The bright moon in the sky shines on the ancient Tea Horse Road. The mountains in the distance rise and fall one after another, like a sleeping dragon in the mountains. Li Zhifeng bathed in the moonlight, but his footsteps were almost as fast as the carriage.
"Get in the car!" You Hange shouted from the carriage.
Li Zhifeng turned a deaf ear and walked all the way.
You Hange said, "I'll give you a ride!"
Li Zhifeng took a deep breath while running, and let out a clear whistle. His steps became faster and faster, and the whistle echoed in the mountains and forests. You Hange was shocked. In a moment, Li Zhifeng disappeared at the end of the ancient road like a gust of wind.
When they returned to the villa that night, it was already four o'clock in the morning. It had been eight hours since Li Zhifeng went down the mountain for the first time. Mu Qier said again, "It's amazing. You ran all the way back and forth, a hundred and sixty miles?"
Li Zhifeng signaled Mu Qi not to wake up the room, handed him the medicine bag, and asked, "Have you eaten yet, young master?"
Mu Qi replied, "I had some porridge and went to bed."
Li Zhifeng breathed a sigh of relief, and fell asleep in the outer room without taking off his clothes.
The next morning, You Miao felt a chill on his neck. He reached back to touch Li Zhifeng's slender fingers with sleepy eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Li Zhifeng tied a red string on him, and the string was tied with a jade pendant, which was the one he had personally handed to Li Zhifeng.
"I won't die." You Miao said weakly
, "It's a minor illness." Li Zhifeng tucked him in, and went to the outer room to cook medicine. The smell of medicine filled the whole room. You Miao frowned when he smelled it. Li Zhifeng came over with a bowl and said, "Drink the medicine."
You Miao had no choice but to drink the medicine from the bowl held by Li Zhifeng. Li Zhifeng gave him a piece of candy, and You Miao laughed.
When he was in the capital, Li Zhifeng was beaten and had internal injuries. You Miao asked him to drink the medicine and then give him a piece of candy. At that time, he said, "Eat a piece of candy and it won't be bitter. Drink the medicine and the disease will be cured." Unexpectedly, Li Zhifeng still remembered it.
After drinking the medicine, You Miao still lay quietly in the room and said, "Muqi'er, open the door."
The doors of the inner and outer rooms were all open. Li Zhifeng came in and moved the screen aside without waiting for You Miao's order.
You Miao looked at the blue sky on the wall outside the room. At this moment, his heart had calmed down a lot. He was still thinking about that matter. He had been sick and now he had no strength to toss and turn. His father didn't come to see him and didn't care whether he lived or died. In other words, his status in the family was no longer the same as before.
Now if he went to Beijing again, at most he would be sent on his way with a hundred taels of silver, which was exactly what Wang and You Hangge wanted. When he went to Beijing in the future, he would have to take care of the whole family, and You Miao was not satisfied.
But if he didn't go to Beijing, where else could he go? Staying at home for a long time was not a solution. At first, You Miao wanted to stay at home until Wang was driven away, but he also knew that this was just a child's angry words. Since his father married her, how could he drive her away? Staying at home was also asking for trouble.
"Depending on my father, mother and ancestors." You Miao murmured, "Not a hero."
At this moment, You Miao had an impulse to carry a small bag and travel around the world with Li Zhifeng. His father could start from scratch, so why couldn't he? With a few taels of silver, he could do what You Dechuan could do, so why couldn't he do it?
You Miao saw with his own eyes that the trade outside the Great Wall was lucrative. With Li Zhifeng protecting him, it would not be difficult to go to the Great Wall when spring was warm and flowers were blooming. The prerequisite was to get enough money as capital. If he wanted money, he had to ask the old man.
You Miao kept thinking about how to trade after getting the money, where to get the business documents... A peddler doesn't need documents, but he can be easily arrested. The government can find a pretext to take your goods. You still need a talisman to pass the long journey through customs.
Go back to the capital to find Li Yan and ask him to ask someone to open a business? This idea is feasible. Maybe he can get a few young masters to join the group and each of them can contribute some money. You Miao's mind was tangled with a lot of trivial things, and he was thinking about how to take revenge on Wang's mother and son in the future. Instead, he turned his grief into strength, and the original decadence disappeared completely.
