Let Me Pursue You

It stands to reason that playing chess and chess is a very rare thing. But right now, the two are indeed caught in an endless loop where they will never be able to tell the difference between victory and defeat.

Yuan Cixian only said that she was wandering about bad things, but she didn't know that Lu Shiqing came here for a tie. After all, leading a draw is actually more difficult than asking her to win.

He pushed the chessboard, frowned and said, "We'll talk about it at night." It seemed that he didn't intend to play a second game.

Yuan Cixian thinks about it too. A person like Lu Shiqing who has such a stubborn mouth, who even talks duplicity when he is hungry, made such an obvious move to give in, there will be no next time, so it is not easy to make more demands.

The torrential rain really didn't last long, and when the game between the two of them was over, the carriage turned around and drove to a flat highland that was selected in advance and could be protected from mountain torrents.

When they got there, everything was arranged, and Shi Cui sent Yuan Cixian and Lu Shiqing the rations they had prepared in advance, and then went to settle down the accompanying officials with Cao An and Zhao Shu.

There was no shelter on all sides, everyone just took coir raincoats to barely shelter from the rain, hoping that the sky would be fine at night, but unexpectedly when they were about to fall asleep, it started to rain again.

Light rain wets the clothes. Although such a situation will not cause other dangers, it is easy to catch cold.

When Yuan Cixian looked outside, she was embarrassed to repeat the old trick, and drove Lu Shiqing out with the strategy of retreating.

Just now she took advantage of the fine weather to make many attempts, such as trying to move the contents of another carriage here, and asked him to sleep in her bed, while she squeezed in the back, but after measuring it, she found that the place was really It's not spacious enough, so if you tell her to lie down all night, it's better to eat outside and feel refreshed.

Lu Shiqing didn't open his mouth to make a decision, and was busy reading several important documents from Chang'an in her carriage. Yuan Cixian has a sense of propriety, and usually doesn't disturb his work, but he felt sleepy, so he had to ask: "Lu Shilang, did your 'Let's talk' come to fruition?"

He stopped holding the paper, raised his eyes to look at her, seemed to remember it after thinking about it for a while, and said lightly: "You rest, I will read the paperwork, and wait for the rain to stop by the way."

The implication is that he is probably going to go outside later to make ends meet.

Yuan Cixian could fall asleep by lighting a candle, but she was not hard-hearted. Recalling the incident of him playing chess, she felt even more sorry, and said hesitantly, "I'd better wait for your sleeping place to be settled before resting."

After she finished speaking, she continued to sit on the side with her eyelids open, her head drooping from time to time like a chicken pecking at rice, and she woke up when she hit the air violently, rubbing her eyes and continuing to suffer with him.

Lu Shiqing's several actions today are nothing more than taking advantage of the right time, place and people to wake up this girl's "conscience" that has been sleeping for a long time, but when she sees that she has been fooled, she suddenly feels a little unbearable, especially looking at her strong face The appearance, the heart softens, and the plan is gone.

After a while, he finally closed the Chinese book in his hand, raised his head and frowned and said, "You sleep."

Yuan Cixian waved his hand to refuse on the face, secretly happy in his heart. It was true that she was sleepy, and the feeling in her heart was also true, but this appearance of "chicken pecking rice" was false.

She looked at the clouds and mist in the sky, and estimated that the rain would last at least half the night, so she thought about it and made a decision to ask Lu Shiqing to sleep in her carriage. But before that, she had to make him have enough pity for her, otherwise later, when the lonely man and widow were in such a cramped place, what if he mistreated her.

Seeing her insistence, Lu Shiqing sighed, got up and lifted the curtain and said, "I'm going out."

The days to come are long, so don't be in a hurry tonight.

Yuan Cixian let out an "hey" and grabbed his sleeve: "Lu Shilang."

He turned his head, looked down at her pale jade fingers clutched at his sleeve, and his breath stagnated. She did have the habit of tugging at his sleeves, but this time it was different.

Lu Shiqing slightly raised his eyelids to look at her. What does such a situation and such an action mean, does she even know?

She obviously knew it, and quickly said: "You and I will spend the night in the carriage together."

Lu Shiqing raised his eyebrows slightly, but said nothing. He felt that she had more to say, so after a moment of silence, he really heard her continue: "But you also know that my elder brother and father are very fierce, and Shi Cui is also outside right now, so I must let them know about this, I'm afraid you will reply Jing's leg was broken, so please feel wronged a little..."

Well, he was afraid that his leg would be broken by the Yuan family, and it was the third one.

Lu Shiqing made a gesture of all ears.

Yuan Cixian hesitated and said: "I tied you with a rope, so that I can explain to my family when I turn around."

"..." This girl is quite good at playing.

Lu Shiqing twitched the corners of his mouth, as if he didn't quite agree: "No, I'll sleep outside."

She curled her lips: "If you get gonorrhea, I'm sorry... In order to compensate for your loss, you sleep on the bed and I sleep on the footbed. I promise, except for father and brother, I will never publicize this matter and make you lose face. "

She thought about it thoroughly, he turned around and sat down again, and asked, "Are you sure?"

Yuan Cixian nodded.

Lu Shiqing tied his hands with a piece of cloth and slept on her bed. Of course, the bedding was replaced by his own. The carriage was destroyed just now, and Cao An rescued those objects in time.

