That night, after sending off the last group of guests, Shen Ruoyu finished cleaning up the storefront, sat in his room, and put the boot knives presented by Qiu Feng and Luo Yang side by side on the table, turning over and over to play enough. Lu Jiang came in gently, carrying a bowl of something, and carefully put it on the table.

"Xiao'er, drink some mung bean soup to relieve the heat."

Shen Ruoyu put down the blade in his hand. Seeing these swords and swords that shone with cold light, Lu Jiang was a little dizzy. She watched Shen Ruoliao finish drinking the mung bean soup and said:

"Xiao'er, I have something for you; You wait, I'll get it. ”

She took the bowl and came back with a piece of clothing in her hand. She shook the dress away, but it was a light-colored straight-lined deep coat, and it looked simple and neat. She laughed:

"The master is right, I have long felt that I should make you a new dress. This one on you is too old. You often have to see the prince now, it's not okay to dress like this. She smiled a little embarrassedly, "But I'm lazy for a while, and my clothes have never been done; You're about to leave, and it's only been two days since I've picked up my spirits to get it done. You try to see if it's suitable or not. ”

"Auntie? ......" Shen Ruoyu stood up, stopped talking, reached out and took the clothes, rubbed them carefully, hesitated for a while, and put them on.

Lu Jiang looked him up and down with a smile and nodded with satisfaction. "That's decent. You'll wear it on the road tomorrow. ”

"Auntie, when you go on the road tomorrow, you should wear a short shirt with arrow sleeves to facilitate horseback riding."

"Then you can bring it with you, in case you need to wear it for any occasion."

Shen Ruoyu thought that he would see the King of Shu after arriving in Chengdu, and he really needed to dress appropriately, so he nodded. He lifted his arm, raised the cuffs to his eyes, and stroked them carefully. Although the fabric is rough, the stitches are extremely neat and fine, obviously, Lu Jiang has put a lot of effort into it. The hotel business was so busy, he couldn't imagine how many times in the dead of night when he was asleep, but his aunt was sewing clothes for him in the dim light.

Shen Ruoyu raised his head and looked at Lu Jiang. Lu Jiang was slightly stunned when he saw his eyes.

"Less? What's wrong, you don't like it? ”

Shen Ruoyu lowered her head, not daring to look at her. In the depths of my heart, an impulse churned and soon jumped in my chest; He was silent.

Half a year ago, when he was taken away from the dark room of the palace by Zhu Gaoxu, he said goodbye to his aunt and felt the same impulse.

In this world, there is a word, an extremely warm and bitter word, for others, the most ordinary, even because it is too ordinary, it has lost the feeling she should have; But he never had the opportunity, like everyone else, to use the word to a person to whom she belonged alone; It's been eighteen years since I was born.

But isn't that his own fault? Isn't it his innate sin that caused all this misfortune? Is he still qualified to extravagant, even fantasize?

"Xiao'er, what's wrong, what do you think of again?" Lu Jiang asked with concern.

Shen Ruoyu shook her head and smiled weakly, "It's okay, aunt." I like it a lot. Leave you tired. ”

Lu Jiang looked at him worriedly, approached him, held his shoulder, and said softly: "It's okay, Xiao'er, if you have anything to say, just tell me, don't keep it in your heart." If you keep doing this, you'll get sick. ”

The hand of my aunt on my shoulder was so gentle; Shen Ruoyu raised his head and saw the unreserved love in Lu Jiang's eyes, and all the cold and hard in his heart that had been held up melted into a torrent in an instant, and together with his long-suppressed impulse, it broke through that fragile line of defense. Shen Ruoyu couldn't bear it anymore, and said softly:

"Mother,...... Can I - can I call you that? ”

Lu Jiang was stunned, and stood there incredulously, staring at him blankly, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Shen Ruoyu gritted his teeth, knelt down in front of Lu Jiang, kowtowed, and said:

"Since I was born, I didn't know what my mother looked like, and I didn't know what it was like to have my mother by my side. Now I know it all. If—if you don't dislike it, let me call you mother, and I will be a good and filial son who will serve you all the rest of my life." ”

He held back his tears and trembled.

Lu Jiang did not respond for a long time. Shen Ruoyu finally raised her head, only to find that she had burst into tears.

"Auntie......!" He exclaimed.

Lu Jiang knelt down, opened his arms, and hugged him tightly into his arms.

