Chapter 200 Like
In the next few days, outside the gate of Huangzhou, King Cheng's troops launched several more attacks. However, Huangzhou's terrain was easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it was not an easy task for those people. In addition, the defenders held the city several times, which greatly damaged the morale of King Cheng's troops, and they were not as fierce as the first night attack.

The people of Huangzhou still lived in fear, but the success of the city defense army gradually gave them confidence. In addition to repairing the house that was burned that night, they gradually tried to resume their previous lives. The city garrison still patrolled the streets every day to see if there were any assassins who had escaped the net, so as to prevent them from starting a riot one day and causing chaos among the people.

When the military situation was not so tense, Ji Heng and Lu Ji would not be absent from the mansion. This morning, the rain that had been falling for several days stopped, except for the warm sun. Wen Renyao taught Lin Yao to read the words on his hexagram plate in the yard. Lin Yao's parents, brothers and sisters were buried by Wen Renyao and Jiang Li. Lin Yao had no other place to go, so he stayed here. Of course, even if he didn't say it, Jiang Li would not leave him alone in his original house.

Lu Ji walked in from outside and said, "Concubine Liu was sentenced to death."

Jiang Li had just gotten up and walked into the hall when she heard these words. Ji Heng was sitting on a chair drinking tea.

"Is he dead?" Jiang Li came out and sat down on a chair, asking, "Did King Cheng send anyone to rescue him?"

"No." Lu Ji shrugged.

"The emperor's plan to lure the snake out of its hole has failed." Jiang Li said.

Ji Heng heard this and laughed, "Not necessarily."

Jiang Li looked at him, and Lu Ji explained, "Prince Cheng is selfish by nature, and His Majesty may not be unaware of this. Going to the palace to rescue Concubine Liu is too dangerous, and it will disrupt his original plan. Once this happens, Concubine Liu will inevitably be sacrificed. If the emperor really wants to lure the snake out of its hole, there must be other ways. It is precisely because the emperor understands the nature of King Cheng that he directly ordered Concubine Liu to be executed. Concubine Liu cannot escape death anyway, so it is better to give an explanation to the people as soon as possible."

"I see." Jiang Li nodded. Her knowledge of Emperor Hong Xiao was limited to what she learned from Shen Yurong in her previous life and her father's narration. She had only met Emperor Hong Xiao a few times in this life, and she only knew that this emperor had a lot of bargaining chips in his hands, but she didn't know the details of his relationship with King Cheng.

"Also, His Majesty has sent General Wuwei to Huangzhou."

Jiang Li said: "This is good news."

With the arrival of General Wuwei, Huangzhou City was saved.

Lu Ji glanced at Ji Heng and said, "General Zhaode is also on his way back to the capital."

His tone was so strange that Jiang Li also looked at Ji Heng. Ji Heng's expression did not change, and he only said: "King Cheng is going to Yanjing."

Jiang Li thought for a while and asked, "King Cheng can't beat General Zhaode, right?"

Ji Heng smiled and said, "There is a wolf and a tiger. Do you think the wolf killed the tiger, or the tiger ate the wolf?"

He said it lightly, but it made Jiang Li feel cold in her heart. On the surface, Ji Heng said that King Cheng was no match for General Zhaode, but if you dig deeper into the meaning, it was different. King Cheng had been preparing for this moment for many years, so much so that Emperor Hong Xiao did not dare to touch him easily before. However, in Ji Heng's words, there was a huge gap in strength between King Cheng and General Zhaode. If General Zhaode was really so powerful, that is to say, he was more powerful than Cheng, then when did General Zhaode start preparing?

In those days, apart from the fact that the late emperor suddenly transferred General Zhaode to the northwest, nothing special seemed to have happened between the late emperor and General Zhaode. Was General Zhaode a threat to Emperor Hong Xiao's throne? If Emperor Hong Xiao knew, he probably would not have allowed General Zhaode to return to Beijing.

Jiang Li always thought that Yin Zhan's affairs might involve a big secret of the royal family. But at least for now, she could only see the tip of the iceberg. Moreover, Ji Heng and General Ji had both reminded her not to interfere in this matter. Jiang Li didn't mean to meddle in other people's affairs, but her intuition told her that she might have to take care of this matter even if she didn't want to, because the Jiang family was also involved.

