Wen Xiangyanyu

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, it was freezing cold.

Ling Qiyan was called into the palace by the queen mother early in the morning, saying that she would hold a birthday banquet for him.

After the cold weather, Ling Qiyan became more and more lazy. He stayed at the house all day long and did not go out. He rarely entered the palace.

The Empress Dowager called the man to her side and touched his face: "Why can't you get excited? There is no smiling face on today's birthday?"

Ling Qiyan said casually: "It's boring in the mansion, and no one will play with me."

Even Zhang Yuan and his group were affected by the recent rumors about noble family members in Beijing. They were detained at home and not allowed to go out easily. Ling Qiyan listened to the maid playing music at the house all day long. It was really boring .

The Queen Mother smiled and said: "Tomorrow will be the new year, you can live in the palace during this time, and go back after the Lantern Festival, your younger brothers and sisters are all in the palace, there are many people to play with you. "

Ling Qiyan wondered what fun I had with them, but he could only agree on his face.

Seeing that he was still unhappy, the queen mother wanted to coax him, so she called the eunuch over and ordered Ling Qiyan to go to the warehouse, then patted her good grandson's hand, and reminded him: "You choose by yourself. You can take whatever you want."

Ling Qiyan said in embarrassment: "...how can you be so embarrassing, others should say that grandma is biased."

The queen mother disagreed: "Who dares to say, besides, your father, queen and queen can be partial, why can't I be partial to you? Regardless of them, go, take what you want."

Ling Qiyan finally smiled, thanked him, and happily got up and followed the others.

Looking at the back of Ling Qiyan leaving happily, the queen mother sighed casually to the nurses beside her: "In the blink of an eye, Yan'er has grown so big. I still remember his appearance when he was just brought back. He is thin and small, a poor child. He is obviously a prince of gold and jade, but he was born in the mountains and was only found after the full moon, and luckily he was found."

This matter was seldom mentioned in the palace, the Empress Dowager thought of it occasionally, she would not have to go to the Buddhist hall to worship, so she could feel at ease.

The empress dowager was originally the successor of the first emperor, and had two sons and one daughter, who are the current emperor, King Jing, and Princess Huaying. The crown prince was established, causing all the sons to fight openly and secretly for the throne.

Although the current emperor is the first son, he is ranked third, and there is also a second prince who is born of a favorite concubine. Both of them were the most powerful contenders for the throne at that time.

At that time, the current emperor, who was still a prince, was leading the army at the border. The late emperor suddenly became seriously ill and was dying. The second prince blocked the news. Liujia and Shen, who was about to give birth, hurried back.

Fearing that they would not be able to make it in time, on the way the emperor left nearly a thousand soldiers to escort them, to protect Shen Shi and walk a step slowly, while he himself led a hundred soldiers, took a shortcut and rushed back to Beijing at night.

When the second prince heard that the emperor was about to return, he sent the commander-in-chief of the Beijing North Battalion who took refuge in him with 5000 people to intercept and kill them, only to meet the soldiers who were one step behind to escort the Shen family.

1000 people faced 5000 people, and they were quickly massacred. The Shen family fled in a hurry under the protection of several personal soldiers. Accompanied by the maid, he escaped into the deep mountains and old forests by chance, and was rescued by a hunter family.

Because they didn't know the situation outside, they didn't dare to reveal their identities. They only said that they were the rich lady who met a bandit. Mrs. Shen was overly frightened, and she gave birth to her eldest son at Orion's house prematurely. He brought someone to look for them, and only then did he know that the emperor had killed the second prince and his henchmen, and successfully ascended the throne. During this period of time, Prince Jing was looking for them everywhere under the emperor's orders.

Later, Shen's mother and son were taken back to the palace, and Shen was named the queen. Because of the premature birth and not being well cared for after giving birth, this month has been frightening. She raised her, but was hated by Shen because of it.

In the following ten years or so, even if they knew that the empress Shen was careless and jealous, both the emperor and the empress dowager felt guilty towards her because of what happened back then, and they didn't care too much about him.

It is also because of this that the Empress Dowager prefers Ling Qiyan, the eldest grandson, Ling Qiyan doesn't know these things, time has changed, and there is no need to talk to him anymore.

Seeing the Empress Dowager recalling the past, Mammy comforted her and said, "Anyway, it was Ping An who brought His Highness back back then, and His Highness is doing well now. When you get married next year, you may soon have a great-grandson in your arms."

The queen mother immediately beamed with joy when she heard the words: "That's right, I'm looking forward to Yan'er getting married quickly. It would be great to have a daughter-in-law who knows the cold and hot, and have a few more children."

