Confucian General [Ancient and Modern]

This winter has been extremely cold. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers stationed at the border have chilblains on their hands, ears, and even their faces outside their robes and armor. Covered in frost and snow again, before the itchy feeling came up, he was frozen on his face again.

In the sky, there are only a few sounds that seem to come from afar. The space between the sky and the earth is so big, but it only makes people feel the infinite desolation.

At this time, Su Shang was discussing matters with the left and right generals in the tent. The charcoal fire burning in the basin made some crackling and exploding sounds from time to time, but it also miraculously drove away some loneliness.

At this moment, the matter discussed in the account has just reached the point of intenseness, and the opinions of the left and right generals have been unified, but at this moment, a rush of horseshoes came from afar, and vague words were mixed in the strong wind, crushing the ground. There was an exceptionally quiet atmosphere at this moment.

The sound of horseshoes went unimpeded all the way to the front of the tent before stopping.

The smiles on the faces of the left and right generals in the tent froze.

"General—" General Zuo Li Zhi is a man with a beard on his face. Relying on his own ability, he has stepped from a sentry to the current position of deputy general step by step. Not everyone can know the hard work and hardships involved. of.

Su Shang silently put down the pen in his hand, raised his hand to stop Li Zhi's unspoken words, and when he walked around the wooden table, the messenger outside had already dismounted and walked in.

"The emperor has a decree, declare——General Gui Yuan will leave immediately, and go back to the palace to face the saint—" The fat father-in-law, whose face was red and swollen from the cold, shivered, handed the bright yellow imperial edict in his hand to the right general Wu Yan, and then smiled. He looked at Su Shang without a smile on his face, and made a big salute with a respectful face, "General, if you have nothing to do, please leave immediately with this old slave."

Wu Xuan tightened his hand holding the imperial decree, and then took a step forward, "The general is returning to court now, what about the battle ahead?"

"General, don't worry." The fat father-in-law put his hands in his sleeves, bowed his head, and acted like a slave. "The emperor has ordered General Sima Zhan to take over all affairs. General Su, please—"

Su Shang turned around, strode back to the thick wooden hanger and picked up the cape of the helmet. After putting it on, he turned his gaze to the two lieutenants who looked anxious and worried about the fat father-in-law, "Sima Zhan is a good man. General, you two just treat him as me."

After finishing speaking, Su Shang took a step forward, opened the curtain with cold tentacles and walked out of the big tent.

"General——" Li Zhi and Wu Xuan's expression changed, the meaning of these words could not be more obvious, this time, no matter what the reason is, I am afraid that there will be no return date.

Su Shang's back has disappeared outside the handsome tent, and the long curtain hangs on the ground to block the last figure. Li Zhi and Wu Xuan, who were kneeling on the ground, bowed their heads and remained silent until they heard the neighing of horseshoes outside. stood up.

The thick white snow outside was extremely dazzling, Su Shang squinted his eyes, and a trace of confusion suddenly flashed across his handsome face like a knife, which was fleeting.

Su Shang had already guessed the reason why he hurriedly announced his return to the court.

Emperor Wu of Jin—that is, the first emperor passed away more than ten days ago. Overnight, everything in Kyoto seemed to be covered with a layer of fog, making it difficult to see clearly.

At that time, when he received the news of the emperor's death, he was still fighting on the front line, but the other one was a sword that the late emperor wore all year round and a secret letter sealed in a box.

Before he left for the battle, he personally returned the sword to His Majesty, but now that the late emperor passed away, he handed it back to him. Su Shang knew exactly what he wanted to do.

On the fifth day after the death of the late emperor, the grey-haired Mr. Liu rode to death several horses on the highway after toiling and followed the late emperor all his life. After handing these two things into his hands, he died.

Su Shang didn't look carefully at what was written in the secret letter, but he already knew it in his heart - after the first emperor ascended the throne, he personally conquered Beisai and injured his subordinates; A son born of the posthumous Xiaoli Yuan Empress.

He cared about the brotherhood he had with him for more than twenty years, but he would never allow Su Shang to pose a threat to the still young Emperor Xuanwen.

He knew very well that with Su Shang's temperament, it was absolutely impossible for him to return to Beijing to kill the lord with that secret letter stamped with the king's seal.

That sword was reserved for Su Shang—whether he killed himself or the protector died, on the day the new emperor ascended the throne, Su Shang would never escape death.

The north wind howled and blew on his face, causing pain like a knife cut. Su Shang hurried all the way back to the capital, passed by his mansion without entering, and arrived at the edge of the imperial city.

