bastard returns

"You mean, His Royal Highness escaped...?"

"That's right, the huge prince's mansion went to the empty building, and even the servants were scattered, but many valuable things were not taken away. Thinking about it, I knew something was wrong, so I left in a hurry to save my life." Zhao Mo Mo shook his head while saying, "A dignified prince of a country, to do such a foolish thing, willing to leave everything behind to save his life, is quite courageous."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Mo saw that Ning Yuan didn't respond, and continued: "I have ordered a team of defenders to search around Huajing, and I'm here to tell you the news. Got it, then I'll go first, otherwise I'll move slower, and it won't be good if someone accuses me of having failed the emperor." Zhao Mo nodded to Huyan Yuanchen again, turned around and left in a hurry.

"What are you thinking, so lost in thought." Huyan Yuanchen walked to Ning Yuan, "Although I don't know why you hate Sikong Xu so much, but this is the end of the matter, even if he can escape in the end, he will never die again in this life." You have regained the respected status of the prince, but you don't seem very happy."

"It's nothing, I just feel a little embarrassing." Ning Yuan turned around, "The Fourth Highness has been fighting for fame and fortune all his life, planning for so long, but ended up like this in the end, maybe even he himself can't think of it."

"However you look at you, it seems that you are sympathizing with others." Hu Yanyuanchen put his hand on Ning Yuan's head with a smile, and helped him straighten the jade tube that was used to tie his hair. I'm a little jealous."

"If I don't care about you, why bother to plot against that Lao Chi in order to rescue you from the posthouse?" Ning Yuan silently rolled his eyes, and seemed to remember something, and said, "It's just that now Princess Jinyu passed away suddenly. As the prince of Daxia, I guess it will not be long before the emperor will definitely call you into the palace for questioning in order to make up for the turmoil caused by this incident. You should make preparations early and think about what to do. How to deal with it."

"It's not a big deal. I think your majesty has already seen that I'm not on the right track with Queen Mother Xia. I'm just an idle prince. You should also know that it's useless to ask me to make peace with Queen Mother Xia. However, Da Zhou's national strength is not weak now. , I wouldn’t be afraid of Daxia if I think about it, at most I’ll pay some money.” Huyan Yuanchen showed an insignificant expression on his face, “To be honest, if I didn’t have some reasons, I would really even unload the prince’s burden. From then on, living in Dazhou for a long time and being a commoner would be the best."

Hearing a "reason" suddenly mentioned by Huyan Yuanchen, Ning Yuan was just about to ask more questions, when the sound of horseshoes came from outside the yard, and then Yan Fei pushed the door and walked in, and said from a distance: "Young master, just now the palace A father-in-law has come to send a message, and the emperor has called you into the palace."

Ning Yuan showed an expression of "as expected", patted Huyan Yuanchen on the shoulder, and signaled him to go quickly, Huyan Yuanchen also shrugged helplessly, and gave Ning Yuan a few more instructions before leading Yan Fei away on horseback .

Ning Yuan felt a little tired, turned around and walked into the house, ready to take a nap, but Zhou Shi walked around from the back door, and said to Ning Yuan with an unnatural expression: "Master, there are guests."

"Since there are guests, why don't you come in." Ning Yuan looked at him curiously.

"Young master, you should follow me to have a look." Zhou Shi said, "The guest is not willing to enter the door, you will understand when you see him."

Ning Yuan's heart skipped a beat, as if he had thought of something, he nodded without saying anything, and followed Zhou Shi all the way to the back door.

Standing there was a tall man, wearing the most common sackcloth and straw sandals, carrying a bag, and wearing a bamboo hat, which made it difficult to see his true face. His exposed hands had long sleeves and wide joints, which could be seen as life training. family.

Perhaps hearing footsteps, the man turned around and raised his head, revealing a face that had met Ning Yuan several times, but the expression looking at Ning Yuan was a bit complicated at the moment.

"Gao Feng." Ning Yuan called out his name in a low voice, and at the same time waved his hand, signaling Zhou Shi to leave first.

"Lord Ning." Gao Feng nodded slightly, "Originally I planned to leave the capital, but after thinking about it, I still want to say goodbye to you."

"You and I don't know each other well, so why did you come to say goodbye to me?" Ning Yuan said calmly.

"In principle, this may be the case, but if it weren't for you, Mr. Ning, I wouldn't know what happened to my brothers' families, and I wouldn't be able to save them and put them in peace." Gao Feng showed a grateful expression while speaking. , as if he really came to thank Ning Yuan.

"Since you are here now, what about the Fourth Highness?" Ning Yuan asked, "Didn't he take you with him when he left?"

