bookrebus Chapter 479: Meeting Emperor Jing
Chapter 479: Meeting Emperor Jing
When it rains heavily, cargo boxes can be covered with oilpaper, but people cannot be covered with it. With so many guards, the coachmen cannot squeeze into the few empty carriages.
Now I just hope there is an empty house in the small village ahead so that everyone can temporarily shelter from the heavy rain.
After a while, Dong Wei finally came over in the rain.
"Your Majesty, the village in front is called Shitou Village. Their ancestral hall is very large and can be used as a shelter for us."
"Okay, let everyone go."
Shitou Village is a large village with more than 300 households. The village once produced a fifth-rank official. After he became rich, he returned to the village and built a very beautiful ancestral hall.
Ye Jintang and his group came to the ancestral hall to take shelter from the rain.
When the village chief Shi Wenjin, who was wearing a straw raincoat, heard that the queen's carriage was passing by, he led all the villagers of Shitou Village to the ancestral hall to kneel and welcome her.
"Let the people go home quickly. Don't let them get wet in such heavy rain."
Ye Jintang couldn't help being moved when he saw so many people kneeling in the rain wearing straw raincoats.
In front of royal power, common people are just like ants.
The ancestral hall is very large and clean, which shows that someone cleans it on weekdays.
"Lüzhu, tell someone to cook more brown sugar ginger soup for everyone to drink. The weather is still a little cold. Drink some ginger soup to get rid of the coldness in your body to avoid catching a cold."
"Yes, slave, go right away."
Luzhu went to cook ginger soup, while Nanny Zhang and a few maids helped Ye Jintang change into clean clothes.
There were many empty rooms in the ancestral hall, but they were really empty. The village chief Ye Jintang was able to send a table and a few chairs, but in other rooms everyone could only sit on the floor, without even a stool.
"It looks like the rain won't stop any time soon."
Ye Jintang stood at the door and saw heavy rain outside, accompanied by lightning and thunder from time to time.
"Spring is as precious as oil. If we can have spring this afternoon, this will surely be a bumper year."
"Well, there was indeed some drought in various places along the way."
The spring plowing has just ended. If it doesn’t rain, the growth of wheat seedlings will be affected, and even the harvest for the year will be affected.
Xiao Mo and Ye Jintang were standing under the eaves talking when they heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the ancestral hall.
"It's raining heavily. Let's take shelter here."
In the rain and fog, two ragged old men supported each other and ran to the eaves outside the ancestral hall, hoping to take shelter from the rain.
Looking at the entire Shitou Village, the only place with a large roof is probably the village ancestral hall.
When the guards saw someone coming and wanted to step forward to drive them away, Xiao Mo waved his hand to signal them to retreat.
It was fate that they were trapped in the same ancestral hall by a rain, so why force them to leave?
"Are you cold, old man?"
The old woman wiped the rain off the old man's forehead with her hand.
"It's a bit cold."
The old woman glanced inside the ancestral hall and happened to meet Ye Jintang's eyes as he stood under the eaves.
She wanted to go into the ancestral hall to ask for a bowl of hot water, but the moment she saw Ye Jintang, she was stunned and then screamed, "Ghost!"
Even if it was raining in broad daylight and the light was dim, Ye Jintang, a living person, would not be mistaken for a ghost.
When she saw the two old men were about to leave, she quickly asked Nanny Zhang to go over and bring them over. The two old men might not be able to find a place to shelter from the rain for a while, and they would get sick if they were exposed to such heavy rain for too long.
Aunt Zhang held up an oil-paper umbrella and chased after the two people. "Please wait. My wife wants you to go to the ancestral hall to take shelter from the rain."
"No, Madam No must hate me to death. She is here to take my life. I won't go."
The old woman, who was a little dazed, pulled the old man hard and rushed into the rain.
"I don't want to get wet in the rain. It's too cold. Lingyu, let's go inside to avoid the rain before we go."
The old man obviously didn't want to leave. It was pouring rain outside and he was soaked all over. He felt very uncomfortable.
Nanny Zhang looked up at the old man beside her. She was about to say something when her eyes fell on the old man's face.
"Oh my God."
Nanny Zhang, who was usually calm, was so frightened that the oil-paper umbrella in her hand fell to the ground.
She never expected that she would meet the dead Emperor Jing here.
Nanny Zhang, whose heart was already filled with turmoil, did not dare to say anything. She quickly called a few other maids over, and they escorted the old woman and Emperor Jing into the room where Ye Jintang was.
"Green Pearl closes the door."
"Why do you still want to close the door?"
"Madam, this old man looks familiar."
Aunt Zhang's voice was trembling. If this was really Emperor Jing, things would be complicated.
With a puzzled look on her face, Ye Jintang looked at the people who were soaked by the heavy rain. She was not very familiar with Emperor Jing. At this moment, Emperor Jing's messy hair covered most of his face, and she did not recognize him at the first time.
However, Xiao Mo, who had already entered the room, recognized Emperor Jing at a glance in the dim light even though he couldn't see the old man's face clearly.
Subconsciously, Xiao Mo's nerves tensed up. No matter what his biological father looked like, he would definitely not make a mistake.
He walked forward in disbelief, opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. At this moment, countless thoughts flashed through Xiao Mo's mind.
"Who are you? Don't touch me. Don't touch me."
Seeing that the two old people were soaked, Aunt Liu quickly took two large pieces of cotton cloth to help them wipe the rain off their bodies.
But both of them were very resistant, and during the tug of war, the hair on Emperor Jing's forehead was lifted up.
In Xiao Mo's impression, although Emperor Jing was quite old, his long-term good maintenance made him look quite young.
But the Emperor in front of him was an octogenarian with gray hair and wrinkles all over his face.
"Is it the late emperor?"
When Ye Jintang saw Emperor Jing's appearance clearly, she was also shocked. She finally understood why the umbrella in Nanny Zhang's hand suddenly fell to the ground.
"Madam Liu, go find two sets of suitable clothes for the two elderly people. Luzhu, go bring two bowls of ginger soup and some hot snacks."
Although it was early spring, the weather was still a little cold. Ye Jintang was afraid that the two would get sick from the rain, so he placed a charcoal brazier in the house for them to keep warm.
Xiao Mo listened to Ye Jintang instructing the servants to do things. He didn't say a word to Emperor Jing, and Emperor Jing seemed not to know him. He just glanced at him and then moved his eyes to the old woman.
At this time Ye Jintang also discovered that something was wrong with Emperor Jing. His eyes were no longer as sharp as usual, and even looked a little dull. He didn't look like a normal person at first glance.
"Do you know who he is?"
Full of doubts, Ye Jintang looked at Emperor Jing, then glanced at Xiao Mo.
But Emperor Jing didn't even glance at her. He just stared blankly at the old woman who was trembling with fear, as if he couldn't hear what Ye Jintang was saying.
"Lingyu, I'm here, don't be afraid."
Emperor Jing stood in front of the old woman and refused to let anyone help her wipe the rain off her body.
Emperor Jing's words "Lingyu" instantly broke Xiao Mo's defense.
Jiang Lingyu was his mother's name. Was Emperor Jing blind? He actually called the old woman in front of him Lingyu.
"What did you call her?"
The angry Xiao Mo looked at Emperor Jing viciously like a trapped beast, he wished he could tear him apart right now.
"Brother Xiao, calm down. Don't you realize that the late emperor is a little confused? He may be living in his own fantasy now."
"Even in his fantasy, my mother shouldn't appear. Has he forgotten how my mother died?"