Chapter 108: I asked for trouble and felt so sad that I died...
It's time to go.
Shen Changfeng knew that he had to go.
However, his legs felt like they were filled with lead, so heavy that he couldn't move at all.
Chen Yue walked in and repeated what he had said before, saying, "General, the Fancheng County Magistrate, the Lijia and others have arrived. Please come over to discuss matters."
Shen Changfeng hummed in his throat, indicating he understood. With the situation in Henan intensifying and military matters becoming urgent, Shen Changfeng knew he had to leave. But he didn't move. He was still waiting.
Chen Yue moved his lips, but ultimately stopped urging and walked out.
The daylight became long, stretching out its trajectory inch by inch, and the sound of the clock dripping became extremely clear, which Shen Changfeng found extremely noisy.
At a certain moment, the military tent was hastily opened.
He waited. She came.
However, that was not his military tent, but the military tent where Chuqi was located next to him.
From the moment she opened the curtains, his eyes were fixed on her, never relaxing for a moment. He heard her scream, "The seventh day!"
Then, the graceful figure rushed towards the man sitting upright, and when she spoke again, she couldn't help crying: "Chuqi, what's wrong with you? Where are you hurt?!"
Chuqi's voice rang out, "I'm fine, don't be afraid, this isn't my blood..."
The figures behind the white curtain are very close to each other. One is sitting with his head tilted slightly up, while the other is stroking his face with both hands, his chest rising and falling, his profile focused, and he is leaning very close, clearly looking carefully, checking over and over again whether the person he is worried about is in any trouble.
The tense muscles on Shen Changfeng's face twitched violently.
After a long time, the woman fell down as if she had lost her strength. The person next to her immediately caught her and helped her sit beside him.
"You don't know how scared I was. When I received the letter, I didn't dare tell Grandpa..." The silhouette of the woman on the tent suddenly turned her head, covering half of her face with the back of her hand, her shoulders trembling slightly, looking so pitiful. Just one look at her and everyone would be filled with pity, wanting to hold her in their arms, comfort her with kind words and caress her.
Chuqi took her into his arms and the two of them snuggled together.
With a crisp "crack" sound, the cup in Shen Changfeng's hand broke, and the sharp broken porcelain pieces dug deep into his palm, but he seemed not to feel the pain. The blue veins on the back of his hand suddenly twisted and bulged as if to break through the flesh, and blood oozed from the palm of his hand to his forearm, like a twisting bloodworm, which was very scary.
He stared intently at the white curtain before him, his eyes beginning to bleed with abnormal crimson bloodshot from the intense strain. He wished he could tear the curtain separating him and them apart, rushing forward to pry them apart. In his heart, he silently roared, "Stop, stop, stop... Stop now!"
He clearly saw Chu Qi holding up Lin Meizhu's face and slowly moving closer, his lips only inches away from her eyebrows - Shen Changfeng suddenly closed his eyes, stood up and rushed out quickly, as if he couldn't bear it for a moment, as if he urgently needed fresh air. He hurriedly threw away the military tent and almost fled from the camp behind him.
The moment the military tent fell heavily, he heard two voices behind him at the same time.
"Chuqi, are you okay?"
"Eleven, are you okay?"
Not good, not good, very bad, very very bad.
Shen Changfeng had a sad face and felt like his heart was dying with pain and sadness.
But no one asked him.
This time he didn't rush to get on the horse. He stood there holding the reins tightly, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and swallowed hard twice, and then waited for the black fog in front of him to dissipate.
Ah Chou felt that something was wrong with him, so he didn't bare his teeth this time. Instead, he stepped on his horse's hooves to get closer to him so that he could lean on him. After waiting for a long time and seeing that he didn't move, he turned around, rubbed his face, and hissed softly.
Shen Changfeng swallowed the last bite of the sweet taste, then slowly opened his eyes, touched Ah Chou's face, and whispered, "I'm fine."
Achou didn't believe it and rolled his eyes at him.
Shen Changfeng tried to raise the corners of his mouth and said, "A Chou, you are really a good horse."
Achou twitched his ears, raised his face, chewed his teeth, and looked very proud, indicating that he knew what was going on and there was no need for you to say more.
In the military tent.
Chuqi held Lin Meizhu's face and asked, "Are you feeling better? If not, I'll blow on you again."
When he was wiping someone's tears, he couldn't find a handkerchief, so he used his sleeve. As a result, there was sand on his sleeve, which accidentally got into Lin Meiju's eyes, causing her tears to fall more and more.
Lin Meizhu hummed, blinked, and said, "Much better." Then she remembered Chuqi's groaning in pain and asked, "What's wrong with your leg? Let me see."
A soldier brought in a towel and other things. Lin Meizhu handed the half-wrung towel to Chuqi, then squatted down to clean the wound on his knee. She said with lingering fear, "Just now, your face was covered in blood. It was really shocking..."
Chuqi wiped it twice and looked at it with clean water. He saw that his face was covered with hideous bloodstains. It was really scary. No wonder Lin Meiju repeatedly checked whether her face was cut.
After they had calmed down, Chuqi finally told him what had happened. The King of Chu had repeatedly sent invitations, but he had refused them verbally. This time, he was furious and humiliated. If he hadn't happened to encounter the Fu Bo Army, he would have been imprisoned like Qin Yan. Worse still, his life would have been in danger.
Chu Qi did not hide it and said, "He saved me."