He had the Shangfang sword bestowed by the late emperor beside him, and the guards did not dare to ask him to unload the weapon on the grounds of palace regulations. Su Shangming knew what would happen in the court today, but he did not stop for a moment, and walked straight into the hall.

After Su Shang entered the hall, which was originally noisy like a market, suddenly there was a deathly silence.

As if he didn't see anything, Su Shang walked to the center of the main hall, feeling the billowing heat in the blazing charcoal brazier, his body was already sweating.

"General Su, you can't kneel in front of the new emperor, but it's a great way to save face." A strange voice full of malice broke the silence, and then, like ants that had been fried in a pot, the whole hall began to explode. boiling.

The face of the young man who was no more than fifteen sitting on the high position was hidden behind the fall, and Su Shang was silent for a moment, then knelt down on one knee and made a big salute.

Only then did Prime Minister Zuo snort softly, and Shi Shiran turned his gaze back after receiving the different thoughts behind him, stared straight ahead, and said nothing again.

"General Gui Yuan has returned from battle." The young man on the throne stood up slowly, then raised his hand in a vain gesture to signal Su Shang to stand up, with a hint of joking on his lips, "It's really hard work."

Su Shang lowered his eyes, and the wrist holding the sword was as tense as before: "Your... Your Majesty's words are serious."

The new emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing the gloom behind Prime Minister Zuo's face flashed past, and then he sat back on the king's chair with his back straight.

Su Shang, who was below, moved his wrist suddenly. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from all directions. Su Shang's eyes darkened, and he took off the sword case expressionlessly. In the end, the sword will be returned when the emperor ascends the throne."

The young emperor waved his fingers slightly, and the sound of footsteps receded back again, as if nothing had happened, and ignored Su Shang's raised hands, just said: "General Su?"

Then, as if talking to himself, he said, "I remember, you saw me growing up when you were young."

Su Shang lowered his head even lower, and without saying a word, he heard the young emperor continue to say: "When I was seven years old, I was trapped to death in the Da Zi Ming Palace by the remnants of the previous dynasty. I rescued them, and then the army of the Jin Dynasty arrived and killed all the rebels from the previous dynasty."

"At that time, General Su seemed to be only seventeen?" The emperor asked, his voice was even softer, almost audible.

Afterwards, the emperor began to talk to himself as if he was on a horse, "When I was twelve o'clock, the demon concubine in the harem was intervening in politics and tried to assassinate me. General Su stabbed the demon concubine to death with the Zixiao sword... ..."

One by one, one by one, Su Shang felt that his eye sockets were a little moist, and hot and sour heat surged up. The seven-year-old child who was curled up in his arms in the past seemed to come alive in front of his eyes, chasing after him Call him "Brother Zishang," and the late Emperor, who was nine years older than him, would stand with his hands behind his back and watch the two of them chase with a smile.

It's like yesterday's epiphyllum.

At this moment, the young emperor's voice suddenly stopped, and then his voice seemed to suddenly become much lighter, but the words he spoke seemed to be like a thunderbolt hitting the hall as quiet as a lake, "I heard , General Su has raised thousands of elite riders outside the border since seven years ago?"

Hearing this, Su Shang raised his head, put the sword in his hand on the ground, stabilized his trembling arms, and replied in a deep voice: "Yes."

The emperor's hand holding the dragon chair paused, and his eyes were cold and crazy for a moment. The young father-in-law standing beside him was trembling, and the knuckles of the hand holding Fuchen were all white.

"Oh?" The emperor leaned forward, "I am curious, why and for whom are these elites of thousands of people used?"

It is the frontier of the first emperor town, and it is the side of the new emperor Qing.

But now that the first emperor is dead and the new emperor is enthroned, even if the first emperor has told him about it, he will not be able to clear up the troubled waters.

Seeing Su Shang's silence, the smile on the new emperor's lips froze as if being stabbed by a needle, and then he sat on the throne expressionlessly and fell silent.

Prime Minister Zuo stood in front of Su Shang, holding a pure white jade certificate in his hand, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Su Shang privately raised elite soldiers, and if he is suspected of treason, the crime...he shall be punished."

The emperor tilted his head when he heard the words, Prime Minister Zuo's heart suddenly trembled, and then tremblingly said: "The general must have been confused for a while. General Su has fought for the Jin Dynasty for ten years. When the merits and demerits are equal, take back his soldier talisman imprisoned in..."

"Take back the military talisman and imprison it?" The young emperor seemed to have heard an excellent idea, and the faint smile on his lips suddenly widened, "I think this method is very good..."

Hearing the words, Prime Minister Zuo raised his eyes and looked up, and immediately retracted his words before he finished speaking. Then, he took a step back and returned to the ranks among the courtiers.

