Chapter 22 Chapter 22 I Want Chicken Soup
At this moment, Su Guanzhang half-knelt down, his eyes level with hers, and asked, "Are you still scared? Do you want me to stay with you?"
Xuan Jinyu felt all the eyes turning towards her the moment he finished speaking, and her face flushed. "Who wants you to accompany them? Just go and help."
The carriages and luggage had all been unloaded and piled up on one side of the small square. From time to time, people would go there to get what they needed.
The military officers and imperial guards who were escorting them all divided their tasks: some weeded, some started fires, and some went into the hall to investigate. She also saw several people take wooden buckets and walk out to the small square, probably to find water.
Looking at the imperial guards who were surrounding their family with their backs to them and seemed to be busy with their own work, Xuan Jinyu curled her lips and said, "They are afraid that we will run away!" She muttered to Su Guanzhang in a very low voice.
You don't do it properly, she can see it.
Su Guanzhang laughed and tucked the loose hair on her face behind her ears.
"Then I'll go and help. Just let someone call me if you need anything." He asked Xu Yu Niang again.
Xu Yu Niang glanced at him sideways, "Do I need you to tell me? Jinyu is my wife, my daughter, I will take good care of her. Don't dawdle, just go."
After everyone left, she complained to Su Sheng, "How could we have such a blockhead? It's a good thing Jinyu didn't despise him."
Xuan Jinyu pretended not to hear, her ears slightly red.
She despised him, despised him so much. This man, Su Guanzhang, was as stupid as a stick. She didn't know why her father and grandfather praised him for doing his job well.
This is a wooden man. Will he really not be disliked by his superiors and be complained about behind his back by his subordinates when he is doing his job?
Su Sheng laughed loudly, not giving his youngest son any face. "He also despises me." Otherwise, he wouldn't have argued with him for three years. He spoke softly, fearing that his daughter-in-law would be embarrassed.
But they were so close that no matter how Xuan Jinyu pretended not to hear, she still heard the sound.
"Thanks to his good face." Xu Yu Niang said, glancing at Xuan Jinyu whose face was flushed, and stopped teasing her.
This time, Wang Hu took the initiative to lead the imperial guards into the temple, leaving a group of people busy outside while they checked the temple inside and out.
"There's no danger." When Wang Hu came out, he saw Chen Yang and his men had already started a fire. Those who were quick had already plucked the rabbits and were skewering them to prepare for roasting.
"Where is the water source?" He swallowed what he was about to say and asked first.
Someone pointed the way for him and said, "Walk east for about a hundred steps and you'll find a river there with very clean water."
Wang Hu said "thank you", he had already recognized that the man was from the Ministry of War.
The man waved his hand and walked away holding the weeds he had just pulled up and rolled into a ball.
"This temple is also called Huangjue Temple." Wang Hu said to Chen Yang. He had already seen the stone tablet in the square inside. The layout here was obviously exactly the same as that of Huangjue Temple in the west of the city.
Chen Yang nodded. Obviously he knew it too. After all, it was he who took the initiative to ask to stay overnight in this abandoned temple.
"It's too big inside. It's not suitable for more than a hundred of us to live separately. It will be troublesome if we encounter wild animals." Wang Hu continued.
Never mind why this temple is also called Huangjue Temple, and never mind why such a large and apparently well-preserved temple was abandoned. It is obvious that no one has lived here for a long time and has become part of the mountains and forests.
He also saw that many of the meditation rooms inside had become dens for wild animals.
"I didn't encounter any big wild animals inside, but it's better to be careful. The back door of this hall can be locked, and we only need to take care of this place at night." Wang Hu pointed to the brick-paved hall.
If his idea was correct, this huge palace, which could accommodate a thousand people, was used exclusively for royal rituals, and could also be used as a place for masters to preach to pilgrims on weekdays.
Just like the Huangjue Temple in the west of the city today.
Chen Yang agreed, "This place is big enough, we can stay here at night." Not to mention that there are only a hundred of them, even if there are hundreds more people, there is enough room for them.
Su Guanzhang had just asked Xu Yu Niang to help look after Xuan Jinyu. He walked around and picked a lot of herbs.
Only Chen Yang and Wang Hu were in the hall. He came in carrying herbs and overheard their conversation. "This place has been abandoned for a long time. I'm afraid there might be snakes and insects. Let's fumigate it first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Yang had already quickly cut a centipede with his sword.
The red-legged, black-backed centipede, which was as long as two fingers of an adult man and as thick as his little finger, separated from its head and tail and squirmed on the ground. Before it died, Chen Yang stepped on it.
When he moved his foot away again, the centipede had turned into a pool of mud, mixed with the thick dust.
"Young Master is indeed thoughtful." He took the herbs.
The Su family had not been convicted, and the Su father and son had not had their official positions removed, so he should have called him "Su Shaoqing." But when the words came to his lips, he remembered that they had been exiled, and it seemed inappropriate to call them that.
It’s safer to call him “young master”.
Su Guanzhang just nodded slightly and quickly walked out of the palace.
"He's really well-mannered." Wang Hu praised the man who had fallen from being the son of a noble family to being exiled to the wilderness, but was still elegant and upright, as if he was not tainted by the world.
If he were in other people's shoes, he might not have such a good character.
