Chapter 112: heart
He was demoted to common people, his wealth was confiscated, and he was exiled to Huangzhou.
What about the previous life?
In the last life, not only were they demoted to the common people, but the women from all over the clan were treated as official prostitutes, the men were punished as lowly slaves, and those who dared to resist the order were executed. All the three clans were exiled to the smoky land of Baiyue, and they left home for four thousand years. All the way is full of hardships, the courageous and resolute Hou Yanmu not long after arriving in the place of exile, the old injury relapsed due to the hot and humid weather, and the lingering sickness did not take long before he died.
This life is much better than the last one.
But is he still going to be exiled?
Huangzhou.
Where is Huangzhou?
In both generations, Jiang Xuening had never set foot too far from the capital. Even if she had seen this place in a book, it was hard to imagine what kind of place it was, whether people lived there, and how far it was.
Jiang Boyou felt very lucky, seeing his daughter's expression suddenly froze, fearing that she would be worried about the situation of the Yongyi Hou's mansion, he quickly relieved, saying: "Huangzhou is in Hubei, although twenty years ago the battle of Pingnan King The iron hooves of the soldiers when they went to the north once stepped on it, so that now this place has become a deserted city. Compared with the ordinary exiles in the Northwest, Liaodong, and Baiyue, it is much better. When life is safe, just treat it as an ordinary person. If you can endure it, there may not be a time when you will recover in the future."
Jiang Xue was silent.
Jiang Boyou said again: "This is already an extrajudicial favor from the Holy One. It is said that it is for the sake of the hard work of the Hou family, but in fact it is for the sake of the unborn child in Wen Zhaoyi's womb. I would rather let the Hou family go than spill blood. , to accumulate blessings for that child. Otherwise, relying on the Hou Mansion’s daring to contact King Pingnan against the party, I’m afraid it won’t be tolerated by the Hou Mansion.”
Jiang Xuening understands the truth, but as long as she thinks that the whole family of Yongyi Hou will bear the grievances, leave the capital city where they have lived for generations and go to Huangzhou, and even the young man will suffer together, she can feel that This kind of melancholy surged up from the bottom of her heart, making her extremely uncomfortable.
She asked, "When?"
Jiang Boyou thought for a while and said, "Now that the weather is so cold, and it's almost the end of the new year, it must be the next year."
Jiang Xuening nodded thoughtfully.
After listening to Jiang Boyou talking for a while, she finally returned to her room.
The furnishings in the house should be much simpler.
The Guqin and Jiaoan are packed in a piano bag and hung obliquely on the wall; the sword that Yan Lin asked her to help put away on the day of the crowning ceremony on her birthday was silently hidden in the sword box; A small box, with dried jasmine bracelets lying silently inside.
In the depths of the dungeon, even the day is like night.
The winter is cold and the atmosphere is humid.
To the touch, the only quilt in this square inch prison is cold, and the only light that can be seen by the human eye comes from two dim oil lamps on the far wall, but Yan Lin turned his back to the aisle While sitting, even though his back was covered with bony bloodstains, his gaze was looking out of the only window in the prison.
The weather during the day was not good, and it was gray as far as the eye could see.
Occasionally, clouds rush across the sky.
However, when the sky was getting darker, it seemed that there was a gust of wind blowing away all the hazy clouds in the sky, scattered stars were spread on the window, and a crescent moon quietly climbed to the top.
Yan Lin has not seen such a beautiful scenery for a long time.
There was a faint smile on his lips.
There is still a bit of sharpness hidden in the youthful edges and corners of the young man, which has not faded away, but has become more high-spirited, like a strong pine rooted in the rocks in the mountains and facing the wind, without any timidity to bow or retreat.
When Jiang Xuening came here at night, what she saw was such a resolute side face.
Looking at the moon in the prison, what night is it tonight?
Her footsteps stopped at once, and Zhou Yinzhi, who was following her, lowered his voice when he saw this, "Young lady, to make a long story short, come out as soon as possible, and the officer will leave first."
Only then did Yan Lin hear the movement.
He turned around and saw the figure standing under the lamp by the wall.
Presumably, he sneaked in without telling others. He was wearing a deep black cloak, covering himself tightly, but that white face still reflected a soft luster under the dim yellow light.
Even without seeing the whole picture, Yan Lin knew it was her.
At that moment, he laughed lowly: "It's really a skill to even dare to come here."
