"Go back?" Qi Jiulu seemed to smile and asked instead, "Go back? Why, Ah Huang, do you now think that the palace is where you should be?"
Yun Fenghuang said solemnly, "Don't pick on words, I..."
"Three years ago in Peacock Slope." Qi Jiulu interrupted her and said coldly, "After I watched you leave, my father and uncle caught up with me not long after."
Yun Fenghuang was startled and said nothing.
Across the stone gate, I couldn't see Qi Jiulu's expression at this moment. I just felt that his tone was calm, but like still water running deep, he said slowly, "I thought they would punish me, but at that time I was so heartbroken that I didn't care... But My father and uncle just looked at me silently for a while and asked me to go back with them."
"When I got home, my father asked the others to disperse and talk to me alone to make me forget about you."
"I just said that he still cared about the uproar in the city at that time... But my father said that he just felt that our fate had ended."
Despite being shielded by the stone door, Qi Jiulu still subconsciously raised his hands to cover his face, crying and laughing, "He said that actually he and my uncles don't care about my sister, and I also know that you and my sister are different... The reason why I persisted Breaking off the engagement was just for the eyes of the person behind the Chao family. Otherwise, how could I have managed to get the horse out so smoothly?"
Qi Jiulu had just tied up his hair that year. He had grown up under the protection of his family since he was a child, and he was far from the time to set up his own business.
If Mrs. Qi was determined to catch him, there was no chance that he would catch up to Kongquepo and stop Yun Fenghuang's carriage.
The reason why Mrs. Qi allowed him to do this was because she also tacitly allowed him to take Yun Fenghuang away.
Yun Fenghuang was only twelve years old at the time and had not yet left the cabinet. According to the plan of Qi Jiulu's father and uncle, after Qi Jiulu eloped with Yun Fenghuang, they had a lot of trouble with the Xie family, and they might even go out to accuse each other. The children in the family ruined their beloved drama, and when it was over, they "had" to sit down and discuss the aftermath - after all, one was the eldest son, and the only legitimate son of his parents; the other was also the favored legitimate daughter of the family, and was as careful as a legitimate son. She was raised and raised, and she was also the only legitimate daughter of her parents.
They are not the kind of unimportant disciples who can be discarded casually.
Even if the elopement happened, how could the parents be willing to ignore it
"In this way, even if the nobleman from the imperial capital behind the Chao family raises an issue, the Qi family can still explain that this is because we children are ignorant... the deal is done and we can't bear to lick the calf." Qi Jiulu thought about the scene when he learned about his father's plan that day, and felt His heart became more and more turbulent, and there seemed to be a fishy-sweet feeling in his throat. He closed his eyes, forced himself to hold down, and continued, "... Let's live outside for a few days, and when the family has made an agreement, we will go back to our respective homes. , continue the previous days, wait until we grow up, and get married naturally."
This may not really go so smoothly. The Chao family cannot just sit back and let their plan go to waste. The Xie family and the Qi family will not let go of those who scheme against them, especially the Xie family. Xie Fenghuan's life and Xie family's reputation will not be spared. And the marriages of many girls, including Yun Fenghuang, were affected and delayed... The Northland is bound to enter a troubled time from now on.
But after such an experience, the two families must have been wary. It would not be that easy to separate Qi Jiulu and Yun Fenghuang again.
"But my father and the others didn't expect that you would not come with me."
Qi Jiulu smiled miserably and said, "My father said, this is not only because you have to think about Mr. Xie, me, and Mr. Qi, but the most important thing is that you don't believe me."
Without giving Yun Fenghuang a chance to speak, he continued, "I felt very sad when I first heard this, but my father said you were right. We were still young at that time, and we still relied on our family to make a living. The family all What qualifications do I have to block the wind and rain that cannot be blocked for you?! So it is better to cut off the love right now, and maybe we can both be safe."
"But I'm not willing to do it."
So the head of the Qi family locked him up in the ancestral hall to reflect - this was the truth behind Qi Jiulu being locked up in the ancestral hall for more than half a year, rather than the punishment of chasing Yun Fenghuang in the snow - later Jiang secretly contacted him and encouraged him to work hard and seize power with all his heart. , there may not be a chance to reunite with Yun Fenghuang in the future. After all, Yun Fenghuang came to the Imperial Capital just to live with his aunt and uncle, not to marry someone else, right
Qi Jiulu was deeply convinced. He was deeply convinced not only because of what Jiang said, but also because Jiang said, "If the Qi family is up to you, there is no need for the clan to tell you who you want to marry." This is exactly what the Qi family said. The Lord told him that Yun Fenghuang refused to go with him, mainly because she did not trust the fifteen-year-old Qi Jiulu to protect her from the wind and rain, and would rather go to the Imperial Capital, which she had never been to, to seek refuge with relatives whom she had never met before.
These two are elders that Qi Jiulu has respected since childhood. They all have the same suggestions on his affairs with Yun Fenghuang. How can he not pay attention to them
"I thought I was incompetent when I couldn't take you away. Now you should always give me a chance to make up for it." Qi Jiulu thought about his experiences in the past three years. His hands in his sleeves loosened and then clenched, and he spoke in a very loud voice. Qing, if it weren't for the absolute silence of this place, Yun Fenghuang could hardly hear her through the door, "But I didn't expect that today, you..."
Yun Fenghuang couldn't bear it anymore and said loudly: "I didn't reject you! I just..."
