47 Chapter 47
◎Sudden throbbing.◎
Walking out of the city gate, the surroundings became more open. Although there were fewer pedestrians, there were still many people setting up stalls and selling things.
The girl had been walking for two quarters of an hour. Wei Che was afraid she would get tired, so he handed her the reins and asked, "Do you want to ride a horse?"
Xu Qinghe glanced at his maroon horse and was indeed a little moved. After thinking about it, he took the reins.
She was wearing a light, light blue dress today. It was not complicated and made it convenient for her to get on and off the horse.
Xu Qinghe stepped on the stirrups and jumped onto the horse. He sat firmly on the saddle, and the view from horseback was wider than before.
She could see the rolling hills and dense forests in the distance, and closer still, she could vaguely make out the shimmering stream and the town looming in the dust.
Wei Che: "There's a town called Migu about ten miles to the south. All the disaster victims from Yuzhou were accommodated there."
Xu Qinghe looked down at him: "You want me to go first?"
"Of course, I brought a horse today." Wei Che raised his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes suddenly looked meaningful: "Or... the princess wants to ride with me?"
Half a year ago, when they returned to Beijing from the cliff after a life-and-death experience, they did ride back on the same horse.
But in Xu Qinghe's eyes, Wei Che at that time was still a dull and reclusive master who was unwilling to reveal his identity, not the slick-talking guy he is now.
She said no more to him, tightened the reins and left.
It was a beautiful day today. The sky was azure with only a few white clouds floating in between. Flowers and plants on both sides of the road were blooming luxuriantly. The April wind had already brought warmth, and the fragrance of flowers and plants blew towards us.
Xu Qinghe galloped in such a scenery, her horse running vigorously and her black hair flying behind her. Her mind became extremely open, as if she had returned to the southern border of her childhood and became the carefree and loved little princess again.
“Ouch—”
She didn't know how long she had been flying like this. It seemed like in the blink of an eye, she had arrived at the Migu Town that Wei Che mentioned.
Xu Qinghe had just dismounted when he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him.
It was actually Wei Che.
After she rode away on horseback, Wei Che had the carriage unloaded and rode the horse that was pulling the carriage all the way to catch up with her, leaving the carriage and the rest of the people at the city gate.
When he reached her, Wei Che supported himself on the horse's back with his hands and landed lightly on the ground.
The small town near Kyoto, although not as prosperous as the city, is still bustling, and the sounds of hawking and chatting can still be heard everywhere.
The two walked into the town side by side. Wei Che had obviously been here many times and took her directly to an inn as if he was familiar with the place.
There were a total of 15 disaster victims from Yuzhou on this trip, most of whom were the only young and middle-aged people left in their families. They traveled through mountains and rivers from Yuzhou to Kyoto just to seek justice for their deceased relatives and to let Cen Chuan, who cut corners and enriched himself, receive the punishment he deserved.
Wei Che persuaded him to stay outside the city in the name of the Fuguo Mansion and placed him in the inn in Migu Town.
"The results of the imperial examination were announced a few days ago, and Wei Ming won the first place." As he spoke, he lowered his head to steal a glance at Xu Qinghe's expression.
The latter just nodded without much reaction, but seemed to be thinking about something.
Wei Che then tentatively spoke: "I heard that the Wei family is looking for a marriage for him."
Xu Qinghe nodded again. She clenched the reins in her hands and tapped them with her fingertips.
After all, they were almost married, so her reaction was a bit strange. Wei Che coughed heavily and said, "I heard that she is Cen Liangping's daughter, the third Miss Cen."
Xu Qinghe finally stopped and looked up at Wei Che. His expression changed slightly. "Are you talking about Miss Cen San, Cen Mengxia?"
He felt strange when she didn't respond, but now that she finally responded as he wished, Wei Che felt very uncomfortable.
She really still cares.
His face fell, and without waiting for her, he walked forward on his own: "Yes, Wei Ming is going to marry Miss Cen San, and the young wife of the Wei family will become someone else. I wonder what the princess thinks?"
He walked a dozen steps alone, but the people behind him still hadn't caught up with him, so he couldn't help but look back.
Xu Qinghe was still standing there, running his hand through the horse's hair, staring at a point somewhere in the void in a trance.
She even ignored the beast when it rubbed its head against her.
Wei Che walked over with a sullen face and patted the red horse on the head lightly as a punishment.
He had never been so close to someone before.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qinghe suddenly looked up at him, and Hongma, whose temper was aroused, kept rubbing between the two of them. Wei Che pushed him away in annoyance.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Xu Qinghe: "The Queen Mother Wei agreed to let Wei Ming marry me, partly because Wei Ming liked me, and partly because she wanted to use my name to win over the old members of the Southern Border Army, right?"
Wei Che nodded: "Exactly."
Xu Qinghe understood: "But now she has failed, so in order to strengthen her power, she agreed to marry into the Cen family. If she helps the Cen family to deal with the Cen Chuan incident, Cen Liangping will truly become a force under her command, and she will be able to take over the entire Ministry of Industry."
Wei Che: "That's right. After the Imperial Examination, there's the Palace Examination. However, the Cen Chuan incident has been suppressed for too long. Cen Liangping is afraid of causing trouble again, so he requested an early marriage. And Queen Mother Wei, for the sake of face, might actually force her precious nephew's marriage to take place before you and me."
He lowered his eyes and looked at the girl.
I thought she was just reminiscing about the past or feeling sorry for herself, regretting that she couldn't marry Wei Ming, but I didn't expect that she was actually thinking about these things.
