She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

The secret guards around the prince kill people quickly and clear the area quickly.

After Yun Cheng distributed the silver, his face immediately fell and he drove away all the people who were still breathing from a few miles away.

Hengzhi's words just now kept repeating over and over again, echoing in A's mind like the sound of a bell.

It's over, Ah-yi thought.

If you hadn't been greedy for five taels of silver today, you, Cui Yi, wouldn't have ended up like this.

At this moment, Lian A's tombstone was even designed for herself, with a few words engraved on it: "Let future generations mourn and learn from this, and do not bow down for five taels of silver."

Her thoughts wandered, and she even briefly forgot that there was someone in front of her, staring at her intently.

Hengzhi was much taller than A'ao, and when she looked up at him, his face looked somewhat scary in the shadow.

The knife moved away from Ah's neck, and Hengqi raised his hand and easily put it back into the sheath. "Tell me, why don't you stay here to mourn for others instead of being the apple of your eye? My father's life is worthless, and he can't afford the mourning clothes of Princess Xuancheng."

How on earth did he know?
Ah-yi gritted her teeth and said nonsense, "I don't understand what the adults are saying. I am just a worthless person, how can I be a princess?"

Hengzhi looked at her carefully.

Ah-yi had her black hair tied up high, her almond-shaped eyes were still swollen, and the tips of her ears were red from the cold. She was so thin that she looked like a pear blossom hit by rain.

Even though her mourning clothes were stained with mud, she did not look shabby. The stark white cloth added a touch of elegance to her.

"How much money did Mr. Zhao give you to come and cry at the funeral?" Heng Zhi bent down slightly.

The rain-beaten pear blossom immediately withdrew and crouched, staring at him sharply. His breath was so close that she couldn't help but lean back.

All he had lacked was to curse “stay away from me” in his face in a sonorous and powerful voice.

Ah-yi couldn't stand his oppressive tone. She grabbed the hemp ropes on the hem of her clothes, and because of her nervousness, she pulled them into tassels.

"Five taels of silver per person, he said just keep crying until the funeral."

Her voice was not loud, and even had a noticeable nasal tone after crying for a while.

The forced calmness made Hengzhi finally remember that the princess was born on the Lantern Festival night in the twenty-third year of Huishu, and she was only seventeen years old.

Huishu was the reign title of her grandfather Emperor Wu'an. At that time, her father was still the crown prince, and the birth of a new baby in the palace made Emperor Wu'an very happy. He thought it was a good omen for the new year, so he held a grand Lantern Festival in the capital and the whole country celebrated together.

The princess was given the name Yuanning.

After that, she disappeared from the world's sight.

No matter how much she was loved, in the eyes of the emperor, she was just a daughter and could not contribute to the great cause of the ancestors.

Until about a year ago, the current emperor, the princess's uncle, personally issued a wanted order, announcing that the princess had escaped secretly and ordering anyone who saw her to report it immediately.

For a moment, there was an uproar in all four regions.

Hearing that the princess had disappeared after entering Kezhou, Hengzhi had been secretly tracking her for a long time. He actually caught her on the day of his father's funeral. He was lucky.

Rather than coming here to kill General Zhao, it would be more accurate to say that he came here for her.

A few days ago, when Hengzhi was still in mourning, the palace eunuch Xue Ping suddenly came in person. Xue Ping was the most powerful eunuch around the current emperor. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he was appointed as the Changqiu Supervisor. When it came to the errands he personally handled, nine out of ten were not good.

This time it was no exception.

He first expressed his condolences earnestly, and then used rhetoric to embellish the emperor's grief, asking Hengzhi to accept the emperor's grace. After the nonsense was over, he talked about business.

The new emperor issued an order, saying that a painting of the emperor hunting that he loved was lost in the north, and ordered Hengzhi to find the painting within three months and send it to the capital by express horse.

This move also had other intentions, but Hengzhi knew it very well.

He will soon take the throne and become the new Marquis of Zhao. The power of the Heng family is in the three roads of Kezhou, and it is very useful. The new emperor did not take the throne by his own ability. The court is currently facing internal and external troubles, and the grasslands further north are still eyeing the fertile land of the Central Plains.

There was no peace in Dachong. In the north, there was the grasslands of Kezhou Town, and in the west, Yuanzhou and Shuzhong were both based on their own interests. Shuzhong had long been rebellious. This formed a stable triangle of forces. Dachong had been established for a long time, and the forces in the capital were complex and could not withstand any war.

