Chapter 130 National Mourning

Jiangnan is indeed a great place to go.

After leaving the capital, people were in no hurry to travel. As it was March and the grass was green and the birds were singing, they traveled all the way to Lin'an.

Sui Xun had already found a place to live in Lin'an City. He and his servants unloaded the things on the carriage one by one and moved them to the newly renovated mansion.

Sui Yan slept for three hours last night, and was in a daze for half an hour before he finally recognized people.

He jumped off the carriage yawning, and seeing the mansion in front of him, he sighed and said, "It's really a nice place."

Sui Xun said, "You go in and rest first."

Sui Yan was originally weak, and Sui Xun dared to whip him a few years ago, but he doesn’t dare to do that anymore. He doesn’t even let him do any heavy work and treats him like an ancestor, fearing that he would get hurt.

Sui Yan was very happy and relaxed. He strolled around the new mansion with Le An and felt it was very good.

The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is pleasant, with pavilions and small bridges, and gurgling water. There is also a peach orchard in the backyard. It is the blooming season now, and the broken red flowers are dazzling.

Sui Yan and Le An walked around the huge mansion together, clicking their tongues non-stop. As soon as he returned to the front yard, he saw Sui Xun holding a white envelope with a red string in his hand, his brows furrowed, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Sui Yan stepped forward: "Brother?"

When Sui Xun saw him coming, he handed him the letter in his hand and said, "I'm from the capital. The Queen Mother has passed away."

Sui Yan's hands trembled.

Sui Xun handed him another letter and said, "After we left the capital, the emperor may have wanted to take this opportunity to control the prince, so he directly ordered the marriage and no one should disobey."

Sui Yan looked up at him blankly.

Sui Xun said: "And that night, the Queen Mother passed away."

After the Empress Dowager passed away, Duan Mingchong had to observe mourning for three years, and the wedding date could be postponed accordingly.

Sui Yan was silent for a long time before he said, "I understand."

He recalled his previous brief meeting with the Queen Mother, and the genuine admiration Duan Mingchong had felt when facing that kind and amiable old man, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Now Duan Mingchong...

How sad must his Royal Highness the Crown Prince be?

But he was far away, thousands of miles away, and couldn't even offer a word of comfort.

In a trance, Sui Yan suddenly understood why Duan Mingchong sent him away.

Because this feeling of being powerless is too painful.

Sui Yan held the Buddhist beads on his wrist, closed his eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Suifu soon settled in Lin'an City.

When Jun Jingxing first arrived in Lin'an, the first thing he did was to look for Qian Lao's clinic, and he also arrested Sui Yan.

When Sui Yan first started going there, he struggled all the way: "I won't go! I won't go! I went to see a doctor yesterday, and the doctor took such a big needle and wanted to stab me!"

Jun Jingxing had a grim face as he dragged the weakling Sui Yan to the clinic, beginning his inhumane career of treating patients.

Jun Jingxing was playful when he was young and always liked to study all kinds of poisons, using a lot of crooked methods. However, the famous doctor who studied under Mr. Qian was a very conventional doctor who had learned medicine since childhood, so naturally there were some differences between his and Qian's ways of treating diseases.

According to their seniority, those doctors were all Jun Jingxing's senior brothers. Jun Jingxing argued with his senior brothers every day about Sui Yan's treatment methods.

Finally, it was Master Qian's direct disciple who spoke up. Acupuncture and herbal baths should be used as the main treatment, supplemented by warming and nourishing medicated diet. First, Sui Yan's body should be healed, and then they could talk about completely removing the toxins.

Sui Yan was also a restless person in Lin'an City. When he first arrived, Jun Jingxing dragged him to Qian Lao Medical Clinic every day for acupuncture and treatment. When he came out, he was almost dying and wished to die with Jun Jingxing.

Later, his health improved a little, and he no longer had the problem of not recognizing people when waking up from a dream. He then dragged Jun Jingxing out to play all day long, and they would not come back until the sun set.

The reason is simple: Sui Yan fell in love with the sweets from the Jiangnan water town.

He went out early and came back late every day, but when he came back, he only brought back a bunch of snacks and candied fruits. Sui Xun originally let him play, but later he became more and more anxious. When Sui Yan was about to go out again, he stopped him directly.

