As the sun set, a long queue appeared on the official road covered with yellow sand and withered leaves. In addition to a dozen prisoner carts, there was also a striking coffin in the team. There were also dozens of prisoners in coarse linen prison clothes, chained and following behind the prisoner cart with difficulty.

The escorting sergeants rode back and forth and shouted, and if any prisoner was a few steps too slow to keep up with the group, the whip in their hands would be unceremoniously whipped over. The entire team was filled with suffocating anger and despair, and everywhere they passed, even the air was filled with an irrepressible smell of blood.

There was originally an endless stream of passers-by on the official road, and when they saw this team passing by, they would choose to stay away.

Xiaoqing lifted the curtain and looked at it for a long time, but she didn't see the person she wanted to see, she fell off the curtain in anger and wrung the handkerchief in her hand. After puffing out his cheeks for a long time, he finally couldn't help but say, "Miss, I haven't seen King Xian appear in the team since I left the city." He's just recovering from a serious illness, and he doesn't know how he's recovering, aren't you worried?"

Zhiyu, who had been embroidering a purse with his head down, quickly raised his eyes and secretly looked at Zhang Jiao when he heard this, and saw that she had no intention of speaking, so he rolled his eyes and said to Xiaoqing in a soft voice: "Presumably, the prince is in Mrs. Yue's carriage, she will definitely take good care of the prince, and our young lady naturally doesn't need to worry." ”

Zhang Jiao, who was leaning against the wall of the car with her eyes closed, finally opened her eyes and glanced at them lightly, and then closed them gently. The carriage was very bumpy, and it was very easy to make people feel tired, and she was no longer in the mood or necessary to play in front of these two girls.

Her warning glance forced the two girls with their own thoughts to shut up. However, Zhang Jiao, who seemed to be calm, hesitated in his heart, with Liu Hui's serious and old-fashioned temperament, he had indeed disappeared for too long this time.

......

Dozens of miles in front of this procession, there was a caravan transporting fur medicinal herbs speeding down the official road. A man in a sheepskin jacket rode to the carriage following the procession and called inside, "Mrs. Huo, Mrs. Huo!"

As soon as the curtain was lifted, a petite woman poked her head out and said, "What did the little brother call me?"

The man touched his head and said with a smile: "Our boss asked me to ask, is your father-in-law better? If you haven't woken up yet, there is a village in front of you that is estimated to be able to find a doctor to treat the disease." ”

Mrs. Huo glanced back at the handsome man who was still sleeping in the carriage, and then turned back to the guy and smiled: "Thank you for me, my father-in-law has only been infected with the wind and cold and has not recovered, so he will always fall asleep." When he woke up, he would naturally be fine, and he didn't need to go to the doctor. ”

"That's good!" the man added: "There is one more thing, there is a fork in the left turn in front of you to go down the official road, and you can see the canal after forty miles of mountain road." Let's get on board before dark, and the proprietor asks you to keep up with you, madam, for the ship won't wait for anyone. ”

"Got it, thank you for me. Mrs. Huo was still smiling, and she didn't seem to think that it was difficult to rush forty miles of mountain road in half an hour.

After seeing the men leave, Mrs. Huo wanted to get back into the carriage again, but the young guard in charge of driving the carriage finally couldn't help but say: "You can think about it, if you get on the boat, you will never be able to turn back, and the master doesn't know how to be angry when he wakes up." ”

Mrs. Huo smiled when she heard this, and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything." If you're afraid, you can get out of the car now, and I'll find the owner to get a groom. ”

"Forget it, I'll be really scared if I don't follow you!" the young guard couldn't help but smile bitterly, the leather whip in his hand crackling in the air.

Mrs. Huo nodded with satisfaction, and did not forget to mention it: "Xiao Qi, you have to remember that in the future, don't call the master, the master, in front of people." Call us young master, young lady immediately!"

"Yes, young lady!" the young guard, whom she called Xiao Qi, came down with grinding teeth. Mrs. Huo was obviously in a good mood, and finally got into the carriage with a smile.

In the carriage, the young and handsome but tired Young Master Huo was still asleep, but he was not sleeping peacefully. The long eyelashes fluttered slightly from time to time, but they couldn't be opened.

Mrs. Huo pressed the futon on his body for him, stroked his slightly frowning eyebrows, and said softly: "Sleep, I'm here!" Her gentle voice seemed to soothe the sleeping Young Master Huo, and his eyelashes finally stopped trying to tremble, but fell into a deeper sleep. Mrs. Huo couldn't help but smile and put a kiss on his forehead.

In addition to them, the entire caravan was also desperately hurrying, and finally arrived at the canal dock at the moment of sunset.

