After traveling north for many days, I saw various scenery along the way, including the busy people in the rice fields in the south, the praises of passing merchants for this year's trade, the panic among the people in Tanzhou who were still in chaos, and the gratitude of the people in Jingzhou for the imperial envoys.
Approaching the boundary of Dongting, Xiao Changle introduced to Xiao Rui: "Brother-in-law, let me take you to Dongting Lake to play? There are many good friends of mine here."
Roar……
The big cat under the seat growled in protest.
Xiao Changle slapped him in the face: "It's useless for you to object. If you don't want to get on the boat, I will throw you on the shore. You can go hunt and eat in the mountains and forests by yourself. Be careful not to be taken away by hunters to make tiger skin cloaks."
Oh wow...
The big cat was so frightened that it trembled, whimpered, and turned around in circles with emotion.
"Stop, stop! Stop turning around. I'm almost dizzy from you. Take you, take you." Xiao Changle quickly comforted him. Xiao Rui laughed so hard that he almost fell off his horse. fall down.
Seeing that one person and one tiger had enough trouble, Xiao Rui smiled and said: "Are you talking about the Lai brothers in Dongting Lake?"
"Yeah! Brother-in-law, do you know them too?"
"Haha, I still borrowed your light. When I passed by the Yangtze River, it was freezing and no boats were sailing. The Lai brothers from Dongting Lake heard that I was your friend, so they warmly entertained me and finally sent us across the river in person."
Xiao Changle looked proud, "That's right, I never make mistakes when I make friends. They are all good people."
Good guy?
If His Majesty the Emperor knew that you were brothers with a group of river thieves, I wonder what he would think?
"Okay, now that we've come to this, let's turn around and take a look. This is someone else's territory. We can't hide it from passing by like this. It's also unreasonable not to take a look at our old friends."
The two came to the river and found a fishing village. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Dongting Water Village, and it is said that all the fishing villages with a radius of 800 miles are made by themselves, so anyone can be contacted.
"What? Are you going to Dongting Water Village?" The fisherman looked at the two of them in surprise, and then hurriedly hid back home as if he was hiding from the plague, forgetting to anchor his boat.
Hey, hey... we are good people. I am very familiar with Brother Lai from Shuizhai!
Xiao Changle's call made the man run faster.
Xiao Rui dismounted and personally helped anchor the boat. Then he called Chang Le, who was about to pursue the boat, and said, "Okay, let's ask someone else."
He had a vague feeling in his heart that something might have happened on Dongting Lake.
Sure enough, after asking several people in succession, everyone had the same attitude, no one dared to take them into Dongting Lake.
"Brother-in-law, are they bragging? Don't they say that every fishing village belongs to them? How about we try another village?"
Xiao Rui shook his head and said: "No, something might have happened. Let's find a city nearby to take a look."
Little Changle riding a tiger was too eye-catching. Everyone had heard of Princess Changle's name, so they first placed the big cat in a safe valley, and then Xiao Rui took Changle to a small town called Yunmeng.
Pedestrians and people along the way looked sideways, pointed and said something secretly.
Xiao Changle was very happy, "Hey, brother-in-law, did you hear what they said?"
Xiao Rui only focused on observing the situation, so why pay attention to this?
"They are all saying: What a golden boy and girl. Do such people come to a remote place like ours?"
"Hehe, let me tell you, the two of us are the best match. Look how many people envy us."
puff……
"Stop saying a few words! If you talk nonsense again, I will throw you away." Xiao Rui scolded with a dark face: "These people don't know what they look at. How can I be a good match for a little girl like you?"
"Hehe, brother-in-law, you are blushing. Are you angry? No need to argue. I am a little girl. It doesn't matter what you say."
The two of them came to a small tavern. As soon as they sat down, the waiter came up to them and said, "Hey, you two guests, please come in. I wonder what you two want to eat?"
Xiao Changle took out a five-tael gold ingot and said boldly: "Bring up all the good wine and food in your store. If you taste it delicious, I will give you a silver ingot as a reward."
The waiter looked bitter and said, "Madam, please forgive me. The profit margin of this small shop is small. In a remote place like Yunmeng, we only have ordinary food and drinks to satisfy our hunger. Your ingot of silver can be spent here with us for a month..." …”
The implication is that our food and drink are too cheap and rough, and your requirements are too high, and we can't keep up with them.
Xiao Rui's face turned darker when he heard this, "Humph, open your eyes and see clearly, what kind of hair accessories does she have?"
ah? Hair accessories?
The waiter took a closer look and apologized quickly, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood. It turned out to be a young lady. Please forgive me. It's my first time seeing distinguished guests like you two, so I'm a little..."
However, Xiao Changle was delighted by the words "Madam", and waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, go ahead, I'll reward you with this ingot of silver. You are good at talking. Just bring whatever is available in the store, and don't fool me."
Women's hair accessories in ancient times were very particular. There was a strict distinction between those who had left the palace and those who had not left the palace. Xiao Changle had not yet left the palace, so she had a girl's bun, not a woman's bun.
The waiter turned back to arrange food and drinks with great gratitude.
Xiao Changle persuaded Xiao Rui and said, "Oh, brother Zangfeng, why are you bullying a servant? He also has good intentions."
What?
What did you call me?
Xiao Rui glared fiercely, "I am you..."
"You are my brother Zangfeng!" Xiao Changle covered Xiao Rui's mouth and lowered his voice and said: "You said you would listen to me in everything. You haven't arrived in Chang'an yet. You must abide by the agreement. If you dare to Let’s break it down here, huh…”
you……
Alas, what evil things did I do in my previous life?
Not long after, a simple table of four dishes and one soup was served. One meat and three vegetables. Although they were ordinary wild vegetables, they were clean and fresh, and it was obvious that they were carefully prepared.
The two of them ate quietly, and the shop gradually returned to its previous state. The diners chatted in twos and threes while eating, and it was very lively. They chatted about everything from all over the world, and soon there was news about Dongting Lake.
"Did you hear that? This time the Jingxiang navy forcefully surrounded Dongting Lake, and the imperial court announced that they would never let a fly fly out of Dongting Lake. The Dongting water bandits are really going to fall."
"Isn't that right? In the past, the Dongting Lake water bandits claimed to have gathered a hundred thousand people, and their people were everywhere. Now it seems that it was all a bluff. As soon as the court showed their true intentions, they exposed their secrets."
"That's right. It is said that the person leading the team to suppress the bandits this time is the imperial envoy, a third-rank official, and the famous black-faced prime minister Wei Zheng."
puff……
The rice in Xiao Rui's mouth spurted out, and he looked at Xiao Changle in disbelief. Both of them were shocked and thought to themselves, no? The imperial court sent the imperial envoy Lao Wei to personally lead the team to suppress the bandits? It’s impossible, Lao Wei is a civil servant! Besides, I personally recommended the Dongting Lake water bandits. Could it be that the court found out about them? Are the Lai brothers lying to us?
"Eat quickly, we have to hurry up after eating." Xiao Rui urged, and Xiao Changle nodded heavily.