"Wang Gui, you've been running around these days..." Sui Xun seemed a little embarrassed, and after a long while he finally said, "Could it be that... you haven't met any destiny?"

There were many beauties in Lin'an City, and he didn't believe that his young and energetic brother would really not be tempted by beauty.

Sui Yan blinked his eyes, and suddenly seemed to remember something. He clenched his fist and tapped his palm: "Oh!"

Sui Xun's eyes showed anticipation.

Sui Yan said, "I was strolling around yesterday and found a small stall selling sweet-scented osmanthus cakes. They were really delicious. The owner saw that I was cute and well-behaved, so he gave me a box for free. Is this fate?"

Sui Xun: “…”

Sui Yan turned around and said, "Brother, do you think I've gained some weight?"

He put his hand on his head and compared it, saying, "Have you grown a bit taller?"

Sui Xun didn't want to see him acting stupid, so he pressed his forehead weakly.

"Go play."

Sui Yan saw that he had been fooled, so he immediately got the order and ran away.

Sui Yan liked crowds and would hang out wherever there were many people. In addition, he was good-looking and eloquent. Within half a year, the whole Lin'an City knew that the Sui family had a young man with an incredibly good appearance. Even when Sui Yan was walking on the street, people would pick flowers and throw them into his arms.

This was the first time Sui Yan encountered such a situation. He thought someone was trying to assassinate him, so he quickly turned around and dodged the peony flower that was flying towards his face.

The woman throwing flowers: “…”

Sui Yan: “…”

The two stared at each other in the street, and finally the woman who threw the flowers burst into tears, covering her face with tears in her eyes and ran away.

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan didn't know what happened yet, but Jun Jingxing was laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.

From then on, Sui Yan never showed off again. He quietly recovered from his illness and enjoyed himself eating, drinking and having fun.

Three years passed by quickly like a horse passing through the window.

The rivers in the south of the Yangtze River are not frozen. The winding water flows over the stone bridges, and the sparkling waves reflect the candlelight.

The wooden boat moored at the shore swayed slightly, and several men in black clothes stepped onto the edge of the boat.

The boatman, wearing a straw hat, held up the long pole, shouted, pushed aside the waves and slowly rowed towards the center of the lake.

The guests on the boat seemed not good at speaking. The boatman did not feel embarrassed to receive so many guests in the bustling Lin'an. He said with a hint of local accent, "Are you gentlemen from other places?"

The man sitting in the center of the cabin had black hair tied up in a crown, and his every move exuded an air of nobility. He tilted his head to look at the scenery outside the window and said softly, "That's right. It's not easy to come to Jiangnan. I almost missed this beautiful scenery."

The boatman became even more interested when he heard someone talking. He rowed and said with a smile: "The Lantern Festival was really lively a few days ago. The shore was full of people. There were so many people. The whole lake was full of boats coming and going. I even saw some boats collide with each other. Hahaha."

The boatman laughed as he spoke.

The handsome man smiled and said, "There are fewer people here now, so it's quite quiet."

"Yes," said the boatman, "unfortunately, just a few days after the Lantern Festival, news spread in the capital that the emperor had passed away. People had to wear mourning clothes throughout the festival and were forbidden from drinking and having fun. How could anyone dare to openly celebrate and make a fuss?"

The affairs of the court were just topics of conversation among the common people after dinner, and they spoke in a nonchalant manner.

No one on the boat spoke.

The boat swayed for a while and before reaching the center of the lake, it met a pleasure boat floating towards it.

The pleasure boat was brightly lit, with two lanterns hanging from the bow. When the breeze blew, one could faintly make out the Chinese character for "year".

The boatman was startled and said, "This... this... bah, bah, this little kid is really too bold. We have said that it is forbidden to have fun, but he still dares to ride on this kind of pleasure boat so ostentatiously..."

He was muttering to himself when he felt the bow of the boat sway slightly. The man who had just spoken to him was standing beside him, staring at the pleasure boat. He suddenly asked, "You just said that the boats could collide with each other, is that right?"

Boatman: “…”

After a while, the boatman trembled as he rowed the boat to the side of the pleasure boat that was already parked in the middle of the lake, and advised: "Sir, this pleasure boat belongs to the young master of the Sui family. He seems to have a bad temper. If you get on the boat rashly, if, if..."

