The prince is very fierce

Huainan is located three hundred miles northwest of Jinling. It has been known as the throat of Zhongzhou and the barrier to the south of the Yangtze River since ancient times. The importance of its geographical location is self-evident. The Xiao family in Huainan spans three dynasties and has worked here for nearly a thousand years. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire Huainan is the Xiao family. Anyone with the surname Xiao can basically find the same ancestor for several dozen generations.

There is no doubt about the prosperity of Jiangnan, which has been a land of plenty since ancient times. Cloth, silk, tea, etc. are extremely developed, but the more famous saying is "women on the lake, flowers from the south of the Yangtze River, unparalleled women from the south of the Yangtze River". The beauty of the south of the Yangtze River has been famous all over the world since ancient times. The small bridges, flowing water, paper umbrellas and light skirts make people Very impressed.

What is more famous than beauties are the literary talents from Jiangnan. It is true that Dayue is a martial artist, but not every place is prone to martial arts. Generally speaking, the further south you go, the less likely you are to fight. Due to the geographical location of Jiangnan, there have been no foreign enemies from ancient times to the present, and it is useless to practice martial arts and strengthen the army. The aristocratic families gather here, resulting in far more literati pursuing official careers than barbarians wielding swords and guns. The whole of Jiangnan is also There is only one Liuhe gate.

It is mid-October, and there is no snow yet in Huainan, which is like spring all year round. A large ship is gradually approaching the mouth of the Huaihe River. There are endless painted boats, official ships, and cargo ships parked on the river. There are ships loaded with cargo at all times. Return, or send goods produced in Jiangnan to various places.

Thousands of willow branches dance in the wind along the coast, traders and soldiers walk back and forth, and literati and ladies stroll along the river. Without even getting off the boat, you can appreciate the waterside style that is completely different from the wild northwest.

"Coming, coming..."

Officers and soldiers gathered on the dock and a large open space was cleared.

Xiao Ting, the legitimate son of the Xiao family in Huainan, stood on the pier and looked at the ship with the flag of Prince Su, dressed in a black robe facing the wind. With tears in his eyes, he raised his hand and wanted to compose an impromptu poem. He held it in for a long time. Without thinking, I slowly put it down again.

The little maid stood nearby, covering the arbor with her hands and standing on tiptoes to look:

"Sir, I saw Prince Xu, standing on the boat..."

"No! You're here! I thought your boat had sunk. Hurry up..."

Xiao Ting raised his voice and shouted, which made the surrounding officers and soldiers tremble in shock, but no one dared to laugh. After all, this is not Chang'an, and the Xiao family is the sky.

On the deck of the building, Xu Buling was wearing a gold-rimmed moire robe and raised his hand to say hello.

The land of Chu is only a thousand miles away from Huainan. It takes less than ten days to go down the Yangtze River. Taking a boat along the river, you will see houses with white walls and blue tiles everywhere, and the beautiful landscape is dizzying. It is so much more beautiful than the desert scenery in the northwest, that it makes people think, "This is where people live."

After entering the jurisdiction of Huainan, Xiao Xiang'er stood on the deck, looking at the surrounding scenery despite the cold wind. His expression remained dignified and tranquil, but the longing in his eyes could not be concealed.

When she was a teenager, she left Huainan and married into the imperial city. Overnight, she transformed from an unruly and willful eldest lady to a empress dowagering her mother, and before she got used to it, she became a queen mother again. Ten years passed in a blink of an eye.

She thought she would never step out of Changle Palace again until she died of old age with gray hair, but she didn't expect that in just one year, her world would undergo earth-shaking changes.

Last year, today, I was sitting alone in the Changle Palace's dormitory and taking a nap. I no longer had any expectations for life. Today, this year, I have already arrived at the door of my house, and there is a man beside me, who even knows how to change the position when patting my butt.

The huge change made Xiao Xiang'er a little distracted. Looking at the silly nephew standing on the shore, it was best to describe it as if it were a lifetime ago. He just felt that it had become like this inexplicably. He couldn't even remember where it started. .

As the homesickness recedes, what follows is a mountain-like pressure that makes it difficult to breathe.

Since following Xu Buling, Xiao Xiang'er has lived a very happy life, free and unrestrained, or in other words, living like a human being.

But after all, she is the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family and the queen mother of Dayue. These things cannot exist. If word spread, it will implicate the entire Xiao family. The blood and honor in her bones make her have to face this matter.

Xiao Xiang'er didn't know what would happen. It was very likely that she would bid farewell to this world completely in a few days and use her life to put an end to what she had done. This was also her original thought.

I regret it...

Xiao Xiang'er thought for a moment and shook her head. She has no regrets at all. Even if it happens a hundred times over, she will trade her own life for Xu Buling's. It's just a pity and reluctance to die like this...

"Baby?"

Xu Bu Ling walked up to him and put his cloak on Xiao Xiang'er's shoulders. After all, this is the door of the Xiao family, and there are many people who know Xiao Xiang'er and Miss Xiao. Xiang'er's identity must not be exposed to the public.

Xiao Xiang'er came back to her senses, wrapped her cloak tighter, raised her eyes to look at the young man in white in front of her, was silent for a moment, and finally smiled softly:

"Xu Bu Ling, if I die, will you miss me? Just like your father misses your mother?"

The cold wind was blowing, blowing the fiery red cloak and hair. The slightly mature face was smiling, but it could not hide the helplessness and hesitation in his heart, and even deeper was the perseverance and determination in his bones.

Xu Buling raised his hand and touched the hair beside her ears, his expression was very calm:

"As long as I'm here, you can just be a baby and don't have to think about other things."

"..."

Xiao Xiang'er's eyes were misty, but her smile did not change:

"Do you miss me? You do or you don't."

