The general went out again at night

While he was in a daze, there were noisy footsteps coming from behind the palace road, he glanced behind him, and saw a few small officials holding lamps in front, and a group of ministers behind him.

After the banquet, their interest has not yet dissipated, and they are still talking about interesting things in full swing.Among the group of people, Mr. Zhang, Zuoqian Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, had the loudest voice, presumably because he talked too much about impeachment on weekdays, and he had a good tongue.A civil official is a civil official, and his love for chatting is comparable to that of ordinary people in teahouses and restaurants.

The interaction between her and His Royal Highness the Eldest Princess cannot be seen by these troublesome people, Xia Qingshu hurriedly let Ji Qianyao go.

Su Jin quickly helped her up, and said, "Thank you, General Xia, and take my leave."

"Farewell." Xia Qingshu suppressed the expression on his face, then took two steps back, and stood there motionless.

After standing there for a while, the voices of the civil servants in the back became louder and louder, and the distance was only a few feet away. Liu Yan stepped forward and said, "General, Your Highness the Eldest Princess has gone far, let's go back too."

"Let's go." Xia Qingshu slowed down and walked between Ji Qianyao's group and the civil servants.

Xia Qingshu pursed her lips and walked forward, Ji Qianyao's drunken state lingered in her mind, lingering.

A gust of cold wind blew up, bringing a bone-chilling chill, Xia Qingshu raised his hand to his mouth and let out a few breaths.Suddenly, she thought of something, so she stopped and asked, "By the way, Liu Yan, what day is it today?"

"General, it's the sixth day of the lunar month today." Liu Yan responded softly.

"What!" Hearing this, Xia Qingshu yelled.

"What... what's wrong?" Liu Yan shivered in fright.

"Today is the sixth day, so yesterday was the fifth day. Why didn't you remind me of such an important day." Xia Qingshu was furious, and pinched Liu Yan's arm vigorously.

"What day is the fifth day? The general asked me to remind you what?" Liu Yan clutched his arm in pain, walked to the side, unable to turn his head, and asked in a fog.

Xia Qingshu waved and reached out to pat Liu Yan's head, pulled her closer, and leaned into her ear and whispered angrily: "I told you before that on days that are multiples of five, such as the fifth day, the tenth day, the fifteenth day, etc. , it’s the day to go to Bieye in the north of the city at night!”

"Oh!" Liu Yan suddenly realized, and then felt wronged: "General, you can't blame this subordinate. We have been away from Beijing for nearly ten months, and we have been fighting with the northern Tartars. The memory of the capital has long been lost by the smoke and sand. If you cover it up, how can your subordinates remember it all at once?"

That's right, Xia Qingshu didn't even think about such an important day.

Anyway, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year has passed, no matter how much you vent your anger with Liuyan, you can't make up for it.

Xia Qingshu strode towards the palace gate with big strides, her face full of remorse: Yesterday was the fifth day of the lunar new year, an opportunity wasted for nothing, today is only the sixth day of the new year, and there are still four days before the tenth day, four full days !

Don't say anything, boil it!

***

Early in the morning, a guest came outside General Fuyuan's mansion, and the housekeeper Liu Qi quickly invited him into the mansion after seeing the visitor clearly.

"His Royal Highness, General Xia just came from the barracks, and he drank some wine last night. Today... he got up late. You sit in the hall, and this slave is going to wake the general up."

"You go, the Princess is waiting here." The 13-year-old Princess Xueyue sat down in the hall wearing a light exercise suit, her almond eyes were full of anticipation and excitement.

Behind him, two domestic servants are holding various weapons, including bows, spears, and soft whips...

Butler Liu Qi hurried to Xia Qingshu's wing, and knocked on the door: "General Xia, get up quickly, Princess Xueyue is here to visit!"

"Princess Xueyue, why is she here?" After staying in the barracks for a long time, Xia Qingshu was a light sleeper, and she was very alert to all kinds of sounds, so she jumped up from the bed immediately after hearing Liu Qi's words.

With a little effort, Xia Qingshu finished putting on the clothes.

"His Royal Highness's servants are carrying all kinds of weapons. I'm afraid they want you to teach her kung fu?" Liu Qi said.

"That's it. I remember that I promised her when I left the capital last time, that I can ask me about kung fu after I return to court." Xia Qingshu yawned a lot while talking.After all, last night was affected by the mood, resulting in not sleeping well at night and getting up late in the morning.

When he came to the hall, the appearance of the two servants armed with weapons really made people laugh, Xia Qingshu shifted his gaze to the little man sitting in the grand master's chair.

"Princess Xueyue, don't come here unharmed, hey, I haven't seen you for half a year, but I have grown a lot taller."

