Chapter 199 Qin Nu and Princess Hua Both of them were almost awakened and stood up immediately. "Brother!" The junior sister faced him and pointed at the open space: "Where's Third Senior Brother?" "Don't rush!" Lin Jue was also surprised and confused, and looked around. The rain had stopped by now, but there were still traces of rain in the surrounding soil and on the grass, and the air was still moist. Only the small area where they were was dry. There was nothing around, and what happened last night seemed like just a dream. But how could I dream of losing a senior brother? Not only was the third senior brother missing, but even his horse and his bag were missing.
"Mmmmm~" The fox also leaped up, riding the wind lightly, several feet high, stretched its neck to look around, and then landed lightly, telling them that it had not seen the third senior brother. Lin Jue frowned, and his first reaction was, could it be that Third Senior Brother agreed last night? It’s really hard to tell. Although according to his understanding of Third Senior Brother, he felt that Third Senior Brother's ambition was in the martial arts world and he would not easily find a hindrance for himself, let alone put shackles on himself so early, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed that nothing Third Senior Brother did was worth being surprised about. But even if he agreed, given Senior Brother's personality, why would he leave without saying goodbye, instead of sending Junior Sister to the Taoist temple? Then he couldn't help but wonder if his third senior brother had been tricked by him? After a while—— The two men and the fox stood on the hilltop nearby, looking around. Although it was a little late when I got here yesterday, this valley vaguely matches the one in my memory. Another moment—— Lin Jue was standing about dozens of feet away from where the two of them woke up, facing a pomegranate tree with a dozen pomegranates still on it. He leaned over to check and saw signs that the tree had been picked recently. The junior sister was chanting the revealing spell not far away. A moment later—— The two returned to the place where they woke up and watched the fox digging fiercely on the ground next to it. It soon dug out a hole, which was getting deeper and deeper. But there was nothing but mud in the cave. There are no graves here either. The senior and junior brothers looked at each other and were quite confused. "Senior brother..." "Don't worry. Although the person's ideas last night were somewhat different from ours, he didn't seem to have bad intentions. Third Senior Brother is skilled in fighting and has rich experience in the martial arts world. He won't be easily harmed by others. I guess Third Senior Brother was embarrassed to refuse her, so he found an excuse, or for other reasons, he left here temporarily." Lin Jue comforted her. "It's also possible that Third Senior Brother married her because she was pretty." The younger sister also analyzed. "possible."
"It's possible that she was led away." "possible." "It's also possible that it was eaten!" the junior sister said again. "That's unlikely." Lin Jue frowned and said, "Third Senior Brother is not a pushover. Even if he was murdered, how could it be so quiet? And how could they murder him and take away the horses and luggage, only to leave us two and our luggage behind?" "That makes sense!" The little sister thought about it and nodded repeatedly, "Then what should we do?" "Let's wait here for a few days. Maybe Third Brother will come back in a few days. Maybe those pavilions and palaces will appear again at night." "What if he doesn't come back or show up?" "If I can't wait..." As Lin Jue was speaking, he suddenly remembered something. He reached into his arms and searched the place where he slept last night. Sure enough, he found a hairpin and picked it up. This is a hairpin, hollow and made of pure gold, with tiny snowflakes hanging on a thin chain. "That must be something else that was beyond our expectations, but there is no need to rush. We are going to the capital anyway, and we also need to go to Xiyue to bring a letter to Princess Hua. It's a good opportunity to ask the Lord of Xiyue." "It would be nice if Sixth Senior Brother was here." "Yes." Sixth senior brother’s medium can tell fortunes and predict good and bad luck, which is something that the predecessors cannot do. "But don't worry. Aren't we on our way to Qingyan County to find the 'Empress Yaohua'? It is said that the 'Empress Yaohua' can also answer questions and tell fortunes for people. Maybe we can ask her about the safety of our third senior brother when we get there." "Yes!" The junior sister finally breathed a sigh of relief. There are countermeasures both near and far. Lin Jue also sat down. At noon, I picked pomegranates to fill my stomach. Fortunately, there is no rain today. Before I knew it, it was dusk again. The autumn chill was getting strong, and there was a cold wind in the wild. The two of them sat cross-legged together, waiting silently. The grass and forest beside me shook. Fuyao and Caili came out one after another, one caught a big rabbit and the other caught a toad, put them in front of them, and sat there waiting for their praise. Night falls slowly. There was only cold wind and wild grass all around. Not to mention pavilions or palaces, there was not even a piece of rotten tile. "..."