"The Fourth Highness originally wanted me to flee with him, but I found an excuse to take care of the rest of the affairs for him, so I stayed. I think he probably also saw that I would not go with him, so I decided to stay." I didn't force it." Gao Feng smiled, "Perhaps at that time, His Royal Highness had doubted me a little, but he was busy running for his life and had no chance to pursue me."

"You have always been loyal to him. You are a rare loyal servant. Even if you know his heinous deeds, you are willing to help me in some things, but you have never completely betrayed him." Ning Yuan It looks a little sad.

"The Fourth Highness has saved my life. If it weren't for the Fourth Highness, I'm afraid I would have become a frozen bone on the side of the road." Gao Feng said: "I have to repay this kindness."

Ning Yuan showed a sneer, "Even if you know that all your relatives have already died at his hands?"

Gao Feng's complexion suddenly became ugly.

Ning Yuan didn't speak any more, only sighed faintly.Gao Feng has served Sikong Xu for more than ten years, and it can be said that he grew up with Sikong Xu, the closest confidant, and Sikong Xu has no scruples in making moves when facing such a confidant.Gao Feng was originally an orphan. After serving his allegiance to Si Kong Xu, he asked Si Kong Xu to find his family. After Si Kong Xu agreed, he kept evading it on the grounds that he had no news. Zhong Gaofeng's abilities wanted to stay by his side, and he didn't want him to be interested in leaving after knowing the news of his relatives, so he did nothing but kill Gao Yu's parents and a younger brother secretly.

It's just that doing these things doesn't count. Over the years, in order to restrain his confidants, Sikong Xu would tell them that if one day they died while doing things for him, then he, Sikong Xu, would, as his son, For these subordinates to provide for their parents and die, as a prince, he can make such a promise. Naturally, the people under him are greatly moved, and they are willing to work for him, but those people have no idea that once they die, Sikong Xu was afraid that these people would tell their families something or nothing, and reveal their secrets, through some bandits whom he had bribed, they would pretend to be robbers and kill them, and wipe out all their relatives.

He has been doing these things without anyone noticing, and he asked himself that no one would know, or that Ning Yuan had inadvertently found out when he was his bedside person in the previous life.

At first, he told Gao Feng, Sikong Xu's most confidant, the news by sending superstitious letters. Gao Gao naturally didn't believe it at first, but he also had some doubts. After confirming that everything Ning Yuan said was true, he was extremely shocked for a while.

His own relatives are fine, although he is sad, he also knows that his parents abandoned him because of his younger brother's birth. Although he is sad, he doesn't have much hatred for Si Kongxu, but other relatives are different.They, the guards under Sikong Xu, eat and sleep together all day long, and they have long been brothers and sisters. As the leader of the guards, he values ​​his brothers more, and along with Sikong Xu, he promised them that if any of them is dead Therefore, I will work with the Fourth Highness to take care of their parents until their death.

In these years, Gao Yu has never worried about the relatives of those deceased subordinates, but every time Sikong Xu said that he took good care of him and blocked Gao Feng. Now that he knows the truth, it makes Gao Feng Jai Zi was tearing apart, feeling that he was extremely sorry for those brothers who died, and for the first time realized the viciousness in Sikong Xu's elegant gentleman's appearance.

But even though he hated Si Kongxu, caring about the kindness of saving his life in the past, even if he promised to help Ning Yuan in some things, he never really did anything of betrayal.

Seeing that Princess Jinyu was about to die at the hands of Sikong Xu that day, he could have prevented the tragedy from happening, but strangely, he did not step forward to stop it.

Because at that time, he only had one thought in his mind, and this might seem like a chance for him to escape from the fourth prince's residence.

He has no way to take the initiative to betray, but if Sikong Xu himself has done something unforgivable and his status is no longer there, it means that he, as a guard, will be able to leap from now on, and let the birds fly as high as the sky.

And the fact was just as he had expected, Sikong Xu abandoned his identity and fled in a hurry. He had no intention of serving Sikong Xu again, so he naturally stepped out of the Prince's Mansion in a grandiose manner.

"Where are you going next?" Ning Yuan thought for a while before asking.

"I don't know, maybe I'll go back to my hometown, maybe I've been wandering around like this for a long time." Gao Feng said: "My freedom, in the final analysis, is bestowed by Master Mengning, so I came to say goodbye to you, now I should say It's all over, and I should go."

Speaking of this, Gao Feng paused, as if he was not sure, he asked, "You haven't asked, because you are not curious about the whereabouts of His Royal Highness?"

