Chapter 22 Water Tank

Kaja came to see Amy

Although she verbally told Amy to stay away, she was still very sympathetic to Amy, who had lived a wandering life for several years and could understand Amy's current situation

She also seemed surprised that I was here

Although I had only been thrown into the stable for a day, I felt like I had been separated by a long distance from Kaja, as if I was looking down at the porter below at the Kudan Pier

Kaja's clothes were not very gorgeous, she was wearing a beige dress, and she was stepping on a pair of red leather shoes that were a little dark, these shoes should not be hers, I remember each of her shoes, after she walked in, I felt that the whole room was lit up, her head was washed clean and bright, not a little like when I was on the boat, I saw her comb her hair when she was on the boat, the comb was stuck, and she couldn't pull it open

"I've got something to eat for Amy," she thought for a moment, and then she said, the only thing she and I had in common was Amy, and other than that, we're all different now, and we may be getting bigger and bigger in the future, didn't Tom say that the stableman couldn't be a knight for the rest of his life? In that case, it would be impossible to get ahead, and I know that Lord Leo is going to marry Kaja to the son of the High Lord

Kaja took out a basket and tore off a white cloth covering it, which contained a honey cake, a plate of raisins, two fried eggs, and a bowl of cerealKaja took out the cereal, then took a bottle from his bosom and poured some sugar into it

Amy screamed and ran over, pulled down Kaja's face and kissed her, then reached out to grab the food

I sat with a handful of squeezed jī eggs in my hand

It's certainly not the first time Kaja has come to deliver food, because Amy is no stranger to these things

I smelled the aroma of cereal porridge and my stomach began to cramp

It smells so good

I shoved Amy's unwanted jī egg into my mouth, then patted the ash on my body and stood up

"I'm going to find something to eat, and I'll go first," I said to Kaja

When I reached the door, Katya said behind me: "I thought that Alexei, who was the son of the lord, believed you, and even my father told me that you may not have been born as a commoner"

"I don't know" I shook my head, "I don't remember anything before"

"Oh," she was obviously not satisfied with the explanation, "I don't remember."

"Enaleksey said I could be a Swadian, or a Zenda"

"Oh" she ignored me and turned to hand the food to Amy

I have a lot of things to tell her, but she's as cold as a wall, and I know it's useless for me to say anything, what's the use of me even if I'm the emperor's grandson, I'm just a stableman now, and Kaja has a family waiting for her to revive It's the first time I feel this great loss, and how sad it is that I'm not being considered

If there were no family expectations, no identity restrictions, she and I, just Vidor and Kaja, and nothing else, had nothing to do with anything else, so maybe we could cross the verdant wheat fields together, we could collect the autumn leaves together, we could watch the clouds skim the sky under the sunflowers, but not now, Kaja had to get to know everyone in the Romanov family one by one, and set out to make a large number of friends and allies; And I had to go back to the stable, to brush the horses, to feed them

I shudder at the thought of this, will I be reduced to bullying people for a piece of white bread and a glass of wine?

I walked out topless, and the woman asked me where I was going, and she said my clothes hadn't been sewn yet

I said, "I'll go find something to eat first, and I'll come back later to get the clothes thank you, auntie."

She giggled, "There's such a pretty girl in the house, why don't you stay a little longer?" Are you nervous and can't sit still? Men, you have to be thick-skinned, otherwise how can you get a wife?"

"Thank you, I made a note" I walked out of the yard, through the low wall, towards the kitchen

The kitchen was a big room, most of the people had finished eating, a few cauldrons were empty, and a chubby woman gave me a handful of broken biscuits, and nothing else, the biscuits were as hard as stones, and I stumbled in my mouth as if I was chewing hard candy, and after eating half of them, I felt thirsty, so I went to scoop water in the water tank with an iron lid and drank

Halfway through the drink, someone grabbed my leg and pushed me forward, and I planted my upper body in the tank, and I fumbled with my hands to grasp the edge of the tank, trying to hold it up, only to see Jack pushing me behind with both eyes, and Herman and Hyde standing aside to let out the wind, thinking about the people around them

I was furious, they were three people together every time, and I didn't like to sneak up on others, but I didn't like people to sneak up on me, I turned around and tried to struggle, but the soles of my feet slipped and I fell head-on into the water tank

The tank was so big that my feet were submerged in the water, and my head hadn't touched the bottom of the tank yet

At first I didn't feel panicked at all, I just felt angry and impulsive, I wanted to hit that jack hard but I opened my mouth, the water poured into my throat like the coldest air, I coughed up a big ball of water, everything was in a trance and I wanted to breathe, but a lot of water poured from my throat into my chest and lungs, I felt something was wrong, and I wanted to struggle to stand up, but the inner walls of the water tank were slippery and greasy to grasp

I was a little panicked, my lungs tightened, and I was holding uncomfortably, but as soon as I opened my mouth, a lot of water poured in, and I even felt that someone was pulling me behind my back and pouring water into my throat

Didn't Kirov say that Pinker would be waiting for me by all the rivers? Is he also in the tank? But I'm not a thief who steals clothes, I was given this dress by someone else