Xu Buling tightened the collar of his cloak and said softly:

"If I say I think about it, you will definitely seek death. If I say I don't want to, you have to kill me. Just follow me and leave the rest to Aunt Lu and me."

Mrs. Lu stood nearby with an unnatural expression on her face. She muttered in a low voice: "We're about to dock, don't be so affectionate..."

Xiao Xiang'er was interrupted, covered the hood of her cloak, and snorted softly:

"What does it have to do with you that Xu Buling and I are intimate?"

"you……"

Mrs. Lu was already upset because of the last kiss she had with Xu Buling. Seeing that Xiang'er was irritating her, she became a little angry and turned around and walked away.

Soon, the building boat docked.

Before the deck was lowered, Xiao Ting ran below with his robe in hand, giggling:

"Xu Bu Ling, please marry my aunt as soon as possible. Do you know how I came here in the past two months? I have written more words than you know. It is so unconscionable..."

Mrs. Lu did not dare to get angry at Xiang'er. Seeing that her brother-in-law was not polite, she acted dignified and steady and scolded:

"Xiao Ting, don't talk nonsense. You haven't even written your horoscope. Are you talking like that?"

Xiao Ting didn't care at all, and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you have to talk it over carefully, and you must not let this matter go south..."

Upon hearing the words 'sister-in-law', Mrs. Lu's face stiffened imperceptibly. She looked at Xu Buling next to her and snorted softly. After all, she is the daughter-in-law of the Xiao family. If Xu Buling really takes Xiao Qi, he will have to change his name and call Xu Buling uncle, from 'I am your aunt' to 'I am your niece', and the hierarchy will be completely messed up.

It is difficult to sort out the seniority of the prince's family, so Xu Buling did not say much, and got off the boat with a large group of girls, maids, and guards, came to Xiao Ting, raised his hands and saluted:

"Master Xiao."

"Oh"

Xiao Ting was stunned, thinking he heard wrongly, and looked up and down:

"Xu Buling, I haven't seen you for half a year, why have you become a coward? I didn't expect you to know the principle of 'people have to bow their heads under the eaves'. Don't worry, although Huainan is my Xiao Ting's territory, I, as an uncle, will not Using one's power to bully others..."

Ning Qingye walked behind her master. After looking at her for a few times, she turned her head and asked in a low voice:

"Manzhi, how can the young master of the Xiao family in Huainan be such a fool?"

Zhu Manzhi and Xiao Ting had interacted with each other in Baima Village and secretly smiled:

"Who knows, it's always been like this."

Song Yufu hid among the crowd and was not very familiar with the two girls. After thinking for a while, she interjected:

"Xiao Ting is actually not stupid, he just hasn't grown up... he is much better than those princes and sons of Chang'an City who are full of power."

Among the many maids, Xiao Xiang'er, who loved Xiao Ting the most in the past, was hiding under her cloak, her eyes filled with anger and nostalgia. She wished she could have Xiao Ting stewed right now, but she couldn't speak and could only look at her own eyes. Stupid nephew and stinky brother.

The Xiao family's village is right by the river, not far from the pier. The family has always been strict and not ostentatious. They did not arrange a sedan chair to pick them up, so everyone walked to the Xiao family. However, for safety reasons, the road was cleared, and officers and soldiers separated it on both sides, allowing only business travelers to walk on both sides.

Xu Bu Ling and Xiao Ting walked in front side by side, because Xiao Ting didn't make any trouble and just talked about the small things they had studied together in Chang'an.

When Chang'an was mentioned, Xiao Ting's face became a little sad. He looked to the northwest and sighed:

"Sigh... My second aunt died so miserably. She was instantly burned down. How could you say that my aunt is such an unreasonable person and can't think about this matter? What does King Yan's madness have to do with her? …”

Xu Bu Ling's expression froze, but Xiang'er was behind him and raised his hand hurriedly: "Don't talk nonsense."

Xiao Ting thought that Xu Buling was afraid of the Song family, so he said casually: "I'm surrounded by people from my Xiao family, and I didn't say anything. My aunt is only in her twenties, and she'll be gone as soon as she says no. She loves beauty the most." , why did you burn yourself with fire? You can at least leave a whole corpse after taking poison..."

Xu Buling was covered in cold sweat, knowing that Xiang'er was staring at him with murderous eyes, but he didn't know how to smooth things over for his brother-in-law.

"I also took my aunt's money, saying it was to buy her rouge. I used it to place bets and won a lot of silver. Before I could buy the rouge, my aunt died... If I had known I would go to the summer resort to stay, my aunt would have such a bad temper. I’m stubborn and won’t listen to advice, but I’m afraid that I’ll make trouble, so if I cry and roll around, I’m sure I won’t die…”

When Xu Buling heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this guy has some conscience, otherwise he might not survive today...

After leaving the pier while chatting, Xu Buling suddenly spotted a familiar figure among the crowd at the pier, wearing a red dress and a turban, leading a very eye-catching white camel.

Xu Buling turned his head and looked, and it turned out that it was Zhongli Chuchu who was parting outside Suzhou City. He was pretending to buy things in the small market at this time, his movements were soft and his eyes were pure, his face was covered with red gauze and his face could not be seen.

Xu Buling was not surprised at all by Zhongli Chuchu's appearance. He thought he would meet him after leaving Suzhou, but he didn't expect to come directly to Huainan and wait. He showed up a little too late.

They were not far apart from each other. Zhongli Chuchu seemed to notice that someone was looking at him. He turned his head to look at Xu Buling, and then his green eyes showed a bit of surprise.

Xu Buling didn't even raise his eyebrows, his eyes swept over Zhongli Chuchu, and he continued to go to Xiao's house with Xiao Ting.

"Hey?!"

Zhongli froze on the spot, unable to react for a long time...