The circles of Jiang Xuening's eyes were slightly red, and it took a long while to realize that he recognized her. When she stepped forward, she felt as if she was stepping on a cloud, with one foot deep and the other shallow.
It was only when she got closer that she saw the blood on Yan Lin's back.
In this cold and damp cell, apart from the smell of firewood and rust, there is also a faint smell of blood and bitter medicine.
After hearing that the case of Hou Yihou's mansion was concluded by the third division, she couldn't let it go, and sent someone to call Zhou Yinzhi to question, but finally took the risk and let him take him into the dungeon.
Fortunately, the crime committed by the Hou Mansion was not a capital crime, and all the heavy soldiers stationed in the prison had withdrawn.
The defense of the whole dungeon has been relaxed a lot. According to Zhou Yinzhi, someone has already visited the Hou's mansion secretly, and it is possible to operate secretly, so it was able to pass through many barriers all the way to come.
Standing outside, Jiang Xuening didn't dare to get too close, afraid that seeing the young man in a mess would embarrass him, so she just asked, "These days, you..."
Are you ok?
It’s not good to even think about it, what’s the point of asking?
She was only halfway through when she suddenly lost her words. She felt that her mouth, which could say anything in the past, became clumsy, and she didn't know what to say anymore.
Yan Lin looked at her and said, "It's pretty good."
Jiang Xuening's nose became sore again.
Yan Lin couldn't help laughing, but probably this smile touched the wound on his back and caused him pain. He gasped and coughed a few times, his face turned pale: "Don't go outside, Stand up and come in."
Jiang Xuening was stunned.
This is a sky prison, there is a thick prison door between the two of them, how do they get in?
But I didn't expect that the boy helped the cold wall on the side, got up with some effort, stood up and walked to the prison door, and untied the chains that were wrapped around it, as if he was As if at home, he opened the cell door and waved to welcome him.
Jiang Xuening was dumbfounded.
At this time, she suddenly remembered that Yan Lin actually came to look for her after the accident happened to the Yan clan in her previous life. It was only later that she found out that something had happened to the Yongyi Hou's Mansion.
Just imagine, how could Yan Lin escape from such a serious crime?
Now that the prison door is so casually chained, she awakened the memory of her previous life almost instantly, and realized something unusual in it—it seemed that she was exiled, but she secretly enjoyed such freedom and courage. Was the situation of the Hou Mansion at that time really as bad as everyone thought?
Yan Lin seemed to have guessed what she was thinking. Seeing her standing outside for a long time, he finally couldn't hold back and stretched out his hand to drag her in, saying: "Seeing you like this, I know that I have been worrying so much these days. I don't even think that my Hou's Mansion is one of the two great sects in Beijing and China. It has a deep foundation in the court, and you, a clever ghost, came to inform us in advance, so that we can prepare in advance. The dilemma of not being able to stand up?"
Jiang Xuening blinked but still didn't react.
Being dragged by Yan Lin, she staggered a step without paying attention, but fortunately, Yan Lin reacted quickly and helped her, so she didn't fall down.
This kind of stupid and confused appearance really made Yan Lin sigh: "Looking at you like this, even if I go to Huangzhou later, I'm afraid I won't be relieved."
Jiang Xuening said, "I'm not that stupid."
Yan Lin then sat on the corner, which could be said to be a crude bed, and patted his side to ask her to sit down, saying: "I know, I'm so stupid that I don't want to use Zhou Yinzhi to secretly report the news. This time, too. Did he help you in?"
Jiang Xuening nodded.
Yan Lin then said: "This man is ambitious, but it's not a big problem. The grass on the wall will fall wherever the wind blows. As long as you are the strongest wind, they will not leave you. But if you You don’t have the intention to do that strong wind, after all, it’s better to be more careful.”
Jiang Xuening knew this.
She sat down, lowered her eyes, and remained silent.
In this narrow, dark prison, the girl and the boy sat side by side, as if they climbed up the courtyard wall together in those leisurely and lazy afternoons many years ago, and sat down side by side to peel the freshly picked They looked at each other and smiled, with their legs dangling under the wall; they seemed to sneak to the back mountain of the Buddhist temple, leaning against the huge Buddha statue, put their hands by their mouths together, and looked towards the opposite The valley shouted, startling the roosting birds...
The past time flows silently at this moment.
Both her and his shadows fell on the damp and mottled wall, connected by the dirt-filled cracks in the wall.
Yan Lin suddenly felt very reluctant to part with this capital.
