Tang Dynasty

On December 22, the first year of Sui Yining, Li Yuan held a banquet in the palace to congratulate Li Shimin on his birthday.

Above the banquet, the random flowers gradually become charming.Row after row, the dancers turned their long sleeves, filed in and out gradually.The singing voice like an oriole is melodious and moving, accompanied by the sound of silk and bamboo, accompanied by the fragrance of wine, it is intoxicating.

Li Shimin raised his eyes, seemingly casually looking at the spring above the main hall.However, in fact, his eyes could not help but drift to the blurry figure that appeared and disappeared from time to time behind Caixiu.

It felt as if the entire hall fell silent just because of looking at this person.

Li Jiancheng dressed up a bit today, he took off his usual plain white robe, and changed into a blue and black brocade robe, with dark embroideries on it, flowing out of mountains, rivers and flowing clouds, showing his elegance.

The other party was sitting upright in the banquet, drinking wine alone, but seemed to be enjoying the singing and dancing with great interest, never paying attention to the gaze he cast.

When the forest was lingering that day, the lust in the misty eyes of the other party flashed through his mind, and Li Shimin smiled unconsciously.For someone else, just facing such a cold and alienated person, how could he have imagined that this person would still have such an intoxicating emotion?

The wine glass in his hand was on his lips for a long time, and at this moment he finally remembered to bow his head and take a sip of the wine.

That expression, only I have seen, can only belong to me.

Just at this time, a song.Li Yuan got up from the wine, offered a glass of wine to Li Shimin, and said some words of hope.Li Shimin got up quickly and wrote the wine to his father.The two faced each other, each drank in one gulp.Afterwards, Li Yuan excused himself and left, but in fact he just wanted to let the young people feel free.

As soon as Li Yuan left, the generals under Li Shimin's account approached one after another and toasted in turn.Most of these generals have experienced life and death with Li Shimin, so the friendship is very natural.At this time Li Shimin also forgot the identity of the second son, whenever he encountered a toast, he would take it all and drink it up.

After several rounds of drinking, I felt a burning sensation on my face.Suddenly remembered something, unconsciously turned around and looked towards the seat above.In the dimness, all he could see was that white figure still sitting where he was.Even though he couldn't see the other person's expression clearly, his heart felt warm, and a smile appeared on his face.

However, just as he was about to walk over with the wine, he was surrounded by generals around him, trying to persuade him to drink again.Li Shimin couldn't recommend them, so he could only accept them one by one with a smile.

"Second Young Master has really grown up."

Li Jiancheng held the wine glass, Fang looked away, and heard a sigh beside him.

He raised his eyes, smiled immediately, put down his wine glass, stood up and saluted, "Lord Pei."

Pei Ji glanced at the almost untouched wine glass on the table, cupped his hands respectfully and said to him: "There's a lot of noise here, can my son take a step to speak?"

Li Jiancheng looked at him and nodded slowly, ordered his servants to take the fox fur, and walked out of the hall with him.

It was night, and the moonlight leaked like water.Stepping into the backyard, it was discovered that snow had fallen in the sky at some point.The crushed snow was blowing, and the momentum was not strong, but it had already covered the courtyard with a layer of white.

Pei Ji looked up at the moonlight in the middle of the sky, and said with a sigh: "Second Young Master has the style of a general at such a young age, it's really rare."

Mr. Pei beat around the bush every time he talked with Jiancheng, but Jiancheng was so dull that he couldn't comprehend the deep meaning.Li Jiancheng stretched out his hand to wrap the fox fur around his body tightly, looked at him and said with a smile, "Your Excellency, if you have something to say, you might as well just say it."

Pei Ji looked at him in a blink of an eye, and said with a smile: "If the son really doesn't understand what the old man means, I'm afraid he won't say so." After thinking silently for a moment, he also said bluntly, "That day there was a discussion in the hall about sending troops to exterminate Xue When raising father and son, I don’t know that the king of Tang was calculating, but did the son see a thing or two?”

"Father appointed Shimin as a general without discussing with others," Li Jiancheng said with a calm expression, "This is a deliberate practice, so that he will be entrusted with the important task of conquering the east and west in the future."

Pei Ji sighed: "It seems that the son's heart is like a mirror, but the old man is too worried."

"How wrong is this?" Li Jiancheng laughed instead, "The people of the world are born generals, and it would be a good thing if they can seriously calm down the forces in all directions."

Hearing this, Pei Ji shook his head and said: "Since the son said this, he just doesn't believe me, Pei Ji."

