Looking at the mountains and rivers

August is already the season of lotus withering. In the lotus pond in the back garden of Prince Mu's Mansion, most of the pink and white petals that bloomed in summer have withered, and only a little green and yellowish lotus heart is still in the pond.

Most of the servants in the mansion are busy. In the past few days, King Mu's condition has worsened and he has been unable to eat for several days. The eldest son has ordered the mansion to prepare for the funeral. Even the coffin is ready, but it is only for "a rush." ".Perhaps this action had some effect, King Mu has improved slightly since yesterday, and the high fever on his body has also subsided. According to the person who served him before, the prince even had a night of ginseng soup when he got up in the morning.

In this secluded place in the back garden, Yang Jue was yelling at the person beside him with a full face of rage: "What did you say to me back then, you were sure of everything, and it turned out!" He seemed to shout, but he still held back , only grudgingly and urgently said through the gap between his teeth, "He has come back in good condition, those people you found asked me for 10 taels of silver, which is not a small amount!"

The young man who bears his anger is called He Yan. His ancestors were also officials in the court. These two generations gradually declined, and they only found a small civil job under King Mu.Surrounding Yang Jue were some brave and foolhardy young warriors, so he wanted to keep a wise man who was proficient in strategy by his side. A thoughtful idea.But this time, he obviously messed up a major event, and finally provoked Yang Jue's monstrous anger.

"My lord, I didn't expect things to turn out like this," He Yan said tremblingly, leaning over his body, "To be on the safe side, I went there with my own eyes and watched them drug the horses. Knowing him... they changed carriages..."

"Trash!" Yang Jue couldn't hear his excuse, and kicked him in the chest, kicking him to the ground, "Now my father is not well, I can't get anything, what do I want from you?" Use it, it’s better to kill it!”

He Yan tearfully crawled over and hugged his leg and said: "The villain is sincere to the young master, the world can learn from it, this time is no small matter, I beg the young master to remember that the villain has no credit but also has hard work, and forgive the young man." people."

Yang Jue wanted to kick him again, but he saw someone running towards him from a distance, it was one of his servants, he hurriedly said: "Young master, someone from the Lu family in Chuzhong is here."

Hearing this, Yang Jue's face suddenly turned happy, and after dismissing the servant, Fang said to himself: "I knew that my grandfather would not ignore it." He Yan asked, "Have you dealt with the rest of the matter?"

He Yan nodded quickly: "On the way back, I revealed the news early. The bandits in Jinzhou heard that they had [-] silver, and they had been waiting there long ago. They robbed the silver and killed them all. Very clean."

Yang Jue finally calmed down, and pointed at him: "Shut your mouth now, and go to Dongfang to find Mr. Han."

The pigeons under the window sills paced slowly, occasionally turned their heads, and lightly pecked at the carved window lattice. The pigeon's beak made a rustling sound on the window paper. Yang Yan, who was sitting under the window, raised his head when he heard the sound.He heard the pigeon cooing, but he couldn't see what the pigeon looked like, so he could only suck his lips lightly and whistle a little. The pigeon spread its wings and flew away with a whimper.

"Fourth Young Master," someone came in from the corridor and whispered to him, "Your Majesty, please come over."

Yang Yan could hear the voice of Fang Yun, the chief steward, and he stood up in surprise: "My father is looking for me?" He hurriedly stretched out his hand, and was a little puzzled, "Uncle Fang, have the brothers already passed by?" ?”

Fang Yun held his hand, sighed softly and said, "Your Highness didn't call other young masters, please come with me, Fourth Young Master."

Yang Yan was naturally familiar with the road in the Wangfu. He realized that Steward Fang took him not the usual way to the inner courtyard, but took a detour and walked in from the backyard.Fang Yun slowly opened the door, and then said: "Fourth Young Master, please come in."

Yang Yan groped into the house, only to feel that the layout of the house was still familiar, but there was a smell of incense mixed with soup in the air, which made him a little depressed.Just as he was stumbling forward, Yang Ye's voice came from ahead: "Is it Yan'er?"

Yang Yan hurriedly bowed down and bowed down: "Meet my father."

