Jiang Rao opened her eyes, blinked twice sorely, and looked at the man riding the horse and holding her, and became dazed.
The heavy fall startled the horse. The young man on the horse was wearing dark black clothes. He was frowning and pulling the reins to control the horse that was about to run away. Jiang Rao followed the moonlight and scanned his jawline to see his face clearly. Her voice trembled a little, "Rong Ting."
Jiang Jinxing's noisy voice came from the wall, ruining the good atmosphere. He was so proud that his boots were about to lift up, and his hair looked like it was on fire against the fire behind him. He shouted at Jiang Rao, "I told you it's okay, but you didn't believe me! You cried in vain."
He was riding on the wall and shouting, but he fell off the wall without noticing. He was a step later than Jiang Rao and his little body fell into the firewood pile. It didn't hurt, but Jiang Jinxing compared his sister and saw that someone was picking her up, but he was not. He pouted his lips, looking a little unhappy, and sat up rubbing his butt.
A man in black came a step late, his hand was suspended in the air as if to catch someone. He came to Jiang Jinxing and asked him with concern, "Young Master, are you hurt from the fall?"
"This wall is so tiny, it's nothing." Jiang Jinxing was very concerned about his reputation, and he had some martial arts skills, so he didn't get hurt too much from the fall. He quickly got up, glanced at the man in black, and narrowed his eyes slightly with vigilance.
He remembered the dark shadow he had seen flash by.
"This is my secret guard."
Immediately, Rong Ting spoke.
After taming the slightly frightened horse, Rong Ting pulled the reins to turn the horse's head in another direction. Her beautiful face was illuminated by the firelight, sometimes dark and sometimes bright, with her emotions changing from mood to mood. Veins appeared on the back of her hand that was pulling the reins, as if she was enduring something.
Jiang Rao noticed that he had changed direction and quickly grabbed the front of his shirt. She heard the fire crackling behind her and held back any more questions she wanted to ask him. She said in a very urgent manner, "Send someone inside to put out the fire, save people."
Rong Ting frowned slightly and jumped off the horse holding Jiang Rao.
He naturally knew that there was someone inside, and he also saw the blazing fire.
He just doesn't care about those irrelevant people.
"Put out the fire, save lives." He said to the secret guard beside him with a wooden face as she said.
"Find out who set the fire." As he said this, his eyes were sinister and fierce.
The inn was located in a somewhat remote area, far from the Ti River, and it took some effort to bring water here. Fortunately, the fire was discovered in time and was put out in less than half an hour.
Even though the fire was put out in time, it was too fierce and the rafters and beams of several houses had been burned off. Jiang Rao stood in the yard and watched, feeling horrified.
It turned out that someone had set the fire deliberately. The fires broke out in the kitchen on the first floor and four piles of firewood doused in oil in the corridor on the second floor. Every door and window were locked, and with the drugs in the food, if she and her brother had not been sober, they would have been burned to death here.
There were two piles of firewood on the second floor in front of her room. It was obvious that the fire was aimed at her.
The people from the government office arrived late and helped the brother and sister carry everyone in each room to the yard. No one was injured. Jiang Jinxing woke up the doctor in the town and invited him over. He prescribed medicine and gave refreshing soup to those who fainted. After the people woke up, they found a new inn to stay in. When the matter was almost resolved, he began to look for the innkeeper and waiter whose ancestors he had cursed for eighteen generations.
These two men never showed up from beginning to end, which clearly showed that they were related to the fire. Jiang Jinxing was afraid that they had escaped by boat overnight, so he did not even sleep and went to the dock to check on them in the middle of the night.
Jiang Rao stopped him, "It's not just this inn that has problems. It doesn't make sense for us to have walked into a den of thieves. Those inns that told us the inn was full and they couldn't accommodate us might have something fishy going on. If you want to find someone, look for those inns as well."
She concealed her thoughts and did not mention them. The people from the government office arrived too late. Even if the inn was remote, it was not in the middle of nowhere. There would always be night patrols in the city at night. How could such a big fire not alarm them?
