The territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty is vast, and it is a very long process whether it is to investigate the population or send secret guards to find clues.

At this time, Anping Changle had already traveled day and night, and finally arrived at the pre-determined small village. This was a small village they selected thousands of times. It was a few hundred miles away from the capital. The sky was high and the emperor was far away. The mountains and rivers were beautiful. It was just because the surrounding mountains were long and the journey was difficult and it was not connected to the outside world. So I could only rely on the mountains to earn the mountains. I couldn't be considered very rich.

They came in early winter. Changle Anping has been in the palace for so many years, and he is impeccable in his work. After arriving in the village, he first went to visit the village chief and fabricated a pitiful life experience, saying that he was leaving his hometown and could not go back to his hometown. He stuffed a lot of things as gifts. The village chief thought for a long time, and he shouldn't have taken in these unknown people, but this winter is really difficult. These people don't look like bad people, so they are also considered as default.

Changle is only half of his heart.

The village was halfway up the mountain, with not many flat and open places, and there was not much land suitable for building houses, but winter had come and could not sleep on the ground, so the village chief decided to lend a broken house that had already been wiped out to Changle. Changle invited the villagers to have a banquet and repaired it again, and it was safe to live in peace.

Qiao Yu's health was still not very good. He coughed for half a autumn on the road, and couldn't blow the cold wind. He was still taking medicine. Changle Anping saved some money in the palace for so many years, but he spent almost the same time. Changle was a very planner and could not let the family of three sit and eat with a cat, so he went to the tavern in the town to find a chef's job. He came from the palace, had excellent cooking skills and was very good at being a human being. Soon he was in the kitchen like a fish, and earned silver and could subsidize most household expenses. In addition to Qiao Yu's medicine money, he still had to pay for his original savings.

As Anping stays at home to do miscellaneous work, Qiao Yu also needs someone to take care of her. For the sake of their future life, they have to save their lives. The food is ordinary home-cooked dishes, two dishes and one soup, and only one meat dish. There is not much. Anping and Changle don’t move their chopsticks much. They want to leave them all for Qiao Yu, but Qiao Yu will divide them into three parts by himself and put them into their bowls one by one. The rice is also brown rice, and they will have to hold their throats when swallowed. However, Qiao Yu is not picky at all. She tries to herself every day, just wanting to make herself fatter and go to see Jing Yan earlier.

The weather was getting colder and colder. Qiao Yu held New Year's Eve and said nothing, she lay on the windowsill every day, looking at the path down the mountain outside.

After a few days, Changle rested and couldn't stay at home, so he wanted to go to the town to buy things. It was originally supposed to be Anping going down the mountain to help him, but Changle refused. He turned his head and looked at Qiao Yu, "Xiaoyu, please accompany me."

Qiao Yu was stunned for a moment, put the New Year's Eve down and stood up. He had eaten a lot these days and had almost good health. After growing some meat, he was not skinny and boneless. He wore a grey cotton jacket, because the material inside was not very good, so he could only rely on thick and warmth. The clothes made Qiao Yu fatten a lot when wearing them. Fortunately, he was born well, with black hair and no tied up, and he hung softly in front of him, making his skin whiter and his chin become sharper. Even if he wore that dress and looked over, he could be regarded as a village flower, the most beautiful one in the village.

Changle carried the basket, led Qiao Yu, greeted the neighbors around him, and walked down the mountain. It was only halfway up the mountain, but the mountain road was narrow and rugged and steep, so it took a lot of effort to go down. Changle was a person who was used to physical work and walked very easily. Even if Qiao Yu had been a young eunuch for six years, he had never done any hard work. What's more, he went to the Xianlin Palace and lived in peace for a year. He was seriously injured not long ago. His steps were very slow and he couldn't keep up. Changle walked straight down without waiting for him.

Qiao Yu was so tired that he was panting, just chasing Changle, but he didn't notice his feet. He accidentally stepped on a stone. Fortunately, he held the dead tree beside him and did not fall, but his hand seal was cut and red.

Changle finally stopped. He stood in the distance, slightly turned half of his body, very cold, "Xiaoyu, do you know how many difficult roads are there to go from here to the capital? It's not like now, there are still people with you, no one will accompany you, you only have one person, many dangers, many hardships, you can't do it. Why do you still have to go? So many dangers, no matter which one, can kill you."