Mrs. Huo was upset, and before she came back to her senses, Xiao Qi's call came from outside: "Young lady, get ready to get on the boat." ”

Mrs. Huo lifted the curtain and came out, but was stunned by the scene in front of her. I saw more than 20 huge two-story cargo ships moored on the rushing river. There are countless lights burning on the ship, but not enough to give a full glimpse of them. They felt like monsters entrenched in the dark river, devouring all the vehicles full of goods.

Mrs. Huo was stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed: "It's really an eye-opener, I originally thought that the wealthy businessmen were all in the rich land of Jiangnan, but look at this fleet, those wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan are afraid that they will be ashamed of themselves!"

Half an hour later, Mrs. Huo paid a large sum of money, and finally boarded one of the cargo ships with people and cars.

......

Two more hours passed, and the distant sky seemed to have knocked over an ink cartridge, and it was dark and dreary with no light in sight. The stars and silver moon were all covered by thick clouds, and they looked dark and gloomy. The river was rushing endlessly. Because it is going downstream, the speed of the cargo ship is extremely amazing.

Young Master Huo lay on the not very spacious bed in the cabin and slowly opened his eyes. He hadn't slept like this for a long time, and he only felt that his whole body was extremely refreshed, more comfortable than eating a thousand years of ginseng. It's just that when he felt that the bed under him was actually shaking slightly, he was shocked and turned over and sat up suddenly.

There was a dim oil lamp burning in the cabin, and Mrs. Huo calculated the time when he was awake, ordered a table of wine and food, and was pouring herself a drink. Seeing him suddenly turn over and get up, he raised the wine cup in his hand with an elegant posture and said with a smile: "You finally woke up." ”

The moment he saw her, Young Master Huo immediately breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his former calmness. He stood up and looked around, only to feel very strange, only a very simple bed, a table and an old wooden box.

He came to Mrs. Huo and sat down, and then asked suspiciously: "Aren't we supposed to escort the prisoners, why are we on the boat?"

Mrs. Huo smiled slightly, picked up the wine jug and poured him a glass of wine, and said with a smile: "Because I don't like to walk with that Miss Zhang, I plan to go back to Beijing by water, but traveling alone is too boring, so I put some drugs in the medicine you drink."

Now that you are my captive, you must be at my disposal along the way. By the way, everyone else calls me the young lady of the Huo family, you are the young master of the Huo family, and you are preparing to enter Beijing to join your relatives on this trip, but don't make a mistake about your identity. ”

Young Master Huo is naturally Liu Hui, and the young lady of the Huo family is of course a flower and a woman. At this time, although Hua Lianyue's face was calm as usual, she was a little proud in her heart. She had been thinking about this for a few days, and she had secretly made many preparations, and even the fur caravan that brought her on the ship was found for her by the eldest lady of the Weng family.

She did so many things secretly, just so that she could forget all the troubles and responsibilities with Liu Hui and live an ordinary husband and wife life.

"Young Lady of the Huo Family!" Liu Hui's thin lips moved slightly, chewing on the title carefully. The light in her eyes looking at Hua Liyue is intriguing.

Hua Lianyue smiled slightly, held the wine cup and brought it to his lips, and said softly: "Drink this cup, on this ship, you are the young master of the Huo family." ”

It's been a long time since I've seen her so charming smile, Liu Hui seemed to be confused, and after drinking the wine in the cup with her hand, he said in a low voice: "It turns out that in the days when I was sick, you were busy day and night and refused to show up, just to prepare for today." ”

Hua Lianyue put down her wine glass, squinted at him, and exhaled like an orchid: "Don't you want to accompany me on this journey?" Under the dim light, Hua Lianyue tilted her head, her face was full of anticipation and joy, and two clusters of flames could be faintly seen jumping happily under her eyes.

Liu Hui's heart was soft, he raised his hand and stroked a strand of messy hair on Hua Lianyue's sideburns behind his ear, and chuckled: "Actually, I have already secretly asked Yuan Yang to go to the town in front for two days and wait for us." When the time comes, I will take you out of the horse team and walk around like a normal husband and wife, looking at the famous mountains and rivers, but I didn't expect you to think of one place. ”

Unexpectedly, he actually had the same thoughts as himself, Hua Lianyue's eyes widened in surprise, but she felt a sour nose inexplicably, and she actually had the urge to shed tears, she hurriedly turned her head sideways to avoid Liu Hui's gaze.

Liu Hui saw her crying with joy, and he didn't feel a taste in his heart. Although the two have known each other for several years and have been married for a long time, they have been entangled in all kinds of troubles, and there are hardly a few days that are comfortable.

