Chapter 37 Chapter 37 I have a lover.
No matter where he was, the tyrant emperor seemed boneless. As soon as he mounted his horse, he leaned softly into Ning Wujie's arms like a lazy cat, resting his head squarely on Ning Wujie's strong shoulder.
A refreshing aroma of ambergris spread silently with Wen Xing's movements, and strands of it lingered around Ning Wujie's breath.
Ning Wujie's whole body stiffened instantly, his heart skipped a beat uncontrollably, and then began beating rapidly again.
"Don't run," Wen Xing's voice carried a hint of lazy warning, his breath brushing against Ning Wujie's neck. "Walk slowly."
He obviously still remembered the painful experience of Ning Wujie riding his horse at full speed and making him dizzy.
Ning Wujie pursed his lips, put one arm around Wen Xing's waist to hold the reins, and drove the horse forward at the slowest pace.
The inside of his arms inevitably rubbed against the narrow waistline of the person in his arms through the fabric.
The touch clearly brought back memories. When I helped Wen Xing onto the horse, my palm had briefly rested on the back of his waist. His waist was slender and strong, not as soft as I had imagined. If I had held it with my palm...
Wen Xing's lower back rubbed against his lower abdomen faintly as the horse shook slightly.
A feeling of heat rose uncontrollably from the lower abdomen, and something was slowly rising.
Ning Wujie gasped and looked away almost in embarrassment, trying to force the charming thoughts out of his mind.
His gaze passed over Wen Xing's shoulder and fell on Fu Wenxin who was leading the way in front.
The attention was indeed diverted, but what followed was a deeper irritation.
His brows slowly tightened into a frown, forming the shape of a "川" character.
"Your Majesty." Ning Wujie's voice was low, with a barely perceptible tenseness.
Wen Xing originally closed his eyes to rest, and said "hmm" lazily.
"Your Majesty said that you and Fu Wenxin are from the same hometown?" Ning Wujie's tone was calm, but it was like an undercurrent surging beneath the ice.
Wen Xing slowly opened his eyes, a smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and he said in a light tone: "Yes."
Ning Wujie glanced sideways and saw that the tyrant king leaning on his shoulder had a smile on his face, a smile that was completely different from any he had seen before.
It is a completely relaxed and comfortable smile.
His heart suddenly sank.
The knuckles of his fingers gripping the reins were white, and Ning Wujie's voice was filled with a sinister chill: "Your Majesty was born in the deep palace and raised in the forbidden garden. How could he become a 'fellow countryman' with a wandering doctor?"
Wen Xing's eyes turned cunningly, and he said casually: "A fellow countryman with a strong spirit."
Souls come from the same world, there's nothing wrong with that.
The horses stopped suddenly.
Wen Xing:?
He stood up and looked at Ning Wujie in confusion, "Why did it stop?"
Ning Wujie's beautiful eyes had turned cold at this moment, "Your Majesty, do you mean that you and she share the same ideals?" Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Wen Xing blinked, as if he thought this statement was very appropriate, and suddenly his eyes lit up, "You can understand it that way."
As soon as he finished speaking, he clearly saw Ning Wujie's face turn ashen at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Like-minded? With a woman I'd only met once?!
Oh.
This tyrant!
It's just lust after seeing someone's beauty!
At this moment, Fu Wenxin, who was ahead, reined in his horse and turned back, waving vigorously at them: "We're here!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a steep cliff a hundred feet high rising from the ground. In the center of the cliff, there was a huge crack several feet deep, as if it had been split by a giant axe.
With the faint sunlight leaking through the cracks in the top, a swaying figure can be vaguely seen.
Seeing them appear, someone stepped out of the cave entrance and peered in. Recognizing Fu Wenxin, he exclaimed in surprise, "Doctor Fu is back!"
The crowd suddenly became agitated and ran down the hillside beside the crevice, rushing towards Fu Wenxin as if they had seen a savior.
However, when they saw Wen Xing, who was dressed in luxurious clothes and had an extraordinary demeanor, and the two teams of sword-wielding guards behind Fu Wenxin, the joy on their faces was instantly replaced by vigilance and fear.
Fu Wenxin noticed that the victims were a little nervous around strangers, so he quickly reassured them, "Don't be afraid, everyone! This is a fellow villager I met while fetching water!"
Hearing the word "fellow villager" again, Ning Wujie's eyes suddenly turned cold.