The new emperor now wants to pick a soft persimmon to squeeze to establish his authority, so he can only find Hengzhi, the wolf cub who just lost his father. If you want to protect Kezhou, you can't go against the new emperor.

Coincidentally, Hengzhi does have this painting.

Heng Qi was addicted to alcohol and sex, and spent money like water. This funeral was thanks to those good uncles, who spent three years' military pay for his patrol battalion.

The army in the palace was extremely poor, but the market value of this painting was extremely high. They had originally planned to train the troops after the funeral, so they pawned the painting to get some funds.

Hengzhi spent the whole night looking at the accounts yesterday and was so worried that he had a headache. Even if the trade was prosperous, it couldn't withstand such expenses.

By selling this painting, at least we can provide compensation for the disabled without having to spend money from the government.

Therefore, I didn't want to hand over the painting anymore.

But if he didn't hand it over, he would have to bear the wrath of the new emperor. Although the new emperor was not as sullen and suspicious as the previous one, he was also unpredictable and not a wise ruler.

If he said that he had not found the painting, he could have taken the princess back with him. Moreover, if he personally pleaded his case and expressed his grief over the recent death of his father, he would at most receive a light punishment.

This matter will pass.

But it seems that the princess is not a bird in a cage, and he cannot hand her over at will.

Gotta take it slow.

Seeing that Hengzhi ignored her for a long time, Ah'ao thought that he had believed it, so she reached out to his personal guard to get the silver.

But when the money was sent to her, her purse was empty. Ah-yi looked up and stared at the guard holding the empty purse, whose face showed that it was none of her business.

Don't be too ridiculous, such a rotten fate?

"Let's make a deal, Your Highness? You stay and I'll let them go." Hengzhi was high and mighty, and he didn't care at all even though Ah's expression was getting uglier and uglier.

The noble princess didn't seem to understand that her outstanding temperament could be seen at a glance even in a crowd of people.

She didn't know how much effort and suffering she had to endure to escape from the capital to Kezhou. She thought that no one would recognize her in such a northern land, but Hengzhi showed up halfway and ruined everything.

She clenched her hands into fists under her sleeves. Even the pain of her nails digging into her flesh could not offset the anger in her heart.

But she still gave in.

For the friends behind her who took care of her like a family member.

She nodded slightly as a compromise.

"I'll pay you, come here." After letting everyone go, Hengzhi found it interesting that she was still gritting her teeth in anger.

Ah'an turned around and looked.

The people around had indeed left, and the personal guard who had just escorted Mrs. Zhou and the others was probably about to leave the forest.

A'an looked at him warily.

Seeing that she didn't move, Hengzhi raised his hand again.

"Then why do you go to so much trouble to keep me here?" A'er walked closer and took the silver from his hand.

Hengzhi chuckled and was about to put on a amiable expression to discuss some serious matters with her.

The idea of ​​licking blood from the tip of a knife suddenly took shape in A's mind.

Before Hengzhi even had the time to retract his hand, Ah'ao was like a nimble fish in the water. She raised her other hand to grab the dirt she had just grabbed, and while Hengzhi was dazzled, she turned around and ran away!

Even just a moment ago, I was talking to him nicely.

She was holding her dress, running as fast as the soldiers in the army who were training to attack the city. Heng Zhi only had time to turn his head to avoid it, and she had already rolled down the small slope and disappeared without a trace.

Hengzhi: “…” Transformed from a rabbit?
She was so angry that she laughed. Hengzhi was even worried about scaring her, so he sent everyone around him away.

He was alone, standing in the wind, calm.

The personal guard Yun Cheng came trotting over, weighing whether to give chase or not.

"want."

People shouldn't be too idle.

After running for four or five miles, they ran into a deserted farmland. Ah-yi turned back, panting, and saw the prince still riding his horse, without anyone else, following leisurely behind.

A'ao sighed, thinking that she had underestimated the situation just now. If they had tried to steal a horse, they would have already left Kezhou by now.

Crying is very exhausting. I haven't eaten for a day and now I can't run. It's freezing cold and the mourning clothes are not cold-resistant. Ah's eyes went dark and she saw no hope. She simply sat down on a big rock. All around her were dead crops. It was quite appropriate.

Hengzhi didn't even speed up, and after a while, the horse finally came to A'ao.

