On the second night in the mountains, the rain became noticeably lighter in the second half of the night.
By the time it gets light, there are only a few raindrops left, not even a drizzle, so there is no need to hold an umbrella anymore.
"Stop, stop, thank God!"
The people below cheered, and the Chen family members woke up one after another.
Chen Tingjian didn't even have breakfast. He took most of the guards down the mountain to check the flood situation in the town and organize people to drain the water and clear the way.
A servant from the Chen family also came back after exploring the way and reported to Sun: "Madam, our street is high, and several households only have water in their yards, but it hasn't flooded into their houses. The master said that we should stay on the mountain for a while, and then slowly move back after other people have gone down."
Sun asked with concern, "What about other places in town? Is the water deep?"
The servant said: "It's not clear yet. The master has sent someone to check, but it seems that there should be no major problems on the mountain."
Severe flooding can submerge roofs, which is truly despairing.
Sun nodded, looked at Huayang, and said to the people in the shed, "Then let's wait a little longer. The road is crowded with people now, and it's not easy to walk."
Huayang is very patient. At this moment, she only cares about Chen Jingzong.
Yesterday morning, while the couple were alone under a tree, she pretended that the old lady had appeared in her dream and told Chen Jingzong that there was an account book of embezzlement in Qi's bag. Chen Jingzong still seemed unconvinced, but told her not to worry about it and said he would find a way to verify it.
Huayang only has four maids around him. He can't just rush over to Qi and snatch the bag for no reason. It's also unrealistic to steal in the middle of the night. He can only hope that Chen Jingzong will take action. Anyway, everyone thinks he is rude, so any outrageous thing happening to him is normal.
The people were anxious to know the extent of the disaster in their own homes, and they were all eager to return home. The men went first, and the women and children followed quickly.
About an hour later, there were no other civilians on the road, and the Chen family also began to go down the mountain.
The servants were still the first to go. They were used to doing heavy work, and they could carry boxes and crates faster than the women and their masters. Chen Jingzong came to carry Huayang again, deliberately walking at the end of the team.
Huayang glanced at Qi who was not far away, leaned over to his ear and asked, "How are you going to get her account book if you carry me on your back?"
Chen Jingzong: "Don't worry."
Huayang looked at his handsome and casual profile, unable to tell whether he was confident or simply not taking it seriously.
The mountain road was slippery and not easy to walk on. Except for Chen Jingzong, almost everyone in the team stumbled, and some even fell.
Seeing that the mountain road was coming to an end and the front was about to be flat, Chen Jingzong asked Huayang: "Is it okay for you to walk a few steps by yourself later?"
Hua Yang knew that he was going to take action, and whispered: "As long as you get the account book, I will be happy even if I fall down."
Chen Jingzong sneered. If the princess, who couldn't even stand the smell of sweat, really fell, he might have to sleep on the floor for the next few nights.
She was just like that. No matter how upset she was in the Chen family, she would always take it out on him.
After walking a few more steps, Chen Jingzong put Huayang down and handed him to Chaoyun and Chaoyue to support him. He quickened his pace and walked forward.
Huayang's heart was lifted and his eyes followed Chen Jingzong closely.
In front of the couple were Chen Jizong's family of three and their maids and servants.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Chen Jizong turned around and saw his cousin, the prince consort. He resisted the urge to peek at the beautiful princess and asked curiously, "Why did Fourth Brother come here by himself?"
Chen Jingzong ignored him, walked past him and came behind Chen Tingshi and Qi.
Just as the couple was about to turn around, Chen Jingzong said coldly, "Second Aunt, don't move. There is a red chain snake on your shoulder."
snake
Chen Tingshi froze, and Qi felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to his heart, and he almost fainted.
Then, Qi really felt like something was crawling on his back!
If she could still bear it like this, when a small ball of cold and slippery object suddenly hit the flesh of her neck, Qi completely lost control, screamed and jumped to her feet, and slapped her back with her hands, like a madman.
Chen Jingzong took the opportunity to step forward and slammed the bag that had slipped to Qi's elbow towards the bushes on the side of the mountain road!
