she won't live to twenty

The snow in Changjing is getting thicker and thicker.

As the New Year approaches, every household hangs up red lanterns, creating a festive atmosphere in the city.For the people of Changjing City, apart from the coming New Year, there are two other things worth celebrating. One is that the Weibei War is coming to an end, and the barbarians are finally scared by the Weibei Army.The second is that the wedding date of the sixth prince and the girl from the Nan family has already been set. It will be half a month later on the first day of the Lunar New Year. At that time, the sixth prince will hold a banquet in Changjing City to celebrate his wedding.

The lights and festoons in the city of Changjing were so lively that it didn't quiet down until late at night.

A carriage drove out of the palace silently, passed Suzaku Avenue, left Beijing quietly through the side gate of the city wall, and finally stopped in front of a small forest.Nanyue nimbly jumped into another carriage that was already waiting there, and finally took a look at the Xiongcheng Changjing in the distance.

Tang Zhi said that he wanted to kill her on New Year's Day, but she didn't want to die yet, so she tried a way to escape from Changjing.

Nanyue doesn't believe that Wuming is dead. Unless she sees Wuming's body with her own eyes, she will try her best to protect herself and not let herself die at the hands of others. She must live to see Wuming.

The carriage left in the direction of Daxing Mountain, getting farther and farther away from Changjing City.

Nan Yue withdrew her gaze, and slowly took out two short arrows with sticky bloodshot residue from her bosom.When she fled just now, she was almost spotted by the guards, and she had to shoot two arrows. She hurriedly pulled out the arrows and stuffed them back into her bosom before wiping them.

Nanyue wiped off the blood with a handkerchief, her eyes were calm and unwavering.

Little Huang Sha lightly rubbed her arm: "Meow."

Compared with two months ago, Xiao Huangsha has grown up a lot, and at first glance he looks like a majestic little leopard.The fluff is also much thicker, and it feels warm to the touch.

Nanyue rubbed Xiaohuangsha's furry head, finally a gleam of warmth appeared in her eyes.

"Let's wait for her together." Nanyue said softly, "...if you can't wait, go find her, and you will be able to find her."

"Definitely."

……

Nan Yu stood at the gate of the Nanfu all the time, until he saw a carriage passing by on the deserted street, he slowly let go of his frown, turned around and returned home.

Nan Boyuan was sitting in the main hall drinking tea.

"Father." Nan Yu walked over and asked in a low voice, "Why did you cooperate with that counselor who came to you suddenly to send Xiaoyue out of Beijing?"

Nan Boyuan glanced at him indifferently, and asked, "What about you? Why did you agree to his request?"

"I..." Nan Yu scratched his head, his brows furrowed and then loosened, the corners of his mouth twitched, and finally he struggled, "Although I think that if Xiaoyue can marry into the royal family, it will be a great thing for my Nan family." Excellent thing, but... I can't explain why, when she came home to visit us these days, I always felt that she was not angry at all, as if she was dead, and she was not at all the same as the one before she left Beijing. Same, I felt uncomfortable looking at it. I thought, if she doesn't like His Highness the Sixth Highness, then don't...don't marry!"

Seeing Nan Boyuan's eyes getting darker and darker, Nan Wu's voice became serious: "Father, I realized last year that a child born in a family like ours has no right to choose. But if I am the only one Even my younger sister can't protect her, so what face is there to support the Nan family! Two months ago, when the news of Xiaoyue's death came from Yanbei, I swore in my heart that if she was still alive, I would protect her no matter what !"

"You... you know how to love my sister sincerely."

Nan Boyuan heaved a long sigh. Although his silly son has changed a lot in some aspects, he is still a stubborn fool.

"Have you ever thought that the reason why you were appointed as a palace editor and stayed with His Royal Highness the Sixth Highness for a long time is because he appreciates you?" Nan Boyuan's voice became more serious, "He is treating you as a threat to my Nan family. , Threatening Nanyue's bargaining chip! Once Nanyue leaves the capital, His Highness the Sixth Highness is likely to blame you! At that time, let alone supporting the Nan family, it's hard to say whether you can survive!"

