章節 51: Return of the General
When Shangguan Rui returned home from the academy, he heard from the wet nurse that An Jinxiu and Zi Yuan had not come back yet, so Shangguan Rui didn't think too much about it.
After saying a few words to Shangguan Ning, who ran out of the room to greet him, Shangguan Rui brought Shangguan Ning inside to see if she was awake or not.
Seeing that Shangguan Rui had returned, the wet nurse went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family.
By dusk, the nanny had already busied herself with dinner. More than a dozen farmers, who had rented land and cultivated in the villages outside the city, came to deliver the rent to their families.
Shangguan Rui let these farmers in. It was Shangguan Rui's idea to rent out the land to the ethnic group. Now that the peasants had sent money over, Shangguan Rui let out a small sigh of relief. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to collect the money while renting the house, so he didn't have to worry about this business anymore.
While calling the farmers to sit in the front hall, Shangguan Rui told the nanny to cook some more food so Shangguan Ning could go to his room and watch over his Ping An. It was already time for dinner. Since the farmers had come, Shangguan Rui couldn't let them go hungry.
The oldest farmer named Wang followed behind Shangguan Rui and refused, "Second Master need not be polite, the juniors can go back and eat."
Shangguan Rui said, "Elder Wang, don't be modest and stay here for dinner before leaving."
Old man Wang thought for a while and then explained to Shangguan Rui," Second master, the youngsters didn't choose this spot.
Shangguan Rui smiled and waved at old man Wang first, then said: "You're only thinking highly of me. You should eat your fill today before leaving."
Old man Wang didn't say anything else about leaving. After chatting for a while, An Jinxiu still hadn't come out. He asked, "Is the Madam Shangguan here today?"
Shangguan Rui said: "She went to burn incense today. Elder Wang, you said that the city gate is being searched".
Elder Wang and the villagers shook their heads. "We don't know either. We only know that there are more soldiers at the city gate today."
A thought flashed through Shangguan Rui's mind. Yuan Yi and Yuan Wei just left today, could it be that the government is going to arrest them again at this time? However, Shangguan Rui did not think too much about it. Yuan Yi and Yuan Wei had already left the capital. Even if the imperial government sent another search through the entire city, he had nothing to be afraid of.
The nanny thought of preparing food for a dozen people at a time, and she could not manage it alone. Therefore, the wet nurse called Shangguan Rui out of the front hall and said, "Second Master, can I get a few neighbors to help with the cooking?"
Shangguan Rui took some money from his clothes and gave it to the nurse, saying, "When you go to hire someone, bring back some food and wine."
The nurse agreed to go.
Shangguan Rui looked up and saw the raindrops falling from the sky. Shangguan Rui was too annoyed by the recent rainy weather. When could the heavens let him enjoy the sun for a while?
When Shangguan Rui returned to the front hall and sat down to talk and wait for food, it started to rain harder and harder outside. Some farmers took the initiative to talk about the recent weather. The constant downpour was not a good thing for their farming. Although Shangguan Rui was a reader of the Book of Virtue, he was also interested in farming. He could talk with the dozen or so people who faced the sky while facing the earth all day long.
The nurse went to the street to buy a lot of food and wine, and then went to a neighboring house to get help. Shangguan home was in an old alley south of the city. Although she wasn't the old neighbor here, she had a good relationship with their neighbors. When the nanny asked for help, the women next door all agreed and came.
For a moment, the Shangguan Family was bustling with noise. It was completely different from the quiet that could only be heard when Shangguan Rui was reading.
"Big brother!" At this time, Shangguan Ning who also woke up from her dream. In the dream, when her brother came back, he brought her a bag full of pastries, which made her drool in her dreams. She looked around, then ran to the door and looked outside, she confirmed that she was just dreaming, after realizing that his big brother Shangguan Yong didn't come back, Shangguan Ning suddenly felt like crying, she really wanted to be with her big brother.
At this time, Shangguan Yong, who was being missed by his little sister, walked through the rain to the south gate of the capital. Seeing that there were a lot more soldiers in front of the city gates than usual, Shangguan Yong stopped walking and did not move forward.
On the way from Xiang An city to the capital, Shangguan Yong had encountered six groups of people who wanted to kill him. The sixth group of people he had met yesterday had killed all of his war horses. Shangguan Yong did not need to think about who wanted to kill him. He had never offended anyone, and the only thing he had was the account book that the messenger king had given him. Besides Marquis Le An, no one else would be so anxious to take his life at this time.
Shangguan Yong turned around and walked towards the back. He found a tea shop not far from the capital and sat down, ordering a bowl of hot tea and a plate of white noodle soup. The way the soldiers in front of the city gate were carefully searching everyone who entered the city made Shangguan Yong suspicious. Who knew if these people were looking for him? The register was the evidence against the empress and crown prince. Besides the Emperor, who else in the capital could surpass these two? Shangguan Yong was forcing himself to eat his fill first. Even if he had to fight with his life on the line later, he still had the strength to fight with someone else.
After Shangguan Yong had finished eating a plate of six big steamed buns, a team of patrolling city guards walked past the tea shop.
