There is a plain on the outskirts of Beijing, surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery.
In this crisp autumn season, Rong Che stood aside and gently explained to Yan Qing the essentials of horseback riding.
"understand?"
"Well, that's it."
Yan Qing was very happy, it turned out that riding a horse was so easy.
Being talented and intelligent, she quickly mastered the essentials of riding a horse, and soon she no longer needed Rong Che to protect her.
The two of them rode horses and walked leisurely on the plain, where they saw the green mountains and rivers in the distance, the wild flowers scattered in the lawns of the plain, and the dense woods at the bottom of the mountain. A pair of handsome men and beautiful women walked around talking and laughing.
"This is the first time I've seen someone learn to ride a horse so fast." Rong Che praised.
Yan Qing said proudly: "Of course, I am very smart!"
"Yeah." Rong Che grinned.
Yan Qing was riding a horse for a while. He felt uncomfortable and frowned. Rong Che immediately said: "It doesn't take too long to ride a horse for the first time. Let's rest for a while."
Yan Qing nodded and said, "Okay."
After walking a few more steps, we got off the horse at a small slope.
Yan Qing stretched gently, took a deep breath, and sighed, "It's so comfortable! It's so relaxing."
After hearing this, Rong Che couldn't help but ask: "From your tone, were you very busy before?"
Yan Qing was thinking and shook his head: "That's not true... Actually, my life in Tianyimen is very monotonous. It's just cultivation and study."
Rong Che asked: "Is it hard?"
"Fortunately, I can basically learn it once I learn it. However, cultivation is not something you can improve once you understand it. You need to practice day after day, year after year, and steadily consolidate your cultivation and seek breakthroughs."
"Have you been here like this for the past eight years?"
Rong Che asked, feeling a little distressed.
"The first two years were easy because I had already laid a good foundation at home, and I was better than others once I left. Plus, because of my parents, I was taken care of, and my brothers were also there."
Yan Qingzheng didn't feel how miserable he was.
"But, you were only six years old at that time..." Rong Che felt that he felt more and more distressed.
"Yes, I was very uncomfortable being away from my family. I was quite happy at first, traveling around the mountains and rivers. But when I really started to practice, I would bury my head in the quilt and cry when I was miserable."
"Haven't you thought about coming back early?"
Yan Qing was shaking his head: "That won't work! Our Yan family's rules cannot be broken! Besides, if I come back in despair, wouldn't I become a laughing stock!"
Rong Che was slightly stunned, thinking that she was still such a strong person.
"Am I not gentle enough?" Yan Qing turned around and asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"I just feel that the girls I saw after I came back are all so... delicate, and it's hard for me to be like that." She can understand that the women in the capital are delicate, because they are inherently delicate; but Tianyimen
My classmates and fellow disciples, they can fly over walls and walls without blinking an eye... Why do they scream when they touch a mouse when there are senior brothers and sisters present...
Why have you practiced so hard for so many years? A mouse is so scared.
Of course, it's not like she doesn't understand that if a girl is weaker in front of a boy, it will make the boy feel protective.
However, wouldn’t it be wrong to be stronger? We all study together and practice together, but in the same time, our cultivation is not as good as that of boys. Wouldn’t it make people feel stupid?
Besides, since they are both cultivators, wouldn’t it be good for two people to cooperate with each other and protect each other? Why does one have to be strong and the other weak?
Rong Che looked at her confused look and said softly: "Not everyone likes that kind of woman."
Yan Qing tilted her head and asked him, "Don't you like it?"
Rong Che thought for a moment and said, "I can't say I like you, but I can't say I hate you either. After all, everyone has different personalities, so it has nothing to do with me anyway."
Yan Qingzheng felt a little more relaxed. She really didn't like to be pretentious. She was obviously very powerful, but she had to pretend to be weak.
"Have you rested? Can you ride for a while longer? Let's go to the woods in front of us. There is a creek next to it. Let's eat something there."
"good."
The two of them asked their followers who were following them from a distance to spread mats under the shade of a tree beside the stream and set up a fire. Rong Che refused to go fishing for fish, so he took off his boots, rolled up his trousers and went straight into the water.
Taking the harpoon, he quickly speared several lively fish.
"Last time you invited me to eat fish, but unfortunately I got drunk after just one bite." Rong Che held a fish in his hand, pinched the struggling fish with its tail swaying back and forth, and said to Yan Qing:
"This time, we must not drink."
Yan Qing blinked and suddenly realized: "You mean, you want me to cook grilled fish?"
"May I?"
"But...it's okay." Yan Qingzheng really didn't expect this program and was a little stunned for a moment.
This Prince Xuan is really interesting. Back then, he just said casually that he would like to treat him to a fish meal. Unexpectedly, he not only remembered it for eight years, but also called for debts as soon as he came back!
