Chapter Six: Going to Chang'an to live like a human being ()
In the early morning, the master and the servant woke up and began to pack their luggage in the dim morning light. They occasionally argued, but most of the time they were silent.
Ning Que spent a long time digging around on the earthen wall outside the house. He took out a long bag, took out the bow and arrows in the bag and carefully inspected them for a long time. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he handed it out. Sang Sang took the large cotton bag stuffed in it.
After wrapping up the package, he took out three sheathed straight knives with slight rust from under the fence. Ning Que took them and wiped them carefully a few times. He looked at the edge of the knife facing the rising sun, nodded and tied it with a harp rope.
It was tied tightly to the back.
He took out a black umbrella from behind the door and tied it tightly to Sangsang's back with the last piece of harp rope. He didn't know what material the black umbrella was made of, but it always felt like it was covered with a layer of material.
The black oil stains did not reflect light and seemed a bit heavy. Moreover, the umbrella was obviously very big. Even if it was folded and tied tightly, it would almost hang to the ground when it was carried on Sangsang's thin and short body.
Getting ready for the long journey, Ning Que and Sang Sang stepped over the tattered fence one after another. They both looked back at the small bluestone flat and the small shabby thatched cottage. Sang Sang looked up at his
He lowered his jaw and asked: "Master, do you want to lock the door?"
"It's not locked anymore." Ning Que was silent for a moment and said, "In the future... maybe it will be difficult for us to come back."
With iron and wooden wheels rolling over the soft mud, the nobleman's carriage set off slowly, heading out of Weicheng. The five soft-rope carriages in front and behind were very eye-catching on the border fortress at any time. Today, the roadside was indeed
Many people came to see them off, but the focus of their attention was not on the nobleman's horse team, but on the young man and the little maid sitting in the first carriage. From time to time, they were handed boiled eggs, and from time to time, their cheeks turned red.
The aunt wiped her eyes with a dirty handkerchief and cried, saying something.
"Ning Que, you wicked bastard. My distant nephew is so good, but you refuse to let Sangsang marry him. Now, let this girl follow you to places where people eat people without spitting out their bones! I
Let me tell you, you have to take good care of my Sangsang!"
Ning Que, who was sitting on the car's shaft, looked extremely ugly and replied: "Auntie, you started proposing marriage when Sangsang was only eight years old. There is no way this can happen."
After a few laughing curses, a drizzle suddenly began to fall from the sky, as if the raindrops were thinner than a thread and sprinkled on people's bodies. It was a little chilly, but none of the people seeing them off left. The soldiers in Weicheng
The family members were busy saying goodbye to Ning Que and calculating the final debt issue with him. The crowd was noisy to no end.
The curtain of the most exquisitely decorated carriage at the rear opened a corner, and the proud and indifferent maid stuck her head out to take a look, her beautiful eyebrows couldn't help but frown.
Just before the motorcade was about to leave this small border town, Ning Que stood up from the carriage and bowed to everyone around him.
The young man was carrying three old knives behind his back. He stood in the rain with fists and palms together and saluted, and he suddenly felt a bit heroic.
"Young and old gentlemen, eldest sisters and aunties, I don't need to say many words of thanks."
After saying this, he opened his arms in the rain, clenched his fists and spread them upward, showing off his not-so-strong chest muscles and arms, posing in a very silly and stupid posture, and shouted loudly: "I'm going to Chang'an now, if I can
If I can’t act like a good person, I won’t come back!”
As soon as he said these words, like a storyteller dropping the sounding wood for a show, or like a bloody human head falling to the dust, the people beside the road shouted in unison.
In the only decent tavern in Weicheng, Ma Shixiang and several close lieutenants were drinking. The noble man did not want them to see each other off, and they were too lazy to see off Ning Que, but they clearly saw the scene in front of them. One of the lieutenants thought
When Ning Que said what he said while standing on the carriage, he couldn't help but sigh: "If you can't behave like a human being, you won't come back? Then it seems that it is really difficult for this ungrateful boy to come back."
Ma Shixiang, who was sitting at the wine table, was thinking about the three brief words Ning Que said to him late last night. He couldn't help stroking his flower beard, feeling greatly comforted by his old feelings. He looked at the carriage that was slowly driving out of the city cave and smiled softly.
Said: "It's okay if you don't come back. You wicked thing, go and cause harm to the outside world."
Being far away from Weicheng is naturally far away from the grassland. The spring drought that is plaguing the barbarian tribes and the new Chanyu has not affected this place. The spring breeze greens the branches and leaves of grass and then dyes the wheels and horses' hooves, attracting a few butterflies from time to time.
The chase is endless.
The horses galloped between the meadows and hills, and the soft ropes were sometimes as tight as iron and sometimes as slightly drooping as leaves. The luxurious carriage covered with several layers of quilts and blankets also gently undulated and jumped. The delicate-looking maidservant stared blankly.
Looking at the rapidly sweeping scenery outside the window, perhaps thinking of the north where the yellow sand was dancing in the wind, his facial expression seemed a little stiff, but his eyes were full of expectation and enthusiasm for the unknown future.
In the carriage, a little boy wearing luxurious light fur clothes was hugging her calf and looking up longingly, mumbling a few words in Chinese, as if he wanted to go out and play.
The maid turned around and scolded the little boy sternly, then her expression returned to gentleness, she hugged him into her arms and rubbed his head lovingly.
The curtain of the car was lifted by the wind, and the spring breeze touched her cheeks which were no longer as tender as before. The maidservant squinted slightly and looked at the front of the team, her face not very pretty.
Sitting on the shaft of the relatively simple carriage at the front was a young soldier named Ning Que. Looking at him shaking and nodding, he seemed to be about to fall asleep. As a guide, he was supposed to lead the way for the entire team.
