Just staring at the charcoal fire in the stove flickering on and off, sleepiness slowly came over me.
Li Jingnan was restless in bed. Seeing that Hua Qingxue was still asleep, he nudged her with his elbow and said, "Hey, tell me a story."
Hua Qingxue curled her lips, "How come there are so many stories to tell..."
A few days ago, Li Jingnan had a nightmare in the middle of the night, and he didn't dare to fall asleep after waking up. Hua Qingxue kindly told him a story to coax him to sleep, but unexpectedly, he was worried about it.
"Speak, speak, whatever you want."
Through the weak and dim light, Hua Qingxue saw Li Jingnan's shining black eyes, and her heart slowly softened.
"...Okay, let me tell you one." Hua Qingxue thought about it and said slowly, "However, we won't tell stories today. You are also a prince after all, so why don't I tell you about Parkinson's Law."
Li Jingnan blinked and lay on his side next to Hua Qingxue, looking particularly well-behaved.
While recalling the knowledge in her mind, Hua Qingxue said: "Parkinson's law is also called officialdom disease, or organizational paralysis. Parkinson's law explains such a phenomenon... Once incompetent people occupy leadership positions, Complex institutions and excessive redundant staff are inevitable, and the phenomenon of mediocre people occupying high positions is also inevitable. The entire institutional system will form a vicious expansion... and fall into a quagmire that is difficult to extricate... "
The night is getting darker, and in the warm and simple hut, there is only the gentle murmuring of a woman...
…
This night, Hua Qingxue had a very bizarre dream.
She dreamed of Li Jingnan.
Different from his usual arrogance in front of her, Li Jingnan in the dream looked weak and helpless. He was kneeling on the ground, his upper body thrown in front of a very large bed, his head lowered and sobbing non-stop.
Hua Qingxue walked over to comfort him, but she shouted several times, but Li Jingnan in the dream seemed not to hear her voice at all.
Li Jingnan cried and said: "Father, I listen to your words and I must study hard and never make the master angry again...Father, you will definitely get better..."
Only then did Hua Qingxue see that there was still a person lying on the bed—
It was a middle-aged man with a very haggard face. Although he was haggard, his clothes and appearance were extremely exquisite. Even the beard on his chin was decorated very elegantly.
Since Li Jingnan calls him Emperor Father, then he is the emperor of Da Qi
Hua Qingxue looked at him curiously.
The emperor seemed to be very ill and out of breath, but his expression was very calm, and his conversation naturally carried the dignity of a master.
"... I have guarded Da Qi for fourteen years. The Liao people in the north are pressing each other step by step, the barbarians are watching in the west, and the Japanese pirates are making trouble in the east. I am very tired... However, I am not willing to give in!... Mozhou has been lost, and Pan Longshan is on the edge of Mozhou. If the Liao people discover that weapon! I'm thinking about this!... Cough! Cough, cough, cough!... "
"Father, father!" Li Jingnan looked panicked, and he stretched out his little hand to caress the emperor's chest.
The emperor's cough slowly subsided.
"Father, there is no need to worry. I will go and find the weapon right away. I will never let the Liao people discover the weapon!"
When the emperor heard this, he smiled miserably.
"My son's pure filial piety makes me happy... But this matter is not easy. I am afraid that once word spreads, I will become the laughing stock of the world. I am not afraid of becoming the laughing stock, I am only afraid of becoming a sinner for the ages. Jing Nan, my son, please be careful Remember my oral instructions - there is a sharp weapon for the country hidden in Panlong Mountain. If you cannot get it, you will destroy it! You must not let this sharp weapon fall into the hands of the Liao people!"
"Yes, I will obey the order!..."
Then, the weak emperor said something intermittently, and Li Jingnan nodded while crying.
Hua Qingxue felt quite uncomfortable looking at this scene. She knew that the emperor was conveying his last words, and Xiao Jingnan must also know in her heart...
After the cruel emperor finished speaking, his aura suddenly became much weaker, and his eyelids dropped heavily.
Li Jingnan was still crying beside the bed, a sad and solemn atmosphere filled the surroundings, and Hua Qingxue's mood became heavy.
But suddenly! The emperor's eyes suddenly opened!
He looked straight at Hua Qingxue, his eyes gleaming! The pupils dilate!
Hua Qingxue was shocked by the emperor! I just feel like those eyes are going to see through me! I was extremely shocked!
Wow! —
Hua Qingxue opened her eyes and saw the dim light coming through the cracks in the window. She felt relaxed and slowly sat up.
Next to her, Li Jingnan was sleeping soundly, and Hua Qingxue didn't want to wake him up. She felt that sleep was very important for children of this age, as they would grow both stature and brain.
Hua Qingxue stood up, turned up the stove, added charcoal to it, then picked up the clothes in the tub and walked out softly.
It snowed for half the night last night, and now a thick layer has fallen in the yard, reflecting the morning sun, which is bright and dazzling.
Hua Qingxue's mood relaxed a lot because of the sunny day. The weather was better and her clothes could dry faster.
The red and swollen hand had several cracks, itched terribly, and was extremely painful when touched.
