The next morning, when I opened my eyes, the room was already brightly lit.
It seemed to be getting late. Tu Sheer came in with hot water and was busy for a while, but Shang Ruyi lay on the bed in confusion. For a long time, he couldn't come back to his senses.
last night……
She subconsciously reached out and touched herself. The feeling of being hugged tightly seemed to still be there, but she was clearly alone on the bed.
Could it be a dream?
But in the dream, the touch of that warm and solid arm was too real.
It's so real, it seems like it's true...
"Miss?"
Just when she was a little confused, Tusheer's voice had already sounded in her ears. When she turned around, she was standing beside the bed and said cautiously: "What are you thinking about?"
"..."
Shang Ruyi also asked himself, what was he thinking?
It's just a dream, what's there to think about?
So, she shook her head lightly.
When she got up to wash up, she found that she seemed not as weak as she had been in the past few days. It seemed that the bed rest these days had finally had an effect. After breakfast, Tu Sheer still persuaded her to drink a bowl of medicine. Just when Tu Sheer was about to bring her pickled fruits to clear her mouth, Shang Ruyi said, "I want to go out for a walk."
When Tusheer heard this, he immediately said, "No, Miss."
Shang Ruyi said calmly: "What kind of disease do I have? I have to stay in the room all the time. Are you letting me recuperate, or are you going to put me under house arrest?"
Hearing the word "house arrest", Tusheer's face turned pale with fright.
She hurriedly said: "Why do you say that, Miss? I only care about Miss's body."
"I'm much better now. I can get out of bed and do things by myself. If this isn't enough, do you want me to do somersaults to show you?"
Having said this, she glanced at Tu Sheer coldly: "She'er, are you my maid or Yu Wenye's?"
Upon hearing this, Tusheer's eyes turned red.
She held her mouth and looked at Shang Ruyi for a while, then said softly: "Miss, don't say that, of course I am your maid, and everything I do is for the best of your lady. If you want to go out for a walk, just go for it. There's no need to do anything wrong." That's what I said. But you have to promise me that if it's windy outside, you'll come back immediately and don't stay outside in the wind. Also, wear thicker clothes."
Although her words were a bit aggrieved, she was still caring and considerate towards Shang Ruyi.
Shang Ruyi also knew that what he just said was a bit harsh, so he could only sigh and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Tu Sheer then relaxed a little.
So, she helped Shang Ruyi put on her clothes, and looked at her back and forth for a long time to make sure there was no air leakage, then she supported her and walked out of the room carefully.
After walking all the way out, I finally got out of the cabin and saw a little daylight.
Shang Ruyi was in a daze.
The deck in front of you was wide, flat, and very neatly packed. As soon as you stepped out of the cabin, you immediately felt a steamy river breeze blowing towards your face, as if you were being gently brushed by a layer of moist gauze.
Shang Ruyi reached out and touched his face, then slowly walked forward. ….
This is the bow of the boat, and you can see the wide river in front. There is no wind and waves today, and the boat is moving really fast. Shang Ruyi held on to the fence and could see the wide river surface shimmering in the sunlight, as if there were countless golden koi swimming under the water. On both sides of the canal, there were rolling green hills and green trees, and there were some homes by the river. Washing next to the river, there are also shepherd boys riding cows and playing the transverse flute leisurely passing by. The sound of the flute floats far and wide through the sound of the water.
Shang Ruyi suddenly felt as if he was alive.
These days, she was indeed "locked" by them in that small cabin to recuperate, but her heart was imprisoned in a certain place in her memory, hidden from the light of day, so that at this moment, she appeared in front of her eyes Seeing these scenery and these people, she was shocked to realize that she was still alive.
This world of fireworks is how it is
of freshness.
Shang Ruyi asked: "Where are we?"
Tu Sheer said hurriedly: "We have already passed Suzhou."
Already passed Suzhou...
Although she had been staying in that small cabin these days without seeing the light of day, and could hardly feel the passage of time, she still knew in her heart how many days had passed. Unexpectedly, the ship was moving so fast, and it had already passed. Arrived in Suzhou.
In other words, it is not far from Luoyang.
It's one thing to say that the boat is fast.
For some reason, that person's voice seemed to ring in Shang Ruyi's ears again - "This time Wuxue was able to take you from Luoyang to Jiangdu in just ten days. If it had been back then, when there was no canal, Do you know how long you have to be on the road?"
Yes, speaking of it, it’s all his fault.
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but chuckle.
But this laughter was also choked with sobs.
Tusheer stood beside her and stared at her carefully. When he heard her laugh, he immediately stepped forward nervously: "Miss, what's wrong?"
Shang Ruyi looked down at her and said with a smile, "It's nothing."
"..."
"I just feel that living... seems to have its benefits."
"..."
Tusheer tilted his head, as if he didn't understand her words, but he immediately said: "Of course it's good to be alive, there are benefits to living. There are no benefits to you if you die."
