Harue Kagetsu

When Gao Qiao chased out the door, Xiao Yongjia had already boarded the car.

The window was closed, and it was invisible.

He wanted to stop the car, opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.

Accompanied by the sound of chasing wheels, he watched the bullock cart carrying his wife go away, and finally disappeared into the thick night.

That night, Gao Qiao was completely insomnia, and he never closed his eyes for a moment.

He stared at the jade pendant returned by Xiao Yongjia, which he had long since forgotten, and he fell into deep confusion, trouble, sorrow and disbelief.

He really couldn't understand the sudden action of his wife.

They have been married for nearly 20 years, and it is not the first time for such a dispute like today.

Moreover, in the end, without exception, they all ended with their own tolerance.

The same is true today.

In view of the potentially dangerous consequences of this matter, although he was extremely dissatisfied with Xiao Yongjia's decision and was furious at the time, in the face of her insistence, in the end, he had no choice but to back down.

He was used to this way of getting along with his wife, and thought she had acquiesced.

For this dispute, Gao Qiao originally imagined that his wife would go back to Bailuzhou.

And he made a decision secretly. If she doesn't realize the principled mistake she made, he won't take the initiative to court her again in the short term.

She must be clearly aware of her firm attitude on this matter.

His top priority was how to persuade his daughter to win back his heart, or to make Li Mu get rid of his disobedience and help the society together with himself - after all, Gao Qiao still highly appreciates Li Mu's talent and has high hopes of.

If he goes astray because of his youth and arrogance, he is in a high position, and he is an elder, but he does not restrain and guide him, it is also a fault.

Therefore, before his daughter left, he deliberately had a long talk with her daughter, asking her to meet Li Mu, be sure to persuade her, put away her dissent, and return to the right path.

But what Gao Qiao didn't expect was that his wife gave him such a great drink after sending his daughter away.

After regaining his senses, his first reaction was that his wife was deliberately getting angry with him again, wanting to bow down to her and admit her mistake.

But thinking of her various abnormal performances over the past few days, he quickly rejected the idea.

Since it's not tantrums, it's true.

Gao Qiao couldn't accept all this at all.

Although over the years, yin and yang have been out of balance, and husband and wife have been incompatible, but for Gao Qiao, this has long been a part of his life, just like the state affairs he has to deal with every day.

When he was alone, when he had nothing to do, thinking about the relationship between husband and wife, he also felt anxious, helpless, exhausted, until finally numb, and it became just a matter of life.

But he never thought that one day, he would break this life.

Occasionally, in the dead of night, he even thought that if Xiao Yongjia died before him in the future, he would not marry again, and the two would definitely be in the same place.

But if Xiao Yongjia remarrys in all likelihood if he dies first, then Shouxue, I am afraid that he will only have to keep his own place.

Although it hurts a bit, but thinking that it is after death, everything is relieved.

And today, suddenly, everything went haywire.

He was distracted, fidgety, and bewildered.

So many years have passed, and her daughter is so old. She has accepted such a wife long ago. She should also acquiesce to the status quo of husband and wife getting along.

Now suddenly proposed and divorced?

Gao Qiao asked herself, she never did anything wrong to her.

What was she thinking?

That night, he sighed and stayed awake all night. In the early morning of the next day, he got up in a daze, washed his face with cold water, and his mind became clearer. When he was about to leave for the meeting, he suddenly remembered something.

The Taoist temple on Bailuzhou used to have Taoist nuns in it.

The old Taoist nun who didn't know what the name was, he had met a few times before, and he vaguely remembered the appearance.

But in recent times, when I visited the island and passed by Ziyun Temple, I found that the gate was always closed.

He once asked a question casually, and was told that the Taoist nuns were all driven away by the eldest princess.

He remembered that Xiao Yongjia would often go to Ziyun Temple in the past, and it would take half a day to sit with the old Taoist nun.

He was also pleased with this. I think this is also a good place to cultivate and pass the time for Xiao Yongjia, who has nothing to do all day.

At that time, I didn't pay much attention to it. I felt that the Taoist nuns had offended their wives, and they didn't ask much about the reasons.

