Still waiting for Zhaoyang

Chapter 31
Although he was kneeling, his body was as straight as a green pine tree, but the Queen Mother's heart trembled more and more.

After a stick of incense, the Empress Dowager sighed sadly: "Why did this happen, Rui'er."

After calling his nickname, the queen mother burst into tears.

Shang Rui knelt straight on the ground: "The ancients said that the ministers who suffer from a thousand times are too heavy, and those who are in a thousand times are too trustworthy. Xu Jingye is so greedy for money and power, he has no law, deceives the superior and the inferior, and it is difficult to conquer the world without death." Morality."

After finishing speaking, he put the folder just now next to the imperial decree, kowtowed to the Queen Mother, straightened his back and said slowly: "Mother, there can only be one family in the world, and the emperor lies on the side of the couch, how can we allow others to sleep peacefully."

When the Queen Mother heard this, she knew that his heart was like a rock, and her heart was extremely sad. She closed her eyes, and the tears couldn't stop streaming down. It took a long time before she walked up to Shang Rui. Watched it back and forth many times.

"But now he is in Wei Shangren's prison, life and death are not up to him to decide."

"Mother can rest assured about this matter." Shang Rui said.

"Zizhang over there..."

"As soon as Hongwu's reinforcements arrive, Sima Lin and Hongwu have both experienced battles and worked together. They will naturally find a solution. With the addition of a letter from my mother, Zizhang will not be suspicious. And Xu Chengzhi is already my man."

Empress Dowager Xu handed the imperial decree back to him, and murmured: "You have a perfect plan, that's the best. It's just Zizhang and Yang'er, how innocent."

"As long as they are right with their son, the son will never be implicated."

Empress Dowager Xu nodded weakly, walked slowly to the entrance of the hall and opened it, calling for people to come in, then turned back and helped Shang Rui up.

Minglian also followed them into the hall.

Seeing the stains on Shang Rui's body, the Queen Mother said to Ming Lian: "Go get the clothes and change them for your emperor before leaving." After speaking, she went straight into the inner room and never appeared again.

That day, the sun was very strong, Shang Rui walked out from the Empress Dowager's Chengfu Palace, the shadow under his feet was stretched into a long and slender shadow, he looked down for a while, and left with his hands behind his back.

五

When Shang Rui came to Li Ji's mansion again, Xia Yue and He Xiang were playing with dogs in the garden.

Xia Yue was stunned when she saw him.

He Xiang stood in front of Xia Yue alone.

Xia Yue said: "He Xiang, you carry Ah Mo back to the room, I have something to say to Mr. Hong."

Shang Rui stopped him and said, "No need. I'll go out with you." It can be seen that he is not in a good mood.

Xia Yue looked at him warily.

Shang Rui smiled wryly: "I can't eat you, so I'll take you to a place, and I'll be back in a while. If you have something to say, talk on the way."

Xia Yue looked at He Xiang, then turned to look at Shang Rui, nodded and said, "Wait for me." Turning around, she went back to the room and changed her clothes. Yao Chuang didn't bring anything with him when he came to find her with He Xiang Jewelry, her attire at the moment is also extremely simple, but she walked a few steps and turned back, took the Linlangfang hairpin from under the pillow, but did not wear it in her hair, but stuck it on her chest and hid it , and left with him.

The carriage left the city.

Shang Rui sat side by side with her, separated by Zhang Xiaozi.

Xia Yue didn't look sideways, and didn't ask him where he was going. From time to time, she touched the hairpin hidden on her chest with her left hand.

"Li Ji said your hand is healed?" Shang Rui asked.

"Ah."

"Why do you know you are Yu Zhaoyang if you don't ask me?"

"You will naturally say what you want to say." Xia Yue replied without turning her head.

Shang Rui smiled lightly, but stopped asking.

The carriage arrived at a horse farm outside the city, and Shang Rui lifted the curtain to get out of the carriage: "There will be a mountain road in a while, shall I take you on horseback?"

The smile hanging from the corner of his mouth reminded Xia Yue of the embarrassment she felt immediately last time, so she resolutely refused, "No need."

Shang Rui was not surprised, and asked someone to find a horse for her.