"Brother Qu Si was injured while fetching water and is unable to move. He is currently staying in this official's camp to recover. He sincerely wants to help everyone and is not an outsider, so there is no need to be restrained."
Wen Xing also introduced himself: "I am a traveling merchant, on my way to the capital to do some business, and I'm passing through here. I heard Doctor Fu mention that there are disaster victims here, so I came to see them."
The victims in front of me were dressed in rags, and many of their clothes were already torn, with their bony ribs and dark, rough skin exposed to the slightly chilly air of early spring.
There were many skinny and pale children in the crowd, their straw sandals worn so much that they almost blended into the mud.
It really looks like it has been through a lot and has traveled a long distance.
"Where did you all flee from?"
After hearing Fu Wenxin's words, a middle-aged man relaxed his tense expression slightly and sighed heavily, "We are from Huainan."
Ning Wujie's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. He asked in a deep voice, "The imperial court allocated relief funds for the Huainan flood years ago. Why did you abandon your homes and flee to the capital?"
The young man waved his hands and said, "How would we know what relief is? All we know is that our family's land was flooded, and the good farmland turned into a muddy pond! We can't pay the damn tax, so we can only use the land to pay it!"
As he spoke, his lips trembled, and he fought back a sob. "That was excellent paddy field, worth ten taels of silver an acre! The official insisted it was worthless after being flooded, and he forcibly took it away for only one tael of silver!"
Before he finished speaking, sighs and suppressed sobs could be heard from the victims.
Someone in the crowd could no longer contain their anger and shouted in grief and anger, "We came all the way from Huainan, thinking that the capital would be under the emperor's feet and we could always get a job. But the officials were afraid we would cause trouble, so they wouldn't even let us through the city gates! If it weren't for Doctor Fu's kindness in taking us in, we wouldn't even have a crack in the rocks to shelter us from the wind and rain!"
Once the conversation starts, the pent-up resentment will burst out like a flood.
"It's all that damn emperor's fault! If he hadn't been so unjust, how could we have ended up like this?!"
Wen Xing: ...
Hearing these words, Fu Wenxin's lips twitched awkwardly, and he cautiously glanced at the "dog emperor" beside him who was being scolded in public.
But when he saw that he looked normal and not angry, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, her "fellow countryman" didn't seem to care too much.
That's true. After all, it was the emperor who was being scolded, not him.
Ning Wujie's expression was as gloomy as a cold pond. "The heavy rain and flooding are caused by the weather. This has nothing to do with Your Majesty."
The young man snorted, "We heard it on the way here. It's because the emperor's virtue is unworthy of his position, he favors flatterers, and even puts his own mother under house arrest, that he incurred the disaster from heaven! Even the masters of the Imperial Observatory said something like... something..."
He scratched his messy hair and thought for a long time without being able to articulate the answer. It was his companion who reminded him quietly: "Hui Guandizuo."
"That's right! The emperor is wise and your virtue is lacking!" the strong man shouted, as if these eight words were the ironclad evidence of their suffering.
Ning Wujie frowned and looked at Wen Xing worriedly.
Wen Xing's expression remained calm, as if he wasn't the one being scolded. He simply stared at the burly man and asked calmly, "Who taught you to say these words?"
For an uneducated man to remember these eight difficult words so clearly, there must be someone behind the scenes.
Before the burly man could answer, a woman who was about fifty years old and dressed in old but neat clothes spoke first.
She was plump and stood out from the skinny disaster victims around her.
"This gentleman looks like a respectable man, rich and noble. Naturally, he doesn't know how we farmers make a living."
"The Imperial Observatory's official bulletin is crucial to the annual farming season; it's the lifeblood of us farmers! Once published, literate scholars copy it down and pass it on by word of mouth, so everyone in the surrounding area knows about it."
"So, don't underestimate him because he's a rough man. He remembers a few words about the harvest and the warnings from heaven, which are more reliable than remembering his wife's birthday! What's so strange about that?"
Ning Wujie's eyes flashed like lightning as he scrutinized the woman: "Who are you?"
Fu Wenxin quickly introduced, "This is Aunt Zhang. She lives in the capital. I once cured her son's illness, so she often comes to my clinic to help. Now that she sees that I'm too busy to take care of so many people on my own, she's kindly come to lend a hand."
Wen Xing's eyes were dark. "That is to say, the Imperial Observatory's official report has now spread from the nobles to the common people, and it has become a hot topic and known to everyone?"
