Chapter 3423: Longkou Valley Tragedy
Xinping rushed over in two steps, held onto the fence and looked down, and couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow".
They were almost standing in the clouds, looking at the Jinling City in front of them. At this moment, it looked like a huge and exquisite bonsai, with roads crisscrossing and lakes dotted among them like emerald jade. The people inside were as tiny as ants, crawling slowly.
Yongping also followed her and watched, whispering, "Sister, you are so small."
Xin Ping said: "People are small to begin with."
Zhu Feng walked behind them, looking at the Jinling City in front of him, and remained silent.
Nan Yan, however, looked at the newly built Jinling City with a feeling of boundless emotion in her heart. She reached out and stroked the tops of their heads, smiling and saying, "Of course, people are small, but look at that huge Jinling City. Wasn't it also built slowly by such small people?"
Yongping opened his eyes wide in surprise: "Yes!"
Xinping looked up at his mother, then at his father, as if thinking about something.
It was foggy in this place, and soon their hair and clothes were wet. Concubine Yi was worried that the two children would catch a cold, so she took them to a pavilion built on the rocks on the other side to sit down and rest. Nan Yan still accompanied Zhu Feng standing in front of the stone railing.
Zhu Feng's eyes were always looking forward, as if he was looking at the scenery.
But Nan Yan knew from his expression that his mind had already flown somewhere else.
Nan Yan suddenly asked, "Who is the Emperor thinking about?"
Zhu Feng glanced at her and said with a half-smile, "Master doesn't want anyone."
"I don't believe it."
“…”
"Master, it's obvious that he's thinking about someone."
Nan Yan avoided the old scholars who were chatting and laughing around them as they came up to admire the scenery and even recited poems. She glanced at Zhu Feng and said, "Who knows, she might be a vixen from somewhere."
Zhu Feng was so angry at this that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He wanted to reach out and hit her, but after all, it was no match for being in the palace. He endured it for a long while before gritting his teeth and saying, "To me, you look like a vixen!"
Nan Yan chuckled.
The two of them looked at the scenery for a while. There were too many people around, and they were shoulder to shoulder, which made it difficult for Fang Buyuan and the others. After all, they were on a secret tour, so they couldn't make too much noise, but they also couldn't always have people coming up and getting close to the emperor and the imperial concubine. So Zhu Feng took Nan Yan away from the platform and walked towards the pavilion where Concubine Yi and the others were resting.
As they were walking, Nan Yan suddenly heard Zhu Feng whisper, "What if I say I'm thinking about Li Bu Shang?"
“……?”
Nan Yan turned to look at him in surprise.
Zhu Feng said nothing more and just walked forward. When Concubine Yi saw them coming, she immediately stood up to greet them. Zhu Feng walked in and sat down. He looked around and said with a smile, "The scenery here is also nice."
Nan Yan also sat down next to Concubine Yi and said with a smile, "It seems like something is missing."
Zhu Feng glanced at her and said, "Would it be best if I warm up a pot of wine for you and prepare two dishes?"
Nan Yan immediately clapped her hands and laughed, "Master is right."
Concubine Yi covered her mouth and laughed, while Fang Buyuan said, "I will prepare it right away."
Zhu Feng said with a straight face, "That's not necessary."
Nan Yan also waved her hand and said with a smile: "It's just a joke. We're just here to enjoy the scenery. Why are you making such a big fuss? Are you afraid that people won't know who we are?"
Fang Buyuan lowered his head and retreated.
Although they were indeed more relaxed after arriving in Jinling than in Peking, especially Concubine Yi, who had traveled with the emperor for the first time and had seen a different world, a different Zhu Feng, and had become closer to Nan Yan, the two of them huddled together and whispered endless private conversations. Zhu Feng ignored them, only looking at the surrounding scenery. After a while, he muttered to himself, "It must be getting cold in the capital by now."
Concubine Yi immediately laughed and said, "That's right. In a few days, everyone in the palace—everyone will go to collect charcoal and cotton-padded clothes for the winter."
Yongping raised his head and said, "Jinling is not cold."
Concubine Yi smiled and said, "Yes, Nanjing is in the south, so it's not cold, right?"
Nan Yan said, "But it's still cold here in the winter, especially when it rains or snows. It's even colder than when it snows heavily in the capital. Even burning charcoal is useless."
Yongping turned to look at her again: "Mrs. Yan, where is it not cold?"
Everyone became more cautious. Fortunately, there was no one around the pavilion. Concubine Yi immediately reminded her not to shout. Nan Yan smiled and said, "Then we can only go further south. It's not cold there during the winter."
Yongping asked, "Go further south, where is that?"
Zhu Feng suddenly said, "Yue Kingdom."
When he said this, for some reason, the entire pavilion fell silent.
Nan Yan turned to look at him, not knowing what to say for a moment, and Concubine Yi immediately smiled and said, "Isn't it true, concubine—I heard that the weather over there is warm and dry, and it feels like summer all year round."
They were chatting animatedly, but Xinping couldn't sit still at all. She saw a crooked pine tree growing in front of the mountain wall on the other side. She had never seen anything like it before, so she wanted to go over and play. Nanyan couldn't persuade her, so she could only let Mingxin follow her, and two Jinyiwei in casual clothes protected her from a distance. Xinping happily walked out of the pavilion and headed over there.
Under the tree, a few travelers who were dressed simply and looked a little tired were sitting and resting, drinking water and chatting.
A young man asked, "Brother, you don't look like locals."
The travelers said, "We came from Jiangcheng."
The young man said, "I'm afraid it's going to be difficult along the way, isn't it?"
The travelers all smiled wryly and shook their heads. One of the older ones said, "The journey was relatively easy. But when we were almost reaching Jinling, we had a problem and had to take a detour. We almost ran out of food. That was the real culprit."
The young man asked, "What's the matter?"
The older man said, "It's Longkou Valley. We can't leave now. I'm afraid we won't be able to leave in the future."
The young man asked, "Why?"
The elder looked around and confirmed that there was no one else around except a little girl squatting under a tree picking pine nuts and a young monk standing nearby. He felt relieved and said, "I heard that the imperial court was there and killed everyone in the village, not even women and children. The whole valley was dyed red. If they set fire to it—"
The young man turned pale with fear: "Really?"
The older man whispered, "How could it be true? The entire valley is ablaze, and you can hear the cries of those people in the distance."
A traveler next to him lowered his head and whispered, "I've been having nightmares every night these days. I hear those people crying out for justice. So many wronged souls, alas..."
With a snap, the pine cone in Xinping's hand fell.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com