Broken Iron Clothes

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The Yingzhou military camp was not a safe place, so Aruna followed Liu Zhaoye back to the Wusen Department in the end, and the date of arrival was exactly at the end of August.In the cold weather, the tent was warmed up, the stomach was filled with leg of lamb, and the mouth was moistened with milk tea, but Liu Zhaoye had no intention of staying longer. He only stayed for one night.

On the grassland, the wind blows the horse's mane, and Liu Zhaoye faces the rising sun, looking at the field from the horseback.

"Your Highness!"

The swan geese flying south passed over their heads, leaving a series of empty calls in the vastness, with real and illusory shouts interspersed, making people in a trance for a while, Liu Zhaoye looked back following the sound, and saw a bright color coming from the sea of ​​grass running.

Aruna blushed, and all the hot air she breathed was blown away by the strong wind.Seeing her coming alone, Liu Zhaoye dismounted from his horse and faced the wind. When he approached, he heard the crisp sound of strings of red coral colliding.

As usual, he stood in the direction of the wind to shield her from the wind, but stopped a few steps away: "Little princess, stay by Enhe's side."

The fluff of the fur coat in her hand was still fluttering in the wind, Aruna shook it off and put it on Liu Zhaoye, saying, "Actually, I don't like Zhongyuan that much, but I can only marry if Father wants me to marry. Here People often move with their cattle and sheep, but when there is a severe drought, the cattle and sheep cannot be fed, and the people cannot be fed. If there is another war, more people will die.

"I heard that after I marry to the Central Plains, His Highness will promise to give favor to the Wusen Department. If there is another drought in the future, at least not too many people will suffer. But I think, the imperial city of Dali is far away from here." It's far away, I don't know the way, I can't go home, and the only person I know there is His Highness, I must not let myself not even know what the man I am going to marry looks like, so I have to follow His Highness to the west side of Dali .”

Dong Zi's hands were still straightening his fur coat, Aruna looked up at him, but never met his gaze, and continued: "Your Highness is very good, he will protect me and take care of me, and sometimes Smile at me, I am a little bit willing to marry to the Central Plains. But His Highness's hands are always cold, A Niang said that men with cold hands are ruthless, His Highness really doesn't like me at all."

When Aruna put her hands behind her back and leaned over to look at him, her red eyes still couldn't meet the man's sight. She asked seriously and sadly: "But since you don't like it, why don't you dare to look at me?" Woolen cloth?"

Liu Zhaoye was slightly stunned, only to realize that his eyes had been on Aruna's ears.He wanted to move his eyes and look at her calmly, but he didn't know what he was worrying about. He didn't speak for a long time and didn't move for a long time. He only felt that the wind behind him was getting more violent, pushing his body to take two more steps forward.

But he knew he shouldn't.

The wind could not break the silence, but Aruna was not obsessed with what he heard, maybe Liu Zhaoye married her only for Dali, maybe Zhongyuan was more boring than she imagined, but now they have no choice.She could only let herself try to take one more step toward that person, not to make Liu Zhaoye like her more, but to adapt herself to this indifference, because she would spend the rest of her life in this indifference.

"No need to answer, Aruna doesn't understand now, maybe she will understand later."

Aruna approached him, stood on tiptoe and raised her head to rest on that forehead, at least at this moment, Liu Zhaoye was obedient, even though it might be the wind that stiffened him, or the fur coat on his shoulders It was too heavy, Aruna didn't think about why he stopped dodging, but said sincerely in the wind: "Longevity protects you, may your Highness have a safe trip."

Aruna went back.The woman came with the wind and went with the wind.Liu Zhaoye folded his fur clothes in a daze, only when he was about to travel far away, he suddenly remembered the colors that ran towards him in this grassland, and he still remembered it when the afterglow faded away.