Aunt Zhang said, "Who says it's not?"
At this time, another disaster victim shouted angrily: "That dog emperor has destroyed our families! The officials won't let us enter the city, so we will go to the city gate and make a scene! Let's curse him! Curse him for three days and three nights! I want to see how thick-skinned this old emperor is!"
Aunt Zhang quickly tried to dissuade him, "Shut up! How can you say such nonsense? You'll lose your head!"
The victim's eyes were red, he had given up everything: "Even if I lose my head, I will get rid of this evil feeling! If it weren't for that dog emperor, my land would not be flooded, my wife and children..." He couldn't say anything, squatted on the ground and burst into tears.
Aunt Zhang shook her head and looked at Wen Xing, saying earnestly, "If you ask me, the emperor should quickly issue an edict of apology and admit his faults to both Heaven and the people. Otherwise, won't he be blamed for any natural or man-made disasters that occur in the region in the future?"
This sentence hits the nail on the head.
When Wen Xing heard this, a hint of ambiguous smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
He glanced at the desperate and angry faces before him and said, "I happen to own a farm near the outskirts of Beijing. It has a well and stored food. It can easily house a few hundred people. If you don't mind, you can come with me and we'll use it as a temporary shelter."
Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and then broke into an uproar of disbelief.
"Sir! Are you really willing to take us in?!"
Ning Wujie immediately leaned close to Wen Xing's ear and lowered his voice, "Your Majesty! Refugees must be repatriated after their identities are verified. Staying in the capital may cause trouble."
Wen Xing glanced at him sideways, his voice low but filled with unquestionable determination: "Whether the Huainan local officials are deceiving their superiors and subordinates and enriching themselves is still unknown. Once the truth is found, it will not be too late to repatriate them."
He then said to Fu Wenxin, "Take them with you and follow me."
*
There are several royal estates scattered around the outskirts of Beijing.
Wen Xing led the group to the nearest place. Although the farmers did not know the emperor, they recognized the face of Li Dequan, the chief steward of the imperial court.
After Li Dequan whispered a few words of advice, "Don't reveal Your Majesty's identity," the farmer suppressed his suspicions and immediately became extremely flattering, trotting forward to greet him.
Wen Xing glanced at the exhausted victims behind him and instructed the farmers, "Take them down, wash them, change into clean clothes, and prepare some hot food."
"Yes! Yes! I'll do it right away!" The farmer nodded and bowed, turned around and shouted at the top of his voice, directing the servants to act quickly.
Had the disaster victims ever seen such grandeur? Before them lay a vast courtyard with numerous entrances and exits. The glazed tile roofs shone with a golden-red luster in the setting sun. The vermilion walls towered majestically, dotted with pavilions and waterside terraces. Clear spring water gurgled along stone channels, merging into the shimmering lake in the distance.
As far as the eye can see, there are endless fertile fields and farmers working hard.
At this moment, servants were moving back and forth in the courtyard like flowing water, nervously preparing for the sudden influx of more than a hundred people.
The victims were housed in different rooms.
A boy, about seven or eight years old, barefoot and dirty, stood awkwardly at the door of a wing room. Gazing at the carved window frames, the polished floor, and the carved wooden bed covered with a brocade quilt, he muttered in a dreamy voice, "Mom... can we really sleep in this fairy-like house?"
His mother hugged him tightly, tears silently falling, "Well... thanks to that great official, our Yue'er... can also live in a big courtyard."
After a busy day, it was already late and Wen Xing was very tired, so he asked Li Dequan to stay in the imperial farm for the day.
The victims lit a bonfire on the edge of the field to celebrate their survival.
The children, wearing clean cotton clothes, gathered together like a group of birds out of a cage, chirping excitedly:
"Your dress is so pretty! The size is perfect too!"
"Wow! This is the first time I've worn a cotton shirt in my life! It feels so soft!"
"What do you know! My mother said that this dress needs to be washed in water to be truly soft, like the clouds in the sky!"
"That great official is so generous..."
Xinghe was full of energy, dragging his feet lightly. Wen Xing, who just wanted to fall asleep, ran to the campfire: "Master, go ahead, it's fun!"
"They are all waiting for you!"
Wen Xing was in a very depressed mood. He had already washed up and was about to lie down, but Xinghe ran in and said that the victims had lit a bonfire to roast a whole lamb and celebrate, and insisted on dragging him to join in.