"Are you just worried that if you leave with me like this, there will be endless troubles?!" Qi Jiulu chuckled, "You just said so much, and you just said that you don't believe in the regent's palace and my arrangements! But there is not even a single word, is it? Imagine how you and I can get rid of being human beings after we fly far away - the world is so big, and with our ambitions and skills, do we really have no chance of getting out of this muddy water?!"
"Even though the regent has a high position and great authority, if you and I betray you, we may not have a foothold in the country, but the dynasty is not the only one in this world!"
"Weihe is in the north, Jiaozhi is in the south, and there are many small countries dotted overseas. Even if you don't take the sea route, at the end of the trade route to the west, there are forests, sky, and food... Their merchants can carry goods across mountains and ridges. Come on, why can’t we go to a foreign country to avoid trouble?!”
"In fact, in the past two years, because of the trust of the elders in the clan, I have already taken advantage of the opportunity to deal with the transactions between the clan and Hu merchants, and asked them to buy some properties in Fulin and other places, and also sent trustworthy family members to have children. Go over and open the way…”
Qi Jiulu said calmly, "With your intelligence, it is impossible to think of this - not to mention that the regent will not let us escape easily. At present, the regent cannot do anything to the Yiguo Duke's palace, let alone let Chunjia know what happened today. The ins and outs, even if we are aware of our plan, we will only follow it privately, and we will never dare to expose it to the public!"
"We even have to be careful to avoid letting the Ji family, Chunjia and others notice the clues... Isn't this the best time for us to fly away?!"
As for the families on both sides, Qi Jiulu said in an indifferent tone, "When we meet again after a long separation, I told you that the family has begun to support Jiuzhang."
Maybe Qi Jiuzhang was just a back-up for the Qi family in case of unexpected events, and he didn't really want to hand over the Qi family to him.
But for Qi Jiulu, the family has begun to cultivate his younger brother, so even if he and Yun Fenghuang leave, the Qi family can continue after all - the regent's palace needs to target him and Yun Fenghuang, just to plot against the Yun family, and the Qi family The Yun family itself cannot be involved.
With the Qi family's deep roots in the north, as long as the regent had not lost his mind, he would not anger his family because he could not find any trace of Qi Jiulu. This is tantamount to forcing the Qi family to become the eyes and ears of other forces, especially the emperor, in the north.
And Mr. Xie... Mr. Xie is safer than she actually is.
After all, Yun Fenghuang was no longer their daughter before she entered the palace, right
Qi Jiulu sighed softly: "Look, as long as you are willing to follow me, the future is not as difficult as you think... But you didn't even think about it seriously."
"I don't want to believe that you have changed your mind. I just think it's hard for you to leave your homeland."
He said lightly, "But that doesn't matter. I always let you make the decision before, and then I watched you leave again and again without looking back... This time, I can't let you be willful."
"Hu Shang said that Fulin may not be as prosperous as Guochao, but it also has a different style, attracting many foreigners to settle there. Maybe if we live there for a long time, you will also like it."
"It doesn't matter if you don't like him. Chunjia is in his prime, but the regent will be old in a few years. He now has two sons. The eldest son, Xiangxiao, is weak after all. Although the youngest son doesn't know his nature, he is too young to count on him. It can be as short as three to five years, or as long as ten years. The uncle and nephew will definitely be at odds with each other..."
Qi Jiulu smiled mockingly to himself, "Who will remember us two after we decide the winner? Then we will come back with different faces... Quan Dang went away to Fulin to relax for a while. You still want to go outside the pass, want to go outside the pass. Isn’t it good to go to Jiangnan?”
There was silence in the stone chamber.
Qi Jiulu waited and saw that Yun Fenghuang still remained silent. He felt empty in his heart. He couldn't tell whether he was angry or disappointed.
He finally said: "Ahuang, I know you must be very unhappy now, but I have already thought about it. You must listen to me this time. You have suffered from open and covert attacks not once or twice since you entered the palace. You don't care." , but I can't care less. I can't let you go back to a place like that. I don't know if I will hear bad news about you tomorrow."
He didn't expect to get an answer to this, so after saying it, he turned around and left.
However, after walking a few steps, I heard Yun Fenghuang's extraordinarily calm voice coming from inside: "Since we were young, between you and me, no matter what the matter is, no matter how fierce the previous disputes were, in the end, I always do what I want. Come. Chao Jingyou is very jealous of this. She always thought that you were protecting me and favoring me, so you followed me. But in fact, it was because you had to listen to me! "
Qi Jiulu was slightly startled when he heard the words, and a bad premonition suddenly came over his heart. He stopped walking, turned around subconsciously, listened carefully to the movement in the stone chamber, and asked in a deep voice: "What are you going to do?!"
"Do you believe the Queen?" Yun Fenghuang asked instead without answering, with a hint of smile in his voice, "If you believe her, then it's okay."
"..." Qi Jiulu's thoughts raced, he suddenly came back to his senses, and blurted out, "That pill?!"
Yun Fenghuang laughed and said: "I just took it - am I a little dizzy now? If it's just an ordinary drug, it's nothing. Anyway, you locked me here, didn't you just hope that I would stay here and not give it to you? Making trouble? What if... What if..."
The effects of the pills had obviously begun to take effect, and her voice became lower and lower, from low to vague, from vague to silent.
Outside the stone room, Qi Jiulu stood stiffly, as if he didn't understand Yun Fenghuang's words at first. After a while, he felt as if he had been immersed in an ice cellar, his hands and feet were cold, and his heart was even colder.
The blood on the young man's face faded little by little, leaving only a lifeless pale color.
The original sparkle in his eyes suddenly went out like a candle in the strong wind.