Ananda, looking for her husband from thousands of miles away, was most worried about Prime Minister Lu, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.
Prime Minister Lu was worried that the journey would be difficult due to the exhaustion of boats and vehicles. Ananda's small body was weak, and he couldn't eat well or sleep well outside. What if he fell ill and was swollen? And the emperor and the queen mother were also worried that they would not know whether it was safe or not along the way, and the guards who protected them were not strong enough. What if Princess Wai Yisu didn't make it to Tongcheng safely
Therefore, when everyone was worried, they selectively forgot to write a letter to Chu Baning about Ananda's going to Tongcheng in advance. Ah, in fact, Emperor Chongde sent someone to take a repair letter directly, but it was handed over to the accompanying Ouchi guards, so that when they arrived in Tongcheng, they would hand over the letter to Chu Baning after seeing the prince.
—Your Majesty, this kind of behavior of yours only delays King Su's anger, it's useless!
However, what they didn't know was that a certain princess who made everyone worry about not being able to eat well, sleep well, or travel unsafely was at this moment with a ruddy complexion, and she was playing trick cards with Rucui in the carriage.
The carriage that Princess Su was riding in was specially sponsored by Emperor Chongde. I hope that Ananda can arrive in Tongcheng comfortably all the way. Maybe Chu Baning will not be so angry when he sees his pink and tender little wife... The wall of the carriage It is dark purple, with a faint amber luster. It looks elegant and simple, presenting a low-key gorgeousness. Only those who know the goods know that the wood of this car wall is made of precious rosewood, and you can smell it when you get close. The unique fragrance of wood. The sky-blue curtains were embroidered with rich patterns and were closed tightly, blocking the sight of passers-by from the outside.
And the carriage is also extremely comfortable, not to mention all kinds of food in the hidden compartment inside the carriage, that is, a layer of cotton is laid in the carriage, and a layer of delicate and beautiful patterns is laid on top of the cotton. The blanket, it is soft and warm to sit on, and it is not to mention how enjoyable it is to sleep directly on it.
On both sides of the carriage was a six-person cavalry team, except for the leader who was a middle-aged man, the others were all young and handsome men, all dressed in uniform robes, sitting on the horse with their backs straight, solemn and dignified. . Just by looking at this outfit, one can tell that these cavalry are not something to mess with.
In addition to the carriage specially used by the princess, there is a smaller carriage used by the maids and nuns at the back, and the rest is the luggage. There are guards everywhere, and the maintenance measures are very strict.
The group of them walked the official road, and there were many merchants traveling from south to north on the official road. Seeing this group of people, they all involuntarily turned sideways to give way, and secretly murmured in their hearts that they didn't know who was sitting inside. The people inside are either rich or noble, and they cannot be provoked by ordinary people.
In fact, Emperor Chongde generously assigned sixteen guards from the palace to accompany him, as well as guards selected from Wang Su's mansion, which made this lineup even stronger. I believe that even if the bandits came, we should also weigh our own strength. Is the strength enough to kill this group of people.
Although the ancient official road cannot be compared with the modern cement road, it is not very bumpy in the carriage. There was a little rocking, but Ananda enjoyed it like a rocking chair. Even Rucui, a maid who had never traveled far except for Ningcheng, had a look of enjoyment on her face.
Ananda and Rucui were like two prisoners who were released from the wind. They were smiling and very happy along the way, completely unaware that there were three other people in the capital who were worrying about them.
Compared to the happy and carefree of the two, who didn't feel listless during the journey, Ru Lan vomited half to death on the first day, obviously tortured enough by the bumps of the carriage. After two days, this girl Already lost weight. Ananda took pity on her and left her and Rucui in the carriage she was riding in, hoping that this would make her feel better.
However, fortunately, only Ru Lan got motion sickness, and the rest of them looked pretty good, except that they looked a little sluggish, it was nothing.
Therefore, Ananda and Rucui, who seemed to be in good spirits, seemed to be too out of place. Even the leader Feng Shiwei nodded secretly, thinking that the legendary short-lived Princess Su looked extremely healthy, and she probably lived to be seventy or eighty. No problem - the premise is that she is really not restrained by the hard-nosed King Su.
Along the way, the wind went smoothly, and the further north we went, the colder the weather became. Ananda had already put on a thick jacket and cotton padded clothes, and had been lying in the carriage all day long with the curtains tightly covered. He was no longer interested in secretly lifting the curtains to peek at the scenery along the way.