Wen Xing was dragged by Xinghe by his arms. He leaned back, forming a stubborn triangle with Xinghe's arms, and used all his strength to resist this brute force.
However, it was useless. Xinghe still dragged his heels down and slid on the ground. He simply gave up struggling, tilted his head back, and looked upside down at Ning Wujie, who was following behind him with a knife in hand and an indifferent expression. He said resentfully, "Where are the personal guards we promised you? I've even been kidnapped."
The moonlight was like water, pouring down on his drooping hair and his overly fair face.
This strange posture, coupled with the sad eyes, looks like an upside-down water ghost that just crawled out of a well.
Ning Wujie walked behind, holding the knife, and said expressionlessly, "Your Majesty seems to be enjoying this."
Wen Xing made a "tsk" sound and turned his head back. Like a torn sack being dragged around casually, he was dragged dejectedly by Xinghe all the way to the campfire.
The victims had already packed up, and when they saw him coming, they all came forward to greet him.
"Thank you, Mr. Wen."
"If it weren't for Mr. Wen's compassionate heart, who knows how many of us would have starved to death or frozen to death..."
Everyone expressed their gratitude one by one.
Aunt Zhang came up warmly and stretched out her hand to pull Wen Xing to sit down. Before her fingertips touched the corner of her clothes, a cold scabbard was precisely placed between her and Wen Xing.
Ning Wujie's handsome but cold face frightened Aunt Zhang so much that she shuddered and withdrew her hand awkwardly.
"Oh! You are such a handsome young man, how can you be so ferocious?" Aunt Zhang said angrily.
Ning Wujie said coldly, "If you have something to say, just talk. Don't make any moves."
Aunt Zhang curled her lips in disdain, pointed at Ning Wujie and said to Wen Xing, "Master Wen, your guard is too fierce! Unlike you, who are always friendly. You are a businessman, and it's not good to always have such a fierce spirit around. Your business partners will be scared away when they see him!"
Ning Wujie frowned.
All in harmony?
He thought about it and couldn't imagine what it was like for Wen Xing to be so friendly to him.
However, this tyrant was quite kind to these insignificant people.
Oh.
As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Zhang noticed that not only was Ning Wujie's face gloomier, but his aura was also colder, making people shiver with cold.
Wen Xing turned his head to look at Ning Wujie, and said with a meaningful smile: "But I like this kind of guard."
Ning Wujie's tense expression suddenly froze, and he immediately turned his head away to avoid Wen Xing's teasing gaze.
Aunt Zhang didn't understand the underlying meaning of Wen Xing's words and echoed, "Right, right, right! You should be a little fierce! You travel all over the country and are likely to run into bandits. It's safer to have guards like this with you!"
As she spoke, she warmly invited Wen Xing to take a seat at the main table by the campfire. The victims brought a whole lamb, roasted to a golden, crispy crust and sizzling with oil, to the table in front of him, expertly cut off the fattiest leg, and respectfully handed it to him.
"Sir, we are poor and have nothing good to offer you as a filial gift. So, we will use the sheep from this farm and show you our Huainan roasted lamb craftsmanship. Please try it!"
Wen Xing nodded slightly, "Thank you for your hard work."
Xinghe drooled as he looked at the roasted lamb leg that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and filled with fragrance.
Wen Xing couldn't help laughing when he saw his greedy look, and pushed the plate of lamb leg in front of him: "Here, a reward for you."
Xinghe's face lit up with a smile as he grabbed the huge leg of lamb and grinned from ear to ear: "Thank you, Master!"
Wen Xing asked Fu Wenxin to sit down again, and personally cut a piece of perfectly roasted lamb and handed it to her.
Everyone gathered around in a lively atmosphere, waiting for Wen Xing, the "master", to divide the meat.
Ning Wujie held the knife and stood silently in the shadow a few steps behind Wen Xing.
The firelight danced, illuminating his sharply defined profile.
He looked at Wen Xing with complicated eyes, but he showed no impatience at all. Instead, he chatted and laughed happily with the group of disaster victims.
This was completely different from the tyrant emperor he had imagined.
It turns out that this tyrant can be kind to everyone except him, always bossing him around.
Even... always making those unspeakable requests, which always pushed him to the point of shame and anger.
The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't suppress the irritation in my heart.
His fingers gripping the knife handle tightened unconsciously, and his joints made a slight "crackling" sound.
