Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 1056

Forbidden City, East Campus.

Hong Zhou pawed Hong Li and said, "Fourth brother, look, Cao Lin is a bit abnormal?"

Hongli followed his line of sight, and saw Cao Lin holding a bow and arrow, with a melancholy expression, both annoyed and helpless.

Hongli took the bow, handed the bow and arrow to a haha ​​bead who was waiting next to him, walked over and said, "Don't you love bow and arrow lessons all the time, why are you not energetic today? After taking a month's vacation, you can't play wild. ?”

Hong Zhou also walked over to listen to Cao Lin's answer.

Cao Lin said: "It's nothing, it's just that my father went on a long trip yesterday, and I'm a little bit worried."

Hongli nodded, and said: "I know that you and your father have a good relationship, but Mr. Cao is on a business trip, and you are getting older, so why not act like a child?"

Speaking of identities, one of the two is the master and uncle; the other is a companion and nephew.So after listening to Hongli's teaching, Cao Lin listened with ease.

Hong Zhou blinked his eyes, but he didn't believe it, and said, "Fourth brother has always treated you well, but you didn't tell the truth. If Mr. Cao was on a business trip alone, it would make you feel so uncomfortable? There must be other reasons, so don't tell me the truth." Tell me?"

Because it was his own family matter, Cao Lin didn't want to talk about it in the palace, "hehe" said twice: "There is nothing else, it's just that the sun is full, and some people can't keep their eyes open."

Hong Zhou "hummed" twice, but he didn't let him go. He turned to Hongli and said, "I think it's probably because this kid wants to go out with Master Cao, and Master Cao won't allow him, so he's itching to be here."

Seeing that Cao Lin didn't want to say anything, Hongli didn't want to force him, so he changed the subject and said, "Hongpu took a long vacation. I don't know why? Let people inquire. If he is sick, we should go and see."

Cao Lin was beside him, and when he heard the mention of "Hongpu", he lowered his head, clenched his left hand into a fist, and slammed his right hand hard.

With such an unsatisfactory hand, when I drew lots with my brother last night, I drew a blank lottery, and my brother had the opportunity to travel with his father.

However, thinking about his brother's unhappiness a few days ago because of his failure, he explained to himself, thinking that it should be his brother who should go, and he shouldn't even draw lots...

*
As the sun sets, west of Beijing, Zhuozhou, in front of the post station.

Tianyou reined in the reins, panting heavily, feeling stiff all over, unable to get off the horse by himself.

Seeing this, Wei Hei was very distressed, stepped forward to help Tianyou's arm, and helped him off the horse.

Tianyou only felt that the fire between his legs was burning, and he looked at Hongpu in front of him with a embarrassed expression.

Hongpu was stronger than Tianyou, he jumped off the horse by himself, but when walking, his posture was a bit weird.

Cao Yong was beside him, looking at the two half-old children, he rolled his eyes.Today is the first day of the three thousand miles from Beijing to Gansu.He turned his head and saw two carriages with the suffix of the horse team.The carriage in the front was smaller, while the carriage in the back was slightly larger. Besides the coachman, there were two servants sitting on the side of the carriage.

The children are still young, so they are still stable in carriages.Hongpu was noisy and wanted to ride a horse.Even Tianyou, who was usually sensible, begged him earnestly.

He arranged for the two children to ride. Chen Chu set off from the capital, stopped at Fangshan at noon, and traveled dozens of miles to Zhuozhou in the afternoon.

According to the travel speed of officials, one hundred and twenty miles a day is considered a gallop.

Cao Yong and his entourage rode with two riders. They prepared their horses and did not change horses from the post station.It is really that Gansu is too far away from the capital, and he doesn't want to delay too long on the road.

Cao Yong has a good relationship with Brother Sixteen, and Tianyou and Hongpu are also acquainted.The two boys looked at each other bitterly.Don't talk about riding a horse all the way to Gansu, whether you can climb a horse tomorrow or not is another matter.

"Second...Second Uncle, let's take the car tomorrow!" Tianyou whispered.

He originally wanted to call him "Second Elder Brother", but he changed his name again when he remembered the instructions of Sixteenth Elder Brother before he left Beijing in the morning.

Hong Pu thought that he had just uttered such a big word in the morning, and felt his face burning up, so he said in a muffled voice, "I'll talk about it tomorrow."

A postman came to welcome him earlier, and Zhang Yi went through the relevant procedures with Cao Yong's name card.

Four upper rooms, preferably single courtyard.

For a senior member of the second rank, it is nothing to ask for a few more rooms.It's just that it is close to the capital, there are many officials coming and going, and there is no single courtyard.

Since it is a business trip, it is strange to bring my brother-in-law and son with me.

Although Yicheng thought it was weird, he showed the respect he should have. He killed chickens and ducks and asked people to prepare dinner.

After Hongpu finished grooming, he went to the kang, not wanting to move.

On this trip, he only brought a young man with him, one of the two young men sitting in the carriage, named Qing Ha;

Usually in the palace, there are more than a dozen servant girls around him, but this time he didn't let any of them take him with him when he went out.Even the two little eunuchs and four servants around him were only allowed to bring one.

This is what Cao Yong meant. He didn't know how Cao Yong said it to his Ama, but Ama agreed anyway.

Although Qing Ha had never been close to her, she was still clever. Holding Hong Pu's changed clothes, she said: "Master, you rest first, I will find someone to do laundry."