In fact, there is no scenery to see along the way. When the weather gets colder, the forests, mountains or farmland along the way show a desolate scene. But sometimes when passing by some villages and towns, you can see some people working in the fields, and some children run from one end to the other, their voices are cheerful and loud.
Ananda sat in the carriage, lifted the curtains and looked out. A mountain range surrounded him in the distance, blocking his view.
"Guard Feng!" Ru Cui opened the car window and called out.
Guard Feng recognized that the voice was the voice of a maidservant next to Concubine Su, turned the horse's head, drove the horse to the side of the carriage, and saw the maidservant's pretty face exposed beside the raised curtain.
"Miss Rucui, what's the matter?" Guard Feng cupped his hands on the horse.
Guard Feng was the leading guard, and the itinerary was well organized under his arrangement, so that Ananda never missed the inn at Dianjian, but he had no experience of sleeping outside. He is a middle-aged man in his forties, with a very ordinary appearance, the type that cannot be found in the crowd. However, he was able to be appointed by Emperor Chongde as the leading bodyguard for this trip, which shows that his ability cannot be questioned.
"Servant Feng, the princess is looking for you and wants to ask, when will we arrive in Tongcheng?" Ru Cui asked with a smile.
Compared with Ru Cui's healthy and beautiful expression, the two people in the car... are all listless.
Alas, there is no need to doubt that Ananda also began to wilt after sitting in the carriage for ten days in a row. The longest time in her previous life was a one-day and one-night train ride to Beijing to play. How ever was it like this time, she sat for ten days, except for eating and going out during the day, she was always nestled in the carriage. Feel bad. Not to mention Ru Lan, a girl who vomits all kinds of meat and vegetables as soon as she gets in the car. Poor thing, that little face is already as thin as skin and bones. I don't know if it was influenced by Ru Lan, Ananda saw that she vomited too much, so she also vomited.
Like today at noon, Ananda finally couldn't help calling a stop to get out of the car and vomited again.
Seeing Ananda get off the carriage and run to a tree on the side of the road to vomit, Rucui, the second-hand girl, immediately cried out in surprise: "Miss, are you happy?"
So, everyone was startled.
Not to mention how surprised the people in King Su's mansion were, even the guards sent by Emperor Chongde were also surprised. I wondered if it was really a miracle that Princess Su was not "restrained" by King Su, and even Still pregnant
Ananda was so full of bile that she was about to come out, and she didn't have the strength to refute Rucui's words—she was just motion sick.
Before Ananda had time to explain, he was surrounded by a group of people and boarded the carriage, and then asked Madam Zhang, who knew a little about medicine, to diagnose Ananda's pulse.
Under the high attention and stares of a group of people, Zhang Nanny felt a little stressed. After getting Ananda's pulse, Zhang Nanny said calmly: "The princess is not pregnant, she is just motion sick. When you get to the inn, go and ask for a baby." The doctor will prescribe some anti-dizziness medicine for the princess."
So, nothing to rejoice.
However, everyone was too convinced of King Su's fate of "killing his wife and son", so they had a "should be so" expression on this result. And the nuns couldn't hide their disappointment. They were all old people who followed Su Wang. It can be said that they watched Chu Baning grow up. The master has a young master, so they are naturally happy. No, even more lost.
Hearing Ru Cui's question, Feng Shiwei thought for a while and said: "Miss Ru Cui, you should be able to arrive in Tongcheng in five days." Feng Shiwei added silently in his heart: If there are no accidents.
When Ananda in the carriage heard that it would take five days, he and Ru Lan stood up together.
Ru Cui looked sympathetically at the two laying in a row. Fortunately, the carriage was big enough to accommodate two more people. Seeing their pale and sluggish expressions, Ru Cui continued to ask: "Guard Feng, when can I arrive at the station today? The princess needs to take a break."
"Don't worry, you will arrive at Qinzhou City soon after crossing this mountain."
In this way, after walking for about two hours, I finally arrived at Qinzhou City.
This is a small and medium-sized town, and it is also a city with developed commerce. Here, you can see merchants from south to north and goods from north to south.
It was almost evening when they entered the city.
Feng Shiwei chose an inn that is not the largest in Qinzhou City, but is absolutely quiet and elegant.
Rucui helped Ananda into the room in Tianzi Building No. 1 to rest. Ananda lay listlessly on the bed, feeling his stomach churning. Down, let it go.
