Return to the Song Dynasty

The strange prince who was surrounded by the crowd and went to the riverside was Zhao Ji, the eleventh younger brother of the current official family, Prince Duan.Zhao Ji was personally appointed by the official Zhao Xu to be the priest of this ceremony, so naturally he had to accompany him.Of course, along the way, it was inevitable to encounter a lot of supercilious looks from King Jian and Zhao Si.

Zhao Si: Hmph!Let you be a substitute!I curse eighteen generations of your ancestors!snort!snort!snort!

Zhao Ji: Brother, are you stupid? !The eighteen generations of my ancestors are the eighteen generations of your ancestors.Besides, do you think I'm willing to do it?The king is exhausted.Next time you can take the initiative to fight for it yourself, okay?Don't let your brother get tired.

Everyone naturally didn't know about this episode.Everyone only saw Duan Wang Zhao Ji walking steadily towards the river, facing the rolling river, moving his lips as if he was saying something, and then bowed his hands and bowed.Many accompanying officials and guards also bowed down.

Immediately afterwards, a waiter brought wine cups.His Royal Highness Duan Wang solemnly held up the wine cup and toasted three glasses in a row facing the river water. The clear wine followed his swaying movements and sank into the river water drop by drop without a trace.The rich aroma of wine also drifted away with the wind, leaving no trace at all.

'Just like the ninth brother who fell into the river, I don't know if you have any knowledge under the spring, and you can taste the good wine that your brother gave you.Forget it, it won't be long before my brother should go down to find you as a companion.Remember to welcome your brother then. ' Only when he was supported by two servants could he sit up comfortably, thought Zhao Xu, the official who watched Zhao Ji worshiping by the river through the curtain of jade.

That's right, the official Zhao Xu passed by the Bian River when returning to the city, and suddenly thought of his poor short-lived brother, so he specially ordered Zhao Ji to go to the Bian River to pay a temporary memorial service.When people are about to die, they are always more sentimental.The ninth younger brother, Zhao Bi, fell into the Bian River and disappeared, so let's worship on the bank of the Bian River.No matter where you drift, this continuous flow of water can always bring our thoughts to you.

The accompanying officials all knew each other tacitly that it was the official's sacrifice to his younger brother.But the onlookers didn't know about these twists and turns. Seeing Zhao Ji bowing to the river and toasting, they immediately talked about it.

"Ah! Is this a sacrifice to the river god?" An aunt with a silver hairpin on her head smacked her lips and commented.

"It seems so, isn't this always worshiping towards the river?" The companion next to him echoed.

"It's too simple, it doesn't even have an altar." The strong man muttered.

"That's right, it's too hasty." The scholar also echoed.

"Maybe the officials suddenly wanted to pay homage." The old man thought for a while and said.

"Well, I guess so, it looks like I didn't prepare in advance." The scholar agreed.

"Why didn't the official family get off the bus? We didn't see the official family, what a pity." The girls dressed up specially were unhappy, and their mouths were flattened, telling endless regrets.

……

Zhao Manke, who was forced to watch, didn't have such a leisurely mood. Veins popped out on his forehead, beads of sweat slid down his cheeks, and he almost passed out.

"Xiao Man, Xiao Man, what's wrong with you?! Hold on, I'll take you back to see the doctor right now. You, you, don't scare me. Xiao Man, Xiao Man!" Yao Xiong yelled in fright.The people next to him also noticed Zhao Man's situation and gave way spontaneously.

At this time, the official motorcade had already finished worshiping and set off.Those who watched the excitement either followed the convoy and continued to watch;Yao Xiong was finally able to lead Zhao Man out of the siege and came to a secluded place by the side of the road.

Zhao Man had a splitting headache at the moment, and when he saw Zhao Ji walking beside the Bian River, his heart almost jumped out of his chest, as if something was about to break out of the cocoon.The distance was so far that he couldn't see Zhao Ji's appearance at all, but he had a strong feeling of being unable to restrain himself.

Seeing Zhao Ji praying to the river, Zhao Man subconsciously followed Zhao Ji's movements and looked at the rolling river. The moment he saw the river, countless pictures flooded into his mind like a tide, surging.

When I was a child, I pretended to be a fool in the palace. The gentle and beautiful face of the mother and concubine, the clever and sly expression of the chick, the old but loving smile of the imperial grandmother, the amiable face of the queen mother, and the joy of talking with the teacher Su Shi, when marrying the princess The uneasiness, the embarrassing appearance of seeing his own princess on the wedding night, watching the flowers bloom and fall with Zhongzhong, the leisurely peace of mind of Yunjuan Yunshu... and, also, the excitement of knowing that Chongzhong is pregnant, I can't wait to put the sky in the sky. The feeling of being a father for the first time when all the stars have been plucked... and...

