long friend

Said it was to appreciate the spring, but when he returned to the mansion, Su Yan recalled that it was all about Xiao Qichen.Forget it, it was a worthwhile trip to settle down with him.

He took off his coat and stared at the footprints for a long while, but he didn't let Uncle Wang wash it, he rolled himself up on the bed.

The good mood lasted for several days.During the day, Su Yan went to the school grounds to watch Shen Chengjun's military training, and fought against him on the sand table. Although it was only on paper, he learned a lot.Go home at night to have dinner with my mother, and rest early if there is nothing to do.Occasionally go for a drink or two with Xie Hui and Han Guang, but try not to get drunk.

Su Yan thought he was an adult. After this year, he will be eighteen. Although he has not reached the championship, this is still an important age.

The custom of Nanliang followed the previous dynasty, and the age of marriage was quite early, in order to start a family first and then a career.When men are seventeen or eighteen and women are fifteen or sixteen, their parents start to worry about marriage.

"The commander-in-chief told us," Shen Chengjun said to Su Yan mysteriously during the lunch break, "he is looking for someone for you, and he plans to sell you for a good price when you turn eighteen, after that... you will marry The water that the son threw out."

Su Yan was amused by his serious tone, but he also got a glimpse of his father's meaning from these words, and followed Shen Chengjun's way: "The general wants to sell me at every price? But I don't even have a childhood sweetheart. Where can he go to replace me?" Looking for a good family?"

However, Shen Chengjun made a fool of himself and didn't say any more.

This was the first time he heard about Su Zhi's plan, and he still found it quite novel.Su Yan hurriedly sat a little closer to Shen Chengjun, and said, "Shen Canjun, just tell me, it's a major event in my life anyway. If I knew earlier, I could find a way to secretly take a look at that girl. If I don't like it, that's fine too." Bring it up as soon as possible."

Shen Chengjun said contemptuously: "You only look at one face when you get married? There is a lot of knowledge here, come and call Brother Sheng, I won't charge your tuition."

He was just about to start a long speech, but Su Yan suddenly felt that something was wrong: Is this famous bachelor who is well-known among the knight guards trying to teach him how to get along with his future wife?

Su Yan: "You know so much, why didn't you see that you started a family earlier? Just now you told me not to talk about wars on paper, Brother Cheng Jun, you are too strict with others and self-disciplined."

A few low-ranking non-commissioned officers who were patrolling around passed by, just in time to hear their little lord come out, and immediately burst into laughter.Shen Chengjun was stabbed in the sore foot by Su Yan, but he decided not to be as knowledgeable as a child, and said: "What do you know, I have a white moonlight in my heart, and other people can't see it."

"What about your Bai Yueguang? You are a member of the army anyway. You can be promoted to the former army commander this year. It is a certainty to be a general before [-]. What's more, your parents are still at home. Unless you are the daughters of those senior officials, otherwise Who is not worthy of your conditions, why won't she marry?"

Shen Chengjun looked at Su Yan with the eyes of someone who had come here and planned these things for granted. After he finished speaking, he immediately said: "It's not that she doesn't want to marry. We met each other when we were young, and we are well-matched at home. We have made an appointment... But she met Unexpectedly, Yong Deng was extremely happy. After that, I joined the Xiaoqi Guards, and until now, I hang out with a bunch of old men all day long."

Su Yan didn't expect that there was this past behind the bachelor, so he kept silent for a while, and said for a while: "...I'm sorry, I don't know."

Shen Chengjun patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "That's why I gave up my heart later. I met her first, and then everyone else was so good. How can she be important in my heart? Ye Lai's soul also fell into a dream... "

After saying this, Shen Chengjun stood up and stretched, then walked away humming a Jiangnan tune.

Su Yan stayed where he was, and the school grounds were filled with dust. He looked out alone at a sprig of Ling Xiaohua.It clings to other trees, constantly absorbing nutrients for a moment of splendor.

But before Su Yan had time to laugh at the news that his parents had started working on his own marriage, he was dazzled by another bad news, and almost couldn't stand on the spot.

