42 Chapter 42
◎Two chapters in one◎
Huiyin felt that Li Cheng was actually quite young, but he was more responsible than countless other men, just like now he was playing with his son and holding Jing'er all the way.
At first Jing'er was only close to his mother, after all, he spent a lot of time with Huiyin, and now he will also reach out for Li Cheng.
"We will soon arrive at the next place, called Yangping. After passing Yangping, we will be one step closer." Li Cheng said to Huiyin with a smile.
Huiyin took away the county annals and the divination chart and looked at them. She originally couldn't understand the divination charts, but now slowly, if there is something she doesn't understand, she can figure it out by herself and even ask Li Cheng. It has become so clear now.
"Well, Yangping County seems to have a lot of mountains. You can see the terrain here is full of mountains. I think we should rest on the flat ground. Don't stop when you encounter mountains, just pass through quickly. I heard that there are a lot of bandits these days. These people occupy the land and make a living by robbing others." Huiyin said.
Li Cheng nodded: "Don't worry, we brought two thousand soldiers with us, all of them are elite soldiers, and they are very powerful."
Huiyin was still a little worried: "Let's be careful. It's better to be safe than sorry."
Li Cheng agreed, of course. The two of them had a very happy meal at a restaurant in Yangping County. They were not the kind of people who cared about show. Jing'er had egg and meat soup, and the little guy ate very well, but maybe it was because of the strong sun yesterday and the long journey, the child actually had diarrhea.
The accompanying doctor stepped forward and said, "This is diarrhea. If it is not treated early, it will cause dehydration."
Li Cheng said anxiously, "Please help treat him. His mother has brought all the medicines with her."
"Young Prince, in my humble opinion, you should stay here for a few days and wait until the prince is better before setting off. The carriage is stuffy and the floor is hot. If the prince's stomach is heated, his condition may get worse." said the doctor.
Huiyin looked at Li Cheng pleadingly: "Little Prince..."
Li Cheng nodded: "Okay, but we can't live in the inn. I'll find a house and we can live here for a few days." After that, he comforted Huiyin: "It's okay."
It was the first time for them to become parents, and they were always afraid that their child would suffer. Huiyin felt even more guilty because Li Cheng brought such a young child back just to satisfy her homesickness. If anything happened to the child, she would be blamed.
The little fat boy usually has the most strength, but today he has no strength because of diarrhea, which makes his mother heartbroken.
Fortunately, Li Cheng found a house in about half a day. Not only that, he even bought the food. Huiyin was stunned. She walked in and looked around. Even the ground was clean and dust-free. You have to know that this is the north, and the wind and sand are very strong.
"You are so amazing." Huiyin praised sincerely.
It is not easy to do this. It is not enough to have money. You also need to coordinate and coordinate. She whispered to Jing'er: "Your father is really a good father."
Jing'er had diarrhea due to heat, which means he had food accumulation or stomach upset, so the doctor prescribed medicine to clear away heat, strengthen the spleen, and stop diarrhea. However, he was not even one year old yet, and he vomited when he smelled the medicine. The doctor also said a folk remedy of fried flour, and sure enough, Jing'er's diarrhea stopped after taking this folk remedy, but Li Cheng and Huiyin still decided to stay here for two more days before leaving.
"It will be fine once we get to Jizhou. Jizhou is much cooler and I will feel at ease leaving the child at home then." Huiyin touched her son's head and always felt sorry for him.
Li Cheng's mother, Princess Wu, was a woman with a quick temper. She would often fly into a rage over trivial matters, causing him to grow up in an anxious environment. He would easily pass the buck and shift the responsibility to others when something went wrong. If it were his mother who encountered the problem now, she would definitely blame everyone and have a huge quarrel.
But Huiyin is not like that at all, she just feels a little self-reproachful and actively tries to find a solution and cooperate with herself.
"You are so nice." Li Cheng couldn't help but smile.
