Chapter 67 Chapter 67 No
The stars and the moon were high in the sky, the wind was calm, the trees were still, and the mountain house was silent. However, Du Lingjing tossed and turned for a long time and did not fall asleep until dawn.
The next day, Nian Jia came to find her for dinner, but said, "It's just you and me today. The Marquis and the Prince are not here."
Both of them went there, and it has been a whole night, and neither of them has returned.
Du Lingjing had never encountered such a situation.
Since she married him, apart from attending court and entering the palace, he was busy with various matters in the capital, and only occasionally left the capital on official business.
I don't know where he went last night. He took away the Second Master's Silver Snow Sword and didn't come back for another night.
He had a hard time eating breakfast, but Nian Jia was used to it.
"They must have their own business."
She said of Lu Shenru and Wei Cong, "The combined cunning of these two is ten times better than you and me. Apart from being a little worried about the prince's injuries, as for Marquis Lu..."
She tilted her head to look at Du Lingjing, "Are you still worried about him?"
Du Lingjing shook her head and said that she had nothing to worry about. Then she changed the subject and asked Nian Jia where he was going today.
Nian Jia said directly, "You just learned horse racing yesterday, so today is a good time to practice. I saw a small town at the foot of the mountain yesterday, and asked someone to find out that there is a gathering today. Let's go over there and have some fun."
She is a carefree person. When she was racing yesterday, she had already decided to go to the town to play today.
Du Lingjing followed her.
Chongping had no objection to her going out horse racing, and personally selected a few docile horses for her.
Du Lingjing rode for the first time yesterday, riding someone's Xuanbo. Xuanbo was not here today, but she had ridden a tall horse from the Western Regions, so riding other horses was no problem at all.
Nian Jia was very happy, "Jingniang learns really fast! If we run down from here, we will just reach the town below."
Riding a horse is much more convenient than riding in a carriage. Just pat the horse's buttocks and it can jump over a hill in one breath.
There was indeed a meeting in the town at the foot of the mountain. When I asked, I found out that it was a meeting held once a month.
However, there were many people and goods at the fair, and it was also quite chaotic. At one point, a thief stole someone's purse and ran away, being chased with curses. At another point, vendors and buyers who were bargaining started arguing and even rolled up their sleeves to fight.
Du Lingjing was startled by the prospect of a fight nearby. Chongping immediately protected her and turned to call the guards.
"Go clean the road."
The guards of the Marquis' Mansion immediately spread across the main street where the gathering was held, displaying the sign of the Marquis' Mansion of Yongding. However, in a short moment, most of the people on the street had cleared, leaving only the vendors on both sides and well-behaved female guests in twos and threes.
Nian Jia was used to it, walking around. Du Lingjing was a little embarrassed, "Will it disrupt the gathering?"
Chongping said, "It's fine. This place is too messy and should be cleaned up. Madam, just stroll around in peace."
Before he finished speaking, Nian Jia called Du Lingjing over and pointed to a stall nearby. He saw that gourds were being sold there. Some were original gourds, while others had patterns carved on them with exquisite craftsmanship.
Different from the exquisite ornaments in the mansions of princes and nobles, the gourd patterns at rural gatherings are quite wild.
Nian Jia directly chose a pattern of peony flowers in full bloom, and the stall owner immediately gave him a lucky wish, "Your family will surely be prosperous and wealthy, even more so."
Du Lingjing was extremely amused.
Nian Jia is a princess. Is there anyone in the world whose family is more prosperous and wealthy than hers?
Nian Jia accepted the auspicious words calmly, bought the gourd, and asked Du Lingjing, "Which one do you want? I'll buy it for you."
Du Lingjing did not seek for wealth and glory, but saw a pattern of peace and joy on the side.
She glanced over there slightly, and Nian Jia took it and whispered it into her ear.
"I see you're still worried about someone."
Du Lingjing simply put the peaceful and happy one back, and picked up another small gourd that won the first prize in the imperial examination and held it in her hand.
Nian Jia laughed loudly, "Our Jingniang is going to take the imperial examination!"
Du Lingjing also laughed, and the two of them walked forward while playing with the gourd. Nian Jia saw someone selling raccoon dogs in front of him and ran over.