"I'm curious about his whereabouts." Ning Yuan laughed, "I just hope that the two will have nothing to do with each other from now on, and stop making trouble for each other."

Gao Feng nodded, turned his head and took two steps, but turned his face sideways as if worried, and said: "Although I don't know where the Fourth Highness has gone, I vaguely feel that he should go back to Daxia. So, I'm afraid he won't come back."

After speaking, Gao Feng left without looking back.

Only Ning Yuan was left standing there, lowering his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

****

What is strange is that originally everyone thought that the death of Princess Jinyu would make the Empress Dowager Da Xia furious, and the courtiers were discussing how to make up for this matter so as to maintain the peaceful relationship between the two countries, but when the news spread, the whole The royal family of the Xia Dynasty was peaceful, and even the Empress Dowager Xia personally wrote a letter to our court, saying that although she was heartbroken because of the death of her younger sister, she did not want to cause the two countries to go to war for this matter. melted, not to be held accountable.

However, Empress Dowager Xia also mentioned in the letter that Murong Yu, as the lord of Jinyu County, is a relative of the Great Xia Emperor. The Empress Dowager Xia was worried about the candidate for his body, so she specially named Prince Yongyi who was still in Dazhou to handle the matter personally, and also said that Prince Yongyi should go back after he had been in Dazhou for so long. , It is good to report to Emperor Xia.

For such a request, the emperor had no reason to object at all. While admiring the Queen Mother Xia's broad-mindedness, he also ordered Huyan Yuanchen to return the body of Princess Jinyu to Yanjing, and also issued a decree to allocate a large sum of gold and silver. Wealth and treasure go together, as a return gift from the Empress Dowager Xia.

This kind of thing, no matter in terms of identity or responsibility, Huyan Yuanchen has no choice but to accept it. Ning Yuan said goodbye.

Ning Yuan, on the other hand, took it very seriously. He had expected that the Empress Dowager Xia would not let Huyan Yuanchen go easily no matter what. It couldn't be more aboveboard.

The weather was not cool, and the body would rot, so everything was prepared very quickly. The day before Huyan Yuanchen's departure, Ning Yuan set up a table of wine in the yard to see him farewell.

It was really a table of "small" wine. On the half-big table, there was a jug of wine, two people, and three stacks of dishes. Other than that, there was no one else present. Even Ning Xiner, who always liked to join in the fun, was caught by Tang's Carried it back to the house and went to sleep.

The two sat facing each other and did not speak for a long time. After a while, Ning Yuan filled a glass of wine for Huyan Yuanchen.

"You really don't want to go with me?" Huyan Yuanchen finally seemed unable to hold back, and asked.

Knowing that he was going to have this trip, Huyan Yuanchen came to Ning Yuan. The implication was to ask Ning Yuan to accompany him to Daxia, so as to save the pain of lovesickness between the two places. Yuan refused.

"I have an official position now, so how can I go to other countries casually, and even if I go, not only will I not be able to help you, but some things may hinder you." Ning Yuan smiled and said: "I Just wait here for you, don't you have plans to go to Yanjing, and explain to the Empress Dowager Xia that you don't want to participate in the struggle for imperial power, and come back after completely being an idler."

"Even if I have this idea, it's not necessarily that the Queen Mother will do what I want. I'm afraid that some wrangling will be inevitable when I go this time." Huyan Yuanchen showed a wry smile, "Although I'm not very fond of Queen Mother Xia's temperament, I understand, but I also know her Su Su's usual way of doing things, I'm afraid that even if I make my wishes clear, she won't believe her."

"then you……"

"Don't worry, even though this is the case, even if she wants to deal with me, she will not do anything blatantly, and I claim to be able to deal with those plots and tricks." Regarding the worried look on Ning Yuan's brows, Instead, Huyan Yuanchen comforted: "In the past, I helped you deal with a lot of difficult things, don't you even have this little trust?"

Only then did Ning Yuan shake his head, as if acquiescing to Huyan Yuanchen's statement, and stopped speaking.

Accompanied by the fragrance of wine and the moonlight, this night's star shifting quietly passed away. When the sky just turned pale, Huyan Yuanchen was already fully dressed, and when he walked out of the room, he looked back deliberately.

Ning Yuan was lying on the bed with his back facing him, as if he was still in deep sleep, and there were many red marks on the exposed neck. It was not difficult to see that the spring breeze between the two of them was several times last night, and Zhou Shi had already guarded the door. Huyan Yuanchen made a silent gesture to him, closed the door quietly, and then whispered: "Your young master was a little tired last night, so let him sleep for a while, and he will sleep a little longer in the evening." Wake him up later."

Zhou Shi immediately nodded in agreement.