Huiyin was puzzled: "You are the best. In such a short time, you have found a house and a family. To be honest, you don't look like someone who can live a normal life, but you are quite good at it. I have found a treasure."
Li Cheng looked at Huiyin and said, "Are we a couple living a life where you praise me and I praise you every day?"
"People should look at the strengths of others. What kind of person is he if he keeps focusing on their faults? Besides, neither of us is too worldly. You scheme against me and I scheme against you. It may work for a while, but over time, the couple will become estranged. Our own family is not even in order, so how can we care about things outside?" Huiyin thought at the time that if Li Cheng was a bad guy, then after she became pregnant, her son would be able to inherit the throne, so who cares about him.
But, unexpectedly, he was a nice guy, so Huiyin dared to talk to him a lot.
After coming out, the couple stayed together every day. Now seeing that the child had finally fallen asleep, Huiyin was taking a nap on the couch, and Li Cheng was reading a book beside her. He seldom took a nap, and seeing Huiyin fall asleep with a rosy face, he smiled.
Three days later, the couple set off with their child, this time heading for Pingyang County. As they decided not to rest on the way, they did not dare to give the child minced meat this time, and they were also afraid that fruit puree would upset his stomach, so he could only eat rice porridge.
In addition, there were two wet nurses feeding the child, so the child did not have any major health problems.
Unfortunately, it started raining when we were halfway into Pingyang County.
Li Cheng found a teahouse to take shelter from the rain. Huiyin came down carrying the child, still wearing a raincoat. Li Cheng held an umbrella over her all the way, so not even her hair got wet.
The shopkeeper brought hot tea over, and the aroma of tea filled the air. Li Cheng said to Huiyin, "Don't worry, I had someone brew this tea over me. I used the Yuquan water from the house."
"Yeah." Huiyin stopped hesitating.
This is also why Li Cheng was good at summarizing the previous experience of eating egg and meat soup, which was not clean and caused his son to have diarrhea. This cannot be done now.
It was perfect to have a snack with the aroma of tea, but Jing'er was greedy and wanted to grab some with her hands, but luckily Huiyin grabbed it away. Li Cheng just smiled when he saw this, and then looked over, he saw a woman with a big belly and ragged clothes staggering in the rain, as if she wanted to go to the teahouse.
There were waiters and soldiers who were about to go over to stop them. Li Cheng always felt that it was a bit strange that a pregnant woman appeared in a deserted teahouse. He always felt that it was a bit weird and wanted to chase her away, but he was afraid that his wife would say that he was cruel.
Huiyin was of course thinking the same thing. She thought that King Chu Sheng of Chu was a great king who was full of ambition, but was killed by thieves. One must always be on guard against others.
Probably, she will never be able to have that kind of empathy.
The couple looked at each other, and Huiyin said, "There are few people here, but a pregnant woman suddenly appeared. As the saying goes, there must be something wrong when things are out of the ordinary. We still can't let this person get close to us."
Li Cheng breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought so too."
It was said that the pregnant woman had escaped after being beaten by her husband. Huiyin said to Nan's mother, "Give her some food and money. You don't have to give them. Let the soldiers give them."
She knew that Nan's mother was soft-hearted, but now was not the time to be soft-hearted.
Tea Doctor went forward to pour tea, and said with pity: "The woman was from Xiagou Village. She originally sold wine here and saved a lot of furniture to go home and get married. Her husband treated her well at first because she had money. Later, after her money was all spent, her husband beat and scolded her. No wonder she was kicked out even though she was pregnant."
"Since she is so pitiful, I gave her twenty kan, which is enough for her to live for a year. People have to stand on their own feet. When she has a baby, the owner of the teahouse can hire her." Huiyin did not drink the tea poured by the tea master.
As soon as the rain stopped, Huiyin urged Li Cheng: "The rain in the north is short-lived, so let's get over it quickly."
They left as soon as they said they would. After all, those who followed Li Cheng were all soldiers who had been to war, and those around Huiyin were not idle either, so they were all very efficient.