As usual, the tea shop owner stood outside the tea shop and greeted, "Would the military officials like some tea and snacks?"
The leader of the military officers glared at the boss. These businessmen clearly knew that they, who were on duty, couldn't stop eating and drinking, but they still had to shout every time.
The boss wasn't afraid of being stared at by the field officer, but he still stood outside the tea shop with a smile.
After glaring at the boss, the field officer glanced at the boss' teahouse. Because it was raining, there were a lot of people eating in the boss' teahouse to avoid the rain. Among these people, the field officer saw Shangguan Yong immediately.
"Elder Brother Shangguan?" The commanding officer quickly called Shangguan Yong.
Shangguan Yong turned around and saw that the person who entered the tea shop was the Zhang family's third son, who was separated from his family by a wall. This young man was recommended by him to the City Defense Army. Seeing this little brother, Shangguan Yong felt that there was hope for him to sneak into the capital without anyone noticing." "Little Hua," Shangguan Yong also called out to the field officer.
"Big Brother, you're back?" Zhang Hua sat on the stool next to Shangguan Yong and said: "Is the war at White Jade Pass over?"
Shangguan Yong shook his head and said: "I came from Fengzhou and was about to enter the city."
Zhang Hua hurriedly said, "Ah, I heard that it was General Zhou who took down Xiang An city. So Big Brother went to Fengzhou with General Zhou to smooth out the rebellion."
"Mm," Shangguan Yong said, "Is everything alright in the city recently?"
"I'm fine." Zhang Hua took a sip of the tea Shangguan Yong had pushed to him, saying, "It's just that there's an additional team of soldiers guarding the gates today, why haven't you told us which team they are on?"
"That's weird," Shangguan Yong said. "You guys ran outside of the city's defense wall"
Zhang Hua walked up to Shangguan Yong and said in a low voice: "We really haven't seen this group of people before, they're all guessing that it's the army from the imperial palace, and even saying that something was lost in the palace."
Shangguan Yong drank a mouthful of tea, just now he didn't enter the city. Seems like he had escaped calamity, "Don't spout nonsense." After swallowing the tea, Shangguan Yong even taught Zhang Hua, "Are we allowed to talk about matters related to the palace? "Don't say anymore, you don't want this head anymore?" Shangguan Yong pointed at Zhang Hua's head.
Zhang Hua scratched his head. The officer smiled and said, "Didn't I just tell you?"
"Let me follow you into the city," Shangguan Yong said at this time, "Do those soldiers still want to search me?"
Zhang Hua patted his chest and said, "Just follow me, big brother. Those people can't care less about my head!"
Shangguan Yong threw some more money on the table and said: "Buy some food for your brothers."
"No need," Zhang Hua pushed the money into Shangguan Yong's glass, "I'll ask big brother."
"Boss." Shangguan Yong turned around and called the boss over. He didn't care what Zhang Hua was saying, he told the boss to wrap a crate of steamed bread and a pound of dried beef.
Zhang Hua refused, taking the food that Shangguan Yong had bought. Seeing that Shangguan Yong wasn't wearing a raincoat, he asked his men to bring a spare set of raincoat over for him to wear.
Shangguan Yong put on his raincoat and walked with Zhang Hua in the team. When they arrived at the south city gate, Shangguan Yong pulled down the hat on his raincoat, trying his best to not let others see his face.
Some of the soldiers guarding the city gate greeted Zhang Hua when they saw his return.
Zhang Hua clasped his hands at them.
As for the soldiers who might have come from the inner palace, they were still standing in the rain with cold expressions on their faces. The leader asked Zhang Hua, "Commander Zhang, is everything alright outside the city?"
Zhang Hua wanted to say that this was under the watch of the Emperor, who would come here to cause trouble if they were tired of living? However, after thinking that this person might have come from the royal family, he retracted his teasing words and honestly replied, "Everything is as it should be."
"How many of you are out?" the man asked again.
Shangguan Yong's heart skipped a beat, his hand tightened on the sabre hanging at his waist.
Just as Zhang Hua was about to speak, a caravan came from behind them. Hearing his voice, they could still hear his voice. The person who was interrogating Zhang Hua was immediately distracted by the accent. He brought his subordinates to welcome the caravan.
Zhang Hua still wanted to watch the show, but Shangguan Yong urged him: "Let's go into the city."
Zhang Hua didn't know if Shangguan Yong was a public servant or a visitor, but thinking that his big brother could spend a few days with this beautiful sister-in-law, he smiled and said: "Big brother is in a hurry to meet sister-in-law?"
When Shangguan Yong heard Zhang Hua mention An Jinxiu, his heart ached. He was afraid that he would implicate her.
"Let's enter the city." Zhang Hua didn't know what Shangguan Yong was thinking at the moment, so he waved his hand and called out to his men.
A group of people entered the capital. Behind them, a group of soldiers and officials were investigating the people within the caravan. They were not concerned about the movements of Zhang Hua's group at all.
After Shangguan Yong walked into the capital city, he parted ways with Zhang Hua, who led his men to patrol the streets and alleys of the Southern Capital City. Shangguan Yong stood in the street blankly for a while, then entered the city safely.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票