After a while, someone else brought a maroon horse. Its fur was shiny and oily, like satin. Xia Yue couldn't help but stepped forward to touch it.Although the horse was strong and tall, he had a pure and docile personality and did not resist her at all.

Before she went out, she didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Shangrui's gourd, and she just thought about changing into a narrow-sleeved shirt, just in case something went wrong, so she could play it by ear, but she didn't expect it to come in handy.

"Let's go." He got on his horse and turned to look at her.

Xia Yue had nothing to say, she took the cloak handed over by someone else, tied it up, and stepped on the horse's back by stepping on the pedals.

The two horses walked eastward for a section of the official road.

Xia Yue followed him, and after climbing a few small hills, the terrain became flat.

Shang Rui's horse has been walking in front of her, not near or far, just one zhang away, sometimes when she slows down, he will slow down, if she is fast, he will also be fast.

He never spoke, didn't say where he was going, and didn't even turn his head.

Xia Yue was a little unconvinced, and wanted to catch up with him and ask him what happened.Unexpectedly, when she clamped the horse's belly, he also drove the horse and ran.

She had never been impatient, so she yelled at him directly: "Hello——"

Shang Rui turned around after hearing the sound.

"Where is this going?" she asked.

"Didn't you just say that you don't want to ask me, and I will naturally say it when I want to?" Shang Rui squinted at her, "I don't want to say it now."

"You!" She was a little annoyed.

When she was angry, her cheeks would turn red, and her mouth would be so clumsy that she couldn't utter a word for a while.

Shang Rui rolled his eyes, and a smile spread from the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, it seemed as if a spring breeze was born, lingering around him.He looked at her and suddenly asked, "Do you know what I like most about you?"

Xia Yue was dumbfounded when she heard the words. Although she said that she was informal, she was still a big girl who had not left the court. Apart from her family members, she rarely had contact with men. How could she think that someone would say such words in front of her face? Blunted out, suddenly froze.

"I just like the way you are helpless to me." After speaking, he laughed loudly and whipped his horse.

Xia Yue's face turned from red to white in an instant, and she almost wanted to catch up and pull him off the horse to beat him up.

I saw him go forward for a while, then pulled the rein, turned back to her and said, "I heard that when you were young, your father specially invited a master from northern Xinjiang to teach you how to ride a horse, but I don't think you can ride a horse well." How about it, do you want to compete?"

"You know my father?" Xia Yue looked at him in surprise.

"Want to know?" Shang Rui raised his eyebrows and asked back.

Xia Yue sat on the horseback and looked at him without speaking.

"I'll tell you if you win on horseback, but..." He tilted his head, with a playful smile on the corner of his mouth, "If you lose, let me kiss you. How about it?"

Before he finished speaking, she raised the whip in her hand and threw it towards him in anger. Unexpectedly, he was very clever and fast, and the man and the horse jumped forward and avoided it.

She blushed with anger, and rode her horse forward to catch up with him, kicking him off the horse.

Unexpectedly, he jumped with the horse, and jumped further, and turned around triumphantly: "Shall I let you go twenty feet first and then compete?"

"Why should I compare with you!" She was very angry.

"Don't you dare?" He challenged her.

"Who said I wouldn't dare!"

Holding the horsewhip in his hand, he pointed to the front and said, "Walk ten li to the north and there is a black cliff by the sea. Whoever gets there first wins?" He then squinted at her and said, "If you don't dare, Just go back the way you came."

"It's better than it is." Xia Yue said with hatred, "Take ten miles to the north, and I've been to the black cliffs by the sea. I don't need you to show me the way." Dust away.

Shang Rui was behind, looking at her back, with a smile on his lips, and followed slowly.

This ten-li land is the widest and flatst section from the imperial capital to the Weilu Sea. Few people go to the black cliffs facing north, and the winding paths in the grass are hard to discern, so the horses are running happily on the road.She hadn't ridden so fast for a long time, only hearing the wind whistling in her ears.

Fortunately, the horse is very gentle and obedient. She was a little nervous at first, but gradually she cooperated with the bay red horse more and more tacitly, her hands and feet relaxed, and her whole body stretched out.

Spring is cold.