Nan Yu frowned in a daze: "Father? Then, I..."

Nan Boyuan took a sip of tea, stood up and patted Nan Yu's shoulder: "I am willing to cooperate with that person only because he is a member of His Highness."

"Your Majesty? Isn't he an idle dandy? Why did he take Xiaoyue out of the palace? Is it because of Changning?" Nan Yu asked in confusion, "But isn't Changning already dead?"

"Changning is dead? In fact, I thought so too, but when the counselor came to me, I immediately had another guess in my mind." Nan Boyuan slowly explained, "Maybe Changning is not dead. His Majesty Zhenghe is lurking in the shadows and staring at every move of the Changjing City... This winter, the Changjing City may really change."

Nan Yu's pupils widened suddenly: "Father, what do you mean... Your Highness wants to sit in that chair too?"

Nan Boyuan nodded: "Yes."

"Otherwise, what is he doing as a tycoon raising a counselor? Otherwise, how could he set up a net in Beijing, and even save people from the palace easily? Why is it this period of war in Weibei? He may have been planning for a long time, and he is waiting for His Royal Highness." Command the Weibei army to join him and break into Changjing City in one fell swoop."

Nan Boyuan looked at the pale Nan Wu, smiled and shook his head: "Don't say it's you, if his counselor didn't come to the door suddenly, even I would be deceived by him, thinking that he is just an ordinary dude, I thought His Highness the Seventh Highness was on the side of His Highness the Sixth Highness."

"But father, how can you be sure that he will win?" Nan Yu tremblingly said.

"This kind of thing... unless the dust settles, who can make a conclusion?" Nan Boyuan said indifferently, "I'm just betting that he will win the final victory, betting that he will save your life in the hands of His Royal Highness, Bet on the future of my Nan family."

……

After half a month of running around in the desert, Wuming finally arrived outside Weibei City.

I don't know if it was because Loulan's dark guards were always guarding the surroundings. They hardly encountered barbarians along the way. They passed through the vast desert smoothly, and finally saw sporadic barbarian troops near the Weibei city wall.

After that battle, the barbarians lost most of their troops. They finally thought that the princess who had taken Daqin abducted was taken away halfway by the Loulan people.They were indeed terrified of being beaten. Most of the barbarians retreated to the depths of the desert, and only a small number of them were still stubbornly resisting.

.

After a month at most, Weibei will be able to settle down again.

Tang Chiyu stood guard at the highest point of the city wall. When he saw the two familiar figures in the distance, he jumped down excitedly from the tower, snatched Li Daxiao's horse who happened to be below, and galloped towards the unknown two.

Si Lian was still standing on the city wall, looking at Tang Chiyu's back with confused eyes, and a wry smile appeared on his lips.

Unexpectedly, at the next moment, Tang Chiyu suddenly reined in his horse and turned around, beckoning to her.Si Lian's smile softened immediately, and she swept down lightly, landing behind Tangchi Yuma.

"Wu Ming! Are you, are you alright? That's great...!" Tang Chiyu saw the unscathed Wu Ming, and was a little incoherent with excitement, "Brother and Brother Yuwen rescued you from the barbarians? They didn't, didn't you?" How about you?"

White hot air spewed out and dissipated in the cold wind.

The horse Tang Chiyu was riding also jumped up and down a few times as she unconsciously pulled the rein, which shows how happy she is at this time.

That's how friends meet again.

Si Lian felt that the strength of Tang Chiyu's grip on her palm was uncontrollably increased, and she gently scratched her palm, and turned her head to Wuming with a smile: "Miss Wuming, long time no see."

Wuming looked at his best friend in front of him, and then at the master who was following behind him, his heart once again felt warm.

"It's been almost two months, and the arrow wound has almost healed." Wuming rode the horse and Tang Chiyu walked side by side, and explained softly, "But I didn't come back from the barbarians, but from Loulan."

"Loulan?"

"Yes, that's a long story..." Wuming swept away the story of the second master, and told Tang Chiyu all her experiences these days.

