It was dusk, and Wang Ying rode back to the city. After tying the horse in the stable, she did not go home, but walked to the general's mansion. As soon as she walked to the door, she met Su He who had returned from an outing. Wang Ying stood outside the door. He called Grandpa Su generously.
Su He turned around and saw Wang Ying, and asked with a smile: "Miss Wang, what are you doing?"
Wang Ying raised her hand, pointed at the package in her hand and said, "Grandpa Su, just call me Xiaoying. I have nothing to do today, so I want to come and pay my respects to the princess. Is it convenient today?"
Su He looked at the thing in her hand, his eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward to take the package and said, "No, no. Miss Wang is calling me that. There's nothing going on in the house. It's a good time for you to come." ." After that, he said to the guard outside the door: "From now on, Miss Wang can come in and out of the house at will, unstoppable."
The two guards, one on the left and one on the right, bowed their heads and clasped their fists in agreement. Su He stepped aside, turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation and said to Wang Ying: "Miss Wang, please."
Wang Ying was a little at a loss. Although she usually had a harmonious relationship with Su He, Su He's attitude today was a little more respectful. She didn't react for a while, so she could only respond subconsciously: "Okay, okay. Grandpa Su is too polite."
Then he followed Su He through the courtyard and walked all the way to the door of a small house in the backyard. Su He slowly opened the door and asked Wang Ying to go in. "The princess likes to be quiet and loves peach blossoms. After the princess passed away, the prince built a house here." I came to this small room, and what hangs inside is the portrait of the princess. The prince often rested here when he was alive, and so did the young master."
After Wang Ying walked in, she found that this hut was extremely simple to build but also extremely clean. It seemed that this house must be cleaned every day. There were very few things in the house, only a bamboo bed and a desk. There is a small incense burner with a lot of incense ash in it. There are some fresh fruits and melons on both sides of the incense burner, and there is also a vase with a few peach blossoms in the vase. A portrait of a woman hangs above the desk.
The woman in the painting appears gracefully before her eyes. Her face is delicate and dignified, and her eyes are deep, like twinkling stars in the night sky, revealing a quiet and firm gaze. The long hair is like a black waterfall, hanging down naturally, and the lips are slightly raised, noble and mysterious.
For a moment, Wang Ying was stunned.
"Miss Wang, Miss Wang."
With Su He's two soft shouts, Wang Ying came back to her senses. She saw that Su He had lit three pillars of fragrance and handed them to her. She quickly took them and said apologetically: "I'm sorry. Grandpa Su."
Su He shook his head gently and said, "It's okay, Miss Wang." Then he stepped aside.
Wang Ying looked at the portrait and took a deep breath. She held the incense in front of her chest with both hands. She bowed three times and inserted the incense into the incense burner. The smoke rose as the incense wood burned. Then she closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. After bowing three times more, her face was looming in the smoke, and the woman in the painting bowed her head and smiled as if in response.
"That's enough, Miss Wang. If you have such a heart, the princess is already very happy." Su He said in a low voice.
Wang Ying shook her head gently and said nothing. After a while, he said to Su He: "Grandpa Su, you don't have to be so polite. I'm just a little girl."
Su He chuckled and said: "You are the young lady of the General's Mansion, so you still need to have these basic etiquette."
Wang Ying suddenly raised her head, waved her hands, and said hastily: "Grandpa Su, I..."
Su He stretched out his hand, interrupted Wang Ying, and said, "Miss Wang, the bracelet on your hand was given to you by the young master before he left. Do you know the meaning of this bracelet?"
Wang Ying lowered her head and touched the jade bracelet on her wrist without nodding or shaking her head. She remembered what her father said in her mind, whoever wears the ice phoenix bracelet is the princess of Suzhou!
Su He smiled and nodded and said: "Yes, anyone who wears an ice phoenix bracelet is the Princess of Suzhou. I have followed the prince and princess for many years, and the bracelet on this hand can be recognized at a glance. Although you have not officially married me yet , hold a ceremony, but in our eyes, you are the prince of this palace."
After that, Su He bowed deeply to Wang Ying and said: "This matter is because our servants did things poorly. The young master also left in a hurry without explaining a word, and there was no wedding letter or betrothal gift. Miss Wang has been wronged. Now, in order to avenge his father, the young master is traveling far away to seek enlightenment. I don’t know when he will come back. If Miss Wang is unwilling, you can return the bracelet to me. When the young master comes back, the old slave will return it to the young master."
"No! I do!" Wang Ying was stunned at first, but as soon as she heard the last sentence, she tightly covered the jade bracelet, fearing that it would be taken away, and said firmly.
Su He was stunned, obviously not expecting Wang Ying's reaction to be so huge. It seemed that the two of them had a deep relationship, and then he smiled and said, "That's fine, it's just a pain for Miss Wang."
Wang Ying smiled bitterly and said softly: "I'm not bitter. In fact, he is the one who is bitter."
Su He was silent and sighed in his heart. The young master was unwilling to share the burden with others, and so was the woman in front of him. The matter of cultivating immortality and seeking Taoism is illusory. Who dares to say that he can achieve Taoism and become an immortal in this life? Even if he succeeds in cultivating Taoism, he doesn't know how many years it will take, let alone take revenge on an immortal sect.
In the wide world, ordinary people only have a few good years in their lifetime. Once you miss it, it will be a lifetime thing, and a lifetime of loneliness will be all in one person.
