But for the other concubines in the house, especially the ones he loved the most, Zhou people still had great expectations. Even if not all of them went south with him, at least half of them would cry and beg to come with him. Bar?
The final result was quite a slap in the face - none of the most favored concubines were willing to go south with him!
When this result first came into his ears, Zhou Shuren was completely dumbfounded. He usually talks to each other, but why has it come to a critical moment...
Zhou Shuren's gentle and sensitive heart suffered a fatal blow.
On the contrary, a concubine whom he had no impression of took the initiative and was willing to go south with him.
Zhou Shuren was a little moved after hearing the news, and even brewed a sour poem in his stomach. After meeting the real person, his interest instantly faded away.
No wonder he didn't have any impression in his mind. This woman's appearance was not very outstanding. She could only be said to be a middle-aged girl. She was not literate and was very inconspicuous among the flowers and green willows of Prince Zhou's palace. No wonder she was not favored.
It's just that Zhou Shuren is a romantic and talented man. He feels disappointed and doesn't show it on his face. After asking for her name, he found out that this woman was called Xing Niang, so he nodded to her and said a few words of warm praise.
Princess Zhou was a little surprised when she heard about this. She specifically asked someone to ask: "What's going on with that Xing Niang? Does she really want to go, or..."
Her confidant whispered back to her: "I really want to go. Her ancestral home is in the south, and she followed her father to make a living as a singer in the capital. They met a cunning official who teased her, and the father and daughter were unable to escape and almost died. It happened that the prince was listening to music there, and the hero To save the beauty, her father died later, and it was because the prince ordered people to calm down."
Princess Zhou frowned when she heard this: "He is really a man who knows how to repay his kindness. Our prince..."
It can't be said that it is useless.
She pondered for a few moments, and finally said: "It's cold now, so prepare some more medicine and ask them to bring it."
The confidant said subconsciously: "I'm afraid the Queen and the East Palace have prepared these things more thoughtfully than us."
Princess Zhou rolled her eyes at her: "Do the Queen and the East Palace know who Xing Niang is?"
The confidant realized instantly: "Don't worry, Princess, I will definitely prepare the luggage for Xing Niang to have a good life."
…
Zhou Shuren had known for a long time that life would not be easy after leaving the capital, but imagination and reality were completely different after all.
It was the twelfth lunar month of winter, the most difficult time of the year. Normally, at this time, the Zhou people would warm themselves by the fire in the room where the earth dragon was burning. When the mood came, they would take a few concubines out to enjoy the plum blossoms. When they got free time, Go drink with some brothers again.
But now, he was trudging forward against the cold wind in December. His jade-like face was red and wrinkled by the cold wind, and his hands and feet seemed to have lost all feeling...
The emperor had no intention of putting his own son to death, so of course he would not make it too difficult. He even allowed him to take a few attendants on horseback, but there was nothing else to think about.
Wake up, you are being exiled!
When they arrived at the post house where they were resting on the way, Zhou Shuren even lost the strength to bend his legs and fell directly from the horse. On the contrary, Xing Niang was in good condition, so she quickly stepped forward to help him up, and followed the attendants to the left and right. You brought the person into the post house.
The souls of the common people in Zhou seemed to be frozen. They could only hear their teeth chattering, but they couldn't even utter a word.
Xingniang touched his hand and it was as cold as ice. If he screamed again, the common people would not respond.
She was a little anxious, so she opened her mouth and took his fingers in her mouth, using the temperature of her mouth to warm him.
What people in Zhou Dynasty first felt was not warmth, but pain and itching. This was also the first reaction when a person's hands and feet returned to warmth after they were cold.
When he came back to his senses, he was quite surprised when he saw Xing Niang's action. He also felt that it was really shameful for him as a man to have to take care of a weak woman, so he hurriedly pulled his hand away.
Xing Niang said happily: "Do you feel the prince's hand?"
When Zhou Shuren saw her eyes filled with pure joy, he felt a little lost for a moment.
In terms of appearance, Xing Niang was not actually pretty, but looking at her at this moment, he felt that she seemed to have an indescribable smell, like when a pool of spring water was blown by the wind in March. The ripples are inexplicably comfortable.