As the horse galloped, the wind knocked off the hat of the cloak, and she had no time to worry about it. She let the chilly wind cut her cheeks, but she didn't feel any pain.

Seeing the groves on both sides, they quickly disappeared behind him.

She couldn't remember how long she hadn't been so happy, as if all the pent-up emotions dissipated at this moment, she even forgot the person behind her, until she galloped to the foot of the black cliff, she reined in her horse and turned around , only to see Shang Rui who has been following her.

She was panting, because she ran too fast, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were wet, like those deer in the Dongyuan hunting ground that had escaped from his bow many times.

She raised her chin, couldn't hold back the pride in her heart, and announced to him: "You lost."

He didn't care, and got off his horse.

Just now she really ran a little fast, but it wasn't that he couldn't catch up with her, but because she was suddenly worried, so she didn't dare to run recklessly, so she had to follow closely, in case she accidentally fell off, and didn't even dare to blink her eyes , I didn't expect to hold this thought, and actually forgot the previous provocation to tease her.

"Come down, the road behind is impossible to ride up." He said.

Xia Yue let go of the rein and jumped off the horse.

So, the two tied their horses down the mountain and walked up side by side.

Black Cliff is a huge cliff, standing on the seashore, so named because it is almost black.It has a gentle slope on one side and a cliff on the other side facing the sea.

The predecessors chiseled the top steps on the gentle slope, but after years of wind and sun, many places have become difficult to get off.At first, the two could walk side by side, but gradually Xia Yue fell behind.

On the top of a steep slope and a three-foot-high rock, Shang Rui jumped up lightly, then turned back and reached out to hold Xia Yue.

With his strength, she finally climbed to the top of the slope, and her eyes suddenly opened up.

The sky on the side of the black cliff is clearly bright and clear, but on the other side of the sea in the distance, it is covered with dark clouds.

The salty sea breeze blows against my face, blowing my hair in all directions.

It was only then that Xia Yue realized that the only hairpin on her head had fallen somewhere, so she simply raised her arm, removed her hair and tied it up hastily again.

The wind began to pick up.

The waves under the rock are getting higher and higher.

The dark clouds on the far side of the sea seem to be sinking into the sea.

Suddenly, the dark clouds in the sky darkened for a moment, and no lightning was seen, but the sound of thunder rolled slowly from a distance, dull and dull.

"This is the first thunder of this year." Shang Rui, who was standing next to him, muttered to himself.

She heard the sound and turned to look at him.

He stood with his hands behind his back on the rock.The sea breeze kept blowing, and except for the hem of his clothes that was thrown up, he was completely motionless, standing straight and steady, completely different from her embarrassment where she was blown away and her hair was scattered.

Dressed in plain clothes, it looks like the sun and the moon.

Facing the wind, he stood upright and heroic, quietly watching the dark cloud, as if everything beside him had nothing to do with him, and he was completely out of this secular world.

Then, it seemed to be raining on the sea, and gradually began to rain and fog.

The waves are rough.

And the coast where they were standing was still sunny.Such a scene suddenly makes people feel that everything in the world has become small.

After a long time, he turned his head and said to her, "It's the first time I've seen such rain on the sea."

Xia Yue finally saw his eyes clearly, and there was still a childlike novelty in those bright black pupils.

"Me too," she said.

Just as he was saying these words, the sky above his head suddenly darkened, and then the rain quickly moved towards the shore.

The rain and fog spread like flying.

Suddenly, the sky changed.

As soon as Xia Yue raised her head, she could already feel sporadic raindrops falling on her face.

The rain came so violently that people were caught off guard.

They stood on a bare cliff, without even a tree, and couldn't find a place to temporarily shelter from the rain.When Xia Yue was worrying, Shang Rui said: "There is a road here, follow me." Before she could answer, he pulled her to the side.

It turned out to be a pile of knee-high weeds, but after walking in, there was a path leading to the bottom of the cliff.

Xia Yue followed him closely.

The stone steps of the path leaned against the stone wall and spiraled down.

After a few steps, I saw a stone cave on the side of the road.

Rather than calling it a stone cave, it is better to say that it is a two-foot-wide recess in the stone wall, just a person's height, and when you stand in, your body is just covered by the rock above your head.

Bean-sized raindrops fell suddenly.