But at this moment, people from the government office were helping them move their suitcases to the new inn, and Jiang Rao was not a suspicious person, so she said nothing.
After listening to Jiang Rao's words, Jiang Jinxing nodded. His face was covered with dust from putting out the fire, but he didn't even wipe it off. With a face full of dust, he rushed into the night with the people from the government office and Rong Ting's men.
Jiang Jinxing went out in a dejected manner, and Jiang Rao was not much better. She dressed herself in the shortest time possible and still looked decent, but without Mingshao to help her with her hair, her bun always came loose. She simply wore a cone hat and let her hair down so she couldn't see and pretended it was done.
White and gray burnt sawdust fell on the black brim of the cone hat and on her shoulders.
Jiang Rao watched her brother's back disappear into the night, and subconsciously felt a little worried.
But her brother was born with a reckless character.
If you don't find something to hone your skills, you probably won't be able to become calm and steady.
After Jiang Jinxing's figure disappeared, she was still standing under the eaves of the second floor of the new inn without turning around.
She was fantasizing about finding Rong Ting.
But what she had in mind was that she had to travel a long way to Huaizhou, then go deep into the mountains and forests, crawl through caves, cross rivers, and search for him inch by inch. But he suddenly appeared in front of her, with a living temperature and smell...
It's like when you're climbing a mountain and you only take two steps and find that the top of the mountain is right under your feet.
I got what I wanted, but the feeling in my heart was like I was walking on clouds.
It's not real, like a dream.
She took a deep breath, turned around and opened the door.
This was her room in the new inn.
When the door was pushed open, the man standing in front of the table heard the noise and turned around.
On the table was the parchment map that Jiang Rao had previously looked at.
Seeing her coming, Rong Ting put the parchment map back, his palms slightly sweating.
He looked at Jiang Rao's expressionless face and was worried that she was angry. He didn't know how to explain to her about the fake death. He didn't know what expression to put on his face. He was having a headache when the little girl walked towards him aggressively, grabbed his collar and forced him to lower his head towards her.
Rong Ting bent down, thinking that he might get beaten. When he stretched his face forward, his chin felt a pain.
Jiang Rao had very little experience in kissing. Without anyone to guide her and due to the height difference, she couldn't even find the position of his lips. She touched him without any reason, and his chin hit her teeth so hard that she felt pain. She fell back on her heels in pain, her lips pursed, and she reached out her little hand to pull Rong Ting's face, as if to confirm whether he was real. She used a lot of force, and only let go of his earlobe after it turned slightly red.
She put on the cone hat in her hand to cover her face, sat down on the armchair, lowered her head, stared at the tip of her embroidered shoes, determined not to look at his confusing face, "Explain."
Rong Ting touched his slightly aching chin, unable to tell whether she was going to kiss or bite him. He slowly moved closer to her and spoke slowly, "Father has become suspicious of the Xu family."
"Before I set out for Huaizhou."
Although Emperor Zhaowu was confident in leaving the six palaces to Empress Jiahe, he could only allow Empress Jiahe's methods to be confined within the palace walls. If she interfered in court affairs, no matter how decent Empress Jiahe behaved externally or how competent she was in holding the Phoenix Seal, once Emperor Zhaowu became aware of her ambition, she would become someone who must be eliminated in his eyes.
The heart of an emperor is the most ruthless.
"My father had no intention of letting me go to Huaizhou. Later, Xi Zimo wrote to me and forced me to go. My father went along with it and allowed me to go. He just wanted to see what Xi Zimo was up to."
"Xi Zimo is a cautious person and rarely reveals his true colors. He was asked by the Queen and the King's father-in-law to take my life. The incident of falling off the cliff was not fake."
