The Bamboo Horse Dressed as the Emperor

The horse's hooves raised dust, Song Jiao lifted the reins, and when he looked back, the towers of Stone City were already far away.

He looked away, let go of the rein in his hand, and called out "drive" softly.

Xie Chen, who was wearing armor, was still standing in front of the city gate until he disappeared from sight at the end of the line, still refusing to look away.

General Liu stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, after seeing you off, go back to practice quickly. You are still young, and you will have a long time to come."

Xie Chen withdrew his gaze, turned into a slightly gloomy expression again, and turned back to the city.

General Liu also glanced at the direction Song Jiao left, and sighed: "Then what can I do?"

He led the farewell team into the city and closed the gate of Stone City.

The northwest grassland is peaceful, it is summer, the more quiet it is at noon.

The team returning to Fengxiang City came to a lake with abundant water and grass at noon.

Song Jiao helped the little straw hat on his head, and said to the attendants beside him, "Just rest here for a while."

"Yes."

This entourage was sent to him by Mr. Xie, who took care of everything properly and did not let him worry about it.

Soon, everyone spread felt cloth by the lake, set up a stove, and began to heat up lunch. There were also guards patrolling nearby to guard against accidents.

Song Jiao got off the horse, tied the reins under a crooked old tree by the lake, walked to the lake, and washed his face.

He squatted by the lake, holding his knees, looking at the reflection on the lake.

It's too bad, after only half a day apart, he started to miss Xie Chen.

Suddenly, a loud voice came from not far away: "Who is over there? Come out!"

Song Jiao stood up, looked back, and was surrounded by guards the next moment.

He asked: "What's going on?"

A guard replied: "It should be that I saw someone suspicious. Your Highness's safety is important, so we'd better be careful."

"En." Song Jiao nodded, grabbed his sleeves, and looked at the grass where the voice came from.

The guard comforted him again: "Your Highness, don't worry. Maybe the nearby herdsmen came out to graze, and they didn't know what we were doing, so they were frightened."

"I see."

Not long after, another team of guards who went out on patrol came back, and brought back no suspicious person.

"There is a water source here, it should be the herdsmen nearby, otherwise they would not be so familiar with the terrain and run so fast."

Song Jiao nodded: "That's because we took their place, so let's have lunch quickly, and get on the road after eating, and return the place to them."

"Yes."

The group quickly finished their meal, and after a short rest, they packed up and set out on the road again.

Song Jiao got on his horse and looked back at the guards: "Let's go."

The team is neat and solemn, only the sound of horseshoes.

After they left, a dusty man slowly appeared from the grass in the distance.

The man raised his left leg and tried to climb over a dirt slope.He just kicked his left leg hard, and his right leg hung awkwardly on his body, unable to exert any strength or move.

He was the suspicious person who was chased by the guards just now. Of course, he was not a local herdsman, and his legs and feet were not convenient.

When he was being chased just now, he just slipped and rolled down the hillside, which made the guards mistakenly think that his legs and feet are quick.

He grabbed the grass on the hillside with both hands and uprooted them. After an unknown amount of time, he struggled to the hillside.

He limped and ran out of the grass, but the grassland was endless, and the trace of the team had already disappeared without a trace.

He looked at the empty and open official road, his legs softened, and he couldn't help but kneel down.

He leaned over, bent his waist, put his forehead on the ground, bent his back, and trembled like a sick man.He tilted his head, and put half of his cheek on the ground again.

I don't know how long it took before a freight carriage drove up on the official road behind him. The driver waved his whip and drove him away: "Go away! Don't die?!"

The person kneeling on the ground rolled to the side, fell into the grass, and rolled all the way to the lake where the team was stationed just now.

Half of his body fell into the water.

Most of the rivers and lakes in the northwest were formed by the melting of snow mountains. The ice-cold snow water brought him back to his senses.

He knelt down by the lake again, took a sip of the lake water with both hands, and then slapped the clear water on his dusty, unrecognizable face.

There was too much dirt on his face, and he washed it three or four times before revealing his original appearance.

Chen Su knelt on the ground, bent over and kowtowed, his forehead hit the place where Song Jiao had just landed.