At this time, a deep voice came from behind——
"Of course there are benefits to living."
"..."
"Being alive is the greatest benefit."
Shang Ruyi looked back and saw a somewhat familiar figure walking over. It was none other than the deputy commander Cheng Qiao who had met her once in Jiangdu Palace.
He came over and cupped his hands towards Shang Ruyi: "Young Madam."
Shang Ruyi was a little surprised to see him: "Master Cheng, are you here too?"
But think about it, it makes sense that he would be on the boat. After all, that night, he led his people and the imperial guards to kill him in a river of blood. If he had not left Jiangdu, I am afraid that he would have been killed by Wang Shao by now. And they took revenge, and there were no bones left.
Sure enough, Cheng Qiao also said: "I have no place in the river, so I took my family to follow the second young master."
Shang Ruyi nodded gently.
Cheng Qiao looked her up and down, as if to confirm that she was intact, and then said: "Young lady, are you okay now?"...
Shang Ruyi forced a smile: "I'm fine."
Looking at her indifferent smile, Cheng Qiao couldn't help but have a sad look on his face, and said, "It's a pity that I still failed to protect the young lady."
Only then did Shang Ruyi remember that the news that the Imperial Guards were going to rebel was the news he had conveyed to him early in the morning.
But in the end——
Shang Ruyi immediately said: "No, your news came in time."
Cheng Qiao frowned: "Then why is the young lady still——"
"..."
Shang Ruyi's expression darkened.
These days, she almost deliberately doesn't think about what happened that day, let alone her state of mind that day, but what happened happened, and everyone and everything around her reminded her that she had been there since that day. , survived in such a sea of blood memories.
She shook her head slightly in pain.
Cheng Qiao was also a person who knew what to look at. Seeing her like this, he immediately shut his mouth.
Shang Ruyi turned around, holding on to the fence and looking at the picturesque scenery around her. Suddenly she thought of something again, and turned to look at him: "By the way, Mr. Cheng, the painting you had someone send to you at that time—— Did you draw it yourself?"
Cheng Qiao immediately shook his head: "No."
"That is--"
"It was delivered to me at home one night before the Cold Food Festival."
Shang Ruyi's eyes lit up:
"who is it?"
Cheng Qiao said: "It was too late, and this person deliberately dressed up. He asked me to hand over the painting and then left. I didn't see clearly who he was."
"……oh."
Shang Ruyi lowered his head in disappointment.
Cheng Qiao said: "But that should be a woman."
"woman?"
Shang Ruyi's eyes lit up again: "Are you sure?"
Cheng Qiao said: "This is still certain. Although she dressed up deliberately and spoke in a low voice, when she handed me this painting, I smelled a fragrance emanating from her sleeves. It should be A woman's makeup smells like pink. So, I can conclude that she is a woman."
"..."
"Actually, I also wanted to find out the identity of this person, but——"
Having said this, he hesitated for a moment and then said softly: "At that time, the second young master was at my home, discussing with me the matter of breaking into Jiangdu Palace. This matter was of great importance and needed to be kept secret, so I did not dare to make any extraneous matters. We can only let that person leave."
"..."
Shang Ruyi's heart sank slightly.
In fact, this is not a secret. Since Yu Wenye and Cheng Qiao led others into the Guangming Gate on the night of the Cold Food Festival, they must have met before and discussed everything.
However, hearing it now gave me a strange tingling feeling.
Shang Ruyi was silent for a moment and said, "Oh."
As if he felt the coldness coming from her body, Cheng Qiao originally wanted to say something, but he couldn't say it. He hesitated several times and finally plucked up the courage to say, "Actually, we plan to do this in a few days. I just wanted to protect the young lady, but I didn’t expect that when things happened suddenly, the young lady would end up going to the Guangming Hall——"
Having said this, he said in a deep voice: "Please forgive me, young lady."
Shang Ruyi glanced at him and smiled lightly: "You saved me, and you still want to ask for my forgiveness. What's the point?"
"..."
"Master Cheng, I am only grateful to you."
Cheng Qiao looked at her, his eyes still seemed to be conflicting, but he was speechless.
At this time, the wind on the canal picked up. Although Cheng Qiao was wearing thin clothes, he was strong and didn't feel anything. But Shang Ruyi was different. Although she was well-dressed, she immediately felt a chill when the cold wind blew. The chill penetrated all four limbs, as if being pricked by needles.
How could it be, so cold?
As soon as Shang Ruyi shrank, she felt warm all over her body. When she looked back, she saw that Tu Sheer had already taken a thick wind cloak and put it on her.
She said: "Miss, you must not catch a cold."
Shang Ruyi lowered his head and took a look. The cloak looked unfamiliar, and it didn't look like it belonged to him.
So he asked: "Where did it come from?".
Leng Qingshan