He didn't want Jiang Rao to know that it was his idea to fake his death, so he pushed all those tricks and schemes onto Emperor Zhaowu. "Three days after I fell off the cliff, the people sent by my father found me. If I return to the court, the military power of Lingnan should be handed over to me. My father was afraid of alerting the enemy, and he wanted to test the father-in-law to the end. So he simply played along. Internally, he doted on the queen in every way, and externally, he said that I faked my death and the position of Lingnan's military commander was vacant, to see if father-in-law Xu would be eager to recommend his people."
Jiang Rao suddenly thought of the luncheon in the palace.
When the almighty emperor peeled lychees for his queen, his eyes were full of tenderness and indulgence.
Although he pointed out the Queen's mistakes in public, he did not punish her in the end. He came and left with the Queen by his side.
When she looked at them at that time, even though she felt it was strange, she had to say that the two of them were like a rare pair of immortal lovers. Thinking about it again today, she felt cold all over.
None of that indulgence and tenderness is genuine.
Just flattery.
No wonder no matter how much love she received, my aunt never thought of putting her true heart into this man, not even for a moment, if it were her turn.
"Is General Xi really dead?"
“Yeah.” Rong Ting nodded, looking gentle and docile with his eyes downcast. He didn’t look like a man who had just walked out of a battlefield at all. There wasn’t even a trace of murderous aura on him.
He kept the fight between him and Xi Zimo a secret, not mentioning a word about it. Even when he mentioned Xi Zimo, his face was full of sorrow and his tone was compassionate. "He fell off the cliff with me. He was unlucky and met a wild beast. I happened to be tripped by a branch and barely managed to survive."
When he said the word "barely", he emphasized it a little more, and his tone seemed to intentionally or unintentionally induce sympathy. At the same time, he raised his eyes and glanced at her.
It was actually him who encountered the beast.
Those who have no human nature are always easier to deal with than those who have human nature.
The scene was too bloody, she didn't want to know.
He grabbed Jiang Rao's hand, and his slender fingertips stroked the back of her hand from time to time, like a silent temptation. Jiang Rao tried to pull her hand back, but couldn't. She could only let him hold it and listen to what he said.
"My father won't let me return to the capital, nor will he let me tell anyone that I'm still alive. I have to listen to him, or he'll chop off my head."
"I have to keep my head and come back to see you."
Rong Ting's fingers gently rubbed Jiang Rao's hands a few times, and he tilted his head slightly. Suddenly, he looked a little dissatisfied, stretched out his hand, and took off the cone hat she was wearing.
After dropping his hands, he rested his palms on the armrests of the armchair, his tall figure covering her as she sat in the chair. He moved close to her face and looked at her. His black robe made his face look pale. Just now, when he was outside, his hair was blown messy by the night wind. His expression and movements were pure and innocent, and his words were simple and direct, showing that he had no scheming at all.
Jiang Rao's cone hat was taken off, and she lowered her eyelids and did not look at his face.
Rong Ting's eyes were filled with slight displeasure. He grabbed Jiang Rao's hand and pressed it against his heart. "Niannian, I fell off the cliff at that time. It hurt so much."
"I was in a coma for several days before I woke up."
Jiang Rao suddenly raised her eyelids to look at him, and her anxious and concerned eyes finally fell on him. Rong Ting was satisfied, and curled the corners of his lips, tilting his head and resting it on Jiang Rao's shoulder, "It's healed now, and it doesn't hurt anymore."
He released the hand that was pressing on his chest, slowly raised it and placed it on Jiang Rao's cheek, holding Jiang Rao's face with his slender fingers and gentle movements, actually blocking her chance to turn her face away. He firmly fixed her gaze on his face, his eyes gentle and compassionate, "Jin'er said, you were crying? Change the map on the table..."
"You're going to Huaizhou to find me?"
His eyes lit up slightly, and Jiang Rao couldn't take her eyes off his handsome, almost enchanting face. She felt that she should be angry, as she was kept in the dark. But it seemed that she shouldn't be angry with him. Although she pouted in confusion, her face was no longer as cold as when she walked in just now.
