I have been to Chang'an many times, and taking the water route for the first time gave me a different feeling.
The large boat that represents the style of the Tang Dynasty drifts down the Yong'an River. The flower boat that used to look exquisite and majestic now floats on the water like tiny petals.
People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait bid farewell, and they seemed to be full of fantasies about this trip.
On the bow of the deck, Bai Rou looked back at the prince who was still at the ferry and refused to leave. Although he was the future prince, he still waved goodbye to Bai Rou happily like a child.
Just now, the prince made his promise.
"Sister Bai, I will wait for you to come back. I want to marry you as my wife and make you queen in the future. I will definitely wait for you."
If it were a girl from another family, hearing the sincere promise from the dignified prince Ritsu, she would probably be moved to tears.
But for Bai Rou, these words did not cause any waves in her heart.
Because no matter who he is or what his status is, as long as he is a good man, Bai Rou will unconsciously compare him with the men around him.
With comparison, Bai Rou no longer felt what that kind of promise was or how precious it was. On the contrary, she felt more and more that the prince was a bit naive.
"Brother, do you really want to marry me to him after three years?" Bai Rou tugged at the corner of Bai Song's clothes and asked with some resentment.
Bai Song also looked back in the direction of Li Chengqian and nodded seriously: "If he really fulfills his promise, it proves that he really likes you. And his identity is also extraordinary, and he is the best in the world to protect you.
People. Finding someone who likes you is always more important than finding someone you like."
"But why do both sisters-in-law like my brother?"
"What? You don't want to?"
Bai Rou shook her head: "If it's Li Chengqian, he looks more pleasing to the eye than other men, and he's not that annoying. If it's my brother's intention, what can I say? My eldest brother is my father. Who does my brother want me to marry?
I will marry whoever I want. Since you are bound to get married sooner or later, why do you want to send someone so far away now?"
"Now is the present, and the future is the future. There are some things that I won't push into the fire pit until I confirm them with my own eyes."
"Brother, I think you have always been worried about the current prince. It seems that you have been guarding against him from the beginning. I think Li Chengqian is also quite good. What exactly are you guarding against him?"
"What are you guarding against..."
Bai Song frowned and looked at the waterway.
If it were before, Bai Song wouldn't explain it.
But now there is a three-year agreement between the younger sister and the prince, and she is the witness.
Some things still need to be revealed.
After thinking about it, Bai Song continued: "How dangerous is it for the royal family to seize power? Now these overt and covert struggles have not yet manifested themselves. There will be many dangers in marrying you off so early."
"Isn't the prince deeply favored by the emperor? How can he be in danger?"
"I don't want you to marry into the royal family just because of these unpredictable reasons."
After a simple sentence, Bai Song didn't want to explain anymore.
Seeing that the cargo ship left the city and would merge into the waters of the Yellow River in half an hour, Bai Song asked Bai Rou to go back to the cabin to rest. After all, it was three years later and we would talk about the rest later.
…
On the day the Bai Song Dynasty left Chang'an, Li Chengqian left the ferry and visited his secretary, Su Dan, with his aunt Princess Danyang, saying that he was helping Li Chengqian win over his subordinates.
Li Chengqian didn't care about a little secretary, but he was thinking about his three-year appointment with Sister Bai and hoped that when she returned to Chang'an, she would no longer feel like a child.
So Li Chengqian went to Secretary Cheng's house and drank a lot of wine.
The next day, Secretary Su Dan went to the palace and cried, saying that Prince Li Chengqian had defiled his eldest daughter Su through drunken sexual intercourse, and begged the emperor to make the decision for him.
In the next few days, a secret from the palace came out, saying that the prince contradicted his father and made Long Yan furious.
As a result, the Queen's old illness relapsed and she fell ill in bed.
The prince was banned for three months, and then the eldest daughter of his secretary, Su Dan, was appointed as the crown prince.
At this moment, the imperial merchants led by Bai Song had just arrived in Qingzhou and were preparing to go to sea.
…
The caravan's schedule was severely delayed because most of the accompanying members had no experience of traveling by water for long periods of time.
As a result, most people were seasick along the way, and many people quit midway because they could not bear the pain caused by seasickness.
Bai Song was okay, because he had Zhen Qi in his body, so he didn't feel seasick much.
Only Bai Rou had an ordinary constitution, and she felt dizzy and uncomfortable along the way.
Bai Rou lay in the cabin every day, her face so pale that it made people feel sad to see her.
There was no special method to treat seasickness, so Bai Song could only worry and could do nothing but stay with his sister.
Bai Rou's body felt very uncomfortable, but her heart was warm.
It had been so many years since she had felt such attentive care from her brother. She stayed together like this every day and looked at her brother's worried eyes. Bai Rou thought in her heart that it would be better if she stayed like this for the rest of her life.
There is no need to worry about the three-year agreement or the difference between brother and sister.
The team docked at Qingzhou Water Village, and more than a dozen cargo ships joined the team. Outside, everyone was counting the goods and making preparations for going to sea.
Miss Yoshiko brought some sugar water and quietly placed it beside Bai Rou's bed.
The Japanese people were not at all arrogant along the way, especially in front of Bai Song.
What happened before the Bai Song Dynasty not only shattered their confidence, but also won their respect.
Intentionally or unintentionally, this Miss Yoshiko will use some silent means to deepen her feelings for Bai Song.
It's just that Jizi doesn't know that Bai Song has never liked her very much, either for some other reason or because her pink and white oily makeup is always off-putting.
But this Miss Yoshiko decided that this was the most serious and decent way to dress herself.
"Thank you." Bai Song said.
Miss Yoshiko put down the sugar water and left.
Bai Song took the bowl and helped Bai Rou up and leaned against him.
"Brother, I don't want to..."
"I vomit a lot, so I have to drink sugar water often."
Bai Rou was obedient and well-behaved only in front of her brother. When a spoonful of sugar water was brought to her mouth, she forced herself to drink it even if she didn't want to.
"Brother, do you like that Miss Yoshiko?"
"Who told you?"
"Sister-in-law Qing'er said it. She said that in my brother's eyes, Japanese people are different from Japanese women. This obviously means that he likes Japanese women. That Miss Yoshiko is weird, but she is kind of pretty. My brother must like her."
"That's nonsense. You'd better care about yourself. Don't think you don't need to drink sugar water if you change the subject."
Another spoonful of sugar water was brought over.
The sugar water brings warmth, and you can feel the warmth even from a distance.
Under the condition of illness, Bai Rou's heart was soft, her body was soft, and her eyes were a little moist in a daze.
Looking at the spoonful of sugar water, Bai Rou had more thoughts: "If I don't speak now, I'm afraid I will never be able to speak out again."
Gently, Bai Rou tilted her head and pecked her brother on the face: "Brother, it would be nice if we weren't brother and sister."