Hongpu waved his hand feebly and sent him out.

Qing Ha walked to the door, just bumped into Tian You, and said, "Master Cao."

Tianyou glanced at his arms, and said: "We have to find someone to do the laundry, so you can go with him."

Qing Ha bowed and answered, and went to look for hoeing without mentioning it.

Hearing his words, Hong Pu had already got up, pointed to the baggage in his hand, and said, "What is that?"

Tianyou sighed, and said: "A chief envoy who just came to Beijing, my father told me to let me go to the room and come to the second uncle..."

Before the words fell, Cao Yong had already followed in, saying: "Second...Second brother, I was negligent. It is inconvenient to go out. If it is tight to get a room at the post station, you two will be together."

This title really made him extremely depressed.

I can't blame the sixteenth elder brother who made a special trip in the morning and laughed strangely after saying "I'm away from home, I should call him relatives, so as not to reveal my identity and try to cause trouble".

Originally, Cao Yong could still act as a "cousin" in front of the sixteenth elder brother. When it comes to the seniority of relatives, he is of the same generation as Hong Pu.

Hong Pu nodded and said nothing.

After Cao Yong finished speaking, he didn't stay long, he just asked their young men to go to the kitchen to fetch food, so that they could take a rest after eating, and then left.

After riding a horse for a day, it was hard work, and Hong Pu only felt his stomach growling.

Tianyou sat at the round table, turned around and looked out the door, and said, "Where did these two monkeys go, and they haven't come back yet?"

Hong Pu said: "We have been upside down for a day, but the two of them are at ease."

After waiting for another cup of tea, it became dark outside and the lights were already on in the room, only then did Qing Ha and He He come back with food boxes.

Fat chickens and fat ducks are so boring to watch.Hongpu didn't take a bite, just took a small crucian carp, two mouthfuls of rapeseed, and a bowl of rice before putting down his chopsticks.

On God Bless's side, it is also used lightly.

For the rest of the food, Hongpu asked two servants to take it away.

It was the first time for the two of them to travel far away, and with the excitement of a teenager, their stomachs were full, and the embarrassment of running around was also reduced a bit.

"It would be great if we could go to Xining. Qinghai is not peaceful, and the Chinese army is going to Xining again." Hong Pu said, lying on the kang with his arms pillowed on his head.

Tianyou heard this, and said, "Are we going to fight again? We probably won't go to Xining, our master was ordered to inspect the farmland in Gansu." Speaking of this, he was a little curious: "The army of the Western Expedition is still there, is there going to be another war? A few years ago, the clan kings went to the northwest, so this time it should be about the same? Will the grandparents come?"

"Who knows." Hong Pu said, but there was a bit of hope in his heart.

He didn't understand why his father arranged for him to go out of Beijing with Cao Yong. After all, he was only eleven, not fifteen or six, and he was not yet old enough to be an errand.But now I wonder if my father arranged this on purpose, just to gather in the northwest for father and son, and take him to the front of the army to practice...

*
Fangshan, Sun Family Zhuangzi.

After a day of hunger strike and unsuccessfully seeking to return home, Sun Ban finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He opened the door feebly, stood at the door, and said to the two guards sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air: "Tell Steward Qu, I'll eat..."

The two nurses also didn't get up, one ignored him, and the other said: "The housekeeper has already ordered, if you don't go to work, you won't have food!"

Sun Ban wished to slash these people thousands of times, but he was so hungry that he didn't dare to show his temper anymore, so he begged in a low voice: "Please tell the butler, I used half a steamed bun last night, and today I'm using it again." The rice water is not exhausted, so I really can't bear it. Could it be that Director Qu is really going to starve to death for me?"

The two guards listened, looked at him by the light, and saw that he was staggering, not like a fake, one got up and walked out, the other was still sitting in the yard, humming a little song leisurely.

Seeing this, Sun Ban became dizzy with anger.

What he is in now is not the woodshed of yesterday, but a courtyard in the middle of Zhuangzi, and people live in the surrounding courtyards.The two guards in this yard live in the east wing, opposite to him.

He wanted to escape last night, but the door of the house was locked that night.Even if he left the house, so what, this is the farmer's courtyard, and there are kennels on all four walls of the courtyard.

Director Qu had already taken him for a stroll around the village this morning.Looking at the big dog half the height of a person, with fierce eyes, tearing live chickens and ducks, how can it not make people feel trembling.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Director Qu finally arrived.

Behind him, apart from the guard who had just left, there was also a young man holding a tray.

When the boy came into the room, he placed two big bowls on the table, one was stewed meat with two white flour steamed buns, and the other was pickled radish with two corn flour pancakes.

Smelling the tangy meaty aroma, Sun Ban gulped down, and couldn't care less about anything else, so he grabbed the steamed buns as soon as he got up.

Steward Qu stopped his arm and said, "Sun Wu, ten cash for the lower food, fifty cash for the upper food. After the meal, the meal price will be calculated as five times."

Sun Ban was so hungry that he couldn't care less about others, he nodded his head in time, his eyes glued to the bowl of meat, and he couldn't remember his "helper" contract, which stated that the previous day's work was only sixty cash.

Butler Qu stopped him no longer, and watched him gobble it up with a half-smile.

Two steamed buns the size of fists, and a large bowl of stewed meat, Sun Ban ate it up, even used up the broth at the bottom of the bowl...

(End of this chapter)