"Your Majesty, Your Majesty's Concubine." Xi Feng strode over, making the hay crunch under his feet.
It has been ten days since they left Luozhou. At first, Xi Feng was not used to this new name, but now it is very smooth.
Xie Tingzhou nodded, "Sit down."
Xi Feng took off his knife and put it aside, and sat down by the fire. "Nothing unusual was found along the way. The people who stayed in Luozhou also caught up. The Luozhou magistrate did not embarrass the Lu family."
Shen Yu said with a smile: "They regard the Lu family as their own money bag. Who would embarrass their own money bag?"
"It's just that he also ordered the city to be closed. People entering and leaving Luozhou must register or issue road guides. Now refugees are no longer allowed to enter or leave Luozhou," Xifeng said.
The more refugees there are, the more likely it is to cause chaos. The chances of fighting and stealing are higher, and riots can occur if you are not careful.
In previous years, the refugees that the Yamen let in were all rescued by the Lu family. In order to achieve political success, the prefect was naturally willing to take advantage of this. However, the situation this year is not as good as in previous years. If you can barely get through it, it will be over. No chaos is the best policy. The Hezhou prefect is probably also scared. disturbed.
Xie Tingzhou's slightly drooped eyes dimmed half of the firelight, and he said, "Expand the scout's investigation range by another ten miles."
Xifeng didn't understand for a moment, but still said: "Yes."
Shen Yu turned her head and looked at Xie Tingzhou, "The Luozhou magistrate released us because he didn't want to cause trouble. With his temperament, he will definitely write a letter to Shengjing to clear up the relationship."
"That's not all." Xie Tingzhou carelessly flicked the fire, "He is afraid that there will be crusade from various places, and he may have spread the news of our departure from Luozhou to the west in order to draw the battle line away from Luozhou."
Xi Feng understood, nodded and said, "I will make arrangements later."
People with deep thoughts are good at seeing people's hearts, and people who have experienced calculations are also better at calculations. Xie Tingzhou has both. His mind is more meticulous than ordinary people, and it is difficult for them to keep up with his rhythm.
Only the Crown Princess, the two of them seemed to be able to understand each other's thoughts with just one look.
As Xi Feng thought about it, his eyes couldn't help but fall on Shen Yu. When he noticed an unkind look, he quickly lowered his head.
Xie Tingzhou's possessiveness was extraordinary and growing day by day, especially after he came out of the ancestral hall that night.
Xi Feng was trembling with fear as he thought about it. At that moment, he felt as if a cheetah had grabbed the back of his neck.
Xie Tingzhou looked away and changed the topic, "Where is Changliu? He's not back yet?"
Changliu and several Qingyun guards went to the city to inquire about the news. The closer to winter, the earlier it gets dark. Now it is getting dark, but they haven't come back yet. They are afraid of encountering some trouble in the city.
Xi Feng said: "Your Highness, don't worry, he is probably just having fun and has forgotten the time."
"Send someone to pick him up." Xie Tingzhou said.
Xi Feng called someone over and gave some instructions.
After hearing this, Xie Tingzhou glanced sideways and saw Shen Yu stretching her hands by the fire to keep warm. He stretched out his hand to hold her hand in his palm, "Why are your hands so cold?"
"It's getting cold." Shen Yu said softly.
Xi Feng didn't dare to raise his head, so it was best to cover his ears.
"Is it this cold in the past years?" Xie Tingzhou rubbed it gently, using the warmest part of his palm to press her coldest fingertips.
His hands were not very warm, only the palms were warm.
Xie Tingzhou saw her frowning and asked, "Why are you frowning? Do you think my hands are not warm enough?"
"No." Shen Yu shook her head, thought for a moment and said, "It's getting cold, and many people will starve to death and freeze to death."
Xie Tingzhou didn't answer, his expression was still calm, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Xie Tingzhou: "The wind blows."
Xi Feng was about to run away secretly. He stood up halfway, still in a half-crouching position, but was stopped by a shout.
"Tomorrow morning, send someone into the city to buy a Tangbaozi." Xie Tingzhou said.
Xi Feng hurriedly responded and was about to leave, when he heard another sound of playing, it was Chang Liu who was back.