She must protect the Jiang family, herself, Xue Huaiyuan and her performance. Otherwise, if she makes a mistake, everything will be lost.

While thinking about these things, Ji Heng stood up and walked outside. Lu Ji asked him, "Where are you going, sir?"

"Let's go out for a walk." He walked to the door, paused, and asked Jiang Li: "Together?"

Jiang Li stood up: "Okay."

The sunlight was still as bright as usual, and even brighter after the rain. The streets of the city were full of stones and fallen wooden beams. Some houses had been repaired and people were still living there. Some houses were not repaired well, so people found some straw and built thatched houses on the side. There were also coffins that had not yet been buried on the ground, and some monks sat next to the coffins, chanting sutras to pray for the souls of the dead.

The children didn't know what was going on, nor did they know the cruelty of war. When their parents weren't paying attention, they played games with their friends and laughed happily. But their parents knew that things were not going to be peaceful, and they all had worried faces.

Most of the shops on the street were closed. Very few were still open, but there was a snack shop in front that was still open. The door beam had been burned black, but it was still open. There were fewer tables and chairs inside than before, and an old couple was busy.

But these days, who has the heart to sit here and eat tea and snacks, so there is no one at the table in the straw hut. Even if there is someone, it is a woman who comes in a hurry, takes out a few copper coins from her sleeve, buys a pack, and leaves in a hurry.

At this time, the streets were particularly unsafe. Although staying at home was not necessarily a good idea, it was still much better than wandering around the streets. Who knew if those brutal assassins would suddenly jump out and take someone's life?

Jiang Li stopped in the tea shop and said, "I'm going to buy something."

The maid who was hired temporarily had already left. Ji Heng and the others were not suitable for outsiders to be present. So there was no one to serve Jiang Li. Fortunately, Jiang Li was not a spoiled young lady, so she didn't think it was a big deal. She even helped to clean up the house. As for food, it was all bought by Wen Ji outside. Because the city was like this, of course it wouldn't be very delicious, just to fill the stomach.

Jiang Li wanted to buy some snacks, not for herself, but for Lin Yao. Although the little guy was accompanied by someone every day, he often had nightmares at night, dreaming of his family's tragic death, and cried non-stop. Wen Renyao was helpless. Children like sweeter food, so if I bought some back, I'm sure Lin Yao would like it.

The old couple saw Jiang Li coming and asked her what she needed. Jiang Li picked some and while waiting for the old man to pack them up, she asked the woman, "Auntie, the city is like this, why are you still opening a store?"

The old lady smiled and said, "This is an old store, left by our parents. We eat and sleep in the store. Even if a war breaks out, we have nowhere else to go. Besides, if those soldiers really enter the city, it doesn't matter whether we hide in the house or on the street. We live every day well. At our age, we are not afraid of anything."

While she was talking, the old man had already wrapped the cakes and handed them to Jiang Li. Jiang Li wanted to pay the money, but suddenly remembered that she had changed her clothes today and left her purse behind. She thought about it and was about to take off the bracelet in her hand when a slender hand reached out, holding a silver ingot, and placed it in front of the old woman.

"This..." The old woman was surprised and said, "We don't need so much. We don't have any extra copper coins..."

"No need."

Jiang Li looked back and saw that Ji Heng had walked to her side without her noticing. Perhaps he had been waiting for her for a long time and saw her predicament, so he came to help her out. "Little girl," the old woman immediately said gratefully, "your husband is really a good man."

Jiang Li blushed and was about to explain, but Ji Heng had already dragged her away.

Jiang Li was still holding the sweet-smelling oil-paper bag in her arms. After thinking for a while, she raised her head to look at Ji Heng. She saw that Ji Heng still had a casual and nonchalant smile on his face as he walked forward slowly.

"Did you just hear..."

"What?" He turned his head to look at Jiang Li, his eyes full of amusement.

"This lady said you are a good person." Jiang Li replied calmly, "Didn't you say that I was the only one in the world who thought you were a good person? Now I can say that there are two people who think you are a good person."

Ji Heng was startled, probably not expecting that this was what she was going to say. But she quickly reacted and said, "I don't mind asking her to take back her words."

