Chapter 32032 Follow the good
Chapter 32
When Meng Yuning saw this scene, she was so shocked that stars appeared in her eyes.
When she was shooting arrows in the mountains before, she knew that this man had good aim. He often caught the arrows from her and Yi'er without even looking at them. He just flicked them into the quiver.
She once asked him if he had any secret to his accuracy, and he said, "Nothing special, just practice."
Later, Mu Feng revealed that when their prince was a child, he liked to take everyone and General Yu to practice pitching pots together, and it was all acquired through practice.
But the problem is that the distance of the quiver was not too far at that time.
But now they were sitting on the deck eating, and the distance between them and the small boat that the man was riding in was much farther than the quiver at that time.
An ordinary bamboo chopstick hit the man's hat, went through it, and flew out.
Meng Yuning could imagine that if Qi Jingyan's chopsticks were aimed at that person's neck or heart, that person would definitely die today.
Even though Meng Yuning knew that Qi Jingyan was a man who was good at riding and shooting, and was both civil and military, ever since she met him, most of the time he was either sitting quietly in a wheelchair or lying obediently in bed. She had an illusion that he was a sickly person. Only when she saw him just now did she realize how powerful he was.
Then when danger happens, she will just hide by his side.
In just a short moment, Meng Yuning's mind was full of thoughts, and her eyes looking at Qi Jingyan became brighter and brighter.
Qi Jingyan glanced at Meng Yuning twice, the corners of his mouth curled up more and more, and he picked up another piece of beef and a potato for her: "Eat."
Meng Yuning came back to his senses, said "oh", looked away, and continued eating.
Yier looked at his brother, then at An Ning, and seeing that they both acted as if nothing had happened, he continued chewing the piece of beef in his mouth.
Seeing His Highness like this, everyone picked up their bowls and started eating, fearing that if they were slow, all the food would be snatched away.
Mu Yun glanced coldly at the people on the small boats as a warning, then sat back down.
The official on the small boat was still sitting on the deck, holding his hat. Seeing that the people on the big boat were chatting, laughing, eating and drinking as if nothing had happened, he became angry and cursed at the two dazed followers beside him: "Stupid, are you dead? Help me up quickly."
However, due to the intimidating effect of the chopstick just now, he did not dare to curse loudly, for fear that the person on the boat would be dissatisfied and throw another chopstick at him.
The chopsticks just now came at him with murderous intent. He had a hunch that if he provoked him to shoot a second chopstick, he would definitely die today.
The attendants were also terrified. They were just ordinary yamen runners, usually accompanying the county lieutenant on his errands, and generally stayed nearby, never going far.
Most of the people knew them. Even if they didn't know them, they would be respectful and polite to them once they saw the yamen uniforms issued by the government.
They had never encountered such a situation before. They didn't care about their status at all. As soon as they disagreed with each other, they just threw chopsticks at them.
No, who are these people? They are too arrogant. Do they even take the government seriously?
Everyone was horrified and stood there like a fool. It was not until the county lieutenant scolded them that they reacted. They rushed forward to help the county lieutenant up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and tugged at the corner of his robe, trying to calm him down so that he wouldn't vent his anger on them.
Someone whispered, "Captain Sun, didn't that person say the group flying the Yu family flag were merchants?"
County Lieutenant Sun muttered irritably, "How would I know?"
Early this morning, a man came to the county government office and said that there was a merchant on the river who was cheating people by using the name of the "Yu" family of Cheng'an Marquis Mansion in the capital and was passing through the border.
He also said that as long as we stop them, they can confiscate your property as they please, as long as we capture them.
Of course, it doesn’t matter if they can’t take it, but they still have to be taught a lesson so that they can take down the flag.
Otherwise, if the people in Cheng'an Marquis' Mansion find out, they will blame them for not doing their job well. After all, this place is under the jurisdiction of their Chang'an County.
When the county magistrate heard that he was a wealthy merchant, he immediately sent him out of the city with his men.
The fast squad, the strong squad, the soap squad, all the yamen runners who had spare time came. Fearing that there were not enough people, he also asked people to call those idle men on the street to join in to increase the momentum, hoping to make a fortune today.
But it seems like something is not right.
Not to mention the strong men on the boat, each of them was mighty and strong, and they were obviously martial artists. And the chopsticks that flew out from the crowd just now were not something that ordinary people could do.