Changliu ran over to the horse and called the two of them happily, "Prince, Crown Princess."
Xie Tingzhou didn't look at him and asked, "What did you hear?"
"Yes, yes." Chang Liu said: "Now everyone in the city knows that Sheng Jing has issued a memorandum. I listened to it in the teahouse for a long time. The people are doing okay, and they are not siding with Sheng Jing. Many people praise our prince. Where is the concubine?"
"What did you praise?" Xie Tingzhou became interested.
Changliu started chatting, "They say that our imperial concubine is a woman who can go to the battlefield to kill foreign enemies. She is said to be the first female military official in the Great Zhou Dynasty. She is both a bandit suppresser and a escort."
"anything else?"
"No." Changliu blinked and said, "Then the people in the teahouse started arguing. The people on the other side said that they were not escorts at all, but that they fled the capital after failing to usurp the throne. I was so angry that I wanted to go up and beat him up. They were beaten, but because they were worried about exposing their whereabouts, we had to wait for them to leave, put sacks on them in the alley and beat them up."
Xie Tingzhou said: "Then you are smart."
Changliu heard the implication, lowered his head and said, "Yeah, he's not very smart either."
Xie Tingzhou looked at Changliu leisurely, "I asked you to find out the news, and you just went to listen to all this excitement?"
Changliu waved his hand quickly, "No, no, there are others. It is said that various places have begun to gather, especially bandits. They are now recruiting people aggressively, saying they want to form a group to attack us."
Changliu snorted unhappily and said angrily: "I think they themselves are the ones who should be punished."
"It is precisely because of this that they are coming to crusade." Shen Yu said without a smile on her face, "Once they succeed in their crusade, they will be able to transform from bandits into a righteous army, and perhaps they can be officially incorporated into the army, and they will be cleared from then on. .”
Changliu said a long "Oh", "They have a good idea, we will not give them such a chance."
Xie Tingzhou's expression was indifferent, but his heart was not as relaxed as it seemed, "Have you finished reporting?"
Changliu blinked, "The report is over."
"Then kneel down for an hour."
Changliu didn't know why, but he slowly knelt down, raised his head and asked, "Why, why?"
Xie Tingzhou ignored him and led Shen Yu to stand up.
Changliu walked a few steps on his knees, his robe rustling on the ground, "The Crown Princess..."
Shen Yu turned her head back halfway, but was pushed back by Xie Tingzhou.
He turned around and said, "Is it because the Crown Princess is soft-hearted and easy to control? It's useless to beg her. Kneel down properly and wait for an hour before getting up."
"No." Chang Liu shrank his neck, "I brought something back for the Crown Princess, but I haven't given it to her yet."
Xie Tingzhou asked: "What?"
Changliu took out an oil paper bag from his arms and said innocently: "It's pineapple cake. Didn't you say that the Crown Princess likes to eat it?"
He patted the oil paper and said thankfully: "Fortunately it wasn't crushed."
Xie Tingzhou paused, then raised his chin, "Bring it here."
Changliu walked forward on his knees. Xie Tingzhou frowned, "My leg is broken? Don't you know how to stand up and send it off?"
"Hey, okay." Chang Liu Ma Liu got up, walked over and handed the oil paper bag to the prince, staring at the ground with his head lowered and not daring to speak.
The feet disappeared from sight, and the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Only then did Changliu raise his head. When he saw no sign of the prince and the prince's concubine, he turned to look at Xi Feng.
"Then what does Your Highness mean? Should I continue to kneel or not? And why are you punishing me to kneel?"
Xifeng knocked on his head and said, "I asked you to go find out the news. I didn't ask you to go out for fun. The prince was worried that something might happen to you, so he asked me to send someone to pick you up. But it turned out that you went to the city to fight."
Changliu pursed his lips, "Our Crown Princess is the best in the world, I can't bear to see them say anything bad about her."
"No need to kneel." Xifeng said, "His Highness asked you to get up and send her off, just because you don't have to kneel. Thanks to your cleverness, you know that to coax the Crown Princess is to coax His Highness."
"That's not true." Changliu said dissatisfied: "I really wanted to buy pineapple cakes for the Crown Princess. Besides, I didn't know that the Crown Prince would punish me by kneeling down."
