Half blood

Li Xuan felt that they had no time.The water in the Anqu River is rising day by day, and they have to dig a mountain.

The shape of this mountain is peculiar. There is Shenyuan on the north bank of the mountain, and Baiyan Cliff on the north of the Yuan, which is more than 1000 feet high, overlooking Shenyuan.Li Xuan also heard from Big Brother Hu that there is something magical about this mountain abyss. It is said that if there is a drought, he would burn trees on it, and then push the ashes into the river, and it would rain if the river was dirty.In addition, there is also the custom of beating drums to pray for rain. It is said that the god of water lives in this mountain. When there is a drought, beating drums by the river will surely come true, and rain will fall from the sky.

It is precisely because of these legends that the villagers are in awe of the mountain.Yesterday's incident caused panic overnight, and the villagers felt that it was because of their serious crimes that they would be punished by the gods.And what Rong Nuo Shangwei said when he was sober, "opening the mountain to save people", made the villagers regard it as an oracle, and no longer obstructed Li Xuan's plan to open the mountain.

Li Xuan sat alone by the river, thinking about what happened yesterday. Rong Nuo played a scene of resurrection from the dead after the effect of the medicine yesterday. , but as soon as she finished speaking, she lost consciousness. She didn't know what happened afterwards, let alone what she said, "The River of Anqu, the water of death." Such words.

Just as he was thinking, Brother Hu walked over. When Li Xuan saw the fiery scar on his face, he suddenly remembered that Mrs. Hu had asked him to give Brother Hu the medicine for healing, so he hurriedly took out the porcelain bottle from his arms.Hu grinned and said, "What is this thing? It smells so good. I don't need to put on such a thing."

Li Xuan then said: "Brother Hu, sister-in-law Hu entrusted me to carry this for you. She said that she hadn't seen you for several days, and you are really serious, brother Hu. How could there be anything on the embankment a few days ago? Why didn't you talk to sister-in-law?" How about seeing each other?"

Hu Da's eyes sank, he stroked the upper half of his face with one hand, and said, "She, she really has a heart..."

When Li Xuan saw Hu Da like this, he also guessed a thing or two in his heart, and said: "Brother Hu, but you told me yourself, you said, a man depends on his ability and courage, why do you care about this?" Subtle appearance? I think Mrs. Hu doesn't mind at all, but Brother Hu's dodging like this makes him look petty." Li Xuan paused, and then said: "I really envy you, Brother Hu. As a husband and wife, rely on The most important thing is the fate of three lives. The names of the two people should be written together on this marriage stone, and the fingers of the two people should be held by the old man with a red thread, so that it can be counted. So brother Hu is very lucky to get this good fate, you must know , This is beyond the imagination of many people.”

After hearing this, Hu Da gently squeezed the porcelain bottle in his hand, and said, "Little brother will also have such a blessing." Li Xuan also smiled, but he was thinking in his heart, how could he have such a blessing?But if you want to blame, you can only blame yourself. There are tens of thousands of people in this world, and he is a prince under one person and above ten thousand. Who can't he want?But he just wants someone who is unconformable and unethical. Doesn't he deserve it if he can't get it?

After Brother Hu left, Li Xuan stood up, looked at the river, and thought to himself, it is better to solve this urgent task first, if this is not done well, we will die here together, what is there to talk about, what to say like?At this time, someone came from behind, and when Li Xuan turned his head, he saw Li Xiuqi coming.

Li Xiuqi gave the salute first, and said: "Your Highness," he was taken aback, paused for a moment, and then said, "Your Highness, you, your face is covered with ashes..."

Upon hearing this, Li Xuan quickly wiped his face with the back of his hand, and said, "I was just moving a pebble, and accidentally touched my face."

Li Xiuqi frowned slightly when he heard this, and said, "Your Highness, you don't need to do these things yourself."

Li Xuan replied: "The time is tight and there are not enough manpower. If I can help a little, it's just a matter of practicing." On the lower jaw, his hand suddenly reached over, and the pulp of the index finger gently wiped the plaster. By the time he realized what he was doing, it was too late, and his hand reluctantly landed on it. , as if wiping an antique vase that shatters when touched.

Li Xuan stayed where he was, not daring to vent his breath. He tensed his body, and carefully felt the fluttering of his jaw like a butterfly's wings. He collected himself, and asked a little stammeringly, "What about the gunpowder?" how is it now?"

Li Xiuqi took his hand back and replied: "The gunpowder is ready. We can start to blow up the mountain tonight."

"Uh... how much do you want? General Wei agrees?"

"General Wei did not agree. Because of yesterday's incident, General Wei was still angry, and he was even more unhappy about our opening of the mountain. Fortunately, I also told General Wei about this matter. He was very supportive and said he was willing to send him Give us all the gunpowder in your hand. Although it is all, it can’t be considered too much, it should be enough to save some, and there may even be some left over.”

The gunpowder in Wei Yuan's hand was brought over one after another. Li Xuan arranged for someone to tie the gunpowder to the excavated part of the mountain. After everything was ready, he lit the long letter. Everyone hid behind the temporary bunker and quietly Waiting for the loud sound of landslides and ground cracks.

It was only a blink of an eye, but it seemed like after waiting for a long time, there was a rumbling sound, and the ground under his feet trembled, the sky was full of flames, and the river was red, and with the earth-shattering crack, everything returned to calm.

Li Xuan was the first to get up from behind the bunker, and he shouted loudly: "Gunpowder."