Thinking about it carefully at this moment, Gao Qiao finally got suspicious. Before going out, he called Gao Qi and ordered him to inquire about the inside story of Xiao Yongjia driving away the Taoist nun.

On this day, Gao Qiaoren was in Taicheng, and he looked the same as usual, but in fact he had no intention of doing business, and he returned to his heart like an arrow. Before the evening, he returned to the Gao Mansion early - and did not see Xiao Yongjia returning.

He was alone in the study, with his hands behind his back, and when he was pacing back and forth, Gao Qi entered and brought a message. Saying that I couldn't find out the specific inside story, I only knew that the eldest princess was furious at that time, and ordered all the people in the Guanli to be driven away, and none of them were allowed to stay. Fortunately, after some investigations, he was asked to find a former female apprentice of the old Taoist aunt Liao Chenzi. Now she has shaved her hair and changed her to a niece. In fact, she secretly did some shady deeds, and people also brought her. See you or not.

Gao Qiao called to bring someone in.

The sister-in-law was brought in, and when she saw Gao Qiao sitting on the top, he dared to look straight, bowed his head and knelt down, and listened to Gao Qiao asking about the inside story of being kicked out.

It is said that the old Taoist nun saw that the eldest princess lived on the island for a long time, was alone, gossips daily, and occasionally revealed her grievances, so she thought she was thirsty and wanted to drink, and wanted to please her. Then he made his own decision, and interviewed a beautiful young man who was good at **** and who had been flattering to noble ladies for many years. Drive away the Taoist nuns in the entire Taoist temple.

After hearing this, Gao Qiao was stunned. After a while, he recalled it and asked Gao Qi to take the aunt out. After thinking about it carefully, he couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.

Nowadays, in the Southern Dynasties, Xuanfeng talk is clear, rituals are broken and music is broken. Among the high gates of Jiankang, there are also many noble ladies who do not keep the way of women. There was that Zhu Jiyue before.

In Jiankang, Xiao Yongjia's reputation is really bad.

But the most criticized, but luxury, sexual jealousy, etc., never the slightest scandal.

Therefore, in the past few years, although Gao Qiao and Xiao Yongjia have been separated for a long time, they have never thought about their wife in this regard.

He never dreamed that, without his knowledge, on Bailu Island, where his wife lived, a beautiful young man had set foot on it, and the old Taoist nun even tried to thread a needle through it.

If it weren't for her upright conduct, wouldn't she have become the second Yulin King now?

Gao Qiao's face was red for a while, and white for a while, and all kinds of feelings surged in his heart. When he was stunned, suddenly, another thought popped into his mind.

Gao Qiao was well aware of Xiao Yongjia's affection for him in the past.

It was also when she forcibly wanted to marry that they got married.

After marrying her, Gao Qiao never had the idea of ​​taking a concubine - apart from being unintentional, Xiao Yongjia's jealousy also made Gao Qiao miserable, and there was no such idea at all.

Now, not only did she propose reconciliation, but she even opened her mouth to persuade herself to take a concubine. Her tone was so generous and sincere that she was definitely not trying to pinch her.

Could it be that she was finally unable to resist the intrusion of the evil spirits outside, and her temperament changed greatly. From now on, she will live happily and live her own life?

Gao Qiao's heart skipped a beat.

It stands to reason that Xiao Yongjia finally wanted to let go and was willing to let go of himself. Gao Qiao should have felt relieved and could breathe a sigh of relief.

But he couldn't relax.

Instead, he suddenly wanted to go to Bailuzhou to see what Xiao Yongjia was doing at the moment.

Without any hesitation, he put aside other things, went out immediately, and rushed to Chengxi Ferry.

As people approached, he hesitated.

Judging from her attitude yesterday, she decided not to go to this point. Now that she is passing by like this, how should she deal with herself if she faces her coldly?

After hesitating, he walked to the ferry, and hadn't decided whether to get on or not, but when he saw a horse stopped there, it seemed to be left by an outsider, so he asked the guard.