Lin Meiju did not stop her movements and said "hmm" softly.
Chu Qi withdrew her gaze from her relatively calm face and couldn't help but sigh inwardly - she hadn't even said who "he" was. Perhaps it was because she saw the flags hoisted by the Fu Bo Army when she arrived.
But both of them knew that this was not the time to indulge in personal affairs, as there were much more important things at hand.
Chu Qi said, "King Sima Zhao of Chu is convinced that a rebellion is imminent. He is acting so recklessly, he must be relying on someone in the court. I even doubt that if he were to start a rebellion, the three Huguang officials would not intervene."
Although the King of Chu has not raised an army, he has been acting more and more unscrupulously recently, openly making friends with officials from all over the country. The leaders of various gangs and bandits also openly enter and leave the banquets arranged by the King of Chu. However, the Xiangyang Guards have not taken any action. Not only Xiangyang, but also Wuchang, Huangzhou, Jizhou... Except for Jingzhou in Hubei where the veteran court general Qi Shouyi is stationed, the officials in other places seem to have been bribed by the King of Chu's people, or they dare not express their attitude clearly because of indecision.
Lin Meiju's brows gradually furrowed as she listened to his analysis. The situation was much more serious than she had imagined.
Chu Qi knew she was worried, so he tried to speak in a gentle tone, "That's just the worst-case scenario... maybe there's still room for a turnaround. He's already said he'll send someone to escort my secret letter to Chengtian."
Lin Meizhu thought for a moment, "Master Lu?"
Lu Qingyan was the Imperial Censor of Huguang and had the authority to bypass the Three Departments and submit memorials directly to the court.
Chu Qi nodded. If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Qingyan would have finished his official duties and was on his way back. Chu Qi also wrote several urgent reports and sent them to the Wuchang Governor's Office. He didn't know what the Governor's Office's current stance was, but he had to give it a try.
Chuqi explained the key points, and only then did he say what he wanted to say the most: "Eleven, I want you and Grandpa to go south and leave here."
Lin Meiju raised her eyes and almost instantly understood what Chuqi meant.
Xiangyang is located in the middle reaches of the Han River, connected to the Nanyang Basin in the north and the Jianghan Plain in the south. It is a real throat of the north-south transportation route. Whether it is water or land, Xiangyang has all the advantages. In other words, it is a must-pass place for northern forces to move south. If the King of Chu rebels, he will inevitably point his sword at Nanjing, and Xiangyang will inevitably be involved in a bloody battle.
Chuqi is the prefect of Xiangyang. He will not retreat, nor can he retreat. He must stay in Xiangyang and stabilize the overall situation until the last moment.
"Once we return to the government office, I will immediately arrange for you a pass to travel south. This is the safest route for retreating to Jingzhou. I will dispatch guards to escort you..."
He was talking about separation, but Lin Meiju didn't dare to ask when they would see each other again.
Her eyes gradually became sore. She tried hard to suppress the sobs in her throat, but she couldn't control the crystal tears that rolled down. Her tears fell on the back of Chuqi's hand, warm and moist, soaking Chuqi's eyes. He reached out and wiped away her tears with his fingertips. He endured the bitterness in his heart and comforted her: "It hasn't come to that yet. You don't have to worry about me. Don't think too much... Eleven, don't cry..."
Just like before, during the most difficult and bitter days, he endured the pain in his body, hid all his anxiety, and sat side by side with her, counting the things they had to do and imagining the good things in the future, to support them through the long period of depression and darkness before them. "Xiaoman said the swing in the yard is a little loose, so I'll go back and see what's wrong. You said that the anecdotes I encountered would be very popular if compiled into a book. After thinking about it, I think so. Please help me think of how many volumes to divide it into and help me proofread it. Your salary will be deducted from the food expenses I submit..."
Lin Meizhu said in a muffled voice: "That won't work. You still want to eat and take it with you? You have to pay me extra money."
Chuqi lowered his eyes and saw the dimples on her lips. He pursed his lips and said "yes". He continued, "When spring comes, I'll take you to fly kites. I'll call the Jade Lion, it loves rolling on the grass the most..."
The military tent behind him moved. Shen Changfeng tilted his head slightly and saw someone walking out from the corner of his eye.
But still not coming towards him.
There was a constant stream of vendors and tourists at the ferry crossing. The cool breeze rustled their clothes, but it could not blow away the whispered instructions of the two people.
"You have to be careful."
"You too. I'll wait for you to come home..."
"Okay. Let's go back quickly... It's so windy here..."
"I understand. Go ahead..."
"Okay, I'm leaving..."
Shen Changfeng felt like he was starting to feel dizzy again.
The sound of the boatman shouting and paddling came to his ears. Shen Changfeng caught a glimpse of the lotus shadow on the ground walking towards him, slowly pulled the reins, and led the horse away.
She called his name from behind, her voice as pleasant as ever, with the soft, melody of Jiangnan water. Shen Changfeng's ears twitched, but he continued walking forward without a sound.
Seeing that the man had no intention of stopping, Lin Meiju thought that she was shouting too softly and he didn't hear her, so she lifted her skirt and chased him a few steps. This time she was closer and he could even hear the slight panting in her voice.
"General Shen!"
The wind ruffled her hair, and a few strands of black hair swirled gently, sticking to her cheeks and chin, swinging on a swing without a place to move, just like someone's heartbeat.
Shen Changfeng paused.
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