226, hit
226, hit
It was still snowing, and snowflakes were falling.
At this time, Zhao Lang was standing alone by the window on the third floor of the restaurant, spinning an empty wine glass in his hand. He had already drunk all the wine in the glass.
He lowered his eyes to look down, and saw carriages and horses passing by one after another on the street. There were many people on the street, and it was bustling, very lively, and a bit noisy.
He just didn't know which of the carriages passing by contained the person he was waiting for.
Knowing that today was the day when the Imperial Examination Hall was open, by the time he realized it, he was already upstairs in the restaurant.
Looking at the snowflakes falling outside the window, Zhao Lang reached out and caught one.
It's already mid-February, and it's still snowing in Kyoto, intermittently, for seven or eight days straight. If the weather in Kyoto is this bad, let alone further north, where the snow and wind are bound to be even stronger than here.
There was another snow disaster in the north this year, and the snow disaster among the Hu people was more serious than that in the Central Plains.
Therefore, before the cold winter was over, the Hu people came to attack again. Those Hu people were like a group of vicious wolves, and they would not stop until they had bitten a piece of meat off their bodies.
In this battle, either you die or I die.
Years ago, Zhao Lang received a New Year gift from his mother, which included two letters from his mother and his younger brother. In the letter, his younger brother asked him how he was doing and told him what he was reading and what martial arts he had learned, with a tone of intimacy towards his brother.
His feelings towards this younger brother have changed from complicated to indifferent.
Compared to his half-brothers and sisters, this biological brother has the same mother as him and is naturally closer in blood.
His mother's letter to him mentioned some of the events of the previous year in the North, as well as the situation within the palace. It also mentioned that his half-brother, Zhao Rui, now held a high position in the army, becoming his father's right-hand man and commanding great prestige within the ranks.
Zhao Lang was not too surprised by this. His father had always liked this illegitimate son and had personally taught him before he was born. In the second year after he was sent to Kyoto Prefecture, Zhao Rui had already followed their father to the military camp.
Now, after more than ten years, Zhao Rui must have built up his own power in the military, so it is not surprising that he has supporters.
If he were in Beijun, Zhao Rui would never have been able to surpass him, the Crown Prince. Unfortunately, he had been away from Beijun for many years and had been detained in Jingdu Prefecture. He had not returned to Beijun in over ten years. Now, the soldiers in the army probably only knew Zhao Rui and had no idea who the Crown Prince of Ding Palace was.
Last year, he had sent a letter to his father, but hadn't received any response. Zhao Lang didn't know if the letter had reached his father or someone else. He was afraid the latter was more likely.
Fortunately, he had been careful not to put the crossbow blueprints in the bag and had them sent to Beijun. Otherwise, who knows who would have ended up with the blueprints.
Originally, he had thought that if his father sent someone to deliver a reply, he would have his father's messenger deliver the blueprints to Beijun. But now, he had to think about this issue carefully.
Because he knew that once he asked someone to send the blueprints of the crossbow to Beijun, he would end up making wedding clothes for others, and who knows, these weapons might become weapons against him in the end.
I stood upstairs for a long time until there were fewer cars and pedestrians passing by on the street.
"You have probably returned home and reunited with your family?" Zhao Lang withdrew his gaze from the window, turned back into the house, sat down on the stool in front of the table, put the cup in his hand on the table, picked up the wine jug and poured himself another glass of wine.
The table was filled with dishes, but unfortunately, the companion was missing, as he wasn't particularly interested in the food.
***
Lu Mingfei had already returned home. After having dinner with his family, he didn't need to be told to leave. His father and mother drove him into a carriage and sent him back to the courtyard in Chunxi Road to wash and sleep.
After returning here, Guard Ma carried a large bathtub into his room and put it down. Then, he and Zhang Qi carried several buckets of water and poured them into the bathtub.
After pouring the water into the tub, Zhang Qi kindly asked their eldest brother, "Brother, how about I stay here and rub your back?"
"No need. You two go out, I'll take a shower by myself." Lu Mingfei was really not used to having someone waiting on him while he took a shower. He waved his hand and asked Zhang Qi to go out quickly.
Hearing this, Zhang Qi showed a little disappointment on his face. Before leaving, he reminded him worriedly: "Then don't soak in the water for too long, or you will fall asleep in the water."
"I understand. I'm not a three-year-old child. I don't need you to tell me these things. You're becoming more and more verbose at such a young age." Lu Mingfei said with a look of disgust.
Zhang Qi didn't feel that he was being disliked and was still smiling.