The moment the bundle left her body, a greater fear overwhelmed Qi's fear of snakes. She instinctively wanted to rush into the bushes to grab the bundle back, but another figure ran over before her. The long legs and black boots skillfully stepped on the branches, and the big hands grabbed a corner of the bundle and pulled it back roughly, but the cloth of the bundle was hooked on the branches, and the two pulled each other, the knot came apart, and the things inside fell out.
Qi wanted to pounce again, but Chen Jingzong had already reached out to the pile of red wedding clothes and suddenly pulled out a dark red snake as thick as a thumb!
The snake's body swept across Qi's face almost closely. Qi's pupils contracted, and he screamed and stepped back.
Everyone's attention was focused on the snake in Chen Jingzong's hand. Only Huayang saw Chen Jingzong's other hand take out an account book from his wedding dress and quickly put it into his back.
Before, in order to make it easier to carry Huayang, Chen Jingzong pinned the hem of his clothes to his waist. After stuffing the account book in, Chen Jingzong put the hem of his clothes down to cover it up.
Although he was clearly "stealing" in public, Chen Jingzong moved quickly but looked calm, standing there upright as if nothing had happened.
Huayang remembered that when she followed her father, the emperor and her mother to visit Chen Jingzong, he was so handsome and righteous that day!
Fortunately, he is now cheating others.
Over there, Qi hid behind Chen Tingshi, making sure that the snake could not bite her. She immediately looked at Chen Jingzong's hand and saw that Chen Jingzong did not pay any attention to the wedding dress on the ground and was observing the snake in his hand.
"Did it bite you?" Chen Tingshi asked his wife nervously.
Qi had no time to pay attention to him. She urged Chen Jingzong with a pale face: "Fourth Brother, throw this snake away quickly. What are you holding it for?"
Chen Jingzong looked at her and said with a half-smile: "This snake is not poisonous. You can take it back and give it to the neighbors to make snake soup."
Qi: "Then please go away quickly, I feel anxious just looking at you!"
As she spoke, she glanced at the bundles and wedding dresses scattered on the ground.
Chen Jingzong seemed not to care about those things. He held the snake's neck tightly and walked to the back.
Huayang: …
She hurriedly hid behind Chaoyun.
Chao Yun looked like she was about to cry, and begged the Prince Consort who was getting closer and closer: "Please throw this thing away quickly, the princess is afraid of it too!"
Chen Jingzong looked at Huayang, whose ears were only exposed, and casually swung his hand. The dark red snake was thrown several feet away and fell into the dense bushes.
"Okay, throw it away."
Chen Jingzong pushed Chaoyun aside and stood in front of Huayang.
Huayang had mixed feelings. He was happy that Chen Jingzong got the account book smoothly, but he was also frightened by the scene of him holding the snake.
"Walk alone or do you want me to carry you?" Chen Jingzong asked, "There are more muddy potholes on the road ahead."
Huayang looked at his chest, sleeves, and finally at his hand that had touched the snake.
Chen Jingzong walked to the side of the road, swept his hands over the bushes covered with rain water, rubbed them, and then changed to another bush and swept again, which was considered washing his hands.
Looking ahead, Qi had just finished searching for the wedding dress, and was then checking the scattered bundles over and over again. She even wanted to squat down and search for the place where the bundles had fallen.
Chen Tingshi coaxed, "Okay, okay, the snake has been caught by Lao Si."
Not only Chen Tingshi, but everyone else also thought that Qi was worried that there might be other snakes.
Qi was extremely anxious. The account book was clearly wrapped in the wedding dress. If it hadn’t fallen out, then...
Qi looked at Chen Jingzong in horror.
Chen Jingzong carried the princess and his beautiful wife on his back, and he looked down upon the Dongyuan family who were blocking the road: "Why are you still dawdling? Get down the mountain quickly. We still have a lot of things to do at home."
Huayang frowned cooperatively.
When Chen Tingshi saw this, he grabbed one of Qi's arms and moved aside.
Qi gritted his teeth and asked him in a low voice: "Just now, did you see Lao Si take anything from my bag?"