"Miss, you don't look like this. It's only been a few days since your chin pointed up. The prince will definitely feel distressed when he sees it." Ru Cui said worriedly: "Miss is still more cute with a round and round appearance, and it's more comfortable to hold. I believe the prince will think so too... "
This is Chi Guoguo's teasing!
Ananda was molested by a maid, and she stared at Rucui with wide eyes, but it's a pity that she looks sluggish now, and she really doesn't seem to be threatening.
Soon, Guard Feng invited a doctor from Qinzhou City over.
After the doctor took Ananda's pulse, he only said that Ananda was weak because he hadn't had a good rest recently, and he would recover in a few days. Then he prescribed some medicine and was dragged to that girl Rulan to see a doctor for that poorer girl.
At night, after Ananda drank the medicine, he went to bed and rested.
Ananda was lying on the bed and couldn't sleep very well. Although there was a brazier in the room, maybe she still felt a little cold, and wanted to call Rucui in to warm her bed, but at the same time, she thought that Chu Baning would With a certain expression, Ananda shuddered, and quickly shook off the thought.
Ananda suddenly felt that the transportation in ancient times was inconvenient, and he didn't know when this kind of boring and uncomfortable life would end. Then he thought of Chu Baning in Tongcheng, and felt that he was missing him more and more, and thought of himself for a while What if he gets angry when he comes here like this...
Ananda fell asleep in a daze after thinking wildly for a while.
*****
The next day, the sky was gloomy and the cold wind was howling, but everyone continued to set off for Tongcheng.
I don't know if it's because of the dizziness, the dizziness is getting used to it, and when there are two days left in the journey, Ru Lan has recovered without medicine, not only does not faint or vomit, but she can also eat and drink as usual. Ru Lan's whole body has regained her blood color, she looks thinner, but she is energetic, better than before, it seems that the previous bout of illness and weakness was for recuperation, and when the rest is enough, she will be fully recovered.
On the other hand, Ananda is getting sicker and weaker. He has lost a lot of weight, and even his chin is pointed. The whole person feels like a classical beauty. I believe that if it was in the past, Ananda would definitely be happy that he still has such a pitiful aura of sister Lin. But now, Ananda only felt that this day was torture.
Ru Lan blamed herself, thinking that she was motion sick and didn't take good care of Ananda, which made her look like this—as for Ru Cui? Ru Lan thinks it's a bastard, the concubine used it to amuse her, it's useless, it's the same with her or without her.
The cold wind howled, and the withered grass on the roadside was pressed to the ground by the wind. In the quiet mountain, there were only the sound of "clack" of horseshoes and "creak" of carriages passing by.
Looking at the dense forest in front of him, Guard Feng's expression was slightly trembling, and he gestured to the guard behind him. The carriage surrounded it, forming a tight protective posture. Although the guards in King Su's Mansion didn't know what Guard Feng had discovered, they were also carefully selected guards, so they naturally saw something and became alert immediately.
In the carriage, Ananda was lying powerlessly in Ru Lan's arms, his face was flushed, fine beads of sweat were secreting from his forehead, his pink lips were a little chapped, and he was panting heavily.
Rucui poured a glass of honey water, carefully protected the overturned carriage from spilling it, and then fed it to Ananda mouthful by mouthful. Ru Lan carefully wiped the sweat from Ananda's forehead with a handkerchief, then put a wet handkerchief on her forehead to cool down, and looked out of the car window anxiously, but the car curtain was closed tightly, so she couldn't see at all. The scene outside, I just couldn't help but want to take a look outside to comfort myself.
"Ru Cui, go and ask Guard Feng, when will you arrive in Tongcheng?" Ru Lan said anxiously: "The fever on the princess is getting higher and higher, if the fever doesn't go away, I'm worried..." Ru Lan choked up her sobs.
Ananda developed a fever not long after he set off this morning. It was only a low-grade fever at that time. I don't know if it was blown by the wind in the car. By noon, he had a high fever. But there was no way to go to the front of the village or back to the store, and everyone didn't know what to do. In addition, there were still more than two hours to go to Tongcheng. Guard Feng gritted his teeth and could only make the convoy speed up.
"Sister Rulan, I asked just now, and it's only an hour away." Rucui whispered, feeling equally anxious in her heart.
The two looked at the feverish Ananda, and their hearts sank. An hour... They were afraid that an hour would be too long, and their princess would not last until then.