"Sister Qingshu!" Ji Xueyue called out sweetly, then raised her arm, and made a posture of drawing a bow towards Xia Qingshu, proudly saying: "I can already draw a bow now!"

Xia Qingshu approached, patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't be proud, when I was your age, I could walk through Yang with a hundred steps."

"Then teach me quickly."

"What do you want to learn today?"

"I want to learn."

Xia Qingshu shook her head: "That can't be done, you have to do the same thing."

Ji Xueyue lowered her head and thought about it seriously: "Then learn how to ride a horse first."

"Let's go, go to the martial arts field."

***

"General, there's news from the northern border." Beside the racecourse, Liu Yan reported to Xia Qingshu in a low voice.

"Where is the messenger?"

"In the General's Mansion."

"Okay, I'll ask him when I go back later."

"Yes."

The sky is getting dark, and it seems that he has practiced in the martial arts field for a day.Ji Xueyue is a good seedling in martial arts, and she is willing to work hard and painstakingly, so Xia Qingshu feels that she has improved a lot since I don't see her in October.

In the twelfth lunar month, as soon as the sun goes down, the cool wind will permeate every corner. At this time, you should go home early to rest.

Xia Qingshu called to stop Ji Xueyue who was unwilling to let go of the rein: "Okay, it's getting dark, and the prince has sent people to urge him several times. It's time for His Royal Highness to return to the palace."

Ji Xueyue reluctantly said: "But I haven't practiced enough yet."

Xia Qingshu smiled: "You haven't practiced enough, but this horse is tired, so let the horse rest."

Ji Xueyue puffed her cheeks and said, "Okay, then I'll look for Sister Shu tomorrow."

"Okay, but remember, don't be so early, sister Qingshu hasn't had a good night's sleep in ten months, you let me catch up on sleep."

"understood."

After sending someone back to the little princess, Xia Qingshu hurried back to the mansion.

The night was getting dark, when the servant saw Xia Qingshu came back, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "The general eats very little today, do you want to eat dinner first?"

Xia Qingshu waved his hand and said, "Wait for dinner first, quickly call the messenger from the northern border to the study, I have something to ask him."

"Yes."

In the study room, candles were burning brightly. Xia Qingshu sat in front of the desk, holding a long letter in his hand, and carefully read it word by word.

Standing in front of the table was a scruffy, lean man, his body was dirty, but his eyes were full of intelligence.

His name is Long Xuan, a member of Xia Qingshu's subordinates, he is good at lightness kungfu, fast on his feet, and good at disguising himself, Xia Qingshu often uses him to deliver messages.

Xia Qingshu put down the long letter, looked up at Long Xuan: "Did someone notice you on the way?"

The lean man shook his head: "No."

"What about the tree coffin man's corpse?"

Long Xuan said solemnly: "The general left for two days, and the rate of decay of the corpse suddenly accelerated. Half a day later, his face could not be recognized clearly. Dr. Jiang exhausted all kinds of methods and various medicinal materials, but he was still powerless to stop him."

"Can you draw that person's appearance?"

"Draw it."

"You keep talking."

"After the corpse rotted, the flowers and plants on the tree coffin man's body grew abnormally, branches and leaves scattered, and became more vigorous."

"Is the tree coffin man's decay process different from that of ordinary people?"

"Yes, Dr. Jiang said that when the tree coffin man rotted, there was no stench at all. Instead, there was a scent of flowers. There were no corpse insects, and the rate of decay was faster than that of ordinary people. It seemed that the body of the corpse turned into nourishment and was completely absorbed by flowers and plants. generally."

Xia Qingshu's eyes darkened: "Has the person sent to Nanyue to investigate the technique of tree burial come back?"

"Report to the general, no."

"This matter is really weird. You should send some more people to investigate it. Be sure to find out the truth. At the same time, block the news and don't let others know, especially the common people. If they know such a supernatural thing, I'm afraid they will cause a commotion."

"Yes!"

After Long Xuan stepped down, Xia Qingshu had a lot of worries.

Liu Yan stepped forward to comfort him and said: "General, don't worry too much. According to my subordinates, this is caused by witchcraft or Gu. Practicing Gu and corpses is very demanding and takes a long time. , the number must not be large, so as not to become a problem."

Xia Qingshu sighed: "The tree coffin man is extremely powerful, so I have to worry about it. What the general wants to know most is actually the purpose behind the corpse trainer. Strange things will never happen for no reason, just like ordinary grievances Love and enmity is a trivial matter, if it is connected with the conflict between the two countries, I'm afraid we have to treat it with caution."

"It's just that there are not many clues now, and nothing can be deduced. The general doesn't have to worry about this day and night, it's better to let nature take its course."

"Yes, let's go and eat something."