The guard said, "Murong has just come to visit, and the eldest princess has allowed him to land on the island."

Gao Qiao was shocked.

After Murong came to Jiankang on his behalf, he made several invitations to the door, but Gao Qiao ignored them.

Unexpectedly, he came to worship Xiao Yongjia without authorization today. Gao Qiao couldn't stand it anymore, he immediately lowered his face, got on the boat, went straight to the island, went to the island, hurried to Bieyuan, walked to the door, saw the door opened, Murong Ticha was sent out by the steward .

The steward was seeing off the guests on behalf of the hostess, and his attitude was quite polite. When he saw Gao Qiao coming, he was standing on the footpath outside the door.

Seeing Gao Qiao, Murong Ting was slightly startled, then smiled, walked quickly, greeted him with a very respectful attitude, smiled and said, "Before my little nephew went south, my uncle had something to say that I, Murong's family, was originally a minister of Great Yu. When he came to Dayu back then, he was fortunate enough to be with Duke Gao. Although he was in the battlefield, he was involuntarily, and it was not what his uncle wanted. Now he finally has to abandon the darkness and turn to the light. On his behalf, I will convey the friendship of the old friend. My little nephew has admired Duke Gao for a long time. I have asked for it several times before, but I know that Duke Gao has misunderstood me and dare not disturb me again. Taking the liberty to visit, I wanted to ask the eldest princess to pass the message on my behalf, to express my sincere admiration and sincerity, and I am fortunate to be able to see Gao Gong's face here.

After all, another long bow.

Gao Qiao said coldly: "Why does King Lingzhi have to be so polite. Although Your Majesty has left you in Jiankang, I am afraid that the Southern Dynasty is too small to carry your Murong Clan's courage. visible?"

Murong looked frightened and pleaded guilty.

Gao Qiao turned to the steward and said "see off".

Seeing that everyone was unhappy, the steward didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly turned to Murong Ti: "Young Master, please come with the little one."

Murong Ti respectfully said goodbye to Gao Qiao again, then resigned, walked to the ferry, stopped, turned around, glanced behind him, turned his head and boarded the boat to leave.

…

Xiao Yongjia met Murong Tzu in the flower hall, and after asking someone to see off the guests, he sat alone by the window, staring at a delicate begonia in the twilight outside the window. ll.

Turning around, seeing that Gao Qiao was coming, he didn't move, didn't say anything, just stared at him.

"A Ling, why did Murong come here just now?"

As soon as Gao Qiao entered, he asked.

Xiao Yongjia said: "Nothing. It's just that he has been in Jiankang for some time, and he has never come to worship, so he came to see me today!"

Gao Qiao suppressed his displeasure and said, "He has worshipped me several times, but I have not seen him. Murong's intentions are ulterior, and His Majesty is so happy that he was deceived by him and did not listen to me, so he was able to stay in Jiankang. You should also know that Yes, why do you still want to see him?"

Xiao Yongjia frowned: "My name is the eldest princess, I only know how to eat, drink and have fun all day long, and I have become strangers to you. Who knows about Jiankang? Since he has been allowed to stay in Jiankang, he will come in the name of future generations I met him during the visit, but after saying a few words, I sent him away, what can I do? This will ruin your reputation and cause turmoil in the court?"

She stared at Gao Qiao: "Besides, who do I see, what do you do to you?"

Gao Qiao was at a loss for words, hesitated for a while, and finally couldn't contain his dissatisfaction, and said, "What happened to him seeing you? But did he say good things for Murong Xi?"

He snorted: "In order to survive, Murongxi did nothing to save his life, and he used his body to serve the summer. Now that he can't do anything, he fled north and waited for an opportunity to make a comeback. The most hateful thing is that he even tried to borrow the name of Dayu from me. , to win the hearts of the Han people. Such an unfaithful and shameless person, His Majesty is only confused, if you are also deceived by others, I really have nothing to say!"

Xiao Yongjia raised his eyebrows: "I'm just a woman, I don't care about these court affairs. You see Murongxi is not pleasing to the eye. If we meet again on the battlefield in the future, just defeat him."