"Good boy, not an aunt, but a mother. Call me mother. I am your mother. ”

Shen Ruoyu was silent for a long time. Lu Jiang's embrace was so soft and warm, it inexplicably made him feel extremely safe and quiet. He had never tasted anything like this, but he realized that he had been longing for it for a long time. For eighteen years, he has tried to refuse the arms of others. And Qing'er would never hug him like this. This unique, mother's embrace. His throat was so tight that he couldn't say a word.

The line in the mother's hand, the wanderer's shirt.

Before leaving, I am afraid that I will return late.

Who is careless and repays Sanchunhui? [1]

The next morning, the sun had just risen, and the air was fresh and cool. Shen Ruoyu brought the new clothes that Lu Jiang made for him, took the autumn breeze, said goodbye to Lu Jiang, rode his pony, and set off with Lao Shi. They took the route of Baoding and Daimyo and stayed in Kaifeng for a day; Shen Ruoyu and Liang Tiehan reunited, and Lao Shi replenished supplies in Kaifeng. Then they continued on the road, crossed the Yellow River, went all the way south, crossed the Han River, and when they arrived in Xiangyang, half a month had passed.

They stayed in Xiangyang for another day, and the next morning they set out and entered the mountains from the city of Xiangyang. Lao Shi was worried about the robbers all the way, but Shen Ruoliao was mostly focused on the scenery. The famous ** Wushan in the poem, without the canyon and the river at the foot, is much discounted. Shen Ruoliao was also satisfied; Although Xiangyang is still far from the north, Wushan is completely a beautiful southern temperament, and compared with Yeyao Mountain, it is definitely not a style. Although the mountains are soft and pleasant, the roads are extremely difficult to walk; They walked in the mountains for half a month, rarely met people, and most of the time they slept in the mountains and forests at night. Shen Ruoyu grew up in the mountains since he was a child, and he was very accustomed to sleeping in the mountains and forests at night, lying quietly under the trees, the dense branches and leaves made him unable to see the sky above, listening to the sounds of all kinds of strange animals in the mountains and forests in the middle of the night, except for himself and Lao Shi, he couldn't feel the slightest human breath, and he didn't feel afraid and nervous. He completely returned to the beautiful nature, to the year of sixteen years old, which was once carefree, and before he knew it, half a month passed in a relaxed and happy way. They smoothly entered the Bazhong Plain.

The wealth of Bazhong really lives up to its name. By the time they were on the plain, they had already seen lush farmland, mulberry forests, and fish ponds next to each other, with fertile soil, traffic, and roadside fruit trees. It is all the credit of Li Bingdu Jiangyan, so that the Minjiang River obediently obeys the wishes of the people, irrigates the entire Bazhong Basin, and makes Bazhong a country of abundance.

What secrets are hidden in a picture of the King of Shu entering Sichuan? What is the mystery in King Yan's words? In short, it was enough to make all the people involved in this matter - he, Yao Biao, Luo Yang, Ma Sanbao - fall to the ground; Undoubtedly, King Yan himself said so.

They walked for another half a month, all the way to the prosperous Chengdu Mansion unhindered.

Shen Ruoyu followed Yao Biao's instructions and took Lao Shi to find a place called Baxiang Inn to stay overnight. Then he vanished. For two consecutive days, Lao Shi couldn't find any trace of him, he was very nervous and had a headache, and he didn't dare to leave the inn to look for him, so he had to wait in the inn.

At dinner time on the third day, Shen Ruoliao came back, and in the face of Lao Shi's question, he didn't answer the explanation, but took out a box of fresh medicinal materials, all of which were medicines specified on Yao's list, full of boxes, classified into categories, and neatly stacked in the ** red sandalwood medicine box. Lao Shi was so shocked that he opened his mouth, and took out Master Yao's list to compare them one by one, and the classification, material level, and quantity were all exactly the same, and he was even more surprised. He repeatedly asked Shen Ruoliao where he had gone in the past three days, how he had purchased these medicinal materials, how much money he had spent, and why he didn't ask himself to go with him. Shen Ruoyu smiled and didn't answer, but simply said that he would follow the instructions given to him by Master Yao alone, and find an old acquaintance of an old man in Chengdu City for many years to help him buy, so that Lao Shi didn't have to worry about it.

After dinner, the two agreed to leave for the next day. Shen Ruoliao accompanied Lao Shi back to the bedroom. Lao Shi ran around for more than a month and was nervous for three days, and at this moment the procurement task has been completed, and he is only about to return to Beiping; At last he relaxed, drank another jug of wine during dinner, and lay down on his head, soon completely ignorant of the outside world. After Shen Ruoyu waited for Lao Shi to fall asleep, he heard him snoring, then got up and quietly walked out of the door, quietly went downstairs, and came to the outside of the inn.