Lin Jue closed his eyes. Wait here for three days. During the three days, Fuyao and Caili hunted for them in the wild grasslands to provide them with food, and they also used the pomegranates from the tree to relieve their thirst. If they were thirsty, they could climb over two mountains and find a stream where they could get water to drink. But he never waited for the return of his third brother, Princess Hua and her pavilions and palaces. I don't know where they went. I don’t know why. "Alas, I have prepared a letter for my third brother, but I haven't had time to give it to him yet." Lin Jue said as he stood up from the ground, with a mat made of wild grass under him: "Let's go first. Third Brother knows where we are going and where your Taoist temple is. Even if we can't find him, he will come to find us after he is free from this matter. Even if it's just to reassure us, he will come to find us." "Oh." The junior sister also stood up with him. The two packed their bags, called out the paper donkey, and set off immediately. "Senior brother, there are only two of us left now." The little sister looked left and right and couldn't help but say. "Yes." Indeed, of the original eight people, only two of them were left. There are also two donkeys, and a fox and a cat who often play and play around. "But don't worry, no matter what, I will take you to where you want to go." "Um……" The junior sister's voice was not loud either. With one person missing, the world seemed to become even wider, with no end in sight. The two men led the donkey through the grassland, their clothes wet with dew, walking at a leisurely pace. Not far away, he met the red fox again. Lin Jue was very grateful to it, so he stopped to thank it and asked it, "I wonder if there is a city with people living here? It is a place built with stones and inhabited by many people." "嘤嘤!" The fox also whimpered, its eyes flashing. It thought for a long time, looked in the direction of the sunrise, and raised its paw to point. Lin Jue looked in that direction. It was obviously unrealistic to go straight there across the grassland, but he remembered that the road they came from was from east to west. "Thank you." The two of them continued forward. Follow the path across the grassland, taking the same path you came from, but going in the same direction. Coming to a fork in the road he had walked before, Lin Jue chose to go in another direction.
This judgment was proven to be correct. Less than half an hour after they walked, the road gradually widened and they saw the merchants traveling. After another half an hour, they saw a village on the roadside. They asked them for directions and learned that there was a county town ahead. And that was Qingyan County where they were going. After walking for another hour, a small town appeared in front of them. They led the donkey closer and saw the words "Qingyan" written on the city gate. "It is Qingyan indeed." Lin Jue walked to the door, showed his certificate of ordination, and entered the county town. Because it was getting late and they didn't know the way, they didn't rush to the cave of Goddess Yaohua. Instead, they found an inn nearby, asked for two rooms, asked the waiter to bring them hot water, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes. After all, we had been walking and sitting in the wilderness for a few days. When I came downstairs after taking a shower, I felt refreshed all over. The dry clothes stuck to my body and felt lighter. It just so happened that my junior sister was also walking down. Her freshly washed hair was not dry yet, but it was no longer dripping. Instead, it was draped slightly wet behind her back, making this already fair and pretty sister look extra clean, with a hint of pink in her face. Their eyes met and they sat down in the lobby. "Brother, how come your hair dries so quickly?" The little sister couldn't help but look at him and asked seriously. "Because I can control water." "Water Control Technique..." "Now there are only two of us. If you want to learn, I can teach you on the way." "May I?" "What's wrong with that? I have already prepared a few spells for you, and I originally wanted to write them down and leave them for you." Lin Jue said in a low voice. "! So this is what you left for the brothers!" "Smart, Junior Sister!" Before he could say a word, the waiter came over and asked with a smile, "What would you like to eat, Taoist priests?" "What's good to eat in the store?" "Can the Taoist priest eat meat?" “We are meat eaters.” "That's it! Although the shop is not big, there are gods in the small temple. The shop has a good chef who is best at steaming pots and the gourd chicken from the capital." The waiter said proudly. "I see you are very good at talking." "Thank you for your respect, Taoist..." "Then I'll listen to you. I'll have a steamed bun and a gourd chicken." Lin Jue was very generous. "I have something else I want to ask you." "Ouch!"
