The weather in early July was still unbearably hot, and the cicadas on the trees seemed to be neighing with all their strength. Several servants shuttled among them, holding up bamboo poles and trying hard to drive them away, so as not to disturb the tranquility of the masters.

Today is Mingyue and Xiqiao on duty. The two of them are standing outside the house, leaning on the backs of chairs and falling asleep. There is an ice basin in the corner, and the strands of cold air are floating away, clinging to their bodies silently, dispersing

The uncomfortable heat.

In the room, Qin Xiaoxiao was sleeping soundly on the bed, and the two little guys inside were also fast asleep with their little arms and legs bare.

"No, it's dangerous, don't go there, don't go there..." Qin Xiaoxiao fell into a nightmare, a dense layer of water droplets oozing out from her forehead, slowly falling along her frowning brows and falling into the corners of her eyes, she kept murmuring.

Said: "Brother Li, run quickly, run quickly..."

Naonao was very close, and just when he was about to wake up, he vaguely heard his mother's voice. He subconsciously leaned into her arms and slowly opened his eyes.

Realizing that his mother was really speaking, he sat up in shock and gently pushed her shoulder with his little hand: "Mother, mother."

Qin Xiaoxiao had no sense of the outside world. He pulled his hands in mid-air: "Brother Li, hurry up, run quickly..."

Nao Nao was frightened and didn't know what to do for a moment. Seeing that his brother was sleeping like black coal, he grabbed his brother's ears and pulled him up hard without even thinking.

"Ouch--" In his sleep, Mo Mo felt a tearing pain in his ears, and suddenly woke up with a howl, and saw his younger brother staring at him angrily.

He thought he had woken up his younger brother. He rolled his eyes and wanted to say a few nice words to comfort his younger brother. Suddenly he realized that his ears really hurt. He was about to raise his little paws to rub them when he was startled by a scream that made him tremble all over.

, almost wet the bed.

The little boy realized it later, sat up suddenly and threw himself on his mother, howling over and over again: "Mother, mother——"

This loud voice not only alarmed the Mingyue River Bridge outside the house, but also successfully awakened Qin Xiaoxiao who was addicted to nightmares. She opened her eyes blankly, looked at the familiar tent roof, and was stunned for a moment.

Reality and dreams.

Mingyue Xiqiao opened the door and walked in quickly. He saw the three ladies staring at each other with big eyes and asked anxiously: "Madam, the slaves heard the young master's cry, but were they frightened by the dirty things?"

In a season like this, it's hard to guarantee that snakes, insects, rats, and ants will crawl into the house. Just two days ago, two little guys found a centipede as long as a chopstick in the corner of the wall.

They didn't know centipedes, but when they saw that its body was bright red and looked very beautiful, with densely packed legs on its belly, they wanted to catch it and count how many there were. If the maids hadn't discovered it in time, they might have been bitten by this poisonous insect.

The bite was terrible.

I don’t know where such a big centipede came from. You must know that the entire house is sprinkled with insect repellent powder every three to five times to prevent these poisonous insects from crawling in and hurting people.

"It's okay, I had a nightmare and scared them." Qin Xiaoxiao turned pale and shook her head, indicating that they didn't need to worry.

"Madam, I will make you a pot of soothing tea." Mingyue could see that she was affected by the nightmare. Perhaps it was because she was worried about the Marquis, so she felt it was necessary to drink two pairs of soothing tea.

"Well, you go and do your work." Qin Xiaoxiao agreed, and then told Xiqiao: "Go get some hot water, I want to wash it."

The dream was so terrifying that she broke into a cold sweat. Her body was sticky with sweat and had a strange smell, which made her very uncomfortable.

The two of them quickly agreed and left quietly.

Qin Xiaoxiao looked at the tent ceiling absentmindedly, and found the two cubs looking at her secretly, so she withdrew her gaze, hugged the two in her arms and comforted her: "Were you scared by mother just now?"

He nodded silently: "I'm scared!"

After that, he patted her chest like a little adult: "Don't be afraid, mom, I had a nightmare just now. I dreamed that a dog bit my ear. It hurt so much that I woke up from the pain!"

Naonao was so angry that he puffed his face and said, "You are a puppy!"

She looked at her younger brother in confusion and said, "I didn't call you a puppy."

Nao Nao choked and turned away to ignore him.

Momo didn't know what was wrong with his brother, so he continued to talk to his mother: "Mom, did you also dream about dogs biting people?"

Qin Xiaoxiao was silent for a while, then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Well, that's it."

Nao Nao raised his head and asked seriously: "Mom told daddy to run quickly. Did she dream about the dog biting daddy?"

Qin Xiaoxiao didn't know how to answer, so she nodded: "Well, a big, big dog chased your father and scared my mother."

What she dreamed about was not a big dog chasing Brother Li, but a huge wave hitting Brother Li. She could do nothing in the dream and could only watch the huge wave sweeping over.

"Mom, dad is very powerful. He will definitely fight off the big dog, right?" Mo Mo looked at his mother with bright eyes. In his eyes, the most powerful person in the world is his dad. He knows martial arts and can fly with him.

Flying is not afraid of big dogs.