-

In September, it was cold, and the imperial edict arrived in Yingzhou. Considering that Jiang Shiqing had been chased by the forbidden army after he left, it was inevitable that he would get into trouble when he entered the imperial city. It was not until the news that Liu Zhaoye was going south came that the team of less than 50 people set off from Yingzhou to return. Hey, it just so happened that there was no sunny day, and the immediate wind was so strong that Jiang Shiqing's hands were already cold. After being frozen by the wind for many days, they became swollen and itchy when it was warm at night. I took a stroll in the town and bought a muff on purpose.

Warming his hands with warm water at night, Jiang Shiqing picked up the furry muff, put his hands into the open mouths on both ends, and couldn't help laughing: "It's just that my hands are cold, how can I be so delicate."

"Frostbite hurts. If you freeze like this before the severe winter, the wound will be ulcerated, and it will be uncomfortable whether it is cold or hot. Are you going to suffer or be coquettish?" Yuan Mucheng opened the medicine jar, grabbed a hand from the cage, Then he swirled and spread the medicated oil on the red and swollen place between his fingers.

There was a bit of tenderness in the force, but once it warmed up, those places itched so badly that Jiang Shiqing couldn't help but rubbed his hands together a few times.Yuan Mucheng stopped his itching fingers, and when he spread the medicine evenly, he gently rubbed it down along each finger.

After the medicine was applied, the itching stopped a lot. Jiang Shiqing withdrew his hands and took care of the medicine bottle first, and said, "But this hand can only be covered at night, if you don't wear it during the day, you won't be able to ride a horse." .”

"The owner is just leaving for the south. We are not in a hurry. We will wait for him for two more days. When you are on your way, you can sit on my horse and I will carry you." Yuan Mucheng got up to clean his hands, and picked up the handkerchief hanging beside the basin. After wiping off the water stains, he went to the tub to check the temperature of the water before walking towards the person.

Jiang Shiqing glanced at him and said with a smile, "You're raising me like a medicine jar again."

Hearing the faint nasal sound in that voice, Yuan Mucheng leaned over and pinched the tip of his nose when he approached, and said, "I heard that you should have a cold again, and the wind has only been blowing for a few days now, without me blocking it." , you can’t do it, huh?”

"Yeah, I can't do without you," Jiang Shiqing looked up at him, coaxed him to lean down and hug him, and then hooked his legs to hang on Yuan Mucheng's body, "Jiang's house is on fire, and there is only one room in Huimei Courtyard." The house, if you don’t want to rely on the general now, Mr. Lin Meng and I have nowhere to stay. The general has succeeded, and he wants to trick me into Prince Jingping’s mansion to warm up."

Yuan Mucheng lifted him up, cleared the table and put him under him first: "Could it be that the spring festival night in Prince Jingping's mansion wasn't the young master who lied to me first?"

"How can it be considered a lie? Isn't the general very comfortable? I am the only one who is in pain." A pair of eyes probed up and down, and finally fell on those lips. Jiang Shiqing looked there, and deliberately lowered his voice, "I want to come The general was really rude at that time, and he didn't know how to cherish people."

Yuan Mucheng approached, and said with a low laugh, "You will only be comfortable tonight."

Jiang Shiqing bit his ear: "Ready to go."

Yuan Mucheng approached him warmly: "Hot water is ready, do you want to wash it?"

Jiang Shiqing said: "There are plasters in my hands, and I can't touch the water. General, help me."

The sound of water rose and fell with the joy of cloud and rain, Jiang Shiqing's hands were drooping on the edge of the bucket, and the red tide on his body was rubbed away.In the hot air, Yuan Mucheng put on his jacket, his chest was still exposed with light sweat, so he wanted to pick him up from the hot water to wipe him off.

Just reaching the waist, there was a strange noise outside the window, he quickly pulled the robe on the rack to cover Jiang Shiqing first, then pulled up the belt tightly and walked towards the window.The window was pushed out through a slit, and Yuan Mucheng looked down a few times, and saw that He Xiao was already standing there spatling his knife, and there was still Gu Chuliang's body lying on the ground.

"Take care of the person as soon as possible, and don't disturb the store." He Xiao ordered, raising his head to signal to Yuan Mucheng.