He was telling the truth.

Qiao Yu raised his head. He was very tired, but he smiled desperately, thought for a moment, and said seriously: "I know this, and I also know that you are all thinking about me. But when I think of the end of this road, His Highness stood a hundred times more courageous and no longer afraid."

Changle didn't believe it. He always felt that Qiao Yu was tempted and coerced, so he would not have any sincerity.

Qiao Yu pursed her lips. They were friends of life and death. He didn't want Changle Anping to misunderstand Jing Yan, so he told him about his past events.

The winter wind was blown, Qiao Yu's cheeks were red from the cold, and the tip of her nose looked like a ripe fruit. Her voice was very calm, not like talking about her own affairs. "I am the Qiao family. I heard that my family is very famous in Longnan. I can't remember it, because when I was eight years old, the family encountered a robber when they went to burn incense, and none of them stayed. I was greedy for the apricot blossoms in the temple and escaped. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't think about it at that time, and my aunt Feng Nannan was taken to the palace by her aunt. She seemed to have a grudge with the Queen, and the Queen seemed to have a grudge with my mother again. The relationship inside was so messy that I couldn't figure it out, so I was sent to the Queen's place, probably to vent my anger. I was very scared at that time. But the Queen was a very good person, and she treated me very well."

Changle was stunned. He had never heard of these things, because he was not what a little eunuch in an imperial kitchen should have known.

Qiao Yu paused, and his voice suddenly became warm from this moment, soft and sweet. "It was a summer night. I caught fireflies by the small pond behind the palace courtyard. I couldn't catch them. When I turned around, I met a little brother. He was so beautiful, much taller than me. He walked towards me, and his expression on his face was a little fierce. I was sad at that time because I couldn't catch fireflies, and I was afraid that he would scold me, so I took the initiative and begged him to help me catch fireflies. He agreed that that night, I helped me catch a cage of fireflies, which was flashing and bright, and beautiful. He was Your Highness, Jing Yan, and later mine, my sweetheart."

He couldn't help but smile and thought that the first time he met Jing Yan was probably destined.

Changle frowned tightly, and he heard Qiao Yu continue, "Your Highness treat me well. No one is so kind to me except my grandmother. I like him very much. Later, in the 17th year of Yuande, when something big happened that year, the Empress was imprisoned. The people of the Eastern Palace were panicked, and the Imperial Guards wanted to clear all the palace servants out. Your Highness asked me to change the clothes of the little eunuch, hide in the eunuch's house, and also ordered many things. I can't remember it, so I remember that he said he would not meet again in the future."

He was so sad at that time, but for the first time he didn't listen to Jing Yan's words, "I can't see him. The eunuch's office wanted to pick someone to take care of His Highness. I volunteered to go there. Fortunately, no one was discovered and went in smoothly. I confessed my feelings to His Highness and stayed there. I was stupid at that time and didn't know anything. Now I think about it, Your Highness had arranged the way at that time. If I didn't go to find him, the fate would be broken, but I went, so I'm here."

Qiao Yu lowered her head and stopped talking. Changle took a few steps forward and heard Qiao Yu pressing her voice down. The tone was very light, but it was very firm. "I always knew what I wanted. I knew to chase what I wanted since I was a child and ignorant. Did I live the more I grew up?"

So even if he is afraid or timid, he will continue to move forward and go to the place where Jingyan is present.

Changle seemed very shocked. He didn't expect that there was such a past and relationship between them, deep and heavy. He sighed and asked, "Do you believe in him so much and admire him?"

In his opinion, the status between Jing Yan and Qiao Yu is unequal. Jing Yan can easily say that he likes it because he hates it, because there is no burden to abandon it when he hates it. What's more, a man falls in love with a man, which is contrary to secular rules. Qiao Yu is different. He has only one person, no power or power. As long as Jing Yan is willing, he will be imprisoned in the deep palace. But Qiao Yu is not a person who is greedy for power. He actually gets nothing from Jing Yan, so Changle stubbornly thinks that they will not have good results.

But now it's different, his mind has changed.

