wait a minute

Chapter 378
Noon the next day.

The carriage with two horses driving side by side stopped outside the side door of the Duke's Mansion. Ye Jingtang was dressed in a black robe and a bamboo hat, dressed as a ranger, and stood beside the carriage.

After waiting for a while, the sound of flapping wings came from behind the high wall of the Duke's Mansion, and then the bird emerged from the wall and landed in front of Ye Jingtang, with a sugar figure in its mouth, shaking its head as if offering a treasure .

Ye Jingtang brought the sugar figurine over, looked back and forth, and found that it was a gourd-like owl, very delicately made, and asked:
"Where did this come from?"

"jijiji..."

The bird's wings and claws gestured to indicate that there was nothing to do last night, and ran to the pier to find poached eggs to play with, and the poached eggs were brought over by him.

Ye Jingtang naturally understood the meaning. He was on the street yesterday and indeed saw Yun Li buying sugar figurines near Bingtuotuo, and unexpectedly bought one for him.

Ye Jingtang chuckled, because the sugar figurines were not easy to keep, and Yun Li's heart would be wasted if he didn't eat them, so he moved to his mouth and licked it.

Speaking of which, when he was a child in Honghe Town, his adoptive father once bought sugar figurines for him. At that time, he felt that children only ate these, so he was not very interested, and he didn't taste any special taste.

But now that I've really grown up and ate these things to coax children, I feel a little bit of right and wrong.

While Ye Jingtang was secretly feeling emotional, footsteps came from behind the wall again, as well as the words of the mother and daughter:
"I should have said hello in advance when I went out for a long time. You are such an adult, and you are still the queen mother, why is it as hot as when you were a child..."

"Mother, I have my own sense of propriety. The place I went is not too far away. I came back after a few days of shopping..."

"Will the guards bring at least a few?"

"With Ye Jingtang and Master Xuanji, there will be no troubles, and the guards will be avoided. If you go there with light clothes, you will come back sooner..."

……

Ye Jingtang saw that the sugar man was hiding here, and turned to the side door, and within a moment, he saw a large group of female relatives coming out.

Headed by Mrs. Zhao and the Empress Dowager, followed by sister-in-law, nephew and daughter-in-law, etc. Hongyu walked in front, holding a small package in her hand, dressed like a little maid who accompanied the lady to the temple to offer incense.

The empress dowager changed her usual gorgeous and luxurious attire, and put on a skirt that is common in Jiangzhou, and her hair bun was changed to the style of a girl who has not left the pavilion. She looks like a beautiful woman in the blooming season, but she has the temperament cultivated over the years He is still alive, and his demeanor is still dignified and stable while walking, which seems to have a sense of contrast.

The empress dowager walked out of the side door and saw Ye Jingtang waiting outside, and the old lady couldn't be too intimate in front of her, so she looked around for Shui'er, only to find that there was a bare carriage outside the door, and there were no other people there.

The Empress Dowager was slightly taken aback, and asked:
"The water hasn't come yet?"

Shui'er promised to be together yesterday, and she will definitely come today, but if she ran to the Duke's mansion to pick her up, she would run into Yuhu head-on, how could she dare to run to the door, and wait and watch secretly from a distance.

Ye Jingtang came to the door, saluted Mrs. Zhao first, and then said:
"Realist Xuanji went to the city to buy some items for the road, and asked me to pick up the Queen Mother, and we can just meet up on the street later."

The empress dowager was a little puzzled, but she didn't say much after thinking about it. She was supported by Hongyu to board the carriage, and raised the curtain to wave her hand:
"Mother, you go back, I'm just going out for a walk, I don't need to mobilize people like this."

Mrs. Zhao couldn't do anything about this precious girl who thought it was a good idea. After asking Ye Jingtang for a few words, she stood at the door and watched:
"Slow down on the road, don't worry, if you think the road is too far, come back."

"Got it, Yejingtang, let's go."

"Driving~"

Ye Jingtang sat outside the carriage, flicked his whip lightly, and the carriage went out along the white stone road, while the bird flapped its wings on the top of the carriage.

After walking out of the sight of Mrs. Zhao and others, the Empress Dowager's demeanor was completely relaxed, but she couldn't say anything, she just lifted the curtain like a big lady who went out to play, and enjoyed the street scenery with Hongyu.

The two of them had just glanced at each other for a while, when they noticed the fairy-like Shui'er coming out from behind a willow tree not far from the Duke's Mansion.