On that day, the Daihuang brother was assassinated when he was returning from offering sacrifices to the moon.The chaotic scene of the assassin fighting with the guards, the noise of princes and ministers yelling and fleeing, the fierce eyes of the masked assassin, the cold light on the blade when the knife was swung at him, the blood splattered from his shoulder, and... being forced to By the river, the moment he fell into the water in order to avoid the attack...

Pieces, pieces, and scenes all flowed through his mind like a movie, and the fragments that were broken before were all connected together in a complete and orderly manner, restoring a different life that should have belonged to him.

Zhao Man's face was pale, his face was slightly upturned, his eyes were closed tightly, and two lines of tears slowly flowed across his cheeks, dripping silently, sinking into the skirt of his clothes, and dripping onto his heart.His lips were tightly pursed, and there was still blood on his lower lip from when he subconsciously bit his lip.

"Xiao Man, Xiao Man!" Yao Xiong kept calling Zhao Man.Zhao Man hugged his head in pain for a while, and cried on his back for a while. The strange state frightened Yao Xiong, and his heart was in a state of ups and downs.For a while, he suspected that Zhao Man had a sudden illness, and for a while, he was afraid that Zhao Man would suddenly be possessed by an evil spirit. His mind, which was not very bright at first, became a mess at this moment. It was a hundred times more terrifying than fighting with the enemy on the battlefield.

Just when Yao Xiong was scratching his head and scratching his head in anxiety, Zhao Man suddenly opened his eyes. He stood up slowly, looked up at Yao Xiong who was showing worry, his eyes were full of apology, embarrassment, unspeakable pain I was a little bit at a loss, but in short, that complicated look made my heart feel sore.Of course, Yao Xiong also took it for granted... I didn't understand!

He only saw that Zhao Man suddenly opened his eyes after going through all kinds of pain and suspected bewitching. He didn't even bother to wipe away his tears, so he just jumped up... ran away? ! ! (⊙o⊙)!Ran! ! !

Yao Xiong, who didn't react at all, just stood there in a daze, watching Zhao Man run away as quickly as a rabbit.By the time Yao Xiong's brain with a super-long reflex arc finally reacted and he spread his legs and chased after him, it was already too late.Zhao Man had already run away without a trace.

The unlucky Yao Xiong, who didn't see the excitement but was frightened, searched for a long time but couldn't find Zhao Man.In desperation, he had no choice but to shrug his head and move back to the post in desperation, preparing to move the rescuers.

So I was lucky enough to follow Zhang Wei who participated in the sacrifice, and when I came back, I saw Yao Xiong gesticulating, jumping around on the ground, and arguing with Chen Canjun without thinking.

Chen Canjun squirted at Yao Xiong, wanting to spray tea on Yao Xiong's face: "What do you mean by running away? How could a living person run away?"

Yao Xiong scratched his head anxiously: "If you run away, you are running away. You have to be alive to run! Why can't people with long legs run?!"

Facing Yao Xiong whose IQ is always offline, Chen Canjun suddenly felt a headache: "Where did he go? Why didn't you catch up with him?"

Yao Xiong covered his face and squatted on the ground: "I didn't catch up. He was running fast, like a rabbit. I just stared blankly, and he disappeared! If I knew where he was going, I still need to come to you?!"

Chen Canjun became even more troublesome: "You guys will feel uncomfortable if you don't cause trouble for a day, right?! What are you running around at this juncture?! Isn't it just a festival? Why are you two going to join in the fun! When I get him back, I have to It’s a big blow to him.” (Brother, pay attention to your wording, you will regret it later.)

Zhang Wei, who had just entered the door, listened for a long time, but still felt baffled, so he had to ask, "What's the matter?"

Yao Xiong (﹏), Chen Canjun (￣﹏￣): "Xiaoman is lost."

Zhang Yu (⊙_⊙): "What?!"