But he still felt uneasy, so he bent down to look into the girl's eyes, forced a smile and asked, "Were you really thinking about this just now?"
"What else?" Xu Qinghe blinked, feeling confused, but he figured it out in an instant. He probably thought that he was caring about Wei Ming again.
"I..." She opened her mouth to explain, but suddenly thought of something and quickly fell silent.
"What?" Wei Che quickly leaned over and asked.
He intuitively felt that Xu Qinghe wanted to say something he wanted to hear, and was waiting excitedly, but unexpectedly she remained silent.
Xu Qinghe straightened his expression, but stopped talking about what he had originally wanted to say. Instead, he said, "Cen Chuan, carrying a life debt, turned to the Wei family, which just gave Your Majesty a handle. Now we just need to comfort the victims and wait for the right time to make this matter public."
This will not only bring justice to the people of Yuzhou, but also weaken the power of the Wei family.
For Xu Qinghe, the Wei family brought her endless suffocation and despair, so she naturally didn't want to see them gain power. On the contrary, the more miserable they were, the more relieved she felt.
Even Wei Ming, who had insisted on asking Queen Mother Wei for permission to marry him, was no longer the upright and polite nobleman she had once believed him to be.
Speaking of the arranged marriage, Xu Qinghe suddenly thought of that night. She asked, "Why were you brought to the Bamboo Garden with Empress Chen during the celebration banquet?"
Concubine Chen knew nothing about this, but Wei Che would never do so.
Wei Che naturally would not hide anything from her, so he told her that the maid Lingyin had led him away in the name of Xu Qinghe.
"I always thought Lingyin was Concubine Zhao's confidant, but now it seems there is another hidden story." He added at the end.
Xu Qinghe understood that someone had deliberately framed Concubine Zhao, the person who passed the message was her confidant, and in the end it was Concubine Chen, whom she had always been jealous of, who fell out of favor.
"But she is your aunt after all. How could she do something that would damage the reputation of the Prince of Fuguo Mansion?"
The mastermind behind this shouldn't have failed to think of this.
Wei Che glanced at her, opened his mouth, and then changed his tone: "I don't know either."
He coughed and asked something else: "But why were you there that night?"
Xu Qinghe did not notice anything unusual about him and only told him what Queen Wei had said.
A queen who was in poor health and even ignored the affairs of the harem, first accidentally discovered their secret meeting but kept it secret, and then deliberately led Xu Qinghe to the Bamboo Garden to prevent the scandal that was about to happen.
What exactly does this sickly queen of the Wei family want to do?
Wei Che's expression gradually grew serious. "This queen is probably not a simple person. You should be more careful and avoid her if possible."
Now he just hopes that the time will pass quickly. The longer this girl stays in the palace, the more uneasy he will feel.
As he said this, they had already arrived at the inn. He took Xu Qinghe to meet the fifteen disaster victims who had come to beg for mercy.
He had indeed found out the origins of these victims, but just in case, he did not mention the inside story to them. He only reassured them that His Majesty had learned about the matter and would definitely take care of the people.
At the same time, they were also informed that the court had secretly sent people back to Yuzhou to deal with the matter, so that they could stay in the town with peace of mind first, and their family members, young and old, were already being taken care of by the local authorities.
The fifteen disaster victims now live here with good food and drink, and have received news about their wives and children at home, so they naturally feel at ease.
After all this busy work, it was already past lunch time. Wei Che hesitated whether to eat right here.
This was already the top inn in the town, but the girl had been fond of cleanliness since she was young. Most of the time she only ate food in the palace, and only occasionally followed him out to eat meals and pastries.
He was still afraid that she would not be able to adapt.
"My Lady, do you wish to dine here, or return to the capital, or to the palace?"
Xu Qinghe looked around the inn. The first floor was where everyone had their meals. The air was filled with the rich aroma of fresh and fragrant food. Most people sat around the tables in groups of three or four, and it was very lively.
"What do you think, Prince?"
Wei Che knew that she wanted to be here.
It was just such a small matter, but after getting the answer, he actually felt relieved and smiled as if he had finally gotten what he wanted: "Then why not just stay here."
Wei Che chose a clean table by the window. He asked the waiter to come over and announce the dishes, while he took out a towel to wipe the table top, wiped the bench on her side, and even asked for hot water to scald the dishes.
The waiter looked at the two men's attire and knew that they were either rich or noble, but he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart that rich people were just too particular.
Xu Qinghe watched him busying himself with his head down.
Although there was a smile in his eyes, his expression was rarely serious. Every move he made was delicate and gentle, just like the young major general who would urge her to go out for food, drinks and fun in his spare time.
She couldn't help but feel a slight movement in her heart, but quickly shifted her gaze to the window to suppress the sudden throbbing.
Too often.
In just half a day, she thought of him as Xie Qi too often.
"What would you like to eat, Princess?" Wei Che finally packed up everything, and his voice brought Xu Qinghe back to his senses.
Xu Qinghe lowered his eyes, still facing the window: "Some home-cooked dishes will be enough."
Wei Che had been here several times in the past few days and knew the taste of the food in the restaurant, so he told the waiter a few dishes.
After a pause, he added: "The chili peppers should be heavier, and there can't be any peanuts."
He remembered that she liked spicy food, and had liked it since she was a child.
Xu Qinghe's gaze, which was looking out the window, paused slightly. After the waiter left, she looked at Wei Che, met his smiling eyes, and suddenly remembered an old story.
"...Has Prince Wei ever been to the Southern Territory?"
She asked.
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