Both dishes were great, and the guys were quite happy: "Master, you really think highly of me. Just ask me whatever you want to know. I will tell you everything I know!" "Do you know that there is a barren mountain to the west of the city? It has only wild grass and no houses. It is probably dozens of miles wide?" Lin Jue asked about his third senior brother first. "West?" The guy thought about it and said, "It seems so." "Is there anything strange in there?" "I haven't heard of anything strange, but that place seems to be the Weishui River. In the past, merchants would go there and take a boat to the capital. Later, there was a period of time when that wharf seemed to be a little uneasy for some reason, so no one went there anymore, and they all went from another county." "I see." Lin Jue didn't get what he wanted, but he was not disappointed. According to his speculation, his third senior brother should be fine. But he still asked another question: "I heard that there was a story about a Qin woman here. Do you know about it?" "The Qin girl?" The waiter thought for a moment, "But is it the Qin girl who was said to have married a scholar in ancient times?" "Exactly." "I have been listening to it since childhood!" The waiter was happy. "If you want to listen, I will tell you. Let me first tell the kitchen to stew the meat for you. It just needs to be cooked. I am afraid that you two Taoists will be waiting too long. I will help you to kill time." After saying that, he turned around and shouted to the kitchen twice: "Steamed pot, gourd chicken, these two Taoist priests are here from afar, so use more ingredients!" Lin Jue couldn't help but laugh when he heard it. Although I know in my heart that the people in the kitchen may not necessarily do what the waiter shouts, or this may just be their usual trick to please the customers, it still sounds really good. The guy pulled out a bench and sat down next to him. "It is said that many years ago, there was a scholar here. He was walking at night or something, and he came to the gate of a big house. He saw that the house was well-built, so he knocked on the door and asked for some food. As a result, after the maid went back to report to the master, the master actually invited him in as a guest. "And the owner was a beautiful woman, we all called her Qinnv. “Miss Qin entertained him warmly and gave him good wine and food. "After eating, the Qin girl told him that she was the daughter of the King of Qin and was betrothed to the State of Cao. However, she died before the marriage and had been dead for decades. She became a ghost and has been living here ever since. “When Miss Qin saw that he could come here, she felt that they were destined to be together, so she wanted to marry him. "However, due to the difference between yin and yang, the dead and the living cannot associate for long. They can only be husband and wife for three days. After three days, they must separate, otherwise there will be disasters." This person's account was more detailed than what the woman in red said a few days ago, but there were also some slight discrepancies, which should be due to rumors. And mortals and ghosts cannot be together for long. "But after three days, they were reluctant to leave each other, so when they were about to part, Qin asked her maid to fetch a box, opened the box and took out a golden pillow, gave it to him as a token of love, and then asked the maid to send him out the door. "As soon as the man walked out of the door, he could no longer see any house. Behind him was only a tomb. He ran out of the tomb in a panic, looked down, and found that the golden pillow in his hand was still there!" The junior sister was holding a colorful cat and pretending to listen attentively. A fox was lying on the bench with its round eyes open.
"Later, probably because of poverty, this man took the golden pillow to the market to sell. It happened that the Princess of Qin was traveling and passed by here. She saw the golden pillow and thought it looked familiar, so she took it over to check. "This is incredible! “It’s my daughter’s burial object! "The Princess of Qin immediately questioned the man, asking where he got it, and almost arrested him and beheaded him. The man told the Princess of Qin what had happened. The Princess of Qin was very sad after hearing it, but she was also suspicious. She just listened to him as if it were true, so she asked someone to push open the Qin woman's grave, and then opened the coffin to take a look... "Guess what?" The guy grinned and looked at them, but he didn't wait for them to guess, and immediately said: “Although Miss Qin is dead, her body is not decayed. After undressing her, it looks like she is married! “And there was no sign that the tomb had been dug up or robbed! "If you ask him about Miss Qin's life, he can answer all of them! "The princess then believed him, so she brought him back to the palace, made him the commander of the imperial concubine, and gave him many treasures. People here say that it was from then on that people began to call their sons-in-law "imperial concubine", and later it gradually became the name of the emperor's son-in-law." The junior sister listened carefully and opened her eyes wide. So that’s how the title of Prince Consort came about. Lin Jue was thinking. The events in this story are quite similar to their experiences a few days ago. It seems that Princess Hua also grew up listening to this story and was deeply influenced by it. (End of this chapter)