Seeing this, the empress dowager was naturally a little strange, and asked:
"Why don't you wait at the door? Why are you standing here?"

"I just came back, and I bumped into it when I walked here."

Immortal Xuanji couldn't explain the reason, so she jumped onto the carriage lightly, and seeing that Ye Jingtang was still eating sugar secretly, she took the owl lollipop, put it in her mouth, and bent over into the carriage.

?

Ye Jingtang's hand was empty, and he really wanted to slap back his naughty wife's buttocks, but the occasion was inappropriate, so he finally let it go.

Master Xuanji sat down in front of the empress dowager, looked back at the Duke's mansion, and asked:
"If you want to go to Yuxu Mountain, just tell me, why do you still bring Ye Jingtang with you?"

The empress dowager figured out such an excuse to fulfill her wish just to avoid Yuhu and go out to play with her lover. It would be better to rest in the house without it.But these words are not easy to talk to Shui'er, she just said:

"Yejingtang is fine, I just took it with me to meet the world, you are the uncle of Yuxu Mountain, you have to introduce him well when the time comes. By the way, you are so old, you still eat sugar..."

"do you want?"

"No, what should I do if I gain weight..."

Ye Jingtang was sitting outside the carriage, listening to the chatter of the two daughters-in-law, but didn't interrupt, and headed out of the city with a soft "drive".

Crying, hoofing...
-
The land of Jiangzhou is still in late autumn, but thousands of miles away outside the Northwest Great Wall, thousands of mountains have been blown by wind, snow has buried the ground, the wilderness is completely extinct, and it is difficult to see any human beings outside the villages and towns.

Huhu——

The cold wind like a knife swept across the endless Tianlang Lake. The lake, which used to be as vast as a sea, was now covered by solid ice and turned into a white ice field. The convoy was faintly visible, moving slowly on the ice field.

And on the plain by the lake, a majestic city stands here, with the Northern Liang King's Banner hanging on the top of the city, and countless cavalry in silver armor, stationed in the snow outside the city, the flags and cooking smoke can't be seen from a distance. It was as if the entire Tianlang Lake was isolated from the northwest land.

The city used to be the new royal capital of the Northwest Royal Court, but after the Northwest Royal Court began to decline, it was gradually abandoned. When the Royal Court was completely destroyed more than 20 years ago, it became the "Xihai Capital Protectorate" in Beiliang. Wang Yaoling, together with Zhenbei City in the north and Pingyi City in the south, formed a line of defense along the lake, which could be regarded as the boundary line actually controlled by Beiliang.

Because Tianlang Lake will be frozen every year after winter, the army can cross the natural danger from the ice and directly attack the inner belly of Beiliang. The horse will also be transferred to strengthen its defenses, lest the tribes of the West Sea or the Great Wei take the opportunity to cause trouble.

The various tribes in the West Sea and even the Great Wei have long been accustomed to this kind of military control, and it has not aroused much objection.

But this year's Tianlang Lake is a little different from previous years.

There was snow flying thousands of miles away by Tianlang Lake, and an area more than [-] miles away from Xihai Governor's Mansion was uncharacteristically green.

From a distance, it looks like the garden is covered with a layer of snow. Until you get closer, you can find that it is a pure white flower bud. The light fragrance even dispels the biting chill of the snowy day.

There is such a beautiful scenery in the ice and snow, enough to make anyone in the world linger for a long time, but it is a pity that [-]% of the people in the world cannot witness this grand event with their own eyes, after all, this place is called 'Snow Lake Forest'.

The snow lake flowers that bloomed in Jiazi only grow on the west bank of Tianlang Lake. Because they are too scarce, every time they appear, they will be snatched by people all over the world. In order to control and control them, as long as they are found in the wild, the snow lake flowers will be removed Planted in this area that is most suitable for the growth of snow lake flowers.

Snow Lake flowers bloom once, and the whole world has to use them for 60 years. No matter how high the output is, this kind of medicinal material that can suspend life, extend pulse, and match Tianlangzhu and other magical prescriptions will become emperors who are reluctant to use it in the end. No one will have too much of what is scarce.

For this reason, the snow lake forest medicine field with a radius of tens of miles is extremely tightly guarded, surrounded by a six-zhang city wall, and elite soldiers from Beiliang are stationed on the periphery, and there are also pro-court masters stationed in rotation. In the Protectorate's Mansion, not to mention seeing the medicine field from the top of the wall, it is difficult for ordinary people to reach this area even if they are close to the sky.