When a foreign prince returned to the court, he sent another corpse. Naturally, there was no ostentation at all, let alone publicity. When the team of carriages appeared at the gate of the city, there were still many early risers in the distance Pointing fingers, guess what kind of people this is.

Huyan Yuanchen wore a wolf fur cloak and rode at the forefront, leading the team to slowly walk away from the city gate. After entering the official road, he then slowly accelerated, and the group of people soon became an invisible dot and disappeared. On the official road in the north of Huajing.

None of them turned their heads back, so naturally they didn't know, just behind them on the top of the city, Ning Yuan stopped and looked at them in a robe, watching them to the invisible distance, Xue Lihong couldn't help hovering above his head and screamed, Against the rising sun in the east, it looks lonely and desolate.

Three months later.

Zhou Shi rode a fast horse and galloped along the path between mountains and fields, his face was very nervous, and he carried a small burden on his back, as if he was in a hurry.

The horse had already spread its hooves, as if pulling the speed to the fastest, but Zhou Shi still seemed to feel slow, and he whipped a few more times, the horse let out a long neigh, and the speed unexpectedly increased by a point strangely.

I don't know how long it took to ride the horses. One person and one horse finally got off the official road and started to walk on the mountain road. Not long, when the horse went around a mountain nest, Zhou Shi didn't even have time to pull the rein, jumped off the horse, and rushed into a thick bush on the mountain wall not far away.

From the outside, this clump of bushes can’t be seen from the outside, but after Zhou Shi drilled in, there was a hole inside. It turned out that this clump of bushes happened to block a small flicker on the mountain wall. After going through the cave, Zhou Shi’s eyes suddenly opened up. , is already a quiet valley, a few green bamboo houses are set up in the middle of the valley, there are a few small vegetable fields on one side, and there are many poultry walking around on the path, as if living in seclusion.

When Zhou Shi saw those green bamboo houses, he immediately yelled: "Old Chen, Mr. Yuzhu, I brought the things!"

"Squeak." The door of a green bamboo house on the right was pushed open, and a middle-aged man in a long gown came out. When he saw Zhou Shi, his expression immediately relaxed, and he said, "Finally, you are still here. Really fast, give me the things quickly."

Zhou Shi didn't dare to be negligent, he hurriedly untied the burden behind him, took out a wooden box from inside and handed it over, and said anxiously: "Mr. Yuzhu wants these?"

The middle-aged man, Mr. Yuzhu, took the wooden box and opened it. There were two things in the box, a longan-sized, purple-red elixir, and a ginseng plant that was red all over and exuded a burst of medicinal fragrance.

Mr. Yuzhu glanced at the ginseng plant, picked up the pill again, sniffed it carefully under his nose, nodded and said: "Yes, it really is Guxue Peiyuan pill, it will be easy if you have this thing."

Zhou Shi immediately said: "Then my young master..."

"Don't worry, with me here, your young master won't die." Mr. Yuzhu took the box and walked back into the house without thinking. A white-bearded old man with a cane, his face full of dignity, and a very pale young man lying on the bed, with his eyes closed and unconscious, turned out to be Ning Yuan.

Hearing the sound, Mr. Chen immediately turned his head and saw the pill in Mr. Yuzhu's hand, showing a relieved look. Mr. Yuzhu didn't dare to neglect at all, strode forward to help Ning Yuan's head, and put the pill The pill was stuffed into his mouth, and after he lifted his chin to let him swallow the pill, he quickly tore off a few roots from the red ginseng plant and put it in Ning Yuan's mouth for him to hold, then walked to the bed Next to the low table next to it, there was already an acupuncture cloth pouch spread out on the table. Mr. Yuzhu took out four or five long needles from it and pierced Ning Yuan's palms and feet respectively before stepping back to examine it carefully. Ning Yuan's reaction.

After a while, Ning Yuan's body seemed to be shaking in pain, his face was dripping with sweat, his lips were slightly parted, as if he wanted to scream, but there was no sound, his eyes were still closed, and he was still in a coma .Seeing this scene, Zhou Shi put his heart into his throat, and was about to ask, Mr. Yuzhu strode forward again, and quickly pulled out the long needle stuck in Ning Yuan's hands and feet. In an instant, Ning Yuan The shaking of the body stopped, and the painful expression returned to the original, but from the needle holes on his hands and feet, a few strands of dark purple blood that was close to jet black slowly flowed out, emitting bursts of peculiar smell.

Seeing the dirty blood, Mr. Yu Zhu relaxed completely, and said: "It's all right."

Following his words, Ning Yuan who was lying on the bed opened his eyes very weakly.