Because there are people he misses here.
He turned his head to look at the girl's quiet side face, and suddenly asked her: "Is there anything you want to say to me?"
Jiang Xuening said, "I just want to come and accompany you."
I don't know what to say, but sitting together like this seems to be very at ease.
The boy's eyes were a bit misty, and when he smiled, he had a particularly touching meaning, and said: "You are so kind to me, and I am so kind to you, but why don't you like me?"
Jiang Xuening lowered her head, speechless.
After a long time, her voice came out of the flickering yellow light: "It has nothing to do with you. I've said it all, I'm a bad person."
Yan Lin still looked at her, never taking his gaze away: "What kind of bad method is that?"
Jiang Xuening's memory was like a torrent of river, going back to her previous life.
There is really nothing wrong with Yan Lin in this life.
It's just that the scar engraved in her memory is so deep that it can't be erased no matter what, so I have to avoid it from a distance and try my best to make up for it...
"I had a dream.
"In the dream, I foolishly told you that I want to be a queen.
"You get very angry.
"Later, I became a queen, and you came back, and then locked me up with others, and treated me well..."
Jiang Xuening's voice was a bit ethereal like a cloud of smoke, it was still soft in the front, but trembled like a string in the back, but soon stabilized again, just blinking and looking at the moment ahead, hot tears suddenly slipped down.
At this moment, she thought, she was cowardly.
Raising her hand to wipe away her tears as if nothing had happened, she still smiled: "I'm a coward, you were scary in the dream, so I don't like you. Isn't that bad enough?"
It was clearly a dream, but at the moment when her tears rolled down, Yan Lin felt that her heart was being grabbed, and she was even a little out of breath.
It's as if something like this really happened.
How can there be people in the world who don't like people because of a dream?
But at this moment, he couldn't bear to delve into it, and just said: "Then how can you say that you are bad? It is clearly me in your dream, too bad, so bad that Ningning dare not like me."
The boy's voice is so considerate and gentle.
In comparison, her words seemed very vexatious.
Jiang Xuening burst into tears at once, her eye circles were red, and she couldn't stop thinking about it, which made Yan Lin reluctantly come up and raised her finger to wipe her tears, and asked her: "Do you want to be a queen?"
Before coming here, what Jiang Xuening thought was that she should not cry no matter what.
However, when the tears fall uncontrollably, I feel ashamed.
She backed away, raised her sleeves indiscriminately to wipe her tears, and avoided the young man's burning eyes, and said sullenly: "I said it was a dream, I don't want to now. But that's the queen, who doesn't want to be a master, Think about it?"
Yan Lin couldn't help laughing, but his gaze deepened a bit: "What kind of person is the queen?"
In this world, there is only one real "superior".
Jiang Xuening didn't know why he said this, and looked at him in confusion, but the young man raised his hand and gently touched her head, something vaguely flashed in his eyes: No one knows, in such a prison , in such a difficult situation, this young man who had just grown up suddenly made a grand wish quietly, but he didn't tell anyone.
The clapper was knocked outside.
When the night is over.
The crescent moon outside the square-inch window also rose to the middle of the sky and disappeared, leaving only a frame of scattered stars and the dark blue night sky.
Yan Lin felt that the time passed really fast, and remembered that he didn't know how long it would be before he could return, so he asked her: "Is there anyone you like?"
Jiang Xuening lowered her head and said, "Yes."
Yan Lin smiled and asked, "Who is that?"
Jiang Xuening didn't say a word, and didn't dare to speak.
Yan Lin thought of the official from the Ministry of Punishments he had seen on the day of the coronation ceremony, and said, "Is that Mr. Zhang Zhe from the Ministry of Punishments?"
Jiang Xuening immediately looked up at him in astonishment.
Yan Lin looked calm and said, "The way you look at him is like the way I look at you."
Jiang Xuening was speechless.
Yan Lin turned his eyes to look at her, and said to her in a half-joking tone: "During the time I'm gone, you have to work hard to marry yourself, marry a good person worthy of entrustment. Otherwise, wait until I come back , but whether you like me or not, I will take you here."
The boy used a joking tone, and even smiled, but his eyes were deeply serious.
Jiang Xuening knew he was not joking.
However, marry Zhang Zhe?
Then she really needs to work very hard to be worthy.
She snorted softly, knowing that the young man was looking at her jokingly, but she was not willing to admit defeat, and said: "I will."