That day, Xiao Qichen heard some news and hurried to the school grounds to look for him.After Su Yan took him to hide in the tent of the Chinese army, there was usually no one patrolling here, so Su Yan moved a log and put it there, occasionally sitting on it to rest.

"I saw someone today." Xiao Qichen seemed to be terrified, patted his chest and said, "It's really scary... I almost thought he was going to kill the emperor!"

Su Yan: "Ah? Who is so capable?"

Xiao Qichen took the water bag from his waist, gulped a few swigs, finally calmed down his disordered heartbeat, and then slowly talked about what happened this afternoon.

"It is customary for my father to take a nap in the Taiji West Hall for half an hour in the afternoon. I happened to pass by today and went to the imperial hospital to get the prescription you gave me last time. The imperial doctors made pills, but there were a few extra pills. I thought about giving my father a try, so I ran to knock on his door. Eunuch Xu was not there, and the maids were all gone. I thought it was strange, so I hid outside the window and listened. There are still two voices in the imperial bedroom."

When Xiao Qichen said this, he looked around, as if confirming that there was no one there, and then said: "It's two men, one sounds younger, it's Liu Wenyuan, what did he say to the other..." Ran Qiu's funeral is my responsibility. Take care of yourself, if you don’t believe me, why did you promote me back then'... Then another person said, 'This is a martial arts dispute, you don't need to intervene, I have already settled the accounts of those who killed him one by one'...? I listened to this Confused, and after arguing for a while, the stranger said to his father, 'Xiao Yan, if I want to kill you, can a mere Liu Wenyuan stop me?'"

"...Ran Qiu?"

"Then I heard the sound of swords and swords!" Xiao Qichen tried his best to lower his voice, but he still couldn't restrain his nervousness, "They fought in the west hall, and they should have smashed the vase... The imperial army was alarmed, but when the imperial army came, they were caught by another secret agent." Wei stopped me, and I hid under the side window. No one saw me—or maybe they saw me, but they ignored me. There was a commotion in the west hall for a while, and then it subsided. I heard Liu Wenyuan say, 'Xie Ling, You have today too!' Xie Ling is... seems to be the former commander of the hidden guards, are they rebelling in front of my father?"

He said a lot of people's names, and Su Yan could hear the only one, Ran Qiu, who was both "seeking revenge" and "funeral affairs"—doesn't this mean that the three-year agreement between Ran Qiu and him fell apart? Tang, is it because the other party died?

Xiao Qichen continued:

"Later... I heard the man named Xie Ling say, 'In 20 years you will be worse than me now.' And not long after, I saw a shadow walking from the back of the West Palace. It happened. Tianhui found me, but didn't say anything, and sent me away quickly. I didn't hear a word about it. I was very panicked...I came to you quickly—Ayan, Ayan, listen Did you arrive? I am very afraid, how did the father provoke a master who comes and goes freely?"

"...I heard it." A sharp voice lingered in Su Yan's mind, and he said perfunctorily, "Since he was the former commander, he shouldn't hurt His Majesty at all. Besides, His Majesty is guarded by Lord Liu, so nothing will happen."

Xiao Qichen actually thought so in his heart, but he insisted on looking for confirmation. Hearing this, he was immediately relieved, and sighed: "I heard from my father that this Ran Qiu voluntarily went to Chang'an as an eyeliner, and died in several rivers and lakes last autumn." At that time, the emperor asked someone to take care of his funeral..."

He spoke so intently that he felt that Su Yan's hand on his shoulder tightened suddenly, and asked in confusion, "What's the matter, Ayan, do you know him?"

"Do you remember my sword?" Su Yan pressed him tightly, "It was given by Ran Qiu, he is my mentor."

The wild geese returned from the south and flew over their heads in a "one" shape, with their wings spread and passing the clouds, bringing a gentle wind.Behind the school field, far away from Jin Ge, the two were silent.

