Xiao Yu followed the handsome man out of the thatched cottage.
In the dim sky, a black-covered carriage was parked beside the path outside the bamboo forest.
A dozen servants holding oil umbrellas were waiting there respectfully. A few people standing in front were holding red lanterns, with the word "Yongning" vaguely visible on the lanterns.
Yongning?
Seeing these two words, Xiao Yu's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He stopped and looked at the handsome man walking side by side with him in surprise.
"Xiao Langjun, please." The handsome man smiled and made an inviting gesture.
"Who are you?" Xiao Yu asked warily.
The man smiled and cupped his hands: "I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm Pan Duo, my courtesy name is Zhi Ming! I'm from Yifeng in Yuzhang."
"You are the Prince Consort Pan Duo!"
Xiao Yu exclaimed, he never thought that the Prince Consort Qingxue always talked about in front of him was the man in front of him.
That's no wonder. According to Qingxue's description, there is such a graceful and elegant figure, just like a fairy in the painting. Is there anyone else besides him?
"That's right." Pan Duo cupped his hands and smiled slyly, "It's just that I don't know yet that the Prince of Jiangxia has another son named Xiao Dalang."
After saying that, Pan Duo laughed loudly, as uninhibited as a madman.
Xiao Yu twisted his mouth, so embarrassed that he didn't know what expression to use to face Pan Duo, and he didn't know how to answer the conversation. The other party was really a master of talking to death.
But when did he reveal his secret and let the other party discover his identity?
Qingxue!
Yes, he must know Qingxue. After all, Qingxue was the maidservant beside Princess Xiao Yuwan of Yongning.
Thinking about Qingxue's weird behavior before, it can confirm all his guesses.
But what about Qingxue?
Xiao Yu was about to look around when someone pushed him in the back.
"Let's go, Xiao Langjun, your maid is getting out of the car!"
…
It was still raining, and the rickety carriage moved forward slowly on the muddy path in the mountains.
The spacious carriage is filled with incense, and with the dim candlelight, people feel drowsy.
After getting on the bus, Xiao Yu knelt down on the side of the car sternly. It was not that he wanted to do this, but because he was nervous after his identity was revealed, which made him a little unable to let go.
Qingxue, on the other hand, was like an obedient kitten, clinging to his side, but she didn't dare to make too many mistakes.
Pan Duo, on the other hand, looked relaxed, lazily leaning against the table and reading a book, his whole body spread out, occupying most of the space in the carriage.
After an unknown amount of time, Pan Duo seemed to be tired. He put down the book in his hand and glanced at Xiao Yu and Qingxue.
"Xiao Dalang, are you hungry?"
Xiao Yu shook his head mechanically, but his stomach growled honestly.
Pan Duo pushed the edge of the window. The sound of rain outside was still there, but it was pitch black outside the light range.
He yawned, straightened up, opened the lacquer box next to the small table, took out several exquisite small plates and placed them on the small table, each containing some preserved fruit cakes.
"Eat something to fill your stomach. It will take a few hours before we can return to Jiankang." Pan Duo said as he handed a small cake to Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu thanked him and brought the cake to Qingxue.
Qingxue was a little hesitant, she didn't know whether to answer or not.
Pan Duo raised his eyebrows: "Your master gave it to you, how could you not accept it? Besides, you are no longer a maid in my house. Although there is an order of hierarchy, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be so tense. Alas , in your eyes, am I the man-eating Yama? That makes you so timid and cautious."
Qingxue didn't say much. After she knelt down and thanked her, she accepted the cake and ate it carefully.
Although she is a maid, it is good to understand the importance of dignity and propriety, but Qingxue's behavior made Xiao Yu feel a little strange.
In this era, should the relationship between master and servant be like that between Pan Duo and Qingxue, and am I too kind to my servants?
But no matter what, Qingxuezheng may be the exception in Xiao Yu's heart.
Just as Xiao Yu was thinking of this, Pan Duo had already handed him another cookie.
Suddenly, Pan Duo tapped the small table with his fingers and said: "Don't listen to the sound of beating leaves in the forest, why not just scream and walk slowly..."
This time, Xiao Yu almost choked on the cookie that fell into his throat.
How could the Prince Consort suddenly memorize the song "Ding Feng Bo"?
But he had to admire Pan Duo's good memory. He remembered that when he read Su Dongpo's poem, in order to pretend to be a literary young man in front of his female classmates, he couldn't remember how many times he memorized it before memorizing it, but in the end he didn't use it. , but tonight I was showing off in front of a group of old guys.