My hands were fumbling around, trying to grab my own throat, but to no avail, water poured in from my nostrils, from my throat, from everywhere

fear

I felt something serious, I was sinking a little bit, I saw the swaying lights and shadows shining everywhere but I don't know if Jack they were still around the tank, they had drowned me for so long, they should have let me go up my God, what they wanted to do I widened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything, my legs were kicking, my hands were waving, but my strength was getting stronger and stronger, it was as if I was caught in a black velvet: soft, quiet, warm

The battle array covering the sky, a hill was densely packed with crossbowmen, the sky was gloomy, and there was thunder rumbling;

A carriage, in which the people were wearing cloaks, and when they lifted the cloaks, they all looked like drowned people;

A pigeon that had been shot in the wing fluttered on the ground, and the footsteps of the hunter in the distance were getting closer and louder

I'm going to die

The darkness embraced me

Suddenly, I saw a couple of husbands, and I saw a lot of people, and they opened their mouths to me, ready to say something

Is everything going to stop?

Someone was groping my head, pinching my neck and lifting me out of the water

I opened my eyes wide, but I couldn't see the light, as if I were blind

Someone put their fingers in my throat and stirred, I felt a convulsion in my stomach, warm water squirted out of my mouth and someone was squeezing my stomach, there was so much water in my stomach, every time I squeezed it I would spit water, as if I couldn't finish it

When I felt the pain in my face, someone was hitting me in the face

His voice was indistinct, and there seemed to be more than one person around, and he slapped me in the face a few more times, "Victor? ”

I woke up, I opened my mouth and coughed up a mouthful of water, I raised my hand to indicate that I heard a sudden warmth in my ears, and some of the water that was blocked in my ear holes flowed out, and I was covered in a burst of jī Ling, and my hearing was restored, and my vision was restored

Alexei stood in front of me, "Vidor, Vido? Do you hear that? He asked

"Yes," I nodded

He smiled, "Okay" but the smile suddenly disappeared from his face, he turned away with a gloomy face, and said to Christopher behind him, "Take these three guys to the warehouse and lock them up until I find out who did it, and then dispose of them"

The old servant of the stable, who also looked a little alarmed, picked me up, looked at the three of Jack reproachfully, and followed Alexei away

My last glimpse saw Jack, Hyde, and Herman standing pale and trembling to the side Christopher still had that indifferent expression, touching the stubble on his chin, deliberately showing his sword, and said to the three people who were already frightened: "Gentlemen, we have met so soon, it seems that you and Victor have a deep misunderstanding, go, don't worry, my sword is very fast, and my neck will be fine as soon as it is cold."

I swear, Jack's eyes turned white with fright, and Hyde and Herman were already crying

I don't think it's really a big deal, I just scared myself a lot in the tank, I felt for the first time that hatred, impulsiveness, revenge and nothing is a big deal, everything becomes ethereal when you are underwater, it's good to be able to breathe, it's good to be alive

Christopher followed behind the three men, teasing them with his sword, intentionally or unintentionally

Herman said loudly: "It's not me, it's Jack who pushed me and told me not to do this, but they don't listen, they don't listen, it's really not me"

Jack immediately turned around and scolded: "It's Herman, Herman made us do it, yes, Hyde?" It was Herman who pushed it, and then Herman himself laughed and let the two of us let off steam, saying that he was going to die the same as Pingke, drowned in the water, and couldn't even enter the church."

Hyde said gloomily, "Yes, yes"

Christopher shrugged his shoulders, "Stop yelling, let's go"

From last night until now, I feel like two centuries have passed, but for the people around me, life has not changed in the slightest, for them, it is just that Master Alexei has brought back a few craftsmen

The earth is golden

In the past, it was not yet harvest time, but in recent years, the Romanov family has spared no effort to sow wheat year after year, so that the local grain harvest is in advance, and when the other estates are still slowly waiting for the farmer to mature, the land around the Romanov Fort has been covered with a golden cloak

The old servant carried me into a room and told me to lie down on the G and wait for me to recover

Christopher took the three boys away, Alexei came to see me, like Kaja, I felt that the distance between me and Alexei had also increased, and I wanted to go back to him When I followed him some time ago, I didn't know how convenient my life was, whether it was drinking, eating, sleeping, or going out, everything was arranged, but now everything is gone

"How?" Alexei squatted down, "I heard that you won the battle yesterday, with one against three?" ”

"I don't want to fight"

"Nobody wants to fight, in fact, it's not a big deal to fight between boys, I used to fight with my cousins a lot, but those three are too much"

"I was drinking water and they suddenly pushed me in"

"Well, someone saw it and came and called me over, it just so happened that I was around, otherwise you would be finished"

Actually, it's not that bad, I want to say this, but I'm afraid that after I say this, Alexei will think that I'm alive and well, and leave me alone

"Lord Alexey, I don't want to be a stableman," I said to him, "I'll go back to you and I'll brush your boots, sharpen your quills, help you carry your sword, you can do it, but I don't want to go back to the stable."

