It's nothing more than traveling at dawn and staying overnight, hungry for food and thirsty for water. Since there is nothing important, the journey is not in a hurry.
That night, a group of people rested at a place called Majiadian. After the second drum, everyone rested.
Jiang Nuan was lying on the bed, sleepless. Perhaps the moonlight was so beautiful, shining brightly into the tent, which reminded her of many things.
I want to go to the stove on March 3rd and make shepherd's purse wontons together. I want to escape the summer heat in the village and fish for loaches in the pond. I want to hold long bamboo poles to beat dates before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the red dates fall all over the ground like rain. And there is winter.
We sat around the stove in the early snow, eating mutton and drinking glutinous rice wine.
The more I thought about it, the emptier my heart became, as if the sleepiness had been stolen away, not a trace of it was missing.
Mother Sang's snores had been ringing outside for a long time, and on the couch at the door, Zhongzi's snores were long and steady.
Ling Ding was always very quiet when sleeping. Jiang Nuan was not sure if she was asleep, so she coughed twice.
There was no movement there, so Jiang Nuan knew that she was also asleep, otherwise she would have to ask herself whether she wanted to drink tea.
Lifting the bed curtain, Jiang Nuan stepped on the ground lightly and came to the window.
The fragrance of grass and trees was brought in by the evening breeze, and the moon hung upright in the sky, splashing silver light without any obstruction.
Someone was playing the flute far away, but the sound of the flute was blown intermittently by the wind, making it difficult to hear clearly.
The streets illuminated by the clear light were empty, with only the shadows of the trees.
A thought came out of Jiang Nuan's heart and she couldn't suppress it anymore - she wanted to go outside.
Doing nothing, just walking.
Jiang Nuan climbed down from the window. As soon as her feet landed on the ground, she felt that it was really cool outside and the night wind was blowing mightily. She couldn't help but squint her eyes in pleasure.
He breathed a long sigh of relief, and the dull feeling in his heart seemed to become lighter.
Jiang Nuan walked slowly along a street, exhaling and inhaling loudly as he walked, as if he could let out the depression in his heart.
Before leaving, her aunt repeatedly told her to be steady and sensible, and not to be as carefree as usual.
She knew what her aunt said was right, and it was for her own good.
But her temper was something she was born with, and she wasn't sure she could really change it.
Isn’t it said that a country is easy to change, but one’s nature is hard to change?
Jiang Nuan grew up with her maternal grandmother and aunt and uncle. Everyone in her family was straightforward and kind-hearted, and she herself was straight-tempered.
Jiang Nuan doesn't like studying, and there aren't many scholars in her family. Her father was a Jinshi, but he hasn't lived with her since she was a child.
Her grandmother's family never said a bad word about her father, but that didn't stop Jiang Nuan from feeling a knot in her heart.
At first, her mother stayed in Dengzhou and did not accompany her father to take office.
When my father left, he originally took his aunt with him so that he could take care of her on the road. But soon after he took office, he took another concubine and gave birth to a son and a daughter.
At that time, Jiang Nuan's mother was lingering on the sick bed, but she still thought about one day recovering from her illness and reunited with her husband.
The concubine in Minzhou was originally the daughter of an exiled official. Later, the emperor showed mercy and his family regained its prosperity. In addition, Jiang Nuan's mother had passed away, so his father straightened the concubine.
Today's Meng family.
The eldest daughter born to Mrs. Meng is only more than one year younger than Jiang Nuan.
She couldn't figure it out, didn't her father care about her mother's health? It wasn't like there was no one around to take care of her, but he was so eager to take in a new aunt. What was the man thinking in his heart?
Some people say that men always have concubines. This is human nature.
Valley wren
My uncle and aunt have been married for more than ten years. My aunt is not intolerant of others, but now she is not even willing to accept a concubine. This shows that people are different after all.
I don’t know what kind of people her stepmother and younger brothers and sisters are. Are they really as good as Pan’s mother and the others say?
Jiang Nuan was thinking wildly and walked far away without realizing it.
When she realized that the road she was walking on was a little out of the way, she could no longer see the inn where she was staying.
This is a narrow alley. The wall on the south side is very high, and it seems to be the backyard of a temple. On the north side is an abandoned garden with broken walls, deep grass and tall trees, blocking most of the moonlight.
Jiang Nuan's heart suddenly tightened. She felt that this place was not a place to stay for a long time.
Just when she turned around, a man walked out of the darkness. His footsteps were very light, but Jiang Nuan still heard her.
She couldn't help but quicken her pace, but the man was faster and caught up with him in a few steps.
Jiang Nuan was hesitating whether to run or turn back, when something cold and hard touched the back of her heart.
She knew that it should be an unsheathed dagger.
"Stay here, girl," the man's voice was colder and harder than a dagger, and he didn't have a Central Plains accent: "Do you have any money with you?"
Jiang Nuan came from a girl's family, but her grandfather and uncle were both military attachés. She had heard some stories about battlefields and rivers and lakes since she was a child, and she knew that she had encountered Jie Dao.
She didn't think the thief was gentle, she just thought he was a "veteran".
I just didn't want to worry about screaming and causing trouble, so I spoke so gently.
Jiang Nuan can also perform a few tricks, which she secretly learned when her uncle taught her two cousins, but she is not arrogant enough to think that she can deal with the person behind her.
Even if you can't see it, you can still tell that this man is very tall, not to mention that he has a knife in his hand.
"There are more than twenty taels of silver here, take it!" Jiang Nuan took out the purse and said, "Just don't hurt me."
In fact, what she was most afraid of was not getting hurt, but more worried that the person would have evil thoughts towards her.
If that were the case, we would have to fight to the death and never be humiliated.
"I only need five taels." The man took five taels of silver from his purse and said, "I'll lend it to you."
This was really beyond Jiang Nuan's expectation.
"You can take them all, as long as you don't hurt me, I will never report you to the official." Jiang Nuan added.
"If I have a chance, I will return it to you." The man said and withdrew the dagger.
"No need," Jiang Nuan didn't look back. Her uncle had said that when encountering such a situation, it's best not to look at the bad guys' faces, so as not to anger them: "I'm just passing by here and will leave tomorrow morning."
"Where are you going?" The man seemed very stubborn: "I will find you and return it to you when I have the money."
"I'm going to Daizhou." Jiang Nuan didn't say she was going to the capital, but she didn't like lying either, so she mentioned a place she would pass by halfway.
"Okay, I'll wait for you at Lion Bridge in Daizhou in half a month," the man said, "It's also about this time."
Jiang Nuan has never been to Daizhou, but she has heard of Lion Bridge.
There are many people in the world who have never been to Daizhou, but there are only a few people who have never heard of Lion Bridge.
"Okay, I understand." Of course Jiang Nuan didn't intend to go, so she just said "I understand" and nothing else.
"You must go," the man emphasized again: "What I am doing today is a last resort."