Li Jiancheng was slightly taken aback, but he heard him say again: "One day, if the son of the world believes in Pei Ji, Pei Ji will be waiting for you at any time, willing to do the work of a dog and a horse." After a pause, he looked up at Li Jiancheng, and said word by word, "At this time, Pei Ji only had eight words to persuade the son of the world: the merit is so great that it is too late to regret."

"Great achievements, it's too late to regret..." Li Jiancheng read it silently, but laughed, and said to Pei Ji, "Master Pei, Jiancheng has another question, can I ask you for advice?"

Pei Ji said: "My son, please tell me."

"To tell you the truth, Jianjian recently got a sword. This sword is hard to see in a hundred years. It is unstoppable and unstoppable. It is a rare treasure. It has been used several times for Jianjian. It can be said to overcome obstacles on the battlefield, and it is always disadvantageous." Speaking of this , Li Jiancheng pondered for a while, and said again, "It's just that I ran into a fortune teller recently, and saw this sword, and I only thought that I was too aggressive, and I would hurt my master one day."

Pei Ji frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Li Jiancheng smiled, looked at him and said, "I don't know if Mr. Pei thinks that at this time, Jiancheng should make good use of this sword to make the best use of it, or... he should break the sword early to prevent problems before they happen."

After the words fell, Pei Ji's frowning brows were released in an instant.He shook his head slowly, changed into a helpless smile, and said: "The son's question is too profound, and the old man is dull, I'm afraid I can't give my stupid opinion."

Li Jiancheng said with a smile: "Actually, the eight words Mr. Pei said just now are opinions. It's just that Mr. Pei doesn't want to explain it."

"Answers come first, questions come later." Pei Ji also laughed, "From this point of view, the prince has already made up his mind. This old man is really troublesome." After saying that, he bowed his hands and turned to leave.

"What are you talking about, my lord?" Li Jiancheng returned the salute from where he was, staring fixedly at his figure before disappearing into the night.

After a long time, he suddenly picked up his lips and let out a chuckle.I sigh in my heart that Pei Ji may really have the ability to predict things.

It's just that those eight words in his mouth may be really worrying too much.

These eight words, I am afraid that no one in the world can understand them more thoroughly than myself.

----

After the feast is over, it's already the climax of the moon.

Li Shimin looked back and saw that the original seat was empty, and his heart was also disappointed for a while.After saying goodbye to everyone, he didn't go back home, but stumbled to Li Jiancheng's place.

As far as he is concerned, once the desire to see his eldest brother arises, he cannot stop.Not even a minute or a second can be delayed.

However, when he arrived at Li Jiancheng's mansion on the crumbling snow, the lights in the other's room had already been turned off.Li Shimin put his hand on the door frame and wanted to push it away, but after thinking about it, he finally withdrew his hand and sighed.

But he heard a soft call from behind: "Shimin?"

Li Shimin turned around and saw Li Jiancheng standing behind him.There was silvery moonlight streaming down her face, her black hair was stained with snow, and she was wrapped in a snow-white fox fur. She looked noble, but she was also very cold.

It seems that in a moment, it will melt into the snow and disappear.

Li Shimin suddenly stepped forward, hugged the man and the fox fur, and clasped him tightly in his arms.

"Brother..." He murmured.Under the alcohol, his voice trembled a little.

Li Jian stood where he was, stretched out his hand to stroke his hair, and said with a slight smile in his voice, "It's cold outside, let's go inside first."

Li Shimin buried his head in the opponent's neck, only to feel that familiar breath easily made his breath hot.Hearing the words, he nodded very slowly, let go of his hand slowly, and let Li Jiancheng pull him all the way into the house.

Li Jiancheng turned around and closed the door to block the cool breeze in the courtyard.However, as soon as Fang turned around, Li Shimin pushed against the door panel forcefully.

The scorching hot breath, accompanied by messy kisses, sprayed on the ear side, as if to melt the remaining snow in the middle of the night.

"Shimin will go to war in three days. Brother, I will give Shimin a birthday gift tonight... How about it?"

Li Jiancheng raised his head slightly and looked over his shoulder, but as far as his eyes could see, there was only darkness.

After a long time, he smiled slowly and said, "Okay."

----

The room was pitch-black, only the sound of physical collisions, which became particularly obvious in the silence.

The remaining snow outside the window had completely melted, and it was very cold, but inside the brocade tent, it was filled with the warmth of spring.

Li Shimin clasped the waist of the man in his arms sideways, and hit hard one after another.At this moment, the remnant alcohol power rose up again, burning all over his body.The almost scorching temperature made him so distraught that he couldn't extricate himself.