At this time, he didn't know that it was actually a "truth".
Zhou Shuren responded to her a little slowly: "Much better, thank you very much."
He reacted midway and made a hissing sound: "Why is there something -"
The postman brought hot water, and Xing Niang helped him take off his boots, soaked his feet in it, and said with a smile: "Pain is a good thing, but being unconscious is bad! When I was in the north, I once saw someone drunk. Those who stayed outside while drinking wine would freeze to death. Others, after staying outside for a long time, suddenly went into a warm room, stretched out their hands to grab their ears, and tore them off. This is freezing..."
This is another world unknown to the people of Zhou.
He was stunned after hearing this and couldn't help asking a few more questions, but Xing Niang answered them all.
Finally he came to his senses: "Isn't your ancestral home in the south? How do you know about things in the north?"
Xing Niang sighed vaguely: "My mother is from the north. When the world was in chaos, she fled south with her family. She got separated along the way and married my father. Speaking of which, the emperor hadn't proclaimed himself emperor at that time. Woolen cloth."
The movements of her hands paused, and then she continued: "My mother's last wish before she died was to go back to her hometown to see her. She couldn't go, but my father took me north to live for a while."
Zhou Shuren suddenly felt ashamed.
Now he is in trouble. Xing Niang, this concubine who has not received much favor from him, has resolutely followed him south in vain, and all he knows about her is just a name.
The common man Zhou pondered for a long time and finally said: "Xing Niang, you'd better go back. I'll write you a letter and you can go back to the palace. It's okay to remarry if you want."
He said calmly: "When I helped you father and daughter, it was actually just a small effort. You have followed me this far and you have already repaid me. You don't need to go with me anymore."
Xing Niang shook her head and said: "The world is so big, where else can I go? When the prince saved our father and daughter, it was certainly a piece of cake, but for us father and daughter, it was a life-saving grace. We have to do it." Report."
Zhou Shuren tried to persuade her, but Xingniang still refused to listen, so she had no choice but to obey her wishes and give up.
However, after a gossip that day, the relationship between the two became much closer. Zhou Shuren always boasted of being erudite and talented, but when he actually came to the place, when he was traveling, what happened to the thousands of books he had read? It’s comparable to the thousands of miles Xingniang has traveled!
She is a woman who has endured hardships, knows the crops of the four seasons, and understands the common people. When the wild vegetables come out at the end of February, she even specially pinches the new sprouts and makes pancakes for the common people in Zhou Dynasty to eat.
The common people of Zhou felt it strange at first: "Did you always eat these when you were among the people?"
Xing Niang shook her head: "Now is the year of abundance, and you can only find wild vegetables in the fields. In the years of hardship, people have eaten all the bark of the trees..."
The common people in Zhou Dynasty were astonished and thoughtful.
The journey is difficult, but what about the experiences along the way are not difficult?
The capital is the most prosperous place in the world. The more difficult it is to get there, the more miserable the people will be.
There are many things that are shocking about the people selling children and girls, the half-clothed people, the hunched old man, and the drowned baby girl in the ditch.
In addition, there are endless fleas to catch, smelly dry toilets, weird and incomprehensible local accents, and squires who are causing trouble...
And apart from that, it’s actually not without its good points.
The most basic thing is that the common people of Zhou escaped from the mental prison that trapped them before and came to a brand new world, which was barbaric and desolate but full of vitality.
He gradually began to feel that this exile was actually not that bad. He had swept away all the arrogance and extravagance he had felt when he was in the capital, and now he could eat vegetable cakes that he had never even seen before.
He even found a place where he could beat Xingniang: "This is Andrographis paniculata. It is mentioned in medical classics that eating it can relieve fever and remove toxins..."
Then he pointed to another one: "That's purslane, which can clear away heat and relieve dampness."
Xing Niang looked at him with admiration: "Your Majesty is really awesome, you know all this!"
Zhou Shuren's back felt hot when she saw it, and he hurriedly waved his hand: "I also saw it from Xianshu. I only knew about it before, but it wasn't until I went out to see it that I compared the words with the real thing."
When he reached this point in his hurry, an idea really came to his mind.
Didn't he always think about Shuli Shu?