Su Yan slowed down for a while, until he stumbled back home in the evening, only to recover from the sudden news of Ran Qiu's death.He felt sad belatedly, but his tears seemed to have dried up, and a sweet smell of blood stuck in his throat. He squatted at the foot of the wall of the Hou's mansion, bowed his head and retched.

About to spit out a few mouthfuls of bile, Su Yan stood up, wiped his eyes as if nothing happened, and walked to the main room.

After dinner, he walked into the Buddhist hall at home.This place has always been Madam Su's territory, Su Yan rarely comes here, Madam is not surprised to see him appearing today, and said flatly: "Do you have something on your mind?"

"I'm sad. I'll tell it. Is it useful?" Su Yan motioned to enshrine the Buddha statue inside.

Madam nodded slightly, moved a futon to the side, and said reservedly: "Sincere heart is spiritual, my son has a heart for compassion, it is a good thing. I don't know what kind of suffering is the reason for the sadness?"

Su Yan paused, and said: "I didn't feel it when Ah Jin left, but Master Ran died just like that. I heard it by accident and was at a loss. I was in a trance until I went home, thinking it was my own illusion. I and He still had an agreement and couldn't fulfill it, so he left like this...Mother, when Ah Jin was gone, did you think so?"

The madam kept silent, lit three incense sticks for him, and acted as a qualified listener beside him.

But Su Yan didn't say anything more, he took the incense, respectfully offered it, bowed his head again and again, raised his head and said softly to the Buddha statue: "I didn't teach anything... but I'm still waiting to hear the origin of the Bihai Sword. "

After saying this, he kowtowed to the incense stick again, and then left.

It has been five years since I last saw Ran Qiu, and Su Yan still wanted to tell him: "There are still many things I don't understand about the strange swordsmanship you taught me, but I practice boxing every day. I can compete with Zhang Li Yes, he is the most skilled general of Xiaoqiwei. Qi Chen and I met again, he has changed a lot, and the truth about how bad the prince’s eyes are..."

Su Yan didn't know the joints, the names and codes between those intricate relationships and secret guards this year. To him, they were just strange names. He was too far away from the rivers and lakes, and he was not interested in understanding them.

It's just that the thousands of words that I didn't have time to export can only be said to Fang Tiandi now.

The next day Xiao's performance ended, but the battle report from thousands of miles away was rushed to the imperial case all the way.

Just after Shangsi, while the people in Nanliang were busy farming, Turkic iron cavalry suddenly invaded Yunmen Pass in a big way. Except for a small cavalry guard, only a few thousand Youzhou garrison were guarding there.Su Zhi won more games with fewer victories, and the next day the Turks attacked again, this time not only cavalry, but also siege catapults.

The impregnable Yunmen Pass fell, and Xiaoqiwei retreated to Yanzhou under the leadership of the general.The 20-year peace between Nanliang and the Turkic Huyan tribe has not yet expired, and has been torn up by the other side.

What's even more ironic is that the equipment of this Turkic elite is very similar to the cavalry guards of Nanliang Xiao.And the one who created it himself was the proton who had spent ten years in Nanliang since the 19th year of Tongning, and the second prince Huyantu who was later helped by the Xiaoqi guards to the Khan throne.

When Xiao Qichen hurried from Chenglan Hall to Taiji Hall, he happened to hear the humerus of all the kingdoms arguing for ten years.He pushed himself into the queue without any trace, and kept silent while watching his nose, nose, nose, and mouth.

The censor no longer participated, and made a generous statement that sending back the proton back then was letting the tiger go back to the mountain, and the minister said that the time Su Zhi was ambushed earlier might be the attitude of being in the grandstand city.

However, the most surprising thing is that the prime minister and Da Sima actually shook hands and made peace!Xie Ke, Prime Minister of the Left——the position of Prime Minister of the Right has been vacant all the time. He became the Prime Minister of the two dynasties, almost standing at the pinnacle of power—and Da Sima Wang Di, as the spokespersons of the two most powerful families in the country, have always been You say east and I want to go west, I have glared at each other for decades in the Tai Chi Hall, this time I don't know if it was coincidence or a compromise beforehand, Xiao Yan is going to fight.

