Everyone loves Huo Qubing

"Where is the second uncle? Didn't come back with you?" I asked before closing the door.

"China and North Korea are now in a mess, and Qing'er won't be able to come back for a while." The uncle waved his hand, "Go to sleep."

Sure enough, before dinner, an eunuch came to the door and called the uncle urgently.The servant cooked delicious barley for us and brought it to the bed, but I had no appetite, so I hid in the room with my uncle and ate a lot of caramel and jerky.Tomorrow is etiquette class, so it feels great not to have to go to school!

***

Cicadas yelled happily on the tree. If the high temperature continues like this, it will definitely affect the harvest in autumn.I hid in the shade between Jianzhang Palace and Tianliang Palace, wiping the longbow in my hand.

That night I told my second uncle that I needed a new bow and arrow. My second uncle pondered for a while, and the next day, he brought back this purple lacquer longbow from the palace.The material of the bow body is the precious yew wood from the South China Sea Cochin. It is slightly harder and lighter than all the longbows I have ever held. One end is engraved with a simple inscription made by the craftsman. There is a slight friction between the bow body and the arrowhead. Worn scratches.The bowstring is made of high-quality beef tendon. The beef tendon string is slightly yellowed, but it is still full of toughness. It is still a high-quality bow.

"A good bow." When Han Yan saw this bow for the first time, Han Yan's expression was unpredictable. "The left-handed bow has been adjusted and is more suitable for left-handed people."

Therefore, this bow does not belong to any uncle.

"Raise your elbows and use your arm strength. An arrow won't have stamina if you rely solely on the strength of your wrist." Han Yan knelt on one knee, hugged me from behind, held mine with both hands, and guided me step by step. Move, "Get closer to the arrow tail. Don't be afraid, feathered arrow tails generally won't cause scratches."

The hot air from the man's breath was on my neck. Such an intimate distance made me a little uncomfortable. The itchy feeling in my ears caused me to panic for a moment. The memory of three years ago came back, and the bow and arrow in my hand trembled involuntarily. .

Han Yan's reaction to me was just a chuckle.

"Relax your eyes and aim with both eyes. You can't accurately estimate the distance with one eye." He slowly adjusted the angle of the bow, and his movements were as skillful as flowing water, as if he used to teach people how to shoot arrows in the past, unlike his usual "stranger" Don't get close" The breath is far away.

Looking sideways, Taishi Han's attention was only focused on the bow in my hand, and his eyes scanned the suitable grass target.I calmed down and followed his instructions. Sure enough, the arrow flew a long way. Although it was still a little bit off the target, it was already farther than the range I had obtained after exhausting all my efforts.

Han Yan let go of me and frowned slightly.The way the man frowns is very nice, which makes me think of another person——Senior brother Han said.When Brother Han encountered troublesome problems, he also frowned habitually.Although Taishi Han also taught Han Shuo to ride horses and shoot arrows, he didn't seem to care much about his younger brother who seemed to be carved out of the same mold. Verbal communication.

"What exactly has Duan Hong taught you these years!" A soft sigh sounded in my ears.

Grand Master Duan Hong?I chuckle.He really never asked me much about my studies.But in this city of Chang'an, how many people really cared about an illegitimate child who didn't have a royal surname and no princely relatives, and who really paid attention to a cousin who was a concubine?

***

The war has been ruined, but the emperor has not been idle for a moment. Recently, on a whim, he issued an edict to seek talents, ordering all counties and counties in all feudal states to promote virtuous, filial piety, and literature, and prepare to recruit talents with great fanfare.

It is said to be "pro-policy", but it is actually better to say than to sing.The work of preliminary screening of article materials and preliminary interviews has been distributed to various scholar-bureaucrats. The two uncles devoted themselves to the work of marking papers day and night, and they had to interview and screen one by one during the day.How to rationally settle the Xiaolian students who flooded into the capital from all over the country also caused headaches for the Jingzhaoyin Mansion and the Imperial Guards, so they had to dispatch the Qimen Army to help maintain order.

