[Southern Song Dynasty] Splendid mountains and rivers

From the west of Yanyun Sixteen States to Huazhou on the south bank of the Yellow River, there are two roads to go.

The first one is to go west along the Dahe River, then go south through Shuozhou and Daizhou, and cross the Yellow River.

The second is to go east to Yizhou, pass through Dingzhou, and then go southwest to cross the Yellow River.

Zhao Yuan chose the first path without hesitation.

There is no other reason. Shuozhou and Daizhou are the places where the Zhong family has guarded for generations.When she was choosing a route against the map last night, she had vaguely seen the longing hidden in Zhong Yi's eyes.

No matter how calm, respectful, mature and prudent young man is, he will be homesick.

"We only have about half a day to a day." She leaned quietly in Zhong Yi's arms, pointed to Daizhou and said, "I will stop here for a while to replenish some food and water... um..."

She felt the young man behind him suddenly folded his arms, and the breath he exhaled sprayed on his ears, a little itchy.

"Emperor Ji..." Zhong Yi opened his mouth, as if he wanted to refuse, but abruptly changed the subject, "...I will concentrate on replenishing the supplies, so please rest assured."

"Yeah." She nestled in his arms and nodded lightly, "Of course, are you a local snake?"

Zhong Yi was taken aback for a moment, then let out a muffled laugh.

Now he doesn't shy away from the so-called "lord and minister's etiquette".

On that day, Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, and Zhao Gou issued three wills, one of which was "Yun Rou Fu Di Ji chooses her own son-in-law".The night before yesterday, Di Ji revealed the relationship between the two again under the watchful eyes of everyone.If you avoid the taboo too much, it will seem a bit hypocritical.

Zhong Yi sees it openly.

Once the emotions that have been suppressed for a long time are opened, they will rush like a torrent.Although he still cared about the identity of Diji's daughter's family and did not do anything out of courtesy, the way he looked at her became more intense day by day, and sometimes it made Diji feel a little embarrassed , after twisting him silently, he quickly slipped away, which made him very depressed.

Zhao Yuan nestled in his arms and yawned slightly.

"From here to Huazhou, even if we go fast, we still have more than half a month to go." She looked at the candle light in a daze, and counted on her fingers, "I don't know how long Brother Nine will let my father 'raise' the illness." .Although father really likes to point fingers, but..."

But what, she didn't continue talking, just sighed faintly.

Zhong Yi lowered his head, gently kissed her long eyelashes, and persuaded, "It's late at night, can Di Ji sleep well?"

She nodded: "Yes."

Zhong Yi immediately hugged her to the couch, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and then got up and left with a smile.

So, another good night's sleep.

Early the next morning, the two of them headed south with dozens of elite cavalry.In fact, there were not many cavalry available in the Song Army, and most of them were in the Western Army. This time, Zhao Yuan picked and brought dozens of cavalry to the Yanyun Zhuzhou. Only Li Gang was left to support him.

As for Han Shizhong...

Han Shizhong has always been a restless person, how could he stay in the city obediently, talking with a group of old men from the Privy Council?I have been screaming and training recruits for a long time!

Zhao Yuan's trip went very smoothly.

They traveled all the way west from Ruzhou and bought thousands of shi of summer grain in one go.Because of the great reputation of Grandma God of Wealth, everyone trembles when doing business with her.Fortunately, she was generous, and she dumped a batch of grain at a low price before, and the business went smoothly.

It was already ten days after arriving in Shuozhou.

On the night of staying in Shuozhou, Zhong Yi and his old colleagues had a good time talking about Zhanyan, and then bought back [-]% of Shuozhou's grain by relying on his status as a local snake.Everyone sold this young man's face, and did not embarrass Zhao Yuan too much.But in the early morning of the next day, when Zhong Yi staggered on the horse, he was immediately grabbed by Zhao Yuan: "Go to the carriage at the back."

"Hmm..." Zhong Yi's eyes were still drunk, and he tilted his head to look at Zhao Yuan, a little at a loss.

The wolf howls of the men of the Western Army sounded all around: "Diji and Mr. Shaolang will ride together, and we will do the rest!"

It was really howling, full of pride.

Zhao Yuan gave them a non-violent look, supported Zhong Yi, and got into the carriage behind.

The carriage is so small that it can even be described as "shabby".

The tall and big Zhong Yi curled up in a ball in the carriage, frowning with drunk eyes, looking extremely uncomfortable.Zhao Yuan supported him to lie on his lap, fed him some hangover soup, and glanced at the military newspaper that had just been delivered.Li Gang no longer dared to underestimate any words she said, even if these words sounded like she had lost her mind.What's more, he also neatly copied a copy of Huazhou Bianzhou's military newspaper, and ordered Kuaima to send it to her as soon as possible every day.So Zhao Yuan had no choice but to accept this errand.