The nobleman said nothing, his eyes still fixed on the window of the pleasure boat.

Before the boatman could persuade her again, she saw the man next to her step on the edge of the pleasure boat and land on it lightly like a dragon.

The person behind him also rose up from the ground and landed quickly behind him.

The boatman looked at them in amazement, and then he realized that he had a piece of gold in his hand.

After receiving such a generous reward, the boatman was stunned for a moment before he said cheerfully, "Thank you very much, sir. I wish you all your wishes come true and everything goes well."

Duan Mingchong tilted his head slightly to look at him and said with a smile, "Thank you for your good words."

The temperature in the south of the Yangtze River had warmed up. He untied his cloak and handed it to the guard behind him, then walked into the pleasure boat.

There seemed to be someone playing a zither inside, and the sound was very pleasing to the ears.

Duan Mingchong placed his hand on the carved door frame and was about to push the door open when he heard someone talking inside.

Duan Mingchong held his breath and concentrated.

"You've been clamoring to celebrate since the old emperor died. How can you be so? How long are we going to stay here? I'm going to throw up."

"Are you seasick?" the voice was soft and gentle. "Silly child, you can choose to jump into the lake."

The piano music suddenly broke down.

When Duan Mingchong heard these words, he felt his heartbeat quicken suddenly, and he felt a little homesick and shy.

The person he has been thinking about for three years is behind this door. As long as he opens the door, he can see him, hold him, and never be separated from him until death.

But Duan Mingchong still didn't dare.

The man in the pleasure boat was wearing a purple robe. He had a tall figure and his long hair was disheveled, as if he had not had time to comb it, making it extremely messy.

He leaned on the couch, his eyes and brows full of charm that seduced people without him realizing it, but it was a pity that his seductive eyes were cast to a blind man. Jun Jingxing didn't even look at him, his face pale as he played the zither by himself.

Sui Yan said lazily, "I made a mistake in pronunciation."

Jun Jingxing plucked the strings of his zither and said coldly, "Come on, come on."

Sui Yan glanced at him and said calmly, "If you play it wrong, can't you let others tell you about it? How can you be like that?"

Jun Jingxing was almost pissed off by him. He pushed the zither aside and said coldly, "Don't play it anymore. Look at the whole Lin'an, no, the whole Jiangnan. During the period of national mourning, there is no one like you who plays the zither on a pleasure boat. Aren't you afraid that someone with ulterior motives will report you to the new emperor?"

“The new emperor?” Sui Yan tilted his head and placed the peach blossom wine in his hand on the small table. He didn’t know if he was drunk, but he chuckled for a long time before saying, “It would be great if the news really got to him. He would just come and arrest me, hahahaha…”

"Come and convict me."

Jun Jingxing exchanged all the peach blossom wine on the pleasure boat for sugar syrup. Sui Yan couldn't drink strong liquor, but he could barely drink the wine with sugar syrup. He didn't have a good alcohol tolerance to begin with, and after drinking for a while, his feet even felt a little dizzy.

He staggered to his feet from the couch, mumbling something, and staggered to the door, saying, "It's so hot, I hope you don't mind if I open the window."

Jun Jingxing said unhappily, "That's the door, don't dive into the water."

Sui Yan turned around in a daze and snorted at him provocatively: "Even if Duan Mingchong falls, I won't fall."

He exerted force and pushed the door open. Suddenly, there was a dull "bang" sound, as if it hit something.

All I heard was a scream and a splash, as if someone had fallen in.

Sui Yan felt a little unsteady on his feet. He stared at the remaining secret guards outside in confusion for a moment before he said to Jun Jingxing, "Yue Jian, are you looking for me?"

Jun Jingxing stood there in a daze, muttering, "The pleasure boat... there are only two of us..."

Sui Yan scratched his hair, said "Oh", and closed the door with his hand, saying vaguely: "Then I don't know you, never mind."

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Everyone: “…”

Dark Guard: "Your Majesty!"

The author has something to say: Who would have thought that this is only three years later!

Sui Yan: The first day the prince is away. I miss him so much.

The second day when the prince was away, I thought... Jiangnan is so fun! ! ! !