Alexei's expression was stunned for a moment, "Why don't you call me Alyosha?" ”

"That's rude"

"Oh, it used to be polite to shout?"

"I'm sorry, Alyosha, I don't want to be a horse house"

He stood up, "Well, I know" He waved his hand and let the old servant out, and when it was only me and him left in the room, he bent down and said to me, "Do you remember the story I told you about the peasant girl who became the queen?" ”

"I remember that she used saffron to put on her ears, used the water she rinsed as a drink, and ate the beeswax bear used to decorate the dinner plate."

"That's right, the king quickly drove her away, not because everyone didn't let her stay in the palace, but because she herself didn't belong to the palace"

"Yes, she learned court etiquette and horsemanship from the fairies of the lake, learned to weave dragon flags and recite poems, learned to use war horns and longbows, saved her king on the battlefield, and was welcomed back to the palace, but what does all this have to do with me? I don't want to stay in the stable, I just want to go back to you."

"It's one thing," said Alexei, looking at my bruised and swollen eyes, pursing his lips, "think carefully about the games I told you about the nobles, and you have heard of it, and it is cruel for you to be driven away from me by the Earl, also because you do not belong to my family: you cannot transcribe for me, because you are illiterate; You can't lift the sword for me to clear the way, because you don't know how to do swordsmanship; You can't help me pick up my prey while you're hunting, because you can't domesticate hounds and you can't ride to come back to me? You can now, my uncle will not refuse me to accept an idle shì slave by my side, and I can even go and tell him that you are my sī son"

He paused for a moment, then said, "But do you want that?" It's not hard to come back to me, but you'll never be able to fit in with the family, the name 'Alekseevich' is easy to get, but the name 'Romanov' is very difficult to get, and it's the latter one that you want to get."

"You are now a boy who knows nothing, it is normal to be despised, you don't need to hate Count Kalinin, he is not biased or arrogant, he is just fair and resolute, you can even take him as a model for life from now on"

"I don't understand, Alyosha, you're confusing me again," I shook my head

Alexei smiled, "Remember my words, you will understand one day that you are my first student, and it seems that I will not be able to become a teacher of the royal family in the future, so you are also my only student I remember when I taught you to recognize the alphabet, I will help you at a critical moment, but before that, you have to turn yourself into a man on your own"

"Then I'm now"

"You are now a peasant girl who has just been kicked out of the palace, and in order for the Earl to accept you, you must learn what you have to learn to be similar to that peasant girl, etiquette, horsemanship, and martial arts, and then, the Earl will kindly absorb you into the family."

"Shall I go back to the stable?" I said disappointedly

Alexei said a lot of words of encouragement to me, which I summed up as a dim prospect, which disappointed him a little, but he still pulled himself together and said to me, "Yes, you have to go back to Christopher, you have to go to Christopher in the evening, you tell Christopher, what those three people have done to you, Christopher will punish accordingly, this is your right and the trouble between them, you better solve it yourself, otherwise there will be endless troubles in the future, but everyone can help you"

"There are three of them, always on together, I can't help it" I defended

Alexei knocked on his head, "You figure it out yourself"

After he finished speaking, he strode away

What does that mean?

There was a chill on my body, probably because I was frightened just now, and the news that I was almost drowned spread quickly, and when the laundry fù brought me clothes, I asked me not to be afraid of those guys, "They are all poorly educated guys, their parents don't care about them, you don't have to be afraid, if they come again, you will come to me"

I thanked her and put the sewn dress on my body

In the kitchen, the cook gave me a night of thick soup and added a piece of butter to me, probably because someone else had taken care of her

Not to mention what Alexei asked me to learn, I don't know, even the accusations I had to make at night made me not know how to start

"What to do?"

After dark, Christopher had people call me over to the empty warehouse

When I went, I saw three people standing on three benches on a high platform.

Christopher pulled a whip in his hand, and when I came in, none of the three showed me, and it seemed that the few times they were confined had enough for me and even sympathized with them, and once I recovered, I was not so disgusted with them, although I felt a little uneasy, but I thought it was enough for them

Christopher winked at me, "Okay, a hundred lashes each and hanging, are the three of them trying to murder you?" Nod my head, I'm going to be executed," Christopher said decently, remembering the time when he lied to me about eating the dead on the battlefield

The three of them looked at me with tears in their eyes, Herman was crying pitifully, and Hyde looked at Jack with some complaint, and Jack pursed his lips and shook his body

How can we solve these problems?

Staring at a hit? Scared of all three? Do you want to punish them severely? I don't think it works, there will still be trouble in the future, the whip will not make people surrender forever, I know countless stories can prove this and speaking of which, I do hate these people a little, what to do, when it comes to myself, it is too difficult to make decisions

"Victor?" Christopher folded the whip in half and strained it so hard that it snapped

I took a breath

"Mr. Christopher, it has nothing to do with them, I slipped into the water myself and let them go, I have nothing to do with them, I have nothing to do with them"

Christopher was stunned for a moment, and looked at me with a slight smile

Herman looked at me with a twitch of his nose