In the 25th year of Wei Sheng's reign, April 15th, the state of Chu.
It has been raining for three days. There is no coolness in Kuai Feng Town. After the rain, the sky clears, and even the water in the river is boiling hot.
Inside Hongju Tavern, there is a woodshed in the backyard.
Su Yan sat on a bench, holding a bowl of freshly brewed medicinal soup, and stared blankly at the sleeping man on the bed.
The man has a handsome face with sharp edges and corners. Even if his face is covered with injuries, it cannot block this beautiful face.
Su Yan was thinking about what to say to get him to stay when he woke up later. She hadn't seen a man other than someone from this town for a long time.
While she was lost in thought, the man suddenly moved his finger, which made her tremble in fright. Most of the medicinal soup in her hand was spilled, and it was so hot that she called her father and mother.
"What a spring!"
Su Ming came in with a dog's tail grass in his mouth, leaned against the wooden door and laughed, then stood on tiptoes to look at the man, shook his head and sighed: "I'm afraid this man is hopeless. You'd better throw him out earlier to save money." Master, I will waste no more energy to find a geomantic treasure to bury him."
Kuai Feng Town is a small town three hundred miles south of the capital of Chu State. It has a small population, but it has relied on the rich medicinal materials in the mountains to feed several generations of people.
Hongju is one of the few taverns in the town. There are only two people in total. The shopkeeper Su Ming and the cleaning boy Su Yan, a man and a woman, a master and an apprentice, have been guarding this place for several years. Although the business is slow, it is still good. Being able to scrape by a living.
This time, in order to find a way to make money, Su Ming sent his disciples to the back mountains to collect herbs and make medicinal wine, but he didn't expect to bring back a living person, a hero who happened to pass by and rescued the girl who fell off the cliff!
The man lying down finally opened his eyes and looked at Su Yan drowsily. It took him a while to fully wake up.
Su Yan hurriedly checked his pulse, opened his mouth and looked again and again.
Fortunately, okay, I finally survived!
The man looked at her blankly and asked, "Who are you?"
"You don't remember? You saved me!"
Su Yan thought of yesterday's thrilling scene, still surging in his heart, and said to him: "I remember at that time, I went into the mountains to collect herbs and tried my best to climb the cliff, but I didn't expect an accident! If you hadn't appeared in time to catch me, I would have But you are dead! You lost your hand because of this, but I saved my life, how could you forget? If this is revealed, you will be the great hero of our Kuai Feng Town!"
The man showed no interest at all. He just looked at his broken right arm indifferently, and then asked himself how long he had slept.
"Look, look, look!" Su Ming stretched his neck and said, "You bothered to carry her back, but she doesn't appreciate it at all!"
"Go, go! Go to the front to see the business!" Su Yan hurriedly pushed him out of the door, and then his ears became clearer. But Su Yan also felt depressed. This man looked very good, but he spoke so coldly, like ice cubes in an ice cellar!
Immediately, I lost interest in continuing the conversation with him. I picked up the medicine bowl again and fulfilled the obligations of a beneficiary.
"Take the medicine and get some sleep. When you feel better tomorrow, I will arrange a guest room for you."
After that, he lifted him up and fed him more than half of the bowl one spoonful at a time.
Before leaving, Su Yan couldn't help but ask his name.
"I'm Zuo Qing. I was passing through here on my way to Ruoshui, the capital of Rong Kingdom."
His voice was still cold and cold, seemingly devoid of human emotion.
"You live in Ruoshui?"
Su Yan slapped his thigh excitedly and turned back, feeling the unhappiness just now gone.
"I'm familiar with that place. I've lived there before! Hey, your name is quite strange, Zuo Qing? Then do you have an older brother named You Qing?"
"..."
At night, Su Yan walked through the patio and went around the backyard. He picked a melon from the flower shed, washed it, and bit into it.
Like many nights in the past, she closed the door after washing, lit a stick of incense, and fell asleep. But this night was a little different. The ice boy in the still-lit room seemed to have disrupted her sleep. Life.
Su Yan got up early the next day. After cleaning the tavern, he picked a melon from the vegetable garden and gnawed it while walking to the street.
When I went out, I met Zuo Qing. He was already able to walk, but his hands were tied with a rag belt torn from an unknown piece of rags. It was hung around his neck and tied in a weird knot.