Unexpectedly, when they were far away, the kind-looking tea doctor threw away the toothpick he was using to pick his teeth and said to the pregnant woman, "Phoenix, your trick doesn't work."
The pregnant woman who had a miserable face just now was now slamming the table fiercely: "I waited so long for a big fish, but I didn't expect them to be fooled at all. The people following that man are almost all tough guys."
Dr. Tea took a look at his tea. They didn't use their own utensils to make tea. He finally squeezed forward and poured a glass of water, but the woman didn't drink it.
The woman named Fenghuang said, "But don't worry. They brought a lot of things. Even the white jade hairpin on that woman's head is huge and has a great origin."
Dr. Tea quickly put down his crossed legs and said, "We can't let such a big fish go. I'll send a message to my brothers to set up roadblocks and rob them directly. If we make this deal, it will be enough for us to eat for several years."
…
Huiyin asked someone to wipe off the water stains on the outside of the carriage. Fortunately, the sky cleared up after the rain.
Li Cheng was riding outside when he suddenly knocked on the car door. Huiyin opened the curtain and asked, "What's the matter?"
"We have entered the mountains now. I always feel that something is wrong here. Huiyin, don't panic. You and the child just stay here. I will take care of everything, okay?" Li Cheng said.
Huiyin certainly wouldn't cause any more trouble. She didn't know how to fight, so why would she go out and cause any more trouble? But she also had a trick up her sleeve, so she quickly said, "Wait, I have something for you."
Li Cheng asked in confusion: "What do you have for me?"
Is it a talisman?
But Huiyin took out the white jade head from her hairpin, and took out something wrapped in red paper from it. She said, "This is a deadly poison, colorless and tasteless. If the opponent is difficult to deal with, just press it into his mouth."