"After all, he is a young man raised by a noble family. Moreover, he went to the battlefield at the age of eight." Chen Yang lit the herbs, and the fragrance came out with pungent smoke. He gave some to Wang Hu, and the two of them hung the herbs all over the hall.
In the small square outside the temple, a group of big men had worked together to remove all the weeds. A large iron pot was placed on the fire, and the water in the pot was bubbling slightly.
They drove four carriages, three of which were empty, carrying the Su family members out of the capital.
There was also a horse-drawn carriage, loaded with pots, pans, and other utensils necessary for eating outdoors, as well as rice, flour, oil, salt, soft quilts, thin blankets, and other things that the Xuan, Xu, and Chang families had stuffed in.
They even brought about ten tents.
Therefore, even if they really have to sleep in the wilderness one day, they will have enough to survive.
Apart from the Autumn Hunt, this was the first time Xuan Jinyu had seen such a down-to-earth scene. She was so mesmerized that she didn't even notice that someone had sat down next to her.
"What do you think?"
Xuan Jinyu came back to her senses when she heard the familiar voice beside her.
"I want to drink chicken soup." She answered irrelevantly.
Xuan Jinyu looked at the man's handsome features and remembered her plan to torment him along the way.
Her plump lips slowly turned down, "I miss you so much."
She originally wanted to embarrass this person, but as soon as she said it, she really wanted to drink chicken soup, and her mouth and heart were craving for it.
"Okay." Su Guanzhang agreed immediately.
Xuan Jinyu was stunned. How could there be chickens in this wilderness? All along the way, she had only seen rabbits.
Thinking of this, she asked.
She was touched on the top of her head and heard the man reply, "I'll go look in the woods."
"Will there be any ferocious beasts?" Xuan Jinyu worriedly grabbed the hem of the person who had already stood up.
"They just caught a lot of rabbits." Su Guanzhang pointed in the direction of the meaty aroma. "With so many rabbits, I don't think there are many wild animals."
It seemed to make some sense. Xuan Jinyu didn't understand the rules in the mountains and forests, so she slowly let go of her hand.
Keren really went into the forest and disappeared at the end of sight.
The joy in her heart at having successfully tormented him seemed to have dissipated a lot, and Xuan Jinyu only felt a tightness in her chest.
"Don't worry," Xu Yu Niang comforted her, "Zhang is quite skilled. It's just catching a few chickens. There's no danger."
Who is worried about him? Xuan Jinyu subconsciously wanted to refute.
But when she met her mother-in-law's gentle and smiling eyes, she just nodded and said nothing more.
"Aunt, look at me."
Xuan Jinyu looked over and saw Tong Jie'er making a pig nose at her.
The little girl with delicate eyebrows and eyes did this action without any shyness, and Xuan Jinyu was amused by her.
Seeing that her aunt finally smiled, Tong Jie laughed proudly, causing all her younger brothers and sisters to imitate her.
"Aunt, look at me, look at Mu Ge'er."
"Aunt, look at me too. I can do it too."
…
In the end, even the eldest brother Qi was moved and threw away his composure to join his younger brothers and sisters in the competition for favor.
"Hahahahaha." The adults all laughed.
"Where did the young master go?"
The children were having fun when Wang Hu suddenly came over.
"Uncle went to catch a chicken for aunt." Mu Ge answered loudly.
Wang Hu's face suddenly turned ugly. He just glanced at the innocent child who was staring at him, and then he slowly said thank you.
"You're welcome." Mu Ge'er waved his hand.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Wang Hu grabbed a passing imperial guard and asked coldly.
The imperial guards were stunned by his question, "What is the lord talking about?"
Wang Hu looked at his bewildered subordinate and quickly realized that he had overreacted, so he let him go. "It's nothing, go back to your work!"
The imperial guard left in confusion.
Children are most able to understand adults' emotions. Mu Ge'er sensitively realized that the adult was unhappy, so he turned back to his great-uncle and grabbed his big hand.
Su Sheng pinched his doughy little face and asked, "Brother Mu, don't you want to play with your brothers and sisters anymore?"
Mu Ge'er put his face in his arms and rubbed it, but did not respond.
Su Sheng embraced the child's small body and rubbed his back with his big hands. "Are you scared?"
This little kid has suffered a lot recently.
Mu Ge'er said nothing. He put his face against his great-uncle's chest and whispered, "Great-uncle, I'm not afraid, but I don't like him."
Although he is young, he does know everything.
They were fine originally, but this adult came on horseback with a bunch of people, and then my mother and everyone else became unhappy.
He had just answered the man kindly, but in return he received a sour look. Humph, he was also unhappy.
"Great-uncle, I'm a little angry," he muttered.
The child thought he was being very careful, but who nearby didn't hear it? Even Wang Hu, who was about to leave, heard it and stopped in his tracks.
Su Sheng spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too low, "Captain Wang, although my Su family has been exiled, we haven't been convicted. My son just went to the nearby woods to catch a few chickens. Is it worth your trouble?"
Wang Hu's face turned even worse. Duke Su was obviously accusing him of being on guard against them.
"I dare not." He answered reluctantly and left quickly.
Xuan Jinyu took in this scene, feeling a growing sense of distress in her chest. She took a sip from the water bag, barely suppressing the sour gas in her stomach.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
