After a sleepless night, Ji Yueqin and his party finally left Jinshui City. A few white clouds floated in the blue sky, blocking the sunlight, and the air seemed to be a little colder without the sunlight.
Shadow drove the carriage away from the official road. Although no one was chasing them, Shadow was still driving the carriage non-stop. The horse also kept running, but because it never stopped halfway, the pace gradually slowed down.
So Shadow stopped the carriage by the river beach, letting the horse rest and eat some hay and also let Ji Yueqin and his party add some water. The shadow gently lifted the curtain of the carriage, and saw that Wanniang was still holding Zi Rui in a daze.
The shadow looked at Wanniang's appearance, sighed involuntarily, and stretched out her hand to pull Zi Rui away from Wanniang's hand. I don't know where Wan Niang got her strength, she suddenly raised her head and stared at the shadow. Shadow was stunned by Wanniang's stare, and let go of Zi Rui.
Wan Niang changed back to her previous appearance, she just froze in a daze, without tears or words. Seeing Wanniang like this, Ji Yueqin said softly to Wanniang: "Wanniang... You haven't had a drink all night. Sister Zirui will be very uncomfortable if you go on like this."
After listening to Ji Yueqin's words, Wan Niang's eyes seemed to regain some luster, but her mouth was squirming, but she still didn't say anything. Xiaoyu looked at Wanniang like this and couldn't help crying.
"Sister Wanniang, don't be like this. Sister Zirui won't rest when she sees you like this." Xiaoyu said with some tears.
Wan Niang was shocked when she heard this, and muttered, "Impossible... Impossible... How could Zi Rui die? Hahahahaha... You guys don't mess around. Say..." Wan Niang murmured with a frantic laugh.
Shadow felt sad in his heart, so he could only make Wanniang sober, but he said to Wanniang: "Zirui is dead! Wanniang, please wake up! Zirui is the most beautiful, if she knew that you had made her covered with clothes. Lying in your arms with blood, will she be happy? Or will she be happy looking at you like this?"
When Wan Niang heard Shadow's words, it was like a thunderbolt from the blue, and the tears that had already dried up began to flow out of her eyes again. Everyone felt uncomfortable watching this scene. Ji Yueqin cried silently, Xiaoyu covered her face and cried, and even the shadowy figure, who had always been like a wood, turned her head away with red eyes.
Everyone didn't bother Wan Niang to vent their sadness, just waited quietly for her to vent all her emotions. Finally, Wan Niang seemed to have accepted the fact, and summoned the shadow: "Hold Zi Rui down, I want to leave this world clean for Zi Rui, she loves beauty the most."
Shadow took Zirui's body, very light and cool. Ji Yueqin and Xiaoyu also followed Wan Niang out of the carriage and went to the beach to wash up and put some water in the kettle.
After getting off the carriage, Wan Niang took Zi Rui from Shadow's hand, and walked to the beach with Zi Rui's body in her arms. She dipped her silk handkerchief in water and gently scrubbed Zi Rui's face.
Zi Rui's face was pale without a trace of blood, she just closed her eyes peacefully as if she was asleep, and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. Seeing Zi Rui's appearance, Wan Niang felt sour in her heart, so she whispered to Zi Rui, "Zirui, you are the most beautiful, my sister will help you clean all the dirt on your body now..."
Wan Niang didn't care about the blood stains on her body, she just cleaned Zi Rui's body. Wan Niang's movements were very slow, but everyone didn't urge her, they just lit a fire next to her and rested silently.
After half an hour, Wan Niang finally came back with Zi Rui's body on her back, Wan Niang finally said, "Zirui's wish is to bury her on the Qingliang Mountain in Dayu, but we have no way to bring Zi Rui back to Dayu now. , carrying her body like this will only drag down the princess."
Everyone listened to Wanniang's words and knew that Wanniang had already faced the reality. The most urgent task was to bury Zirui's body by this clear river. After returning to Dayu, they would try to find a way to bring Zirui's body back.
Shadow looked at Wan Niang with a little worry in her eyes, but there was no expression on her face. Wan Niang seemed to feel the shadow's gaze and looked at the shadow too. Shadow used his long sword to dig a hole in a relatively open place.
With Ji Yueqin and Xiaoyu also coming to help, the pit was dug in less than an hour. Wan Niang hugged Zi Rui's slender body and gently put it into the pit, and Zi Rui lay peacefully in it as if she was asleep.
Wanniang held Zi Rui's hand, silently weeping. In the end, he gently folded Zi Rui's hands together, holding up the soil and burying Zi Rui's body.
After Wan Niang threw the first handful of soil, they continued to cover Zi Rui with soil. Flowers are withered and flowers fly all over the sky, who will pity the red and fragrance. Er died today and was buried, but it is not known when Bu Nong died. The beauty disappeared, and then sighed.
Shadow looked at Wanniang's red and swollen peach blossom eyes, which were all desolate. He understood how much Wanniang was hit by Zirui's death, and he felt a lot of distress in his heart. In fact, the shadow has a little bit of affection for Wan Niang, but because of their status, they can't be together. He was afraid that he would not be able to give Wanniang happiness, and he didn't know whether he would leave Wanniang first.