Hua Qingxue had no time to care. While she was drying her clothes, she was thinking about what she had experienced during this period.
—As a person who has lost his memory, it is impossible not to be curious about his own identity.
When Li Jingnan found her, she was unconscious on the mountain road. She was only wearing a half-sleeved skirt, which was too thin.
Dressed like this, running into the deep mountains and forests in the dead of winter is obviously a way to die.
But she had no memory of why or how she entered the mountain.
Over the past month, she had recovered her health and had recalled many things intermittently, but most of them were vague outlines and not clear enough.
The only thing she was sure of was that the place she had stayed in before was definitely not what it was like now.
At least there, when she explained the principles of a simple chemical reaction, she wouldn't be dismissed as gibberish.
Maybe when I can recall more...
A little more... and you'll know what this is all about...
…
The weather is nice today. Hua Qingxue doesn't need to waste time baking clothes. She plans to go out and try her luck.
Before she knew when someone would come to rescue them, she had to find a way to support herself and the eight-year-old Crown Prince.
Hua Qingxue finished drying all her clothes, cooked a pot of porridge in the house, and then told Li Jingnan her plan.
It's obviously not enough to just sit there and have nothing. Everything such as food, clothing, housing and transportation requires money. Especially now that the weather is cold and the weather is freezing, it is most likely to get sick. Medical treatment and medicine require even more money.
In short, the reality before them is: money, money, money!
The job of washing clothes would definitely not last long. She had to go out and try to find other jobs.
Li Jingnan wrinkled his face after hearing this, "But your accent is very strange..."
He was worried that Hua Qingxue would arouse suspicion among the Liao people.
Hua Qingxue shrugged, "It's better than if you go out, you can only pretend to be mute."
Li Jingnan speaks pure Daqi Mandarin, and you can tell that he is from Shengjing.
When Hua Qingxue said this, it was hard for Li Jingnan to object.
He lowered his head and said in a dull tone: "Then go ahead..."
The little guy seems a little awkward.
Hua Qingxue had long been accustomed to his arrogant temperament and said with a smile: "I will be back early."
She imitated the women here, reluctantly pulled up her hair, put on a headscarf, and wore old gray clothes just like an ordinary village woman.
By the reflection of the water in the wooden basin, Hua Qingxue was sure that her appearance would not attract anyone's attention, and then she left the house.
When they got to the street, Hua Qingxue went directly to Fengle Building.
She met Aunt Yan, the cook of Fengle Building, because she was doing laundry. Aunt Yan heard that Hua Qingxue could settle accounts, so she enthusiastically told her that the shop was looking for a helper who could settle accounts recently.
Hua Qingxue came today specifically to see the shopkeeper.
It's not meal time right now, there's no one in the restaurant, and the shopkeeper is calculating accounts at the counter.
Hua Qingxue walked over and asked softly: "Hello, I heard that we are looking for helpers recently..."
"No more." The shopkeeper refused directly without raising his head.
Hua Qingxue was stunned, "No more recruitment?... Shopkeeper, I can write and settle accounts. If you don't believe me, you can test me."
But the shopkeeper sighed and waved his hand, "Little girl, it's not that I don't believe you, I really do it for the girl's own good. You can't do the work of this gang."
Hua Qingxue became more and more puzzled.
For her own good? Where does this begin...
The shopkeeper stopped paying attention to her, glanced outside, shook his head and sighed: "Alas...the world is like this..."
Hua Qingxue also looked outside and saw two Liao soldiers patrolling the street holding a girl by force, while a gray-haired old man behind him was pleading.
The girl was only twelve or thirteen years old, with no expression on her face, a pair of eyes filled with deep fear, and she couldn't even scream. There were extremely obvious slap marks on her face, like a lifeless puppet being dragged forward by the Liao soldiers.
The white-haired old man struggled with the Liao soldiers and was pushed down by one of them. At this time, a young strong man walked out of the street. He helped the fallen old man up, but was stabbed in the stomach by the Liao soldiers from behind!
Blood splashed all over the old man's face. When the Liao soldiers drew their swords, something white and red fell out of the man's body -
The old man was immediately frightened to death. The two Liao soldiers laughed and yelled in the street for a while. When no one dared to make a sound on the street, they dragged the girl away in a show of force.
The whole street was as quiet as a cemetery.
Hua Qingxue watched the whole process while holding her breath...
She bit her lower lip, trying to control her body from shaking too much.
She knew exactly what she saw! She also knew that there was nothing she could do! Her whole head was numb, as if she had been hit hard by something!
Her knowledge is simply a joke in this world!
What laws and human rights are all a joke!
But why, why did God let her appear here
-This is not her world!
A hand holding a handkerchief stretched out, and Hua Qingxue looked at it blankly.
The shopkeeper put the handkerchief into her hand and said, "Stop crying, go back quickly, and don't go out less in the future. I will ask Rong Sheng to get the clothes."
Did she cry
Hua Qingxue wiped her face, and it was indeed wet. She wanted to smile gratefully at the shopkeeper, but she couldn't. She thought her expression at the moment must be ugly...