bluestone

At the end of September in the first year of Emperor Wen, when it was time to choose a concubine, the emperor visited Chuxiu Palace and fell in love with Su Jin, the daughter of the Minister of Rites at first sight, and then frequently visited Chuxiu Palace to meet her.

In October, when the time for concubine selection came, the emperor immediately appointed Su Jin as Concubine Su, and against all opinions, he abolished the Six Palaces and favored only one person.

The ministers had no choice but to agree for the time being, and wait for the emperor's feelings to fade in the future before asking for an order to accept the concubine.

After hearing about this, the Supreme Emperor made a special trip to the harem.

It is said that the Supreme Emperor stayed for half a day, ate a meal, and then left. When he left, his face was full of joy and satisfaction, and he sighed as he walked, "I can finally rest assured, this time I can finally go out of the palace and have a good time. When I come back next time, maybe I will hold my grandson."

Eunuch Hai, who was accompanying him, also smiled wrinkled like a chrysanthemum.

Afterwards, Zigui asked him how he hid it.

Qingming smiled lonely, "Just treat the people around you as that person, there is no need to act at all."

Zigui is silent.

At this time, Han Tuo, who was stationed in the northwest, was fighting bloody day and night.

When the news reached Northwest, it was already three months after the New Year.

In addition to the emperor marrying a concubine, news spread there that Concubine Su Gui was pregnant and promoted to empress.

It's the New Year, the weather is cold, and it's rare to have a truce to rest. Although there is no way to celebrate in the barracks, it is too lax. Alcohol is prohibited during wartime, otherwise it will be punished by military law.

Since you can't drink alcohol, you can only try to be richer in food.

"Wei joins the army, where's the general?" Lieutenant General Luo Li sat beside Lao Wei with the food and looked around, but he didn't see Han Tuo.

"In the training ground."

"Huh?" Luo Li was very surprised, "What's the matter with him? Haven't you fought enough after fighting for so long? He didn't miss the rest time, and went to practice martial arts again. No, I have to persuade him, in case a war starts What should he do if he doesn't have a rest? After all, he is the general in command of the three armies, so how can he do it if he can't control his physical condition!" With that said, Luo Li got up and went to the training ground to find someone.

Wei Canjun had no choice but to follow.

Martial arts field

Holding the epee in his hand, Han Tuo was full of hostility, his face was dark, and his clothes were soaked in sweat.

The dozen or so wooden dummies in the middle of the training ground were crooked and toppled, some of them were crushed by internal force, and some were cut off by the blade of the sword.

The surrounding drums fell to the ground, the drum stand overturned, and the weapon rack also fell to the ground.

The snow on the ground was scattered by the wind, blowing on the face, and the skin hurt.

It was a mess all over the place, making those two people dumbfounded.

"What's the fuss about him?" Luo Li asked blankly.

"After the general received the news from the Imperial Capital in the morning, his expression became ugly. I don't know why." Old Wei was also puzzled.

"It's not just in the morning? I think he hasn't been normal in the past six months since he came back from the Imperial Capital. He would be in a daze from time to time, as if he had lost his soul. I want to ask you what happened to him in the Imperial Capital?"

"Nothing happened? Ah, by the way, I forgot to tell you," Lao Wei suddenly remembered something, "Do you remember the year before last, we mentioned that the general brought back a man named Qing Ming?"

"Remember, Hou Zi talked about how powerful that young master was every day, how tacitly he cooperated with the general, and even rushed back on New Year's Eve to celebrate the New Year with that person. How could I not remember."

"We only found out after we returned to the Imperial Capital that Young Master Qing is the current Holy Majesty, the former His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"What? Your Majesty the present? Your Highness the Crown Prince? Really? Are you joking?" Luo Li was shocked.

Old Wei gave him a look, "Of course it's true, how dare I make fun of such a thing!"

Luo Li looked at the stern Han Tuo in the middle of the training ground, and asked, "The general didn't know his identity at all before."

"It seems to be." Lao Wei recalled the first meeting at Qiliting, and affirmed, "When we first returned to Beijing, the two were at odds, but later, I don't know what happened, the relationship between the two people not only improved , and conspired against Uncle Zhu. At that time, the general was in a very good mood. We thought we had found the girl he liked, but we didn’t even see the girl. Speaking of it..." Lao Wei pondered, Suddenly there was no sound.

Luo Li looked at him suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

"It suddenly occurred to me that the general didn't seem to be abnormal after returning to the northwest, but he began to behave abnormally a few days before returning to the northwest."

"Eh? Because of what?"

Old Wei shook his head, "I don't know very well, it feels like it suddenly became like this."

A "Boom~" interrupted their conversation.

Turning his head to look, Han Tuo thrust the epee into the ground, and the epee did not penetrate one third of the ground, and the wooden figures were scattered on the ground.

Han Tuo's complexion was dark and he was full of evil spirits. He passed by them and said coldly, "Clean up this place." Then, he went back to his tent.