The stubborn stone on the mountain was blasted into a pit by the gunpowder, which was far from enough, and it needed to be blasted several times in order to cut through the mountain.But Li Xuan found that the power of the gunpowder seemed to be getting weaker every time.For the first time, a huge hole could be blown out, but the next three or four times could only blow up some corners.But the sky had already turned white, so Li Xuan could only let the soldiers rest first, and try again tomorrow.

Li Xuan approached the mountain, and after a few steps, he could feel the hot air and the smell of burning sulfur. With the help of the meager sunlight, he could clearly see that there was a huge rock in the middle of the mountain. The stubborn stone is stuck in the middle, preventing the power of the gunpowder from being exerted.Li Xuan had no choice but to retreat first, he had a plan in mind but not only whether it was feasible, but at this moment he heard several soldiers complaining, "Why do you think we are doing this?"

The man said: "You also listened to that day. Miss Rong brought the oracle and said that there will be floods in ten days. No matter what we do now, what's the use of exhausting ourselves? By then, not all will die." gone?"

What this man said reached the hearts of these soldiers, and everyone echoed: "That's right, you see, three days have passed in ten days, and up to now, even half of the mountain has not been opened. It was blown up all night, and it’s just such a big hole. How do you think it’s possible? Hey..."

Just as he was talking, someone hummed a song. The tune of this song was melodious, with countless twists and turns. The lyrics were in a southern dialect. Each sound was connected together, held in the mouth, and finally flowed out from the corner of the tongue.Li Xuan didn't quite understand what he heard, but felt that the voice brought tears to his eyes, and the corners of his eyes got wet when he heard it.Thinking back, he had only been in the south for a few months, but he had such a deep affection for this place. When he thought of the disaster in the south, he felt sad for a while.

He breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed the soreness in his throat, and said loudly: "This song is nice, but it's too sad. Why did you sing the song of Chu by yourself before the soldiers came to the city? All soldiers are willing to come with me today. If you open a mountain, you can trust me. I ask all the soldiers to trust me again. I have already figured out a way to open the mountain. We will be able to cross the mountain tonight. Don’t be discouraged, all the soldiers. Afterwards, I will resign myself to fate, and I have no regrets in asking questions for ten days."

Seeing that the soldiers seemed to have been moved by the slightest bit of talk, Li Xuan continued: "Yesterday's opening of the mountain was not smooth, but it was because there was a stubborn stone blocking the mountain. This stone is not small, but it is not very big. , we only need to take out this stubborn stone, and everything will be fine. If I want to take out this stubborn stone, I just have a way. We are by the river, there is plenty of water, and there is enough gunpowder. Then use the ancient method of fire Gong. First use fire to burn the big rock red, and then pour it on the cold river water, so cold and hot, the stubborn stone will crack. After this crack, is it not easy to deal with later things?"

Having said that, all the generals and soldiers felt that this was also a solution, and now they will try him as a living horse doctor.

Seeing everyone's fighting spirit raised, Li Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He let go of his tightly clenched hands and found that a thin layer of sweat had oozed from his palms at some point.He didn't know the bottom of his mind just now, but it's not so ridiculous to say what he thinks so loudly.His interest was also high, and he followed the soldiers to collect firewood for burning the mountain.

Only then did he realize that when he said these words just now, Wei Yuan was also among the crowd.He walked over with a smile, and said to Li Xuan: "What you said just now is quite impressive. You have only been here for a few days, and your whole person has matured. Do you still remember when you first came, with me? You said that you wanted to prove your ability to the emperor, and now I can say that you did it, and you did it very well." Li Xuan felt a little embarrassed, and said, "Brother Wei really flattered me..."

Wei Yuan laughed, slapped him vigorously on the shoulder, and continued: "Since your wish has been fulfilled, then go back. The people in the capital have already arrived at the camp, and are waiting for you to go back.

After hearing this, Li Xuan felt a little displeased, and said in a low voice, "Brother Wei, what do you mean..."

Wei Yuan stopped laughing, and said seriously: "Your Highness, you have also heard what Rong Nuo said that day, it seems that the south is bound to suffer this catastrophe, your Highness is different, His Majesty only has you as his son , You must not make any mistakes. Your Highness, just listen to Brother Wei. Brother Wei watched you grow up and will not harm you. This, this is all for your own good and for the good of the country. "

Hearing this, Li Xuan wanted to laugh for some reason. He raised his head lightly, and laughed at himself: "It's unlucky for me to have a son like me. If you don't go back, that would be unfilial. Let my father I have no children; go back, that is a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, what qualifications does such a character have to inherit my father's throne?"

Wei Yuan was at a loss for words for a moment, at this time Li Xiuqi came slowly from behind Wei Yuan and said, "Young General Wei, the one who came to pick up His Highness today was mentioned in the letter I wrote to the Emperor when I first came. Seeing the harsh environment in the south, I was afraid that His Highness would not be able to bear it, so I wrote such a letter on my own. Later, I realized that His Highness has such deep feelings for this land, so I wrote another one. I didn’t expect that the south and the capital are separated by mountains and rivers. This letter came out I made such a big mistake. Now the branch of the Anqu River is under the command of His Highness, so His Highness can’t leave now.”

As soon as Wei Yuan heard that there was such a big misunderstanding, he stopped trying to persuade Li Xuan and went back to the camp to explain the misunderstanding to the people from the capital.

Wei Yuan walked away, Li Xiuqi said: "Your Highness's method of fire attack is really ingenious." Li Xuan said slightly, "It's an ancient method from the book." He thought again that this method must be Li Xiuqi I also read it, so I didn't say any more, and asked instead: "Did you really write a letter to my father?" Li Xiuqi replied calmly: "I will write a letter when I go back."