At this time, the young general finally got up from the high throne and walked down. He walked up to Su Shang step by step, looked at Su Shang's embarrassed but more aggressive face, and squinted his eyes, "General Su thinks , what's the idea."

Su Shang could only see the pair of bright yellow Nine-Dragon Shoes on the ground with dragon patterns inlaid with gold thread. After a long while, he closed his eyes slightly and said, "Mr...."

At this moment, the mutation protruded.

Su Shang only had time to protect the emperor in front of him with his arms around his waist. The sword was trampled by the youth and could not be unsheathed. The light of the sword had already flashed in front of his eyes. The black-clothed assassin with the sword was already powerless to stop the other two assassins who had swung their swords at the boy while taking advantage of the chaos in the hall.

Therefore, he did not see, in his arms, when looking at Su Shang who blocked him with his body, the young emperor stared wide at that moment, as if he was extremely frightened.

The elite who had been ambushing around the main hall surged up at this moment, beheading the four assassins who were unable to catch a single blow under their swords.

The courtiers were already in chaos, gauze hats fell all over the floor, and there were a few scattered shoes that could not be distinguished from the left to the right. The young emperor felt the chaos, but the wet feeling on his waist became more and more intensified, and the tip of his nose The smell of blood...intensified.

Su Shang was stabbed below the chest by the assassin's sword, and pierced through the side by the sword.

The young man was a head lower than him, if these two swords stabbed him, I am afraid he would die on the spot.

"Emperor Physician..." After Su Shang had already collapsed to the ground, with blood spilling all over the ground, the young man finally woke up as if awakened by the muffled sound of falling to the ground, and shouted: "Emperor Xuan—quick—! "

Chaos broke out in the hall again, and the soldiers with weapons retreated outside the hall at some point. The officials in the hall stood in twos and threes, looking at the young emperor in the middle of the hall who was tightly hugged and covered with blood. The silver-armored general, with red eyes, looks like a lonely and rebellious little beast.

The Imperial Physician was already in the side hall at one side, and his arrival speed could be regarded as fast, but even so, Su Shang in his arms had already lost his breath.

Ao Bie didn't loosen his hands at all, he just watched the imperial doctor's old fingers resting on his wrists, then put them down, moved two steps back while kneeling, and kowtowed to apologize, "Your Majesty, my condolences."

I don't know where the wind is blowing, with the aroma of green grass, it's as leisurely as a summer afternoon.

Ao Bie hugged Su Shang's body that was getting colder in this cold winter, ordered him to retreat in a cold voice, and then went back to his bedroom step by step, and put him on the dragon bed regardless of the blood on his body.

"Eunuch Li." The earth dragon burning in the room was very warm, and Ao Bie was still wearing the heavy and cumbersome dragon robe, which was already stained red with blood, making his eyes glaringly uncomfortable. "Will he blame me?"

The gray-haired father-in-law knelt on the ground, arched his body and curled up into a ball, "Your Majesty, the general watched you grow up, how could he have the heart..."

"Oh, yes." Ao Bie's voice was terribly soft, he stretched out his hand to caress Su Shang's cold face, and pressed his face against his neck, feeling the bursts of coldness that would never warm up again, "He Watching me grow up, I can't bear to blame me, but I personally killed him..."

"Your Majesty—!" Eunuch Li finally fell on the ground and cried out, looking at the young emperor, "Your Majesty is very clear about the cause of the general's death. He is a spirit in the sky, and he will definitely hope to see His Majesty create a peaceful and prosperous world, otherwise..."

Eunuch Li looked at the extremely lonely young man on the dragon bed, and said sadly: "Otherwise, how can the general rest in peace."

"I want to get him, I've been thinking about it all my life." The boy suddenly said, "Father gave Su Shang a secret decree. In order to protect me, he wants to kill Su Shang. I know all about it."

"I thought, when he returns to the court, I will find a chance to take his tiger talisman and keep him in the deep palace. He will be mine." The joy came, as if the imaginary scene really happened, and then, he looked at Su Shang's face again, and said: "But he died."

"My Su Shang is dead." Ao Bie said, then knelt down on the bed, resting his head on Su Shang's forehead like a pilgrim, "He has forgiven me so many times, this time is not bad. "

"Eunuch Li." The young emperor looked carefully at the man whose face was already pale, then rolled over and got out of bed, and walked to the table, "After I have leveled the world and died, let the general and I enter the room together. The imperial mausoleum, be buried beside me."

Eunuch Li knelt and crawled to the table, received the imperial edict with trembling hands, looked at the upright back of the young man who was not considered tall, felt sore in his heart, and said, "The old servant complies with the edict."