The first favorite of rebirth

After jueyun left for about [-] days, good news came from outside liuzhou city, saying that the army was approaching the city. Now that the weather is cold and liuzhou city is short of food and grass, it may not be long before the city will be captured.

Pei Jiqing was worried for a few days, and finally she could put her heart back in her stomach for the time being.When he received the good news, he was brewing wine in the small courtyard, because he had been waiting for the news, so Mu Zi followed the Central Plains caravan to help him deliver a batch of goods, and brought back a lot of high-quality medicinal materials, insisting on fortifying to Peiji In Qing's hand, Pei Jiqing couldn't refuse, so he imitated the herdsman's habit and used those medicinal materials to make altar medicinal wine, which was said to be very good for getting rid of wind evil.

The soldier who came to announce the good news brought some other things besides a message. He put presents, large and small, into Pei Jiqing's room. Pei Jiqing asked puzzled, "What is this?"

"This is a reward from the emperor to Lord Hou." The soldier smiled and put the memorial on the table at the same time, "Master Hou said that after he leaves, let us hand over all the things from the court to you. In the past few days It's snowing, and the memorials have been backlogged for a few days, and three of them came out at once."

Looking at those things, Pei Jiqing felt a little dumbfounded. He knew that Xiao Wansheng asked people to send the approved memorials to help him keep an eye on the movements in the palace, but he didn't have to send these messy rewards. Feel like you're taking advantage.

So Pei Jiqing said: "My lord, please take these back. This is a gift from the emperor to Lord Hou. How dare I accept it."

"It's not like there are so many rewards every day, so you just keep it, it's also the emperor's appreciation for Mr. Lang." The soldier had already gone out to lead the horse, and then turned around and said: "You are Mr. Lang's family, so just take it for him."

The word "family" sounded very kind, and Pei Jiqing couldn't help lowering his head and smiling. Just as he was in a daze, the soldier had already led the horse and left.Pei Jiqing closed the door and turned around, only to find that the dilapidated small courtyard was no longer the bleak scene at that time. There were trestles set up in the courtyard, and some freshly washed clothes were dried on it, flower pots and plants were placed in the corner, and piles of flowers were piled up in the kitchen. Bottles and cans, and medicinal materials purchased from herdsmen are also piled up in the empty warehouse... It has become a warm and comfortable home.

Pei Jiqing returned to the room, casually flipped through the little emperor's rewards, the things were nothing more than gold, silver and jade objects.The strange thing is, among those bells and whistles, there is actually a beautifully bound collection. Xiao Wansheng never reads, and the little emperor rewarded him with a collection of poems. Does he still expect Xiao Wansheng to learn some culture?

However, this collection of poems was written by a famous master in the former dynasty. It is an extremely precious masterpiece of calligraphy, which is more valuable than those gold, silver, pearls and jade. When the little emperor was the prince, he liked to collect these old calligraphy and painting collections.Pei Jiqing had nothing to do, maybe he hadn't seen such a precious collection for a long time, so he looked at it by the light.This famous calligrapher and painter is not good at writing poems, but his calligraphy is extremely strong. This collection is just a combination of his own calligraphy and excellent poems of predecessors. It is catchy to read and pleasing to the eye.

Pei Jiqing flipped through for a while, and raised his eyes to see the memorial written by the little emperor. Although the content was a meaningless greeting, he could still see what the little emperor wrote. He flipped through the two books, but vaguely felt that The memorial in his hand was a bit strange, but he couldn't figure out the reason.

"Mr. Pei." Before Pei Jiqing put the book down, he heard someone calling him outside. Mu Zi knocked on the door, led a fat child in, and said, "My son's birthday is today, and I'm here to give it to you." Mr. Pei sent something."

After finishing speaking, he put a steamed food box on the table, and said, "I made some mutton dumplings, and they don't smell fishy. Try it."

"It's your son's birthday, so it's time for me to give you something." Pei Jiqing had nothing to give away, thinking that there were still a few brand new cotton clothes in the box, Jue Yun didn't know how tall he had grown when he came back, and the clothes were probably worn out No, so he packed the cotton clothes and said: "Mr. Mu, these are brand new clothes. They are thick and the embroidery is good. Let's wear them for the children."

Muzi didn't refuse, put the package in the child's hands, pressed Pei Jiqing's shoulders to let him sit down, and said: "I went to make a batch of goods the day before yesterday, but the land is not far from ours, and the price is also high. Not too much."