Not only County Lieutenant Sun thought so, but the yamen runners had obviously thought of this as well.
One person said, "Sir, I've heard that Young Marquis Yu is a skilled archer and a master at pitching pots. So, do you think it's possible that Young Marquis Yu is actually on the boat?"
County Magistrate Sun's heart skipped a beat, and he began to wonder, "That shouldn't be possible."
The man who came this morning, judging from his accent, was from the capital. He also showed the county magistrate a token. After the county magistrate saw it, he became respectful and polite to the man, and believed what he said even more without a doubt.
But no matter how you look at it, the demeanor of these people on the boat has nothing to do with merchants.
Another yamen runner asked again: "Sir, what should we do now?"
County Magistrate Sun's face looked grim: "What else can we do? Wait." If we give up halfway and go back like this, the county magistrate will surely be furious.
So the eight small boats just stopped in front of the big ship, waiting quietly.
Meng Yuning looked at Qi Jingyan who was eating slowly and leisurely, and suddenly felt that it was not a big deal even if the sky fell, so she felt relieved and ate in peace.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the guards worked together to clean up the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash.
After everything was packed up, Mu Yun looked at Qi Jingyan and said, "Your Highness, shall I go over and ask?"
Qi Jingyan nodded: "Go ahead."
Mu Yun agreed, stood up, walked to the end of the deck, and asked loudly, "May I ask your name, sir?"
Seeing that Mu Yun was quite polite, County Lieutenant Sun's expression softened slightly. He pointed towards the riverbank and said, "My last name is Sun, and I am the County Lieutenant of Chang'an County."
Mu Yun bowed and said politely, "It turns out to be County Lieutenant Sun. I've heard a lot about you."
County Lieutenant Sun was stunned and looked at Mu Yun carefully with a suspicious look on his face: "Do you recognize me?"
Mu Yun told the truth: "I don't recognize him."
I don't know you, but I've heard of you for a long time. County Lieutenant Sun was so angry that he cursed in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it as arrogantly as before. However, he still couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Mu Feng and Mu Jiang, who were standing next to Mu Yun, saw County Captain Sun rolling his eyes and both burst out laughing.
Their eldest brother, no matter whether he knows him or not, always says hypocritically "I've heard a lot about you" when he meets him for the first time. I don't know what this bad habit is.
Su Yang moved closer to Mu Feng and asked him in a low voice what he was laughing at. Mu Feng explained in a low voice.
Su Yang recalled the first time he met Mu Yun. After introducing himself, Mu Yun also said that he had heard a lot about him. He felt a little strange at the time, thinking that it was a way of greeting among people in the Central Plains, so he didn't think much about it. He didn't expect that this was Brother Mu Yun's own habit. He couldn't help but find it funny and laughed along.
Seeing several young men on the deck grinning and whispering to each other, as if they were whispering to him, County Captain Sun became furious.
But at the moment, the enemy was strong and we were weak, so he didn't dare to show his dissatisfaction. He tried his best to calm down and explained his purpose. "I am here on the orders of our county magistrate to search your ship."
Mu Yun pointed back at the flag with the Chinese character "Yu" fluttering in the wind. "Please look, County Lieutenant! This is the 'Yu' of Young Marquis Yu of the Cheng'an Marquisate in the capital. This ship is also under Young Marquis Yu's name. So, do you want to investigate as well?"
The county magistrate was a small sixth-rank local official, so he naturally did not dare to search the boat of Marquis Yu at will.
Especially seeing those burly men on the deck staring at him with murderous eyes, County Lieutenant Sun was undecided for a moment, but after thinking it over, he said, "We dare not disturb Young Marquis Yu's ship, but our county magistrate has received a letter saying that this ship is a fake and not Young Marquis Yu's ship."
"So that's how it is. Okay, wait a moment." Mu Yun took out a token from his pocket and held it in his hand: "Here is the token of Young Marquis Yu."
County Lieutenant Sun stretched his neck and stared hard to look, but found that he could not see clearly enough, so he asked someone to row the boat forward and take a closer look. After seeing it clearly, his face became even uglier, and he thought to himself that this boat was most likely the boat of Young Marquis Yu.
But he still said stubbornly: "I have never seen the token of Young Marquis Yu with my own eyes, so how can I know whether your token is real or fake."