Just when the two maids were anxious, suddenly there was the sound of strings breaking through the air outside, and then the sound of something being knocked down by a sword.
The people in the carriage could not be seen, only guard Feng outside the carriage shouted "Protect the carriage!", and then there was a sound of killing. The horse pulling the carriage was frightened by the attacker's cold arrow, and immediately neighed endlessly. Although the driver kept controlling him, the horse still turned for a while before stopping. The people in the carriage were confused, and Ru Cui Rulan's complexion changed drastically, and the two of them tightly protected the feverish Ananda from left to right.
"It's the North Vietnamese, kill them!!" Feng Shiwei quickly discovered the identity of the attacker and shouted angrily.
Although Ananda had a high fever, he didn't lose his mind, so he naturally heard voices from outside. Suddenly, the carriage braked sharply, and the three of them were thrown out by the force of inertia. Rucui was the luckiest person, and the whole person got stuck in front of the carriage door, and they couldn't get out. Rulan and Ananda were the most unlucky Yes, the two of them were thrown out of the carriage together, and rolled all the way down until they rolled into a bush.
Fortunately, the vegetation in late autumn was withered, but not completely withered, it was still thick. They happened to fall into a bush, and they didn't break any bones or anything. It's just that Ananda was more unlucky to be knocked on the forehead by a small stone buried in the grass. At that moment, he only felt his forehead was hot, and something warm flowed out.
Ananda shook his dizzy head, and heard the voices of people yelling "Princess" in surprise, and cursed the incoming North Vietnamese in his heart. They dared to go to Dachu's territory to carry out a sneak attack. These North Vietnamese were really brave.
"Princess, princess..."
Ru Lan's voice was full of weeping, she quickly got up and pulled Ananda up without caring about the pain, to see if she was injured. Seeing that Ananda's forehead was broken, and the blood flowing down the corner of her eyes was shocking, she really wanted to cry right away. Ru Lan pressed the wound on Ananda's forehead with a handkerchief, hugged Ananda tightly, and looked at the battlefield ahead in horror.
The total number of guards on their side is only 30, but there are about 150 North Vietnamese who came to sneak attack. The number of enemies is huge. No matter how brave the guards are, they are no match for five times the consumption of the enemy. , if there is no rescue, their lives will be confessed here today. At this moment, a North Vietnamese was directly beheaded by a guard, blood spurted out, the head flew high, and then rolled to their feet, Rulan was so frightened that she finally screamed.
Ananda squinted his eyes and saw many people died in the bloody shadow of the knife, including North Vietnamese in North Vietnamese costumes and their guards. Ananda felt bitter for a while, knowing that she was out of luck, and she was about to go to Tongcheng to encounter this kind of thing, God really loves her.
At this time, Ananda saw Rucui climbed out of the carriage and ran towards them. Behind Rucui, a North Vietnamese man raised a knife towards her back...
"Rucui..."
Suddenly, the mutants appeared, and there was the sound of an arrow piercing through the air. The North Vietnamese man was pierced through the throat with an arrow, his eyes were wide open, and he fell dead. Ru Cui was also frightened and jumped aside, patting her chest with a look of fear.
Not far away, a group of soldiers dressed in the uniforms of Dachu soldiers raised their bows and shot arrows at the North Vietnamese. Behind the group of soldiers, there are two men on horseback, one black and one white, very eye-catching. The two sit high on the horse, holding the reins and looking into the battlefield. It seems that they belong to this group of people. leader.
"Who is in front?" A man in the school captain's clothes shouted.
"We are… "
Guard Feng killed the North Vietnamese man in front of him with a sword and wiped off the blood on his face. Just as he was about to answer, he saw a petite woman jumping forward and pulling her throat faster than him. People yelled:
"My lord! My lord!! The princess is here!!"
Everyone trembled in fright at the shrill cry of a maid, and even faster, a knight in a black suit rode over on a horse. Until the horse neighed in front of a bush, and its front hoofs were raised high, and it took a few seconds to stop.
Ananda raised her head, against the light, and saw that the familiar face no longer had a serious expression, but a look of mixed horror and anger. For some reason, she felt extremely happy, and there was a feeling in her heart. Indescribably excited and joyful emotions surged, and I felt very happy that I could actually change his face.
Then, Ananda smiled at the man, and finally let himself pass out in Rulan's arms.