return to peace

On the day Ji Fan left, he looked as usual, as if nothing had happened.But Chu Lingshang knew that he still broke his heart, and Ji Fan was as proud as he was.He stood at the gate of the city to see him off, Ji Fan's last look back, concealed nostalgia and pain.In fact, he knew everything, but he didn't have the courage, because he had already expected that there would be thorns and thorns ahead.

The pond of the National Teacher's Mansion is full of red lotus and green leaves, and early summer has arrived.Ji Fan has been gone for ten days. Before, he could live comfortably without him, but now, he is not used to it.He kind of misses him.

That night, while he was dealing with government affairs, when he suddenly broke his pen, his heart skipped a beat. For some reason, he felt uneasy.He called someone to change the pen, but the uneasiness in his heart could not be suppressed.

At noon the next day, he was suddenly summoned into the palace urgently, and the king of Xiliang looked serious. "The princess was attacked at the border between Xiliang and Chen. Fortunately, the rescue was timely and there was no serious problem. But..." Chu Lingshang listened intently, "But Ji Fan is missing."

It was a thunderbolt from the blue sky, and for a while, Chen Lingshang didn't react. "Missing, what do you mean?" He asked cautiously, for fear of confirming his inner thoughts.

"Life or death is unknown. He fell off the cliff, and he has not been found yet, but the widow has sent troops to help, and Chen Guo is also sending troops there." At the end, he added another sentence of comfort: "It should be fine." But Even he himself didn't quite believe this, and it had been two days since the news came.

"I'll go find him!" Chu Lingshang turned around and wanted to leave.

"Stop! It will take two days at the fastest to go here, and it will be a day and night, your body will not be able to bear it."

"Your Majesty, let Ling Yan go. Whether it's life or death, I always have to take a look, so that I can feel at ease." Chu Lingshang's voice was a little hoarse.

Chu Huaimin was a little displeased with his waywardness: "Not to mention that your body can't bear it, even if you go, it's useless. Isn't it the same to wait for news in the mansion? Lingshang, you are now the Xiliang State Teacher , Xiliang is now troubled, how can you be so emotional?"

Chu Lingshang knelt down and said, "Father, give me seven days. If there is still no result after seven days, I will come back, and the political affairs will not be delayed!"

Chu Lingshang has always been calm in situations, and it is rare for him to lose his composure, and this time he begged him as a father and son.Chu Huaimin thought that he might have underestimated his relationship with Ji Fan.

"Father, if I miss him for the last time, I will never forgive myself. Just let me go."

Seeing that his eyes were red, Chu Huaimin still couldn't harden his heart towards him, so he waved his hand: "That's all."

"Thank you foster father!" Chen Lingshang kowtowed heavily, then turned and left anxiously.

Chu Zexi turned around from behind the pillars outside the hall, looked at the back of Chu Lingshang leaving in a hurry, and bit her lips tightly.

Regardless of rest, Chu Lingshang traveled day and night and arrived at the border of Qucheng two days later.Chu Zetan and his party were placed in the government office in the city.Lin Feng had been waiting in front of the government office early, and when Chen Lingshang got off his horse, he came up to meet him.

"How's the situation?" Chu Lingshang asked.

Lin Feng helped Chu Lingshang take off his cloak, and replied: "There is still no news. I have been searching for the past few days, and there are people from Chen Guo, and I think they will arrive tomorrow."

Chu Lingshang nodded: "How is the princess?"

"The princess is fine, just a little frightened."

Chu Lingshang went to see Chu Zetan first, and Chu Zetan greeted him before he stepped into the door: "Brother Lingshang."

Chu Lingshang supported her and asked, "How are you doing?"

Chu Zetan shook his head: "I'm fine. Thanks to General Ji, otherwise Zetan might have died."

When Ji Fan was mentioned, Chu Lingshang felt a pain in his heart: "Go in first, you and Lin Feng will tell me about the situation that day."

"Lin Feng, tell me first." Chu Lingshang ordered.

"Yes. We were walking to Malingpo on the outskirts of Qucheng that day, when dozens of assassins suddenly fell from the sky. Although we brought more people than them, those assassins were skilled in martial arts and looked like professional killers. We started I thought the target was the princess, but gradually discovered that their other target was General Ji. I was guarding the carriage at the time, and they besieged me. Later, maybe the horse was frightened and ran out. Chased, but was blocked again. Seeing this, General Ji broke out to chase the princess. When we settled this side and found the princess, it was on the cliff outside Malingpo, surrounded by corpses. The princess was safe and sound, but she was nowhere to be seen The trace of General Ji. Later, I heard from the princess that General Ji fell off a cliff."

Lin Feng lowered his head, not daring to look into Chu Lingshang's eyes. The current Chu Lingshang was too fierce.

"Ze Tan, keep talking." Chu Lingshang seemed to be secretive, not knowing what he was thinking.

Chu Zetan looked at Chu Lingshang with some anxiety, and continued, "It's just like what General Lin said before. I was in the carriage all the time, so I only knew that it was chaotic outside. General Ji told me not to come out, so I told him not to come out." I didn’t dare to move around. Later, the horse was frightened and ran out suddenly. I was so scared that I was knocked over. I opened the curtain and saw that the horse was running towards the edge of the cliff. I was so anxious that I wanted to jump into the carriage. General Ji stopped me. Later, General Ji caught up with the carriage, pulled the reins, and finally stopped a few meters away from the cliff. I hurriedly got out of the carriage, and at this time the assassins behind were also chasing me. I was against them alone, he was injured, I thought we had no way out. Fortunately, General Ji’s subordinates rushed over, those assassins desperately wanted our lives, but they were still a minority after all, General Ji and those few The two generals fought bloody battles, and the assassins slowly fell. Later, General Ji subdued an assassin and wanted to question his master behind the scenes, but he hid the truth in his mouth and committed suicide. At that time, all the assassins were dead. But I didn't expect...." Speaking of this, Chu Zetan paused, and couldn't bear to recall the original scene: "At that time, General Ji was facing an assassin with his back, and I saw the fallen assassin slowly raised his head. , hurriedly shouted to be careful, but it was too late, General Ji was too close to the cliff, the assassin hugged General Ji with the last bit of strength, knocked him off the cliff, and died together."

Her voice dropped, and Chu Lingshang's heart sank slowly. He was injured and fell off the cliff. It has been four days and no one has been found yet.He closed his eyes and didn't speak for a long time.

"Has the assassin's body been found?"

"I found it. There is a wild forest at the bottom of the cliff. He was pierced by a protruding stone. When we found him, the body had been half eaten by wild animals."

"Will Ji Fan be rescued by the nearby Orion?" Chu Lingshang did not give up.

"I've asked all the hunters nearby... I haven't seen General Ji before." After speaking, Lin Feng fell to his knees with a thump: "Your subordinate should be damned. He didn't protect General Ji well. Please punish him!"

Chu Lingshang covered his eyes with his hands and remained silent.Seeing this, Chu Zetan and Lin Feng dared not speak any more.After a long time, Chu Lingshang finally said, "Get up. It's not your fault."

"Take me to the cliff to have a look, Ze Tan stays in the mansion to rest well." Chu Lingshang ordered, the fragility just now seemed like an illusion.

Lin Feng took Chu Lingshang away from the government office, and then rushed to the cliff without stopping.

It was only then that Chu Lingshang deeply realized the meaning of what Si Ran said to him. Life is impermanent, and missing someone who shouldn't be missed is a lifetime of pain.