On the twenty-fourth day of the third month in the thirteenth year of Tiancheng Lingwei, at the end of spring and the beginning of summer, the emperor took with him hundreds of his ministers and officials to Yu'an to carry out the spring search.
Search, search and hunting. It is not only the emperor's enjoyment of hunting and archery, but also a way to review the carriages and horses, and to train the troops and select the generals.
In previous years, the Spring Hunt was essentially a reward from the Emperor to his civil and military officials for their hard work throughout the year, and families were welcome to attend. However, ever since the incident with the Xiao family that year, many people have become wary of going. These days, few are willing to bring their families along for the Spring Hunt.
The rest are what you have to go.
In addition to Xiao Nanhui, Xiao Zhun is naturally also on the list for the spring hunting trip.
How would he feel upon learning he was about to return to this nightmare? Would he ever consider uncovering the bloody truth of his past? Or had he, after years of pain and suffering, seen through everything and simply wanted to lick his wounds and live out the rest of his life in solitude?
Xiao Nanhui will never know all of this.
It had been a long time since she had seen Xiao Zhun return home for dinner. He often stayed at the Subei camp or was on his night patrols. But now that the war had subsided, night patrols were not part of the general's duties.
In the past, the Xiao Mansion had a sparse population but a warm atmosphere. But now, the Xiao Mansion has truly given rise to a sense of desolation.
Every night when she went to refill the eternally burning lamp in the corridor, Xiao Nanhui would have a vague feeling that the lonely and empty courtyard she was in was about to run out of oil. Something had been pulled away from it, causing the last bit of light and heat to dissipate in the wind.
She thought she could guess what it was.
Bai Yun was still imprisoned in the deepest part of Jingbo Tower. And imprisoned in that darkness, perhaps, was Xiao Zhun's heart as well.
That heart that she had never been able to get close to and had never seen through.
In the past, she could use Su Bei's badge to enter the camp and see him. But even then, she mostly just stood far away where she could see him, thinking and worrying for a reason to go up and say something.
But now, she is no longer a member of the Subei Camp and no longer makes those high-sounding excuses and positions.
Will there be a day in the future when even her attitude of lighting a lamp for him at night will disappear?
Xiao Nanhui felt that the answer was yes.
This is where the cruelty and irresistibility of the passage of time lies.
Mountains can be leveled, but rivers and seas will produce dust.
The warmth and coldness of human feelings are fleeting, just like the flowing water of a hundred rivers, which cannot be retained.
She had never thought about these things before, always thinking that many of those questions would have no answers. But in the past few months, those answers that she had never pursued began to pop up one after another.
Faced with the people and things she once cared about, she was finally able to feel a little relieved and open-minded.
She had to go to the Spring Hunt anyway, and Yu'an was the place where the incident happened. This trip might give her a legitimate reason to explore something, which might be helpful to what she was investigating now. Why not go there happily?
After figuring it out, Xiao Nanhui immediately asked Dujuan: There are many extra seats on the carriages accompanying the spring hunt, would you like to go out with her for a walk and relax?
Du Juan was born and raised in Quecheng. The places she had most often visited in her life were the West Gate of the Xiao Mansion and the tea shops and cloth stores on Xinglong Street. The farthest she had ever been was the Dacheng Temple outside the West City Gate, but even that was years ago.
But Dujuan hadn't thought about going out and exploring; she naturally loved the hustle and bustle. Xiao Nanhui had always mentioned that one day he would take Dujuan to Jizhou to see the sand there, to see where she was born. Whenever that happened, Dujuan would laugh and scold her for being useless, saying she wanted to see sand instead of the beautiful mountains and rivers. But even as she despised him, she couldn't help but ask: "Is there really that much sand? Are there really camels in the sand?"
Xiao Nanhui felt that Dujuan still wanted to go out and take a look.
Even though Yu'an is not far from Quecheng, it has vast woodlands and grasslands that are not found here.
Dujuan was moved. She had never been away from home before and didn't know what to bring. So she took out all the jackets and coats from the bottom of the box and gestured with a smile on her face for three days and three nights. But on the third day she suddenly changed her mind and said: I won't go after all.
Xiao Nanhui was puzzled, but after seeing Dujuan going in and out of Aunt Dai's yard much more frequently than before, he gradually understood.
In previous years, when the weather got warmer, Aunt Dai could bask in the sun and swing in the yard by herself. But this year, for some reason, she couldn't get out of bed after the Grain Rain, and even two doses of shallow water red-throat beads lost their effect.
Du Juan still looked bold and capable in the face of this. While cursing Yao Yi, the unscrupulous businessman, for giving her fake medicine, she put everything in order.
But occasionally, Du Juan's eyes would reveal a hint of worry. Aunt Dai's health was getting worse day by day. Perhaps she could make it through this spring and summer, but she didn't know if she would live through the next autumn and winter.
If Aunt Dai's illness becomes more serious, she will definitely need someone to take care of her personally. It would be inconvenient for Uncle Chen, a man alone, to do that, but he is also worried about inviting an outsider in.
Dujuan couldn't let go of Aunt Dai, and finally decided to stay at home.
On the day of her departure, Du Juan stuffed another large package into Xiao Nanhui's hands. Inside, as usual, were clothes, food, and even enough medicine and tonics to last her six months. Xiao Nanhui thought the package might contain enough for two people.
But Du Juan didn't know that after the incident at the palace that day, Shrike had never appeared in the palace again, let alone met Xiao Nanhui. Xiao Nanhui thought she might be avoiding Zong Hao.
The spring hunting season was only about half a month away, so it didn't seem to matter much whether the shrike followed or not.
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