Don't be tempted, sir

Chapter 153 Travel

The sky was clear blue, and the purple bamboo leaves were wet with rain in the cool breeze. Chen Youen and his family knelt down to receive the order. He had been an official for more than ten years in obscurity, and he was a second-rank official who did his duty and dared not dream of anything. Now he didn't know why he was being controlled by His Majesty.

Chen Youen, who was incorruptible, trembled as he stretched out his hand. His delicate and skinny hand took the scarlet official uniform. His voice was filled with the sigh of seeing the moon after the clouds had parted, and there was also a tremor of surprise in his voice: "Your Majesty, I bow to thank you for your grace!"

Today is a day off. Song Jueming and his wife waved goodbye to their two children: "Be careful on the road, go early and come back early!"

These words brought tears to Shen Yining's eyes. She lifted the curtain and waved goodbye. Her parents-in-law looked at the expectant eyes of the two elders and nodded uncomfortably.

There was silence all the way in the carriage, but Awu and Xingyue were laughing and talking outside, as happy as two chirping birds.

Having slept too late last night, Shen Yining couldn't help feeling sleepy and dozing off after lunch in the afternoon. Song Xiaoyuan got up and sat next to her, holding her on his lap. With Shen Yining leaning on him, he found a comfortable position.

She lay in my arms like a petite cat. Three years had passed unknowingly, but she was still the same as before, not a bit bigger or taller. Instead, she was thinner and felt light when I held her in my arms.

Now we can't stay at the official inn, so we arrived at the nearest town late at night. Fortunately, Awu had come here in advance and booked a room. Shen Yining woke up as soon as the carriage stopped, and asked in a daze, "Where are we?"

"Changzhen Inn."

"Um..."

Shen Yining was half asleep, and Song Xiaoyuan was in no hurry to carry her to sit in the carriage. He waited until she was a little more awake before carrying her down from the carriage. Fearing that he might hurt Shen Yining, Song Xiaoyuan decided to get off the horse and walk by himself.

The waiter of the inn just brought the food to the table and said politely with a smile: "Dear guests, please enjoy your meal. If you need any extras, they are over there."

Ah Wu nodded: "Okay, go ahead."

When the two of them entered the store, Awu prepared a separate table for them. They had some light porridge and a few side dishes, which were easier to digest in the evening. After eating, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Shen Yining had slept too much during the day and now he was lying awake on the couch, lying on his side and observing the people around him. He slept very peacefully and didn't like to move around. He lay flat on his back with his chest rising and falling with his breathing. The corners of his lips, which were naturally upturned, were as gentle as jade even when he didn't make a sound. Shen Yining lay on his side with his upper body supported by his hands, raised his hand and gently placed it on his heart, his heartbeat was steady and rhythmic.

The journey was boring. It was not as smooth as before. We had to show our pass at each checkpoint, and it took a lot of time to find an inn to stay in. It would take three or four days to get there, but today, on the fourth day, we were still some distance away from Qiannan. We were tired, and Xingyue, who had been chattering happily all the way, was silent and stunned.

The carriage stopped to rest on the road. The driver untied the horses and led them to the stream to drink water. Xingyue followed them and found that the streamside was full of unknown small flowers, which were very beautiful.

Xingyue ran over happily and said, "Miss, there are many small flowers blooming by the stream over there. Do you want to go and have a look?"

Shen Yining wanted to move around under the shade of the tree, so he agreed without hesitation: "Okay, let's go take a look."

Xingyue pulled her young lady over. The stream flowed down the mountain. Small flowers bloomed very close to the water, mostly yellow. They squatted down and saw many small fish and crabs in the water.

As they were watching carefully, Xuan Ji, who was drinking water downstream, smacked his lips and the water splashed all over the two people by the river. Xingyue stood up and confronted the horse, and the man and the horse were arguing fiercely, trying to stop each other.

Shen Yining saw that all the yellow flowers on the side where Xuan Ji was drinking water had been eaten up. He thought that he must want to eat the ones on this side but was tied up, so he stood up, walked to Xuan Ji's side, untied the horse rope and led him over to this side. Sure enough, Xuan Ji immediately lowered his head and quietly ate the grass.

