General's humble stand-in

People are cold, the road is difficult, and the rain beats the apricot blossoms.

Outside the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, several luxurious carriages were parked.The drizzle was falling, and the maroon horse flicked the dew from its mane, hissing and roaring.

After many efforts, the Cheng family father and son were acquitted.

The third prince, Xiao Mu, was dressed in plain and elegant white clothes, with a black flute tied around his waist.The face under the umbrella is still the same, and there is always a faint smile on the corner of his lips.

"Since Old General Cheng is safe and well, I am relieved, and now I am going back to the palace."

Gu Yan and Shen Feng hurriedly bowed their hands together.

Shen Feng said, "Thank you, Your Highness Third Prince, for your concern, I thank you on behalf of Ziyuan."

"No need, father and son of the Cheng family have made great contributions to our state of Jing, so they shouldn't have suffered this disaster. Fortunately, father and emperor are wise and did not hurt the foundation of the country. Fortunately."

Seeing Xiao Mu's leaving back, Shen Feng and Gu Yan whispered, "Perhaps, the third prince will become a wise king."

Gu Yan shook her head, "There is a difference between superiority and inferiority. His status is no higher than that of any prince. Your Majesty will not hand over Jing Kingdom to him."

When Xiao Mu passed by the carriages and horses of Xu's mansion, it happened that Xu Tianlei poked his head from inside the sedan chair.

Hastily got off the carriage and saluted, "Thank you, Third Prince, for pleading for my uncle and cousin, Tianlei thank you here."

Xiao Mu still smiled lightly, "Young Master Xu, you don't need to say thank you, I'm soft-spoken and not loved by my father, so I really didn't help much."

What can I do?Xu Tianlei felt troubled.A prince like him said such humble words, if I flatter him it would be hypocritical, if I followed his words it would be disrespectful, if I didn’t speak it would be embarrassing

It was difficult, but fortunately Xiao Mu broke the embarrassment.

"I heard that Mr. Xu has been registered in the Ministry of War, and he will be able to go to the battlefield in the near future. I wish Mr. Xu a triumphant return, and he will be named a general as soon as possible."

Xu Tianlei squeezed his earlobe, rolled his eyes around and saw that there was no one around, he leaned in front of Xiao Mu like a child and said in a low voice, "To tell you the truth, I don't want to go to the battlefield at all. If there is a chance, please The third prince said a few good words for me in front of His Majesty, it is best to give me an idle official position. It doesn't matter if my grade is not high, as long as I am idle."

Xiao Mu was really taken aback, he was used to those who tried their best to climb up, Xu Tianlei's way of doing this was considered a clear stream.

"Why doesn't Mr. Xu want to go to the battlefield?"

Xu Tianlei replied straightforwardly, "I'm afraid of death."

Xiao Mu couldn't help laughing, and moved closer to Xu Tianlei, whispering, "Coincidentally, I'm afraid too."

This Xu Tianlei is the only seedling in his family, and he has been spoiled like a baby since he was a child.Therefore, the mind is clear, innocent and naughty.

Right now, after just a few words with Xiao Mu, you can't tell the difference between superiority and inferiority.He patted Xiao Mu's shoulder with a laugh, and shouted: People of the same way, people of the same way.He is obviously three years older than Xiao Mu, and half a head taller than Xiao Mu, but behaves like a child.

Xiao Mu squinted at the hand clapped on his shoulder, his eyes darkened, and he said nothing.

Xu Tianlei suddenly reacted to his impoliteness, hurriedly bent over and cupped his hands, and said solemnly, "Respectfully send off the third prince."

Xiao Mu nodded, turned and left.

On the other side, Shen Feng also bid farewell to Gu Yan.

"Thank you for working so hard these past few days. When Ziyuan is in better health, I will visit him and thank you again."

Gu Yan waved his hand, "What's the matter, he is my deputy, how could I ignore it. But you, go to Cheng Mansion to take care of him?"

Shen Feng nodded, the hair on the sideburns was wet on his cheeks, a little tired and haggard, but his eyes were clear.

"I'm afraid that the matter between you will be spread." Gu Yan's tone was slightly worried.

After all, it is not something glorious, and the eldest princess has always been obsessed with Shen Feng, fearing that the future will still be difficult.

"Let's pass it on." Shen Feng glanced back at the sedan chair where Cheng Ziyuan was, with a slight smile on his lips, "Perhaps what he said is right, and he can't keep it a secret forever, he will tell it sooner or later."

Under the light rain, Gu Chan stood in the drizzle and watched Shen Feng get into Gu's carriage.The coachman yelled, and the carriage moved slowly.

If he had been more upright back then, would he and Zizhi have a different ending?Thoughts are blurred, like spring rain.

Gu Ansheng reminded him in a low voice, "My lord, let's go back too."

The rainy season in April is thick, and it has been sunny for several times.

In the carriage, Gu Yan was really tired the past few days, and she leaned on the cushion and closed her eyes to rest.

Gu Ansheng tucked Gu Yan's face with the corner of his eyes, and said cautiously, "My lord, peach burns him..."

Just a reminder, Gu Ansheng didn't dare to continue, he still peeked at the expression on Gu Yan's face.

Gu Yan's eyelashes moved slightly, and it was only a slight movement, but there was no reaction.

Seeing this, Gu Ansheng didn't dare to talk too much.

Due to the rainy weather, Princess Pingnan did not leave the Qionghua Pavilion, so Tao Zhuo suffered less crimes.

The wounds on his body have not yet healed, and the entire torn clothes are stained red after the rain washes away.The hair was sticky to the cheeks and neck, which was very uncomfortable.But Tao Zhuo couldn't touch them, so he let them mess up.

