Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

Chapter 444 Sudden Appearance

Zhao Yan hurriedly asked, "Where is he?"

Yang Sanlang pointed to Dou Xingyan's place, "Brother Dou has taken his men to Xingyan's place first."

"Oh."

Zhao Yan responded softly, her tense mood temporarily relieved.

Thinking that everyone had only eaten half of their breakfast, she quickly said to Yang Sanlang, "In that case, let's go and finish our breakfast first. Xiaomi and the others haven't eaten much yet."

Yang Sanlang nodded and said, "Okay, you guys go eat first, I'll go check on Xingyan."

"it is good."

Zhao Yan responded and led Zhao Xiaomi and her two siblings back to the kitchen, where they sat down to eat breakfast quietly.

The sky is big and the earth is big, and eating is the biggest thing.

Next door next door.

Dou Xingyan was completely dumbfounded when she saw Dou Qingran suddenly appear.

Dou Qingran calmly sat down opposite her.

He smiled and said gently, "What's wrong? Are you surprised to see your brother?"

Shen Yu, who was standing next to Dou Xingyan, quietly tugged at her arm.

Dou Xingyan was pulled back to her senses.

Suppressing her surprise, she opened her mouth and asked, "Brother, what brings you here? If you come here... what will happen to the palace? Aren't you always so busy?"

Ever since her brother became emperor, every time she went to the palace to see him, she always found him so busy that he didn't even have time to eat.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't surprised when her brother suddenly appeared at the farm.

Dou Qingran calmly said, "You're overthinking it. I'm not busy right now. Besides, you two sneaked here without even saying goodbye. As your only relative, can't I come out of the palace to see you?"

He glanced sideways at Shen Yu.

"Or do you not welcome me?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, it's only right for Big Brother to come and see Xingyan whenever he wants."

He secretly winked at Dou Xingyan, "Xingyan, don't you think so?"

Dou Xingyan subtly pursed her lips and nodded perfunctorily.

"Well, come if you want. I didn't say you couldn't come. There are plenty of rooms here, you can stay wherever you like."

She winked at Dou Qingran and said smugly, "How is it? Is it warm in the room?"

"It's quite warm."

Dou Qingran nodded, her eyes scanning the room. She couldn't make heads or tails of it, but she knew that it was definitely warmer inside than outside.

He couldn't help but ask, "Is there something special about this room? How come it's so warm?"

It was even warmer than his bedroom in the palace.

In just that short time, he felt a slight sweat starting to break out on the back of his neck.

Upon hearing this, Dou Xingyan raised her chin slightly and said with a hint of pride, "That's because Sister Zhao specially had a heated kang bed built in this room. Once the kang bed is lit, not only my small room, but even your royal palace bedroom will be as warm as this."

Dou Qingran frowned in surprise, "A heated kang bed?"

What is this?

Yang Sanlang rushed over at this moment and hurriedly explained to him, "A kang is a large kang, but it is not solid. It is hollow inside and connected to the outside through a fire wall. In winter, as long as firewood is burned outside, the heat of the fire will be transmitted to the kang through the fire wall. When the kang is warm, people will not be afraid of the cold when they sleep at night."

“Some people here use heated brick beds in winter. Yan’er thought that there were elderly people and children in her family, so when she built the house, she installed heated brick beds in the bedrooms.”

Dou Qingran suddenly realized what was going on after hearing this.

"I see, that's a good method."

Yang Sanlang paused for a moment, then said, "The heated kang has one drawback: it wastes firewood."

If they weren't relatively close to the mountains, the firewood alone would have been a major headache for them.

Dou Qingran probably thought of this as well, and simply nodded before moving on to the next topic.

He wasn't short of money, but the palace was so large, and each palace had existed for a long time; it seemed inappropriate for him to rashly demolish and rebuild it.

Forget it.

He should just make do.

Dou Xingyan was unaware of the situation in the palace and kept telling her brother about the benefits of the heated kang bed.

Finally, she said, "Brother, after we return to the capital after the New Year, I've decided to install a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) in the Dou residence as well. Uncle Yuan said that sleeping on a heated kang is the best thing in winter."

She blinked and asked innocently, "Brother, do you want someone to build a few heated kang beds where you are? Don't you always say it's too cold in winter? Why don't you build a few heated kang beds? With heated kang beds, you won't be afraid of the cold."

Dou Qingran said helplessly, "I'm a man, I don't need that thing."

Even if he wanted to build a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), he couldn't do it; the scale of the palace construction was immense.

However, it is possible for Xingyan to have a heated kang bed installed at the Dou residence where she lives.

Seeing that he didn't mean it, Dou Xingyan stopped trying to persuade him and instead asked him about the purpose of his visit to the farm.

"Brother, besides wanting to see us, what exactly did you come to the farm for?"

We can't just be here to see them, can we?

Don't tell me yet.

Dou Qingran's secret trip out of the palace this time wasn't just to visit them.

He shook his head and chuckled, saying helplessly, "It's nothing, I just sneaked out of the palace for some fresh air and happened to come see you all. You don't believe me?"

Dou Xingyan's eyes flickered, and she nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Of course! You're usually so busy, who would expect you to come to the farm at this time? The New Year is just over ten days away."

Every year during the Spring Festival, Emperor Dou Qingran had even more things to deal with, and no one could have predicted that he would come to the farm at this time.

Yang Sanlang smiled and asked, "Brother Dou, you came so early. You must not have had much rest last night, right? Why don't you come to my place for something to eat and then rest for a while?"

Dou Qingran waved his hand at him and said, "It's alright. I slept in the carriage for the first half of the night. It just started snowing in the middle of the night, and we were afraid of getting stuck on the road, so we traveled overnight."

Shen Yu, who was standing to the side, gave Dou Xingyan a meaningful look.

So, they actually didn't get much rest.

When Dou Xingyan saw the look Shen Yu was giving her, she paused for a moment, then suddenly pushed Dou Qingran away.

"No, brother, as the emperor, you must eat and sleep properly. Come on, I'll take you to eat, and then we'll go to sleep."

Dou Qingran was both amused and exasperated by her younger sister's anxious appearance.

He was in charge of the vast Nguyen Dynasty, and every day he was busy until midnight before he could rest.

He had long been accustomed to sleeping only a few hours a day.

However, after his sister said that, he did feel a little sleepy.

So he had no choice but to say to Dou Xingyan, who was trying to pull him out of the room, "Xingyan, don't rush, I'm not hungry yet. Take me to my room first."

Dou Xingyan was afraid he wasn't telling the truth, so she looked at him suspiciously: "You're really not hungry?"

Dou Qingran replied earnestly, "I'm not hungry at all. I ate in the car."

After hearing this, Dou Xingyan stopped insisting on pulling him out the door.

"Alright then, come with me, I'll take you to the backyard."