The three dismounted while talking, walked up the city wall, and sat on the top of the empty tower, blowing the wind.After finally finishing speaking, Wuming stretched out a fist and touched Tang Chiyu hard.

"Xiaoqi, I have to rush to Changjing to rescue Nanyue as soon as possible, so I won't stay in Weibei." Wuming lowered his voice and said seriously, "Master, he is also going back to Beijing. You are alone in Weibei these days. It's hard work. After the war in Weibei is completely over, no matter what King Qin and Tang Zhi say, you don't want to hand over the general power."

Tang Chiyu licked his lips: "Are we going against each other?"

Nameless nodded.

Tang Chiyu also nodded solemnly.

When they were in Fengcheng, the two said the same thing, but it was just a joke at that time.But now they knew in their hearts that this was no longer a simple joke.

Tang Chi Yuming used to be Tang Zhi's people on the surface, but from the moment the dead man Qiu Equinox attacked Wuming, they and Tang Zhi were completely on the opposite side.Regardless of whether the person next to sit in that position is the crown prince or Tang Zhengze, they have to fight back.

Tang Chiyu took out another simple book from his bosom, it was the "Mountain and River Map" that Wuming gave her in Yanbei.

"I haven't had time to give him the book yet."

A month ago, Tang Zhengze only stayed in Weibei for three days. During most of the time, he was busy running around about Wuming’s disappearance and Nanyue’s being brought back to the capital. Tang Chiyu was also full of worries, and forgot "Mountain and River Picture" for a while. thing.

Nameless nodded, took the book and jumped down the tower.The master was standing by the city wall looking at the desert scenery, the emotion in his eyes was very light, and his expression was hard to distinguish.

"Okay?" Master looked sideways at Wuming, "Shall we go?"

Wuming handed him "Mountain and River Map": "Here, Xiao Qi gave you a gift."

"This is..." Master subconsciously stretched out his hand, and after seeing the words on the cover, his fingers stiffened suddenly.

Wuming let go of his hand in a timely manner, and the book fell to the ground, but the master instinctively picked it up and held it firmly in his hand.

"The map of the mountains and rivers of the Great Qin Dynasty... well, we seized it from the Yanbei Cult. If you don't want it, go and return it to Xiao Qi." After Wuming finished speaking, he walked down the city wall and rode on his horse. in front.

The master held "Mountains and Rivers" and looked at it for a long time, but finally did not go back to find Tang Chiyu, but put it in his arms.

On the tower, Tang Chiyu and Si Lian watched the two go further and further.

……

Wuming and his master walked the mountain road all the way, avoiding the major passes and towns, eating and sleeping all the way, and went straight to Changjing.

However, if you don't follow the official road, you will inevitably pass through the mountains and forests that are ignored by the court.It’s okay to meet bandits on the road and rob. Snowstorms, droughts, and some overwintering insects are everywhere in warmer places, trees are withered, and victims are everywhere.

In fact, in previous years, there were quite a lot of people in the Qin Dynasty, but this year happened to be a war in Weibei, and Tang Zhi's methods were not as good as the King of Qin's, which led to more and more places that the court could not care about, and more and more refugees who could not afford food. many.

If things go on like this, even if Grand Master doesn't have that thought, Da Qin will be completely broken from the inside out.

Two months ago, the master and the second master went to Weibei, and they walked through deserted lands where they saw people from a distance and avoided them as much as they could, so as not to meet Tang Zhi's eyes and ears.But on the way back, apart from avoiding the pass towns, they did not avoid anyone else. Along the way, the master had a panoramic view of the chaos in the northern border.

After a few days, Master became more and more silent, and the emotions in his eyes became deeper and deeper.Wuming knew that he already had a decision in his heart at this time, or in fact, he had made a choice from the moment he took over the map of mountains and rivers.

What's missing now is just an opportunity.

After the two left Daqian Mountain, they walked southwest along Hebei Road. On the fifth day, the opportunity finally arrived.

They met a group of disaster victims in the mountains.