Nao Nao also looked at her mother and thought just like her brother, she also felt that her father was the most powerful.

Dazai'er's words made Qin Xiaoxiao feel at ease, and a smile appeared on his face: "Yes! He beat the big dog away, and the big dog can't hurt him!"

Mo Mo smiled happily, pulled out his small wooden sword from under the pillow, and made swish gestures: "I want to learn martial arts and be as powerful as my father, haha——"

There are two such small wooden swords, which were carved by Jing Heng himself as a two-year-old birthday gift for the brothers.

Qin Xiao smiled and rubbed his little head, but there was always a stone in her heart, preventing her from completely calming down.

She didn't know that Jing Heng had indeed experienced a huge crisis. If he hadn't been pulled out of the danger of falling into the sea at the critical moment, he would have been blown away by the strong wind and waves.

At this time, he was leaning weakly on the head of the bed with his eyes closed. The bleeding on the back of his head that had been hit had stopped and was wrapped in a thick cloth to prevent further bleeding.

Fortunately, the crisis of running aground was over and the ship got rid of the influence of the storm. The ship successfully passed the crisis. Now the sailing was relatively stable, so he could stay in the cabin and recuperate.

At this time, the guard accompanying him to protect him came over cautiously with a bowl of medicine: "Master Marquis, the medicine is ready."

Jing Heng opened his eyes, sat up straight, took the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Wiping the remaining medicine juice from the corners of his mouth, he asked, "How are the injured people?"

The guard bowed and said: "The doctor has already seen it. Two people are seriously injured and need to rest for a while."

Jing Heng nodded and continued to ask: "Who is the person who saved me?"

A flash of shame flashed across the guard's face, and he said truthfully: "Returning to the Marquis, this person's name is Li Ming, and he is from Le'an. Last year, the caravan was recruiting boatmen, and he was recruited because of his good water skills."

Happy people? What a coincidence.

Jing Heng muttered silently and then said, "Where is this person? Tell him to come in."

"Yes." The guard obeyed the order, took the medicine bowl, turned around and went out to call for someone.

Not long after, there was a knock on the cabin door. Jing Heng said "come in" and the cabin door was pushed open. A slightly stout man walked in, bowed his head and knelt down to salute: "I have seen you, sir."

.”

Jing Heng looked at him quickly and said slowly: "No courtesy."

"Thank you, sir." Li Zhao stood up and stood neither humble nor arrogant.

"Sit." Jing Heng pointed to the stool opposite. He had a good impression of Li Zhao, but he didn't know his name was Li Zhao yet.

"Thank you, sir." Li Zhao cupped his hands and thanked him, then walked over and sat down leisurely.

The stools in the cabin were all fixed and could not be moved at will. The place where he sat was more than ten feet away from the bed, which satisfied the two people who did not like to get too close to strangers.

Jing Heng asked directly: "You are from Le'an, how come you come all the way to Haicheng and then work as a boatman on a ship?"

Li Zhao calculated in his mind and hid some words that could not be revealed to others, and said truthfully: "Sir, I am from a poor family and can't afford a wife, so I wanted to go out and make a living, and came to Haicheng. I didn't expect to meet anyone.

Bu Shu lost all the money she had earned before and owed a large amount of foreign debt. When she saw that the government was recruiting boatmen at high prices, she signed up to try her luck."

When he formed a partnership with someone and made a lot of money, he originally wanted to split the money and go south. Unexpectedly, he fell into the trap of the other party before breaking up the partnership. On the other hand, he was deceived because of his inexperience, and on the other hand, the other party

He couldn't afford to offend someone who had a backer, so in the end he had to hold his nose and admit it.

But this hatred has always been buried in his heart. As long as he has the opportunity, he will definitely take revenge. The reason why he took the risk to be a boatman on the ship is that the wages are high, but what he values ​​​​more is the opportunities.

No, everything that happened today proved that his choice was right. A great opportunity came and he firmly grasped it. Whether he can turn around with this is right in front of him.

Thinking of this, Li Zhao became uncontrollably excited, and the muscles on his face twitched slightly.

Jing Heng didn't know what he was thinking, and thought he was nervous, so he pointed out the reason for calling him over: "You have the grace to save me, just ask for anything you want."

Li Zhao stood up suddenly, knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists with both hands and said, "I would like to follow you, sir, and I beg you to do it."

Jing Heng frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "I allow you to change the conditions."

Li Zhao's heart sank, he gritted his teeth and bowed deeply: "I beg you to grant me your permission!"

He didn't know Jingheng's specific identity. When he was rescuing him, he heard someone calling him "Marquis". With such a high title at such a young age, he guessed that his family must be prominent, so how could he not be tempted?

Jing Heng stared at him expressionlessly, his deep eyes giving people great oppression: "Aren't you afraid of death?"

Li Zhao felt a chill in his heart, but he did not allow himself to back down: "I am willing to do my best for you, but I hope you will do it for me!"

There was silence in the relatively spacious cabin, and subtle footsteps could be heard clearly from outside. After not hearing the echo for a long time, sweat broke out on his forehead unconsciously, and his back was already wet.
Chapter completed!