Ling Qiyan followed the chief eunuch of Ningshou Palace to the warehouse. The eunuch took the list and read it to Ling Qiyan with a smile on his face, and then asked someone to bring the things up for him to see.

The emperor was filial, and he would never forget to send a copy to Ningshou Palace if he got any good things, and as long as Ling Qiyan liked it, the queen mother would probably not be stingy with giving it to him.

Ling Qiyan held a fine white pearl the size of a ball in his hand, stared at the sun, and clicked his tongue.

He is a common man, and he has liked these shiny and eye-catching gold and jade jewels since he was a child. Even the palace barrels in Yuwang's mansion are inlaid with gold, so the emperor felt that he was too extravagant and looked down on him very much. Ling Qiyan didn't care at all. , Dedicated to the royal family, if you don't spend your life extravagantly, isn't that life in vain?

The eunuch asked someone to hold a fine mutton fat white jade finger wrench, with a unicorn carved on it, which was lifelike and very beautiful. Ling Qiyan took it over, put it on his hand and looked at it carefully, and suddenly remembered Wen Ying asking him for a finger wrench when the scene.

That poor scholar... No, he is not even a scholar now, and he has disappeared, and I don't know if he has returned to his hometown.

He has so many abilities, so if he doesn't study or be an official, he must be able to live well, right?

Today seems to be that kid's birthday...

Thinking about these things absent-mindedly, Ling Qiyan suddenly felt dull, he didn't even value those treasures, so he picked two things at random and went back to the main hall.

At noon, there was a birthday banquet in Ningshou Palace, the Empress Dowager only called her grandchildren, no one else was invited.

In addition to the princes and princesses, there are also several children of Prince Jing who stayed in Beijing, and the children of the eldest princess' mansion.

If this is the case, there are quite a few people. The emperor alone has eleven sons and eight daughters. His ability to sow seeds is really admirable.

Ling Qiyan is the oldest among these people, and all the younger brothers and sisters have prepared birthday gifts for him. Although most of them are not valuable things, Ling Qiyan can only reluctantly accept them, enduring the screams in his ears one after another. Make noise, keep smiling, and act like a good brother in front of these little kids.

Ling Qining came over and asked him in a low voice: "Brother, is that Brother Wen really not in your house? I still want him to teach me how to play polo."

Ling Qiyan gave him a sideways glance, and said expressionlessly, "I've already left."

"……Oh."

The Princess Xihua who was on the side snorted when she heard the words, and said in a bad mood: "I don't blame you yet, be a champion, because of you, you will cause people to lose their fame, and he will definitely not do such stealthy things." , It must be those who are jealous of him who framed him, all because of you, you might as well give him to me if you said it earlier, I will definitely not treat him like this. "

Ling Qiyan blushed and ignored her.

Before the banquet, Ling Qiyu came late, and after entering the door, he pleaded guilty with the queen mother, saying that he was accompanying his father to summon the officials, and the delay was a serious matter, so the queen mother would naturally not say anything about him.

Ling Qiyu smiled and presented the birthday gift he brought, which was a canary bird in a cage.

"Give it to the eldest brother, please accept it with a smile."

The smirk on Ling Qiyu's face made Ling Qiyan very uncomfortable, and he didn't know what it meant to give him such a canary.

Ling Qiyan was unhappy.

Seeing that Ling Qiyan had no intention of refusing, Jiang Lin helped him take the things. Ling Qiyan raised his hand indifferently, and with a casual flick, he opened the door of the bird cage. The bird fluttered its wings and flew out. Amidst their laughter, they circled around the hall and flew out of the hall.

Ling Qiyu's face darkened instantly: "Brother, what do you mean?"

"It's better to release such a beautiful bird."

Ling Qiyu said coldly: "This bird is delicate and delicate. If it loses its protection, if it goes outside, it will die within a few days."

Ling Qiyan didn't bother to talk to him anymore.

Fearing that they would clash again, the queen mother hurriedly ordered the banquet to be opened and the two of them sat apart.

Afterwards, nothing happened. The birthday banquet lasted for more than an hour, and finally ended. In the afternoon, the Queen Mother only left Ling Qiyan and Xihua to accompany her, and the children separated.

Before leaving, Ling Qiyu gave Ling Qiyan a gloomy look, but no one noticed.

The hall finally quieted down, and the grandparents and grandchildren were finally able to talk for a while.

The queen mother is still closer to Ling Qiyan and Xihua, the two children she raised by herself. Xihua will get married after this year. In a word, he took this matter out to shame her.

