Volume 1: Swan Goose Chapter 418: The Floating Catkins Have Turned into Dinglings (2)
The two walked out of the inn side by side and walked to the bank of Luoshui River without knowing it.
The afterglow of the setting sun passes through the mountain peaks and reflects on the water, as calm as a golden mirror.
Lu Ning looked at the beautiful scenery and suddenly sighed: "Thinking about it makes me really scared, this place almost became my cemetery!"
Yu Fengjin lowered her eyebrows regretfully and sighed helplessly: "Yes, I don't know how much filth and darkness is hidden under such clear and calm water! What's sad is that those ignorant people actually think that this kind of behavior is to save lives.
You are not harming others!"
Lu Ning turned to look at him, clasped his fists and handed his hands in respect: "Young Master Liu, I owe you my life. If you ever find me useful in the future, I will do it without any hesitation!"
Yu Fengjin twitched the corners of her mouth slightly and said half-jokingly: "I thought you would say that you would pledge yourself to me! I was looking forward to it in vain!"
Lu Ning raised the corners of his lips, lowered his head slightly, and did not continue the topic.
Yu Fengjin knew that she didn't like this kind of joke, so she had to change the subject: "Actually, you don't have to thank me. You don't owe me anything, I owe you too much!"
Lu Ning thought he was talking about the festival they had spent in southern Xinjiang, so he said with relief, "Fortunately, now we owe nothing to each other."
"Miss Lu, I have a question... I want to ask you..." Yu Fengjin suddenly became serious and looked at Lu Ning with a somewhat threatening look.
"What's going on?" Lu Ning couldn't help but flinch.
Yu Fengjin looked at her deeply and asked: "When you kissed me at the bottom of the river——"
"Ah!" Lu Ning suddenly stretched and yawned and said, "I've been out for a long time and I feel a little tired. I want to go back. What about you?"
Yu Fengjin looked at Lu Ning blankly, her face clearly said "Don't mention this again", and her smile changed a bit due to the involvement.
What else could he say, he could only smile faintly: "I am not considerate enough to stay out for so long. However, I also want to enjoy the setting sun again, so Miss Deer should go back and rest early."
"Okay. I'll go first then." Lu Ning's expression was obviously relieved, but it put a heavy stone on Yu Fengjin's heart.
It wasn't until her slender and graceful figure floated away that Yu Fengjin turned her eyes back, her Adam's apple moved, and a bitterness spread in her throat.
He really wanted to know that that day at the bottom of the river, she took the initiative to kiss him.
Who do you think the person in front of you is?
Is it Hu Qi? Or myself?
However, he was afraid that he would never know the answer to this question again...
Because what Lu Ning didn't know was that if she couldn't change her mind, he would have no choice but to send her here.
As soon as he thought of separation, something surged up in his chest, oppressing his heart, and even breathing seemed to become painful.
——Giving birth——
It was mid-summer, mid-May, and I felt a cool south wind early in the morning. The south wind was neither slow nor fast, fluttering the clothes of passers-by.
Ruan Lang looked at the small, soft, warm body in his arms, and was so excited that words could not express it.
This child inherited Yan Rong's thick eyebrows and big eyes, Yu'er's oval face, and fair skin. She looked like a porcelain doll with pink makeup, but she was a capable person.
After Yu'er gave birth to her child, she slept for a day and a night before slowly waking up.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she ignored her weak body and murmured anxiously: "My child...my child..."
Ruan Lang quickly put the child gently in her arms and said with a smile: "I saw the doctor and the child is very healthy. You don't have to worry!"
Seeing Ruan Lang's iron-grey face, Yu'er froze as if someone had sealed her acupuncture points, and temporarily forgot to take the child in his arms.
Seeing Yu'er's alert and confused expression, Ruan Lang lowered his eyes and smiled slightly, and said in as gentle a voice as possible: "I'm sorry, I patrolled near Commander Yan's residence that day and happened to see you fainting on the ground. Commander Yan was not here, you
You begged me to take you away again, so I can only bring you here again..."
Yu'er rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache, and seemed to recall the situation on the day of delivery:
After she and Yan Rong had another big argument, Yan Rong abandoned her again. She felt that she was about to give birth, so she immediately ran out to chase her.
Unfortunately, before anyone could recover her, she fainted from the severe pain...
The last memory was that she fell into a warm embrace, and she could no longer remember anything else.
Unspeakable sadness seized her instantly. She felt that something in her body was shattered.
She forced out a smile, took the child from Ruan Lang's arms, and said weakly: "Thank you, Mr. Ruan, for saving the lives of our mother and son!"
Ruan Lang scratched his nose in embarrassment. Accepting this gratitude made him a little uneasy, because he did not "happen" to pass by there, but was ordered to monitor Yan Rong.
It was a "coincidence" to save their mother and son.
Yu'er hugged the child and kissed her, as if she couldn't get enough of it. Her whole body exuded the brilliance of a new mother, making people dare not look at her.