Mu Yun, who had always been gentle and polite, suddenly changed his expression upon hearing this and sneered, "It doesn't matter if you don't recognize me. I have my own way to make you recognize my young marquis."
After that, he shouted loudly: "Release."
Following his order, the guards who had been prepared for a long time let go, and a wave of arrows fell on the group of people. However, those arrows seemed to have eyes and only fell around them without hitting anyone.
But this was enough to scare those people so much that they pissed their pants and dodged frantically. A group of idlers who usually only knew how to oppress the people and had never seen such a big scene jumped into the water and swam towards the shore like crazy.
Lieutenant Sun squatted on the deck with his head in his hands and shivered. When he could no longer hear the sound of arrows, he carefully raised his head and took a look.
Just this one glance happened to meet Mu Yun's cold and murderous gaze, and he shivered with fear.
Mu Jiang even drew his bow and pointed it at him, saying sinisterly, "Get out of here! If you don't, I'll shoot you through the hole and feed you to the fish."
Mu Jiang's scarred face looked extremely ferocious. County Captain Sun dared not delay any longer and quickly climbed to the stern, shouting incoherent orders: "Go back, go back quickly, turn around, turn around quickly, idiot, go back, not turn around."
His orders were in a mess, and the yamen runners were also in a panic. You picked up an oar and rowed this way, he picked up an oar and rowed that way. Several people were working in different directions. The boat turned around several times in place before finding the direction to leave. The speed was comparable to the Dragon Boat Festival dragon boat race, and it ran away in a flash.
The other boats were also in chaos, and two of them collided with each other and capsized. The yamen runners ignored the boats and swam forward with their bare hands.
Looking at this chaotic scene, the guards on the ship laughed out loud. For a moment, the laughter was deafening.
Mu Feng even shot an arrow at their back in a mischievous manner: "Run faster, or you will be fed to the fish."
Yi'er was held in Meng Yuning's arms. He didn't see the specific situation just now, but he heard the guards' hearty laughter. He thought something funny had happened. He clapped his hands and shouted excitedly: "Feed the fish, Yi'er wants to feed the fish too."
Meng Yuning was amused by Yi'er and pinched his little hand: "Okay, let's go feed the fish later."
Seeing those people swimming to the shore, climbing ashore and leaving, Meng Yuning breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Qi Jingyan: "Your Highness, is this matter over?"
Qi Jingyan shook his head: "I'm afraid it has just begun."
"Why?" Meng Yuning was puzzled, then realized, "Just now, that county lieutenant said that their county magistrate received a letter, so someone asked them to stop our ship."
Qi Jingyan nodded appreciatively: "That's right."
Meng Yuning: "What should we do then?"
Mu Yun and others also looked at Qi Jingyan, waiting for him to make a decision.
Qi Jingyan: "Have the brothers who went to the county government office to deliver the corpse returned?"
Mu Yun shook his head: "Mu Shisan led people there, and they haven't returned yet."
Qi Jingyan: "Send a few brothers to take a look, we will continue on our way."
Mu Yun agreed, but before he could go out to make arrangements, he heard the guard on the deck report loudly that Mu Shisan and his companions had returned.
After several people boarded the boat, Mu Shisan hurried over to report, "Your Highness, we went to the Chang'an County Office, which is responsible for governing this area of the river. Before we could even reveal the name of Young Marquis Yu, the county magistrate heard that we were bringing an unidentified corpse to report a crime and immediately had us kicked out without even asking a single question."
"Looking at the arrogant attitude of those yamen runners, we brothers feel that even if we hand this case over to the Chang'an County Magistrate, he won't investigate it diligently. He might just give a random cause of death and hastily close the case."
"So, the brothers decided to take the corpse from the county government office and rush back."
Qi Jingyan: "Where is the body now?"
Mu Shisan: "I thought it was pointless to carry it with me since I've experienced it twice before. So I took my brothers and found an inconspicuous place in the woods near the shore to bury it. We marked it so that if anyone wants to find it in the future, they can find it."
Mu Shisan handled the situation very well. Qi Jingyan nodded in approval and said, "Let's go downstairs and have some rest first."
Mu Shisan agreed, retreated, and went back to his room with the brothers to change clothes and go to the kitchen to eat.
Qi Jingyan ordered Mu Yun: "Speed up and hurry."
Mu Yun agreed, went down and gave orders, and the boat accelerated as fast as possible and headed forward.
