Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 261 Water Bag
The next day, Yan Ciwan, Xiao Wang and others left Yizhou City in the first rays of sunshine in the morning.

The carriage swayed slowly forward on the official road. Yan Ciwan sat in the carriage, leaning back on the pillow, half-closing his eyes and practicing his internal energy seriously.

By the afternoon, the team stopped by the roadside, which was close to a stream, and many passers-by would stop here to rest.

Yan Ciwan, with the help of Chaolu and Luhua, carefully got off the carriage.

She saw many horses drinking water and eating grass by the river, and some people squatting by the river filling water bags.

Those people looked quite familiar. When Yan Ciwan got closer, he finally saw clearly that they were actually from the Inner Guard Palace!

She immediately looked around and soon saw Si Buping on the grass not far away. He was wearing a blue round-necked Hu suit today. He was sitting on the ground with a water bag in his hand, drinking water with his head tilted back in a quite casual posture.

Si Buping suddenly put down the water bag and turned to look in the direction of Yan Ciwan.

Yan Ciwan didn't have time to look away as his eyes met his.

She thought to herself that this man was really perceptive. She had only looked at him a few more times, but he had discovered her so quickly.

Xiao Qie and his family went forward to pay their respects to Si Buping and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Yan Ci Wan did not go over. She, Chao Lu, Liu and others sat by the stream to rest. They had been stuck in the carriage for half a day and now they could finally take a good breath.

Luhua brought the water, cakes and preserved fruits that had been prepared in advance, and they ate while chatting.

After a while, Xiao Wang and the others came over.

Yan Ciwan gave him some preserved fruit and asked curiously, "What were you talking about with the chief minister just now?"

"We talked about things in Yizhou." After Xiao Wang finished speaking, he glanced at the dried fruits in his hand.

Yan Ciwan noticed that his expression was a little strange, and couldn't help asking: "What's wrong? Don't you like to eat?"

"No, I just remembered something from my childhood."

"what is the matter?"

Xiao Wang sat down in the empty seat to her right and said slowly, "When I was a kid, I loved eating sweet snacks like this. Then one day, I had a severe toothache. My master said it was because I ate too many sweets. He threatened me that if I ate any more sweets, all my teeth would fall out. I was so scared that I never dared to eat sweets again. When I grew up and learned some medical skills, I realized that the reason I had a toothache at that time was actually because I was changing my teeth. It had nothing to do with eating sweets. My master had fooled me."

Yan Ciwan didn't expect Xiao Wang to be so innocent when he was little, and couldn't help but want to laugh: "In fact, your master is also concerned about your health. Eating too much sweets is really bad for your health."

"I know my master is doing this for my own good, but he's always like this. He doesn't say things nicely and likes to make up stories to deceive me. He once even lied to me that babies are born from armpits, and I really believed it." Xiao Wang couldn't help but sigh when he said this.

Yan Ciwan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Why would you even believe something like this? Hahaha!"

"When I was only one year old, my master took me to a Taoist temple on the mountain. In the temple, besides Uncle Nine and the cook, there were only my master and I. I followed my master to learn. Uncle Nine and the cook were only responsible for helping with some rough work. They never interfered with my master's education. I had never been to the outside world, so no matter what my master said, I believed it all."

Xiao Wang thought of his younger self and felt that he was too naive.

Yan Ciwan laughed and said, "But the armpits are still too outrageous!"

"There are even more outrageous ones. For a while, my master liked to tell me stories about animals that cultivated into spirits and then transformed into humans. Once, a weasel was caught stealing chickens in the Tiandao Temple. I thought my master would beat the weasel to death, or at least teach it a lesson to prevent weasels from stealing chickens again in the future. But my master didn't do anything and just let the weasel go. I couldn't understand it, so I asked my master why he let the weasel go. My master sighed and said to me in a very complicated manner, 'We are from the same roots, so why are we so anxious to hurt each other? It just wants to fill its stomach, so let it go.'"

Yan Ciwan blinked his eyes: "We are from the same roots?"

"It was this sentence that startled me." "You don't suspect that your master is a weasel in disguise, do you?"

Xiao Wang did not answer, but just smiled implicitly.

Yan Ci Wan couldn't help laughing out loud, but her joy turned into sorrow. The preserved fruit accidentally got stuck in her throat. She immediately couldn't laugh anymore and bent over to cough desperately.

Chaolu quickly patted her back to help her calm down. After she finally swallowed the candied fruit, Xiao Wang handed her his water bag.

Yan Ci Wan took the water bag, tilted his head back towards the pot and took two big gulps.

"Thank you." She handed the water bag back to Xiao Wang.

Xiao Wang inserted the stopper of the water bag and asked with concern: "Are you okay?"

Yan Ciwan coughed so hard that tears came out of the corners of her eyes. She waved her hands and said she was fine.

Xiao Wang blamed himself: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have told you these boring things."

"No, no, I find it very interesting. If you have time in the future, please tell me more stories about you and your master."

Xiao Wang's eyes were filled with tenderness, and he responded in a gentle voice, "Okay."

Uncle Jiu came over to inform them that they were about to set off.

So everyone packed up their things and got up to leave. Xiao Wang wrapped the preserved fruit that Yan Ciwan had just handed her in a handkerchief and stuffed it into her sleeve pocket.
The Inner Guard's carriages and horses set off before them. When Xiao Wang jumped on the horse, he just happened to see the backs of the Inner Guard's carriages and horses leaving.

The horses' hooves stepped on the official road, making rhythmic clattering sounds.

The two teams were separated by a distance that was neither too close nor too far, and they moved forward peacefully.

Inside the carriage, Yan Ciwan was practicing with her eyes closed again. Liu looked at her with an expression as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Chaolu noticed her mother's expression and asked in a low voice.

"Mother, why do you always look at Aci?"

Earlier, when they were resting by the stream, Liu watched Yan Ci Wan and Xiao Wang chatting. Both of them were young people with outstanding looks, and sitting together they looked like two people standing next to each other, which was very pleasing to the eye.

As someone who had experienced this, Liu could sense a hint of ambiguity in the atmosphere between the two.

She had mixed feelings about this.

After spending some time together, she truly felt that Xiao Wang was a very good young man, with impeccable looks, talent, family background and personality. If Chaolu could marry him as per the engagement, she would definitely be very happy for the rest of her life.

It’s a pity that the two have already broken off their engagement.

Time cannot be reversed, and regret will only add to the depression. Liu persuaded herself to be more open-minded.

She sighed, patted her daughter's back gently, and spoke softly.

"I sometimes feel that Ah Ci's features look familiar, and are quite similar to an old friend I knew before."

Chaolu was very curious: "Which old friend is it? Is she also in Chang'an?"