He gasped heavily and finally broke down in sobs.

After coming out of Stone City, Song Jiao didn't feel very good.

Most of it was the sadness of parting from Xie Chen, and the other part, for some reason, he always felt that someone was following him, like a ghost.

The guards were so conscientious that they would not let any rabbit that came close to him on the road go. Of course he thought he was wrong, and he was ashamed to tell the guards for fear of troubling them.

After lunch at noon, he felt much better.

It should be because he didn't eat enough in the morning, Song Jiao rubbed his stomach and thought.

That night, they stayed in the post house, Song Jiao had dinner and went back to his room.

On the second floor of the post house, Song Jiao lit a candle and prepared to read for a while, so as to prepare for the exam after returning home.

He turned on the candle and opened the book when he heard two beeps coming from outside the window.

Could it be that his feelings along the way are all true?Was there really something following him?

Song Jiao suddenly stood up, covered her mouth, and shouted in her heart: "Everything!"

The system also heard it, and screamed in the channel where the two communicated: "Ah! Mao Mao!"

Song Jiao screamed inwardly, but remained calm, picked up the dagger he carried with him, held the dagger in both hands, faced the window, and slowly backed away.

The sound of tuk-tuk outside the window was still ringing, Song Jiao backed away slowly and pushed it all the way to the door.

He touched the door leaf with his backhand, and then pushed the door open. The two guards outside the door said doubtfully: "The hall..."

Song Jiao turned her head, gestured to the two guards with panicked eyes, and said angrily, "The window."

The two guards reacted immediately, drew their weapons, stood in front of him, and blew a very light whistle. The guards who were still on the first floor all came up, crowded in the corridor and stairs, and protected Song Jiao.

Song Jiao reminded them: "Window, window."

Everyone held their breaths and concentrated, and there were two crisp "Du Du" sounds from outside the window. Song Jiao was so frightened that he was held down by several guards.

"Your Highness, don't be afraid."

The two guards guarding the door walked slowly towards the window with their weapons raised.

Two people, with both hands, pressed against the window sash.

With a "creak", the window sash was opened.

Song Jiao held the dagger and closed his eyes, not daring to look at what was outside the window.

Is there anything more terrifying than your own feelings?He had long felt that something was following him, and he was still comforting himself in his heart, but it turned out to be true.

And this is the second floor.

Second floor!What can climb up to the second floor?

Song Jiao closed his eyes, waiting for the guards to tell him what was outside the window.

But when the window was opened, everyone was stunned.

Song Jiao couldn't wait for the guards' reply for a long time, and he didn't dare to open his eyes. He asked in a trembling voice, "What is it?"

The guards coughed and coughed silently, but still did not reply to his words.

Song Jiao tried to open one eye.

The night was getting dark, and standing in front of the window was a small, dark shadow as thick as the night.

It was a-

eagle.

It was standing on the window sill, and its hard beak tapped on the window, making a sound of tuk-tuk.

And this eagle looks familiar.

The system and the guards spoke at the same time.

"Maomao, it's Xie Chen's eagle, the one that pecked at me."

"Your Highness, it is the eagle used by His Highness Taisun to deliver letters. It has been following us since morning."

This group of people are all confidantes of Mr. Xie's family, so they naturally recognize Xie Chen and their family's eagle.

Song Jiao and the innocent Yingying on the window sill met their gazes, and silently withdrew the dagger.

He cleared his throat and said to the guards: "Well... I'm sorry, I made a fuss because it was too late, and then..."

In order not to embarrass him, the guards laughed and laughed at him.

"It's okay, His Highness is also vigilant, it's fine, there's nothing wrong, we'll go down first, Your Highness has a good rest."

"Okay." Song Jiao showed an embarrassed yet polite smile, "When we get back to Fengxiang City, don't tell grandpa about this matter."

"That's natural."

Song Jiao made an agreement with them, waved to them again, and went back to the room, closing the door.

He walked to the window sill, and the eagle flew into the room very consciously—as consciously as its owner—and stopped on the table, then raised its foot towards Song Jiao, and showed him the small bamboo tube on its foot.

——Hurry up, write to Brother Shen quickly.