"Collect the bodies." She was actually taking her anger out on others. She had tried to go to Huaizhou twice, but failed both times. This made her doubt whether she had any incompatible feelings towards Huaizhou. She was a little bit irritated, not to mention that she still hadn't settled the score for the last time when he knocked her out and sent her back to Jinling. Her tone didn't soften, and with him holding her face, she couldn't turn her eyes away, so she simply closed her eyes in a huff.
Rong Ting laughed and said lightly, "It's good to collect the bodies."
"You've already agreed, even if it's a ghost marriage, you can only marry me."
His fingers tightened gently, his eyes clenched
He looked at her, his tone full of the recklessness of a teenager, and his possessiveness was surprisingly strong.
Jiang Rao opened her eyes. She was confused for a moment. From what he said, since Emperor Zhaowu had become suspicious of Empress Jiahe to the point of forcing the Xu family to show their true colors, he would be able to escape the shackles of the Empress soon, so why was he so stubborn about the marriage?
She was about to ask when she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Someone outside reported, "Something happened at the ferry."
Rong Ting put the cone hat back on Jiang Rao's head before getting up to open the door.
The attendant who came to report said, "The waiter and the innkeeper were both captured, but when the innkeeper was caught by the government, he jumped into the river to escape... He was not a good swimmer and drowned in the water."
"Where's the waiter?"
"The waiter was captured alive by the young master."
Rong Ting smiled with a fake smile, and pulled the corner of his lips, "The people in the government office are not clean, hurry up and catch them before them."
The person who reported back left again. Jiang Rao saw Rong Ting was about to close the door. She walked to the door and held his arm with her fingers, "Don't close the door."
She heard them talking about Jiang Jinxing, "I want to go see Brother Jin."
Although she knew that someone was protecting Jiang Jinxing, this kid had caused too many troubles in the past, and she still had an inexplicable worry in her heart.
"good."
Jiang Rao was about to go out, but she found that the man said yes but didn't actually open the door. Instead, he closed the door with force, blocking her against the door panel. "Let me teach you something first."
He pressed her cone hat with his fingertips and pushed it upwards, making it tilt up and revealing her face. He lowered his head and kissed her, then asked calmly, "You wanted to kiss me just now, didn't you?"
He was satisfied to see her mind withdraw from her brother, his thin lips curled up, smiling faintly, letting go of her and opening the door, "Relatives should kiss each other like this."
Jiang Rao: “…”
If his height had given her an inch, she wouldn't have hit his chin and wouldn't be so humiliated at this moment.
"No." She denied with a blushing face behind him.
Rong Ting ignored her words, walked back, interlocked his fingers and pulled her out. Seeing Jiang Rao trying to break free, he said seriously, "No one here knows us, and the customs are more civilized than those in Jinling. No one will laugh at a couple holding hands on the street. If someone really asks, we can just say we are already married."
Is this necessary?
Jiang Rao's head was numb from lack of sleep and she was confused.
She was concerned about something more important. She took the cone hat in her hand and wanted to put it on his head. Her tone was even a little anxious, "Can you show your face now?"
Rong Ting grabbed her wrist and stopped her from putting the cone hat on his head. "The clues are enough for Father to know what the Queen and the King's father-in-law are thinking. We just need to wait for the issue of Lingnan's military power to be settled. It's okay for me to show up in public."
I'm afraid Empress Jiahe thought that Emperor Zhaowu had changed his mind and his heart had returned to her.
Jiang Rao suddenly woke up a little, blinked slowly and looked at him.
She asked, "You've been following me?"
And then you didn't tell her that he was not dead?
Rong Ting was about to nod when he suddenly realized something. He smiled and changed the subject, lying, "Qiliu Town is an important town at the junction of land and water. I happened to be waiting here. I saw your carriage during the day, but I was afraid that you would be scared, so I didn't dare to recognize you."