Changle said: "I am not you. No matter how sincere you speak, you can't believe in the feelings of the nobles in the deep palace. But it is precisely because I am not you that I can't make a decision for you. But Anping and I are your good friends. If you really want to go back, only that person can make you really happy, and I will support you."

Qiao Yu was stunned for a while. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and swallowed for a while, "Why are you so good?"

It is said that the palace is ruthless, but he always becomes a better person.

Changle smiled gently and pulled Qiao Yu to get up, "Because Xiaoyu is also very good."

Since he said that he had opened, Changle has planned for Qiao Yu's future journey. He wanted to ask Qiao Yu to stay for a winter. When the weather gets warmer next year, the road will be easier, but Qiao Yu doesn't want to do so. He misses Jing Yan too much. He becomes stubborn and Changle has no choice but to continue to arrange plans, save money, make winter clothes, and make dry food. Qiao Yu insists on running and exercising every day to prevent him from falling on the road.

By the time Qiao Yu was really about to leave, it was already winter. He wore a good dress that was considered light and warm, with a layer of long-lasting coarse cloth on his head, a small package on his back, and another set of clothes inside, folded bedding and dry food water bags, and silver was placed in close-fitting clothes. A few days ago, for the sake of household registration, Changle spent almost all his savings, and had no money to hire Qiao Yu in a carriage, so he had to walk to the capital with his legs.

When he left, Qiao Yu's face was frozen in tears. Anping gave him hot water to wash his face. He was not familiar with walking outside and had to work hard to educate Qiao Yu.

Changle looked at Qiao Yu's thin figure hidden among the mountains, patted Anping on the shoulder, and whispered: "Go back, it's too cold outside."

Qiao Yu has his own way to go, and they also have their own lives to live.

The mountains are high and the rivers are long, so I probably can't meet again in this life.

Qiao Yu had a particularly difficult journey. He was spoiled and had never suffered any pain. But now it is different. He had to hurry up during the day. If he sleeps in the wilderness and encounters wild beasts and robbers, he would have no way to escape.

But it may not be necessary. Qiao Yu took a kettle to fetch water and took a look at herself on the water. She was thin and black, with only a handful of bones left on her body. It was probably even wild beasts felt that it was too bad for her teeth.

He finally walked out of the mountains. The winter wind made people's face hurt. Qiao Yu rushed up against the wind. In the afternoon, the sun completely disappeared and snowflakes fell on the gray sky.

This is the first snowfall this winter.

Qiao Yu found a dilapidated temple to shelter from snow. He skillfully set fire and shrank into the straw pile to keep warm. The jumping flames illuminated his wet eyes, and his eyelashes were thick and slender, and a piece of blue gray fell on his eyes.

He took a sip of cold water, and shook for a while. Suddenly, he remembered that at this time last year, he was happily eating snacks with his Aci and playing chess against Chuxue. His chess level had improved a lot at that time, and the winning and losing between him and Jing Yan was also 55. On that day, he won two games in three games and defeated Jing Yan, and he could make a request. In fact, he already liked Jing Yan very much at that time, but he didn't understand his intentions. After thinking about what conditions he should put forward for a long time, he finally said that he hoped Jing Yan would not be so tired.

The past is so happy.

Qiao Yu stared at the flames and didn't understand at all. It took him a long time to wipe his cheeks with the back of his hand, full of cold tears. In fact, after leaving Changle Anping, no matter how much he suffered and fell, he never dared to cry, because he was afraid that he would unwind his strength and could no longer hold on and could not hold on.

Until this moment, he comforted himself in his heart and could not indulge himself in crying loudly.

He thought that when he returned to the capital, he must tell Jing Yan how hard he worked, how tired and sad he was before he walked to the other party. But as he thought about it, he felt that this would make Jing Yan too sad, so he reduced the pain he was suffering now little by little, and finally he was only going to talk about the mountains and rivers along the way.

Because Qiao Yu knew that separation was too bitter, and when we met, we would just say it was sweet.

He made an agreement with him.

