A piece of Japanese incense

"Ah He, I finally found you! Why did you get here?"

Zhi Yihe rubbed his sleepy eyes, and the face of the person in front of him gradually became clear: "Zhi Xu?"

Feng Zhixu waved his palm in front of her eyes: "Hey! Are you sleepy? Let's go!"

"where to?"

Feng Zhixu groaned, took her hand and trotted a few steps: "The bell has rung three times, aren't you afraid that Master Sun will punish you by making you copy the Book of Rites again?"

Zhi Yihe shook off his hand, not understanding the situation: "Wait! Are we... going to class?"

"What else? You're not going to skip class, are you? That's not okay! If Grandpa Huang finds out, he'll definitely break my legs!"

"Grandpa Huang?"

Feng Zhixu raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "What's wrong with you? Are you still confused? Go back to class! We'll have fun again when you return home from the palace tomorrow!"

"Leave the palace...and go home?!"

"Didn't you say it yourself? Your shop has developed something new - seven-piece snack? Oh! Oh, right! Don't forget to bring me one too! Only one! Otherwise, Ah Qi will snatch it from me again!"

"Aren't you all still imprisoned in the palace..." Zhi Yihe was confused for a moment.

"Oh~ You are talking about that matter! My royal grandmother led the Yan family army to attack the imperial city and had already crushed the rebels!" Feng Zhixu raised his head proudly.

"Then...how did we deal with the rebels?" Zhi Yihe asked worriedly.

"Of course they will be beheaded in the streets, and their tendons will be pulled out and their skin will be peeled off!" Feng Zhixu said in a cold tone.

Zhi Yihe was horrified: "How cruel! Where are their bodies? Where is Hefeng?"

"Hefeng? It's here!" Feng Zhixu suddenly pulled out a bloody head from behind. Hefeng's eyes were bleeding, his mouth was wide open, and he stared at her blankly.

Zhi Yihe suddenly woke up, his clothes soaked with sweat, the fear from the dream still lingering in his eyes, his heart was beating like a drum, his breathing was rapid, his pupils were dilated, and he looked around.

"Ouch! The girl is awake! But is she having a nightmare?"

Zhi Yihe's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and his hair was stuck to his forehead, looking disheveled.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, her heart still beating wildly: "Well, yes, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."

"Hey~ Little girl, you must have suffered a lot along the way! Don't worry! We will definitely be able to take you to Sanchuan. Then, just follow us until you find your brother! Oh!"

Zhi Yihe smiled shyly, and her breathing gradually became steady, but the uneasiness and fear in her heart could not be calmed for a long time.

"You must be hungry! Have a pancake!"

Zhi Yihe thanked him repeatedly and took the cake with both hands. This cake was like old leather that had been forgotten in the desert sun for several days, hard and dry.

She took a bite, and the cake broke into pieces in her mouth, releasing not flavor but sharp taste. She felt that every time she swallowed, she needed to mobilize all the water in her body to barely push the unruly dryness into her throat.

Xige'er stared at the cake in her hand. Zhi Yihe saw his eagerness and was eager to make a move, so he handed the cake to him: "Little boy! Here you go!"

Xiger took it with surprise and was about to eat it, but her mother snatched it away: "Didn't you just finish eating the earthen steamed bun? Why are you so greedy?" After that, she handed the oven cake to Zhiyihe.

When Zhi Yihe heard that there were other foods, he quickly declined: "If Xige wants to eat, then give it to Xige! Sister! What is earthen steamed bun? Can I have a taste?"

"Do you want to eat earthen steamed bun?" The woman grabbed a handful of yellow dough in the shape of a Wangzai steamed bun from a cloth bag beside her and stuffed it into her hand.

"It's so crunchy! And it has a nice earthy flavor! What is it made of, sister?" Zhi Yihe asked curiously.

Xi Ge'er answered quickly: "It's made of Guanyin soil mixed with flour. I hate eating this the most. When our neighbor Dianzi went to the army, he took the earthen steamed buns with him. They were more delicious! They were all added with sesame and fennel!"

Zhi Yihe twitched for a moment and asked weakly, "Guanyin soil...it can't...really be soil...right?"

"Yes! I climbed up the cliff and carved it with my own hands!" Xiger touched the tip of his nose confidently.

Zhi Yihe forced herself to swallow the earthen steamed bun in her mouth with great difficulty. She would never eat the one left in her hand even if she was beaten to death.

