Chapter 220 Warming Hands
"Prince, Princess." Xi Feng strode over, making the hay crackle under his feet.
They had been away from Hezhou for more than ten days. At first, Xifeng was not used to this new name, but now he has found it very easy to pronounce.
Xie Tingzhou nodded and said, "Sit down."
Xi Feng took off his knife and put it aside, then sat down by the fire. "I didn't find anything unusual along the way. The people who stayed in Hezhou have also caught up. The governor of Hezhou didn't make things difficult for the Lu family."
Chen Yu smiled and said, "They treat Lu's as their own money bag, who would embarrass their own money bag?"
"But he also ordered the city to be closed. People entering and leaving Hezhou must register or provide a pass. Now refugees are no longer allowed to enter and leave Hezhou." Xifeng said.
The more refugees there are, the more likely it is that there will be chaos, fighting and theft, and if we are not careful, it may even lead to riots.
In previous years, the refugees released by the yamen were all provided relief by the Lu family. The prefect was naturally willing to take advantage of this in order to achieve political achievements. However, the situation this year was different from previous years. It would be best to get away with it if possible. Avoiding chaos was the best policy. The prefect of Hezhou was probably also very worried.
Xie Tingzhou lowered his eyes slightly, hiding half of the firelight. He said, "Expand the scouts' reconnaissance range by another ten miles."
Xifeng didn't understand at once, but still said, "Yes."
Chen Yu turned her head to look at Xie Tingzhou, "The governor of Hezhou released us because he didn't want to cause trouble. With his temper, he will definitely write to Shengjing to sever ties with us."
"That's not all." Xie Tingzhou fiddled with the fire nonchalantly. "He's afraid that other places will come to attack us, so he might have spread the news that we left Hezhou in order to divert the battle line away from Hezhou."
Xifeng understood, nodded and said, "I'll arrange it later."
People with deep thoughts are good at understanding people's hearts, and people who have experienced calculations are also better at calculating. Xie Tingzhou has both of these qualities. His mind is more meticulous than that of ordinary people, and it is difficult for them to keep up with his pace.
Only the Crown Prince's wife seemed to be able to understand each other's thoughts with just a glance.
As Xifeng was thinking about it, his eyes couldn't help but fall on Shen Yu, until he noticed an unfriendly look and quickly lowered his head.
Xie Tingzhou's possessiveness was extraordinary and grew day by day, especially after he came out of the ancestral hall that night.
He regarded Chen Yu as his own territory, and any gaze should stop outside his territory.
Xifeng was terrified. At that moment, he felt as if a cheetah had grabbed his neck.
Xie Tingzhou retracted his gaze and changed the subject, "Where's Changliu? Hasn't he come back yet?"
Changliu and several brothers from Qingyunwei went into the city to gather information. As winter approached, it got dark earlier. Now it was already dark, but the people had not returned yet. They were afraid that they had encountered some trouble in the city.
Xi Feng said: "Your Highness, don't worry.
Most likely he was playing around and forgot the time."
"Send someone to pick her up," said Xie Tingzhou.
Xifeng called someone over and gave him some instructions.
After Xie Tingzhou finished listening, his eyes slanted, and he saw Shen Yu stretching both hands to the fire to warm them, and he reached out and held her hands in his palms, "Why are your hands so cold?"
"It's cold." Chen Yu said gloomily.
Xifeng didn't dare to look up, and it would be better if he could cover his ears.
"Is it this cold in previous years?" Xie Tingzhou caressed her gently, pressing the warmest part of his palm against her coldest fingertips.
His hands weren't very hot, only his palms were warm.
Seeing her frown, Xie Tingzhou asked, "Why are you frowning? Do you think my hands are not warm enough?"
"No." Chen Yu shook her head, thought for a moment and said, "It's getting cold, and many people will starve to death or freeze to death again."
Xie Tingzhou did not respond. His expression remained calm, but there was a cloud of worry in his eyes.
Xie Tingzhou: "Xi Feng."
Xifeng was originally planning to escape secretly. He stood up halfway, still in a half-squatting position, but was stopped.
"Tomorrow morning, send someone to the city to buy a hot water bottle," said Xie Tingzhou.
Xifeng quickly responded and was about to leave when he heard a burst of laughter. It was Changliu who had returned.