"Is this poison?" Li Cheng was shocked, remembering that it was a good thing he had never offended Huiyin, otherwise he would not know how he died.
Huiyin pouted: "What's wrong?"
要發火了，他趕緊溜了。
她們在馬車裏，南媽媽擔驚受怕的，徽音卻笑道：“沒事兒的，我們要相信小王爺啊。”
不過，她警告馬車上的乳母和仆婦：“咱們千萬別跑下去，別添亂。”
果然如李澄所料，前方有人設埋伏，李澄對這幫土匪也并不輕敵，那些土匪先是準備在山間扔石頭下來，卻沒想到埋伏之地反而被射箭擊斃，李澄見前方有人想沖上來，他們是用繩子故意想絆倒馬，可李澄在馬上用長槍一挑，倒是把幾個人直接撇在地上了。
外面戰聲赫赫，南媽媽吓的不行，徽音倒是很鎮定，把兒子的耳朵捂住，璟兒還以為他娘和他鬧着玩兒，手伸出來還要摸徽音的臉。
也許是孩子的輕笑，讓馬車裏緊張的情緒減緩了許多。
不到一個時辰，就見李澄過來了，他依舊敲了敲車門，徽音迅速拉開，露出頭來。李澄沒想到她這麽快就出來，小聲道：“人解決了，我們走吧。”
“有沒有受傷的将士？”徽音問起。
李澄搖頭：“這些人就是一幫土匪流寇，不必多糾纏，我們趕路要緊。”
徽音看着他道：“等會兒你先安撫好士兵，我們再說話。”
李澄最愛和徽音說話了，也最愛聽她說話，他忍不住點頭。
可能因為李澄提前寫信到了冀州，所以，剛到青州和冀州的交界處，就見一青年男子等在此處，李澄心下一動。
那年輕男子生的器宇軒昂，高大威猛，目光炯炯有神，看着自己的目光就帶了一絲親切之意。
“請問是徐州淮陰王嗎？”那男子問起。
李澄抱拳：“某是。”
“哥哥，夫君，那是我哥哥。”徽音聽到哥哥的聲音，趕緊下了馬車。
裴朔見到妹妹，又看了李澄一眼，連忙請安：“建威中郎将裴朔給小王爺請安。”
李澄連忙下馬親自扶起他：“都是一家人，何必論身份，我就叫你一聲哥哥，我字允執，不知哥哥臺甫？”
裴朔見李澄果然如弟弟鄭無恒所說，為人極好，心中如喝了一碗蜜水似的，關鍵是他是個有情有義的漢子，對妹妹這般好。妹妹寫信過來說他要帶她回來省親，為了這一趟如何辛苦，如何擠出時間來，他就對這位妹夫已經是很有好感了，再看他待自己這樣親近，裴朔歡喜的很。
“我表字元圃，王爺叫我元圃就好。”裴朔笑道。
二人寒暄了幾句，裴朔見着妹妹倒是不客氣：“你說你，哪裏有大家閨秀的樣子，還從車上跑下來，也不怕王爺笑話？”
“哥哥，我是聽到你的聲音就趕緊下馬車來了。”徽音覺得到了冀州，她整個人就活過來了。
“妹妹，你們一路過來可順利？我原本想的是去青州接你們呢，何、呂兩家總得給父親面子不是，沒想到你們這麽快就過來了。”
“哥哥，你一口氣問了這麽多，我都不知道回答什麽好了。等我們回家了，慢慢的說給你聽吧。”
在一旁的李澄看着她兄妹二人說話親熱，還很是羨慕，畢竟他是家中獨子，當年母親為了讓自己多一些朋友，把殷家姐妹還有不少同齡的孩子接進府來做他的伴讀。
從此處到冀州，軍士們就不用喬裝打扮了，大家都恢複原本裝束。
她們在到家前一日，還被安排在驿館梳洗打扮，李澄進來時，見徽音剛穿好寝衣，坐在梳妝臺前打扮，情不自禁的被吸引過來，俯身在她肩上，“馬上要到家了？是不是很歡喜？”
“那是自然，我們女子那麽遠出嫁，親人們總見不上，這次若非是你要帶我回來，我恐怕很難和我父母兄弟再見面了。”徽音用臉摩挲他的臉頰，不自覺的就親近了幾分，聲音也放柔了許多：“以前不知道自己能不能回娘家，所以我們家裏的事情沒和你說，現下我也該和你說說，以免你到時候不知曉我們家的關系。”
李澄其實對鄭放這家人也有所了解，甚至在沒和徽音結親之前，還吐槽過，但是現在徽音這般和他說，他亦覺得妻子對他沒有任何隐瞞，欣然道：“那你說吧。”
徽音站起來道：“我父親起于微末之中，祖父早亡，由寡母徐氏一手撫養長大，原本是甘南太守陸霁底下的一個校尉，後來履立戰功，很受陸霁信任，我父親也得以封賞，官職還頗高，那時便先娶了東海徐氏的女兒為親，也算是我祖母的娘家侄女。後來陸霁反叛，父親殺了陸霁之後，反被陸霁部下追殺，那時候就到了高陽，我母親正在招婿，我的外祖當年是高陽守将，徐氏夫人便故意讓我父親以迎娶我母親的名義保存自己，還自請下堂，沒想到我爹娘在一起之後木已成舟。所以，我家中除了你看到的我哥哥和我弟弟，那位嫁給東宮的大姐姐與我是不同母的，是下堂的徐氏所出。”