Chen Tingshi: "No, it was just that snake. Lao Si caught the snake and left. Could it be that you lost something else in your bag?"
Impossible! Even though the fourth brother can be a bastard sometimes, he is definitely not a thief!
Qi did not answer. Recalling the fourth brother's expression, she tilted her head with mixed feelings and looked at the place where the bundle fell.
Perhaps the account book had fallen into the weeds further down? The cover of the account book was gray and mixed in with the rotten leaves, making it difficult to distinguish.
"Hey, you guys go down the mountain first, I think I left something in the shed."
The account book was her life. Qi made a quick decision, shook off Chen Tingshi's hand, and walked back with her trusted maid.
She was so strange that Chen Tingshi caught up with her, and Chen Jizon and his family of three also looked at her in confusion.
Qi secretly observed Chen Jingzong.
Chen Jingzong glanced at her indifferently, then carried Huayang forward without any sign of anything unusual.
Qi was still worried and still suspected that Chen Jingzong had taken her account book, but she could not take the initiative to expose the account book, and she had no excuse to search Chen Jingzong's body. She could only watch the young couple's figures getting farther and farther away.
Chen Jingzong walked very quickly, passing Chen Xiaozong and Chen Bozong's families and came to his mother Sun's side.
"Mom, we're leaving first." Chen Jingzong was quite polite to his mother and greeted her.
Sun smiled and said, "Let's go, be careful on the road."
Chen Jingzong nodded. As there was no one ahead, he walked faster. Chaoyun and Chaoyue had to jog to keep up with him. Later, Chaoyun fell and half of her face was covered with mud. Huayang felt sympathy and amusement and told them to take it slow and not to rush.
Now, she and Chen Jingzong were the only ones on the road.
"Where did you find the snake?"
Huayang felt uncomfortable when he thought of the snake.
Chen Jingzong: "They are everywhere in the mountains. It's not easy to find them."
Huayang: …
If he had said that earlier, she would rather be washed away by the flood than go up the mountain.
"There really is an account book. Do you believe it now?" Huayang patted him on the shoulder, dispelling those thoughts.
Chen Jingzong was silent.
Huayang just thought that he agreed, after all, he couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation.
The dark clouds piled up in the sky gradually dissipated, and a ray of sunshine came from the east.
The dew on the grass leaves sparkled, and although the dirt road was muddy, it exuded a fresh earthy scent.
At Chen's house, a group of servants were already busy at work, and streams of mud and water were pouring out from the drainage hole in the corner of the wall.
Chen Jingzong carried Huayang on his back and stepped into Siyi Hall. He ignored the two servants who were cleaning in the yard and walked straight to the door of the upper room.
Huayang gave him the key.
Chen Jingzong unlocked the door and pushed it open. A gust of damp air hit him in the face. Since only two days had passed, there was not much dust in the room.
After putting Huayang down, Chen Jingzong went to open the window for ventilation.
Huayang stared at his lower back.
Chen Jingzong turned around, and Huayang's eyes flashed and avoided his eyes.
Chen Jingzong looked her up and down, and suddenly asked: "Even if Qi was corrupt, it is our Chen family's business. Why do you care so much?"
They got married last winter, and it has been less than a year since then, but Chen Jingzong already knows her temper very well. Most of the time she treats herself as a princess. Unless the house catches fire, she doesn't care what happens in other courtyards of the Chen family. She is like a majestic golden phoenix, only combing her beautiful feathers, without paying attention to the world below.
Huayang paused and said seriously, "After all, I am married to you. If your family is exposed for corruption and bribery and the evidence is conclusive, it will be embarrassing for me."
She raised her chin slightly, still looking proud.
Chen Jingzong was indeed more accustomed to her doing this. He took out the account book from his waist and sat down at the desk by the window to look through it.
Huayang came over and stood beside him.
As soon as she took a glance, Chen Jingzong suddenly put his arms around her waist and brought her into his arms in an instant.
Huayang was about to lose his temper when he saw an account book in his hand.
Chen Jingzong: "If you want to watch, watch it together, don't act like a maid."
Huayang: …
(End of this chapter)