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The next morning, Yuan Cixian followed Lu Shiqing out of Zhu's mansion, left Tangzhou and entered Huainan Road, passed Shenzhou, Anzhou, and Huangzhou, and entered Qizhou in early September.
The local officials in Huainan came to receive the guests on the orders of the Third Prince, King Ping. The process of one county after another was almost seamless, as if as soon as the leader said something, everyone below responded immediately.
Moreover, Yuan Cixian discovered that most of the officials he met in Shannan East Road, which was adjacent to the capital, were overly enthusiastic, nodding and fawning, and constantly flattering. No one even remembered that Lu Shiqing had come south to supervise disaster relief affairs, and the hospitality for the two was extremely luxurious. However, the behavior of the prefectures and counties in Huainan was completely the opposite.
Along the way, even the petty officials were not humble or overbearing to Lu Shiqing, and they kept talking about the disaster, asking when the next batch of disaster relief food would arrive, and caring about what measures the court would take to prevent the spread of the plague after the disaster. The food they served to the two was not bland, but it was definitely not exquisite either. They all said that they wanted to "share the same simple customs with the people" and hoped that they would be more tolerant.
Yuan Cixian was really surprised by the unity of the Huainan officials. However, Lu Shiqing's attitude was always indifferent and distant. He just nodded to them and never said anything nice.
Once, Yuan Cixian asked him, these people seem to be concerned about the country and the people, and if he comforted them a few more times and made the emperor's will pass on, wouldn't it be beneficial to stabilize the people's hearts? If he didn't treat them well, he might be criticized. But Lu Shiqing only answered her with four words: If it's too much, it will be useless.
Seeing that she didn't seem to understand for a moment, he asked, "If this disaster had occurred under your father's rule, would the officials in southern Yunnan have done the same thing?"
Yuan Cixian thought for a moment and said, "No."
"There have been frequent wars in southern Yunnan. The lives of officials and civilians all depend on your father. He cannot guarantee that everyone will be united when natural disasters strike. How can Huainan, which has always been stable, be so lucky to be hit by a disaster in just over a month?"
When he asked her this question, Yuan Cixian felt that she was still a little low. After thinking about it, she realized that the officials along the way were not really serving the people, but were acting for the court for some reason. However, everything will turn into the opposite extreme, and too much is as bad as too little. Their acting was too exaggerated.
Thinking of this, Yuan Cixian's heart skipped a beat. Why did she feel that her acting skills were quite impressive? Lu Shiqing saw through those officials with such a sharp eye, so didn't he also know her tricks clearly
Yuan Cihan fell into reflection. For several days, she did not do anything to please Lu Shiqing on purpose, nor did she go to his carriage to bother him. Until one evening when they were about to leave Qizhou, it rained heavily and a flash flood broke out in the area near Shuzhou. Mud and rocks blocked the road, and the convoy was forced to leave the official road and take a detour. However, due to the poor terrain of the wild road, Lu Shiqing's carriage was stuck in the mud. When Cao An and several minor officials who were accompanying him worked together to push it out, they accidentally broke the mortise, causing the wheel to fly off the carriage, and the carriage collapsed and fell apart.
Lu Shiqing stood in the rain with a very unhappy look on his face. Zhao Shu, who was holding an umbrella for him, was also startled. Yuan Cixian, who was in a carriage behind, saw this and did not bother to "reflect" and quickly asked Shi Cui to go down and pick him up.
Shi Cui stepped over in the mud, raising her voice and saying, "Minister Lu, it's cold and rainy. The county lady asks you to go to her carriage to take shelter from the wind first."
Lu Shiqing glanced at her, nodded slightly, said a few words to everyone, and turned back. Behind him, Cao An quietly rubbed his red hands.
The carriage was too well built, and the tenons were too firmly locked. God knows that the man's casual words "discard it" almost broke his fingers. But he was in pain and happy.
Looking at her lover's back as he ran towards happiness, Cao An smiled with relief and pride.
When Lu Shiqing lifted the curtain, a gust of cold wind blew in. Yuan Cixian shivered and handed him a clean handkerchief. Her lips trembled with cold, so she didn't have time to ask him to wipe them.
But he already understood what she meant. He took the handkerchief and put it aside. Without saying a word, he began to untie his belt and took off his outer robe in a few seconds.
Yuan Cixian was stunned for a few seconds before she remembered to avoid the taboo. She blinked quickly and turned her head away.
She guessed that Lu Shiqing had been seen by her before, and because the carriage fell apart, he was angry and just threw it away. But she was not used to this, and was really a little uneasy. She turned her head away and listened to the rain for a while, then asked, "Have you cleaned it?"
Lu Shiqing didn't take off any more clothes, but just hung the slightly damp outer robe in the carriage. Hearing this, he asked, "It's already been done, what's wrong?"
When she turned around, she saw that he was indeed sitting upright. Although he was without his outer robe, not an inch of his skin was exposed.
The weather in late autumn was much colder than when they first left Beijing, and clothes that were too thin could no longer be worn, so Lu Shiqing did not wear an inner garment under his outer robe, but added a thin lining that fitted his body. When he took it off, his clothes were not disheveled, as he looked in disarray as he did at the Shangzhou Post Station last time, but his tightly-fitted waistband was exposed, revealing his strong waist and firm lines.