It followed all the way, just to deliver the letter.

As domineering as its owner.

Song Jiao sat down at the table, raised his hand and patted the eagle's head, and the goshawk made a "beep".

Song Jiao pointed at it: "Don't cry, it's all your fault, it turns out that you have been following me, making me feel that something is wrong and embarrassing me."

Song Jiao pinched its face with both hands: "No letter, I won't write a letter tonight."

Eagle Eagle: Chirp.

Song Jiao drove it to the shelf next to it and stood there: "All!"

The system understood, and quickly attached itself to the goshawk, and then Song Jiao asked someone to bring up some barbecue. It was rare for the system to eat barbecue once in a few months, and its wings fluttered with joy.

After the system finished eating a plate of barbecue, it jumped to Song Jiao's side.

Song Jiao was propping his head up to read a book, still pinching the page with one hand, a black figure slowly approached his hand, step by step, and finally slapped, lay on his arm, and rubbed his head against the back of his hand.

"Mamao, hey barbecue..."

Song Jiao withdrew her hand with great difficulty: "I will be in pain, this eagle is so big."

The system could only come out of Goshawk's body, float in the air, fly to the other side, and rub Song Jiao's face.

"Hey, barbecue..."

After waking up, Ying, who was suddenly full, was also very puzzled.

It fell on the table, blinked its eyes, looked at Song Jiao, and shook the small bamboo tube on its foot at him.

I'm full, it's time to work, write to Brother Shen quickly.

Song Jiao felt helpless, patted its head, pushed away the scroll, took out a pen and paper, thinking about writing something for Xie Chen.

After thinking about it for a long time, I really couldn't think of anything to say.

It's only been a day since we've been apart, and it's been a day since we've been apart.

Song Jiao thought for a while, picked up the pen, and drew a stick figure for Xie Chen.

A window, a goshawk over the window sill, and inside the window, a "screaming" expression - this expression Song Jiao borrowed from a famous painting.

After the painting was finished, Song Jiao picked it up and admired it for a while. After it dried, he rolled up the paper strip and stuffed it into the bamboo tube.

He opened the window and let the goshawk out.

Then keep reading.

He originally wanted to go to bed early, but he couldn't fall asleep lying on the bed before Xie Chen's reply.

It was not until late at night that the familiar sound of tuk tuk came from outside the window.

Song Jiao lifted the quilt, got off the bed with bare feet, went to open the window, and let the goshawk come in.

He lit the candle, untied the bamboo tube hanging from the goshawk's feet, and took out the note inside.

Xie Chen didn't change the paper for his reply, he didn't say anything, he just drew a circle on the back, and it was done in one stroke.

A round circle.

Song Jiao soon understood what he meant, Xie Chen meant——

"You're a little fool."

Song Jiao couldn't help laughing, and excitedly took out the pen and paper again, ready to reply to him, but at the other end, Goshawk fell straight on the table.

Don't... don't send it away, it's so tired from flying.

Seeing its appearance, Song Jiao could only touch its head and put away the pen and paper.

"It's not that you insisted on me writing a letter, and now I feel tired."

Yingying was aggrieved, and his eyes were full of water. It didn't expect to send it over and then send it back again. It was very tiring to fly back and forth.

Song Jiao coaxed it: "Oh, darling, don't give it away, go to sleep."

System: "Okay."

Song Jiao:? ? ?

"Are you possessed? Did you deliberately fall on the table just now?"

The system played dumb: "No."

"There is."

The system patted him with its wings: "Go to sleep quickly, wait for a letter from a stinky man, and stay awake until midnight, do you think you are amazing? Go to sleep, what time is it now? You won't be able to get up tomorrow, The eagle is confiscated, and no more letters are allowed."

The mobile phone is confiscated, and you are not allowed to send text messages with your boyfriend!

— from the old father system.

After half a month's journey, one morning, the team that went to Pipa Island for disaster relief returned to Fengxiang City.

The weather was just right that day, the sun was warm, Song Jiao was riding on the horse, before he got close, he saw a group of people standing at the gate of the city from a distance.

He suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Shouldn't...