"In this case, please keep it safe, Miss Wang, and I will explain it to everyone in the house one by one. But if the young master doesn't come back, it's hard for the old slave to take care of this matter on his behalf. We will not publicize this matter to the outside world, but, old man I still say the same thing, if one day...Miss Wang can come back to me at any time."
Wang Ying nodded gently and stood in front of the portrait looking at the woman in the painting. Su He stayed quietly for a while, then slowly exited the hut and gently closed the door.
I don't know how long it took before Wang Ying left the palace, but she didn't leave through the front door, but quietly left through the back door. My thoughts were confused along the way, and I didn't know what was going on in my mind.
It was a dark and windy night. Wang Ying was walking on the street with her head lowered. She didn't notice a hunched figure in the distance gradually approaching her. Until it was almost close to her body, she suddenly raised her head and backed away a few steps. Bu Cai didn't hit him.
Taking a closer look, I saw an old man walking slowly with a cane, exhaling heavily with every step he took, looking extremely tired. The old man seemed to have bad eyesight and did not notice anyone approaching in front of him like Wang Ying.
Wang Ying patted her chest and took a breath. Full of apologies, I secretly thought that it was a good thing that I reacted quickly, otherwise I would have hit the old man. Thinking of this, Wang Ying stepped aside, walked to the old man, stretched out her hand for fear that the old man would fall down in an instant, and shouted tentatively: "Old man? Old man?"
After shouting twice, the old man turned around, brushed away the messy and fluffy hair in front of his eyes, and responded hoarsely to Wang Ying: "Little girl, are you calling me?"
Wang Ying nodded, holding the old man's arm with one hand and putting the other on the old man's back, "Old man, what are you doing here alone at night?"
The old man chuckled and did not answer her directly, "Little girl, do you know where there is a bridge nearby?"
Wang Ying's heart tightened, and she had an ominous premonition. She clenched the hand that was originally supporting the old man a little tighter, "Old man, why do you ask this?"
"What else can we do? Of course we can find a bridge to sleep." The old man said with a sad smile, but the laughter seemed a little penetrating in such a quiet night, but Wang Ying didn't have a trace of fear, just the hanging heart My heart gradually relaxed, but I still had some doubts in my heart, but among the people in the city, there were basically no old people living on the streets. Suzhou City has always paid close attention to this aspect, because in situations like this, most of the men in the family died in the army, leaving no one to care for them until they died. Therefore, people from the General's Mansion asked others to take care of them, or people in the surrounding villages and towns who were in the same situation took care of each other.
Wang Ying thought for a while and asked: "Old man, where are you from?"
The old man glanced at her as if nothing and said: "I, old man, come from Quanzhou. My wife has left long ago, my son joined the army and died many years ago, and the pension from the court has been used up long ago. I have no choice but to Only then can I beg all the way, begging wherever I go, and go wherever I beg. Little girl, where are you?"
Wang Ying calmed down and said: "This is Suzhou City! Old man, it's getting darker now, it's about two o'clock in the morning, and you don't have any relatives. The little girl's family owns a restaurant. If you don't mind it, why don't you go to the humble house to rest for a few days? Will you make plans again tomorrow?"
The old man tensed up and said quickly: "Little girl, I don't have any money."
Wang Ying smiled and said: "It's free of charge, so just rest assured."
The old man said with some embarrassment: "I don't dare to do it, I don't dare to do it. The old man misunderstood you before. Now I have the nerve to go to your house to rest. Old man, I can just find a bridge hole to lie down and sleep. It won't be in the way." An eyesore.”
"It's okay, old man, my house is not far ahead. Now the weather is getting colder and it's getting late now. You are in the dark and you are not familiar with the city of Suzhou. You might as well go and rest for a while. If you have anything to do then, Or if you feel uncomfortable staying there, you can leave." Wang Ying said seriously with a sincere face.
The old man was a little moved. It was extremely rare to see a woman like this after traveling to so many places. It could be said that there was no such thing. Even some of them would give up after being politely rejected by him. When he thought of this, he nodded and agreed.
Wang Ying felt much relieved when she saw the old man nodded, and she supported the old man and walked slowly step by step. Not long after, just as Wang Ying said, she arrived at the door of a restaurant, and the old man relaxed some of his vigilance. Then Wang Ying helped the old man to a small door in the backyard, took out the key from her arms, opened the door, found a chair for working, and helped the old man sit on the chair. Then he gently knocked on the door of the room where the guys slept.
"Skinny monkey, fat dog. Are you asleep?" Wang Ying asked in a low voice.
After asking in a low voice three times, there was a sound in the house, and then I heard the fat dog patting the thin monkey and saying: "Don't sleep, the eldest lady is calling us." "Huh? Ah? Miss? It's so late. What's the matter?" Thin Monkey asked in a daze.
Wang Ying was a little anxious. The temperature dropped very quickly at night. Seeing the old man's thin appearance, she was afraid of catching the wind and cold again. She said hurriedly: "I met an old man who fled from other places on the road. You two Get up and help the old man clean up and arrange for him to stay."
As soon as they heard about the business, there was a sound of people getting dressed in the house. Not long after, the two of them walked out of the house and saw the old man sitting on the chair. Without saying anything, one person helped the old man into the house, and the other went to collect firewood. Boil water. Shouhou changed his usual playful smile and said to Wang Ying seriously: "Miss, don't worry, we will take good care of this old man. We also came here in the same way. It's almost midnight, so you should be early Go back and rest, and we’ll see you again tomorrow morning.”
Wang Ying nodded, looking into the room through the gap from time to time and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