And Pan Duo probably knew it by heart after just reading it once!
"Everyone says that the prince of Jiangxia is stupid. The world is really blind. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, my brother-in-law wouldn't have known that the prince was so talented. How can it be compared with the Yongming poetry style created by Shen Yue and Fan Yuncao? There is no concession in comparison, come on, come and have a good chat with me, your brother-in-law, about how you created such a wonderful piece."
Xiao Yu grinned, or he twitched his mouth intentionally or unintentionally,
To be honest, his literary literacy was average, and most of the books he read were used to prepare for exams. How could he discuss poetry appreciation with others, especially young talents like Pan Duo?
His eyes were a little dodgey, but he accidentally saw Qingxue beside him, his eyes shining, looking at him with admiration.
At that moment, Xiao Yu's vanity was aroused again. Should he pat his chest and say that this was an advanced poem I composed casually and was not worth mentioning.
If you really say that, it would be really shameless.
"Oh, this word... I didn't write it. I don't understand poetry." Xiao Yu lowered his head and said.
"Oh? Seriously?" Pan Duo raised his eyebrows slightly.
Pan Duo was born in a wealthy official family. Although the Pan family in Yuzhang was not a first-class family, they were also from a high-class noble family. He boasted that he was rich in knowledge. How could he not know if such a good article had been published long ago? But for this "Don't hear through it" He had indeed never heard of the sound of leaves beating in the forest in the past, not even by literary greats like Fan Yun and Lu Jue.
How could it be done by someone else?
He didn't believe it, and his originally lazy body became much calmer. He sat across from Xiao Yu, and his frivolous eyes became serious.
"This is what the young prince did!"
Suddenly Qingxue's voice sounded, and the originally obedient little maid suddenly became serious, and her uncharacteristic look made people feel a little cute.
"Oh, I really didn't do it." Xiao Yu felt heavy-headed and said seriously.
"It was the young prince who did it." The little maid became bolder.
Pan Duo on the side thought it was very interesting for the master and servant to sing in harmony. He teased: "When did Qingxue become so unrestrained? If this poem was not written by your eldest son, then who did it? Listen to the source. listen."
A word of "unbridled" made Qingxue turn back into the obedient kitten and hide beside Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu looked thoughtful: "To be honest, that day in my dream, I dreamed of an old man wearing a bamboo hat and raincoat. I traveled with him to the mountains and encountered rain. This was what the old man in the dream did."
Pan Duo laughed loudly: "I also dream every day, why don't I see the person in the dream writing poems for me to listen to."
"This is not called poetry, this is called lyrics, and there is also a word brand name. This is called "Ding Feng Bo", which will be used to sing in later generations." Xiao Yu said with a serious face.
"Don't make fun of me here. I just think you are a genius. You have no knowledge and skills, but you have such talent."
Qingxue interjected at this time: "Who said that the young prince is uneducated and incompetent? All the books that the prince consort left in the mansion before he could move them were re-read by the young prince, and... he also made annotations..."
At the end of the sentence, Qingxue's voice became obviously quieter.
He knew that Pan Duo regarded books as his life. The young prince had only recently started to learn to write and was already good at writing. But if the Prince Consort found out that the young prince had been "drawing talismans" on those books, I don't know how he will react. He will definitely be furious and want to fight against her young prince.
But Pan Duo didn't seem to be angry now, and he couldn't help but laugh: "I also made annotations. I will go to your house another day to see how you made annotations, Prince."
"Well!"
Qingxue was surprised that Xiao Yu actually agreed.
Pan Duo leaned closer to Xiao Yu again, and he deliberately teased: "Hey, Crown Prince, is this...word really what you came up with in a dream?"
"Exactly."
"Is there anything else? Tell me a couple of songs and listen."
"I still have to keep it cool! How can I tell you everything?"
"Pretending? What is that?" Pan Duo looked confused.
"Well, you have to owe a favor, right?" Xiao Yu said helplessly, "Because I occupy your mansion, I can barely give you two songs."
"Which two songs? Let's have a listen. It's best to be the one that you said can... be able to show off in front of others."
Pan Duo's handsome face was full of expectation, and Xiao Yu couldn't catch his hot eyes.
At this moment, a "bang" was heard suddenly!
The horse neighed and the carriage shook violently. The three people in the carriage were thrown violently by the huge inertia and hit the carriage wall heavily.
The horse seemed to run away, and the whole world became quiet at that moment...
Before anyone could recover, there was a commotion outside.
"Thieves are coming!" someone shouted.
There was a noise outside, but three "swish, swish, swish" sounds pierced the air, followed by two screams.