"Hmm..." Zhong Yi moved uncomfortably in her arms, frowning deeply.

"Is it hard?" She asked with some concern.Although human relations and banquet entertainment have always been indispensable.But last night those soldiers really pumped him up too hard, and he still hasn't woken up yet.

"Chen...it's fine." He rubbed the center of his brows wearily, and said with his eyes dim and drunk, "It's better to hurry up."

Zhao Yuan was slightly taken aback.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear: "I remember, you don't usually have this habit."

"Well……"

He rubbed between his brows again, tilted his head, looked at his Di Ji and smiled, "Because Di Ji is used to this movement, I learned it."

It's really taken for granted, very confident.

——Because I love you so much, I got used to your habitual actions as well.

Zhao Yuan turned his head away abruptly, his ears felt a little hot.

You bastard...you bastard.

Who said that men in ancient times were respectful and polite, and they were not good at intercourse!

The person in her arms is simply a natural love, no, a natural love once in ten thousand years!

She's so good at flirting even when she's drunk!

"Hmm...Di Ji..."

Zhong Yi raised his hand, and gently pressed her brows with his slightly hot knuckles. There was already a hint of dampness in his deep eyes.

"I love Emperor Ji..."

The hard knuckles slid down the center of her brows and rested on the tip of her nose, getting hotter and hotter.

"When you think about it, when will you forget it..."

The low-alcohol voice echoed in the narrow compartment, like the most mellow wine in the world, after taking a sip, you will be so drunk that you will not wake up.

"Rong Chen... how about guarding you for the rest of your life? Guarding thousands of miles of beautiful rivers and mountains, guarding the picturesque beauty... In this life, I will never abandon you."

There was a hint of drunkenness in the fiery eyes, which made people feel a little pain in their hearts.

"Like the brightness of a bright moon, like the twilight of a warm sun..."

The hot knuckles pressed gently on her lips, her jaw, her forearm, and her fingertips, twisting tightly.

"The minister has already...been unable to restrain himself."

Like a moth to a flame, like a golden crow chasing the sun.

I can't remember how many times I rubbed her into my body fiercely in my dream, and when I woke up, there was nothing but filth and redness on the bed.

She was the one I thought of when the flames of war were raging and the smoke was everywhere, and it was her that I thought of when I was whipping my horse across the wilderness. , is still her...

"minister……"

"Always……"

"I love Emperor Ji..."

"I know."

She leaned over and held him in her arms, kissed his sideburns lightly, and whispered: "I know."

"Well……"

He held her hand tightly and gradually fell asleep in her arms.

Probably because he drank too much wine last night, or because he stayed up all night with his colleagues last night, his heart relaxed and he fell into a deep sleep.

Zhao Yuan hugged him quietly for a moment, then smiled involuntarily.

Well, he has a very good personality, and his wine taste is also very good.

It is wonderful to fall asleep when drunk.

As for the words just now...

Well, let him repeat it the next time he's not drunk.

She took a military newspaper and read it carefully.The documents that could be read in 3 minutes in the past took less than half an hour today.

Most of the water in Huazhou has receded, and the raging torrent is heading north.Thousands of miles of yellow flooding area, thousands of miles without cock crowing.Yanjing's decree has been handed down one after another, opening warehouses for disaster relief and resettling refugees... The most complete civil service system in the Song Dynasty finally started to rotate at this time.Worrying about the world and caring about the common people seem to be the common qualities of scholars in this era.

Although these civil servants are only a hindrance on the battlefield, they are extremely excellent in other matters.

Zhao Yuan put down the document and thought about it for a while.Disaster relief is only one purpose of going to Huazhou. In fact, what she wants most is to stop the flooding of the Yellow River forever, so that this mother river, which has been surging for thousands of years, will flow eastward into the sea obediently forever.

However, this is easier said than done?

She sat quietly and thought for a while, but still couldn't figure out why.The breathing of the young man in his arms was extremely steady, full of drunkenness, and slightly hot.As she listened, she couldn't help breathing in accordance with his rhythm.

...something must be broken!

...It seems that since she met him, she always felt that something was broken in her.

Zhao Yuan sat in distress for a while, and her general didn't wake up until near noon.After waking up from the wine, Your Excellency the General suddenly became a little cautious, he only held her forehead and kissed her lightly, then got up and got out of the carriage, and galloped all the way.