The woman took the earthen steamed bun from her hand with understanding, and handed her the oven cake: "Girl, you may not be used to it, so you should eat this."

Zhi Yihe smiled awkwardly holding the cake in her hand, not knowing whether to eat it or not. She secretly made up her mind that when she arrived in Sanchuan, she would definitely take her family to have a good meal, with fish and meat of course, and as for the earthen steamed bun, she would just throw it as far as she could!

As Xiger asked again and again, "When will we arrive?", they finally arrived at Sanchuan City.

The towering city walls are built of blue bricks and huge stones. Arrow towers and watchtowers are set up at regular intervals on the walls. There are two city gates, the outer gate is an iron gate, and the inner gate is a gate that can be closed quickly.

The city is surrounded by a broad moat, which is bottomless and serves as a natural defense barrier as well as a water source in times of war. A suspension bridge is built over the river, which is used for passage in peacetime and can be quickly retracted in times of war to cut off the enemy's invasion path.

"My dog ​​dad really knows how to choose a place." Zhi Yihe muttered to himself as he stepped into Sanchuan City.

"Sister, what are you talking about?" Xiger had become familiar with her in the past few days. As soon as he got off the car, he held her hand and wandered around in a curious manner.

"It's okay! I'm looking for a pawnshop!" Zhi Yihe looked around and decided to change the money first and have a good meal before making any plans. She had been eating oven-baked cakes and dried meat these days, and her cheeks were sore from chewing them.

While Sister Xiangxiang and Brother Zhuangshi were busy asking around for the whereabouts of Aunt Xiger, the two of them walked leisurely in front of the carriage, touching here and looking there, feeling very comfortable.

Zhi Yihe saw a pawnshop, so he turned around and shouted, "Sister Xiangxiang, I don't think we can find it for a while, why don't we find a restaurant and enjoy a good meal first! I'll treat you!"

They argued for a while, but finally followed her wishes and walked into a restaurant. Zhuangshige pawned her coral, turquoise and gold bracelet, and Zhiyihe did not care about the silver, but only took out a silver ingot and put it on the table, and ordered the waiter to serve all the fine wine and delicacies.

After eating and drinking, they continued on their journey to find their relatives.

After Zhi Yihe entered the city, she quietly put on the white jade inlaid pink tourmaline ring on her hand so that people who wanted to emulate her could see it. However, as she walked along the way, she also saw people contacting her.

"Hey! Are you the only ones looking for Wang's second child?" Several figures walked out of the dim alley. The leader was a burly man with a broad back and strong arms. He was followed by two younger brothers. One was tall and thin, agile, with a cunning gleam in his eyes; the other was short and strong, with heavy steps, and he seemed to feel the slight tremor of the ground with every step.

Zhi Yihe could clearly see that they were not good people, so he spoke with some authority: "Go away! What Wang family, what Li family? We are here to pay a visit to the county magistrate. My brother is working in the government office. You guys should leave immediately!"

Several people burst into laughter when they heard that. Zhi Yihe felt something was wrong and hurriedly pulled the carriage to leave. Unexpectedly, the short and strong thug picked up Xiger and ran into the depths of the alley.

Brother Zhuangshi chased after him. Seeing this, Zhiyihe handed the reins to Sister Xiangxiang and followed.

Zhi Yihe took out a dagger from the package, hid it in his sleeve, and chased after him relentlessly, but found that there were more than three opponents, and there were more than a dozen people attacking him from the front and back.

Zhi Yihe thought it was not good, but he had no way to retreat, so he could only shout stubbornly: "What do you want? We are from a poor family, so we don't need you to go to such great lengths!"

"You are poor?" One of them showed a coral turquoise gold bracelet and smiled cunningly: "This bracelet is enough for the food supply of the whole city for a month, and you are still poor?! Humph! Young lady! I see that you have a lot of treasures on your chest~"

A dozen people slowly approached them. Zhi Yihe knew that even if he offered all his property, they would not give up easily, so he lied, "You figured this out! Well then! I'll tell you, I have plenty of treasures like this!"

"real or fake?"

"If you don't believe me, forget it!" Zhi Yihe took out two gold hairpins from the package and threw them to the man: "Let my brother go first, I will take you to the bank to withdraw the silver!"

Seeing that they were still doubtful, Zhi Yihe decided to try to lure them out of the alley first.