Red Autumn Chapter (IV)
The two servants following Bian Hongqiu were named Qin He and Qiu He.
Qin He saw Bian Hongqiu stop and tied the cloak he had been holding in his hand on him.
On the other side, Qiu He stretched his head forward and asked, "Are you swimming?"
He couldn't figure out what it was, and didn't understand why Fushui had a rope around his waist. Qinhe knew more, saying, "Maybe he's going to collect pearls."
Bian Hongqiu raised one brow slightly.
His dressing box contained many pearl jewels, but he was not a womanizer, and by nature he wasn't fond of coquettishness. He would often glance at them and pass them by. Hengbo had chosen everything for him, and he knew very little about how the pearls came into his dressing box. He took a few steps forward, resting his hand on the side of the boat. "Aren't pearls caught in the sea?"
Some wealthy states do have pearl farms, but none of them can compare to those caught naturally from the sea.
Qin He stood behind Bian Hongqiu and said, "Your Highness, you may not know that the waters around Ming Hunzhou originally produced the finest pearls of the Yu Dynasty. However, ever since the establishment of 'Life-Buying Fortune', that area has become a notorious 'pile of dead bodies'. The sea has become polluted, making it difficult to even enter the water, let alone find pearls. Therefore, those who fish for pearls will search outwards, all the way to Daohai City."
Qiu He was still with Song Jingyan in the morning. He squinted his eyes, looked carefully at the person who floated up from the water again, and exclaimed "Hey" in surprise.
"Isn't that General Xi?"
He boldly walked over to Bian Hongqiu, looked him over again, and after a moment confirmed, "It's General Xi!"
Qin He was annoyed by his sudden jumpiness, and was even more afraid that Bian Hongqiu would blame him, so she reached out to pull his sleeve and whispered, "What's wrong?"
Qiu He then realized how outrageous his behavior was and quickly stepped back, muttering, or explaining to Bian Hongqiu: "With General Xi's status, he can have any kind of pearls he wants? Yet he has to go into the water to get them himself. Besides..." He counted Xi Zhongting's movements of getting on the boat and in the water back and forth, thinking to himself: Besides, this General Xi doesn't look like a good swimmer.
Bian Hongqiu understood Xi Zhongting's actions, but was somewhat uninterested.
With this interruption, all the thoughts that had been tossing and turning before he left the room disappeared. The cold wind from the river blew into his ears, and he finally felt sleepy. "Let's go back."
The next day, he got up before dawn.
This was the time he used to attend morning classes in Shangyang. While he had plenty of people around him to pamper him, manage him, and admonish him, the reality was that people with these kinds of mindsets were of little use. He wasn't known for enduring hardship, and his calligraphy practice was only superficial. When he went to the shooting range to practice his bow, those around him would pity him if they saw him make a small mistake, and he would go along with it. But he wasn't particularly extravagant or dissolute. The Liang Palace had adopted many orphans, and Bian Hongqiu grew up with them. Song Jingyan arranged for a teacher to teach them in the study, and Bian Hongqiu never slacked off by being late or leaving early.
The reason he has lived to this day and grown into what he is today is probably half due to the help of others and half due to his own little bit of self-awareness.
Song Jingyan knocked on the door the moment Hengbo finished dressing him up.
When she met Hengbo face to face, she remembered that this was not a rising trend. She didn't need to go to the study to listen to the teacher's lecture to Bian Hongqiu. Bian Hongqiu had been ill some time ago, and her habit had been temporarily suspended.
Bian Hongqiu was also a little uncomfortable with the days when he didn't have to attend morning classes, so he simply mentioned to Song Jingyan what he saw last night.
He didn't go out of his way to explain why he went on deck last night. Song Jingyan knew everything about him.
This was a tacit understanding between Bian Hongqiu and Song Jingyan. Even though Bian Hongqiu knew that Song Jingyan knew everything, when he told the servants "Don't disturb my sister", Song Jingyan knew that he didn't want her to interfere.
Therefore, Song Jingyan did not ask him why he did not sleep at night, but confirmed Qin He's words: "He is collecting pearls."
Bian Hongqiu poured out all the books in the bookcase and asked, "Because the pearls outside Daohai City are the best pearls in Dayu right now?"
Song Jingyan knelt on one side, watching Bian Hongqiu rummaging through the pile of books.
"Well, I guess I want to give the best pearl to my sweetheart."
Hearing this, Bian Hongqiu turned his head.
Hengbo, who was sorting jewelry at the dressing table, immediately put down what she was holding and rushed to Song Jingyan's side. "Sister, you probably don't know these people well, so how do you know he's giving it to his sweetheart?"
Song Jingyan still had that calm expression on her face, and it didn't look like she was talking about other people's love affairs at all.
"It's just a guess."
She spoke a few words indifferently, then felt her meaning was unclear, so she continued, "Xi Zhongting once accompanied the current emperor incognito on a tour of twelve states, painting eleven maps of the people's conditions. He presented them at the previous emperor's birthday banquet. The one he didn't paint was Ming Hunzhou. According to news from the banquet that night, he did paint a picture of Ming Hunzhou, but the one he did paint is of a young girl with bright eyes and a charming expression."