At this time, Guard Ma brought in two more buckets of hot water and placed them next to the bathtub. He said to the people standing in the room, "Sir, I brought a few buckets of hot water and placed them here. If you feel the water is cold later, pour these hot water into the buckets."
"Okay, you guys go out. I'll put the bathtub away tomorrow. If you have nothing to do, go and have a rest. I don't need you two to follow me here." Lu Mingfei waved his hand, signaling the two to go out and not disturb him while he was taking a bath.
When Zhang Qi left, he did not forget to take Ma Ge with him, and when he went out, he did not forget to close the door of the house.
After hearing the door close, Lu Mingfei looked at the bucket of hot water and a smile appeared on his face. "Oh, that's great! I can finally take a hot bath!"
God knows he had been in the Imperial Examination Hall for nine days and eight nights. Even in such a cold weather, he always felt that he had a bad smell on his body. Especially every time he went to the toilet and came back, he always felt that his body was stained with the smell of the toilet...
You know, a large group of people were locked up in one place for nine days and eight nights, and they had to eat, drink, defecate and urinate in that small place... Well, thinking back on it now, he felt so disgusted.
"I can't think about it." Lu Mingfei shook off the images that shouldn't have appeared in his mind. "Anyway, I definitely don't want to go to that place called the Imperial Examination Hall for the third time!"
"The most pitiful ones are the ones who live next to the toilet. It seems that sometimes luck is also a part of success in life!"
In the last few days of the exam, those few bad rooms were completely empty. Needless to say, the people inside had left early without finishing the exam. If you didn't make it to the end, you would definitely not finish the exam and miss the imperial examination.
After so many years of preparation and hard work, only to miss out on a place on the list because of a bad number is a very frustrating and unacceptable thing to think about. Therefore, in addition to testing a person's true talent and knowledge, luck also plays a large role in the imperial examination.
Just like this time, if he had drawn a bad number in the examination room, he would most likely have given up the exam.
While thinking about these things in his mind, Lu Mingfei started to take off his clothes.
After taking off the clothes, he did not leave them in the room, but threw them directly outside the room.
After stripping himself completely naked, he took out the towel from the bucket and wiped his face.
After wiping his face, he did not go into the tub to bathe first, but took a ladle and scooped water to wash his hair. The water for washing his hair was collected in an empty bucket.
Otherwise the house will get wet and it will be very troublesome to deal with.
If the space here wasn't so small, he would have asked the craftsmen to build a separate bathroom in the bedroom. If it was built according to bathroom standards, the drainage system would be installed inside the bathroom, so he wouldn't have to worry about drainage when taking a shower or washing his hair in the room.
However, the place here is too small, and since there is already a bathroom outside, there is no need to build another one in the bedroom.
But now that the weather is so cold, it would be very cold to take a shower in the bathroom outside. He dared to take off all his clothes and wash his hair in the house because there was a fireplace in the house. The fire in the fireplace was burning very brightly, so it was not too cold to take a shower in the house.
After washing his hair twice, he tied up his hair, picked up the hot water beside him, poured two buckets of water into the bathtub, and then he sat in the bathtub to take a bath.
"Mmm, so comfortable!" Lu Mingfei sighed in comfort as he soaked himself in the tub. He picked up the bath towel and wiped his body, muttering to himself, "It's still good to be at home!"
"Wash, wash, wash, wash..."
After wiping himself all over, he leaned his head against the wall of the bathtub, closed his eyes, and prepared to soak for a while before getting up again.
It was just that soaking in the tub was so comfortable, and he was so tired that he fell asleep not long after closing his eyes. So he didn't hear the knock on the door.
The person outside didn't hear the person inside respond to him, so he pushed the door open and came in.
When Zhao Lang pushed the door open, the first thing he saw was the large bathtub in the room. The second thing he saw was the person sitting in the tub, asleep with his eyes closed. He gently closed the door behind him.
After hesitating for a moment, he still walked in. Finally, he stopped and stood next to the bathtub, looking at the person soaking in the water.
His gaze lingered on the boy's collarbone for only a moment before moving upwards to his face.
A boy of seventeen or eighteen, in the prime of his youth, had long lost his youthful, childish features, but his nose and eyes seemed unchanged from his childhood. Now, with his eyes closed, the boy, asleep, lacked the cleverness and cunning of his waking state, and instead had a more obedient look.
He stood there quietly, his unbridled gaze moving down the boy's face inch by inch, from his tall nose to his pink lips.
I just wonder what these pink lips taste like? Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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