We invited him in the first place, but who made him get drunk...
This is not over yet. Is this asking her to pay off her debt again?
Is it possible that last time it was regarded as interest, and this time it means that the principal has to be repaid?
"I've prepared all the condiments you prepared the other day. You can see what's missing." Rong Che was determined to eat the grilled fish.
He must finish the grilled fish completely this time in order to save his image in her mind.
Yan Qing had no choice but to walk to the fire. The servants of the palace had already set up a table, which was filled with dishes and various condiments.
If he hadn't felt a little embarrassed about accepting so many betrothal gifts from him, he wouldn't have promised to treat him to fish. When he thought of the "betrothal gift", Yan Qingzheng felt as if his face was on fire, even though it was only at that time that he felt embarrassed.
She is six years old, but she is also a girl after all, so she has decided on a marriage for herself so forcefully!
She took a deep breath and used her hand as a fan to fan her cheeks before she felt better.
Rong Che saw her actions and asked quickly: "What's wrong with you? Are you exposed to the smoke? Stop grilling the fish. I'll do it. You go and sit over there for a while."
Just as Yan Qing was about to say that it was not because of this, Rong Che took the thing in her hand without any explanation, hugged her and sent her aside.
Yan Qingzheng had no choice but to sit far away from him. Looking at his skillful movements, he couldn't help but ask: "You can also grill fish?"
Isn't he a prince who can do this kind of thing?
"After all, I have been on the battlefield. There is nothing I can't do when marching and fighting." He thought for a while and added: "The soldiers were very tired during the march. If I can do it myself, I will not pretend to be others."
hand."
This really impressed Yan Qingzheng. There were many princes who went to the battlefield, and some were hard-working. However, it was really rare for someone like him to do everything by himself.
"You...it's not easy either."
Perhaps Yan Qingzheng's emotion was too sincere, and it suddenly opened a hole in Rong Che's psychological defense that had been frozen for many years. This time, he finally no longer had to digest the pain he had kept in his heart for many years...
"I am different from other royal children..." He opened his heart that had been sealed for a long time. It was a heavy fate that he had not touched for many years. "My father died before I was born, and my mother and concubine also died."
I died early and had to build a house and live alone at the age of nine. I was really hesitant at that time."
"Is it necessary to build a mansion at that time?"
"I am the emperor's younger brother, not his son. The prince is already eight years old. There is no reason for me to stay in the palace."
"Everyone has times when they have no choice."
"I have to avoid suspicion. In the palace, when the master taught the prince a lesson, I also listened. This is actually against the rules. After all, the prince received an imperial education. I, a younger brother, should not receive such an education, especially since I and I
The prince is about the same age."
Yan Qingzheng had no idea that he still had such concerns...
"It's... quite difficult for you. It's hard for you to... have to think about such profound issues at such a young age."
"There are so many people in the palace, and there are always people who will have various speculations, whether they are kind or malicious. I will listen to them and think about them seriously. I am grateful for those kind words, but I cannot take them as malicious words.
I ignored it. Because everyone's mouth is worth talking, even if it is malicious speculation, if it is said too much, it may affect the emperor's psychology. I don't want him to be estranged from me and be wary of me."
Yan Qing took a deep breath and couldn't help but stand up and walk to Rong Che, sitting down next to him.
"You..." She didn't know how to comfort him, but she couldn't help but stretched out her hand. After a little hesitation, she gently pressed on Rong Che's arm: "It's over now. You did a good job."
Rong Che's heart trembled.
For the first time in so many years, she opened her heart to a fourteen-year-old girl, but she was able to give her what she wanted most and what her heart longed for most: affirmation!
Rong Che turned around and looked at the girl's peerless face so close. His heart was filled not only with her beauty, but more importantly with her tenderness and caring.
"Thank you!"
Yan Qingzheng smiled slightly and looked at the fire: "Oh, it's almost burnt!"
Rong Che quickly turned around, and sure enough, black smoke was rising from the grilled fish...
"Oh, I'm sorry..." He quickly retracted his hand, "What should I do?"
"There are a few more, let me do it." Yan Qing was taking over the job of grilling fish. He had a little doubt about what Rong Che just said about grilling fish by himself. Or maybe, he did do it by himself, but he was afraid of the consequences.
It's not satisfactory.
"Honestly, have you tasted the fish you grilled yourself during the march?"
"Of course I've eaten." Rong Che replied seriously.
Yan Qing was busy grilling fish. He couldn't help it anymore and asked curiously: "Are you sure?"
Rong Che didn't understand why she cared so much about this matter, and then he thought about it carefully...
Maybe... maybe, what I eat is really not baked by myself...