, and as a result, I spent most of the time dozing off. No matter how you look at it, I can’t be considered competent.
The reason for the maid's cold expression was not because of this, but because of a detail in the picture she saw.
Ning Que was dozing off on the carriage shaft, looking like he might fall off the speeding carriage at any time, so the little maid Sangsang was always vigilant, trying to support him with her thin and short body, with a look on her dark face.
I can't see her expression clearly, but I can feel that she has been working very hard.
At this moment, the convoy ran over a very shallow grass stream, and Ning Que was shocked to wake up. He rubbed his eyes, took a look at the sky, and found that he had slept until dusk, so he raised his hand.
, signaling the team to stop and prepare to set up camp.
Setting up camp after waking up seemed a bit irresponsible and nonsense, but no one in the team raised any objection to his arrangement.
It had been a few days since we left Weicheng. Every decision the boy made along the way proved to be correct. Whether it was path selection, camp site selection, security, water for food, or ease of escape, he couldn't choose from every angle.
No matter what went wrong, what's even more impressive is that the speed of the convoy is quite fast.
The dozen or so barbarian horse thieves whom the noble man subdued in the grassland originally looked down upon the Weicheng border troops, but now they only admire the young soldier's ability as a guide.
By the stream, people were silently digging earth to build stoves, collecting firewood and boiling water. The maid stepped out of the precious carriage that was protected by special forces, and looked at Ning Que, who was lying on the grass not far away, rubbing his belly and preparing to eat hot-boiled meat, as if he were on an outing.
, looking at the little black and thin maid who was struggling to fetch water, set up a pot and collect firewood, her brows frowned even more.
A powerful guard standing next to her stood up and glanced at her. She shook her head, indicating that she did not need to follow him, and walked along the streamside through the smoke.
She admitted that this young man named Ning Que was indeed very capable, much better than those young men in the capital city of Chang'an who thought they were heroes. If he was really a noble son of Chang'an, then such a gesture might make her appreciate him a bit.
, but after all, he was just a low-level, vulgar young man, but he exploited the little girl who was supposed to share the joys and sorrows like this. Unknowingly, he touched a certain part of her state of mind, which made her extremely unhappy.
Walking not far from the little maid Sangsang, the maid smiled gently at her and motioned for her to put down the heavy firewood in her hand and talk to her.
Sang Sang glanced at Ning Que, waited until he nodded, and then walked over. The delicate maid took out a handkerchief from her waist, but Sang Sang shook her head - after doing so much hard work, the little maid's forehead was stained.
Not a single drop of sweat broke out.
At this time, Ning Que finally got up from the meadow, dusted off the grass clippings on his body, wiped off the green grass juice on his cotton shirt, smiled and bowed with his hands.
The maid did not turn her head to look at him, but said calmly: "I don't like you, so you don't need to get close to me. People like you look childish on the surface, and are gentle and pleasant to others, but in fact they are full of staleness in their bones.
It feels disgusting.”
There is no emotion in the tone, the slightly raised chin does not seem to deliberately distance oneself, but it naturally reveals a condescending nobility. As a personal maid serving Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Tang Dynasty, even for most of the empire.
Officials can give orders, let alone a small role like Ning Que.
Ning Que smiled and shook his head, turned around and walked towards the earthen stove by the stream.
He only had one little maid, and the noble man had countless maids. The only little maid was taken away by one of the noble man's countless maids to gossip. The noble man had other servants to serve him, but he had to burn firewood and boil water for cooking.
Maybe it was because the wind and sand in the frontier fortress made him thick-skinned, but there was no hint of embarrassment in his smile.
As the sun was setting, Sangsang came back with a lot of snacks such as dried milk. Ning Que was in pain holding a bowl of burnt meat porridge in a daze. When he saw it, he took it over without politeness, and then tried his best to
He stuffed it into his mouth and asked vaguely:
"Why does she like chatting with you so much? I don't even think I haven't had a serious meal in a few days... This kind of cheap sympathy from noble people is sometimes used in the wrong place. Look at her smile, it looks like she wants to eat
The little girl is like a wolf grandma, thinking she is gentle and decent, which is even more fake than the watered wine sold in Weicheng taverns."
"She's a nice person." Sangsang picked up the porridge beside him, opened the curtain and was about to leave and start working again, but he called her back.
"What have you been talking about these past few days?" Ning Que asked.
Sangsang frowned and recalled hard for a long time, then replied: "It seems... you know I don't like to talk much... most of the time she was talking about things on the grassland, but I also forgot
What exactly did she say?"
Hearing these words, Ning Que's mood suddenly became much better. He hummed softly, chewed the delicious dried milk, and said: "Whenever I talk to you in the future, remember to collect money from her, or take more."
It would be nice to come back with some milk like this."
At night.
Sangsang put out the stove fire with stream water, checked carefully, and then dragged the hot water bucket towards the small tent. People on the slopes by the stream looked at this scene and knew that this was the maid preparing foot-washing water for Ning Que. I don't know how much.
At the same time, people showed expressions of disdain.
This contempt was of course meant for Ning Que.
After washing his feet, Ning Que got into the wool mattress, then hugged the icy little feet stretched out from the opposite side into his arms, let out a groan of enjoyment or pain, and yawned twice before saying: "Go to sleep.
.”
Sang Sang was much more tired than him during the day, and soon fell asleep.
Ning Que didn't know when he opened his eyes again. His eyes seemed to have penetrated the tent with many scars, fell on the starry sky, and then landed on a handkerchief.
Recalling the square gold-rimmed handkerchief that the maid took out, he knew that his guess was indeed correct, but he didn't know what use it would be even if he guessed it.