After dealing with that damn General Zuo, Xiao Nanhui lowered the curtain with a stern face, sat back on the cushion, and the carriage started moving slowly again.
After a while, she felt as if someone was looking at her. When she turned around, she found that Zhongli was looking at her indifferently.
Xiao Nanhui curled his lips and said, "What? Just because you found out I'm just a small team leader, you think I'm not worthy of riding in the same car with you?"
Zhongli actually shook his head: "I just didn't know before that you have such a strong opinion about the current emperor."
Xiao Nanhui was stunned for a moment before she realized that he was saying the same things she had inadvertently complained about earlier. She immediately played dumb and said, "What are you talking about? I don't quite understand."
"Captain Xiao just said that, and now you've forgotten it?"
"I'm a person who forgets things easily."
"It's okay. Captain Xiao doesn't remember, but I do. You said the emperor's eyesight wasn't very good."
Xiao Nanhui's face froze, and he gave a forced smile: "Really? You must have heard it wrong."
"You still said..." Zhongli Jing couldn't finish the half sentence in the end, and Xiao Nanhui covered his mouth with his hand.
The woman's palm was not as soft and delicate as a hand. Instead, it was covered with a thin layer of hard calluses, which were rough and a bit prickly.
But the man's lips were softer than they looked, and his warm breath seemed to burn Xiao Nanhui's hand, making her inexplicably recall the scene when he picked fruit from her hand in front of the carriage by the stream.
Xiao Nanhui suddenly retracted his hand.
There was a moment of silence in the carriage. The conversation that was halfway through came to an abrupt end, but no one brought it up again.
The last leg of the journey to Quecheng was spent smoothly and peacefully.
At the last moment before sunset at Xiaoxi Mountain, Xiao Nanhui finally returned to Quecheng before the city gate closed.
This trip to Huozhou lasted less than a month, yet it felt like returning to the capital after a campaign. In the past, when she returned to the city after a month or even a year, her first stop was to visit Yao Yi at Wangchen Tower. Her hair grew quickly, and when she marched without a trim for extended periods, it became difficult to manage. Du Juan would never let her touch her hair, so she always had to go to Yao Yi for help.
This time, she was also going to look for him, but not for the hair, but for the things in the box.
"Thank you, Brother Zhongli, for lending me your carriage and horses. Now that we've returned to the city, let's say goodbye. I believe Brother Zhongli also has important matters to attend to."
Zhongli glanced at Xiao Nanhui and nodded obediently, "Of course. We're still near the city gate, so there's a lot of people around. I'll say goodbye to Brother Yao once we get to Dingyu Road."
Xiao Nanhui thought it was right and nodded in agreement.
The carriage traveled for another cup of tea and slowly stopped.
But for some reason, there seemed to be a lot of noise outside the carriage, not much quieter than near the city gate.
"arrive?"
Ding Weixiang had already opened the car door and signaled Xiao Nanhui that he could get out.
When she jumped off the cart, she discovered that many stalls had been set up around her. Above each stall hung a lantern covered with pink paper. There were crowds of people under the lanterns, mostly girls and women, and the stalls were selling small items like rouge and powder.
"Is today a holiday?"
Ding Weixiang was surprised when he heard someone turn around, then he remembered something and looked at Xiao Nanhui. "It's not really a festival. It's the city's annual Peach Blossom Fair. Merchants set up night markets, and most of the people who come to shop are women. Captain Xiao isn't interested in these things, so I guess he doesn't know about it."
Xiao Nanhui had heard of the Peach Blossom Club, but as Ding Weixiang had said, she was a martial artist who rarely wore makeup, let alone hairpins, so she had never paid attention to such gatherings. Seeing it now, she found it even more lively than she had imagined.
During this distracted time, more and more people gathered around her. She didn't want to run into anyone she knew, so she told Shrike to pack her luggage quickly.
"Xiao Nanhui?"
A sharp and thin female voice exploded behind Xiao Nan when she turned around, like a sharp nail irritating her nerves.
At the same time, the Shrike, like a mouse seeing a cat, pinched Jixiang's belly hard and disappeared like a flash.
What you fear will come true.
She knew who was calling her without turning around.
But relying on the protection of so many people around him, Xiao Nanhui decided to pretend not to hear for the time being and shrank his neck in a wretched manner.
"Xiao Nanhui!"
The voice came closer, this time with some anger and some certainty.
Xiao Nanhui changed her stance and was about to put up another fight, but the man in the carriage in front of her suddenly spoke up: "Huh? That seems to be someone you know."
Xiao Nanhui closed her eyes in despair, only to hear hurried footsteps behind her. The next second, Du Juan's claws pressed on her shoulders and turned her over.
"Xiao Nanhui, how dare you pretend you couldn't hear me calling you?! You still remember to come back? You might as well die out there!"
Du Juan was most afraid of being called old, so she rarely called herself "Lao Niang" unless she was furious.
It was dusk at this time. In addition to people strolling around the street, there were also many passers-by returning home from work. Du Juan's voice attracted everyone's attention on the street. Xiao Nanhui only wished that his face was smaller so that he could use his sleeves to cover it.
"Sister Dujuan, I'm wrong, isn't that enough? Please, don't shout and yell on the street."
Du Juan raised her eyebrows and lowered her voice: "Oh? You know you're wrong? Then what's wrong?"
Xiao Nanhui stammered, "Wrong, wrong..."
Du Juan snorted coldly, inserted the silver hairpin she had just bought into her hair, and used her free hand to quickly twist Xiao Nanhui's ear.
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