After being stared at by Liu Hui's fiery eyes for a long time, Hua Lianyue couldn't resist it, and only felt that her cheeks were faintly hot. She muttered in a low voice, "My eyes are burning like a thief!"

The candle flame on the table kept swaying with the shaking of the hull, although it was not bright enough, but it allowed Liu Hui to clearly see the red glow gradually emerging at the base of her ears. He couldn't help but move in his heart, and couldn't help but reach out and caress her hot cheek with his fingertips, and teased: "Being a thief who steals incense is also a rare affair. ”

Hua Lianyue twisted the corners of her clothes shyly and uneasily, pretending not to hear the metaphor in his words. Liu Hui leaned close to her ear, blew into her ingot-like earlobe, and then chuckled ambiguously: "Madam, usually husband and wife are ready to sleep at this hour." ”

With a "boom", Hua Lianyue felt that her whole body was hot and seemed to be burning her feet. She stammered, "You, didn't you just wake up!"

Liu Hui chuckled again, his fingertips lingering on her crimson cheeks, and said in a low voice: "If you are accompanied by a lady, it doesn't hurt to sleep for a few more hours." ”

Feng Qi sat on the fence opposite the hatch, the cold river breeze blowing his robes and hunting. He took a big sip with the flask, but was shocked to see the candle flame in the cabin suddenly extinguished. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and moved his gaze to the deep surface of the river.

Feng Qi took another sip of wine, why did he, who had always liked to be free, suddenly have a lonely abruptness?

He couldn't help but shudder, delusion, everything is an illusion! Just look at the master, women are actually the source of all troubles.

At this moment, it was close to the child, but the second floor of the cargo ship was still brightly lit, and the color of silk and bamboo and the woman's coquettish singing could be faintly heard, and of course, the man's excited shouting was mixed in.

Although it is a cargo ship, because most of the people received are rich merchants, they will naturally not be stingy with enjoyment when they make money, so the cargo ship also has a gambling house, a restaurant, a tea house, and even the business of Qinlou Chu Pavilion.

Liu Hui and Hua Lianyue hid in the cabin for three days and three nights and did not come out, and Feng Qi spent money to hire an aunt to take care of the daily meals, washing water, and heating braziers. He was bored by himself, so he just wandered around on the cargo ship. Listen to the songs, drink a little wine, and splurge a few handfuls on the table, but it is very comfortable.

It wasn't until the fourth day that Hua Lianyue got rid of Liu Hui's entanglement and walked out. It's just that the past three days are estimated to have been tossed a little miserable, and she actually has pale blue bruises under her eyes, and she is a little weak when she walks. However, a small face is red and pink, revealing a lazy spring. Compared with Hua Lianyue's exhaustion, Liu Hui seems to be radiant and extraordinary.

Feng Qi finally waited for them to come out, and greeted them with a smile: "Young master, these days have been hard. ”

Hua Lianyue's face turned red, and she always felt that his tone had a bright and ridiculous meaning, so she quietly glared at him. Liu Hui chuckled: "Young Master, this title is quite new. He looked sideways at the sparkling river and said, "Have we crossed the capital?"

Feng Qi hurriedly said: "This road is smooth, I passed through Zhongdu last night, and now it is close to the boundary of Fuchuan! ”

Liu Hui nodded, turned his head sideways and smiled at Hua Lianyue: "I heard that the mutton in Fuchuan is good, and when you get to the shore, I'll take you to taste it." ”

Hua Lianyue nodded and said with a smile: "Mutton is a warm tonic, just right for this weather tonic." ”

Feng Qi followed behind them, touching his nose helplessly. I thought they would be less bored when they got out of the hatch. However, these two people have no one in their eyes, and I am afraid that their boring days will continue.

"The two guest officers in front, please stay!" As this incomparably delicate voice came, a beautiful maid with a thin waist and long legs walked a few steps quickly and stopped in front of Hua Lianyue and Liu Hui.

The beautiful maid pouted and said unceremoniously: "Didn't you hear what my girl said? ”

She was only fifteen or sixteen years old, with willow eyebrows and almond eyes, and a peach cheek. It's a pity that she has a high-spirited appearance, which destroys her original beauty. Feng Qi frowned and said, "You girl is so unreasonable, we don't know who your girl is, why do we have to stand obediently when she screams?"

The beautiful maid had probably never been scolded like this, and she didn't know how to reply for a while, so she cast her eyes behind them for help.

Her girl finally approached slowly, and said softly: "It's Fu'er who is rude, and I hope that a few people will atone for their sins!"