These words were so cold that Jiang Li was speechless. She realized that Ji Heng was holding her sleeves, but their sleeves were wide, and from a distance, it looked like he was holding her hand. Jiang Li felt inexplicably uncomfortable. She didn't know whether Ji Heng hated others getting close to him or respected the girl and deliberately kept his distance.

Jiang Li secretly tried to pull her sleeve out of his hand, but failed. Her movements were too big and she staggered and almost fell. Ji Heng helped her up.

"Walk carefully." He said with a smile.

Jiang Li had no choice but to give up.

The two of them were walking on the streets outside Huangzhou City. It was such a chaotic time. There were not many people who dared to walk on the streets so openly in the daytime. In addition, Ji Heng's appearance was too outstanding, which immediately attracted many people's attention. People hid behind windows and doors, secretly watching them. Especially young girls, seeing Ji Heng's extraordinary demeanor, had already secretly looked at him. By the way, even Jiang Li, who was led by Ji Heng, kept looking at her.

Jiang Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She really didn't like being admired as if it were something strange.

Jiang Li said, "My Lord, I think we should go back. Or you can go shopping by yourself and I will go back first."

"You should be used to it when you were Xue Fangfei." Ji Heng reminded slowly.

Jiang Li choked. That was true. When she first married to Yanjing City, she was stunningly beautiful and people looked at her wherever she went. She was uncomfortable at first, but later she got used to it. But now she is no longer Xue Fangfei. Jiang Li said, "The past is the past, and the present is the present. I am no longer Xue Fangfei."

Ji Heng: "Then you should get used to it."

Jiang Li asked: "Why?"

"I don't like being around gray mice," he answered matter-of-factly, "If you're not good-looking enough, don't stand in front of me."

Jiang Li remembered, yes, this person likes beauty and hates ugliness. She suddenly caught the loophole in Ji Heng's words, and she raised her head to ask Ji Heng: "What does the Duke mean, I am still very good-looking now?"

The joy and pride in her voice could not be hidden, and Ji Heng could not help but turn her head to look at her. The woman looked up, her eyes clear and smiling, reflecting the unique cheerfulness and courage of a young girl, making her look like a newly born pear blossom, white and lovely, so pure that it made people laugh along with her.

Ji Heng's heart moved.

From the beginning, she was a gentle but indifferent, cunning and lonely girl until now. She always liked to laugh, but she was completely different from Jiang Li when they first met. But this might be her true appearance. In the past years, when Xue Fangfei was a girl and had not met Shen Yurong, she was like this.

It was hard to imagine that she later became a boring woman, busy with trivial matters all day long. She put away her spirit and intelligence, and was no different from those beautiful wives of officials in Yanjing City. Shen Yurong turned a soft, lovely, cheerful and moving pear flower into a carnivorous plant that fought in the dim flowerbed all day long. This was really a waste of nature's gift.

He has never been a person who cares for women, and he has seen many beautiful women in the world. He was once accused of being hard-hearted and ruthless, but at this moment, he also felt that the sun was warm and her smile was lovely. He only hoped that such a smile could last for a long time. This Jiang Li, just like the girl in front of him, would be a brave girl forever, with the courage to risk everything and the good luck blessed by God.

He moved closer to Jiang Li and whispered, "Yeah."

Jiang Li was stunned.

All the words I had prepared to tease him and confront him came to an abrupt end. The smile on the young man's lips was gentle, and his amber eyes were free of deep or shallow indifference and hypocrisy, just like the sunlight at this moment, warm and bright.

She was suddenly speechless and her cheeks slowly turned red.

The little deer that had been silent suddenly stood up again, slowly raised its legs, walked tentatively, and then jumped up and down, running around in her heart, trampling her heart into a mess.

Jiang Li could almost hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

In fact, she had forgotten what kind of feeling she had when she first fell in love with Shen Yurong. After all, it had been a long time. But now, at this moment, she knew that she might be a little bit attracted to the man in front of her.

This was not a good thing, Jiang Li was at a loss as to what to do. But the instigator seemed to be unaware, stood up straight and walked forward.

The sunlight shone on his tall figure, dyeing him golden.

Jiang Li knew that something was wrong.

　luv't!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)