"Stop kneeling, come, come to my father." Yang Ye's voice was extremely weak.

Yang Yan slowly got up and walked towards the bed. He stretched out his two hands and suddenly fell into a pair of big hands, which were the palms of his father.Suddenly his eyes were sore, and he almost knelt down by the bed, because he hadn't held his father's hand for a long time.

"Father, is your injury better?" Yang Yan couldn't see his father's appearance, but he felt that the hands holding him were a little hot, which made him panic.

King Mu's eyes were gray, and he had to get very close to see his son's face clearly, but Yang Yan couldn't see it. He opened his big eyes and stared blankly at his father's direction. Tears flicker.

King Mu held his son's face in his hands and looked at him carefully. He hadn't looked at this son carefully for a long time. After watching him for so long, he forgot to answer Yang Yan's words.

"Father..." Yang Yan was a little uneasy, he had already noticed the weakness of his father's breath, and suddenly he became a little scared, afraid that this father who had always been indifferent to him would die like this.

"Yexi." King Mu called softly.

Yang Yan's eyes widened suddenly, and he raised his face in surprise.

"This is the name your mother gave you, isn't it?" Mu Wang said in a low voice, "You really look like her."

"Yan'er, I know you blame your father in your heart. You think I'm not as good to you as you are to your brothers, don't you? Actually..." King Mu shook his head lightly, "I'm afraid to see you, your The face is too similar to Ayina, when I see you, I can't help but think of her."

Yang Yan was stunned. He knew that Ayi was his mother's nickname, and his father had three princesses, each of which was almost married for marriage. He never knew that his father had any extra attachment to his mother.

"When I was a prince, I practiced in Hexi for half a year, which was the territory of the Tuoba family. I met Ayina for the first time in my life. She was only 15 years old at that time. She was so beautiful, like a princess. In the hearts of the Donghu people, she is their princess. The daughter of their Donghu family doesn't care about public appearances. She will run to the crowd every festival, sometimes dancing, sometimes playing konghou. Her konghou is really good. "Mu Wang is obviously lost in memory, his originally sluggish expression suddenly revealed brilliance, as if he had returned to the time when he was a young prince in the frontier fortress, "but I don't even have the chance to talk to her, she is the only one in Tuobaxin. My daughter, but I was just an unfavorable prince. At that time, Tuobaxin didn't care about me at all, and he only wanted his daughter to marry my third brother, who was later Emperor Xiaozong, but this matter was rejected. Emperor Xiaozong refused. Because of my lack of status, even if I am willing to marry the Tuoba family, I can only marry the daughter of a collateral line, which is your elder brother's mother."

"Later, I was recalled to Jian'an and made King Mu, thinking that I would never see Ayina again in this life. Unexpectedly, Tuobaxin almost became a traitor by a mistake. In order to appease him, I finally married His daughter." When King Mu said this, he looked at Yang Yan and said, "Yan'er, do you know how lucky I was to have such power in my hands at that time, because I knew that if I was as useless as other brothers , even if I become a prince, it is not my turn to appease Tuobaxin, let alone my turn to marry your mother."

After he finished speaking, he was silent for a long time, and tears suddenly flowed from his cloudy eyes: "But I was wrong...the things that power can destroy are much more than what you can get."

"Yan'er, your brothers don't understand these words, I can only tell you, because I hope you live well," Mu Wang gently touched the top of Yang Yan's head, and said in a low voice, "You have to understand, Father has been unwilling to get close to you, not because he doesn't love you. It's just that you are born blind, if I love and pity you too much, I'm afraid it will arouse the jealousy and hatred of others, and they will harm you even more."

Yang Yan's tears suddenly fell, and he threw himself into his father's arms, crying, "Father, I know everything, I know everything."

"You... don't fight for anything..." Mu Wang whispered in his ear, he had already said too much, and his breath became weaker, but he still tried his best to repeat, "I only want you to live well..."

At this moment, there was a loud yelling voice from outside the originally silent room, the voice was very familiar, as if Yang Jue was making a fuss, and then there were a few more noises, and soon Yang Dai's voice also came in.

Yang Yan turned her head and listened for a while uneasily, then said in a low voice, "Big Brother and Third Brother seem to be outside."