Changliu rode over and called out to the two of them happily, "Crown Prince, Crown Princess."
Xie Tingzhou didn't look at him and asked, "What did you find out?"
"Yes, there are." Chang Liu said, "Now everyone in the city knows that Shengjing has issued a manifesto. I listened to it for a long time in the teahouse. The common people are not bad. They don't lean towards Shengjing. Many people even praise our prince's consort."
"What did you praise?" Xie Tingzhou became interested.
Chang Liu opened up the conversation, "They say our Crown Prince's Consort is as brave as any man, and that she can fight foreign enemies on the battlefield. They say that she is the first female military officer in the Great Zhou, and that she can suppress bandits and protect the emperor."
"What else?"
"No." Chang Liu blinked and said, "Then the people in the teahouse started arguing. The people on the other side said that they were not protecting the emperor at all, but fled the capital because they failed to usurp the throne. I was so angry that I wanted to beat them up, but I was worried about exposing my whereabouts. So I had to wait for them to leave and then put a sack on them and beat them up in the alley."
Xie Tingzhou said: "Then you are smart."
Chang Liu heard the hidden meaning and lowered his head and said, "Well, not very smart either."
Xie Tingzhou looked at Chang Liu leisurely, "I asked you to get information, and you went to listen to all this noise?"
Chang Liu waved his hands hurriedly, "No, no, there is something else. It is said that people from all over the country have begun to gather, especially the mountain bandits, who are now recruiting people and say they want to unite to attack us."
Chang Liu snorted unhappily and said angrily, "I think they themselves are the ones who should be attacked."
"That's why they want to attack us." Chen Yu said without a smile, "Once they succeed in the attack, they can transform from bandits to righteous soldiers, and perhaps even be formally incorporated into the army, thus clearing their name."
Changliu let out a long “Oh” and said, “They have a good idea. We won’t give them such an opportunity.”
Xie Tingzhou looked calm, but he was not as relaxed as he appeared. "Have you finished reporting?"
Changliu blinked, "I've finished reporting."
"Then kneel down for an hour."
Chang Liu didn't know why, but he still knelt down slowly, raised his head and asked: "Why?"
Xie Tingzhou ignored him and took Chen Yu's hand and stood up.
Chang Liu took a few steps on his knees, his robe rustling against the ground, "Crown Princess..."
Chen Yu turned her head halfway, but was pulled back by Xie Tingzhou.
He turned around and said, "Do you think the Crown Prince's Consort is soft-hearted and easy to manipulate? It's no use begging her. Kneel down and kneel for a full hour before getting up."
"No." Chang Liu shrank his neck, "I brought something back for the Crown Princess, but I haven't given it to her yet."
Xie Tingzhou asked: "What is it?"
Chang Liu pulled out an oil-paper bag from his bosom and said innocently, "It's pineapple cakes. Didn't you say that the Crown Prince's Consort likes to eat them?"
He patted the oil paper and said thankfully, "Fortunately it wasn't crushed."
Xie Tingzhou paused, then raised his chin and said, "Give it to me."
Chang Liu walked forward on his knees. Xie Tingzhou frowned, "Broken leg? Don't you know how to stand up and send him off?"
"Okay." Chang Liu quickly got up, walked over and handed the oil paper bag to the prince, lowered his head and stared at the ground, not daring to speak.
The feet disappeared from sight and the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Changliu then raised his head, but saw that the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were no longer there, so he turned to look at Xifeng.
"Then what does your highness mean? Should I continue kneeling or not? And why do you want to punish me to kneel?"
Xi Feng knocked on his head and said, "I asked you to get information, not to go out and play. The prince was worried that something might happen to you, so he asked me to send someone to pick you up, but you ended up going into the city to fight."
Chang Liu pursed his lips and said, "Our Crown Prince's Consort is the best in the world. I just can't stand them saying bad things about her."
"No need to kneel." Xi Feng said, "His Highness asked you to stand up and send him off, which means you don't have to kneel. Fortunately, you are smart and know that coaxing the Crown Prince's Consort is coaxing His Highness."
"No." Chang Liu said dissatisfiedly, "I really remembered to buy pineapple cakes for the Crown Prince's wife. Besides, I didn't know that the Crown Prince would punish me by making me kneel."
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