In the late autumn of Caiyun City, there is still no chill, and the wind blows in the evening, only feeling cool and comfortable, and it seems to be still the appearance of a summer evening. Sometimes when Yao Jin is so busy and irritable, she even wants to eat an ice bowl, and then have a plate of Long Wan's best osmanthus eight-treasure sweet cake, looking at the row of osmanthus trees that are still fragrant and intoxicating, she will be a little dazed: as if time is still frozen in August, or the days when she chased Wei Yan all over the courtyard with a wine jug, but at this moment she faced the empty courtyard, but no one was helping her to make a bunch of osmanthus hairpins.

Just when Yao Jin lost his mind, Wang Xiang walked over with two maids in the other courtyard with a food box. Since Yang Ying Longwan left one after another, Yao Jin didn't want to use any personal maids, but after all, most of the people who came and went were men, in order to avoid gossip, Wang Xiang set a rule in the other courtyard, as long as he met His Royal Highness, there must be maids in the other courtyard, but these maids are specially selected deaf and dumb women, so no matter what they say, there is no need to worry about leaking.

"Your Highness, the inner man made some snacks and asked me to send them to taste with Your Highness. The king bowed and motioned to the maid to take out the snacks in the food box one by one.

"Lu Tao's belly is very big, why do you still let her do this? Women are very hard in pregnancy, you have to let her rest more, don't be tired. Yao Jin smiled, and saw that there was a plate of osmanthus eight-treasure sweet cake in his heart, and said casually: "This sweet cake, Wan'er used to be very good at it, and I remember that my husband also loved to eat it at that time." ”

Wang Xiang was slightly stunned, and his face was slightly red, "It is precisely because of this that insiders often make this dim sum." I didn't expect His Highness to remember it too. ”

"Yes, I have a good memory. I still remember the first time I saw you on the edge of the Neijiang River, I thought to myself, how could there be such a nerd, born white and pure, but people looked stupid and stupid. At that time, it was really strange, and I didn't know what Lu Tao liked about you. Yao Jin sat down, picked up a piece of sweet cake and ate it slowly, stared at the moon shadow, and said softly: "I still remember when you were in the Hu clan, I was always worried that you would come back with missing arms and legs, so how should I explain to Lu Tao - time flies so fast, in a flash, your children are about to be born." ”

"Your Highness......" looked at Yao Jin's slender waist sitting straight on the stone bench, the simple and delicate jade crown was worn meticulously, and the white skirt was exposed under the silver-gray coat, which was spotless. She used to be extremely indifferent to her clothing and makeup and her posture, but now she has gradually become accustomed to the reserve that a vassal lord should have at all times, and he and Zhao Yu don't have to worry that she will say something suddenly out of place or make any childish actions, but Wang Xiang saw the loneliness in her eyes more and more obviously, no matter what happy things happened, no matter how bright she smiled, there was never a smile in that eye, only deep loneliness. Thinking of this, Wang Xiang couldn't help but feel a hard pinch in his heart, and Yao Jin saw that he didn't speak, so he said slowly: "I've been back for so long, and still no one has come to me to ask for anything, and there is still no news from Yuebai...... Then Wei Emperor Wen Zihua, is he lying to me?"

"A notice has been set up outside the Nanguo Mansion, and all the counties have also informed them that the arrangements will be made, and as soon as the person who asks you for something appears, he will definitely report it immediately. Wang Xiang knew that since returning from the Northern Wei Dynasty, in addition to the affairs of the country, Yao Jin's greatest concern was "the person who asked her for something", but she didn't know who would look for her and what she wanted, and she refused to write to ask Emperor Wei, so he and Zhao Yu only had to post notices everywhere and inquire around, seeing that the autumn was over and it was almost winter, but there was still no such person.

Wang Xiang froze his mind, remembered the purpose of coming today, and stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the Li Dynasty has canceled the qualification of Xiaonanguo to trade in the north, and this matter is a foregone conclusion. Although we can still trade with Fujian and the sea, but at present, the cotton farmers and textile households in Songxi County are almost unbearable, and at this time in previous years, the merchants from the north have already come to negotiate this year's quantity and set the share for next year. Now Songxi County is in a hurry like ants on a hot pot, after all, almost the entire Songxi is living on cotton planting and cotton weaving, and most of them are sold to the north. ”

"This kind of thing that harms others and is not beneficial to oneself, my father can actually do it!" Yao Jin punched the stone table fiercely, scolding and scolding, she also knew in her heart that the Li Dynasty was rich and wealthy, although Songxi was the most important cotton production and textile area in the entire Li Dynasty in the past, but after all, the land and resources are not only dependent on this one place, and Emperor Li cut off the qualification of Xiaonanguo to trade north, which is nothing more than to embarrass Yao Jin, and let Xiaonanguo know that without Li Dynasty, everyone's life will only become more and more difficult.

Wang Xiang also frowned, "There is also the Shoushan stone in Fu'an because the demand in the north has been cut off, and now those quarrymen have lost their jobs, and most of these people have no land, and the Fu'an County Shou said that some people have run to become mountain bandits, and from time to time they go down the mountain to loot in nearby villages, which makes the people very uneasy." ”

"Bastard, this guy from Fu'an County, it's simply a shirk of responsibility to say this!" Yao Jin remembered the last time he saw the fat Fu'an County Guard, with mung bean sesame big eyes, a lewd face, and said angrily: "If you don't go to exterminate the mountain bandits to appease the people, it's to blame on the Shoushan Stone! In the past, when he was so rich from quarrying stones, he asked him to ask for taxes to push me back, and now he has come to beg me!"

"Shoushan stone and cotton are the first to bear the brunt, there will definitely be other problems one after another, if we can't trade through the Li Dynasty, then we have to find another road to the north, otherwise in the long run, the impact will be too great." ”

Yao Jin was silent for a moment, and said slowly: "What if you take the waterway?"

"Waterway?" Wang Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Your Highness means to go north from the South China Sea and through the dense forest to the north of Qingling?"

"We have been at war with the Hu people, and we certainly can't expect to go north from the west, only the South China Sea is feasible, but the dense forest-" Yao Jin pursed his lips, "The dense forest country has always had no contact with the surrounding countries, although there are also caravans passing through the dense forest, but if we have a large amount of goods to pass through there, I'm afraid the dense forest will not be so easy to let go." ”

"Speaking of the dense forest, there is one thing that Lord Zhao Yu has just found out some clues, and he has not yet had time to explain it to His Highness. ”

"What?"

"I have found that some foreigners have come to Caiyun City one after another, these people are neither doing business nor visiting relatives, and their purpose has always been very suspicious. Just yesterday, Lord Zhao Yu was able to confirm that these people were from the jungle, and they were a small army in disguise, although they had not yet been identified as carrying weapons, but the number was about more than 100, not a few. ”

Yao Jin was startled, and suddenly stood up: "Isn't the Dense Forest Army already withdrawing from the territory of the Li Dynasty!, how could they come to my Xiaonan Kingdom?!"

"What's even more strange is that the leader of this group of people is a person from the Li Dynasty, judging from the news we inquired, this person should be from the capital. ”