“哦，原來如此。”李澄作傾聽狀。
又聽徽音笑道：“我哥哥裴朔，是我母親和第一任丈夫河東裴野所出，我母親和那位裴伯父感情甚篤，二人早有盟約，不會納妾。裴伯父有一次遇到危險，我母親大着肚子為了救他，甚至孩子沒了，還被大夫說成一輩子都無法生育，就是沒想到裴伯父在外置外室，被我母親發現就帶着哥哥和離了。就在前些年，裴伯父過世，要把所有家業給我母親和哥哥，裴家那些庶子和族老都不幹，是我母親帶着父親一起幫哥哥把家業拿了回來，現如今我哥哥在我父親麾下做事，但母親怕他不自在，又為他親自置辦了宅院，把産業分給了他。”
李澄沒想到紀氏居然如此決絕，倒是個至情至性的女子，不像徐家人說她是個水性楊花的女人。
聽徽音道：“母親嫁給我父親之後，我祖母和徐氏都非常敵視她，畢竟徐氏覺得我爹娶我娘，只是想虛晃一招，沒想到弄假成真了，認為我娘沒臉沒皮。還好，母親生了我和弟弟，後來徹底站穩了腳跟。我們家分為兩派，我祖母和大姐姐是一派，我母親和我還有我哥哥弟弟是一派。所以，如果我祖母在你面前說了我什麽，你就包容些，別生氣，你知道我是什麽樣的人就好啦。”
她是先提個醒，因為祖母徐太夫人若是看到李澄對她太好，就怕她看着不舒服，說一些什麽。你自家祖母說自家孫女的話，誰會覺得是假的呢？
李澄聽出些許意味不明的事情來了，就比如為何在太子南下打仗的時候，鄭家完全沒有幫忙，恐怕其中也有家族糾葛在，徽音的兄弟都在軍中，她們和徐氏母女關系不睦，怎麽可能幫東宮？
這樣的事情李澄倒是不知，又想起此時徽音的叮囑，恐怕也是怕徐太夫人說什麽閑話，他神情一霁：“放心吧，無論她說些什麽，我都不會當真的。”
徽音往他懷裏依偎着：“以前咱們夫妻聚少離多，可你在婆家總護着我，現在在我娘家，你要記得，誰欺負你了，你就找我幫你出氣，這可是我的地盤。”
若是以前李澄的性子，必定是拽上天了，根本不可能讓女子保護自己，現在聽到這些話卻是甜蜜的不行，他摟着徽音，認真道：“我現在是上門女婿咯，所以你一定要保護我呀！”
他這般，倒是讓徽音有些不自在了，這個人平日說話擲地有聲的，很少這樣語帶纏綿之意。
她悄悄的撓他癢癢，因為知道他怕癢，李澄則鉗制她的雙手二人胡天胡地的鬧了一場。
卻不知道鄭家也鬧開了鍋，徐太夫人每次見德音一次，見她愈發消瘦，都想讓鄭放把女兒接回來養病，但鄭放和紀氏都不同意。鄭放的意思就是，除非太子陪着她回來，否則德音又不是正室，怎麽可以随意回家？徐太夫人聽了當然是心中郁悶的緊。
德音無法回來，徽音卻回家省親，紀氏那叫一個興高采烈，把兒媳婦辛氏帶着正布置着新院落：“果然，我們徽音是有福氣的，看看這次王爺都親自陪我們家女兒回來了。也不知道這裏安排的妥不妥當，我真擔心姑爺不喜歡。”
辛氏心中有些發酸，畢竟婆婆對自家都沒這麽好過，但想起姑爺是淮陰王，一切的不平也都煙消雲散了，還主動道：“娘，我看這扇屏風太過厚重，顯得卧房太暗障了，不如換一扇顏色清淺些的。”
紀氏一拍巴掌：“還真是，看來你們年輕人的眼光好啊，我那裏有一扇黃花梨繡蘭草的，黃花梨的顏色比紫檀的淺一些。”
婆媳二人又說了幾句，聽聞徐太夫人喊她，紀氏讓兒媳婦先回去，她自去了婆婆那裏。
In fact, Ji knew very well that the reason why Madam Xu asked her to go over was simply because she was angry and couldn't stand the fact that Huiyin and her husband were about to come back, so she always took it out on her family members, and she, as the daughter-in-law, was the biggest scapegoat.
As expected, as soon as she entered the room, Madam Xu scolded her, "Don't you feel bad that Deyin is not your daughter? The palace is not safe now, so what if you bring her back? After all, you have watched her grow up."