70 princess and horse husband

  "Oh, well, it wants you to improve its diet a bit. Every meal is just dry fodder, no nutrition and no moisture. It wants the donkey to work hard but not eat grass. There's no such logic in this world. It says that from now on, unless you give it delicious food and spicy drinks every day, it will go on strike and refuse to turn the mill."

  Zhang covered her mouth and burst out laughing. Under the moonlight, her smile was as beautiful as a flower, her laughter crisp and sweet.

  Perhaps it was rare to hear the mistress's laughter, and the little donkey excitedly brayed several times.

  "What? What did you say? Oh, that's where you're wrong. She's doing it for your own good. Don't be greedy, if you want to be a donkey, then have the awareness of being a donkey. Let her feed you and give you drink, let her make you pull the millstone, let her make you pull the cart. That's what it means to be a donkey. If you don't pull the cart, do you think you can become a donkey meat fire?"

  "What else did it say?" Zhang asked, suppressing a smile.

  "It says, don't hang delicious things in front of it to tempt it again. This donkey's brain is not easy to use, and when its temper comes up, it will exhaust itself and fall ill. At that time, you'll have to pull the mill by yourself."

  "I would never do such a thing," Zhang said with disdain.

  At this time, the little donkey brayed again several times.

  Zhen Ming bitterly listened, with a look of agreement, nodded and said: "Of course I know this principle, a drop of water in return for a gushing spring, let alone a life-saving favor. Even if you didn't say anything, I would want to help her out anyway. The problem is that she has to be willing to accept it. You're not unaware that your mistress has never been one to like speaking much, and neither can I bring myself to speak up."

  "Can't you say less?" Zhang retorted.

  "I'll say it, her temper is no better than yours, I think you'd better put up with it."

  Zhang was now destined to be teased and opened his mouth, no longer as reserved as before.

  The innocent little donkey, under the bitter self-questioning, played various roles, and walked towards Luoyang City with Zhang's pleasant laughter.

  ……

  An hour later, the two arrived at the north gate of the city.

  It was just then that the city gate had already been closed, and several guards could be vaguely seen patrolling on the city wall.

  Zhang's face showed an anxious expression.

  Zhen Ming stopped the car and walked to the city gate, shouting at the patrolling soldiers several meters above: "Brother soldier, can you please open the door for me?"

  "What a person!"

  "The little one is from Wu Ti's iron shop. He went out to buy some materials and missed the trip, so he asked Big Brother Bing for a favor."

  "The city gate is closed, even if it's the Prime Minister who wants to enter, he'll need the Emperor's token."

  After several fruitless negotiations, the guards on the city wall even showed their bows and arrows, warning that if they continued to entangle him, they would shoot him as a spy on the spot. Zhen Ming was forced to retreat and returned to his donkey cart.

  "Sorry, I'm afraid I won't be able to take you into town tonight."

  Zhang was somewhat startled and asked: "What should we do?"

  "Let's find an inn outside the city and stay overnight, we can enter the city early tomorrow morning."

  Zhang hesitated, Zhenming comforted her uneasy appearance and said: "Don't worry, your father-in-law is currently in the gambling house, I estimate that he won't be back tonight."

  Zhang heard this and raised his head, looking at him with a surprised expression.

  Knowing that the woman was prone to misunderstanding, Zhen Ming hastily explained: "There are several brothers in the Yu Chi blacksmith shop who also like to gamble a few hands, they all know your father-in-law, and today they happened to see him at the gambling den, otherwise I wouldn't have let you leave the city with me."

  Zhang finally let out a sigh of relief and fell into an awkward silence.

  Zhenming didn't care whether she agreed or not, and led the little donkey to several farmhouses outside the city.

  ……

  About one kilometer north of the city wall is a small river about ten meters wide.

  The two banks of the small river are vast fertile farmland and sparse farmhouses.

  Zhen Ming knocked open one of the farmhouses, and soon a tenant farmer with a sleepy face came out carrying an oil lamp. He opened the wooden door, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the two unexpected guests at the door, his face showing a hint of annoyance at being woken up.

  "Who's there? It's so late?"

  "Sorry to disturb you, sir. We are people from Luoyang City and we went out for a short while but missed the time to get back into the city. Can we stay here overnight and leave early tomorrow?"

