journey
Qin Lan moved forward with his troops.
After leaving Cang County, there is a long stretch of uninhabited area.
The accompanying troops spread out the map to check the current route while scouting the situation nearby.
There was nothing to keep them entertained on the way, and they hadn't detected any signs of danger. After only a day and a half of walking, they were already yawning.
Qin Lan clearly stipulated that they could not fight and play around like they did in Cang County during this mission, so after a while, he looked at the drawings of the troops, put them away, and turned around to look for his own leader to kill time.
"Pavilion Master."
Meeting the gaze of the soldier in front of him, Qin Lan gave him a question mark.
"What's wrong?"
Buqu chuckled and unfolded the blueprint towards him again: "Are we going to stop pursuing this matter?"
He pointed his finger and then nodded above the route.
Qin Lan looked in the direction of his fingertips and suddenly frowned.
"Didn't you listen the day before yesterday?"
Before setting off, they made a temporary mission plan with Yu He. As long as nothing went wrong along the way, the plan would continue.
But if something goes wrong...
Qin Lan pulled the reins and leaned over to point above the spot where his fingertip was pointing.
The front and back should not exceed five centimeters on the drawing.
"From here on, we'll split up into two groups. I'll be back here to help you leave."
"Otherwise, it will be too late to return to Cang County."
"As for you..."
He sighed, closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again: "Didn't we make the distribution before?"
"Some of you will return with me, and the rest will continue along this route until we meet up with the Third Prince and receive clues from him."
The soldier knew that his words and deeds had been discovered, and he raised his hand to rub his nose embarrassedly, then looked at the group of Yu He's men following behind the troops.
"—They will go with me to find the Third Prince?"
Qin Lan said speechlessly: "Yes, otherwise who would recognize you?"
“…”
It seems so.
After walking a little further, the troops, unable to bear the silence any longer, spoke again.
"What if something happens to Miss Jiang?"
Qin Lan glanced over suspiciously: "What's the matter?"
Buqu explained, "What if the epidemic breaks out prematurely, and the Pavilion Master and Duke Xiao don't have time to go there..."
and so on.
Glancing at Qin Lan's somewhat angry expression, Buqu swallowed the last three words back into his throat.
"Are you questioning my judgment or Xiao Yingzhu's judgment?"
"...Now that we've handed the Zuihualou incident over to her, and we've split up to handle the subsequent matters, you should understand that she's now capable of handling such matters on her own."
Thinking back to the girl who was not good at expressing her opinions, Qin Lan sighed.
"Don't talk about this kind of topic in front of her in the future."
The soldier knew that he had said the wrong thing and shut his mouth in disappointment.
"I see……"
Apart from the conversations along the way, the closer we got to the border, the more desolate the surrounding scenery became.
The sky was cloudless, and the beams of light shone directly on the ground, making the road in front of the field of vision seem to be reflected in double images.
There were no trees to provide shade or shelter, and no place to pause and rest.
Everyone stopped talking to save energy.
Qin Lan rode his horse in front of the marching troops. As he moved forward, he recalled the goods he saw from Yu He in Cang County.
A few pieces of talisman paper and two pills.
Among the pile of goods sent from the third prince, Qin Lan caught a glimpse of the two pills in the huge talisman paper and immediately looked up at Yu He.
Yu He seemed to have some contact with these goods, but he just lowered his eyes and stared at the two pills tightly pressed together, without reaching out to touch them.
It's like being afraid of something.
But when Qin Lan took a closer look, he found a strange look in Yu He's eyes and brows.
After the two men saw the pile of goods on the table with their own eyes, the subordinates standing nearby came forward to sort them out and asked if they wanted to deal with anything.
Since these goods are needed by the Wu Mi people, they are often regarded as something that is harmful to Huandu.
Qin Lan was an outsider and only appeared here because of the intersection of missions. Now that they had to deal with these things, he had to retreat immediately.
So he turned around and left the office.
There are more pedestrians on the road than in the past few days. Perhaps they feel that the previous epidemic has dissipated and most of it has been controlled to a certain extent by doctors.
Or perhaps it was because the noble area was really well protected, and the disaster from the civilian area did not affect them, so their tense mentality relaxed and they felt they could move around freely.
The sunlight that day was as dazzling as the sunlight on the road today, casting layers of overlapping light and shadows on the houses on both sides. Qin Lan turned around to look at the office. The window paper was half open, and the subordinates inside were packing the goods on the table, responding to Yu He.
The glaring light blocked Qin Lan's view of Yu He's expression. He raised his hand to block the light, but his eyes kept looking up.
Green vines that broke out from the soil at the corner of the wall climbed up the wall, densely intertwined, growing on the bricks and tiles, and then extended into long strips, which hung in the air and swayed when the wind blew.