There was snow on Hebei Road, and large fields and mountains were covered with snow, but compared with Weibei, the climate here was much gentler. Wuming and Master had already changed their plush leather clothes and put on light clothes that are easy to move around.

However, for the victims who do not have enough clothes to eat, such a snowy climate is like a nightmare.

The five victims trembled and walked slowly in the mountains, their lips were black from the cold, and their eyes were slack.The last one was carrying a bamboo bag with a thin rabbit in it.

There are a lot of bandits in the mountains. They are all farmers who have been farming for generations. If it hadn't been for the locust plague in autumn and the lack of grain, they would not have risked their lives to hunt in the mountains.This year is a famine year, not to mention people, even many animals in the mountains have been starved to death, even the hunters in the mountains may not be able to survive.Those ordinary people who only know how to farm can catch one or two rabbits, but there are so many people in the village waiting for them to go back. How can this rabbit be enough?

The five desperately walked deeper into the forest, hoping to find prey at the next trap.

At this time, there was a smell of meat in the distance, and the eyes of several people turned red instinctively, looking in the direction of the smell of meat.As soon as the leader took a step, he took a step back and lowered his voice: "Let's go and see quietly, if it's a bandit, it will be bad..."

"But what Wang Shen said, there are no bandits in this mountain, and we didn't meet them a few days ago."

"It's better to be careful."

Several people dispersed and walked towards the source of the smell of meat in small steps. Soon they walked through the bushes, saw the scene in front of them clearly, and almost didn't stare straight.

I saw a stubble-faced middle-aged man in his thirties roasting a plump rabbit, which was almost completely different from the thin rabbit caught by the victims.He skillfully sprinkled spices on the roasted rabbit, and the tempting smell of meat came out continuously.Two black BMWs were tied to a tree trunk beside it, and a beautiful barbarian woman sat by the fire, lazily staring at the fire and yawning.

Both of them were wearing very thin clothes, but they seemed to be unaffected by the cold wind, and looked at ease.

Looking at the swords hanging on the waists of the two, the villagers probably guessed that they should be people from the outside world.Several people glanced at each other, shook their heads sadly, and were about to leave quietly when the middle-aged man suddenly looked away from the roasted rabbit and looked kindly in their direction.

Tang Zheng smiled and waved to the victims: "Come and eat together?"

The victims were stunned for a moment, looking at Tang Zhengze's kind smile, they couldn't feel any vigilance in their hearts, and sat down obediently.

Naturally, one rabbit was not enough for so many people. Tang Zhengze took out a few pieces of bread from the package and baked them on the fire. He scraped off the rabbit meat with a knife and wrapped them in the cakes, and distributed them to the surrounding people.He distributed the most tender preserved meat and leg meat of the roasted rabbit to Wuming, then several victims, and finally himself.

"Are you from a nearby village?" Tang Zhengze asked softly.

"Yes, our village is just below the mountain, less than five miles away." The leader of the victims said, "If you don't mind this big brother, you can live in our village for a few days, and treat it as our thank you for this rabbit." Son. But the locust plague just passed in autumn, and our village’s harvest is not good, and we basically have nothing to eat, so we have no choice but to go hunting in the mountains.”

"That's right, if it wasn't for desperation, there are so many bandits these days, how would we dare to enter the mountain?" Another person added.

"Hey, let's not talk about our village, which nearby village is not like this? We are all good, at least we didn't get into the plague. I heard that Xiaohe Village, a hundred miles away, was entangled by the plague god last fall, and people in the village died. Most of the time, the whole village was burnt down. Those who survived were not much better. They became refugees from every family. A miserable person who died that no one else knew about."

Tang Zheng buried his head in silence for a long time, and finally said in a deep voice: "This is not far from Minghe City, so the government doesn't care?"

"Ha!" One person laughed sarcastically, "Those officials and lords are popular in the city and drink spicy food, how can they care about people like us?"

"There was a plague of locusts in autumn, and we didn't have much harvest. We had to hand it all over to the officials and lords. If we didn't pay it, we would bring soldiers and oil to grab it! How could we fight it? If it weren't for them, we would live on our own fields , and it won’t become what it is now!”