The guards also left with serious expressions.
---
Meng Yuning held Yi'er, who felt sleepy after dinner, and looked at Qi Jingyan: "Your Highness, can we still take a nap?"
Qi Jingyan reached out and took Yi'er in his arms, his face calm and composed: "A Ning, push me, let's go rest together."
Meng Yuning agreed, stood up and walked to the wheelchair, pushed the wheelchair, and the three of them returned to the cabin on the second floor.
Because of the false alarm the night before, Meng Yuning didn't dare to help Qi Jingyan to bed by herself, so she called Mu Shan.
When they arrived at the room, Meng Yuning picked up Yi'er, who was dozing off, and rocked him gently.
Mu Shan carefully helped Qi Jingyan sit on the bed, took off his shoes, gently lifted his legs onto the bed, then quietly retreated and closed the door.
Meng Yuning first took off Yier's little shoes, put him on the bed, and then took off her own shoes and climbed up.
The three of them lay side by side, and Meng Yuning patted Yi'er gently until he fell asleep without saying a word.
Seeing her worried look, Qi Jingyan whispered, "A Ning, don't worry."
Meng Yuning thought of the dangerous disasters in the original book. After careful consideration, she decided to gently remind him: "Your Highness, have I ever told you that I once had a dream?"
Qi Jingyan raised his eyebrows slightly: "I never told you what An Ning dreamed about."
Meng Yuning supported herself on the bed with both hands, looked over Yi'er, and whispered to him, "I said I forgot, but one night, I dreamed..."
Before Meng Yuning could finish her words, Qi Jingyan pointed at Yi'er and interrupted her: "A Ning, why don't you come over to my side and talk? You must be tired lying there like this. Besides, I'm afraid I'll disturb Yi'er."
When Meng Yuning heard the first half of the sentence, she was about to say that she was not tired and there was no need to move around, but when she heard the second half and looked at Yi'er who had just moved, she nodded and said okay.
So she knelt up and moved Yi'er inside first, then she was about to lie down on the side where Yi'er had just been lying, but Qi Jingyan moved his shoulder over here before her.
Meng Yuning was stunned, and then watched Qi Jingyan dragging his disabled body and moving to the middle position with difficulty. He moved his upper body first, then sat up, and moved his legs one by one with both hands.
This is truly a man of great strength despite his disability. Meng Yuning didn't know what was wrong with him, but since he was already lying down, she didn't ask any more questions and lay down outside the bed.
Qi Jingyan glanced at their intertwined sleeves and whispered, "A Ning, go on."
Meng Yuning's mind was full of the dangers that Qi Jingyan and his party encountered along the way in the original plot, and she didn't notice that Qi Jingyan's brows were particularly relaxed.
She whispered, "I dreamed that as we were walking, huge rocks suddenly rolled down the mountain and killed many of us."
Qi Jingyan's mouth froze. "A huge rock rolled down the mountain?"
Meng Yuning nodded. "It wasn't just the huge rocks. Later on, we also encountered bandits, harassment from vagrants, and plots by thieves. It was a mess. The journey was full of dangers and thrilling. By the time we reached Lingnan, there were only a few dozen guards left."
Qi Jingyan looked at Meng Yuning, "What about you, An Ning? Are you okay?"
Meng Yuning was lying on the bed talking to him, but she wasn't looking at him the whole time. When she heard him ask this, she raised her head and said, "In my dream, I died too. I died from the very beginning."
This was true in the original plot, and she felt that since she had called it a "dream", there was no need to hide it.
Qi Jingyan didn't seem surprised. He stared at Meng Yuning for a moment, then reached out and gently touched the top of her head. "Those were all dreams. Don't take them seriously."
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Meng Yuning became anxious and immediately pulled his hand away from her head. She said in a serious tone, "Your Highness, although it was just a dream, I think it was very real. We can't take it lightly."
Qi Jingyan nodded: "Don't worry, An Ning, I have made arrangements. Everything you dreamed of will not happen."
Seeing that he was so confident, Meng Yuning felt relieved. However, since this matter concerned everyone's life, including her own, she still wanted to confirm again: "Really, Your Highness?"
Qi Jingyan: "Really."
Meng Yuning saw from his eyes that everything was under control, and she felt completely relieved. "Okay, since Your Highness said so, I won't worry anymore. Now, let's go to sleep."