"Another assassin?" The wind from the window blows away the heat, so Jiang Shiqing first tightened his robe.

Yuan Mucheng replied: "This is the third time."

"Fortunately, there are enough people around the owner. Even if Yan Youqian wanted to do something, it would not be easy." Jiang Shiqing dragged his shoes and sat on the couch. He didn't have time to put on his underwear, and his legs were inevitably exposed to the cold while sitting. .

Yuan Mucheng closed the window tightly, raised his legs to the quilt, and said: "It seems that the people in the city can't sit still. Now that the emperor's heir is still in the womb, the owner of the villa suddenly appeared again. They can't just sit back and wait for the owner to have a chance to overturn the case, and they think Song Bing is still in your hands, so they can only use this shameful method to rush you and me to enter the city quickly, and then make trouble to your majesty In front of us, take the case of Lichen Temple and put us, Deputy Zhuang Zhuang, in prison first."

Jiang Shiqing said: "That's right, the reasoning at that time is to avenge Wei Xu's palace for destroying the family. I pretended to be with the Feng family, killed Yan Lingyong, then silenced Cui Cheng, provoked Feng Yan's family, and then threw his body in the Imperial College Caused an uproar, and vented years of grievances by disturbing the court. In order to get revenge, he not only killed the son of Lord Yu, but also disturbed the people. Such a vicious person, even if the name of King Wei Xu is still alive, it is difficult to keep me safe. As long as I am convicted, Xu Yi Xu Yixu's responsibility can be avoided, and the power of the household department can still be in his hands. If His Majesty continues to be ill, Xu Yixu can use food and grass to restrain Jingping Palace and Xuanhe Army, and then threaten Song with Song Yun's life Bing shut his mouth.

"It's a pity that Yan Youqian doesn't have military power in his hands now. If he wants to drive dead men to do things, he can only rely on Xu Yixu. However, what he wants to do with dead men, I guess, is to kill Song Bing, but what Xu Yixu wants is Song Bing is alive.

"The two of them seem to be on the same boat now, but they each have their own ulterior motives. Song Bing's life and death determine who wins and who wins. Once Song Bing dies, Yan Youqian no longer has any worries, but he can use the matter of privately raising a dead man to threaten Xu. Yixu, but if Song Bing is not dead, as long as Song Bing is held in his hands again, whether the case of falling into the river can be overturned depends entirely on Xu Yixu's mood. If we are confident that we can deal with Jiang Taiwei and the owner of the villa, Xu Yixu can become a powerful minister only if he lacks military power."

Although the conversation was about serious matters, the legs stretched out intentionally from the quilt were still thinking about the pleasure just now, and they were reaching for Yuan Mucheng's chest.

"Before that..." Yuan Mucheng deliberately stopped speaking, grabbed the ankle and hung it on his shoulder.

"Huh?" Jiang Shiqing pulled his arm, his eyes were ignorant, "What is the general going to do before that?"

Yuan Mucheng laughed at him being deceived, and continued: "But before that, their chances of winning are not great. Whether it is Xu Yixu or Yan Youqian, if they want to become powerful ministers, they must first seize the reserve position, but as long as the owner of the villa returns In the human world, regardless of the truth of the case of falling into the river or not, it is impossible to reserve a seat for a fetus who does not know whether it is a prince or a princess. Besides, if we let the killers rage, we don’t want to speed up our pace, and we can’t wait to drag you into the water. , the owner of the villa first revealed the truth about the case of falling into the river, so what should they do?"

Jiang Shiqing said with a double entendre: "It's nothing more than asking for nothing, so I wonder if they will have other countermeasures."

"I can't ask for it," Yuan Mucheng chuckled, stroking under the ankle bone, "If the young master can't ask for it, what countermeasures will he have?"

Jiang Shiqing smiled and said, "Guess."

Yuan Mucheng was about to lean down to press down, but Jiang Shiqing deliberately retracted his legs and turned over, with his back to the person.Being hit by the cool wind, before Jiang Shiqing could react, Yuan Mucheng squeezed into the quilt, hugged him into his arms behind him, and kissed him from the neck.

