Strong Winds Return Home

Outside Sanshui City, there were still many refugees gathered. They formed a meandering procession, making a lot of noise with their families in tow. The main gate of the city was tightly closed, and only a side door next to it was open, with several rebels asking for registration one by one. A slow hour passed, and the group didn’t see much forward movement.

A plainly dressed teenager ran to the front for a look, and then ran back, saying: “Ge, they’re dawdling a lot. It will take at least two hours for us to wait in line. You should drink some water first.”

“Tell me, what are they asking, why are they so slow?” Others in the procession heard it too, and complained one after another. The scene was immediately abuzz. One became ten, and ten became thirty, and a leader of the rebel army came over to reprimand loudly: “All of you, behave a little! Do you think we don’t want to hurry up? If we don’t check carefully and end up allowing Liang Yu’s lackeys to sneak in, who will be responsible for the safety of the city? It is our new emperor who is benevolent and can’t bear the poor people living outside, so he ordered the city to be opened. Now after only two days in line, you are so dissatisfied. The dog officials of the Yan Dynasty have locked up one city after another, why don’t you go make trouble for them?”

The procession was silent, no one daring to say anything. Only one young man said bitterly: “Those dog officials hoarded a whole city of food, but they couldn’t bear to release even a grain of millet. Pei!”

“That’s right! That’s why we came to join General Huang!”

“What General Huang, it’s ‘Emperor!’”

The crowd was astir, everyone shouting with arms raised. Naturally, the rebel leader would not stop them this time, but instead shouted a few slogans. Everyone around was shouting, so the boy from earlier had no choice but to raise his arms to also put on an act and say a few words. He was A-Ning, and together with Liu Xian’an and the other three guards, they had masked their identities with disguises. After living in the refugee camp for a few days, they had just received a number plate to enter the city.

Liu Xian’an was wrapped in a dirty gray robe, and his hair was also in a mess. He squatted on the ground with his back bent, hands clasped together, looking like he was so hungry that he couldn’t speak. It wasn’t until the voices condemning the Liang family gradually died down that he stood up feebly and stretched out his neck to look forward.

If not for the fact that Second Young Master Liu had washed up and changed his appearance this morning, the three guards would almost have thought they were following the wrong person. He played a timid country youth too realistically. While queuing up, there was a sudden commotion at the front, and someone seemed to be yelling for a doctor. A-Ning hurriedly raised his hand: “My brother and I are both doctors!”

The people made way for the two brothers, saying that someone seemed to have fainted. Liu Xian’an jogged all the way, and the rebels also gathered around to take a look. The unconscious person was an old woman. Her eyes were closed tightly, her whole body hot and convulsing. Liu Xian’an took out a silver needle to temporarily put a halt to her thrashing, saying afterwards, “I need a quiet and ventilated place quickly. What kind of medicine is there in the city?”

“You few, come to the front.” Although this leader of the rebel army looked ferocious, he didn’t make too much trouble, and ordered them to be inserted at the front of the line. After asking a few more questions, they were released into the city and told to make up for the registration after giving treatment.

Upon entering the city, A-Ning was taken aback. Among the three guards, Zhou Yi saw the dilapidated scenery before him and said: “I thought the city was a good place, but now it seems that it is no different from a refugee camp.”

There were people lying on both sides of the street, under the eaves, and even in the middle of the lane. Liu Xian’an said: “There is still one difference. They have food to eat.”

A few little children were holding cornbread in their hands, and were gnawing big mouthfuls. The adults around were greedy, but didn’t grab it, which was already much better than those outside the city.

The old woman was sent to an empty temple. Liu Xian’an continued acupuncture for her, and the rebels arranged for them to reside there. Not long after, someone brought a bag of rice and some old bedding. In the afternoon, the refugees who had just arrived in the city continued to be arranged, and by the time it got dark, the temple was almost too crowded to walk.

Many people ran to the street to breathe, and Liu Xian’an also walked around. A-Ning said: “This city is so messy.” There were so many people that it was like an old account book with yellowed curls, with all kinds of bad debts in it. It smelled musty, and anyone who opened it would feel dizzy.

“The refugees outside the city are still gathering, and there will only be more and more people here, and more and more chaos,” Liu Xian’an said. “Fortunately, the weather has turned cool. Otherwise, the summer heat and dirty environment, coupled with rampant mosquitos, rats, and ants, plague would breed sooner or later.”

“When I went to get medicine, there was a lot of chaos,” A-Ning said. “The medicinal herbs and food are piled up together, and should be the ones that the rebels stole before. There are too many to use up, and I could see that several packages of honeysuckle had begun to rot.”

Huang Wangxiang’s method for managing the city seemed to be simply sending out troops and letting them maintain order. And then, with a philanthropic attitude and lack of planning, all the displaced people in the world would be included under their command, relying on the food that was plundered everywhere before to create a temporary illusion of stability. Sewage flowed across the street, and many people crouched together with sallow faces. Liu Xian’an asked: “Did you encounter any difficulties when you went to gather the medicine today?”