Only Su Ming in the world could create such a masterpiece, so he couldn't help but take a second look.
Just because of those extra glances, Su Yan had no choice but to take him along with him to a restaurant.
After drinking and eating, Su Yan picked his teeth and looked at the handsome young man in front of him. He was dressed in rich clothes and had a unique temperament. Why did he appear in this remote place?
Su Yan always felt weird, so he asked about the cause and effect.
I saw the young man in front of me put down his rice bowl gently, picked up the handkerchief and wiped his mouth. In Su Yan's eyes, Su Yan felt uncomfortable with the behavior of a kid from a rich family.
Zuo Qing said slowly: "I was going to Zhao State to do some business. I passed by this place on my way back and accidentally got separated from my servant, but I accidentally saved the girl."
"What do you do?" Su Yan asked curiously.
"It's considered to be doing work for the imperial court, but..."
"Imperial court?!" Su Yan's hand shook violently, with a look of panic on his face, "Are you... an official?"
"I don't have an official position, I just take care of some miscellaneous things in one place." Zuo Qing added what he had not finished just now.
Su Yan breathed a sigh of relief, then thought about it and asked him again: "Then...do you know Ge Zheng?"
"Him?" Zuo Qing didn't expect Su Yan to ask about this person, and was a little surprised, "Prince Zheng naturally knows that the founding hero of the country, a veteran of two dynasties, was once the person who stood at the center of power! I have met him several times. Yuan, I admire you very much. But...it's a pity."
"What a pity? Why do you say that?"
"It's a pity that he resigned early, only holding on to a hereditary title, and enjoying his old age early. If he could persist, Rong Guo might not be in this situation today!"
Zuo Qing's words revealed his complaints against Prince Zheng.
Su Yan couldn't believe it, because nine years ago, he was still the leader of Rong State and a hero in the eyes of everyone!
Why do others think that he is an old man with no fighting spirit...
"I believe that if the prince can come back, he will be able to reverse the situation!"
Zuo Qing's words could no longer reach Su Yan's ears. She held the wine cup with tears in her eyes.
Ruoshui City, the palace, and the children in the palace...
The past that she had buried for nine years was frantically breaking out of the cracks, occupying her heart bit by bit!
Su Yan sighed in his heart, it turned out that he had never given up!
He smiled bitterly, picked up the wine bottle on the side, filled it for himself, and started drinking alone.
Seeing this, Zuo Qing also ordered a glass of wine and said to her: "Although I and the girl met by chance, we are considered close friends of life and death. I would like to become friends."
After that, he raised his head and drank.
Su Yan woke up from his memories and realized that he had overreacted.
He quickly recovered his shock and raised his wine cup in return.
After a few glasses of wine, Su Yan was already slightly tipsy, and the depression just now was now forgotten.
Zuo Qing changed the pot of tea, and when he was drinking it, Su Yan stopped him.
She opened the lid and smelled it, looked at it again, shook her head and sighed: "The tea leaves are not shiny, they are not freshly picked, the heat was not enough when frying, and they were damp when stored. It is the most troublesome to store things in a place like Jiangnan. It is slightly uncomfortable." It's easy to get moldy, so this tea has obviously been treated."
Final summary: The store owner is so evil!
A bright light appeared in Zuo Qing's eyes: "Then what kind of tea is considered top quality?"
Su Yan patted the table and said excitedly: "You have asked the right person! Apart from drinking and fighting, making tea is my second greatest interest in life! For this tea, it is usually best to pick it before May. The method of tea is also very particular, not to mention frying tea, storing tea, making tea, etc. If I really want to explain these to you in detail, I would have to talk until dark!"
"The way you talk, you sound like a teacher. It seems that you are quite knowledgeable. It's a pity."
"What a pity? You have never seen the young masters and young ladies from the powerful families in Ruoshui City. They can make tea, but they are full of knowledge. What do I mean? It's just a wild road in the countryside, and I can't get on the stage!"
Zuo Qing disagreed with this statement and wanted to persuade her, but Su Yan handed him a pot of wine and promised to stay until he got drunk.
While pushing cups and changing cups, the sun gradually set. The two of them put their arms around each other and took one step forward and three steps back to return home.