Gao Qiao's heart burst into block.

His second northern expedition that year was blocked by Murong Xi, and the army was stuck in the Huai River, unable to reach Luoyang, and missed the opportunity.

Thinking about it now, I still hate it.

Xiao Yongjia said this, but he couldn't refute it, so he could only hold back his anger, let out a sullen breath in his chest, and said in a softer tone as possible, "A-Ling, I've thought about what you said last night, it's extremely inappropriate. If you and I are reconciled, then the reputation will not be counted, and Ami will be sad. I can't bear to make her sad, and the words of reconciliation will not be mentioned in the future."

"As for taking a concubine, it's even more nonsense. Have you ever seen me complaining about you because I don't have a child? It doesn't matter if I don't have a child. There are many talents in the generation of nephews. No regrets."

Xiao Yongjia said: "It's up to you. Leave or don't leave, accept it or not, it's all up to you. Life is short, you are middle-aged, and I wasted away because of me in the past, I just hope you can live a more comfortable life in the future, nothing too much. Aggrieved myself. In this way, I can feel more at ease."

She got up from the window and nodded slightly towards Gao Qiao: "I'm tired, go and rest, you can do it yourself."

After all, go to the door.

Gao Qiao looked at her back without looking back, thinking that he had been patient with her all these years, and finally ended up with such a treatment, abandoned like a broom, and felt anguish in his heart, he couldn't bear it any longer, and chased after a few steps. , grabbed her arm.

"A-Ling! Make it clear to me! How can I be sorry for you, you treat me like this?"

Xiao Yongjia saw that his face was faintly angry, his arm was pinched so painfully, he couldn't help frowning: "Let me go!"

Gao Qiao did not let go.

"In the past few years, I have so many things every day. You are not considerate, but you separated from me, embarrassing me, and making me ridiculed behind my back. Have I ever had a single complaint?"

"You don't have the same room with me. Did I force you or find another maid?"

"Every time you argue with me, it's unreasonable, and I didn't let you go?"

"Now that you say that life is too short, you want to part with me? How can I, Gao Qiao, be sorry for you?"

With a gloomy face, he stared at Xiao Yongjia.

"Could it be that you think I'm getting old and want to have a new love?"

Xiao Yongjia's arm was pinched by him so he couldn't move, he was frowning and holding back, when he heard such a sentence from his mouth, he was stunned and shook his hand suddenly.

"Gao Qiao, what kind of person do you think I am, Xiao Yongjia?"

"As you said, in the past 20 years, I have made no progress. Now I think about it, I don't want to embarrass you, let alone embarrass myself, but you are acting like this, what do you mean?"

She sneered and nodded.

"But what you said reminded me. Look at it, if I have someone I like in the future, I will definitely live a happy life. I advise you to live as comfortable as you can in the future, and don't make trouble with it. If you can't get through it yourself, don't feel wronged any more!"

After she finished speaking, she rubbed the arm that had just been pinched and hurt, and turned and walked away.

Gao Qiao was furious, stared at her back, picked her up from behind with a backhand, and regardless of the struggle, he forcibly carried her back to the couch by the window, threw it up, and jumped on him, pulling her clothes, He gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! Okay! That's what you said! I won't wrong myself today! If you want to leave me, pass me first!"

Xiao Yongjia was firmly suppressed by him on the couch and forced to lie down on his back.

Married to him for nearly 20 years, I have never seen him so rude, let alone treated like this. Seeing his savage strength and terrifying eyes, as if he had changed a person, his heart skipped a beat, his face flushed red, and he struggled hard, but how could he resist the man's strength? He turned over a candlestick in the corner of the table on the couch.

The flower hall has no door. There was a sound of footsteps outside, but a few servants were startled by the abnormal movement of the candlestick falling to the ground. They didn't know what happened, and hurried over to see that everyone had put the eldest princess on the couch.

No one in the family knew that Gao Xianggong and the eldest princess had a bad relationship. In the past few years, the two no longer lived together. When they suddenly saw such a scene, they were shocked, looked at each other, and hurriedly retreated.