Sure enough, Song Jiao soon saw the emperor's guard of honor. He hadn't seen him for a few months. The beard on Mr. Xie's face grew bigger again. He was wearing a dragon robe and looked like a bandit. Wear the dragon robe like a tiger skin skirt.

A group of courtiers behind him looked like bandits.

Song Jiao's own grandfather is also there, he is the least like a bandit, with ironed official uniform, gray hair and beard, he looks like a traditional literati.

In addition to the emperor and all the civil and military officials, there were also old bandit village bands with gongs and drums, some guards maintaining order, some palace people carrying flower baskets, and some onlookers watching the excitement.

Song Jiao suddenly didn't really want to go back.

Grandpa Xie must have arranged some kind of welcome ceremony for him, like a bandit village.

Thinking of this, Master Xie also saw him coming.

Master Xie hurriedly ordered: "Hurry up, play it up and blow it up, I don't have any eyesight to see, Mao Mao has come over, still stunned like a log."

The members of Bandit Village Orchestra hurriedly set up the gongs and drums, raised the suona, and began to play Xie Laodang's favorite tune——

"On the Sedan Chair".

Festive and versatile.

As soon as Song Jiao saw them playing instruments, he knew what they were going to play.

Grandpa Xie likes this one the most, I don't know why.

Song Jiao sighed a little, comforted the horses that were frightened by the music, and walked towards the music silently.

When he was two or three steps away from the emperor's guard of honor, he got off his horse, handed the reins to his attendants, and then walked towards Mr. Xie's house.

The palace people carrying the flower basket reacted quickly, grabbed a large handful of petals from the basket, sprinkled them on Song Jiao's body, and sprinkled them on the road Song Jiao walked by.

Song Jiao was instantly submerged in a sea of ​​flowers, and the petals were flying in the air, falling on his shoulders and hair.

There is also pollen. The pollen made several people sneeze uncontrollably, including Song Jiao.

Covering his mouth, he walked up to the two grandpas, shook his head, shook off the petals from his head, and then shouted angrily, "Ah-choo—thank you, grandpa, grandpa."

Mr. Xie didn't hear anything, and smiled brightly: "Oh, Mao Mao is back, did you see Brother Shen? Is it fun outside? Is it fun to subdue the tribe?"

Grandpa Song gave him a helpless smile, his expression froze, and he shook his head again. The meaning was obvious, thank you for the welcome ceremony that Grandpa specially arranged for you, don't let your face droop.

Song Jiao naturally understood what Grandpa meant, pursed the corners of his lips, adjusted his expression, raised his head and said to Mr. Xie, "Brother Shen is very good, and asked me to say hello to Grandpa Xie and Grandpa. He said he wanted to thank Grandpa, and Godfather godmother."

Master Xie waved his hand: "Fart, brother Shen will miss me?"

He turned his head to look at Da Dangjia and Mrs. Xie, and also called out: "Godfather and mother."

The husband and wife did not dare to compete with Mr. Xie, they didn't say much, they just smiled at him and replied: "Hey."

Mrs. Xie said: "After lunch, go sit with the godmother for a while."

Song Jiao nodded: "Yeah."

Mr. Xie turned around to leave, grabbed Song Jiao's hand and asked him to go with him: "Maomao, let's go."

Song Jiao looked back at Grandpa, and then held Grandpa's hand.

Baiguan retreated to both sides, making way for a way back.

Song Jiao supported a grandfather with one hand, and when he lowered his head, he realized that he was walking on the soft red carpet.

"..."

Well prepared welcome ceremony.

Mr. Xie is very proud: "How is it? Mamao, isn't it good? Do you like it?"

"Hi... I like it." Song Jiao nodded, "I like it very much."

Master Xie also likes it very much: "In the future, you will grow up slowly, and you will go out more and more. Grandpa Xie will make this for you every time."

"Then..." Song Jiao tried her best to keep a smile on her face, "Thank you, Grandpa."

"Hey, why are you being polite to Grandpa Xie?" Mr. Xie raised his chin, "Hurry up, send everything out."

Song Jiao was puzzled: "What?"

"Talk to them and let them distribute rice cakes to the people."

"what?"