  The farmer lifted the oil lamp and shone it on Zhen's bitter face, under the light, the scar on Zhen's face looked a bit frightening, which suddenly scared him and he took a step back, shaking his head repeatedly. "You'd better go somewhere else to look, I only have this one room here, where can you stay?"

  As he spoke, the wooden door slammed shut with a loud bang.

  Zhen Ming sighed and turned his head, looking at Zhang Shi who was secretly laughing in the dark. He said somewhat annoyed: "Why don't you come and knock on the door? It's midnight, and I'm afraid my appearance will scare people."

  Zhang heard this and hastily shook her head. As a woman, how could she dare to knock on someone else's door at such a late hour?

  Zhenming bitter can only give up, took her to ask a few other farmhouse, without exception, those farmers saw him not like a good man's appearance, but also brought an exceptionally beautiful woman, without exception, thought he was what kind of rascal who abducted women, all unanimously refused.

  It was a fortunate encounter to meet an elderly couple, who took in a young woman and her companion, thinking they were eloping lovers. The couple had also defied convention and opposition from their families to be together, and after a lifetime of sharing joys and sorrows, they warmly welcomed the pair into a small cottage, even providing them with a quilt to keep warm for the night.

  The quilt is thin, but barely warm enough, just enough for one person to cover.

  After settling down, the old woman pulled Zhang Shi and said some intimate words, teaching her some ways of getting along with her husband, saying that Zhang Shi's face was red, and then she pulled her husband's hand, relying on each other and walked out the door.

  Two people stood in the woodshed, Zhang's eyes gazing elsewhere, and the woodshed suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of frogs from the fields outside being audible.

  In the end, it was Zhen Ming who broke the awkward atmosphere with a laugh and said: "This old lady must be quite old, her eyesight isn't very good. When I look at you two, I see a princess and a horseman, a beauty and a beast, how could you possibly be a couple? Alas..."

  Zhang smiled slightly, just then, a gurgling sound came from her stomach, instantly becoming embarrassed.

  Zhenming bitterly said without listening: "It's getting late, if you're tired, go to bed early."

  Zhang's expression slightly eased up, with a hint of worry between his eyebrows, as if he was contemplating something.

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and said: "Don't worry, I'll be keeping watch outside the door, you can rest assured and sleep here."

  Zhang looked at him with some embarrassment and said in a low voice: "Here, take the quilt, it's cold outside."

  "It's okay, I'll go outside and start a fire, won't freeze." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the door.

  "Zhen Gongzi..."

  Zhen Ming bitterly turned his head and looked at her.

  "Xiao Hei hasn't eaten anything, can you feed it some fodder?"

  "Don't worry, it won't be treated unfairly."

  Zhen Ming finished speaking bitterly and turned around to leave the thatched cottage.

  ……

  The night is deep and people are quiet, but the frogs are croaking loudly.

  A tempting fragrance wafted through the air and drifted into the woodshed.

  Outside the thatched cottage, a bonfire crackled and spat, sending sparks flying upwards. Zhen Ming lay on the ground, his back propped up against a thick layer of straw, gazing up at the starry sky as he warmed himself by the fire.

  Above the bonfire were two fragrant and oily roasted chickens, and the aroma was coming from here.

  The donkey cart was unloaded in a corner of the yard, and the little donkey quietly ate its fodder.

  All I heard was a creak.

  The barn door opened, and the lovely Zhang walked out of the room, took a glance at Zhen Ming who was sitting by the bonfire, and quickly fixed her eyes on the two delicious roasted chickens by the fire.

  Her facial expression became exceptionally charming, with seven parts of shyness and three parts of surprise.

  She quietly walked over to the bonfire and sat down, saying nothing, just silently watching as the roasted chicken slowly turned golden yellow.

  Zhen Ming bitterly put away his phone, stood up, patted his butt, and started fiddling with the roasted chicken. He sprinkled some salt and poured a bit of soy sauce on it. Then, he took a deep breath and exclaimed: "Wow! This aroma is only found in heaven, rarely smelled by humans. I wonder who will be lucky enough to taste my uncle's grandfather's secret recipe roasted chicken tonight? It's been so long since I've eaten anything, the smell is making me drool. Let me wipe my mouth first."

  Zhang couldn't help but be curious and asked: "Where did you get it from?"