His tone was perfectly normal, and his expression was also normal, so Jiang Rao believed him without much doubt. When the two found Jiang Jinxing, Jiang Jinxing had tied up all the innkeepers, preparing to beat them until they told the truth and find out who was the person who wanted to burn them to death.
Jiang Rao still felt that Jiang Jinxing was too reckless and frowned.
Rong Ting looked at her frowning face, let go of her hand, and went over to say a few words to Jiang Jinxing.
Jiang Rao watched from the sidelines as Jiang Jinxing gave up the idea of hitting Rong Ting immediately after hearing what he said. Instead, he ran back to the inn to sleep. She was amazed, "He never listens to advice. What did you say to him?"
Rong Ting hooked her hand again.
Of course, he would not tell Jiang Rao that "it's more effective to punch someone if you keep your spirits up." He coughed twice and said, "Teach him not to hit anyone if he can avoid it."
Jiang Rao also thought this was true and nodded in agreement.
She glanced at the captured people and swept her eyes around. She was not good at interrogating people and felt helpless. Then she remembered what Rong Ting said to the attendant, "There are unclean people in the government office." She suddenly perked up and asked Rong Ting, "Is there really someone in the government office colluding with the thieves, working together from inside and outside?"
At first, she felt a little strange when she saw that there was no night patrol here, but she didn't think too much about it. Rong Ting felt the same way, so she began to take the strange feeling in her heart seriously.
Rong Ting nodded slightly. He glanced indifferently at the captured waiter and the other innkeepers, and said in a deep voice: "These are just minions. They are paid to do things. They may not know who the real mastermind is."
"Only by finding the traitor in the government office can we know who the murderer is."
Jiang Rao said, "Let's go to the dock."
She clenched her fingers slightly, "I want to go to the place where the shopkeeper drowned."
Rong Ting looked at her, "Are you really going?"
Places where people have died have always been avoided by people.
Jiang Rao bit her lip. She was indeed a little scared, but she wanted to know who had hurt her.
The Ning'an Marquis's Mansion has been established in Jinling for a hundred years. Even if the family is good at dealing with people, it will not be without enemies.
When dealing with people, you make friends. If there is a conflict of interest, you will have enemies. The Ning'an Marquis's Mansion is in a good momentum. No matter how upright it behaves, it will definitely hinder some people's way and naturally make enemies.
But if she were to ask if there was anyone whose ability could extend from Jinling to Qiliu Town, she really couldn't think of one.
"Go check it out." Her voice was not loud but firm, "Otherwise I won't be able to sleep."
The people she brought with her almost lost their lives because of her involvement.
Even as she said this, her eyelids began to become inseparable and she looked very tired.
She wanted to go to the dock and take a look. Rong Ting confirmed that she really wanted to go, so he said nothing more and took her there.
When they arrived at the dock and felt the river breeze, her hair became messy and Jiang Rao felt much more sober.
The innkeeper drowned in the middle of the night, and there were no crab fishermen out at night at this time of year. No one saw how he fell into the river, and no one saw how the government caught him.
Rong Ting brought her here to see it with her own eyes. Jiang Rao couldn't find anyone to ask for information, so she finally gave up.
Rong Ting looked at her tired eyes and said, "This method is useless. Go back to the inn and have a good sleep. Get enough rest and then think of a solution tomorrow."
Jiang Rao nodded and was willing to go back to the inn to sleep.
She was alternately sleepy and awake that night. She had completely lost all her strength. Her legs were weak and her steps were slow. She looked listless, as if she had lost her soul. Looking at the distance between her and the horse, she couldn't help feeling worried.
The man who had been holding her hand stopped and squatted in front of her, "Come up."
Jiang Rao was stunned for a moment, rubbed her heavy eyelids and looked at the figure squatting in front of her. Just as she was about to say "no", his hands had already wrapped around her legs and lifted her up on his back.
Jiang Rao's heart was pounding, but he had already carried her steadily on his back.
The shadows on the road were very long under the moonlight.
Jiang Rao suddenly felt safe lying on his back.
In fact, she was already a little overwhelmed when he showed up.