Before Du Lingjing could even raise her foot, she saw someone suddenly rushing towards her from the alley not far away.
"Yongding Marquis Mansion, they say that the whole family is full of loyal heroes, but now there are only traitors and villains left!"
It was an elderly man. Before Du Lingjing could see clearly, the guards of the Marquis' Mansion had pushed him down, and he was still cursing.
"The Lu family has their own army, deposed the eldest son and enthroned the youngest son, causing chaos in the government! They have disturbed the peace of the world, and will die a miserable death sooner or later..."
Du Ling stood still on the spot.
For a moment, the meeting fell into silence and no one dared to speak.
All that could be heard was the smell of alcohol on the man's body and the sound of him whimpering and cursing while his mouth was blocked.
Chongping quickly stepped forward and asked her, "Madam, are you frightened?"
Du Lingjing shook her head and said, "He was scolding the Marquis..."
Chongping told her not to take it to heart, "He looks like an old scholar who got drunk. These pedantic scholars have always been at odds with the Marquis, so foul language is inevitable."
"Is this a common situation?"
Chongping nodded, "There always is. But the Marquis has long since stopped listening."
Du Lingjing saw that the guards of the Marquis' Mansion were familiar with the route. They gagged the drunk old scholar, tied him up, and threw him into the alley, far away.
Nian Jia also came over.
"Even the emperor has people who want to scold him. There are many people who are not afraid of being beheaded."
She did not lose the mood to stroll around at all, and took Du Lingjing to buy many things. She heard that there was a good restaurant in the town, so she invited Du Lingjing to dine there in the evening.
After finishing the meal, we returned to the mountain villa, and the night fell over the surrounding area.
The courtyard was quiet, and neither of them had returned yet.
The chirping of insects made people feel a little uneasy. This time, Lian Nianjia also stood in front of the mountain house, gazing at the fields in the dark night for a long time before returning to the yard where he stayed.
There is no wind tonight, and the treetops in the mountain house are motionless. The more stuffy it gets, the more restless the insects chirp.
Du Lingjing was unable to sleep because of the noise. She was in a daze and didn't know what time it was. She vaguely heard some messy footsteps.
She got out of bed, opened the window, and saw fires in several courtyards to the west. The courtyard, which had been stuffy for the first half of the night, was now filled with a strong wind.
The night wind rushed in from the window, blowing the long hair behind the person flying, but also brought with it the smell of blood.
Du Lingjing's eyelids twitched. Seeing no one coming, she hurriedly put on her clothes and went to the west courtyard following the sound.
The wind blew her loose hair into the air. Qiu Lin lit the lamp for her. When the guards saw that it was her, they did not stop her.
The whole courtyard was filled with guards walking hurriedly, and the tense atmosphere was oppressive. Du Lingjing suddenly saw Chongping.
She saw Chongping coming out of the room with a frown on his face, and hurriedly asked someone to get the medicine.
Du Lingjing looked more carefully and saw patches of black stains on his indigo robe, with a strong fishy smell.
It's all blood!
Du Lingjing took a breath.
Chongping then saw her.
"lady?"
Seeing her face full of fear, he quickly said, "Madam, don't worry!"
As he was speaking, a guard came hurriedly to find him. He didn't care about Du Lingjing for a moment, so he said goodbye and quickly followed him away.
Du Lingjing saw that someone else came out of the room he had just come out of, holding a basin of water and pouring it on the roots of the tree next to him.
It was a basin full of blood.
Even Qiu Lin was shocked.
Du Lingjing walked to the door in a daze. Her feet were shaking, but she looked at the people gathered in front of the bed curtain in the room and did not dare to go in and disturb them.
She stood sideways beside the door frame and saw more blood pouring out. A man who looked like a doctor asked someone to change the hemostatic medicine.
"There is too much blood flowing. If it continues like this..."
Du Lingjing's hands turned pale as she gripped the door frame. She pursed her lips tightly and dared not make a sound, but her fingertips were trembling.
But someone suddenly appeared beside her, and held her in his familiar arms.
"What's wrong? Why is your face so pale?"
Du Lingjing was stunned and looked up in surprise.
"My Lord?!"
"uh-huh."
The man nodded to her.
Lu Shenru saw that the person in her arms was feeling cold all over. Although she hurriedly put on her clothes and went out, her long hair was loose and draped over her shoulders in a messy manner.