Although the princess did not come, the house slave in charge of the punishment came on time in the afternoon.No nonsense, raised the whip and whipped Tao Zhuo's body, the crisp sound of the whip covered the drizzle in the ear.

Tao Zhuo turned his head to the side and closed his eyes tightly, biting his lips hard with his teeth, pressing every pain that was about to come out stubbornly back into his stomach.

The blood dripped and dripped, forming small red puddles under his feet.

At night, Gu Ansheng held an umbrella and sneaked to the backyard again, this time bringing two pieces of Sophora japonica cake for Tao Zhuo.

"I asked for it specially from the kitchen, but Chef Li still laughed at me that I can eat it soon." Gu Ansheng fed the Sophora japonica cake into Tao Zhuo's mouth, "Is it sweet?"

Tao Zhuo nodded, and swallowed forcefully, enduring the pain in his throat.

"I have good news for you, the Cheng family has been released without charge."

In fact, this is irrelevant to them, but it is just for small talk.

Tao Zhuo woodlessly chewed the pagoda flower cake in his mouth, raised his eyes after a while and asked, "Will you still care about my life?"

"Yes, yes." Gu Ansheng avoided Tao Zhuo's gaze, evasive.

Tao Zhuo is not an overly delicate person, but the current situation has to be sensitive.He could tell from Gu Ansheng's tone and demeanor that the general would not come.

Deep down in his heart, he still looks forward to the general, Tao Zhuo pulled the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, mocking his own wishful thinking.

It has been raining continuously for two days, and the soil is soaked and fragrant.

The carriage of the General's Mansion "squeaked" on the muddy path in the outskirts, splashing a little bit of mud with its knotted reels.

I heard that there is Mr. Jiao, a skilled craftsman, who has been quite accomplished in jade for many years.Gu Yan deliberately took the broken jade pendant to the old man to mend it, and his painstaking efforts were not in vain.The jade pendant was restored to its original state, although there were inevitably some cracks, but it was a complete one.

Leaning in the carriage, Gu Yan lightly twisted the word "Keng" on it, and finally showed a rare smile.

Gu Ansheng, who was outside the car, turned his head and looked in, just in time to catch the faint smile remaining on the corner of Gu Yan's lips.

"My lord, Mr. Jiao's craftsmanship is really amazing. In just two hours, he restored this jade pendant to its original condition."

"There are still cracks under closer inspection." Gu Yan never took his eyes off the jade pendant from the beginning to the end.

"It's not easy to restore it like this." Gu Ansheng went around in a circle before returning to the main topic, "Young Master, I have something that I don't know whether I should tell you or not."

"Let's talk." Gu Yan was in a good mood, when she raised her eyes to look at Gu Ansheng, her face was soft and gentle.

In this way, Gu Ansheng became more courageous.

"I see Tao Zhuo is really pitiful. Although he should be punished for destroying the son's belongings, and he should be beaten for framing our young lady, but he should be kicked out of the house with dozens of boards, and he will not torture people to death."

A trace of astonishment flashed across Gu Yan's eyes, "Why torture to death?"

"Young Madam hung Tao Zhuo in the small backyard, and whipped him twice a day in the morning and afternoon. I went to see the whip marks on my body yesterday, and there were pus in some places after the rain. Don't blame me for talking too much, my lord. , After all, Tao Zhuo and I have lived together for so long. I used to hate him for taking the young master's favor. But now, seeing him, I can only feel pitiful."

—The hand holding the jade pendant froze slightly, Gu Yan lowered her eyes and said nothing, Gu Ansheng turned around and stopped talking.

— On the way, Gu Yan's thoughts were disturbed, he was angry with Tao Zhuo's mistakes, and he didn't want to care about Tao Zhuo's life or death.But Gu Ansheng's words seemed to have penetrated into his heart, so he couldn't help but pay attention.

That cute face is always shaking in front of my eyes, and there seems to be always the sentence in my ear: I know you will come to save me, I always believe it.

As the evening approached, the rain was much lighter and showed signs of gradually stopping.

Tao Zhuo raised his head to look at the still heavy sky, and smiled bitterly at the corner of his mouth, laughing that he was so stubborn that he was still alive.

The footsteps sounded from far to near, stepping on the puddles gathered on the bluestone road, the sound became clear.

Tao Zhuo blinked away the moisture on the eyelashes, and looked at the person coming.

Princess Pingnan is holding a red oil-paper umbrella, and her bright red embroidered pleated dress almost hangs down to the ground.Caizhu bent over behind to support the hem of the skirt, so as not to be stained with muddy water.

Seeing some festering wounds on Tao Zhuo's body, Princess Pingnan frowned in disgust.

"Tsk tsk." The princess sighed and shook her head, "If the general sees you like this, I'm afraid I'll spit out the disgusting meal of last night."

Tao Zhuo lowered his eyes and ignored her.

"Okay, I'm tired of it too, I'm too lazy to come and see you all the time. Don't you want to die, I'll give you a good time today." Saying that, Princess Pingnan winked at Caizhu behind her.

Caizhu understood, and walked towards Taozhuo with a sinister smile on her face.

"Our princess is kind-hearted and knows that you like pastries. No, I specially ordered the kitchen to make pastries."

As he spoke, he opened the food box on his arm, and immediately a scent wafted out.

"Does it smell delicious?" Caizhu took out a piece and handed it to Tao Zhuo's lips, "Try it, it must be very fragrant after eating, it smells like crane crest red."

Tao Zhuo stared intently at the crispy dough, and slowly opened his mouth.

There is nothing to rely on in life, nothing to love in life, and it is better to die in peace than to suffer all kinds of pain every day.

Seeing that the poisonous pastry was about to enter the mouth, the princess said again, "Wait."