Although the poems are elegant enough to be handed down from generation to generation, compared with medical books and classics, they are a bit frivolous.
After that, Zhou people began to focus their efforts on this aspect. After that, whenever they visited a new place, they often wrote to the local governor to collect medical books for themselves, or visited famous medical clinics in person.
When the news reached the capital, the emperor was quite pleased. It was no wonder that he sent this boy out specially. Look, isn't this progress coming?
He also specially issued an edict to commend him, ordering the officials along the way to try their best to cooperate with the reasonable requirements of the Zhou people.
When the attendant heard this decree, he was extremely happy and said to Xingniang: "Our prince is about to get ahead before his eyes!"
He bowed to Xing Niang again and said flatteringly: "The prince has kept my lady's friendship in his heart. When he returns to the capital this time, he will definitely be treated as a concubine."
However, Xingniang shook her head and said, "I am not following the prince here for the sake of fame."
He added: "I'm afraid that if the emperor summons the prince to go back now, he won't go back."
The attendant looked puzzled.
Xingniang looked at the figures of the common people in the hall who were busy among the papers, with a gentle expression: "My lord, you don't know what you really want until now."
Zhou Shuren's journey is still going on, but the unfair and surly spirit in his heart when he left the capital has long since disappeared.
He took off the silk clothes he had brought out of the capital and put on coarse clothes like Xingniang. The two of them went up the mountain to collect herbs, or they surveyed various county records and recorded them in detail if they were useful.
After being exposed to the wind and sun for a long time, Zhou Shuren's face no longer looked like that of a jade man in the past, his arms were much stronger, and his figure looked a bit like King Yan.
He kept a parrot, which was very understanding of human nature. When he went out to collect herbs, he often followed him.
And for this parrot, Zhou Shuren brought a bell with him, shook the bell to make it ring, and called Xing Niang to come and feed the parrot.
After a long time, Zhou Shuren didn't even have the time to speak. When the bell shook, the parrot began to scream loudly.
"Xing Niang! Xing Niang!!!"
Xingniang came in from the outside holding a handful of beans, with a look of helplessness on her face.
The common people in Zhou sat on their chairs and were overjoyed.
They set out from the capital in the winter of the previous year and did not arrive in Yunnan until the summer of the next year.
At that time, the emperor's imperial edict had been transmitted long ago. Mu Ying, who was ordered to guard the place, came to talk to the Zhou people and invited him to live in the mansion, but in the end he was declined by the Zhou people.
"To be honest, when I first left the capital, I complained about my father, but now, I really understand..."
Zhou Shuren said: "You should leave something behind in your life."
Mu Ying laughed: "It seems that fifth brother has learned a lot this time! If my adoptive father knows, I'm afraid he will be very pleased."
The common people in Zhou smiled and said nothing.
He continued his work in Yunnan, visiting famous doctors, verifying his old status, going to the mountains to collect medicines in person, and visiting local medical clinics for treatment in his spare time.
No one knew that this young man turned out to be the fifth son of the current emperor, the once world-famous romantic and talented King Zhou.
Until a plague struck.
Zhou Shuren, together with Mu Ying, stabilized various parts of Yunnan, convened famous local doctors to discuss countermeasures, and stole several profiteers who were raising prices. While using feasible prescriptions to treat the victims, they also used tough administrative strategies to stabilize people's hearts. A two-pronged approach, within just one month, , the plague was effectively controlled.
The only thing that caught people off guard was that Xing Niang died.
The life of this woman who followed Zhou Shuren all the way south and accompanied him through the most difficult years also ended quietly in this spring.
The attendants did not know how to comfort the common people of Zhou.
Mu Ying knew that Xingniang had been with the common people of Zhou for a long time and had an unusual relationship. She specially asked her wife to go and conduct funeral rites for her and bury her with the ceremony of a prince and concubine. With the heart of the common people of Zhou, she was declined by the common people of Zhou.
Zhou Shuren said calmly: "I am just a commoner now. How could Xing Niang go so far and bury her with the ceremony of a prince and concubine?"
He found a shovel, dug a hole outside the courtyard where he lived, wrote the tombstone himself, and buried Xingniang not far from his residence.