Xihua blushed, she was not as repulsive to marrying the eldest grandson of Duke Jing as before, and she also mentioned that she and her sister-in-law and future cousin often walked around during this period, and they got along very well.

"Yulan likes big cousin. She often asks me about big cousin's hobbies. I heard that big cousin likes to listen to people playing music. She practices hard at home every day. She has actually played very well. She used to be a quiet person. , I know that my big cousin loves to play, and those who play polo and throwing pots are also learning from others."

The queen mother was very happy when she heard the words: "This young lady of the Lin family is really like this? That's good, that's good, you heard the banquet, and you have to treat people better in the future."

Ling Qiyan let out an "Oh" and responded casually.

After half an hour, suddenly a eunuch rushed into the palace to report that something happened to Duke Jing's mansion, and the concubine Zhunyu who was going to pass was gone.

Ling Qiyan was taken aback.

The Empress Dowager and Xihua were even more stunned. The Empress Dowager came back to her senses and asked sharply, "What's going on?!"

The eunuch hurriedly explained the matter. Today, the daughter of the Marquis of Xian'an invited all the young ladies from various mansions to play at the Tangquan Zhuangzi in the Marquis of Xian'an's mansion. When the young lady of the Lin family was swinging on the swing, the rope became loose, but no one noticed. Miss Lin swung to a high place, accidentally fell from the swing, hit her head on the ground, she passed out on the spot, and was carried back to Duke Jing's mansion not long before she lost her breath.

"The Marquis Xian'an has personally gone to Jingguo Mansion to make amends, handed over all the servants of Tangquan Zhuangzi, and left them to be punished by Jingguo Mansion. Mrs. Hou even took her daughter to the temple, saying that she wanted to stay. Stay in the temple for a year, chant scriptures and pray for Miss Lin."

Princess Xihua's eyes were red, the Empress Dowager looked sad, unable to speak for a long time, and Ling Qiyan didn't know what to say.

...how did this happen again?

Songlu Pass.

This is the closest pass to Mobei. Most of the soldiers and horses of the imperial court went to Mobei through this pass.

A few months ago, the Mobei Assassins colluded with the Barringtons to rebel. General Lin Su, the son of King Jing, went out to fight under the emperor's order, but failed to defeat the rebellious army. The military fell into a stalemate. If it is cold today, the court The army retreated to Songlu Pass, and could only wait for the spring of the next year and the warmer weather before dispatching troops.

It has been more than half a month since Wen Ying arrived here, and he has been resting in Songlu Town under the pass.

He didn't go back to his hometown, and he passed by Guang County when he came here, so he didn't go back to take a look.

There were conscription notices posted everywhere in Songlu Town. Wen Ying was not in a hurry to vote. After spending some time, he found out the past achievements, family background and temperament of all the generals. On the day before the eve of the year, he finally Sign up at the conscription office.

The soldier in charge of the registration saw that he looked like a gentleman scholar, and his appearance was still fair, and asked him suspiciously: "Are you really going to register? How many catties can you lift?"

Wen Ying's face remained unchanged, and he picked up a huge boulder weighing a hundred catties beside him with one hand. The soldier looked straight at him and handed him a long gun: "Have you tried this before? Try it?"

Wen Ying took it, and flicked it around a few times with skillful posture. It was obviously just the most common wooden spear, but it just danced in his hand with a flowing and sharp gesture.

This time, not only the little soldier, but even the people who lined up behind him applauded.

The voice came to the barracks at the back, and a burly general with a beard and beard came out, frowning and asked what happened, the soldier pointed to Wen Ying and reported the matter to him.

The general became interested when he heard the words, and asked someone to change the iron gun, raised his chin, and motioned Wen Ying to dance again for him.

Wen Ying calmly held the iron gun.

After dancing a complete set of marksmanship, the Zongsan clapped his hands and was very happy: "Good!"

Then introduce myself: "My surname is Zheng."

Being so polite to a white body who has not yet joined the army shows that this person is optimistic about Wen Ying's future. His vision has always been vicious. Zhongwu.

Wen Ying said neither arrogant nor humble: "Mr. Zheng, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Wen Ying, from Guang County, Jizhou."

Wen Ying presented his household registration documents, and Zheng flipped through the general manager casually, and found that he was really young, and it was his birthday today, so he patted him on the shoulder: "Young people are awesome, and you will follow me in the future, and take care of you." There is wine and meat to eat!"

The author has something to say:

After explaining the things to be explained, the time will be cut immediately, and then hehe