"We have some capital, so we can go further away, and the New Year is coming soon." Pei Jiqing poured a cup of tea for Mu Zi, and analyzed: "As the end of the year approaches, every household has to rest and settle their accounts. At this time, there are not many people delivering goods, so why don't we get some more goods and sell them at a lower price, making small profits but quick turnover, and earning a reputation."

"Yes, it's almost New Year's Eve." Muzi said, "Today is the third day of November, my son is just ten years old, almost born in the twelfth lunar month, and it's almost New Year's Eve, but Mr. Lang is away fighting, waiting for my son to come again If you are older, tell him to join the army."

"Ten years old, it's really late for you to have a baby..."

date?

Pei Jiqing looked at Muzi's gray hair with a smile, but stood up abruptly, as if lightning had struck his mind, he quickly spread out the memorials to check, although the little emperors all wrote pensions and awards in exactly the same handwriting It's a cliche, but except for one of them, the little emperor didn't leave a date on the memorial.

He finally understood the strangeness of these documents. The emperor's reply to the memorials has always been only a few words, let alone the date of inscription. If the date of inscription suddenly started, why did he choose "October 25"? Write it down?

Muzi looked at Pei Jiqing's expression, and hurriedly said, "Young Master Pei, what's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing. I stood up suddenly and felt a little dizzy." Pei Jiqing responded softly, and said, "It's getting late and it's extremely cold outside. You should take the child home first."

Muzi sent the good things and took the child out of the hut. Pei Jiqing hurriedly picked up the book of poems. If he guessed correctly, the little emperor rewarded Xiao Wansheng with the book of poems. It must not be teaching him to learn to read, but a hint. And this inexplicable date is the key to unlock the code word.

The numbers in the collection of poems are either ranks or pages. Pei Jiqing turned to the tenth page, then to the fifth page of No. 20, and even to the fifth page of No. 30, but there was nothing strange about it.Pei Jiqing walked around the room, thinking that the little emperor chose the two numbers "ten" and "25" on purpose, and what he implied must be related to both ten and 25. In this way, the number should be "five".

Thinking of this, Pei Jiqing suddenly felt his hands tremble. He quickly turned the pages of the book, and his fingertips slowly landed on the fifth page.As usual, the fifth page contains ancient poems. Among these neat small letters, there is a poem that Pei Jiqing saw the clue, and made his hand holding the book tremble suddenly.

"...The emptiness of being so high above the clouds, I have never opened my arms all my life. Where are the birds singing and the flowers falling, and the bamboos dying, the tung and the withered phoenixes not coming..."

It turned out to be the case.

Pei Jiqing thought to herself, the little emperor almost killed his father and king, yet he still felt that he had "never opened his arms in his life", this person really thinks highly of what he has done.But after a while, the sneer on Pei Jiqing's face has turned into sincere joy. It seems that he has guessed right. The little emperor is really unwilling to live under the regent's hand. Hinting at the little emperor made him realize that Xiao Wansheng really regarded him as the emperor, not a puppet of the regent.

But the little emperor was still a little timid, and he only dared to hint at Xiao Wansheng in such a veiled way, probably as a bet - if Xiao Wansheng could see the intention, it would be good, if he couldn't, it would be God's will not help him.

Pei Jiqing immediately packed up the memorial books, a smile couldn't help appearing on his face, he finally succeeded after thousands of miles of sowing discord, such an important news, he should tell Xiao Wansheng, but Xiao Wansheng is far away in Liuzhou, and he I didn't dare to let the soldiers deliver the news, so I had to go there myself.

Pei Jiqing immediately packed his luggage and spent almost a sleepless night. As soon as the sun was shining, he took some of Jue Yun's favorite food and set off.Before leaving, he also specially reported to Xia Chengxi that when he entered the general's mansion, another good news came from Liuzhou. The road in Dazhou was like a broken bamboo. The defenders in Liuzhou were afraid of hurting the people, so they decided to surrender in Kaesong and took over directly. Xiao Wansheng's army entered the city.

From Xia Chengxi's point of view, although Pei Jiqing favored Due Yun, he was also strict in major matters, so he felt that his going would not hinder anything, so after a few instructions, he agreed to send him to Liuzhou.

