Lock and secure

Twenty miles outside Lin'an City, the early sun had already shone on the sunny side of the mountain on the official road, and a line of carriages and horses disappeared in a sea of white.

-

Dry post station.

"Hey, who is it? Stop knocking, I'm coming!"

"Wait, sir, don't open the door. Have you forgotten that you came here a few days ago..."

The door creaked open, and when the postmaster and the postman saw the person coming, they were stunned.

"General?"

Luo Yao looked at Bei Zhenting with a puzzled expression. The old postmaster grabbed Luo Yao with tears in his eyes. Bei Zhenting walked into the post station without any surprise.

Li Qingyun followed his master inside and patted the old postmaster on the shoulder before leaving. His expression was a little heavy. "Old Qian, this is our princess, not a general who protects the country."

The old man seemed not to hear what Li Qingyun said, and the postman looked at Luo Yao's face in disbelief.

Very similar, with similar body shape, but much thinner, and with the general's nose and eyebrows, and the lady's eyes.

Luo Yao looked at the prince standing in the yard, looking at him with a hint of pride on his face, and felt a little uncomfortable. This person at the post station must have been familiar with his parents before...

Time flew by, and the past three years had flown by in a flash. Those people and events of the past had long since vanished. During these three years, the world had changed, and the once prosperous, century-old Duke's Mansion had gradually withered and fallen into decay. Now, the Duke's Mansion no longer existed, yet surprisingly, someone still remembered their deceased parents, and the Duke's Mansion, remembering it so clearly.

"I'm Luo Yao, Mr. Qian, you've got the wrong person."

"Luo Yao... Luo Yao..." The old man muttered Luo Yao's name and hadn't reacted yet.

The postman standing by couldn't bear to see this and stepped forward to pull the postmaster away.

"Sir, this is the princess, the son of the general and his wife. The princess is of noble status..."

"Please don't be offended, Princess. The general always stayed at our dry post station when he went to the capital. Five years ago, the post station was attacked by bandits from the mountains. If the general and his wife hadn't come across and rescued us, my lord and I would have died five years ago."

"Sir, let's go. Let's prepare hot water and food. The prince and princess must be tired and hungry after the long journey." The postman bowed to Luo Yao and pulled the old man away.

The old man looked back at Luo Yao as he walked. Luo Yao smiled at him and then quickly turned away.

Luo Yao felt something in his heart, and his nose felt slightly sore.

The post station was very poor, and the only things served on the table were steamed buns and pickled radishes.

There was no particular requirement for sleeping outdoors, and everyone, including Luo Yao, just took the food and ate until they were full.

The war was urgent. Fighting broke out on the border two days ago. Bei Zhenqing hadn't taken any action, and the letters he sent on the road hadn't received any replies. Luo Yao hadn't heard from Bei Zhenqing for several months.

The hungry and cold people on the grassland rushed south like a pack of wolves. The starving people fought with the well-fed and warmly clothed people. One side fought for survival, risking their lives, while the other side had sufficient follow-up resources. The war was at a stalemate, and General Xu was the only one who was struggling to hold on under the remote command of Bei Zhenting.

They had been traveling non-stop for the past few days, with little time to stop and cook. When they were hungry, they would just eat some dry food and drink some cold water. They had been traveling like this for five days. Seeing that everyone was not feeling well, they stopped at this dry post to rest for a while. They had to continue their journey at dawn the next day.

The group sat at five tables, and everyone ate quietly without talking much.

I was enjoying my meal when suddenly the aroma of stewed chicken wafted over.

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they wanted to know if there was any meat to eat, no one dared to speak. Ever since the war broke out in the north, the prince's face had not been good. Even the princess who had been so kind and amiable in cooking for them had become heartless...

The ruthless Luo Yao stuffed his mouth with a mouthful of steamed bun and slurred his words: "Prince, is there any meat to eat? I smell the aroma of stewed old hen."

Bei Zhenting glanced at Luo Yao, reached out and wiped a small piece of dough from the corner of his mouth, and pushed the hot water in front of him, "Drink some water."

Luo Yao picked up the boiled water, took a sip, and sighed comfortably.

Many guards looked at them with gloomy eyes, and a few brave ones spoke up.

"I see no difference between the way the princess looks now and before. Could it be that we were seeing things wrong before?"

"You can't be wrong, the princess's cold face is scary..."

"I picked a wild pear in the mountains yesterday. When I was eating it on the way, the princess glared at me..."

"It's so terrible... terrible..." One person shook his head while chewing on a steamed bun.

"Really? Doesn't the princess look fine now?"

"Don't talk about this, I really smell the scent of an old hen..."

"Hey! I guess it's true. When I came in, I saw chickens in the woodshed. I guess the postmaster killed some for us to eat. Haha, he's a pretty nice old man."

Thinking about having chicken to eat, the guards slowed down their eating speed and waited for the chicken to be served.

After a while, the postmaster really brought up a pot of chicken and placed it on Luo Yao and Bei Zhenting's table...

The guards looked at the old postmaster eagerly. The old postmaster looked at Luo Yao with a face full of kindness, and did not pay any attention to the hungry eyes of the strong men.

"Hey, it looks like we won't get any chicken. Let's eat some pickles and go to bed."

Seeing Luo Yao smile after drinking the chicken soup, the old postmaster was overjoyed and left again. After a while, bowls of chicken were brought out.

Every table was given chicken.

"How many chickens did you kill, old man?"

"We killed all five. Although there is not much chicken, there is still a lot of it in the chicken soup pot. You officials have worked hard on the journey, so please don't despise me." The old postmaster smiled.

How could they dare to dislike it? They hadn't eaten anything with a hint of salt in a long time, let alone this chicken soup full of meaty flavor!

Although Hanzhou didn't snow, it was much colder than the south. The group traveled day and night for five days in this biting cold before finally returning indoors. Although they had arrived at the post station some time ago, their bodies and minds were still frozen. Now, a mouthful of chicken soup warmed their stomachs, and the chill dissipated.

After dinner, Luo Yao took a long-awaited hot bath, wrapped himself up like a dumpling and lay on the bed, watching Bei Zhenting work.

No one knew what he was writing. Bei Zhenting kept revising and rewriting for a long time. Luo Yao watched him write and fell asleep. When he woke up, Bei Zhenting had just finished writing.

"Are you still asleep?" Bei Zhenting took off his outer clothes.

"I just fell asleep and woke up again." Seeing Bei Zhenting was about to take off his clothes, Luo Yao closed his eyes and waited for a while. When he opened his eyes, Bei Zhenting had already come to the bed.

"Why are you closing your eyes? It's not like you haven't seen it before." Bei Zhenting touched his head.

Luo Yao shuddered and sat up. "We took a shortcut, but considering the time it took to get here from the capital, the past few days have already been a time for the thousand mechanisms to manifest. Your body..."

"It's okay. This is one of the reasons why I'm resting here today. I've already taken some medicine." Bei Zhenting sat down on the bed tiredly and lay down, pulling Luo Yao to lie down as well.

"Let me hug you."