Seeing him like this, the two subconsciously lowered their heads, not daring to look at him at all.

And when I heard that sentence, I felt a biting cold from the bottom of my heart, even colder than the cold wind in Saibei.

It wasn't until he walked away that the two men breathed a sigh of relief.

"The general's aura is getting more and more creepy." Luo Li said with emotion.

Old Wei nodded in agreement.

Then, he went to ask someone to clean the martial arts field, and the matter he just talked about just left it at that.

In the military tent

Han Tuo sat behind the table, looking at the things on the table with a gloomy expression under the dim light.

On the table case, a small hole was opened in that small bluestone for some reason, and there was a smaller stone beside it, which seemed to be just the right size to be embedded in the round hole, and there was also a small note, which was faintly visible. There are two words written on it.

wait for me.

This was discovered by Han Tuo on the way back to the northwest.

Originally, I just played with the bluestone casually in my hand, and didn't pay much attention to the uneven marks on the stone. After all, this is just an ordinary stone, and some uneven marks are also normal.

The hole was only discovered by accident when his fingers were rubbing the surface of the stone, and he also took a lot of effort to get out the small stone used as a seal.

After opening it, I saw the note with only two words written on it.

wait for me.

what does that mean?

When Qingming proposed to choose a concubine, he had already been mentally prepared, but he didn't expect it to come so soon, so he ran to question him in anger when he just heard about it, but after the conversation that night, he already understood It's time to let go.

However, he found that he was not as free and easy as he imagined. He could be willing to be his courtier, not to get close to him, not to touch him, and not to monopolize him. To the best of luck...

Thinking of those things, he was extremely annoyed, almost desperate to destroy him, possess him, and even kill him.

However, after all, he is not someone who is easily overwhelmed by anger and grief, and he has not forgotten the oath he made.

No matter what kind of relationship they have, there is only one relationship that cannot be abandoned, that is, the ruler and the minister.

The feelings between them will never be exposed to others, so it is even more impossible to destroy this unique connection, even if it will make him extremely painful and heart-wrenching.

The request to fight is not only because of responsibility, but also to ease the pain.

Only when he is immersed in the war can he abide by this duty of monarch and minister.

But when he made up his mind, he found his message again.

The purpose of returning the bluestone to him was to break the relationship, and it seemed that he wanted him to find the note; the note was hidden so tightly, it seemed that he didn't want him to find it.

If he throws away the bluestone in a fit of anger and never looks at it again, will he never discover the secret hidden in the bluestone?

What is he thinking?

It is clear that the relationship between them has been cut off with righteous words, but such two words that make people think about it are left behind.

Han Tuo couldn't figure it out, but inexplicably felt some hope from the bottom of his heart, hope for their future, even though he always thought that he was deceiving himself and others.

However, after receiving the news today, he fully understood that any hope was lost.

How could a man who had chosen a concubine to marry and was about to become a father abandon his wife and son to be with a man like him.

Qing Ming has never been the kind of person who would lose his mind for love, at least he thinks so.

Angry for no reason, because of my self-deception, because of my ridiculous hope...

Thinking of this, Han Tuo's eyes were filled with dark clouds, and he raised his hand to grab the bluestone and the note into his palm, and with a firm grip, he was about to destroy it, but he couldn't do it after all.

Finally, he stuffed the note back, restored the bluestone to its original shape, and put it into the metal decorative buckle on the belt.

No matter how angry he was, he still couldn't give up.

January of the Second Year of Emperor Wen

The battle in the Northwest started again.

This time, the Rong people came prepared, and the intensive attack was almost overwhelming.

At the same time, in the north of Xishan City, a group of Rong cavalry gradually approached Beilu City in the north of Xishan City along the dense forest at the foot of the mountain.

The defenders of Beilu City obviously haven't received any news yet.

Han Tuo, who was guarding Xishan City, was busy with the war and had no time to care about other things.

January 27

Suddenly it began to snow again in the northwest.

As a last resort, both sides withdrew their troops one after another to preserve their strength.

Unexpectedly, it snowed for five days.

Light snow and heavy snow fell intermittently one after another. Even if the snow stopped for no more than an hour, it started to fall again.

The weather was so icy cold that even the Zhenxi Army, who were accustomed to the weather in the northwest, felt unwell, and even suffered from frostbite.

Naturally, the imperial court also attached great importance to this natural disaster. Winter clothes, winter quilts, charcoal fire, and food were continuously transported to the northwest, and several important towns in the northwest suffered serious disasters.

The lord of Xishan City was originally from the Jianghu, and he also had some friendship with the former leader of the martial arts. Therefore, many righteous people with rich families also participated in the process of resisting natural disasters and foreign enemies.

The Rong people are nomads, and they have encountered several blizzards during their migration. Although they are not as big, they have a lot of experience in coping with them. Warm and close-fitting animal skins are more useful than thick and clumsy cotton coats.

As a result, this supposedly one-sided battle took a huge turn.