(1)
Nie Yun on the shore watched his friend leave. Although they had only known each other for a few days, this memory was enough to last a lifetime. Bai Feng and Murong Yan over there were also looking in the direction of the pier: the white figure on the shore gradually became smaller, and the noise in their ears was slowly replaced by the sound of the river hitting the hull. The two looked at each other and smiled, then turned around to find other companions.
There were more than five passengers on the ship. In addition to the sailors and crew members, there were at least ten well-dressed nobles and wealthy businessmen. They are all travelers who were forced to stay in Wandeng Town, similar to Bai Feng and his party. If it hadn't been for strange things like the shipwreck, I'm afraid they would have left that place and arrived in Jiangzhou. This beautifully designed passenger ship was probably specially prepared for these people by the Shi family as an apology. Why do you say it is beautiful? Mainly because a restaurant-style pavilion was built on the ship for people to relax and relieve their boredom.
The white sails go along with the wind, and the river current reflects the hillside lawns on both sides, which looks green, like a jade skirt of the earth. When the ship passed by, the unobtrusive pleats were raised, adding a signature texture to the skirt. The small yellow and green flowers on the river bank and the lush earth add a natural foil to this beautiful scenery.
The journey is not long, but it is not a short journey either. When it was still early, people could only walk around on the boat and kill time. Some people stopped and rested beside the big ship; some gathered in the Accord at the end of the ship to chat. Zhao Kuo, Ajuan, and Zhao Xiaomei happened to be arguing with one of the young masters beside the ship.
Seeing that Bai Feng and the others had finally arrived, Zhao Kuo quickly waved and shouted: "Brother Bai, come and see this man!"
The young master was dressed in blue silk clothes and a white jade crown. He had a dignified face and light makeup on his cheeks, giving him a slightly feminine look. Bai Feng and Murong Yan saw this and hurried over. I saw Zhao Xiaomei holding a volume of classics in her hands, reading with relish with Ajuan. Zhao Kuo on the other side was located at the edge of the ship, forcing the young master, and seemed extremely angry.
"Little sister, what's written on it?" Ajuan asked doubtfully.
"'Ning Fengzi self-immolates'?" The younger sister muttered to herself, pondered for a moment, and then let out a sound of exclamation. Then he walked up to the frightened young master and asked, "Hey! Do you think this 'Ning Fengzi' has really become an immortal?"
Zhao Kuo reached out to grab the classics and shouted: "What a mess of a book this is!" As soon as he finished speaking, he made a gesture of throwing it into the river.
"Don't, don't, don't..." The young master suddenly lost his posture, and his hair crown almost fell off. If he hadn't caught it with his hand in time, "This is the classic book that my young master sent me to travel around the world to find! Please don’t destroy it!”
Seeing that the man looked very embarrassed, Bai Feng said in confusion: "Brother Zhao, may I ask what this young master did to make you so angry?"
The young master said with a trembling voice: "I... I was just curious and asked the Miao girl about some things..."
"You are so disrespectful to an innocent woman, and you still dare to make excuses?" Zhao Kuo said angrily.
"No...it's not what the young master thinks. It's because my young master is very interested in those strange people and anecdotes, so he ordered me to try my best to collect them along the way."
Ajuan looked shy and said: "It cannot be said that we Miao women like to entangle married men, and also like to use voodoo to confuse people's hearts and suck their blood!"
"Haha, it turns out it was just a misunderstanding." Bai Feng said with a smile: "Brother Zhao, this young master is also entrusted by others, so you should return the book to him!"
The little sister snatched the classics back from Zhao Kuo's hand and said, "No, I haven't finished reading it yet!"
When the young master saw someone appreciating his book so much, he prayed, "If you want to read it, just take it. Just remember to return it to me in the future."
Seeing Ajuan leave that place with a gloomy look on her face, Zhao Kuo hesitated, thinking that she had a grudge against the young master's words. The little girl held the book and watched it with Murong Yan for a while, both of them marveled at the breadth and excitement of the content.
Murong Yan was consciously curious about this and asked: "Who is the 'young master' in this young master's family? How could he be interested in these anecdotes?"
"My young master is from a famous family in Jiangzhou, and the head of the Qianfu family is Ganxi!" The Qianfu in Jiangzhou mentioned by the man is exactly what Murong Yan is looking for.
"Ah?" Murong Yan was surprised: "Then the young master has a distinguished surname?"
"Haha, just call me Mei Lan! My name was given by my young master, not a noble surname or a famous name. He saw that I grew up with him and could endure hardship, so he gave me this name."
"Did Mr. Mei ever hear that Mr. Qian mentioned the deeds of a Murong Xianbei woman?"
Mei Lan opened his eyes as clear as a mirror, as if he would never hide everything about himself, and said, "Is this girl the descendant of Murong Yan?"
Murong Yan nodded and said: "Exactly, before my mother was framed, she asked me to seek refuge in Jiangzhou Qianfu. She said that the head of Qianfu would definitely help me..."