Yuan Cixian's breathing stagnated at the sight, and she swallowed her saliva with a gulp. This "half-covered face" look was even more arousing than being naked, and the image of his naked body appeared in her mind again.
But he was dressed decently, and it would be too hypocritical to avoid him. Yuan Cixian had no choice but to look at him directly and change the subject as if nothing had happened: "Nothing, I just want to urge you. This place is not far from the flash flood, so it's better to leave as soon as possible."
She was bluffing, implying that she did not misunderstand that he was about to take off his clothes, and that she did not look away because she was nervous, but was just observing the surroundings through the car curtain.
Lu Shiqing glanced at her slightly red ears and said calmly: "You don't have to worry about it. I have just ordered people to explore the way ahead, and they will find a place to stay soon." Besides, he had looked around before instructing Cao An to abandon the carriage. This place would not be affected by the mountain torrents, and the rain should stop in a moment.
Yuan Cixian nodded and said "Oh". After a moment of silence, she suddenly realized something and asked, "Hey, where is Shi Cui? Why didn't she come in with you?"
Of course, he was dragged along by Cao An to explore the way.
Lu Shiqing laughed in his heart and said coldly: "I don't know."
Yuan Cixian felt that this was a good thing. Being alone this time was fate, not something she had deliberately created. Lu Shiqing wouldn't think she had ulterior motives.
She was quiet for a while, waiting for her heartbeat to gradually stabilize. She was ready to seize the opportunity to "do business" and "catch" all the "almost" she had missed in the past few days. She smiled and said, "In this case, there is nothing to do right now, so let's take a break and play a game of chess."
Lu Shiqing said "whatever you want" and waited for her to pull out the chessboard and chess pot from under the small table, put the pieces in place one by one, reached out to take a jade piece and prepared to put it down.
Yuan Cixian said "Hey" and stopped him: "Why are you leaving first?"
He raised his eyebrows: "Why not?"
"You've been eating six years longer than me, and it's fine if you don't give me a few children, but how can you seize the opportunity?" Her tone was slightly coquettish, and it made people's bones go soft.
This was a seduction that was on par with the one he took off his outer robe.
He was silent for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, he heard someone knocking on the carriage wall, followed by Cao An's apologetic voice: "Sir, the situation is not good. There is no one around for miles. I'm afraid you will have to sleep outdoors tonight."
Lu Shiqing's face darkened: "You have been with Zhao Shu for too long and have lost your way. It's not enough to destroy a carriage, but you can't even find a place to stay?"
Yuan Cixian felt that it was pitiful for Cao An to run so far in the pouring rain, so she said something nice to Lu Shiqing on his behalf: "It's okay to sleep outside. There are beds and couches in this carriage, which is quite comfortable."
Cao An took the initiative to take the blame and said, "County Lady, I am indeed wrong this time. There is nothing wrong with sleeping outdoors, but my husband's carriage is broken. If you can't find a place to stay tonight, you two will have to make do with one..."
When he reminded her, Yuan Cixian suddenly came to her senses, opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything for a while.
Cao An's tone was so sad that she couldn't bear to blame him.
She thought for a moment and asked, "Is it true that Minister Lu's carriage cannot be repaired?"
"A few important tenons are missing, and it's impossible to put it back together."
"Don't we have another carriage?" Xiao Hei "lived" in that carriage.
Cao An continued sadly, "That carriage is really small, it's only big enough for your dog to sleep in, it can't accommodate people, not to mention your belongings are inside, and now because your carriage is destroyed, several stacks of documents a foot thick are placed inside... These things are very important, it's not appropriate to move them out, if it rains and gets wet... "
Lu Shiqing frowned deeply: "Then let's continue on our way until we find a place to stay."
Cao An was embarrassed and advised: "My dear, it's getting dark, and this wild road is not as solid as the official road. It's too dangerous to go on."
Upon hearing this, Lu Shiqing glanced at Yuan Cixian, as if asking what she meant.
She frowned and hesitated, "My life is more important, let's not leave... Let's find a safe place to stay first. At worst, I can give you the carriage and sleep on a rock outside. After all, you are more important..."
Oh, this is a step back. Knowing that he couldn't ask her to sleep on a stone.
Lu Shiqing smiled and pointed at the chessboard in front of him and said, "To be fair, whoever wins will sleep in the carriage. The winner will be decided in one game."
Yuan Cihan thought about it and agreed, thinking that Lu Shiqing must have wanted to give the carriage to her, but was too embarrassed to say it, so he was trying to save face by using such a roundabout method.
As expected, he did not rush to play first and gave her three pieces, so that she was always far ahead in the following situation.
Yuan Cixian secretly felt that although Lu Shiqing looked cold and soft-hearted, he was actually quite nice to her, and he had indeed saved her life. It seemed inappropriate for her to try to use him to get close to him. After wandering around like this, she suddenly heard the person on the other side grind his teeth and say, "Yuan Cixian, can you concentrate?"
She came back to her senses and looked down at the chess board.
Oh no, why is she going to lose...
No wonder Lu Shiqing was angry. He let her do this and she couldn't win. Wouldn't all his efforts be in vain
She made her moves quickly and cautiously, but she was unable to save the situation and was defeated step by step. It was only because Lu Shiqing kept giving in that she was able to turn the situation around and barely managed to get a draw.
She touched her nose sheepishly and asked, "It's a draw... How do I settle it?"
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