In the cold winter and the twelfth lunar month, in the endless snowy lake forest, several pharmacists dressed in official uniforms of the imperial hospital can be seen, accompanied by the elite of the White Owl Camp, officials of the household department, and eunuchs, carefully inspecting every flower and plant, carefully recording file.

Zuo Xianwang Li Jian, wearing a python robe, paced in the flower field. He had recovered from the injury he suffered a few months ago, and his complexion looked good, but he behaved quite carefully, even slightly pressing down on the python robe, so as not to rub off the flowers around him. Mosaic.

After all, this snowflake forest is the private garden of Emperor Liang, and even he is only a servant taking care of it, and has no right to dispose of it without authorization.

Behind King Zuoxian is an old man named Shi Daoyu, who is the master of Canglong Cave in Beiliang, one of the top ten masters, also known as 'Poison Sage of Beiliang', who was invited by King Zuoxian One of the tallest.

Although Shi Daoyu is regarded as the saint of poison by the people of Jianghu, poison and good medicine are both medicines. Their effects are opposite, but the principle is not much different. Behind the king, he observed the flowers and plants at his feet:
"The last time I came to Xuehu Forest, I was only twelve years old. I really didn't expect to see Xuehu flowers bloom again in this life. According to the experience of previous years, the flowering period should be within one month. The output this time, It's more than last time..."

Although Zuo Xianwang Li Jiao is not young, he obviously didn't have the chance to see the snow lake flowers bloom last time. After guarding the snow lake forest for more than ten years, this is the first time he saw flowers blooming. He responded:
"The royal court in the northwest was destroyed, and the southern dynasty was peaceful. There has been no major war in recent years. The king has taken good care of it day and night. It is inevitable that the harvest will be good. There is no news yet. As long as the snow lake flowers can be picked smoothly when they are in flowering time, This lord has passed this hurdle."

Shi Daoyu naturally knew the news of the flowers blooming in Xuehu Lake, and what would happen if it got out.

Not to mention what will happen to the forces in the Jianghu, the Great Wei appointed heavy soldiers to be deployed at the border to exert pressure, forcing Beiliang to take a share of the pie.

After all, having and not having snow lake flowers are two different things. No one can tell what will happen in the next sixty years. If the ticket is ruthless, future generations will have to be stuck in the neck by Beiliang.

In fact, the Beiliang court also knew that it was impossible to eat alone. After all the snow lake flowers were picked, they would definitely be divided into the Southern Dynasty, and the patriarchs of the various tribes in the West Sea, etc., had to give some sweetness, otherwise there would be trouble.

But the premise is after picking.

As long as the Xuehu flowers are in the warehouse, it will be said that a total of ten catties will be collected, and three catties will be given to the empress, and two catties will be given to each department of Xihai.

And if the empress knew the harvest in advance, the trouble would be endless, and she would definitely be blackmailed.

In order to keep it secret, since there were signs of flowering, Xuehu Forest was only allowed to enter and not to leave. Zuo Xianwang personally stood here to supervise, and even deliberately spread the news of being injured by Ye Jingtang in Huangming Mountain, so as to avoid suspicion from the outside world.

In King Zuo Xian's opinion, it should be no problem to keep the secret until the flowering period is so strictly guarded against.

But after all, Shi Daoyu is the old man who has seen the heroes seize the treasure last time, so he is pessimistic about it:

"There is no impenetrable wall in the world. Even if there is no news leaked, it is still difficult to hide the matter of Xuehuhua. Xuehuhua always has some wild flowers, which are usually hard to find like withered vines, but they are very eye-catching after blooming. Once a plant is discovered, the whole world will know the news, and in my opinion, it won't be long before Tianlang Lake will be surrounded by demons."

King Zuo Xian understood that it was not easy to pick the fruit smoothly, so he thought about it after holding his hands together:
"Most of the Wukui in the Southern Dynasty were cleaned up by Ye Jingtang on their own, and Lu Taiqing was restrained by the national teacher. Now the only one who can come to disrupt the situation is the leader of Pingtian. As for our dynasty, Hua Ling, Xi Tianshang, and Sima Yue have no Now, the rest of the masters, the imperial court has promised a share, and they will only stand on the imperial court's side now, who else will stand up?"