"You have a good rest, I'll notify Yan Rong to pick you up!" Ruan Lang felt a little embarrassed and wanted to leave here and let the mother and son be alone for a while.z.br
"No!" Yu'er suddenly stopped him: "Don't tell him yet! Please!"
"Why?" Ruan Lang seemed surprised and opened his eyes wide.
Unexpectedly, Yu'er managed to hold herself up, but rolled out of bed with a thud.
Ruan Lang was shocked, and just as he was about to bend down to help him, he saw Yu'er kneeling in front of him with his hands on her knees.
"You...what are you doing?" Ruan Lang was frightened and at a loss.
When Yu'er looked up at him again, her face was already filled with tears.
"I can't let the emperor know the existence of this child, and I don't want the child to become Yan Rong's weakness, so... I beg you, hide me first, just for a month! I will take the child away in a month
I will never harm you here, please!"
After saying that, she ignored her physical weakness and slowly kowtowed twice on the ground.
Ruan Lang's brows twitched. From her words, he clearly smelled something unusual. He wanted to ask further, but his consciousness told him that the more he knew, the more he would be pulled into a bottomless abyss.
Looking at the humble and begging woman in front of him, Ruan Lang also muttered in his heart:
To save or not to save?
He instinctively wanted to refuse.
Just at this moment, the baby on the bed suddenly started crying. Yu'er quickly stood up to pick up the baby, put it in her arms, and coaxed her softly.
For some reason, her strong-willed motherhood deeply moved Ruan Lang, making him think of his deceased wife and Hua Fangyi from the Xiaoxiang Villa.
"All right."
Feelings took over for a moment, and Ruan Lang finally relaxed: "This is the house of a friend of mine. He probably won't come back again... No one knows this place except me. You can live here with peace of mind."
Yu'er looked at him happily and kept saying thanks: "Thank you, Mr. Ruan, for taking me in, thank you!"
Being thanked so much by her, Ruan Lang scratched his temples in embarrassment and said awkwardly: "Well... just have a good rest. I'll find a wet nurse to take care of you, and I'll bring back some things by the way."
This time, before Yu'er could say her thanks, he turned around and opened the door and left.
After Ruan Lang left, looking at the baby waiting to be fed on the bed, a surge of emotion hit Yu'er.
Was it anger or sadness? She couldn't tell.
She originally thought she was ready to accept everything. But an inexplicable force still defeated her.
Her nose was a little sore and tears were about to burst out of her eyes. She hurriedly turned her face to the window and wiped away the tears with her fingertips.
When her emotions gradually calmed down, she lay back on the bed, extinguished the only candle, and the room returned to darkness.
——Pray for rain——
The sun was baking everything like a big fireball, and the earth was torn open huge holes one after another, as if the earth was opening its mouth, eager to be nourished by rain.
May
Daocheng prepared intensively for half a month, and finally ushered in the long-awaited rain ceremony.
In order to show his sincerity to God, Emperor Yu decided to walk to pray for rain on a whim.
This was very painful for the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.
It is more than ten miles from Ziwei City to the Temple of Heaven. It is not too far by car and not too close by walking.
The emperor insisted on walking, but among the civil and military officials in the court, who would dare to sit in a sedan chair?
As soon as the auspicious day of the zodiac is chosen, the whole city begins to pave the way with loess.
Martial law has also begun at all city gates, and golden armored guards patrol the city day and night to ensure the absolute safety of the emperor's travels.
Early in the morning on the day of praying for rain, Emperor Yu led all the civil and military officials, escorted by the Imperial Guards and the Golden Armor Guards, and walked to the Temple of Heaven in high spirits.
The emperor himself went on foot to pray for rain, which shocked the people of Shengjing City.
Although the city was closed on the day of praying for rain, it was still unstoppable. People stood at the door or climbed on the roof, scrambling to catch a glimpse of the emperor's face.
Maybe it was Emperor Yu's sincerity that worked, or maybe God took pity on Beiyu.
On the night when I was praying for rain, the sky that had been calm and dry finally heard the faint sound of thunder.
There are red candles in Xuande Hall, and the tents are light under the dim light.
Hearing the rumble of thunder outside the window, Emperor Yu suddenly woke up and ran barefoot outside the door before he could even put on his shoes.
In the vast night, dark clouds surged up and poured down like ink.
There was a loud thunder, as if shaking from the soles of the feet and exploding overhead.
The sound of thunder woke up the sleeping people, but for a long time, the rain did not fall, the wind did not rise, and the world was so stuffy that people could not breathe.
Emperor Yu looked up at the sky and was moved by emotion. He suddenly knelt down on his knees and began to worship the sky sincerely.
When this wise and proud emperor faced the world, he finally lowered his noble head, bent his unyielding knees, and admitted his own insignificance and powerlessness.
I don’t know how many times I knelt down, but a gust of wind suddenly swept over the ground and quickly blew away the dark clouds that covered the sky.
The blowing made the trees rustle and chilled people's whole bodies. The suffocating feeling just now was instantly swept away.
Emperor Yu was overjoyed. With the support of Eunuch Shuangxi, he stood up slowly and looked eagerly at the sky.