Her Highness Di Ji was unable to support her forehead.

As soon as they left Shuozhou, they entered Daizhou.

As soon as the men of the Western Army entered Daizhou, they immediately started howling, and ran towards their homes one by one.Most of these fine and fierce men came from Daizhou.Zhong Yi got off the horse with a smile, and led Zhao Yuan straight to his house.

The Zhong family is a powerful family, and the main family residence is in the most prosperous area of ​​the largest city in Daizhou.

Walking along the way, I just feel that this important northwest town is well managed.Although it is not as good as Bianliang's nightly singing and dancing, it is already unbelievably prosperous.Zhao Yuan and Zhong Yi led the horse together, and stopped in front of a rather solemn mansion.

Zhong Yi frowned imperceptibly.

Zhao Yuan stepped forward and gently held his hand.She also felt that something was wrong.Although this city was extremely prosperous, beside this majestic mansion, it was unbelievably quiet.

Zhong Yi walked forward slowly, grabbed the brass ring on the door, and knocked lightly three times.

Tee, Tee, Tee...

The vermilion lacquered door opened with a creak, and an old servant with a hunched back and a limped leg stuck out his head with awe-inspiring killing intent all over his body.The moment he saw Zhong Yi suddenly, the old servant fell to his knees with a plop, hugged Zhong Yi, and cried loudly.

"Mr. Shaolang——"

"The seed family has never been extinct, it has never been extinct—"

"God bless the breeder, God bless..."

Before the old servant finished speaking, the rich doors slowly opened to both sides.As far as the eye can see, it is full of large expanses of white.Spirit banners, white candles, shrouds, coffins... A middle-aged woman in white all over came out slowly, looked at Zhong Yi, first in astonishment, then in ecstasy, and finally took two steps forward as if trying to catch him In the end, he just covered his lips and sobbed.

"Big... sister-in-law..."

Zhong Yi opened his mouth with difficulty, and looked at the eyes of the mansion with difficulty, almost unable to complete the entire sentence.

"Why... why..."

The woman looked at him with tears in her eyes, and said word by word, with great difficulty:

"Before three months, in the battle of Baihegou, the family of Zhong was full of families, and they died fighting hard."

"Most of the western army was lost, and the river was stained with blood..."

"But in the end it was... After all, it was the Xixia people who were blocked from thousands of miles of yellow sand..."

"We all thought you also..."

Before March, it was precisely the time when the Song army went west to the Taihang Mountains and swept Yanyun.

"The king of Xixia got the order of Emperor Jin to hold back the Song army in the west. My husband thought that regaining Yanyun was an extraordinary feat, and he would try his best to stop the Xixia people from the country. After that, my father fought hard. Yun, Husband Lizhan Shenyun, Seventh Brother, Nine Brothers, Fifteen Brothers, Sixteenth Brothers Lizhan... Shenyun, even my Xi'er... Later, everyone became red-eyed and said that Zhong Jiazi should die on the battlefield, Then..."

She couldn't go on.

In that war that changed the color of the world, the men of the Zhong family all died.

It is said that there are only two words in the military newspaper: tragic victory.

It is said that this military newspaper was only placed on Zhao Ji's desk for a short while, and even in the Privy Council, there was not much splash.

It is said that everyone is used to the annihilation of the entire army on the battlefield, first the Yang family, and then the Zhong family. In fact... there is nothing unexpected.

It is said that...

With red eyes, Zhong Yi walked step by step into the mansion full of spirit flags.

White, pale, miserable white.

The mourning hall is full of wooden plaques, and there is even a small one in the last row, which is clearly engraved: Zhongshizi, Yi.

No wonder the news has never been heard.

It turned out that everyone thought that he was dead.

So now, is he just trying to survive?

He knelt in front of the spiritual case, tightly holding the corner of the case with his knuckles.Sad to the extreme, but can't make a sound.Baihegou, people from Xixia, blood-stained river, dying in battle...

The red eyes are full of deep sorrow, a desire to cry bitterly and growl hoarsely, which is firmly imprisoned in the deepest part of the body.The saber on his waist made a slight clinking sound, piercing him in unbearable pain.

He's...a man...

Even if the sky of Chong's family is falling, he must stand upright and carry it on his shoulders.

"Mr. Shaolang..."

The old servant staggered in, the murderous intent honed on the battlefield in the early years hadn't receded, but his figure was much older.

"In the battle of Baihegou, the entire Zhong family was wiped out, leaving only Mr. Shaolang."

With a clang, he drew his long sword from the wall and asked sharply:

"Since Mr. Shaolang is the son of the Zhong family, what should he do?"