Xingyue smiled awkwardly: "Oh, it wanted to eat grass... I thought it did it on purpose."

Shen Yining pulled the horse rope close to Xingyue and whispered: "It did it on purpose! Haha"

"what!"

After a short rest, the group continued on their journey. Fortunately, they soon reached the last checkpoint and would reach Qiannan Pass tomorrow.

The guard checked the group's pass and when handing it back to Ah Wu, he asked, "Are there any women in the carriage?"

"Yes, what's the matter?" Awu replied as he collected the pass.

The officer and soldier looked from the first carriage to the back and asked: "Are these three carriages all yours?"

Ah Wu saw that he didn't know what he meant, and couldn't help but think that he might want some money, and he was a little disdainful: "Yeah."

The officer pointed at the order of the carriages and said, "Three carriages, move the women and money to the middle one. Houyang is now in trouble with bandits."

Awu was surprised: "Bandits?"

The officers and soldiers solemnly said: "Yes, now the imperial court is suppressing the mountain bandits, and most of them have fled to Houyang and are heading straight here!"

Ah Wu patted the officer's shoulder and said, "Thank you, brother!"

The officers and soldiers were puzzled. They watched the group leave the customs and scratched their heads in confusion: "How did you get here, brothers?"

In the carriage, Shen Yining couldn't help but feel a little scared when he heard about the bandits. In the early years, the imperial court was in turmoil and bandits were rampant. His father went to the battles many times to strangle the bandits and ensure peace for many years. He never thought that these bandits were like leeks, which would grow again after being cut.

Song Xiaoyuan, who was sitting opposite him, remained silent and closed his eyes. Shen Yining couldn't help but ask, "It's not peaceful now."

"Ah."

"What happened? It's like this."

Song Xiaoyuan opened his eyes and said calmly: "Last year's war caused heavy losses to the army. They...may want to challenge the authority."

"Ah! That means we have to go straight to... the capital!"

"Miss Shen, do you think they have a chance to get there?"

Shen Yining thought firmly: "With my father here, it won't happen! But... won't my father have to go to the battlefield again..."

Song Xiaoyuan closed his eyes and said nothing more. The court needed fresh blood, so his father-in-law kept his men in Beijing.

As expected, Zhao Jinmo asked his father to submit a petition to go to Houyang to suppress the bandits. He wanted to find someone to keep her safe.

No one dared to walk on the small road anymore. The Houyang Road was full of carriages and pedestrians, and the pace was even slower. Hu Quan stopped and stopped moving forward. The carriage driver Awu asked, "Sir, let me go to the front and take a look."

"Ah."

This was a bamboo forest. The bamboos on both sides of the road were slightly tilted and bent, and they were messy and uneven. Ah Wu came to the first carriage and asked, "Why are they not moving? The ones behind are all parked where they are."

A merchant approached respectfully and said, "Good man, good man, look, there must have been a fight in this forest. We don't know what's ahead. I'm afraid we can't go on."

Ah Wu pointed ahead with a relieved look on his face: "It's okay, just go ahead without worry, there won't be any danger along the way! This is an official road."

The merchant was relieved and waved his hands repeatedly to indicate that he dared not move forward. Seeing his expression, Ah Wu could only say, "Okay, then please pull the carriage to the side and we will go forward."

The businessman nodded: "Okay, okay!"

Afterwards, all the carriages pulled over, and Awu's group of three carriages walked forward in the front, and the rest of the team followed with fear.

The bamboo forest was quiet, the sun could not penetrate the ground and there was a slight chill. In this hot summer, this place was a pleasant place. The moss was lush and the light and shadows were green when walking in it. The bamboo forest was deep and the sun was invisible. In the slight coolness, Shen Yining lifted a little curtain to look at the relaxing green outside. The corners of his mouth were curved and he could see that he liked it very much.

"I heard that Miss Shen has learned to ride a horse?"

Shen Yining looked outside and replied, "No."

"Oh?" Zhao Jinmo clearly said that she was in a hurry to find him, and she whipped the horse all the way to Qiang.