From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 688

As the eldest son of a merchant family in Yunzhou, Zhou Yuan changed into brocade clothes and replaced the sword on his waist with a folding fan. He looked like a gentleman, which made Cai Ni laugh.

"Young Master is so handsome!"

With a gleam in her eyes, she kept looking at Zhou Yuan and giggled, "In the future, I have to wear more gorgeous clothes like this to show my young master's appearance."

She put up her long hair and put on women's clothes. She was less sweet but more gentle, which made Zhou Yuan feel itchy.

Xiong Kuohai got in touch with the two young men, handed over some important supplies, and then ran over in high spirits.

He and Wang Ang had rich experience, so they quickly got into the role, standing behind Zhou Yuan with a nod and a bow, calling him Young Master and Young Madam. His acting skills were so good.

It was early spring, and many wild flowers had bloomed on both sides of the Xiangshui River. The blue waves were floating, the sun was shining, the water was shimmering, and the scenery was beautiful.

The four people were in a much better mood, especially Zhou Yuan. It was rare to see the beautiful scenery of the southwest mountains and rivers, and he also recalled many past events.

He smiled and said, "Cai Ni, I will teach you a song, see if you can learn it."

Cai Ni was surprised and said, "Young Master can sing songs?"

Zhou Yuan looked at her and just smiled and didn't say anything.

Cai Ni reacted, her face flushed slightly, and she called sweetly, "Husband."

Zhou Yuan laughed out loud, then cleared his throat and sang directly: "I flattened the mountain road and sang mountain songs, spread the fishing net and sang fishing songs, and sang the pastoral songs. There are so many cattle and sheep... Oh! More than the constellations in the sky!"

He liked this song very much in his previous life, and he still remembers it very clearly. At this moment, facing such a scenery, he was in a good mood and sang it all in one breath.

I don’t know if the singing is good or not, anyway, Lao Xiong and Lao Wang clapped crazily and cheered loudly, performing the posture of supporting the main role to the extreme.

It’s just that the old man rowing the boat spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm at the right time, which made Zhou Yuan a little embarrassed.

“Brother, I don’t mean that, don’t worry!”

He also explained it specifically, and Zhou Yuan’s smile became more forced.

Cai Ni smiled and said, “The song sung by my husband is so beautiful! Cai Ni seems to have learned it!”

Just the song is beautiful? Don’t comment on my singing skills?

Just when Zhou Yuan thought of this, he saw Cai Ni closed her eyes and brewed for a moment.

Then she opened her eyes and started singing.

The sun was shining, the water was surging, the small wooden boat was swaying, the mountain flowers on both sides danced with the wind, and the singing was delicate and high-pitched, as if it penetrated both sides, penetrated the world, and penetrated people’s hearts.

Lao Xiong and Lao Wang were dumbfounded in the place, their eyes widened.

The old man rowing the boat looked at Cai Ni in shock as if he had seen a treasure, and forgot about rowing for a moment.

Cai Ni's eyes were shining as she sang, her skin seemed to be reflecting the sun, and her whole body exuded the vitality of youth.

At this moment, she was the protagonist of the world, the daughter of heaven and earth.

After the song was over, the sound stopped, but the lingering sound continued.

Seeing that no one spoke, Cai Ni became nervous: "Husband... am I... not singing well?"

"Good! Good!"

"Great! It's really beautiful!"

Old Xiong and Old Wang spoke up quickly.

Zhou Yuan said anxiously: "I am the husband!"

He held Cai Ni's hand and couldn't help saying: "Cai Ni, Cai Ni, you sang so well, and you sang to the heart of your husband."

Cai Ni's face suddenly bloomed with a bright smile.

The old man who was rowing the boat also gave a thumbs up and said, "This lady sings really well, better than any girl in our village. If she were to sing folk songs, she would surely charm all the princes in Shuixi Village."

Cai Ni giggled and said, "What a pity, old man, I already have a husband!"

She held Zhou Yuan's hand, feeling extremely satisfied.

Zhou Yuan asked at the right time: "Old man, are there hundreds of villages in Shuixi? How many people are there in each village?"