He brushed her hair back and put it behind her, speaking softly.
"You thought I was the one injured in the room?"
In addition to the lights lit in various places in the courtyard, there were also several torches standing tall.
At this moment, the night wind brought a strong smell of fireworks, and the firelight was like golden oil, reflecting on his heroic profile.
Du Lingjing looked at him again and again. He stood steadily in front of her, unharmed.
She was stunned for a moment before looking into the room.
"It's Chong'an."
"ah... ..."
Du Lingjing never expected that the person injured in the room was Chong'an.
This time he left Chongping with her and took Chongan out.
Just then Chongping came back with new medicine in his hand. Seeing his wife looking into the room, he hurriedly said.
"Madam, don't worry. Chong'an only has external injuries."
Even if it was an external injury, losing so much blood was no small matter. She quickly asked Chongping to bring the medicine over and not to delay.
But then he looked at the man next to him. He was indeed fine and his brows were relaxed. It seemed that this trip was not in vain.
He asked her softly, "You thought it was me and you got scared?"
Du Lingjing was still angry with him and would not nod even if it was the case.
She said nothing, and straightened her clothes, but she couldn't help but look him up and down secretly.
The man looked at her and smiled gently.
She is also a stubborn person.
He was about to say something to her, but the guard beside Wei Cong came over and asked him to leave.
He and Wei Cong obviously had something important to discuss, so he talked about it with Du Lingjing.
"I'm fine, Chong'an and the others are fine too, go back with peace of mind."
He said it was windy in the second half of the night, "Don't catch a cold."
After saying that, he held her wrist, and told Qiu Lin to carefully carry the lantern and go look for Wei Cong.
Du Lingjing didn't leave immediately. She glanced at his back twice, and Chongping walked out of the room.
"Madam, are you afraid that the Marquis will get hurt?"
He said, "Madam, don't worry. We will never let the Marquis get hurt."
Du Lingjing turned her head to look.
She knew how dedicated and conscientious the guards in the Marquis' Mansion were, but at this moment she also saw blood constantly pouring out of Chong'an's room.
She asked a few more questions about Chong'an's situation.
But although Chongping cared about his younger brother, he told her not to worry about him.
"Chong'an will be fine after a few days of rest. Even if there is anything, it is our duty to do it for the Marquis."
The night wind was blowing hard, and the flames from the torches dancing in the wind looked like thousands of troops.
Chongping said that the entire Yongding army was heartbroken after the tragic loss in the 14th year of Hongqi.
"The old marquis dragged his sick body to suppress the Tatars, and strived for a chance for Yongding Army and the entire Northwest Army to recuperate, but this is far from enough."
He said that the soldiers at the border were willing to sacrifice their families and lives for their country, but they were no match for the light letters of surrender written by the civil officials.
The court was dominated by civil officials who were in favor of surrender. The sky above the heads of the soldiers and generals stationed in the northwest, who had fought the Tartars for generations, was dark.
When the old marquis passed away, the entire army was devastated, and no one knew how to get through the rest of the day.
"It was the Marquis who stood up."
He said that the Marquis took off his armor, put down his sword, left the northwest where he grew up, and came to the capital city where the clouds were treacherous.
"People say that the Yongding Marquisate, which is full of loyal and brave people, is about to produce a traitor. They insult him for being deeply mired in power."
Chongping whispered.
"But no one in our Yongding Army thinks this way."
The young general who was brave and good at fighting on the battlefield had to leave the battlefield and come to the court to mediate with those shrewd old ministers.
Why did he come?
"My Lord, you have come from afar just for us!"
The torch lit up Chongping's eyes, and he spoke each word clearly.
"Even if we die, we will never let the Marquis be injured by an arrow."
Du Lingjing stood in front of the door in surprise.
She had thought about it, but when she heard it with her own ears, she still felt indescribable shock.
Northwest Army, Yongding Army.
Marquis of Yongding, Lu Shenru.
He is not alone in this storm, there are thousands of soldiers and generals behind him...
The firelight also illuminated her face, and Chongping slowly stopped talking.
He said Chong'an's injuries were still recoverable.
"Madam, don't be worried about this. Go back and rest."
Du Lingjing nodded.