The Wang and Xie families have pinched several generations. This time, in the face of national interests, they tacitly chose to let go of their prejudices for a short time and share their hatred. It is obvious that if the Turks really made a comeback like they did 20 years ago, the Nanliang Army may not be able to stop them today. , then no one can enjoy the fun.

After all, a few months ago, they encouraged Xiao Yan to cut the pay of foreign troops...

"It's really shooting yourself in the foot." Xiao Qichen stared at his toes, thinking idly.He suddenly felt that his father was a bit pitiful, he seemed to say the same thing, but in fact he made a lot of decisions with a lot of scruples, and some of them were even influenced by these so-called nobles...

"If I can really get to that position in the future, will I also be their puppet?" Xiao Qichen thought so, and clenched his hands.

But the fact he was thinking was too far away, and the war was imminent, Xiao Yan finally issued an edict, asking Su Zhi to lead the foreign troops from the seven counties north of the Yellow River to retake Yunmen Pass from the Turks.

But he still kept a bottom line, telling Liang Jun not to cross the Great Wall.

When Xiao Qichen arrived at Nanyuan in a carriage, he happened to meet Shen Chengjun who was cleaning up the army.He hurriedly passed through the crowd, and when he saw him, Shen Chengjun said helplessly: "What time is it, Your Highness, why are you here to join in the fun?"

"I'm looking for Su Yan." Xiao Qichen looked around and saw no one, and said uneasy, "Are you going to the front line too?"

"I'm going at the end, young master..." Shen Chengjun was about to explain, but he saw a cavalryman running in from the door. This man was running in front of him, and Su Yan was chasing after him. The scene was once very funny.

Only Su Yan shouted: "Show me the battle report! Are you going to disobey the military order? Stop—"

Shen Chengjun and Xiao Qichen looked at each other, and suddenly felt that the Sixth Highness in front of him was half a year younger than Su Yan, but much more stable than him, and belatedly thought: "Young Lord, it's too embarrassing for you to look like this."

The cavalryman ran up to Shen Chengjun all the way in embarrassment, before he could speak, he took out an envelope from his arms and stuffed it in Shen Chengjun's hand without any explanation.Then, as if he had completed his mission, he sat limp on the ground and gasped for breath.

Su Yan was out of breath from running, and took another mouthful of dust, coughing beside him.Shen Chengjun opened the envelope calmly, and after scanning the ten lines at a glance, his expression suddenly became more solemn. He folded the battle report again, and said solemnly to Su Yan: "The commander-in-chief ordered that Su Yan lead 300 people to stay in Jinling. Take over the command of the Taiwan Army. I will take the rest of the cavalry to support Yanzhou."

Su Yan almost spat out a mouthful of blood: "What - I don't! I'm going to the front line!"

Shen Chengjun said sternly and selflessly: "The military order is like a mountain, the young master should put the overall situation first."

"What's the big deal!" Su Yan said angrily, "My father could go to the front to kill the enemy, but I still have to stay in Jinling? How long does he want to lock me up?!"

No one paid any attention to the roar of the young Su Yan, Shen Chengjun only patted him on the shoulder, left a sentence "You know the concerns of the commander", and opened the military tent without delay.After a while, the messengers ran in and out. Su Yan's resentment was still accumulated in his chest, and the Nanyuan garrison had already begun to move out.

They seemed to have never cared about Su Yan, and they never asked for his feelings when they came and went.

Regardless of military rank or responsibility, it seemed to be heavy on his shoulders, but Su Yan knew that those were all formalities.He was pushed into the army in a big way, except for the first half a year when he was in the Taiwan army incognito, everyone regarded him as a young prince, and he looked respectful and respectful, but when he talked about it behind his back...

Few people took him seriously.

The author has something to say: This paragraph is purely superfluous to explain why the master in Beifengli died so quickly... I really love him... Let me also mention the news of Ran Qiu's death... After all, Chenchen's setting Just a chatterbox (no

Yunmen Pass is purely fictitious, and its location is just a little north of Beijing!