“No, those people are mainly looking for food, and the medicinal herbs were piled up randomly,” A-Ning said. “I searched for it all myself, and no one cared. I also met another doctor on the way who was gathering medicine for himself too.”

“Then starting tomorrow, let’s build a medical shack in the temple,” Liu Xian’an said. “You and Brother Wang can just find some clear tables, chairs, and benches.”

“Okay,” A-Ning agreed. “I’ll go search.”

Liu Xian’an asked strangely: “What are you happy about?”

A-Ning smiled and said: “I was thinking that if the Village Master, Furen, and the First Young Master knew about this, how shocked they must be. Everyone must think that the Young Master is traveling with the prince at this time.”

But Liu Xian’an thought, it would be great to travel with the prince. That’s so great, ah, I want to go sightseeing.

A-Ning held his arm, and the two continued walking together: “But what we’re doing now is very meaningful.”

Liu Xian’an felt that traveling with Liang Shu was also very meaningful, not only meaningful, but interesting. He said to A-Ning: “When the world is stable, I will go to all the places from north to south, and east to west, with the prince.”

A-Ning was quite surprised. He thought that if the world was stable, the young master would definitely turn back into the precious lazy bastard he was before, but he didn’t expect that he had a plan to travel thousands of li.

Liu Xian’an continued to describe with great interest which mountains they would go to the first year, which rivers to go to the second year, and in the third year, they must climb a precipice and dangerous peak of more than 2,000 zhang. A-Ning’s legs and feet went weak, and he couldn’t help but interrupt at the tenth year to ask him: “Has the prince agreed?”

“I haven’t had time to tell the prince yet.”

“But the young master’s plan is so long, it will take almost half a lifetime,” A-Ning reminded him. “Even if the prince no longer needs to be stationed in the Northwest in the future, and becomes a rich and noble idler, he will still need to get married. If he gets married, how can he climb mountains and rivers all over the world with the young master?”

Liu Xian’an wondered, does he still want to get married?

He said: “But I think the prince seems to be the same as me, and has no interest in marrying.”

A-Ning shook his head: “The prince will definitely marry. Even if it is not the Third Young Lady, it will definitely be another princess or noble lady, and the emperor will grant a marriage.”

Liu Xian’an thought to himself, why does the emperor have so many things to worry about, like whether people get married or not, but my father doesn’t care about me.

A-Ning was still counting on his fingers the merits of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Although the prince had a very fierce and poor reputation, and may frighten some people away, he had a high position and authority, with countless military achievements at a young age, and was so tall and handsome. A-Ning said: “Right, Young Master, even among all the people in Dayan, the prince’s appearance can be ranked in the top one hundred.”

Liu Xian’an was dissatisfied: “Why in the top one hundred?”

A-Ning wondered, is the top one hundred not enough? Dayan had more than sixty million people. Liu Xian’an thought that he had to be at least number one.

“……Number one is also at least something.”

“Anyway, it’s number one.”

Just like that, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was pushed to the height of the most attractive man in Dayang.

A-Ning didn’t continue to argue, and just took the opportunity to answer, yes, the prince is the most good-looking in the world. Then there are even more people who will want to marry him, and the young master should change his plan to travel the world, ba. How about we go out and make more friends, which can also solve part of the problem.

Liu Xian’an reached out a hand to pinch his mouth shut, unwilling to discuss this matter any more: “I have to think about the prince’s marriage again.”

A-Ning was at a loss upon hearing this. What does the prince’s marriage have to do with us, why should we consider it? The young master should consider his own marriage. When we go back this time, the Furen will definitely bring it up again.

Liu Xian’an didn’t want to think about his own marriage, so he said seriously: “I also need to discuss this with the prince.”

This time, A-Ning didn’t ask, and directly went to test the temperature of his forehead. The two chased about on the street for a while, before they ran unknowingly to a brightly lit manor. Many soldiers patrolled back and forth with swords, and defenses were tight. When they saw someone approaching, they immediately shouted and signaled for them to leave quickly.

Liu Xian’an tugged at A-Ning’s sleeve and hastened to the other side of the alley. A-Ning said softly: “That’s where the rebel leader lives, right?”

“Yes, haven’t you noticed that there are still the words “Jinluan Palace’ hanging on the door?” Liu Xian’an said, “The city gate is up ahead. Look at that, the oil pots are burning and the whole sky is bright. I heard that in the beginning, there were no such tough defenses. Because the Yan army was gradually advancing, more and more sentries were set up on the city walls.”

“In that case, we had better go back first,” A-Ning said. “It took a lot of effort to sneak in, and hiding in an alley at night, it would be easy to be regarded as a thief—”

Before he could finish speaking, a chiding voice came from behind: “Who are you, what are you doing sneaking around here?”

A-Ning: “…….”

Liu Xian’an caught another important point.

If what you say comes true, then in the future, don’t casually mention that the prince has to marry someone else.