Xiao Yongjia was both ashamed and shocked. He gritted his teeth and said: "Gao Qiao, you are crazy! Why is this, you dare to treat me like this!"

Gao Qiao stopped.

His eyes fell on his wife, whom he had pressed under him. Seeing her hair disheveled, panting, her face crimson, and her clothes being ripped apart by herself, a piece of snow, looming with her rapid breathing, froze for a while.

He closed his eyes, suddenly let go of the woman under him, turned over to the bed, tidied up his clothes, left her and left the flower hall. Under the gazes of the bewildered servants outside, he said: "Serve the eldest princess well", and hurried away.

Xiao Yongjia lay on his back on the couch, his hands and feet bent, just like before Gao Qiao left.

After a long while, her breathing gradually calmed down, her eyes were closed, and she remained motionless, as if she had fallen asleep.

Outside the window, the night darkened.

Another night has come.

…

Half a month later, Luoshen's ship arrived in Jingzhou in Jiangbei.

Yang Xuan got the news early, knew that she was coming today, and came to the ferry early to meet her.

After Luoshen went ashore, he rested for a whole night, and set off early the next morning. Yang Xuan personally escorted him out of Jingzhou, and then continued to Yicheng under the leadership of a person who knew the way he sent.

A group of people all the way north, keep walking along the road of the march. This has been on the road for more than half a month.

That evening, Fan Cheng was afraid that Luoshen would be tired from the journey, so he ordered his men to cut wood and cut grass, set up a camp, and prepare for the night. When the guide came back, he said that this place was already in the territory of Yicheng County, and it was only twenty miles away from the city. Go faster, you will be there before sunset.

Luo Shen has never experienced such a long and arduous journey in his life.

She was fine on the boat before. For the past half month, in order to get there faster, when she left Berkshire, she gave up the waterway of the West Han River and chose to take the carriage and take the nearest marching route.

The road is in very bad condition. Although the carriage was covered with thick blankets, it kept bumping from morning to night, and people couldn't bear it. When she came here today, she already felt that her bones were about to fall apart, and her whole body was sore, but she suddenly heard that the city was in front of her, and she suddenly regained her energy, and told her to pack up and go on the road immediately.

Fan Cheng and Gao Huan had to listen to her arrangement and continue to go north.

Twilight gradually thickened.

Luoshen sat in the jolting and throbbing carriage, galloping forward, looking at the wilderness in the distance outside the window.

After leaving Jingzhou and Bashu, all the way to the north, the villages you pass through are almost empty and empty.

Here too.

In the wilderness on both sides of the road, some ridges left by the former fields can still be discerned vaguely. But now, it is overwhelmed by weeds and brambles.

The wildly growing grass, like wildfire, spreads in all directions, annihilating everything, leaving only endless desolation.

Only the sunset in this wilderness is still spectacular.

The sky above the distant hills is half the color of blue crab shells and half purple. The fiery red sunset hung on the top of the mountain, chasing Luoshen's carriage, and kept going forward.

"Sister, I saw the pier and the tower!"

Gao Huan, who was on horseback outside the car, suddenly roared.

Day after day, the wind and the sun were blowing, and he lost a lot of weight, and even his voice became hoarse.

But at this moment, his hoarse roar was filled with ecstasy that could not be concealed.

Luoshen's heart beat faster, enduring the uncomfortable feeling of being jolted so much that he wanted to vomit, he held the car window with his hand, slowly probed out, and glanced forward.

Just ahead, the shadow of a dark blue city wall appeared in her sight.

The city wall is several feet high, with a deep wall foundation. Above the city gate, stands tall towers.

The piers on both sides, like the wings of an eagle, guard the city gate in the middle, with a majestic momentum.

The sunset that was chasing the Luoshen carriage just now hangs in front of the city tower again, and the golden rays of light are split by the gate of the city.

Obviously, this is a newly built fortification.

Above this desolate land, it suddenly came into view, like an oasis that suddenly appeared in the desert, which was shocking.

This is the destination of Luoshen's trip.

The city where the prefect Li Mu is located.

Yicheng.