The sun had set, and half of the sky was still bright crimson; He walked around the inn and walked to the back of the shop, and sure enough, a man and a horse were waiting quietly. The man stood upright on the side of the horse, tall and thin, fair-skinned, obviously not a native of Bazhong, about thirty years old, serene appearance, heroic posture, graceful demeanor, lupine scarf, between gestures, naturally exuded a noble and elegant atmosphere, seeing Shen Ruoyu coming, he smiled kindly:

"How about that dude of yours, put down by you?"

Shen Ruoyu smiled: "He poured a pot of wine himself, and it has nothing to do with me." Lord, if you have any matter, it is very easy to send someone to call me; Why bother to leave the palace and run into this market? ”

The person in front of him was Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, the eleventh son of Zhu Yuanzhang, who heard Shen Ruoxiao's question, shook his head helplessly, and said with a smile:

"What's the way, I know the temper of the fourth brother. The imperial examination sometimes lets him. I told you to go to my house, and there are many people with mixed eyes, and I am not comfortable talking. He said that he wanted to keep it secret, where did I dare to be careless. ”

Shen Ruoliao said: "It's that painting that is too important. ”

Zhu Chun looked at him wittily: "You really don't want to know, the secret in the painting?" ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled and said, "Lord Wang, don't you really want my head to move, right?" ”

Zhu Chun shook his head and smiled: "I really admire you." If it were me, my curiosity along the way would have tormented me to death. ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled: "Of course I'm curious, but I can't think of what this painting can have to do with me, and what is the point of knowing it, lose your life in vain." ”

"Not necessarily;" Zhu Chun said secretly, "If you want me to see it, sooner or later, you will know all the meanings in this painting." Otherwise, the fourth brother wouldn't have let you send the painting. ”

As he spoke, he reached out and took out a letter from his arms, and put a big red paper bag in Shen Ruoyu's hand.

"I wrote the reply to the fourth brother, and here it is, I'm sorry to trouble you. This money is specially given to you, you won't be like ordinary people, pretend to excuse yourself, right? ”

Shen Ruoyu was slightly startled, hesitated, and said, "Lord Wang, I refuse, but it's not fake, I really don't want it." I helped King Yan do things, and it wasn't for money. ”

Zhu Chun said empathetically: "I know you don't care about this. However, I am also telling the truth, not being polite. That's a little bit of my heart. You are so young, trekking through mountains and rivers to send paintings all the way from Peking to Chengdu, risking your life. I not only thank you, but I also admire your resourcefulness, courage and perseverance. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Lord Wang, you think too highly of me, I just rely on my life to eat, and I am the same wherever I go, but I am afraid that I will be hungry and uncomfortable, and I have nothing to do with wit, bravery, and perseverance." I deserve your heart. Please take it back; Anyway, no one sees it here, and you won't lose any money. ”

Zhu Chun smiled: "It's not mine; You think I'm trying to make a face for myself. I'll have to give you some money to buy the road, just in case. The ethnic minorities in Shu live together with the Han people, and there are many bandits. All the way back to Beiping, you still have to go through the mountains and forests; Just because you come here doesn't mean you have to go back. You must not be careless. ”

"Yes, the prince can rest assured." Shen Ruoyu hesitated for a moment and asked, "Lord Wang, have you ever thought that it would be better to ask General Xiping Hou Mu to send troops to suppress these bandits?" After all, you can be regarded as General Mu's own uncle, and if you come forward, he will definitely not refuse. ”

Zhu Chun sighed slightly: "We thought of one place." It's just that exterminating bandits and bandits is not as simple as it seems on the surface. There are different kinds of thieves, some of them are purely burning, killing and looting, killing the people, and doing all kinds of evil; Some were overly oppressed by the local yamen and had to hide in the mountains and forests to make a living. In addition, most of the cottages are inhabited by Yi people, and if they are not handled properly, they will lead to conflicts and intensify the conflict between Han and Yi. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "I heard that the Xipinghou family loves the people like sons; When King Qianning died of illness, the entire Yunnan military and civilians, regardless of nationality, wept for him. General Mu is now as deeply loved by the people of all ethnic groups as his father, and the people of Yunnan have set up shrines for him to ask for an heir. General Mu has rich experience in getting along with ethnic minorities, and it can be said that it is very suitable for him to come forward to deal with the mountain bandits in Shushan. ”