The air was filled with the bitter smell of green vines exposed to the sun.
How did Yu He choose to deal with those goods?
Qin Lan had a vague premonition in his heart that these goods were like seeds that had been buried deep in He's heart and withered for a long time, but now they had seen the light and were breaking out of the ground.
In the end, it absorbs nutrients in the name of emotions and produces bad consequences.
—
Zuihualou
You walked up the stairs, still thinking about the information he got from Jiang Nian yesterday.
Is the little hamster right? Is it correct?
He really wanted to question whether the information Jiang Nian provided was accurate, but the thoughts deep in his heart restricted him and prevented him from opening his mouth.
It was as if once he spoke, it would pierce the most painful layer in his heart.
Sister...were you planning to abandon him from the beginning?
The stairs wound upwards, and the maids standing on each floor bowed respectfully to You when they saw him.
He turned a deaf ear.
From the moment he was brought from Qixia Mountain to Donglan, from the moment he met the Wu Mi people.
It was his sister who walked towards him slowly, her red lips stained with lipstick opening and closing, and her fingertips pointing towards him. The gift called "sacrifice" that saved his life was like a seed of flesh and blood, taking root and buried in his heart.
Over time, the seeds grew stems and vines, wrapping around his body and his mind.
In his eyes, there was only the goddess, like a sister's tool, serving only for her, becoming her knife, her blade.
But now it seems that he is still standing outside the boundary close to his sister. Even Jiang Nian, an outsider, can see clearly, but he cannot see it clearly.
Is that love?
Love is a blinding thing.
But Keyou felt that he was not like that.
He just doesn't want anyone to get close to his sister, nor does he want anyone to block his sister's path forward. He doesn't care whether they can be together or not.
But this "sacrifice"-like emotion has now become a concern for my sister.
Because he couldn't understand his sister, he became a stumbling block to her.
There's nothing to be sad about.
From the moment he was sacrificed by his parents to the statue of Ru, he knew that his life had come to an end.
The only reason I'm alive now is because of my sister.
If my sister is really like what Jiang Nian said, and there is really no hope for her to continue existing in this place, then let's go into the darkness together.
Standing in front of the door of the top pavilion, You lowered her eyes and looked at the hand that always disturbed her peace, and suddenly laughed at herself.
It turns out he is really disgusting.
—
When the door was opened, the bead curtains collided with each other, making a series of crisp and piercing ringing sounds.
A light orchid scent wafted from the dressing table. You stood there and turned to look at the half-open window beside him.
The area inside the top pavilion is not large and you can see the end at a glance.
Therefore, You did not see the goddess.
He hesitated for a moment, then took another step inside and closed the door behind him in a proper manner.
Not far away is the skylight where the goddess often rests on the soft couch.
There was a warm smell of sunshine, and the soft couch was divided into light and shadow, with half of it exposed to the light. The other half still retained traces of someone lying on it, and it looked a little messy.
I guess today's personal maid hasn't come yet to take care of it.
He held his breath, as if pierced by the dazzling light. He didn't dare to look forward again, but just lowered his head hastily.
The goddess came out of the compartment with clothes, noticed someone standing at the door, and looked over.
Her hands paused as she was straightening her clothes, and she stopped walking slightly, looking up at him.
"What's wrong? You."
She seemed to be in a good mood today, with a face as fresh as spring breeze, hazy in the light, like a woman in a painting with layers of rendering, her hair ornaments dotted with gold powder, and her cheeks painted with rouge.
You raised his eyes slightly, and saw the clean, bright wooden floor of the ceiling, with traces of broken lines. He slightly turned his eyes away, took a few steps forward, and said casually:
"Nothing, they didn't come today?"
"I dismissed them."
She sat back at the dressing table, looking at herself in the mirror, flawless as glazed porcelain, and the soft color that had revealed in her eyes was hidden again.
"The hustle and bustle is annoying to see."
You looked away, his scattered black hair obscured his expression, the thoughts in his eyes were obscured by the light and shadow, and the mirror could not reflect his thoughts.
The goddess turned her head away and looked up at him, her eyes filled with silence: "What did you hear?"
Facing the goddess directly, his sister, whom he had always respected so much and was unwilling to give in to others, now became the most unfamiliar person to him.
What kind of feelings can be disrupted and scattered because of a piece of information from an outsider?
It's just that the gap between them has existed for a long time, but he pretended not to see it.
You sat down beside the goddess. In the silent pavilion, there was only the faint rustling sound of clothes rubbing against each other.
Feeling the goddess' gaze on his cheek, You was silent for a while, and for the first time, he changed his address and called the goddess' name.
"Shiyun, do you want to leave?"
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