Chong'an was not the only one injured in the courtyard. The hurried footsteps in the courtyard were intertwined like a rapid drumbeat. Du Lingjing could not help much, and it was not good for her to disrupt the drumbeat in the courtyard.
She asked Chongping to go do his work, called Qiulin and turned to leave.
But at a glance he saw the man standing on the second floor not far away.
He turned around and said something to the guard. The guard took the things and quickly walked down.
It's his cape.
The guard handed it to Qiulin, who put it on her shoulders.
The heavy windbreaker wrapped her tightly, and he stood in front of the railing on the second floor and said four words to her.
The night wind blew away his voice, but Du Lingjing could clearly see his lip movements.
"Go to bed."
... ...
She wrapped herself in a cloak and left the west courtyard. Her figure and the light disappeared under the courtyard wall. Lu Shenru turned around and saw Wei Cong going upstairs.
"How?" he asked.
Wei Cong shook his head at him.
"He was very stubborn and didn't utter a single word."
Lu Shenru snorted.
In this night attack, the spies were caught off guard. They suffered some casualties, but they also captured three people alive.
Two Tatar faces and one Han Chinese.
The Han people were able to work together secretly with the Tatars.
It seems that the master behind the scenes is really not an ordinary person.
Lu Shenru was not anxious. "It doesn't matter if they don't say anything. People have more than just mouths to talk. Check carefully, don't miss even a hair."
Wei Cong nodded, and Lu Shenru looked up at the door of the mountain house.
"It depends on whether anyone comes tomorrow."
Wei Cong fell silent upon hearing this, and followed his gaze towards the gate of the mountain house.
*
The small courtyard where Princess Nianjia stayed.
When Wei Cong came back, the lights in the room were off and Nian Jia was already asleep.
But as soon as he pushed the door open and walked in quietly, the person on the bed spoke.
"Prince?"
"It's me."
Wei Cong saw her sit up, turned on the small lamp beside the bed, and sighed softly.
"I really don't know how to speak softly so as not to disturb the princess's sweet dreams."
He changed his clothes and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed with sleepy eyes, so he walked over to her.
She was stunned, "You want to sleep with me?!"
There were two beds in the room, and they had always slept separately. Nian Jia gave it the excuse that he was afraid of stressing his injuries.
But the same was true during the three years I spent in the Northwest.
She asked with wide eyes as he walked in.
But Wei Cong just came over and extinguished the light she had lit.
He raised his eyes to look at her, "If the princess is willing..."
"Well, don't worry, my lord. When you get better, I won't have to look after you. You can go to the other room and sleep."
"Is that so..." Wei Cong did not turn off the light, but looked into her eyes under the light, "If the princess knew, would it be inappropriate?"
Oops, I forgot about my mother! Nian Jia was immediately troubled. If her mother and the dowager knew that she had slept separately from the prince except on the night of her wedding, wouldn’t they eat her?
"Uh..." She didn't know what to say.
But the man lowered his head and laughed.
He laughed again. What on earth was he laughing at her for on the founding day?
The man was neither hurried nor slow, and did not mention the matter of sleeping in the same bed again. He just spoke slowly.
"My princess, be well."
Nian Jia: “…”
But she couldn't sleep. Looking at the back of the man walking towards the other bed, she couldn't help but think of the upsetting things that happened on her wedding night...
*
When Lu Shenru returned to his room, Du Lingjing also woke up after hearing the sound, but she did not sit up. She only saw from the corner of her eye that he put a sword on the table.
It’s the Second Master’s Silver Snow Sword.
He put down the sword and did not move. His eyes remained on the sword. He was silent for a long time before turning around and leaving.
He changed his clothes and sat down on the edge of the bed.
A gauze curtain hung on his shoulders, and there was a faint smell of blood on him.
Du Lingjing didn't say anything and didn't move. He lay down and held her hand.
The next moment, he held her in his arms from behind.
He knew she was awake.
But she didn't push him away tonight.
For the first time in many days, she quietly let him hug her.
*
The next day, it seemed as if nothing had happened in the night at the mountain villa. The spring rain of the previous two days had caused tender green spring grass to grow in the cracks between the bricks and stones, and the mountain villa was peaceful and harmonious in the morning.
But someone came to the door.
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