Knowing the ins and outs, Zhang Wei had to send out all his hands to secretly look for Zhao Man.Because of limited manpower and unfamiliarity with Bianliang, and unable to search for it with great fanfare, I couldn't find it after searching all afternoon.Zhang Yi was so anxious that his hair and beard fell off together, "You brat, don't run away sooner or later, you have to face the saint tomorrow, you ran away!" !What shall we do?Who do you want to face the saint for you? !No, you can't find someone to replace you, you can't deceive the king!What should I do? !What should I do? !Urgent! '

Mr. Zhang, who has always been confident and strategizing, felt a deep sense of powerlessness for the first time. It really is a bad boy who caused trouble and couldn't deal with it!Mr. Zhang bowed his head and supported his forehead, deeply feeling the desolation of the evening scene.

"Haven't found it yet?! Look for it again! If we can't find it again, we don't want to go back to the northwest. Let's wash our necks and wait for our heads to fall!" After hearing the reports from his subordinates, Zhao Man was still not found, and Chen Canjun, known as Xiao Zhuge, finally sank. I can't hold back my anger, just let people continue to look for it, there is no other way.

Yao Xiong went out to search for several rounds in the afternoon, but he was too tired to walk, and was lying on the ground with his dead body.Chen Canjun paced back and forth anxiously, almost stepping on him several times.

However, blessings and misfortunes never come singly, just when the three of them were at a loss and were anxious to get angry, someone came to report that His Royal Highness Duan Wang came here at the order of the official family, and also named the young general on Jingyuan Road who was returning to Beijing to report on his duties. Officials, including Zhao Man, of course.

"Crack!" The teacup in Mr. Zhang's hand shattered.Chen Canjun stood on the spot dumbfounded.Yao Xiong grabbed the ground with his head. 'God is going to kill me! ! ! 'At this time, the three people's thoughts were surprisingly consistent.

"Xiaguan Zhangyou has met His Royal Highness Duan Wang."

"My lower official, Chen Jing, has met His Royal Highness Duan Wang."

"My subordinate, Yao Xiong, has seen His Highness Duan Wang." The three of them, headed by Zhang Chu, lined up and went out to meet His Highness Duan Wang who had just approached with one voice.

"Excuse me, excuse me, please don't be polite, please sit down, please sit down. The king is here to meet the generals who came from the northwest by the order of the officials. The emperor's brother is not feeling well recently, so I can't call everyone immediately. , I am deeply sorry, and I will give everyone a sword as a token of my heart. You are all rare generals in the Song Dynasty, and we must rely on you to protect the Northwest..."

As soon as Zhao Ji met Zhang Wei and others, he found that there was no one he was looking for.But he kept his composure, walked into the main hall step by step and took a seat, and conveyed the purpose of his trip without haste - to appease the generals in the Northwest for the emperor's brother Zhao Xu.

I don't know what the queen mother said when she went to visit the official's house in the afternoon, which actually aroused Zhao Xu's feeling of cherishing talent.Immediately, someone was sent to find Zhao Ji, and asked him to prepare gifts and go to the posthouse to visit the generals of the Northwest Army who returned to Beijing to report on their duties.

Zhao Ji, who was sent to the post house for some inexplicable reason, kept lamenting his mother's skill during the whole journey from the palace to the post house, and just chatted casually for a few days, and won him a place where he could be fair and aboveboard. Take the opportunity to see that Zhao Man in advance.Really clever.

Determined to make good use of this opportunity, His Highness Duan Wang secretly observed while delivering a speech on behalf of his brother.He knew Zhang Chu, and the other two had also reported their families just now.The one with elegant face is Zhang Laoxianggong's right-hand man Chen Canjun, and the other one with bearded face is Yao Xiong who has made great achievements this time.Then the only person who didn't come to greet me was precisely the person I most wanted to see, how could it be such a coincidence?

Suspicious Zhao Ji talked about the things that the emperor brother explained, and glanced at Zhang Wei inadvertently, as if suddenly remembering, and asked: "Didn't you say that there are four of you who came back to Beijing to report on your work?" ? Why did the king only see three of them?"

When Zhao Ji asked, Yao Xiong immediately sweated on his forehead, and Chen Canjun also felt a little unnatural.Only Zhang Yi deserved to be a battle-tested man who had gone through ups and downs in the officialdom. He smiled and slowly replied: "It is my honor to be remembered by His Royal Highness King Meng Duan. There is also a soldier who has gone out and has not returned, but please forgive me. "

What Zhang Yi said was impeccable, and he even told the truth.He only said that he went out and did not return, but he did not say why he did not return.It was only mentioned that there was another soldier joining the army, but Zhao Man's name was deliberately omitted, so as not to attract Zhao Ji's attention.

The so-called ginger is still old and spicy, which is probably the case.Chen Canjun and Yao Xiong gave their boss a big thumbs up in their hearts.