Chapter 16 He came from the mountains with a little girl
Chapter 16 He came from the mountains and took the little girl with him ()
After a bloody and tragic battle, the survivors looked at Ning Que, and their attitude toward him silently changed. During the past few days of their journey away from Weicheng, they probably respected Ning Que's ability as a guide.
, when it comes to some big events and important decisions, Ning Que is just a bigger stone in the eyes of the guards, but now people will subconsciously seek his opinion no matter what they do.
After reporting to Her Royal Highness the Princess for approval, the guard leader followed Ning Que's advice and did not immediately evacuate the Beishan Pass. Instead, he decided to recuperate on the spot and wait for all the wounded, hoping that the response troops at the southern foot of the Beishan Pass could arrive at dawn.
The frail old man Lu Qingchen looked at the young man beside the fire quietly, with a smile on his face. He gently rubbed his right thumb on the abdominal lines of his index finger, but in the end he just shook his head.
Two fires were lit next to the carriage. Although the dense forest was windy, fortunately the rotten leaves were holding the night dew, so we were not worried about causing troublesome fires. The leader of the guards and the wounded gathered around one fire, leaving the other one in a better position.
The fire was left for His Highness, the old man and the little boy. Even in this embarrassing situation, they still did not forget the difference between superiority and inferiority.
After being tied up and fed with medicine, the barbarians on the grassland couldn't help the hunger and thirst after the war, and took small sips of wine. People around the fire passed the wine bags around, and when they were handed to Sang Sang, the little maid shook her head gently, and then
The barbarian named Du Mu walked up to Ning Que with an unusually respectful expression and handed over the wine bag with both hands.
Someone looked at this scene and frowned slightly. She knew very well that these grassland barbarians who were loyal to her were arrogant and unruly horse thieves who roamed the grassland before they were subdued. They would rarely treat anyone other than herself.
The others expressed respect, not to mention that their respect at this time was obviously filled with fear - even if the young man played a decisive role in the previous battle and they were grateful, where did the fear come from?
Ning Que took the wine bag and took a sip, his brows burned by the strong wine frowning. He looked at the old man by the fire, his heart moved slightly, he supported his tired body with both hands, and walked over there, but before he could wait
He either bowed or raised his hands, or even knelt on his knees to make a big salute and asked for advice, as he had imagined when he was a child, but was intercepted by a faint voice.
"sit down."
Ning Que turned his head to look at the maid next to the fire, seeing her increasingly beautiful face illuminated by the firelight. He sighed softly in his heart, bowed extremely respectfully, and then sat down not far from her in a polite manner.
Nearby place.
Although he insists that contrary to what the world says, she is an idiot. But even if she is an idiot, the difference in status between the two parties is like the stars and the loaches in the rice fields, so he must pay attention to his etiquette and must be respectful.
Because she is not a maid, she is Li Yu, the fourth princess of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yu quietly looked at the young man's profile. The childish face looked very ordinary. Except for the dimples that occasionally bloomed when he smiled and a few freckles that were not ugly under the firelight, nothing special could be found.
However, the performance of such an ordinary young soldier in the battle reminded her more than once of the tiger leaping over the bushes indifferently on the grassland. For some reason, she, who had just experienced a thrilling assassination, was still frightened.
As long as he looked at Ning Que who was not far away from him, he felt that his mood became much more relaxed and calm.
Maybe it's because the young man is like a fierce tiger guarding his side.
But the problem is that she doesn't like this young man. From the time when he was a handmaiden in Weicheng to what he saw along the way, whether he was disguised as a maid or now a princess, she extremely disliked the behavior of this soldier from the border town.
What made her even more dissatisfied was that she always felt that Ning Que's respect for her was just a show of skill, without any sincerity. She even always felt that he should be secretly laughing at her in some dark corners - it has to be said that women's
Intuition is always a terrible weapon, whether it is a peasant woman in the countryside or a resentful woman in the palace.
Her Royal Highness, the most noble princess in the Tang Empire, should be angry as long as she thinks that a low-level soldier is laughing at her. However, what this princess feels now is that she will feel it when she sits with him or next to the fire.
Feel the sense of relaxation and security, and the feeling of being protected.
She liked this feeling, but she didn't like that this feeling came about because of Ning Que. So instead, she felt a little inexplicably embarrassed. She squinted her eyes slightly and looked at his side face, and her tone of voice deliberately became much colder.
"When the enemy attacked just now, it seemed from your actions that you wanted to get into the carriage to save me?"
What kind of palace is this palace? Daming Palace? Lixia Palace? Anyway, the real palace was not in the carriage at that time. Now that I say that you wanted to save me at that time, it is ironic that you only thought about meritorious service.
"Actually...I have known that Your Highness is Your Highness since we were in Weicheng."
Ning Que looked at her and explained seriously. Your Highness is your Highness, so naturally I am not the princess in the car. Small tricks that may be useful in luring enemies are actually just low-level deceitful tricks in the eyes of truly smart people.
Li Yu frowned slightly. She did not ask when and why Ning Que was able to see through her identity. It was probably because of the previous battle and the subsequent sense of security that she had a very good judgment on the young man's abilities.
She suddenly asked coldly: "Previously you said that you learned all your killing skills in the army, but you are only fifteen or sixteen years old this year. I'm afraid you were still a child when Weicheng recruited troops, so why should the border army recruit you?"
Are you joining the camp?"
Ning Que thought to himself that you are just a sixteen-year-old girl, and you are not married to the grassland. When he was about to make some random remarks, Sang Sang came over quietly and sat next to him.
Looking at the real little girl quietly beside him, he felt soft. Looking at the flames floating in front of him, he recalled: "Your Highness should know that I picked this girl Sangsang on the roadside when I was a child. At that time we
We were all still very young, and we stumbled into the vast Min Mountains by mistake. Just when we were about to die of hunger and thirst, we met an old hunter."
He raised his head, looked at the princess's beautiful face, and said: "The old hunter is not an expert in the world, and he may not have had any good intentions when he saved the two of us, but in any case, he taught me hunting and my archery skills.
That's when I learned it. Later... the old hunter died, so I took Sangsang to hunt in the Min Mountains to make a living."
It was a very simple narration, but a very vivid picture appeared in the eyes of the princess. A little boy in his teens was carrying a little girl of five or six years old on his back, struggling to move forward in the vast Minshan Mountains full of dangerous beasts, cliffs and dense forests.
He was holding a small boxwood bow in his hand, and the little girl was carrying a simple barrel of wooden arrows on her back.
Sometimes they can't shoot for several days. Sometimes they are chased by leopards and fall down the hillside. Occasionally they shoot a gray rabbit and the two children jump for joy. Sometimes they look at the brightly lit cottage from a distance but remain silent.
leave.
In Li Yu's eyes, Ning Que's face was no longer as hateful as before. She frowned and asked: "The mountains are so dangerous, why don't you go to the government? The Tang Dynasty should do a very good job of caring for the orphans and widows.
.”
Ning Que lowered his head and picked up a burnt firewood, and whispered: "It's actually easier to live in a place with fewer people."
A very simple sentence, but he didn't know how much hardship and blood and tears were hidden in it. Li Yu stared blankly at the master and servant beside the fire, and suddenly frowned and asked: "How did that old hunter... die?"
Ning Que raised his head and replied calmly: "I killed him with a knife."
As for why he wanted to kill the old hunter, he had no explanation. He would not explain it to the princess, who had a noble status and had never experienced the darkest and filthiest part of the world. He probably would not explain it to anyone in the rest of his life. He just doted on her.
He rubbed Sangsang's little head and took her into his arms.