Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 224 Back then

Qiao Xuan looked at his daughter's eyes, which were as bright and clear as his beloved wife's, and reached out to touch her brows.

Qiao Lili's heart moved, there was a cluster of fire hidden there.

Qiao Xuan felt the bumps and depressions under his fingers that were not easily visible to the naked eye. He looked at Yu Jingyan and said, "Actually, I don't know where your grandmother's house is."

"When I was about six or seven years old, I was sent to an academy for enlightenment. My classmates laughed at me for not having a father, so I ran away from home alone to Xiguan City to find your grandfather." Qiao Xuan's eyes were blank, as if he saw a memory from long ago.

"I don't even know how I got rid of the servants and guards who followed me and left the city. I unknowingly got off the official road and entered the mountains."

"It was getting dark, and I was getting more and more scared the more I walked. I thought I was crying, but later I realized it was someone else crying."

"I walked over to the sound. The moonlight was bright. I saw an old man teaching a little girl of three or four years old martial arts. The little girl didn't want to practice and sat on the ground pretending to cry."

"I watched for a while, then rushed over and said, 'Sister, if you don't want to learn, don't learn. If you really want to teach, then teach me.'"

"I practiced what I had just learned. The old man was surprised at first that a child came from nowhere. After watching me practice, he touched my arms and legs and said with a smile, 'You are a good candidate for martial arts training.'"

"I asked him whose child I was and why I was still here after dark. I told him your grandfather was Duke Dingguo and I wanted to go find him. He asked me if I wanted to practice martial arts with him. I told him you have to ask my father and get his approval."

"He said, since he has nothing to do now, it might be a good idea to take you for a trip. He took me and the little girl back to a thatched cottage, where we had a meal and slept for a night. The next day, he packed his luggage and took us to Xiguan City."

"Later I learned that he sent a letter to your grandmother, telling her not to worry. He later became my master, and that little girl was your mother, Wen Xi."

"It took the three of us many days to get to Xiguan and meet your grandfather. Your mother and I have become best friends along the way. We eat and sleep together. She listens to me and not to what the master says." Qiao Xuan stopped narrating and an extremely gentle smile appeared on his face. If one hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have thought that Duke Dingguo, who had a solemn and murderous aura and had fought on the battlefield for many years, could be so emotional.

It must have been very sweet at that time. His mind flew away and it took a long time for him to come back.

"When we arrived at Xiguan, we met your grandfather. When he learned that my master was the head of the Langshan School, he agreed to let me become his disciple without any hesitation. We lived in Xiguan for an autumn, and left Xiguan before the snow fell. We went to Langshan, where I studied literature and martial arts with my fellow apprentices for fifteen years."

"My brothers and sisters left the mountain one after another, and your mother and I also went down the mountain to get married. The master was in charge of all the marriage arrangements, including the three letters and six ceremonies. Your mother did not mention her maternal family, but said that the master's sect was her home."

"Langshan Sect has not accepted any disciples since your mother and I. After your mother and I got married, we went back to visit them after they came down the mountain. When the master and the uncles closed the mountain gate, your mother cried very hard. I said that we can come back to see them anytime, but your mother just cried and said nothing."

“Later, news spread in the martial arts world that the Langshan Sect had gone into seclusion, and the descendants of the Langshan Sect who had already left the mountain were not allowed to accept disciples in the name of the Langshan Sect. The Langshan Sect disappeared from then on, and we have never seen our master and uncle again.” After Qiao Xuan finished telling this story, he choked up for a moment.

Qiao Xuan was still immersed in the sadness of memories. Qiao Lili looked at Yu Jingyan. They both had a question in their minds: how come the Langshan Sect seemed to be tailor-made for their mother? After their mother finished her studies, she went down the mountain, started a family and had children, and the Langshan Sect disappeared from the world.

If she had been 80% sure before that her mother was still alive, after hearing her father's story, she was 99% sure. Her mother must have had a great background. How could she be killed so easily by such a villain?

There must be someone who will protect her and save her from danger.

"Dad, my brother and I have the same wish. We both want to have our mother's blessing when we get married. Now Northern Mongolia has become the territory of Dayan. Ah Hui brought news that the twenty-small countries north of the northern border to the extremely cold land have also belonged to Dayan. Now only Western Turks are left."

"My brother and I want to go to Panhu Man in Western Turkic to find the saint and see if we can get any news about our mother from her. The soldiers have been fighting continuously for a while and are exhausted. They need to rest up. We will take this opportunity to go to Western Turkic. When we come back, we will conquer Western Turkic."

"There is also the scheming strategist from Western Turkic. He persuaded and connected these countries, which led to this large-scale war. He is still in Western Turkic. This time we go there, we must find out his background and see what his plan is."

Qiao Lili felt that his instigation of multi-national wars was definitely not as simple as fighting for territory and food. He wanted to bring chaos to the entire continent and must have ulterior motives.

Qiao Xuan also thought of this. After communicating with King Zhenbei, he also believed that this man had deeper plans. However, he was like a loach and escaped too quickly. They were all generals leading troops, and they could only start from the overall situation. According to the principle that the hair cannot be attached without the skin, it was more important to capture the city first and not lose sight of the main goal.

Therefore, this man took advantage of his familiarity with the geographical environment and used a roundabout way to escape from Northern Mongolia to the northern border, and then from the northern border back to Western Turkestan.

First set a target to go and find him. It doesn't matter if you can't find him. Wait until the army has repaired, and then the two armies will march into Western Turkestan at the same time. Wait until Western Turkestan no longer exists, and see where he will run to.

"Lili, Daddy wants to go find your mother himself." Qiao Xuan now firmly believes in his heart that Wen Xi is still alive, and this belief will never waver.

"Dad, mother must no longer be a Panhu barbarian. We are just going to get some information. Besides, you can't leave now." Qiao Xuan is the Duke of Dingguo. He is guarding the West Gate under the order of the emperor. Now the Northern Mongolia is gone, but the Western Turkic troops are still approaching. How can he just leave like Qiao Lili and Yu Jingyan?

If he wanted to leave, he had to ask for permission from the emperor, and he could only leave after the emperor sent a new official to replace him or temporarily replace him. Not to mention that this back and forth would take a lot of time, but people were needed everywhere and it was an extraordinary period, so it was not easy to find someone to replace him.

Therefore, Qiao Xuan could only watch anxiously as Qiao Lili and Yu Jingyan packed their luggage, and watched them ride out of Shangjing City on horseback to Xiguan City to meet up with Qiao Peng.