The two met belatedly, and as the wind was strong and the sun was high outside the ship, Mei Lan invited the three people to have a small gathering in the Accord on the ship to discuss in detail. The little sister is obsessed with the classics in her hands. If the white phoenix hadn't called her, she would have been left alone there. Zhao Kuo, who was behind, was also holding Ajuan, who was acting like a child making trouble, and followed closely behind.
Several people were sitting by the window. Through the hollow-textured window, they could see the ripples of the river outside, and the sounds of discussion and play could be heard one after another. As time went by, it was almost dusk, and everyone was getting tired. Zhao Xiaomei, who had been reading a book, didn't notice what the people next to her were saying at all. Likewise, others didn't notice anything strange about her.
"I have a glimpse of Murong Yan's story in my young master's classics." Mei Lan said: "I can't remember the general content clearly, but the young master has never given up looking for Murong Yan's descendants. It is said that this is the legacy of the old family master.”
"All in all, meeting someone from the Qian Mansion here is truly a blessing from heaven!" Bai Feng responded.
Zhao Kuo raised his glass in greeting and said: "In this case, I hope that Brother Meilan will accept what I have just done. I drank this glass to apologize!"
"Brother Zhao, I was also wrong in this matter. I just didn't know about that Ajuan girl..." Mei Lan raised her glass in reply.
Ajuan kept looking at the beautiful scenery outside the window, pretending not to care about what Mei Lan said. After a moment, she found that everyone was staring at her, waiting for her response. She could only reply hesitantly: "I...I...I can't be pestering a married man no matter what I say! Although others have always thought in their hearts With another woman..." After saying this, Ajuan almost cried out of grievance, which made Zhao Kuo on the side extremely annoyed.
The little girl sitting next to Ajuan suddenly fell down, leaned on Ajuan, and said weakly: "Sister Ajuan, my head... feels dizzy."
Ajuan looked at the other person with droopy eyes, pale lips and blue face, and hurriedly asked with concern: "Little sister, are you okay?"
"This silly girl is taking a boat for the first time, maybe it's not a boat, right?" Zhao Kuo said.
"Ah! I didn't bring any medicine to treat the disease!" Ajuan said helplessly while searching for his small package.
Murong Yan, who was sitting on the other side of the little sister, helped the little sister to him, rolled her eyelids, looked at her tongue, and said: "Fortunately, it's just an ordinary boat. I have a recipe to make the little sister My sister will be relieved after taking it and resting for a night." After that, everyone said goodbye to Mei Lan, and Zhao Kuo carried his sister on his back and returned to the cabin to rest. Murong Yan and Ajuan went to prepare medicinal soup.
Even though she was very sick, the little sister still couldn't let go of the classics in her hands, which made Mei Lan grinning from ear to ear.
The medicinal soup is ready, it is already night time. The younger sister was sitting on the bed, waiting for Murong Yan and the others to come over, thinking that she would have to drink bitter medicine later, which would make her feel even more tormented. And his brother went to rest again, and there was no one around him to rely on to talk to.
"It's so lonely." The little girl sighed inwardly.
After a while, Murong Yan entered the little sister's room with Bai Feng holding a long flute, and said: "Little sister, remember to take the medicine! I asked Brother Feng to play music for you. Soft music will be very helpful for your condition."
"Yan'er, this is not good! After all, it is a woman's room..." Bai Feng hesitated.
Murong Yan smiled playfully and said, "It's okay, I'll be watching you from the side."
Zhao Xiaomei looked at the medicinal soup for a moment and found that it was different from the previous dark medicinal soup, it was transparent white. He swallowed deeply, closed his eyes tightly, took a sip, and said, "Sweet?"
"This is citrus tea, of course it's sweet!" Murong Yan replied. After a while, she sat on the edge of the bed and signaled Bai Feng to start playing.
The long sound of the flute, accompanied by the sound of waves hitting the wooden boat, is a unique experience. Zhao Xiaomei drank the sweet citrus tea and watched Bai Feng playing with her eyes closed in front of her, and her heart was filled with excitement. In order to prevent others from noticing his embarrassment, he could only nod deeply, but he couldn't help but glance at the young man. Every glance is as tender as water, and every glance is like a thousand years. How could such a strange situation escape the eyes of Murong Yan, who is also a woman. Perhaps it was on this night that she discovered that Zhao Xiaomei's affection for Bai Feng was extraordinary.
Murong Yan gently stroked Xiaomei Zhao's forehead, smiled softly and said, "Little sister, take the medicine and go to bed early." As soon as she finished speaking, she stood up and left.
"Sister Murong...Sister..." Zhao Xiaomei stretched out her hand to keep Murong Yan, but her eyes met with the puzzled Bai Feng's eyes, which made her lower her head in shame again.
"Miss Zhao, please rest early!" After saying this, Bai Feng followed Murong Yan and left that place without any hesitation.
That night, Zhao Xiaomei had almost no rest. While looking at the classics that Mei Lan lent her, she thought about how Murong Yan would treat her if she knew her feelings for Bai Feng.