"It represents auspiciousness." Mr. Xie said solemnly, "You just came back, let the common people be happy and celebrate."

Song Jiao said weakly: "I don't think it's necessary to tell the world, it's such an exaggeration..."

Mr. Xie pretended to be dissatisfied: "Hey, what did you say? Your grandfather didn't say anything."

Song Jiao kept her mouth shut, and silently endured the domineering pampering from the emperor's grandfather and the prime minister's grandfather.

Over there, a hundred or so attendants were pushing small carts and distributing rice cakes from door to door.

Every time you send one, just say: "Your Highness is safe and happy."

The people who received the rice cakes also said: "Peace and joy."

Song Jiao's cheeks were red, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to get in.

Grandpa Xie, what other surprises does he not know?

He followed Mr. Xie into the carriage, Mr. Xie sat in the carriage and greeted outsiders.

The carriage returned to the palace amidst "peace and joy".

After returning, there was still a grand banquet waiting for Song Jiao.

Song Jiao sat next to Mr. Xie, trying to concentrate on eating, not paying attention to Mr. Xie's compliments on him and Xie Chen.

When someone comes to toast, Mr. Xie will demonstrate the following words with emotion.

"My two grandsons have had their own opinions since they were young, and they are better than me. I thought that the two of them just went to the Northwest to have fun. They are both 15 years old at such a young age. Brother Shen hasn't had his birthday yet. I just celebrated my birthday, and I’m 15 years old. I can’t think of it, and I can’t think of it. Just go out and help me fix the eighteen tribes in the grassland. Eighteen, they are all older than them. I can’t accept my old age. , the blue comes out of the blue, the waves of the Yangtze River.”

Obviously, the last two idioms were learned by Mr. Xie in order to praise them, but they didn't learn them all.

Master Xie patted Song Jiao's shoulder beamingly: "Come, come, eat more Mao Mao, I've been hungry and thin after going out, look at this face, your chin is sharp."

Song Jiao tried to stuff something into his mouth, trying to choke himself to death with food.

If he had known about it earlier, he would have asked Xie Chen to come back with him. He really couldn't bear such a storm by himself.

Later, more and more people came to toast, Song Jiao couldn't take it anymore, looked back at his grandfather, and then fled to his grandfather with the bowl and chopsticks in his arms.

He "has lingering fears": "Grandpa, Grandpa Xie is too... so what, it makes me feel like I have traveled the universe alone and come back."

Grandpa Song brought him some food: "It's all for him to be happy, he will be fine in a few days, it doesn't matter."

Song Jiao ate the food and asked, "Grandpa, do you miss me?"

"Yes, I write to you every day, don't you still miss you?" Grandpa Song said, "Didn't you agree to go out to help the disaster? Why did you get involved with the tribe outside again? How dangerous, I thought you just sent the things to me." came back."

Song Jiao smiled: "It just happened to happen, so I took care of it. And I didn't go to fight, it was Brother Shen who went to fight."

Grandpa Song said seriously: "It's a good thing nothing happened this time. If something happened, how could Grandpa save you when he is so far away?"

Song Jiao smirked and promised: "I'm sorry, Grandpa, I won't dare next time."

Grandpa Song sighed: "It would be great if you really didn't dare." He continued to pick up food for Song Jiao: "Eat quickly, go back and rest after eating, ouch, it will be more than half a year after I leave, and my 15-year-old is always by Grandpa's side." Study hard, you are 15 years old, and you run out with all your strength."

Song Jiao acted like a baby to her grandfather: "I really dare not next time."

"Hmph." Grandpa Song turned to look at him, "Hurry up, there are so many people, and they are acting like a baby."

Song Jiao ate next to his grandfather, and when he was full, Mr. Xie asked someone to take him to leave the table early to sleep and rest.

Song Jiao went to Xiaodong Palace, washed and washed in her room, and got ready to sleep.

He couldn't sleep and was a little irritable. He felt that there was something wrong in this room. He stroked his hair, stood up, and then got up and went to the opposite room.

The opposite room was quite to his liking.

Song Jiao lay on Xie Chen's bed, covered with Xie Chen's quilt, and leaned on Xie Chen's pillow, falling asleep.