"In the past, Hunzhou in the Ming Dynasty was a place rich in pearls. Therefore, when a man got married, he had to give a pearl he had personally caught as a betrothal gift to show his sincerity."
Hengbo exclaimed, "Ah!" and blurted out his thoughts, "He's originally from the capital, so how can he really adapt to local customs? How could such a fearless wolf be worried about not being able to marry someone?"
"But Ming Hunzhou has been self-proclaimed for so long, and every year there are so many... 'life-buying treasures'." She paused, saw Bian Hongqiu lowering his head to search for the notes he had written on the scroll, and saw Song Jingyan's indifferent glance at him. She felt a pang of anger in her heart, but she finished her words: "Who knows if his sweetheart is still there."
Song Jingyan didn't like talking about other people's affairs. She dismissed Hengbo with a few words. Seeing the bright sunshine outside the boat, she asked Bian Hongqiu, "Your Highness, are you still going out for a walk today?"
Bian Hongqiu was bored and didn't know how to kill time. He wanted to nod, but when he recalled what happened yesterday, he hesitated.
Song Jingyan said at the right moment: "It shouldn't be a problem to ask Qin He and Qiu He to follow His Highness."
Bian Hongqiu thought about it, but still longed for the sunshine outside, so he slowly nodded.
Today, he wore a moon-white skirt, the hem still adorned with remarkably luxurious embroidery. Although he had no guards behind him, Qin He and Qiu He held him close. After a group of men with gleaming green eyes followed him, Qin He whipped out the knife hidden by her wide sleeves at her waist, instantly scaring them away. Bian Hongqiu continued to walk along the street, unaware of what was happening.
Daohai City is much more prosperous than the desolate Shangyang.
On the one hand, Shangyang is a place bordering on barbarians, and wars have to be fought from time to time. No matter what fancy and majestic things are designed in the city, they may all be burned down after defeat. It is better to save some money and food. On the other hand, even if Minghunzhou is closed, there are still many people who risk their lives to travel back and forth. Some people have the idea of retreating when they reach here, or those who have lost half their lives and left Minghunzhou have settled in Daohai City nearby.
All four regions are in ruins, but Daohai City is still somewhat presentable.
Bian Hongqiu would take a second look at anything new and interesting, but he was not a true "country bumpkin" after all. He would only look with curiosity and then look away politely, leaving the stall owners unsure whether he was interested or not.
Qin He and Qiu He also knew their limits. As long as Bian Hongqiu didn't say a word, they would not take things away on their own initiative to please him.
When they reached the middle of the sunlight, Qin He stepped forward to persuade Bian Hongqiu to go back for dinner, but Bian Hongqiu stopped first.
They didn't go far from where the ship docked, which was one of the several docks in Daohai City.
Even with a slight breeze, the sun was blazing, making one slick with sweat. A dozen steps ahead of where Bian Hongqiu had stopped, his face, a face etched with the sardonic expression of someone looking for trouble yesterday, now stood before the empty river, swaying his body, thinner than a bean sprout, capable of carrying two large sacks of goods at a time, his whole body bursting with strength more astonishing than that of an average adult man. The other person passed by him, panting, seemingly not recognizing him as the pink butterfly from yesterday.
Bian Hongqiu glanced sideways and saw that the other person's disabled right hand was shaking non-stop.
With a few thuds, Meng Shizhuang roughly dropped the goods. Noticing his unsightly, unused hands, he pulled out a pre-prepared headband from his bosom, casually twisted his five fingers together, and, holding his palm in a defined arc, walked back to the dock. Then, he bent down and placed his right palm against the side of the sack. Unsure how to exert force, a large bulge rose from his right shoulder blade. With a muffled grunt, he successfully shoved the goods onto his shoulder.
Qin He called out to Bian Hongqiu several times but got no response. He followed Bian Hongqiu's gaze and said, "Your Highness, this person must have been practicing martial arts since childhood."
Bian Hongqiu nodded slightly, his eyes still on Meng Shizhuang's right palm, and the words "You broke my hand" that the other party said when blackmailing him rang in his ears.
When he brought Qin He and Qiu He back to the boat, he thought they had missed lunch, but unexpectedly, Song Jingyan had just finished discussing something with someone and had not yet told the servant to eat.
Bian Hongqiu was not very hungry. After greeting other subordinates, he went back to his room to wait.
He didn't miss the evasive looks these people gave him.
If that look could make expressions, it would probably turn into a long sigh.
It's a rather familiar feeling.
He would display this attitude whenever there was something he needed to know or decide, and others believed deep down that he would mess it up.
What Song Jingyan said to him yesterday was simply that she hoped Bian Hongqiu would not be too soft-hearted.
Long ago, Bian Hongqiu didn't think being soft-hearted was a problem. But after his soft-heartedness repeatedly caused him to make mistakes, his indecision became his greatest weakness. He hesitated, and even when he opened his eyes to take a breath, he wanted to ask Song Jingyan what to do. But his heart always had its own voice—because Song Jingyan had never suppressed him.
Even if she sometimes reminds you in a subtle or silent way before or after the event.
But as long as the result goes wrong, Bian Hongqiu's "indecision" will become more and more important.
To this day——
Bian Hongqiu could no longer tell whether these people were hiding things from him because they thought he couldn't handle the decisions, or whether he just wanted to shirk responsibility by nature.
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