After the snow, the weather became colder and the journey became more difficult. Qiao Yu walked very slowly. After finally reaching a larger county town, he finally agreed to stay with the beggars in the dilapidated temple for one night. He left the agreement the next day, but the city was blocked with heavy snow and there was no way to go. Qiao Yu still had some money on him, but it was all for the future. He couldn't take it out to stay in the inn now, so he had to discuss with the beggars again. Those people looked fierce, but in fact they were not too embarrassed, so they didn't make things difficult for Qiao Yu. He just pretended not to see him, and even invited Qiao Yu to beg for dinner.

Qiao Yu is a child of a noble family from Zhongming Dingshi Family. He couldn't do this and thought that it was not a solution to live in vain, so he had to go out to find a job. He had never done a job and was not very strong. He just carried a sandbag and fell down and couldn't even do a job of selling hard work. He was strolling on the street with sorrow, and he was strolling alone in the study in front of him. Now the printing skills of each family are different, some are good and some are bad, and it is easy to print them in poor places like this, especially fine books such as paintings, which must be filled in later by special painters to fill in the gaps before they can be sold.

He saw the man drawing the book, and couldn't help but stop and look at it. The shopkeeper of the study could see him like a little beggar squatting there, and he didn't come. He just waited until dawn and the number of people gradually increased before he asked the waiter who ran the errand to leave for the time being, otherwise the bookkeeper would not dare to enter.

Qiao Yu heard this and said, "I'm looking at what he is doing. He doesn't draw well. I can draw well, and I'm better than him."

He had too little experience outside and was very good at speaking. He almost got beaten. The painter also had a competitive temperament and insisted on comparing it. As a result, Qiao Yu painted better than him.

The shopkeeper looked at the whole process. He didn't care about Qiao Yu's appearance and asked, "There are too many paintings now. Are you willing to stay here? Do you want to help me?"

Qiao Yu is naturally willing.

The study school gave not much money, but it was not much, and it also included food and accommodation. It was just right for Qiao Yu. He was still very honest and said that he couldn't do it for long, and he would leave when the snow stopped and the road could be left. The shopkeeper didn't mind, just let him do things with peace of mind.

Qiao Yu's painting skills are really excellent. Even if he just tracing and coloring, it is much more vivid than others. After reading it for a few days, the shopkeeper suddenly took a text message and asked Qiao Yu to give him a picture and agreed to share the profit in the future. But Qiao Yu didn't share the profit. He just needed to get more money and he could save enough money to hire a carriage as soon as possible.

In order to make money, Qiao Yu can almost be called "all the time and night". He was painting behind the study. The young man in the store also came to see him. Once, he suddenly said, "Mr. Chen, I think your painting always looks familiar, and it looks very similar to Mr. Yuqiao's paintings. Did you learn from Mr. Yuqiao?"

Jing is a noble surname. After the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Jing surname except the royal family was changed, so the common people could not use it. Qiao Yu gave himself a pseudonym, named Chen Ci.

Qiao Yu paused his pen and almost fell a drop of thick ink. His ears turned red. He couldn't help but ask excitedly: "Do you know Mr. Yuqiao?"

The young man said with all his strength: "Of course I know! I heard that Mr. Yuqiao has excellent painting skills, so he has forgotten all of this. His people are very good. This summer, our hometown has flooded and my parents have drowned. Only one of my little sisters and I are almost unable to survive. It was Mr. Yuqiao who donated rice and grain with his own royalties, which made us survive. Not only us, I heard that Mr. Yuqiao donated many places and saved many people. Mr. Yuqiao saved the world and the people, and he was really a great person."

Qiao Yu's ears all turned cold, and he stuttered: "Maybe, maybe Mr. Yuqiao is not that good either..."

When he said this, he felt a daze. The money was indeed donated by Qiao Yu. He was bored in the palace and could only draw these paintings. It was useless to take the money sold, so Jing Yan arranged to spend it. He did not expect that his unintentional actions would save so many lives, but he could not bear the gratitude of those people because he knew that he was not such a good person.

After hearing this, the young man was no longer as kind as usual. He said with a cold face: "Why is Mr. Yuqiao not good! Tell me!"

Qiao Yu didn't dare to say bad things about Mr. Yuqiao. He always felt that if he said it, the gentle little brother in front of him would immediately turn against him. He had to say vaguely: "It's nothing, my paintings, my paintings are just to learn from Mr. Yuqiao's life. I don't know what kind of person he is."

Again, under the other party's eye, he added a little less sincerely, "I guess he is a very good person."