Shi Daoyu stroked his beard, thought for a while and said:
"The rivers and lakes are not limited to this on the surface. No one can tell how many hidden masters are hidden in places like Huangming Mountain, Sunset Peak, and Nanxiao Mountain.

"Last time when the snow lake bloomed, the Northwest Royal Court thought that not many people would dare to snatch it. As a result, a bunch of deep-water old bastards appeared. Among them were two old men who were over a hundred years old, and one was Gongsun Bai, a master in the middle period of the Great Yan of the Southern Dynasty. Yang, and the other is Qian Tianyue, the master of Daliang more than 150 years ago.

"These two people weren't very good at first, but they were very talented. After retiring from retirement, they practiced hard in the mountains for decades, and their inner family skills have reached perfection. They joined hands to grab snow lake flowers, and the Tianlang King couldn't stop them.

"However, both of them retired because of hidden injuries. Their attainments were extraordinary and holy, but their bodies couldn't keep up. Although they snatched the snow lake flower, they were consumed by wolves before they ran out of the wasteland. , Most of them came from the hands of these two people.

"In the past sixty years, how many more masters who stumbled in the northern and southern dynasties, but did not give up martial arts and were ready to fight to the death, I can't tell..."

Hearing what Shi Daoyu said, Zuo Xianwang did feel a little stressed, and recalled:

"Liu Qiansheng, Sun Wuji, Mu Yunsheng...there are quite a few great masters who just wash their hands in the golden basin but are not sure that they are dead. There are also juniors like Xuanyuan Tiangang and Xie Jianlan who may be late bloomers. It’s really hard to control.”

Shi Daoyu knew that there would definitely be a group of people coming out, but the pressure was not too great, so he said:

"These people are hidden from the world, there must be a reason why they can't hide from the world. People who don't want to get involved in the affairs of the world will not come to join in the fun; those who are secretly hurt and need snow lake flowers must have shortcomings. , It depends on the situation at that time, if the idea is too hard, just give Xuehuhua a few dollars.

"However, Yejingtang is a variable. There are news from the rivers and lakes that Long Zhengqing has been killed. Judging from the current seating, Yejingtang is not too far away from the prince.

"Ye Jingtang is the empress' confidant. If the empress doesn't want to fight on the surface, she will definitely send strong people to snatch it in private. If Ye Jingtang comes to the door, I guess he dares to take eight catties if he charges ten catties, and he can't take the remaining two catties. If it is burned, it will not be kept by the court.”

King Zuo Xian and Ye Jingtang have old and new grudges, and they know that Ye Jingtang did this.Moreover, Ye Jingtang's momentum is too fast, and it may not take long to catch up with him.

But no matter how fast it grows, the flowers will bloom in only a few months. He doesn't believe that Ye Jingtang can run over from the southeast sea so quickly, and can pick all the snow lake flowers in front of him from among the thousands of troops. Even if he could, Ye Jingtang only had two arms and two legs, how much could he carry away?
King Zuo Xian thought for a while, and said casually:
"As long as Ye Jingtang dares to step half a step into the West Sea, this king will dare to let him come and go. The last account has not been settled. If it wasn't for the delay, this king would have already gone to the door by himself and reported a shot. revenge."

Shi Daoyu knew that Ye Jingtang, the orphan of King Tianlang, was a serious threat to the court, and it was good news that he could come to snatch the snow lake flowers, so he didn't say any more at the moment...
-
At night, at the junction of Jiangzhou County and Linshan County.

creak creak...

A carriage carrying three women, a man and a bird drove into an unnamed town in the dark.

The car was lit with fire, and the real Xuanji leaned on the small couch with two small wine jugs in front of her. As she got farther and farther away from the apprentice, the original idleness gradually appeared, her cheeks flushed and her hand rested on her chin, humming Xiao Qu, looking at the back of the car door, bit her lower lip from time to time, thinking about something.

The Empress Dowager was too strong to drink, but she couldn't hold the water. She was already dizzy from drinking at this time, leaning on the carriage to feed the birds, muttering some wine words:
"I remember the first time I saw you when I went to Yuxu Mountain Palace, I thought you were a fairy in the mountain, and followed your ass all day long; in the end, I found that all the sparrows in Yuxu Mountain are more serious than you, you If you are a monk, you can break three of the five precepts of killing, stealing, adultery, drinking and drinking, how did you learn this way?"

Master Xuanji took a sip of the wine glass and asked:

"How did I commit three crimes?"