Yuan Cixian spread her original quilt on the footbed, and lay down with her clothes after the candle was extinguished.

Without the candlelight, there was silence in the carriage again, the gurgling rain outside could be clearly heard, and the subtle rustling sound brushed over Yuan Cixian's ears over and over again, till it tickled her heart.

She tied Lu Shiqing's hands quite perfectly just now, using the unsolvable binding method that her father taught her, everything was in order, and she finally fell asleep, but unexpectedly the drowsiness at first disappeared without a trace.

She wondered why she was so nervous this time, even though she hadn't had such worries when she faced him at the inn last time.

Maybe it's the reason why he knew his intentions. she thinks.

Yuan Cixian couldn't sleep for a long time, tossing and turning in boredom, thinking about this for a long while, when he heard Lu Shiqing sigh, he asked as if he had been pardoned: "Lu Shilang, are you asleep?"

Lu Shiqing's faint voice sounded: "Fall asleep."

"..."

"Why are you talking nonsense with your eyes open?" She said harshly to him.

"Why do you ask why you know it? You keep moving, how can I fall asleep?" He replied.

The carriage was not warm enough, Yuan Cixian shuddered, blew her nose, wrapped herself up like a silkworm chrysalis, with only her head exposed, and said with a smile: "Then let's gossip for a while."

Call her a ghost. In fact, Lu Shiqing also regretted the momentary itch and stayed here overnight. God knows how tormented he was by her rustling all the time.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Yuan Cixian said to himself: "Lu Shilang, have you been to Jiangzhou?"

The question diverted his attention. Qizhou, where the two are currently located, is adjacent to Jiangzhou on the Jiangnan West Road. The reason why she asked this was probably because she was feeling emotional and thinking of "Xu Shan".

Oh, to sleep in a carriage with him and think of other men. Lu Shiqing let out a "huh" in his heart, and said calmly, "I've been there once."

"When did you go?" she asked.

"Last spring, when you followed the King of Southern Yunnan to Beijing to receive the title."

Yuan Cixian was taken aback: "Aren't you in Chang'an on the day I performed the ceremony in the palace?"

"Not here."

That's weird. Since Lu Shiqing had never seen her before, how could Lu Ting recognize her at a glance when he met her for the first time? She was just about to ask, but she heard him preemptively said: "Why are you asking this?"

After all, Yuan Cixian was a little guilty, and replied confusedly: "Oh, I heard that the crabs in Poyang Lake are particularly delicious during this season."

If it's delicious, ask "Xu Shan" to fish for her.

Lu Shiqing sneered in his heart, but remained silent on his face.

Seeing that he stopped talking, Yuan Cixian changed the topic and asked: "By the way, I just saw that the documents sent by the imperial court talked about repairing the Huai River embankment. Agree. The flood in Huainan is a disaster, and it is inseparable from the looseness of the Huai River embankment. Naturally, we should learn a lesson and repair it. Why do these people object? I don’t quite understand.”

The sixth prince was one of those who objected to repairing the embankment. She went around, and to put it bluntly, she was still concerned about Xu Shan's thoughts. After all, every word and deed of Zheng Zhuo is planned behind his back.

Lu Shiqing felt uncomfortable, but answered her like never before: "They are not opposed to the repair, but want to delay the move. As far as the future is concerned, stabilizing the embankment is indeed a strategy for water control and benefiting the people, but it is by no means the current Dazhou. It's done. Do you know how many corrupt officials there are in the whole country?"

"Repairing the embankment of the Huaishui River requires the expropriation of tens of thousands of strong men, but the wages allocated from above and below will be deducted all the way by local officials. In their hands, I am afraid that even a single ration will not be enough. Over time, the embankment was not repaired, but instead Public dissatisfaction is boiling. Besides, before this, how to recruit strong men is also a trouble."

"In order to deal with errands and cooperate with corvees, local officials must disregard the wishes of the people and drag people around. Those who refuse to listen will be conquered by force. Even ten imperial envoys sent by the imperial court may not be able to manage such things. The embankment of a thousand miles is destroyed by ants. At that time, the people along the Huai River will suffer, and people with a heart may take advantage of this to attack the rule of the Great Zhou. You say, is it appropriate to suspend the repair of the embankment and find other ways to remedy the disaster, or to make the entire Great Zhou Is it appropriate to fall into war in the near future?"

He finally concluded: "If you want to control water, you must first control corruption. These opposing voices are not wrong."

Yuan Cixian choked. One is lamented by Xu Shan and Zheng Zhuo's insights, and the other is unexpected, Lu Shiqing, who seems to be very indifferent to people's livelihood, thinks so.

Seeing that she was speechless for a while, the corners of Lu Shiqing's lips curved slightly.

Yuan Cixian's inexplicable thoughts about "Xu Shan", in fact, he probably understands a little bit. "Xu Shan"'s skin is obviously not an advantage, what attracts her most is his heart. As for the so-called "accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger", in order to avoid the sage from being suspicious of his true intentions in many of his actions, when he was Lu Shiqing, he had to conceal this, which may have left a narrow impression on her.

That's why he patiently had a long talk with her tonight, and was going to get the credit of "Xu Shan" and correct her thinking.

Yuan Cixian was silent for a while, then gave a low "hmm", blinked and said, "You are right."

It should be bright for Dazhou to have such an emperor teacher in the future. It was the first time she really thought about it like this.