"Big brother... Big brother... Big brother..." Falling into the sea of ​​desire, he kissed the back of the other's neck messily, calling out these two words over and over again just like last time.

Recalling the glance he had turned around in the snow just now, his heart suddenly felt panicked again.For some reason, no matter how he confirms it, how he convinces himself, there is always a worry in his heart that cannot be shaken off.

Worried that Big Brother never really belonged to him.

Because he found that he didn't really understand what his elder brother was thinking, and he didn't have a trace of it.This kind of thought is like a kind of torture when it comes to mind.

At this moment, under the stimulation of alcohol, Li Shimin suddenly just kept bumping into the people under him, entering and exiting fiercely, repeating the process of joining and separating again and again.

Only this feeling is real, so real that no one can deny it.

Li Jiancheng was held in his arms by his arms, trembling with the violent impact.Holding the quilt under his body with five fingers, he gasped in a low voice restrainedly, arching his back, only feeling that the body behind him was extremely hot.

The temperature in this icy and snowy land is like a raging fire, transmitting the temperature in an extreme way.The pleasure was forced out of the limbs, climbed to the top, and then burned out.

After venting out for the first time, Li Shimin finally withdrew from Li Jiancheng's body completely.He groped around the bed and pulled up the quilt, wrapping them tightly.Still falling behind the other party's thin kisses, from the back of the neck, to the back, to the waist, back and forth, unwilling to part.

In the end, I don't know if it was too tired or too drunk, kissing and kissing, but finally unable to overcome the tiredness, just in this posture of embracing her from behind, she slowly fell into a deep sleep.

Feeling that the opponent's movements gradually stopped, and the breathing on the back of the neck gradually became calmer.Li Jiancheng lowered his head, let out a breath of hot air slowly, and wanted to reach out to wipe off the sweat on his forehead, but the other party's arms bound him tightly, and he was not allowed to move.

At this time, Li Shimin's vague voice sounded behind him, he didn't know whether it was false or real, whether he was dreaming or waking up: "Brother... what is in your heart... can you let Shimin know a thing or two..."

He pouted and smiled, unable to tell whether it was helplessness or self-deprecating, but finally gave up.Not long after, he also fell asleep exhausted.

----

In the next two days, Li Shimin ran around the camp, making final preparations for the expedition.I was busy from daytime to late night every day, and I had almost no leisure time. I didn't even return from the camp until the night before my departure when I was packing my luggage, and I was able to return to my room again.

There are many things piled up in one corner of the room, which are birthday gifts sent by the officials of the DPRK and China one after another these days. Li Shimin knew that they were nothing more than ordinary gold and silver things, so he didn't care about them.

However, tonight, he suddenly discovered that among the things, there was a long brocade box placed horizontally.Although it is not gorgeous, it is particularly eye-catching.

Suddenly, he walked over, put his hands on the table and opened it.

Inside the box is a scroll of paintings, unfolding slowly, under the dim candlelight, but seeing the ink color on the paper roam freely, every stroke is as startled as a bird, and as graceful as a dragon.

His fingertips trembled suddenly.He could tell at a glance that this thing... was actually that rare treasure, "Preface to the Collection of Lanting".

This thing is the only one in this world.

Li Shimin had heard about it a long time ago, Li Jiancheng used this object to lure Wei Xuan, and thus used the strategy of alienating the three forces in Chang'an City. After Chang'an City was broken, the painting fell into Yang You's hands, and he even asked for it back himself.

Thinking about it, it should be an extremely beloved thing.

But today... this thing was lying in his hands quietly and silently.

Li Shimin lowered his head and watched steadily, then suddenly raised the corners of his mouth and laughed to himself.

Maybe everything is like this painting, I clearly have it, but I didn't pay attention to it due to negligence.On the contrary, it added unnecessary worries.

——Brother, your heart, but as I thought?

——However, the answer is no longer important.Whether it is true or not, I already believe it.

Unconsciously, Li Shimin's fingertips gradually tightened his grip on the edges of the calligraphy and painting.However, at the next moment, after being startled, he suddenly let go of his hand, for fear of making even the slightest wrinkle on it.

Then, with warmth in his heart and body, he carefully re-rolled the painting and put it back in the box.At this moment, there is actually an inconspicuous piece of paper in the box.

Li Shimin was startled, stretched out his hand to gently pick it up, put it in front of his eyes, but smiled again.

There are only four words on it, but to him, it is extremely important.

"Shimin, Triumph."