King Mu obviously heard the voice of the dispute, and he sighed: "My good sons..."

He looked up at the blue roof of the bed curtain, which reminded him of the blue sky he had seen on the large grasslands in Hexi, and the sound of harp sounded in his ears again, and suddenly, he grabbed his son's hand: "Yan'er , what father wants to tell you next, you can't say a word to others."

"Why do you stop me? The person inside is my father, and I am the third son of Prince Mu's mansion. You lackeys of Zuo Xiaowei dare to block my way?" Yang Jue shouted angrily, seeing those soldiers Still blocked in front of the door like a wooden stake, he pointed to the man in a long robe beside him, "This is Mr. Lu, the censor of the Lu family in Chuzhong, and he is the wife and brother of the father. If we delay our important affairs, you Can you afford it!"

The leading soldier just shook his head: "Third Young Master, we don't know Mr. Lu and Mr. Li. The lowly position only knows that the eldest son has confessed. Without his order, no one is allowed to go in and disturb the prince."

"You are so courageous!" With his uncle behind him, Yang Jue became even more agitated, raised his hand and slapped the soldier, "Before my father came back, I was in charge of the affairs of the palace, believe it or not I'm going to kill you now!"

The soldier was slapped, only shook slightly, and still stood motionless, Yang Jue was trembling with anger, turned his head to the back and said: "Uncle, look at how arrogant Yang Dai is, his father is not dead yet, he is so arrogant Send his subordinate Zuo Xiaowei to control the palace!"

A cold voice came from behind him: "Third brother, if I'm really as arrogant as you said, I won't allow you to yell in front of your father's sick bed."

When Yang Jue turned around and saw the big brother, his expression tensed up for a moment, and then he returned to normal: "I want to go in and see my father."

"Father is sick, and I don't want to see idlers."

"Who are you calling idlers!" Yang Jue was obviously irritated.

Yang Dai didn't even look at him, but glanced at Lu Yushi who was at the side: "This must be Master Lu Lilu, I don't know why you came to Jian'an all the way from Chuzhong, why?"

Ordinarily Lu Li is his elder, but facing this gloomy eldest son, he felt a little afraid in his heart, cupped his hands and said: "By my father's order, I have something to discuss with His Royal Highness Mu Wang."

"Like I said, my father is sick, and it's inconvenient to see guests. Your Excellency, please go back."

Yang Jue couldn't bear it and said at the side: "Yang Dai, what happened when the father was with you, and now you are preventing us from visiting the father in every possible way, what kind of mind do you have?"

Yang Dai finally turned to look at him, he gritted his teeth, and said with a sneer, "Does the third brother know what happened to the father? Why don't I tell everyone in detail."

Everyone in the mansion knew that King Mu was injured when he fell from the carriage, but the horses and chariots in the manor were carefully taken care of by special personnel, how could he fall from the carriage in such a good manner?No one knows the details of that day, but now that the eldest son mentions it, everyone can't help but listen attentively.

"This time we are going to Hexi first, and then to Anyang. There is a very steep mountain road outside Anyang City. You all know that my carriage was built by Yuexi Kingdom, and the wheels are wrapped in soft leather. My father can't stand the bumpy mountain road. After driving for half a mile, we changed a carriage with me. Unexpectedly, not long after changing the carriage, the horse driving the carriage ran like crazy, and rushed straight down the cliff. If it wasn't for my subordinate Qi Lianyang struggling to hold the carriage , now my father was not only injured by a fall, he may have left no bones left under the cliff!" He said in a cold voice, "After inspection, the two crazy horses were fed with snake vine grass in advance, and those who ate this grass The horse will soon be bloody and rampant, and if it is not stopped forcibly, it will run until it dies. The person who poisoned the horse is also very scheming. He probably followed our team all the way, and rushed to the steep part of the road. I just started, and the purpose was probably to put me to death, but I didn't expect to kill my father. Third brother, tell me, who wants the life of eldest brother so much?"

Yang Jue looked into his eyes, feeling chills in his heart, he forced himself to say: "What do you mean by saying these words, father got into an accident in your carriage, shouldn't you be the biggest suspect!"