Shadow didn't turn his head away and couldn't bear to look into Wanniang's eyes again, so he had to stand up and take care of the horses grazing next to him. Wan Niang's expression became even more lonely, and Ji Yueqin took Wan Niang's hand when she saw this. Ji Yueqin's hands were very warm, and the warmth even dispelled some of the haze in Wan Niang's heart.
Wanniang raised her head, gave Ji Yueqin an ugly smile, and patted Ji Yueqin's hand to signal that she was all right.
After the horses and the people had filled their stomachs, Ji Yueqin and his party set foot on the journey back to Dayu.
Their carriages traveled among the country lanes, and not long after they left the city they turned from the official road to the country lane. After all, their carriage had the mark of the prefectural government, and Lu Zimeng would definitely not let it go.
The fragrance of rice flowers said a good year. Ji Yueqin looked out the window and saw the golden rice waiting for the farmers to harvest. In the large paddy fields, groups of sisters-in-law carried bamboo baskets to bring water and meals to their men. . Farmers working hard in the fields harvest the rice with a smile.
Ji Yueqin looked at the happy smiles on the faces of the farmers, and felt a little bit of loss and sadness in her heart. Once, she also lived happily with her father, mother and younger brother, but now she is the only one left, and she can't even see her future path.
Wan Niang also looked out the window with an envious look. She and Zirui had longed for this kind of small farm life where men ploughing and women weaving. She doesn't want brocade clothes and jade food, all she wants is a husband and a son, and the family can live happily together.
Xiaoyu also remembered the days when he and his father were fishing on the beach. Although he was a little hard, he was happy.
A great change, I don't know how many innocent families are involved, and how many people's happy lives are shattered.
…
There are still three cities on the border from Jinshui City to Daliang, and it is impossible to go into the city after leaving Jinshui City. Their group will definitely attract the attention of those who are interested, and it is impossible for Lu Zimeng not to arrange manpower in each city.
But if they took a long detour, there would be more branches, and the sky gradually darkened, and they could only spend the night in the wild.
The dusk sky was glowing with a faint red halo, the leaves in early autumn were gradually turning yellow, and the one facing the sun had fallen.
Ji Yueqin stepped on the soft dead branches and made a soft sound. The shadow untied the kink connecting the horse and the carriage, led the horse to the tree with a rope, and found a place to start a fire.
"Tonight, the princess can only be wronged to spend the night here." Shadow said apologetically to Ji Yueqin.
Ji Yueqin smiled at the shadow, "Don't feel wronged, it's a gift from God to me to survive now."
Shadow looked at Ji Yueqin's small body but said such desolate words. He understood that it was because the little girl caused by the great change had become so precocious and sensible, and he felt a little unbearable in his heart.
The four of them sat around the fire, and Wan Niang let Shadow, who hadn't slept for two consecutive nights, have a good night's rest, and came to watch the night by herself. Shadow looked at the bloodshot eyes in Wanniang's eyes and disagreed with what Wanniang said.
Neither of the two let the other, and a dispute arose. Ji Yueqin simply said that if neither of them rested, then everyone should not rest at all. Shadow and Wanniang obediently stopped talking when they heard that Ji Yueqin was not resting. Finally, they compromised and stayed alone in the middle of the night.
After dealing with the issue of night duty, they planned how to disguise themselves to escape the search of the soldiers and return to Dayu smoothly. In the end, Ji Yueqin proposed to make Wanniang and Shadow pretend to be husband and wife, while she and Xiaoyu pretended to be husband and wife. their daughter.
There was also a suspicious blush on the dark wood-like face, while Wan Niang lowered her head shyly. Ji Yueqin felt that everyone had no opinion on this proposal, so she returned to the carriage with Xiaoyu to rest.
Shadow asked Wan Niang to rest first, but Wan Niang couldn't overcome Shadow's persistence, so she also got into the carriage. In the middle of the night, when the shadow saw that Wanniang was not awake, she did not wake her up, but Ji Yueqin woke up.
Ji Yueqin got out of the carriage lightly, the two people in the carriage were still asleep, and Ji Yueqin's movements did not wake them up. The shadow saw Ji Yueqin come out, and as soon as he wanted to speak, he was stopped by Ji Yueqin.
Ji Yueqin whispered to the shadow: "You also go to rest, I'll keep watch for Wanniang."
Seeing that Ji Yueqin was going to watch the night, the shadow wanted to let Ji Yueqin go back to the carriage to rest. But Ji Yueqin's firm and undeniable gaze made Shadow give up, so he agreed to Ji Yueqin's night watch, but if something happened, he should be woken up immediately. Ji Yueqin nodded and agreed to the shadow, and the shadow closed his eyes against the tree trunk.
Xu Shizhen hadn't rested for a long time, and the shadow fell asleep immediately, and Ji Yueqin used a branch to stir the burning fire by herself.
After a good night, Ji Yueqin and his party set off on their journey again.