The empress dowager raised her slender hands, and counting with them:

"I don't need to talk about wine, right? You are Wu Kui, you must have violated the precept of killing; and you are full of lies, how dare you say you have not violated this one?"

While talking, two chuckles came from outside the carriage:
"Ha ha……"

Seeing this, the Empress Dowager sat up a little, turned her head and said:
"Ye Jingtang, do you think there is something wrong with what Ben Gong said?"

"No no……"

Ye Jingtang was sitting outside the carriage and driving, Hongyu was dazed by protecting the Empress Dowager from drinking just now, so she leaned her legs in the air in front of her to sober up.

Hearing the Empress Dowager complaining about falling into Shui'er, Ye Jingtang felt that the Empress Dowager was still too conservative, and Shui'er logically said that she had violated all the five precepts of Taoism.

Over the years, in order to find the picture of Minglong, Shui'er wandered all over Beiliang, taking whatever he saw for military aircraft, and the robber must have committed a crime.

As for prostitution... Strictly speaking, it is burning.

Ye Jingtang was afraid of being picked up by Shui'er, so he didn't want to make such a joke. After responding, seeing that it was too late, he stopped in front of the inn in the town, and turned around and said:

"It's getting dark, let's stay in the town for one night first."

The Empress Dowager was drowsy from drinking, and was looking for a place to sleep, when she heard the words, she pulled Shui'er up and asked her to support them, and the two got out of the carriage together.

Ye Jingtang parked the carriage in the courtyard of the inn, helped Hongyu, who was drunk, enter the inn, opened three rooms and sent Hongyu back to the room first, and didn't just throw it away just because she was a maid, and helped take off the shoes After covering the quilt, I went out and came to the next door.

The Empress Dowager drank a lot, and after entering the room, she fell down on the bed.

Master Xuanji sat in front of her and helped the queen mother cover the thin quilt so that it would not be cold at night in winter.

Ye Jingtang slightly opened the door, looked inside, and asked after seeing this:
"Shall I get some hangover soup?"

"No, you should rest early, I will do all these."

After Master Xuanji finished speaking, relying on the empress dowager lying beside her, she deliberately bit her lower lip and raised her chest slightly, as if to reward Ye Jingtang with a goodnight kiss.

Seeing this scene, Ye Jingtang was naturally not used to Shui Shui, entered the room lightly, and walked up to him.

Master Xuanji frowned secretly, feeling that Ye Jingtang was a bit bold, and his eyes signaled the drunken queen mother, and made a look of 'you can mess around if you have the ability', but Ye Jingtang came to the front, without any fuss, bowed his head and swallowed it Red lips.

"..."

Master Xuanji was going to wake up the Empress Dowager, but when she really kissed her, she didn't dare to be found out about her affair, so she just pushed Ye Jingtang with cold eyes.

Ye Jingtang kissed twice, and found that Shui'er didn't dare to move rashly, so he naturally became more courageous, put his hand on his conscience, and carefully felt the heartbeat until Shui'er slowly reacted, then stopped abruptly, got up and closed the curtain:
"Rest early, I'll go back to my room first."

?

Daoist Xuanji licked her lips lightly, knowing that Ye Jingtang was playing tricks on her, and she was not fooled at all, so she continued to cover the queen mother with the quilt.

squeak~
Soon, the door closed and the inn became quiet.

Master Xuanji covered the quilt, brought hot water again, and wiped the queen mother's cheeks. After finishing the work, the night was dark, so she lay down beside her.

She lifted up the quilt and was just about to hug Huaiyan to sleep, but when she touched Huaiyan who was drunk, she muttered:
"Don't...what if you get caught..."

"?"

Master Xuanji's eyes were fixed, and he looked carefully at the drunken queen mother, his eyes were full of suspicion, thinking about imitating Ye Jingtang's movements, rubbing the watermelon.

But her hands are obviously different from Ye Jingtang's.

The empress dowager felt something was wrong, and she woke up suddenly, secretly thinking that something was wrong, she suddenly raised her head, pressed the thief's hand on her chest, her eyes were at a loss:

"Shui'er, you... what do you want to do?"

"..."

Master Xuanji's expression froze, but her mind was really stable, so she pinched naturally:
"Just try the feel. Go to bed early.",
"Shui'er, you don't like women, do you?"

"How is it possible, don't think about it."

"..."

The empress dowager turned her back on the guest, seeing that she had fooled Shui'er, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, immediately put on a guard, covered her chest and rolled in a circle...

(End of this chapter)