Unexpectedly, the sea breeze is too strong, although it can cover the body, the pouring rain is sent to the bottom of the stone wall by the head-on wind, and the cave is too shallow to stop it at all.

Without any hesitation, he quickly untied his outer shirt and took it off, with his back facing the outside, and resting his hands on the top of the cave wall.

In an instant, he and his coat became a warm barrier against the wind and rain.

Her back was pressed against the rock behind her, and in front of her, very close, was his chest.

The two of them are very close.

For a moment, she didn't know where to look, so she tilted her head and lowered her eyes to look elsewhere.

She could feel his breath on her forehead.

One, two, three...

Soothing and calming.

Suddenly, a drop of water dripped onto her eyelids, she stretched out her hand to wipe it, and then raised her head subconsciously.

She looked up and saw his face.

A little rainwater dripped down the gap between the clothes and the rocks. At this moment, one drop fell on the center of his forehead, and then the drop fell all the way down and slipped between the eyebrows.

He held his coat with both hands, unable to use his hands to wipe it off.

Only when the drop of rainwater flowed to the tip of his nose did he stop the momentum.

He Zeng thought that the second drop of rain would flow down at the same place again, and overlap with the previous rainwater on the tip of his nose. After a pause, it finally dripped down.

It fell on her face again.

He didn't realize it, and kept looking elsewhere.

Seeing that the rain seeped from other places and landed on his eyelashes one after another, she couldn't help it anymore, and reached out to wipe the water droplets on the tip of his nose for him.

Regarding the sudden touch, he was startled for a while, and then he said, "Do you still accept the bet just now?"

"Of course I admit it, I won."

Shang Rui raised his eyebrows, obviously disapproving.

"Whoever reaches the Black Cliff first wins, and I will arrive first." She argued.

"I clearly remember that I arrived first." He gestured to the top of his head with his eyes.

It was only then that Xia Yue discovered that he meant that he went to the top of the mountain first, so he should be counted as the winner.

Just as she was about to argue with him in a hurry, she suddenly remembered that he was deliberately trying to tease her.So she held her breath, frowned, and never spoke to him again.

With a smile in the corner of his eyes, he looked down at her eyes as bright as a sika deer, his dissatisfaction was all written on his face at the moment, and he thought she was really interesting.

He laughed again.

The rain came and went quickly, and it stopped after a while.

After the shower, the sun poured down again.

Shang Rui twisted the half-wet coat and put it on again.

They meandered down the trail.

Because the seaside is wet and covered with grass, some parts of the stone steps are covered with moss, so walk with extra care.

At the bottom of the cliff is a tidal flat, because there are sea water on the left and right, and there are stone walls blocking it, the sea is beyond the tidal flat.

Other coasts are sandy beaches, but here are all black reefs.

She was just about to walk towards the beach, but she didn't want Shang Rui to hold her arm, and said softly: "Look back."

She did so suspiciously.

The moment she turned around and raised her eyes, she stopped breathing and froze in place.

Everyone loves to stand on the Heibi Cliff and look at the Weilu Sea, and have a panoramic view of the coastline. Never thought that standing under the cliff and looking back at the Heibi Cliff is such a scenery.The black cliff is covered with a kind of climbing vine called bougainvillea.This is a common plant in the wilds of Gyeonggi, but I didn't expect them to grow so luxuriantly on the cliffs by the sea, and at this season, it was in its flowering period, and the purple bougainvillea covered a cliff with the spring breeze, and all of them were covered with flowers. In full bloom, half of the black cliff is wrapped in purple, like a huge flower screen, which is both spectacular and beautiful.

The sea breeze hits, and the purple vines sway with the wind.

Fallen flowers are colorful, coming from mid-air.

Only then did she see that there was a layer of purple falling flowers under her feet. She hadn't noticed it because she was looking at the sea eagerly, and now she didn't dare to step down.

"It's so beautiful." She exclaimed softly, "How did you find out?"

The sea-facing cliff of Heibi Cliff is convex and concave. Standing on the cliff, you can't see the scenery below. Moreover, both sides of this rocky beach are sealed by sea water. You can only get here by a small path. If you don't have the heart, you won't find it at all.

(End of this chapter)