Pei Jiqing got Xia Chengxi's approval, but he couldn't wait to find the horse team, and was about to invite a guide to go to Liuzhou by himself. At this time, Muzi happened to be going to receive the goods, so he decided to give him a ride.It took five or six days to travel from Dingzhou to Liuzhou, and they had to avoid the Liao army on the way. It was a long journey, and they almost walked for ten days to arrive.When Pei Jiqing saw the gate of Liuzhou City, the weather had become extremely cold, the grass was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the scenery in the distance had also changed a lot. tall mountains.

Pei Jiqing was wearing a white padded coat, a windproof hat on his head, and a thick veil around his face, only his eyes were exposed, the guards stopped him and said, "Who are you? "

"I'm from the General's Mansion in Jinzhou." Pei Jiqing quickly replied politely, and took out the token of the General's Mansion from his sleeve, "This is General Xia's token."

"I have never been to General Jinzhou's mansion, and I don't know what General Xia's token looks like." The soldier still looked at him vigilantly, "You wait here, and I will inform you."

Although Pei Jiqing was burning with anxiety, she could only wait where she was.The climate in Liuzhou City was extremely bad, with heavy wind and snow. Pei Jiqing stood there and waited for nearly half an hour. Although he was wearing thick leather boots, his feet were so cold that they were stiff and painful, and he couldn't help jumping around on the spot. Go, but even in such embarrassment, Pei Jiqing was still overjoyed, a look of joy appeared under the veil, wondering if the child would be happier than him when he came out of the city.

About half an hour later, a tall man wearing a deep purple brocade robe came out of the snowstorm. He looked at the gate of the city impatiently, and then asked in surprise, "Who are you...Xiao Rong?"

"Master Hou?" Pei Jiqing took off the veil in surprise, and said in a daze, "Why is it you?"

"I just wanted to ask, why did you come here? The military situation here is urgent, and it's not like you don't know about it." Xiao Wansheng didn't joke like he used to, but blamed a few words in a serious manner, stuffed his cloak to him, and said in a deep voice : "I'll hit you when I'm done, and come in with me first."

"Thank you Lord Hou!"

Pei Jiqing walked into Liuzhou City with a cloak in his arms, and found that the customs here are quite different from those in Dingzhou. Not only are there no common people's businesses on the streets, but there are also well-dressed soldiers guarding all over the streets. patrolling the streets.Xiao Wansheng led Pei Jiqing into their resting place and poured him a cup of tea.

Pei Jiqing lowered his head and took a sip of hot tea, his pale face regained some color, but Xiao Wansheng didn't look back at him, instead stood in the room and raised his eyes to look around, and called the soldiers to inquire about the local situation, his expression remained tense.

It seems that there are still many differences between the front line and the victory report. There are only a few sentences in the victory report, but the front line is still so tense. Presumably Jue Yun is also patrolling somewhere like other soldiers.

Xiao Wansheng still looked uneasy, Pei Jiqing immediately took out the memorial and explained: "Master Hou, I didn't sneak out. General Xia allowed me to come because the emperor gave us some signals and agreed to cooperate with us."

"Well, I see, I'll let someone take you back..."

Xiao Wansheng took the memorial absent-mindedly, flipped through two pages, and accidentally knocked down the teacup on the table with his elbow, and the tea spread along the table, just in time to dizzy the package that Pei Jiqing put on the table.

Pei Jiqing quickly stood up and wiped off the water droplets on the package, but the water had seeped into the package, Pei Jiqing quickly opened it, and took out the cotton coat of the pastry brought to Jue Yun.

Xiao Wansheng looked at him silently, seemed to hesitate for a long time before saying: "Xiao Rong... I have something I want to tell you."

"what?"

Seeing his expression, Pei Jiqing's heart sank again, as if something was about to happen, he held the pastry and froze a smile on his face.

"actually……"

"General!"

Before Xiao Wansheng could speak, a sergeant rushed into the room. He half-kneeled in front of Xiao Wansheng, and quickly said: "General, the second team has returned from the Black Mountain Pass. Lord Lang still..."

Xiao Wansheng frowned, as if he wanted to stop the soldier from continuing, but Pei Jiqing stepped forward and asked eagerly, "What did you say?"

"Still not there." The soldier lowered his head and said in a low voice: "Master Lang still has no news, but we found the... corpses of other brothers..."