"Now Minghe City has been sealed off to prevent those poor homeless people from entering. Although we don't have enough to eat, at least we still have a home to go back to."

"Brother, look at the clothes you and your little girl are wearing. You should be from a wealthy family, right? You don't understand the suffering of people like us. Sometimes I really don't understand why you can be born with a good life, but we have to Being hungry, cold and being bullied, God is too unfair. There was a..."

Before this person finished speaking, he was stared at by the leader and shut his mouth in embarrassment.

Tang Zhengze looked at him with a gentle smile: "What did you just say?"

"Nothing..." The victim smiled awkwardly, got up and said, "Brother, thank you for the rabbit meat, we have to continue hunting in the mountains, the villagers are still waiting for us. Brother, if you and your little girl need it The place where I live, go to the village at the foot of the mountain, just report my name Wei Daniu."

Several victims got up and left one after another.

Wuming extinguished the fire and led the horse, but Tang Zhengze was still staring at the burnt firewood in a daze.

"Go to the village at the foot of the mountain?" Wuming said quietly as he handed him the rein.

Tang Zhengze finally came back to his senses and nodded slightly.The two led the horses and walked slowly in the forest. It didn't take long before they saw the small village that Wei Daniu was talking about.

The village is surrounded by mountains on one side and nearly a hundred acres of fields on the other. There are only seven or eight families in the village.It stands to reason that even if there is a plague of locusts, the grain produced in the field for a year is enough to feed a village.There is a law in the Great Qin Dynasty that not only tax reductions and exemptions during disasters, but also local governments should report to the court in a timely manner, open warehouses to release grain in case of emergency, and take remedial measures.However, the village is now bleak, filled with a sense of death.

As those villagers said, not only did the officials of Minghe City do nothing, they even confiscated the villagers' small amount of food.The villagers had no real objects, so they were forced into the mountains to hunt in the deep winter.

The villagers that the Wuming two met in the mountains just now were obviously young and strong laborers. Even they were sallow and emaciated from hunger, and their bodies were purple from the cold, let alone the old, weak, sick and disabled who stayed in the village.

"If you don't do something, a large part of the people in their village might not be able to survive this winter." Wuming rode on his horse and stood on the edge of the cliff, condescendingly looking over there.

Tang Zhengze stood beside her, leading the horse, without answering.

But the look on his face said it all.

If he hadn't met that team of victims today, he could still pretend that he didn't know anything and that he couldn't do anything like he did a few days ago.But since we have met, since we have heard with our own ears and seen with our own eyes, then...he can be saved if he can.

Wuming turned the horse's head and spoke his heart softly for him: "Master, please stay here and help them. I will go back to Changjing to rescue Nanyue first, and then I will come back to join you."

After a moment of silence, Tang Zhengze nodded solemnly: "Best trip."

"Okay." Wuming narrowed his eyes and smiled, reaching out to touch the dagger at his waist.

Tang Zhengze guessed what she was going to do and shook his head, but he didn't refuse clearly like before: "When we meet next time... you can give it to me again."

Wuming smiled softly, and did not force him to take the dagger now.

When Wuming turned around and was about to wave the whip, Tang Zhengze suddenly remembered something, stopped her and said, "Wuming, when you arrive in Changjing City, if you find that Xiao Nanyue is not in the capital, go to Daxing Mountain."

"Master, have you ordered your subordinates to rescue Xiao Nanyue?" Wuming's eyes lit up slightly.

"Yes. When I first arrived in Weibei, after I found you and Nanyue missing, I sent a secret letter to Changjing City. But at that time, Yuwen and I went deep into the wilderness to look for you. We were not sure about the return date, so we asked Jingzhong People don't need to reply." Tang Zhengze explained, "So I don't know what's going on in Beijing right now."

"Wu Ming, in short...be careful when you return to Beijing." Tang Zhengze's voice became more serious.

Wuming nodded heavily: "Okay! Thank you Master."

The author has something to say: Ouch!