"What exactly do you want to do?" A'an was really curious.

In the sky that was about to darken, Hengzhi, dressed in black, stroked the horse's long mane, with a few unringing bells hanging underneath. "Nothing to do, I've never seen the princess before, just take a look."

He raised his eyes and spoke in such an arrogant tone that his words seemed surprisingly serious.

Ah-yi couldn't believe it.

Could it be that Kezhou's iron wall was built with his face?

"Now that you've seen it, can you let me go?" She said patiently, even smiling.

As he said this, Hengzhi tied up his horse and walked up to her.

The person in front of her bent down slightly again. A'ao looked at the facial features getting closer and closer, and couldn't help but shrink back.

"No. Who told you to run away?"

Okay, you have the guts.

If it weren't for the fact that the man in front of me was quite good-looking, even if I couldn't run away today, I would scratch his face and die with him.

A'ao stared at Hengzhi, and Hengzhi looked at A'ao.

She was really not satisfied, so she suddenly pointed behind Hengzhi and shouted, "Look!" She wanted to take advantage of the fact that he didn't know why and turned around to punch him first.

However, once this trick has been used, it is no longer used.

Hengzhi didn't react just now, if he uses it again now, he will be walking into a trap.

Sure enough, before Ah'ao threw her fist, she felt her wrist tighten, and it was a little painful.

There was a sneer above her head, and she couldn't help but look down. There was a silver lock the size of a thumbnail hanging on her thin white wrist. The other end was slowly being held in Hengzhi's hand.

"I'm watching." Hengzhi said indifferently, locking the silver chain on the bridle. "That's it, idiot." He raised his chin slightly, and trampled on Ah's backbone again, "If you dare to run again, I will find someone to write a story about the princess crying at my father's grave and spread it out, and perform it in the restaurant every day."

At the end, he added, "And we have to distribute it door to door."

If there is thunder tonight, Hengzhi will be struck to death first.

Ah-yi had completely accepted her fate. If she continued to run, she might be exhausted to death. If she went back with him, she would just be captured and taken back to the capital, and she would have a way to escape again by then.

"What? You're not going to take off this dress yet?" The scoundrel walked back pulling the chain, feeling uncomfortable with her clothes no matter how he looked at them.

The wide white sleeves covered the silver chain on Ah-yi's wrist, and when she was tied to the horse, Ah-yi did not dare to run. This horse was a fierce horse from the north, and its personality was the same as Heng-yi's, it was extremely wild, and being dragged by it could kill someone on the spot.

"It's cold. Don't you see what kind of weather your father was buried in?" His tone was sarcastic, and he had only learned a little from him at most.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't wait. Change it." Heng Qi looked at her. She would fall down if the wind blew. He took off his outer robe and handed it to her. "Just make do with it. I'll ask someone to buy you two thicker ones when we get home."

Ah-yi was not polite at all, and threw the coarse linen mourning clothes on the ground, as if throwing away her unhappy mood along with it, and it floated away to who knows where in the autumn wind. Heng-chi's long robe was still warm, but it had narrow sleeves and looked out of place when worn.

"Your father's funeral is underway, and you're fighting and killing like this. It's not good, is it?" Ah'ao finally couldn't help asking when she saw Hengzhi leading the horse in front.

Hengzhi had a broad back and walked straight, showing that he was well-educated. Ah-yi looked at his neck and shoulders that were about to disappear into the twilight, and for some reason, she suddenly felt a little lonely.

Maybe it’s because of the autumn wind, maybe it’s because of the weather.

"Nothing. He was addicted to alcohol and women, and wasn't much of a human being." He didn't look back, and continued his narration in a nonchalant manner, as if he was used to it.

It turns out that he also has a jerk of a father. Ah-yi sighed inwardly, and her dissatisfaction with Heng-chi was somewhat alleviated because she felt that they shared the same suffering.

"Then your father is really a piece of shit."

After Ah-yi finished speaking, she saw Heng-chi turning around, giving her a cold look, and then added with great tact, "My father isn't a good guy either."

Almost inaudibly, Ah'ao heard a light laugh from the front.

It takes a lot of courage to criticize the late emperor.

After walking for a while, Hengzhi felt that the pace was too slow and realized that he would not be able to return to the city by dawn if he continued walking, so he threw A'an onto the horse.

A'ao was tired after a whole day and felt sleepy as soon as she got on the horse. Hengzhi rode steadily and she couldn't help but fell asleep.

