Sun Yaya rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not seeing things, but in fact she did not know what kind of animal was fox, because she had never seen such bright furs, let alone living foxes, in the market.
"Sir, there's a big red dog over there?"
Sun Yaya pulled Ji Yuan's corner and pointed at Hu Yun beside the stone table. Ji Yuan glanced at Hu Yun when he heard this and found that the latter's hair stood up.
"I'm not a dog! Have you ever seen such a beautiful dog? I'm a fox! A fox! A red fox!"
Hu Yun stood up with his teeth bared, jumped in front of Sun Yaya and argued with her with gesticulations. He hated dogs the most in his life, followed by ruffians and hooligans.
This scared the little girl so much that she shrank behind Ji Yuan and hugged him and screamed.
"Sir, sir! It can talk! It can talk!"
Hu Yun covered his mouth and looked at Ji Yuan carefully. The latter shook his head slightly and walked back to the yard.
Sun Yaya followed nervously, her eyes always fixed on Hu Yun.
"Sir, this... this fox can talk, is it a monster? Will it eat people..."
Ji Yuan walked directly to the stone table in the yard, sat down and carefully read the contents of Yin Qing's letter, then pointed to the papers on the table and said.
"Yaya, practice calligraphy."
"But, but..."
Sun Yaya snorted twice, her eyes never leaving Hu Yun, then looked at Ji Yuan and found that the gentleman did not have any special reaction.
Hu Yun walked back to the yard, put his front paws on his waist, pointed at Sun Yaya and then at himself.
"You, can see me?"
Sun Yaya looked at Ji Yuan again and found that Mr. Ji was reading the last few pages of the letter carefully and was not paying attention to this side. Thinking about the words of the fox, her heart suddenly moved.
"Could it be that Mr. Ji couldn't see the fox, so he ignored it?"
Although Sun Yaya did not answer, the little girl's eyes were focused on him, making Hu Yun realize that he had asked a nonsense question, so he gathered his magic power and used his magic.
This was not enough. Hu Yun knew what Mr. Ji had said about the problem of concentration, so he shook his body and jumped behind the well covered by stone slabs in the yard, making himself disappear from Sun Yaya's sight, and then tiptoed out from behind the well again.
Sure enough, at this time Hu Yun saw that Sun Yaya was still staring at the well and did not notice that he had come out, which meant that she could not see him again.
Ji Yuan glanced at Hu Yun. He also saw the red fox's movements. Looking at Sun Yaya's reaction, he could only say that the little girl's own awareness had begun to sharpen.
Seeing that the fox had not come out for a long time, the little girl looked at Ji Yuan, then went around the trunk of a jujube tree and looked over to the well. She found that the fox was not there. She looked around but still did not find it.
"Yaya, practice calligraphy."
Ji Yuan called out again.
"oh… "
Hearing the teacher calling her for the second time, the little girl responded, went back to the table obediently, picked up the pen and started practicing calligraphy, but she was always absent-minded and looked around the yard from time to time.
As soon as the hour of You arrived, Sun Yaya said goodbye to Mr. Ji, left Ju'an Pavilion and went home. As soon as Sun Yaya left, Hu Yun immediately jumped out again.
"Mr. Ji, Yaya really saw me just now. Although I spoke to attract her attention, her eyes are much sharper now."
"There's nothing to be surprised about. Young children, especially very young ones, are very spiritual and can see strange things. As Yaya's spirituality gradually grows, it's not surprising that she can see you."
Having said that, Ji Yuan added another sentence.
"In fact, many children may have seen some special things when they were young, but they will have protective amnesia when they grow up."
Hu Yun made a note of it, then jumped onto the stone bench and looked at the letter.
"Sir, when will Yin Qing get married? If you want to go to his wedding, can you take me with you?"
"Don't worry, don't worry. You don't have to go. He will bring his bride to Ning'an County and personally invite some close relatives such as uncles and aunts. Of course, he will also come to Ju'an Pavilion."
According to the customs of Ning'an County, engagement can be big or small, and some arranged marriages only require a verbal promise. However, for matters like marriage, one must personally go to the relatives' home to invite them.
Originally, given Yin Zhaoxian and Yin Qing's circumstances, they could have skipped this step, both because of their status and because of their busy official duties. But apparently for some reason, Yin Qing wanted to bring Princess Changping along with him.
"Really? When will it arrive?"
Hu Yun suddenly became excited. Compared to the restricted place in the capital, he felt much more comfortable at home in Ning'an County. He could even take Yin Qing to play in Niukui Mountain.
Nowadays, no matter whether it is some monsters or ferocious beasts such as jackals, tigers, leopards, etc. in Kuishan Mountain, they dare not provoke Hu Yun. It is not that Hu Yun is so powerful that he is invincible in the mountain, but that the animals and monsters in the mountain are afraid of Lu Shanjun, and as a result, they are also afraid of Hu Yun, who often appears with Lu Shanjun and leaves a similar smell.