The old man seemed to be free, so he started chatting: "There are hundreds of villages. The small villages have only a dozen households, and the large villages have hundreds of households. They stretch for hundreds of miles along the Xiangshui River."

"There are our Miao people, Yi people, and Dong people."

Zhou Yuan said: "What village is on the other side of the river we are going to now?"

The old man smiled and said: "This area is all our Miao village, and the other side is our Yuequan village, which has more than 20 households and is considered a small village."

"It's probably not easy for you to go there to find your relatives. People in our village haven't crossed the river for many years."

Zhou Yuan nodded, and then said: "Have there been any strangers in the village in the past two years?"

The old man said: "You are the strangers."

Zhou Yuan said: "It is said that the village does not welcome Han people. It will be safe for us to go there?"

Old manThe son shook his head and said, "It's inevitable that we are a little afraid of strangers in our own village. If you don't do anything bad, there will be no danger."

Zhou Yuan said, "Uncle, why don't you take us to find the village owner? We want to find our relatives through him."

As he spoke, he handed over a few more copper coins.

The old man was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "I'm just helping you with the way. I won't charge you more money."

He only took a copper coin, went ashore to tie up the boat, and then led Zhou Yuan and others to walk inside.

The forest here is very dense. Because it is close to the river, the air is also very humid, so the green grass grows lushly, and unknown wild flowers bloom wantonly.

It took about two quarters of an hour to walk along the path from the pier to see the village.

All the houses were built on stilts against the foot of the mountain. Unlike the multi-story wooden buildings Zhou Yuan had seen in his previous life, the houses here were very simple and shabby. Although they were cleaned up, the conditions were indeed too simple.

Based on professional habits, Wang Ang and Xiong Kuohai began to look around and secretly memorized the route.

The old man greeted each household in a familiar manner. Children were running back and forth in the village. Women and old people in ethnic costumes were carrying backpacks or holding farm tools, casting strange eyes and quietly looking at Zhou Yuan and others.

It seemed that there had been no strangers in this village, so these people were full of vigilance.

However, Zhou Yuan also noticed that most of the people here were women, old people and children, and there were almost no young and middle-aged people. They must have all joined the army.

"The village chief is in the house in front. You can call him Grandpa Li Song."

The old man stopped and said, "I won't take you there. I have to go back to guard the boat."

Zhou Yuan clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, uncle. What's the temper of this Grandpa Li Song?"

The old man thought for a while and said, "He has a terrible temper, but he is only kind to me. He is very kind to others."

Zhou Yuan asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Because I am his son."

The old man said unhappily.

This scared Xiong Kuohai, and he couldn't help asking, "How old is Uncle this year?"

"Me? Forty-three."

Everyone was stunned.

He clearly looks sixty, how can he be only forty-three?

"People get old quickly if they don't have a good life."

At this point, Xiong Kuohai suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "What a fool! I actually called him uncle all the way. He is obviously a few years younger than me. I suffered such a big loss just after arriving here."

Wang Ang also had a strange look on his face and said with a wry smile, "This is bullying outsiders. I am inexplicably inferior to them."

Zhou Yuan said, "Let's go and meet this so-called village chief."

In fact, the house in front is also very ordinary, with mud walls, black tiles and wooden pillars, but it doesn't look so old.

When he got closer, Wang Ang shouted at the top of his voice, "Is Grandpa Li Song here? We are from other places and have something to ask for. Please come and see us."

After shouting several times, an old man came out of the room, and when he reached the door, he looked at everyone in confusion.

He had white hair and beard, wrinkles all over his face, and a wooden iron-headed pipe in his hand. His skin was dark and he was wearing old clothes. He looked quite like an old Miao.

Zhou Yuan took a few steps forward and bowed, saying, "Grandpa Li Song, we have come from afar to find our relatives, but we are unfamiliar with the place and dare not walk around and break the rules, so we come to ask for your advice."

Li Song frowned and asked, "Han people? Where are you from?"

Zhou Yuan said, "I am a businessman from Yunzhou in Jiangnan. This is my wife, and these two are my servants."

"This time I came to Shuixi to find my wife's relatives. She is a Miao people. She left her parents when she was young. She only knows that she is from Shuixi."

Li Song looked at them for a few times before saying, "Come in and talk."