By the evening, You Miao was already thinking about how to cheat more money from the old man. He smiled and told him that he had turned over a new leaf, prepared to go to Beijing to study, and accepted the arrangement of his family? No, the old man would definitely not believe him. Make a fuss and ask him to take out the dowry his mother brought with him? Request a division of the family? I'm afraid it won't work, Wang is watching covetously... I won't get much money at all. But as long as a few hundred taels of silver notes are available, will I still be afraid of having no money in the future?
Or steal the old man's things and pawn them? You Miao's mind moved, this is a good idea, just steal some valuable antiques and paintings, the only thing to be afraid of is that people in Pei County will know that they are valuable things from Biyu Villa and will not accept them, so I can only take them to Yangzhou or the capital to sell. Oh, right... just in time to go to the capital, I can just pick up some valuable things. When
I get to the capital, the old man can no longer control me.
You Miao lay on the bed for a day. When he thought about it, the anger that was previously blocked in his chest seemed to have found an outlet and all dissipated. He was still unwilling, but at this moment, it all turned into ridicule for the old man. Since he was a child, his maternal uncle's family had said it several times, and they could vaguely sense that You Dechuan didn't like his mother. But since You Miao was his only son, he didn't take it seriously...
Outside, the medicine jars were making a hissing sound, and You Miao suddenly felt hungry. He felt his stomach and asked, "Is there anything to eat?"
"Yes." Li Zhifeng answered proactively, which was rare. He glanced at him and said, "Drink the medicine first."
You Miao took the bowl, smiled and said, "I'll do it myself."
Li Zhifeng looked at You Miao. You Miao knew what he wanted to ask, and took the initiative to say, "Think it over. Don't make yourself angry."
Li Zhifeng didn't respond. He fed You Miao a candy and took the empty medicine bowl out. Mu Qier ran in from the outer room again and said with a smile, "Master, someone from the capital is here. He said it's your friend!"
You Miao frowned and stood up. He still felt dizzy when he got off the ground. Mu Qier hurriedly helped him out and said, "It's an official. He came all the way here without even a sip of water."
You Miao said, "Where is he?"
Mu Qier said, "He's in the main room."
You Miao was wrapped in an outer robe, his face still a little pale. He walked into the hall without waiting for the announcement. You Dechuan sat in the main seat, with a civil official sitting on his left, and another military officer sitting next to him. The military officer was wearing leather armor.
You Miao recognized the civil official as the county magistrate of Pei County, and the military officer only felt that his face was familiar, but he could not recognize who he was.
You Dechuan's voice was full of majesty, and he ordered: "You Miao, come and meet Lord Huang and Lord Nie."
"You Miao?" The county magistrate said with a smile.
You Miao bowed to the county magistrate, and kept looking at the military officer. Finally, he remembered and said, "You are the one from Jingji..."
The military officer was the lieutenant Nie Dan who had detained You Miao's carriage when he was leaving the city not long ago. At this moment, he nodded and said, "Yes, it is me."
You Dechuan taught him a lesson: "You Miao, why are you so rude?"
When You Miao was in the capital, he was hanging out with a group of playboys. When did he take these sixth-rank officers and soldiers seriously? However, although You Dechuan was rich, he had no official position. He had to salute when an official came. This is why You Dechuan wanted to send his son to the capital at all costs. Huang County Magistrate seemed to have heard something, and laughed, "I haven't seen you for several years, you have grown taller."
You Miao smiled, glanced at You Dechuan, and sat down in the second seat on the right. Nie Dan looked at You Miao like an eagle, and no one in the hall spoke for a while. You Dechuan said to Huang County Magistrate, "My son has been in Beijing for several years, and he doesn't even know the rules."
Huang County Magistrate smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay. Young people are naturally more excited and jumpy. I heard that the Third Prince likes You Miao some time ago and wants him to enter the palace as a companion..."
"Ah." You Dechuan sighed and shook his head and said, "He is still young, let's talk about it in a few years."
You Miao suddenly spoke and said to Nie Dan, "Did Li Yan ask you to come here?"
Nie Dan was silent for a long time, and then said, "When will you go to Beijing again?"
You Miao was angry. He answered the question irrelevantly and was so impolite. If it was in the capital, You Miao would scold him to death! However, as a high-ranking official, You Dechuan was superior to others. He shouted, "Why don't you answer Lord Nie's question?"
You Miao said, "I... Let's talk about it next year. Why did you come here?"