When the passion was at its peak, Jiang Shiqing lifted his leg and hooked it back, also deliberately squeezing into the man's arms, just for a moment, the quilt covered the top of his head, no matter how intense the passion was, it was wrapped in the quilt, and it was difficult to escape.

-

The night in the city is also cold and quiet. When no one is walking around on the street, only the figures of the imperial guards on night patrol are stretched by the lights in the clear night, and then disappear into the shadows.

A carriage stopped at the back door of Xu's mansion, but Yan Youqian had already entered to keep out the cold, Xu Yixu's words had been lingering in his ears for a long while, but he still held the water glass, stared at the flickering candle and murmured: "Forcing the palace... ..."

Xu Yixu said: "Yes, Duke Yu thinks something is wrong?"

Yan Youqian suddenly came back to his senses, and retorted: "Impossible, it's not easy to label Liu Zhaoye as a coward. When Yuan Mucheng returned to report his duties, there could be no more than fifty people around him. As far as I know, Liu Zhaoye is even more inaccessible. As for the imperial guards and the personal guards, even if he had been in the Shengzhou camp for a period of time, he would never be so stupid as to take the Weiming army with him."

The smile on Xu Yixu's face seemed to be perfunctory: "Forcing the palace does not mean leading troops to force the palace. Could it be that Liu Zhaoye set up Yemen Village to make money by killing people and setting fire to him? I sent someone to assassinate him. Really kill him, I want Liu Zhaoye to gather all the masters of Yemen Zhuang in the city in order to save his life, and invite people to the palace to gather for the celebration banquet of the great victory in the western region. It's time to sit."

Although Liu Zhaoye has disappeared for many years, there are still many ministers in the court who are willing to give their full support. The case of falling into the river has nothing to do with Xu Yixu. He can naturally be a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers. Will not be able to turn over, as far as he is concerned, there are more things to worry about.

Yan Youqian shook his head: "Now that Song Bing's whereabouts are unknown, I can't take the risk of giving Liu Zhaoye a chance to face the saint."

"Duke You doesn't really think that Song Bing is in the hands of Jiang Shiqing or Yemenzhuang," Xu Yixu laughed a few times, and when he remembered Jiang Shiqing's name, his smile became even more sinister, "You said that since Jiang Shiqing has Song Bing With Song Bing in hand, why would he leave Yancheng and go to the western region, so that Song Yun could have a chance to be in our hands, so what use would it be for him to have Song Bing in hand?"

"But it was indeed Song Bingcai who disappeared from the secret passage after the Jiang residence caught fire that day," Yan Youqian suddenly realized the strangeness, "No, the strange person is Your Majesty, why did he choose to appoint Jiang Yu as the captain on that day, since he can say Find Jiang Yu without making a sound, how could he not be able to hide Song Bing..."

He was careless, how could he underestimate Liu Zhaoyu!Yan Youqian felt a fit of coldness and anger later on, and made a soft noise when he touched the teacup in his hand.

Xu Yixu didn't take it seriously and said, "No matter whose hands it is in, even if it's in Liu Zhaoyu's hands, it doesn't matter."

"How to say?"

Xu Yixu dipped in the tea and drew a chessboard on the table, saying: "On the day of the celebration banquet, the Queen Mother temporarily represented Liu Zhaoyu to attend the reward. Those who have been detained in the harem, when the time comes, the first prince will lead Yemen Zhuang to force the palace. As the chief assistant of the cabinet, Duke You should exercise his power on behalf of the Taiwei to deal with the rebels. I also asked Jiang Shiqing to discuss it. Whether you can get rid of Liu Zhaoye, the success or failure really depends on it, does Duke Yu have a better countermeasure?"

As silent as before, Yan Youqian was deep in thought, his eyes fixed on the table, and he didn't speak until the water stains gradually dried, "I can't kill Liu Zhaoye with my own hands."

Xu Yixu smiled slightly: "Of course, if we want to achieve perfection, we still have time to prepare slowly."