"Here." Wen Xing suddenly turned around and handed over a plate of freshly cut mutton. Seeing Ning Wujie still standing in the dark like a door god, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "What are you standing there for? Sit down and eat." He pointed to the seat next to him that was deliberately left empty.
Ning Wujie was slightly stunned when he looked at the plate of chopped mutton.
This tyrant emperor personally cuts the mutton for him?
He took the plate in silence and sat down as he was told.
The victims came forward enthusiastically to pour him wine.
Wen Xing stopped him and said, "He doesn't drink."
Ning Wujie's expression froze for a moment, and he turned to look at Wen Xing.
He had clearly been drunk in front of this tyrant, so how did the other party know that he didn't drink?
Wen Xing smiled at the disaster victim who poured the wine and said, "Besides, he is only seventeen years old, underage, and cannot drink."
Although he didn't understand why seventeen-year-olds couldn't drink, the disaster victim readily agreed, "But this wine tastes sweet, but it has a strong aftertaste. It's better for young people to drink less."
As he spoke, he skipped Ning Wujie and continued to pour wine into other people's glasses.
Ning Wujie leaned back, holding the knife, and retorted with a cold face: "I turned eighteen the day before yesterday."
Wen Xing was slightly surprised.
"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"
Ning Wujie glanced at him and said calmly, "The weather in the northwest is bitterly cold. Soldiers either don't celebrate their birthdays, or they just make do with a bowl of longevity noodles."
"As generals, we are not allowed to do so."
Wen Xing looked at the boy's profile. The dancing flames of the campfire outlined the other's superior facial contours and drew a beautiful golden edge.
He lowered his eyes and thought about the money that was spent like water on every birthday party held by the dignitaries in the capital. He wondered how much military supplies the Ningyuan Army could get and how many soldiers could have a decent birthday.
And does Ning Wujie need to travel thousands of miles back to Beijing to get the military supplies to fight the enemy?
Thinking of this, he sneered, raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp.
But at this moment, Aunt Zhang suddenly came over and said to Wen Xing with a smile: "Sir, you are twenty this year, right?"
Wen Xing nodded: "Well, after the New Year, I'm twenty-four."
"Oh! You're so young and promising!" Aunt Zhang's eyes lit up. "I wonder...are you married?"
Wen Xing shook his head, "No."
Ning Wujie frowned and cast a cold look at Aunt Zhang.
Aunt Zhang was so excited when she heard the answer that she completely ignored Ning Wujie's murderous look.
Her eyes gleamed, as if she had seen the perfect husband. She said eagerly, "My dear sir, don't look at me like this. I'm a well-known 'quick talker' in the capital! I can find at least eighty matchmakers! You're so handsome and your family is so wealthy. I can definitely find you a perfect match! I guarantee that her looks, figure, and family background will all be worthy of you!"
Ning Wujie's expression had turned ugly. Just as he was about to refuse on Wen Xing's behalf, he heard Wen Xing say, "That won't work. I already have a crush on someone."
Ning Wujie's pupils trembled. His heart almost skipped a beat at that moment.
Sweetheart?
He had thought that this tyrant was only attracted by beauty and indulged in superficial pleasures, but it turned out that he could also truly like someone?
That person...will be...
As soon as the thought flashed through his mind, he quickly rejected it.
This tyrant only knows how to tease him and is only attracted by his appearance. How could he have any sincerity?
He suddenly remembered that the tyrant emperor had just mentioned the so-called "spiritual fellow countryman".
Could it be that...
Thoughts are like stones thrown into the lake of the heart, causing ripples that gradually form surging waves that can never be stopped.
The hilt of the knife in his hand was silently unsheathed three inches.
Aunt Zhang kept asking, "To catch the official's eye, you must be very handsome, right?"
But the tyrant suddenly turned around, his playful eyes fell on his face, and he said meaningfully, "Yes, he is very handsome."
The tyrant emperor lazily held his temples, revealing that familiar expression again. Ning Wujie took a deep breath almost numbly and prepared himself mentally.
"That face really wins my heart."
Ning Wujie: ...
His knuckles clenched around the sheath.
really.
This tyrant wants to tease him again!
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Stupid King: My sweetheart is so handsome~ (teasing)
5j: ...(blushing)
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Next chapter is going to be super exciting! I'm at level 18, okay? So, are we going to add more chapters?
I think the nutrient solution is almost 1W, so I'll just update it as if it's 1W.
Give me some enthusiasm, add the nutrient solution! I'll add it in two hours! 23:00
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