He knew what kind of person he was, and when faced with the like and respect of these people, he became more and more ashamed that he should not get these things.

Qiao Yu had been tired all day and fell on the bed, still thinking about this. He thought for a long time, and felt that he still did not have the saving of Mr. Yuqiao in their eyes. He could not give all his own rewards, but he still divided his reward into three. One was the living needs of the next few days, one was the money he saved in carriage, and the other was the most used to buy winter things for the little beggars in the dilapidated temple. In fact, he would have bought some leftover steamed buns, porridge and other food every day, but now he wanted to do more.

He wanted to be better, at least not let down those people's gratitude too much.

The snow fell for too long, and it was almost a disaster. Qiao Yu drew several texts for the study. The first one sold it. He took another money and finally saved enough money to buy winter clothes for the beggars and enough money to hire a carriage next.

But at this time, it was too close to the New Year, and no groom was willing to leave his hometown and not spend the New Year with his family. Qiao Yu had no choice but to stay here. It was the first time he had spent the New Year alone in the past ten years.

It snowed on the New Year's Eve, and Qiao Yu led the young man's sister out to play. The little girl couldn't walk when she looked at the candy man and said, Qiao Yu bought one for her. After hesitating for a while, he also bought one himself. In the past few months, Qiao Yu was so sweet that he couldn't bear to bite and eat it, and licked it carefully with his tongue.

When the guy came out to find them, the two of them sat under the locust tree not far away, one big and one small, but their movements were exactly the same, and they didn't look much older.

He held the fireworks in his hand and stuffed them one of them. He lit them carefully when it was dark. He turned around and burned them all. The young man looked at Qiao Yu and smiled and said, "It's the new year soon. By the way, the shopkeeper said yesterday that it was the 21st year of Yuande."

The 21st year of Yuande.

Qiao Yu was stunned. This was wrong. How could it be the 21st year of Yuande. His Highness should have ascended the throne. He changed his year name. This year was the first year. Even if this place is remote and far from the capital, it is still a county town. If he changed the year name of the emperor, he would never be unaware of it.

Before this, Qiao Yu never thought that Jing Yan would fail. It was not that he deliberately did not think about it, but that he always felt that as long as Jing Yan wanted to do, there was no reason that he could not do it.

But now he suddenly became a little scared. He was so scared that he was not at all happy on New Year's Eve. He hid in the quilt, biting the corner of his clothes and shivering tears.

Even though he was dying several times, he had never been so scared, his heart tightened into a ball and could not even breathe.

Through the narrow gap between the quilt, he could see the subtle firelight outside, blurring into a vague area.

In the palace.

Perhaps because there was too much happening last year, there was no New Year atmosphere in the palace, and a few red cloth and red lanterns were symbolically hung, and the rest was still very solemn.

Jing Yan walked out of the dungeon, and his body was filled with blood. Half a month before the New Year, he finally caught Chen Sang and his confidants in the jar and locked them up in the dungeon. Chen Sang's mouth was very tight, maybe he knew that he would die if he heard the news about Qiao Yu. He was speechless in a vague way and changed every day. The confidants were unaware of it, so they could only interrogate them over and over again. During this period, they didn't know how many people died, and even today, several corpses were pulled out for the New Year.

Jing Yanyu was cold and careless. He looked at these people and did not regard them as a life, not even Chen Sang. He felt that he could leave Chen Sang with a complete body, and probably would not let Queen Chen down.

He only ate a few bites of noodles from morning to night, and read the notes for most of the day. The news about Qiao Yu was nothing big and small, and he personally examined it. After reading it, he interrogated Chen Sang's gangsters. Now he should be extremely tired, but his back is still straight. The lengthened shadow is extremely thin, and he is almost completely disfigured. He did not go to the Daming Palace to handle government affairs, nor did he return to the Xianlin Palace. He opened his mouth and his voice was still hoarse, but he could speak at least, and his pronunciation was clear, "Go to the Taiqing Palace."

Sheng Hai hurriedly held an umbrella for Jing Yan, walking along the way in the heavy snow, and even the cloak fell into the snow. Taiqing Palace is the most deserted place in the palace, with no festive red, and the surroundings are light and cold.
To be continued...