In my restless dreams, I heard two old men calling each other a worthless person.
-
At Qiujidao, Kezhou, there is a Huji Inn at the pass of the trade market, which welcomes guests.

The inn was called Chunfengdu, and it had the best dancers from Persia and the most beautiful waitresses from Ruoqiang.

Because they only received guests who they liked, and the number of guests they could receive in a day was limited, the restaurant became famous in the north and attracted countless people.

Hu Shang was very good at manipulating people's hearts when doing business in Da Chong. He knew that the harder something was to obtain, the more popular it would be.

The man with long gray hair like dead grass was lying on the bed with a dazed look on his face. His chest and abdomen were exposed, and he was surrounded by two or three veiled Hu Ji.

Even if only their eyes are exposed, one can still see the charming looks of the Hujis. For example, the melodious sound of the Hujia on the ancient road is a scene that many people will never see in their lifetime.

"Eunuch, there is a letter." The young eunuch walked forward with light footsteps.

When the paper was handed to him, Xue Ping lazily opened his eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

Seeing that he didn't answer, the young eunuch took the initiative to report, "The head of the family you ordered to keep an eye on has been busy in recent days. In addition to doing housework, he has been doing what you told him to do."

This means keeping an eye on Hengzhi.

"Yeah." Xue Ping looked up listlessly and asked Hu Ji to feed him some wine. "The master wants a painting, so even if he doesn't have one, he has to have one. Just pay attention to it."

The young eunuch lowered his eyebrows and said, "He is quite obedient."

Xue Ping was amused when he heard this. "What can we do if you don't listen? Their family is different now. Young boy, you have no choice but to be obedient. The head of the family doesn't have many people to use right now, so we can take advantage of any one we can."

That is to say, he took advantage of the fact that Hu Ji didn't understand.

Those who massaged the legs massaged the legs, those who fed the wine fed the wine. They all spent a lot of money, so those who enjoyed themselves naturally enjoyed themselves, and those who were attentive naturally were attentive.

The boss had never seen such a wealthy man before. The boxes of jewels and gold and silver he brought in were worth enough to buy a hundred Hu Ji.

"But there is one more thing I don't know if I should talk about."

It was mainly for this matter that he had come in. No matter how powerful Xue Ping was, he was just a eunuch like him, and he never allowed anyone to watch him while he was enjoying himself.

I was in a good mood today, so I didn't ask him to report in with injuries.

"Without further ado."

The young eunuch had no choice but to dismiss the maid who was whispering in Xue Ping's ear, and leaned in to whisper, "The man who went to look for the young lady before disappeared after reaching Kezhou. There was a great funeral in the city at that time, and it was very chaotic. But it's impossible for the man to just disappear like that. The man usually doesn't like women, but he brought a woman with him when he returned to the city. This servant finds it strange, do you want to..."

Xue Ping suddenly straightened up and asked, "Is this true?"

"I'm not sure, but his private residence is heavily guarded and he always throws our people away, so it's hard to verify."

"My lady." Xue Ping had a mole on his right cheek, and a few hairs grew there, as long as his fingernails. His smile looked even more abrupt at this moment. "It's been a long time since I saw you, my lady. If the news is true, the master will definitely be happier if I bring it back."

Recalling that several years ago, he was still a eunuch beside the new emperor.

Just from a distance when I saw her at the annual banquet in Haiping Pavilion, I knew that the princess of the late emperor was a beautiful lady with a sharp figure.

But his biological parents didn't like him, and later I heard that he was sent to be raised by the wife of a minister.

When the new emperor came to the throne, she even knelt outside the palace for a long time for a maid, took off her hairpins and ornaments, and begged the emperor day and night.

How could the new emperor be kind to women? The princess broke her forehead and was unable to save the maid's life.

Love the house and hate the dog too.

The new emperor scolded the princess for escaping from the palace selfishly, and wanted to take the previous emperor and empress, his own brother and sister-in-law with him. It was just the revenge of the parents' generation being brought down on the children.

The living Princess Xuancheng became a thorn in the new emperor's heart.

Such a great opportunity to make merit is not something that the Changqiu Prison, which relies on the emperor's wishes for its survival, would easily let go.

"If you are not sure, then go and meet her. If she is a lady, you should take her home. If not, you should also give this young boy a family and tie him up."

(End of this chapter)