As he said this, he sat up and was about to go back to the inside of the bed.
Qi Jingyan stretched out a hand to stop her, his deep voice filled with irresistible tenderness: "It's just a nap, it won't take long. Don't move around, or you might wake Yi'er up."
Meng Yuning thought so too, so she followed suit and lay down.
After lying down, she realized that they were a little too close to each other. She was afraid that she would accidentally kick his broken leg, so she moved to the side as much as possible, then closed her eyes. Soon, she fell into a sound sleep.
Qi Jingyan tilted his head to look at her, and kept looking until his neck became sore. Then he turned his head back, but he didn't fall asleep either. He just closed his eyes to rest.
I don’t know how long it took, but Yier woke up, stretched his body with his little butt sticking out, and then turned over and sat up.
When he opened his eyes, he found that he was sleeping on the side, An Ning was sleeping on the other side, and his brother was standing between him and An Ning.
Yi'er immediately became unhappy and reached out to push Qi Jingyan. Fearing that he would disturb An Ning, he deliberately called out in a petty voice, "Brother."
Qi Jingyan opened his eyes: "What's wrong?"
Yier pointed at himself, then pointed at An Ning: "Yier is not next to An Ning."
Then he pointed at Qi Jingyan and asked, "Brother, why are you sleeping in the middle?"
Seeing the brat who was accusing him angrily, Qi Jingyan reached out and rubbed his head. Without explaining, he said, "Yier will have to sleep alone in the future."
After we get to Lingnan, Yier should have her own room and can't always sleep with him and Aning.
Upon hearing this, Yi'er shook her head: "No, Yi'er wants to sleep with An Ning forever."
Qi Jingyan knew that it was difficult to explain the truth to such a small child, but he thought that he should make him understand the truth as soon as possible, so he insisted: "This is the rule."
Yi'er thought for a moment and then asked, "Will brother sleep alone then? Will Aning sleep alone too?"
Qi Jingyan: "...we'll see what happens."
Although Yi'er is small, he is not stupid.
He immediately understood from Qi Jingyan's ambiguous words that his bad brother wanted to sleep with An Ning.
The little boy, feeling deeply abandoned, immediately became furious. He twisted his body, turned around, and faced Qi Jingyan angrily.
Qi Jingyan chuckled and rubbed his head again, "Go and help brother call Mu Shan in, brother wants to go out."
Although Yi'er was angry, he was still a sensible child. He crawled to the bed, put on his shoes, got out of bed, and tiptoed out to call for help.
When he brought Mu Shan in, he was surprised to find that An Ning had somehow fallen asleep again, and his brother was sitting outside the bed.
The little boy tilted his head, confused. His brother's leg hadn't healed yet, so he couldn't move. Could it be that An Ning had just woken up and slept in there by herself?
Qi Jingyan was helped to a wheelchair by Mu Shan. He whispered to Yi'er, who was standing beside the bed with a frown in thought, "Do you want to go out with your brother?"
Yier turned around, ignored him, took off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, and continued to sit there with her back to the bed as before, to show that she was still angry.
Qi Jingyan shook his head in a mixed expression of laughter and tears, and without trying to coax him, he let Mu Shan push him out.
Hearing the door closing, Yier looked back and saw that his brother had just left. The little boy snorted, turned back and continued to be angry.
He had made up his mind that if his brother didn't agree to him sleeping with An Ning in the future, he would just sit here and ignore him.
Meng Yuning woke up when she heard the noise. When she opened her eyes, she saw the little Yi'er sitting with his back to her, his little shoulders shrugging as if he was crying.
Meng Yuning quickly sat up, reached out and held the little boy in her arms, but found that Yi'er was not crying, but was angry.
She felt a little amused and touched his little face: "What's wrong? Who made our Yi'er angry?"
Yier put his arms around An Ning's neck, buried his little face in her shoulder, and said aggrievedly: "My brother said that Yier can't sleep with An Ning all the time in the future."
Meng Yuning didn't know when the two brothers brought up this topic, but thinking that Yi'er was a boy and would definitely have to sleep on his own in the future, she didn't say anything. She just patted Yi'er on the back and said, "When Yi'er grows into a tall man, he will naturally have to sleep on his own."
Yi'er felt even more aggrieved: "But, but my brother is so old, and he still wants to sleep with An Ning."
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