I don't want to force myself to be energetic anymore.
Now that she has someone to rely on, she looks tired.
She lay on his back, her little hands hooked around his neck, her flesh pressed against his, afraid that he would sweat or get tired.
If he really sweated, she wouldn't let him carry her.
Fortunately not.
She had thought that he would be in good health once he recovered, but she didn't expect that he would be stronger and tougher than she had imagined.
She looked at the two people's shadows on the ground, watching quietly.
It's so strange, he still looks thin and tall. If he said he was sick, she would believe it without any doubt. Where does his strength lie?
Being carried by him, she felt so safe and secure that she felt sleepy and her head was becoming increasingly heavy.
When people feel sleepy, their bad temper can hardly be controlled.
What's more, Jiang Rao was holding her breath.
The feeling of being prepared to suffer, but reaching the top of the mountain after just two steps was not only unreal, but also made her a little annoyed.
The annoyance of all the hard work going to waste.
But she had no place to vent her anger. She knew he had his considerations. There was no other way to vent her anger except to curse the dog emperor for treating his own son as a chess piece and placing him in Huaizhou.
It’s so congested, really congested.
Her personality doesn't allow her to act unreasonably, and when she gets angry, she will only complain to the people who are betraying her.
“So sleepy.”
"I haven't had a good sleep in days."
Seeing that he hadn't said anything, she got annoyed. Although she spoke in a negotiating tone, her words were quite overbearing. "Will you compensate me?"
Rong Ting laughed.
He just wanted to pamper and indulge her rare little temper, and only let her be like this in front of him.
"What compensation?" His deep and smiling voice sounded like it could bring mountains of gold and silver.
The little girl behind him was silent for a long time, as if she had fallen asleep. He tilted his head and glanced back.
After a night of tossing and turning, it was almost dawn.
The round moon in the sky became fainter and disappeared behind the clouds. The morning light shone through the clouds, illuminating her face, which was clear and white. Her face was very close to his back, her eyes were tightly closed, and her eyelashes were like small brushes.
He paused and moved his hand back. Her eyelashes didn't move at all and she didn't seem to wake up yet. He was about to turn her head when she made a "hmm" sound and opened her eyes, her vision becoming clearer.
It turns out I wasn’t asleep.
He looked at her. Neither the moonlight nor the morning light could warm his eyes, but she could be seen in his pupils.
"What compensation?"
He asked again.
This time she remained silent, and Rong Ting thought she was just thinking about the thing she wanted most.
"Whatever you want, I'll find it for you."
He carried her on his back and continued to walk forward steadily.
"I want a snowman."
The little girl behind him finally spoke, and Rong Ting stopped.
She thought he didn't hear her, so she said it again in his ear in an exceptionally clear voice, "I want the snowman you make."
She had been looking forward to his return all winter.
Rong Ting gently reminded, "Every year, it's already spring."
In spring, here, how could he find snow immediately?
"I know." She was so sleepy that her words were a bit gibberish, and she couldn't pronounce the word "know" clearly. "I know."
At first she thought he was weak, so weak that he was not even as strong as a little girl like her. He was so handsome, but also sickly and pitiful. His temperament was gloomy and his bad temper made people dare not approach him even if they wanted to help him.
She had never thought of staying entangled with him for too long. At first, she thought she would run away after atonement for her brother's recklessness. Later, when she bumped into him, she wanted to wait until his leg was healed before running away. As time went by, the ties between them became deeper and deeper. When his bad temper changed, she couldn't help wanting to help him even if the things in the dream didn't happen. Unexpectedly, as she helped him, the marriage was settled in a muddle.
She had originally planned to wait until he became successful and the marriage was no longer necessary before leaving, but now she didn't want to do that anymore.
When he came back, she felt relieved.
"So, this time." Even though her mind was groggy, the idea remained unchanged. She closed her eyes, lowered her hand and hooked his finger, and whispered softly into his ear, "You have to stay with me until winter."
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