Even the fact that Niukui Mountain has not had a mountain god for many years is closely related to Lu Shanjun. The name Lu Shanjun was given to himself after he learned writing from a group of ghosts. The name means "the king of the mountain". Some obscure books also use this to refer to the most powerful tiger in the mountain.
Unless it was necessary, Ji Yuan would not usually calculate the trivial matters of his friends' lives, and in this case it was obviously nothing, so he counted with his fingers and smiled at Hu Yun.
"Their ship is already on Chunmu River. It will probably be gone in a few days. You can make some preparations. It may not be a good idea to attend his wedding."
"Got it. Then I'll go back to Niu Kui Mountain first!"
After leaving these words, Hu Yun jumped off the stone bench, ran to the wall and jumped out. After he left, Ji Yuan frowned slightly and looked at the letter in his hand.
"It seems that Qing'er trusts this unmarried wife very much!"
Being able to directly say in the letter that he would bring Princess Changping to Ju'an Pavilion, based on Ji Yuan's understanding of Yin Qing, it seemed that there were no secrets between the couple, otherwise Yin Qing might not even plan this trip to Ning'an County.
That's right, it's not that Ji Yuan feels good about himself. He knows that Yin Qing's trip back to his hometown with Princess Changping was not so much to invite the elders among the relatives one by one according to the local custom, but more to invite him, Ji, specifically.
…
In Chunhui Mansion, Yin Qing took Princess Changping to visit the academy where she studied, and they also went to the big willow tree that leaned across the river at that moment. Some attendants and guards stood a little further away.
"Sir, is this the place where you often came to study when you were studying here?"
"Yes, this is the place to recite to the river. It is not only to cultivate one's sentiments, but also to read to the fish and shrimp in the river."
Princess Changping covered her mouth with the fan in her hand and smiled.
"Yes, yes, yes. There is also an interesting story that the official told me. It said that when you were studying here, occasionally a big fish and an old turtle from the river would come by and swim around in the water and wouldn't leave."
"By the way, sir, how big is the fish and how big is the turtle?"
Facing Princess Changping's laughing face, Yin Qing gestured seriously with his hands.
"Bigger than a human being. It's definitely bigger than you think."
At this time, two guards came from the direction of the city. They were not wearing any guard uniforms, but were dressed in formal attire, and each held a jar of wine in their hands.
"Sir, I got it."
"What is this? Wine?"
Princess Changping asked in confusion, and Yin Qing picked up one of the jars, shook it, and explained.
"This is the famous wine of Chunhui Mansion - Qianrichun, and these two small jars, yes, they are twenty years old, right?"
"Reporting to the Lord, both jars are Qianrichun that were buried for twenty years. We watched the owner of the garden shop dig them out from the wine soil in the warehouse."
Yin Qing nodded.
"Well, I guess the money is not short of money, right?"
The guard smiled.
"Of course there is a lot. If the shopkeeper hadn't insisted on not selling it at the beginning, I wouldn't have shown the imperial order for purchase."
"Next time, if you can't buy one for 20 years, forget it. There's no need to show the imperial decree."
Yin Qing made a light criticism, and the guards quickly clasped their fists and said "yes". They were mainly responsible for protecting Princess Changping, but they dared not disobey Lord Yin's words.
"Well, there are so many places worth visiting in Chunhui Prefecture. We will come back to have fun some other day. Today we visited the academy and the Jiangshen Temple, and strolled along the river. It's almost time for us to board the ship and set off."
"Well, listen to the master!"
So they turned around and started walking towards the pier.
"Hua La La..."
There was a sound of rippling water on the other side of the willows across the river. Princess Changping subconsciously turned her head and vaguely saw a very large fish floating away in the ripples.
Following the Chunmu River and turning to the Xiaoshun River, a ship finally stopped at the dock at the foot of Laohua Mountain. Yin Qing and Princess Changping waited on the boat for a while, then got on the carriage prepared by the servants and crossed Laohua Mountain along the mountain road.
While walking through the mountain road and admiring the scenery, Princess Changping suddenly asked.
"Sir, is there really a clear water pond deep in Laohua Mountain, with small fish whose bones will melt away when they are cooked into soup?"
"Yes, there is..."
…
As a princess and a future prince consort, no matter how low-key they were, they could not skimp on the necessary manpower. With three carriages in front and behind and more than a dozen riders, it might not be a big deal in a prosperous place like Chunhui Mansion, but in a "countryside" like Ning'an County, they immediately stood out from the crowd.
When the emperor and his entourage entered the county, many people were talking about it, wondering who the important person was who had arrived. In this high-profile situation, the carriage headed all the way to Tianniufang, and no one was sent to notify the county government.