Zhu Chun said: "It's just that Mu Chun is now quelling the rebellion in Luchuan, and he can't draw troops to Sichuan for a while." I could have written him a letter asking for help. But when the army to suppress the bandits will arrive, we can only wait for Luchuan to calm down. However, a few days ago, the deputy generals He Fu and Qu Neng had just smashed Nandian and beheaded the rebel chieftain named Meng, which was equivalent to discounting one of the arms of Dao Ganmeng. Capturing the knife is just around the corner. It won't be long before the Luchuan rebels can be pacified. When the time comes, the thieves in Shu can only sit and wait for the end of the day. ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled: "That's great." Lord Wang, like King Yan and King Qianning, you are all good princes who love the people like sons. The emperor has so many good sons guarding the frontier for him, which is enough to sit back and relax. ”

Zhu Chun looked at Shen Ruoyu in surprise, saw the unpretentious sincerity and admiration in his eyes, and said with a smile: "What's the matter, this is obviously your idea." ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "In front of King Yan, I once said that I asked him to think about the beggars sleeping on the streets, and King Yan made a promise at that time; If a king who only knows how to oppress the people and be arrogant and lascivious hears this, he would have chopped me into meat sauce. Therefore, the idea is secondary, and it is our great luck to have a prince like you who really thinks about the people and makes decisions. ”

It is best to have such emperors - King Yan and King Shu, or King Qianning, if he is still in the world, who is more suitable to take over the Ming Dynasty? This thought flashed through Shen Ruoliao's heart, and he kept silent and did not say it.

Zhu Chun shook his head with a smile and said gently:

"Not as noble as you think. This is my own home, and there is a gang of robbers on my doorstep, do you think I can leave it alone. The fourth brother is not the same as me; The home in the eyes of the fourth brother is much bigger than mine, I don't know how much. I am a blessed man, and I was sent to Chengdu as a domain. 'The land of abundance, the year of no famine', this is Li Bing's contribution a thousand years ago. I am enjoying it, but I am not like the fourth brother, when he first arrived in Beiping, Beiping was just a dilapidated border military town. He's better than I am. My fourth brother is a very remarkable person. If you assist him wholeheartedly, you will definitely have a wide world for your work in the future. As for me, I have no interest with me, and I am not good at anything else in my life, just studying ink, playing the piano, and sketching two paintings, and that's it. ”

Shen Ruoyu frowned and said with a smile: "Lord Wang, you can really tell jokes." I wish I had been like this every day, carefree, without worrying about food and clothing, following Mr. Zhengxue to study the scriptures and study the papers, dancing and writing, so uncomfortable. This is called really chic, and it seems that I have no hope in my life. Not that life. ”

Zhu Chun smiled and said, "Mr. Zhengxue is still talking to me about you, just now, before I left the palace." He said that you are an all-round talent in civil and military affairs, if you can find an official position in the imperial court, not be burdened by life, and devote yourself to reading more books, you will definitely be able to make a lot of contributions to the country. ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled disappreciatively: "I can only wish. Not everyone can be like Mr. Zhengxue. ”

They continued to make small talk for a while, and it got dark. Zhu Chun got on the horse and went home. Shen Ruoyu was idle, so he rode his horse and escorted the king of Shu back to the palace.

The two stopped at the gate of the palace. Zhu Chun had just dismounted, and a flying horse galloped towards the palace like lightning in the distance. Shen Ruoyu rode a sword to block in front of Zhu Chun, staring at the menacing man and horse. The flying horse came to the front in a blink of an eye, he was slightly taken aback, and immediately a person dressed as a personal soldier, but he was dressed in white, and when he saw Zhu Chun, he immediately jumped off the horse, ran two steps, fell to the ground, and shouted:

"Your Highness, Jingshi has an urgent funeral!"

In the leap May, the soldiers who had galloped all the way were extremely tired, sweating profusely, their plain white clothes and pants were soaked in sweat and dust, and they looked even dirtier at night. When Zhu Chun heard this, he froze in place, only to feel that every hair from head to toe was cold. Shen Ruoliao jumped off the horse and walked to the side of the King of Shu, looking at him cautiously, for fear that he would fall.

Zhu Chun's face was pale, and he said weakly: "Say, when is it?" ”

The pro-soldier reported: "The emperor is not in the big way, and Yiyou collapsed in the West Palace." ”

Zhu Chun gasped and asked, "Is there an edict?" ”

"The posthumous emperor's grandson ascended to the throne. The subjects of the world, crying for three days, do not interfere with marriage. The kings are in the kingdom, and they do not go to the capital. ”

When Zhu Chun heard this, he couldn't support it anymore, knelt on the ground, and cried loudly.

********

[1] Meng Jiao, "The Wanderer's Yin"