Xiao Yu felt that his cheek had just been touched by something. When he came to his senses, he saw an arrow flying out from the edge of the window and nailing it less than a knuckle away from his head.
What a blessing!
Xiao Yu was still frightened. With the help of the burning candle, Xiao Yu glanced at Qingxue and Pan Duo.
There was thunder roaring outside. Could it be that he had revealed the secret and God was coming to collect him?
Without any further thought, Xiao Yu quickly blew out the candle.
At this time, the sound of metal collision could be heard outside.
"Why did you blow out the candle? You can't see it anymore!"
Pan Duo's dissatisfied protests were heard in the darkness.
"With the light, you are a living target. You are not afraid of attracting the thieves!" Xiao Yu whispered.
He leaned in front of the thick carport board and listened carefully. The sound of metal collisions outside soon became sporadic, but the sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling suddenly started.
"Consort Pan, how many martial arts masters have you brought with you?"
"Martial arts master? Only his servants are always with him, and two of them are family nurses."
Xiao Yu sniffed. It seemed that Pan Duo's men were extremely weak in combat. If they were left in this car, they would encounter something unexpected sooner or later.
If he is really a thief cutting trails in the mountains, he will just grab some valuable things. More killings will not benefit anyone.
But... there are women in the car, so it may be difficult to tell Qingxue here.
There is also the Prince Consort Pan Duo. He is such a beauty. I am afraid that the bandits are more interested in him than Qingxue.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yu couldn't help but tighten his lower body.
"The wind is so tight!"
"ah?"
"It means hurry up and run away!"
Xiao Yu said, grabbing Pan Duo's clothes and throwing them out. He took Qingxue's hand and jumped out of the carriage.
It was still raining outside at night, but the intensity seemed to be lighter than before.
Several broken red lanterns lay in the mud, flickering on and off, not knowing when they would go out.
With the help of the dim light, Xiao Yu pulled Pan Duo up from the muddy water and looked around.
Five or six corpses were lying not far away, and two servants were still resisting desperately. They had attracted most of the thieves, but they probably wouldn't be able to hold on for long.
There were also many owners who escaped. When they were seen running, there were men in black chasing them. If they caught up, they would kill them with one knife, leaving no one alive.
Xiao Yu frowned, leaving no one alive, are they still robbers who blocked the road? No, they are here to kill.
It doesn't matter who to kill now, Xiao Yu knows that they have to escape immediately.
He accidentally discovered that Pan Duo was like a blind man, scratching all over the ground.
Does this person have night blindness?
Take advantage of the fact that the rain can block certain views.
Xiao Yu, holding Pan Duo and Qingxue in each hand, hid in the bushes on the roadside.
Pan Duo was like a fly without a trace. He seemed unable to distinguish the situation. He thought that his slaves had magical powers and beat the bandits away. He kept shouting things like "Don't let the thieves escape."
This made Xiao Yu so angry that if Princess Yongning Xiao Yuwan hadn't been kind to him, he would have really wanted to kick Pan Duo out.
"Hey, shut up! Stop screaming!" Xiao Yu said viciously, "You can't see it. I tell you, there is killing over there! Killing your people!"
Pando was not stupid and shut up immediately, but otherwise he was no match for a toddler in the dark.
In the bushes, Xiao Yu looked at Pan Duo and then at Qingxue.
"We have to escape. Run away before we are discovered. We can't go back to Jiankang the same way we came. We have to take a detour!"
Qingxue nodded with trust.
Pan Duo kept his face turned sideways. He could not see but listened with his ears.
Now among these people, only Xiao Yu is the backbone. He looked ahead and saw that there was an abnormally empty tunnel deep in the dense forest, and deep there was the mountain.
Xiao Yu patted his companions beside him and motioned them to walk behind him.
At this moment, the thief's voice came from the carriage not far away.
"The car is empty! The temptress is not in the car!"
"The candles are still hot. There must have been someone in the car before, and they probably can't go far now!"
Xiao Yu stopped and calmed down a little.
He found that the accent of those people did not sound like that of Jiankang locals. It seemed that he had never heard that accent before, but it was indeed a kind of harsh ancient Chinese.
Who are they...?
Xiao Yu was suspicious, but he saw Pan Duo's whole body crashing directly into a big tree.
There was only a dull loud noise, a "crash" among the branches and leaves, and countless raindrops fell to the ground.
Xiao Yu's heart sank. He really needed to take a vitamin A supplement for his blindness.
At this time, I heard a cry from behind my ears: "The person is over there, just kill him!"
