would be an even more humiliating affair, deliberately designed by King Fujue.
But what could she do? She was a princess and had no right to refuse...
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