During the days when my uncles were not at home, another deciduous tooth became loose. This time I pulled it out with a thread without hesitation. After that, I ate wild rice porridge and caramel bibimbap for several days.When the leaves on the tree started to turn yellow and the caramel my uncle brought me was almost exhausted, our family finally got the chance to sit at the table for dinner with the four of us.

"Qing'er, after the new year you will be twenty." During the dinner, the uncle's first sentence began like this.

"Stop it, stop it." My uncle and I waved our hands and shook our heads in a panic, signaling to my uncle not to say any more. You can guess what your uncle is thinking with your toes.

However, what time did we successfully intercept what uncle wanted to say?

"Before being crowned, consider giving yourself a name."

There was a long silence during the meeting.My uncle is like a tortoise with a shrunken head, burying his head deeply in the rice bowl.I held the chopsticks and twirled them on the edge of the bowl, impatiently knocking out the muffled sound of "Dangdang".

Alas, it's so hard to have a party together, but which pot should not be opened and which pot should be lifted.

The uncle smiled awkwardly: "Qing'er, do you have any favorite words, tell me and give me a reference?"

"Brother," the second uncle said hesitantly, "to tell you the truth, Your Majesty has already chosen the right word for me."

This time it was uncle's turn to be silent.

"Hehe, he's fast enough, and he's actually ahead of the big brother." The uncle took a bite of his meal in embarrassment, "With his level, what kind of decent words can he come up with?"

"That's not true. Your Majesty chose a very nice name for the second uncle, called 'Zhongqing'. Zhong of Uncle Zhong, Qing of Jiuqing." I robbed.

"Zhongqing...Zhong...Qing...Qing'er, Your Majesty gave you such a bad character, you really don't agree, do you?"

The second uncle was silent, which in the eyes of the uncle was acquiescing.

"You two don't think it's embarrassing enough, and you insist on leaving an excuse for those scholars to make a fuss like Han Yan, and the whole world knows about it?" The uncle's face became darker and darker, until he punched Fang Ji heavily. superior.The fermented soy sauce and aged vinegar in the bottle spilled out one after another, and a few chopsticks rolled under the table, and the three rushed to rescue them.

The uncle stretched out his head from under the table and complained: "Big brother, the second brother's character has already been taken out, but I didn't dare to tell you. He can't change it, why don't you change it and help me?"

The uncle stood up and paced back and forth.

"Okay, I won't be called the eldest son Wei from now on, I'll be called Changjun Wei!" Kicking his foot on the porch pillar, the uncle roared, "Little Liu Che, I want you to remember who is the elder brother! "

The dust accumulated on the beams fell down and floated into the bowl-the rice was completely uneatable.

Uncle Fu remembered something again, turned around and pointed at my uncle and said, "What about you? You also hurry up and get all the characters for me first, and don't let the emperor take the lead again."

"No need, no need." The uncle shook his head hurriedly, "It's auspicious to be called 'Bu Guang', and it's auspicious to rise up every step of the way, and to make money. I don't need a sign."

I also waved my hand and said, "It's practical to call it 'Qubing'. Please bless me from getting sick, and I don't need a sign."

Uncle's expression finally eased a little.

"Since Your Majesty has temporarily canceled the war and the recruitment of talents has come to an end, the elder brother is going to put his marriage on the agenda, and the Su family can't wait." He looked at the second uncle who had been silent and said, "Qing'er, the Su family Little sister is still waiting for you infatuatedly, you should think about it carefully."

***

The sound of firecrackers and drum music can be heard in the distance.The uncle was dressed in a groom's red attire, riding on his black-maned bay red horse, with a big red silk flower hanging on his chest.He saw us waiting at the gate of the Wei Mansion, with well-trimmed short mustaches curled up, and bright smiles, comparable to a sunflower in full bloom.

Behind the uncle, followed by a brown eight-carriage sedan chair, decorated with red silk and satin.Inside, dressed in a bridal attire and sitting upright in a red hijab, is my future eldest daughter, Su Shi, the eldest daughter of Su Jian, a captain of the Imperial Army.

The father-in-law, Xiaowei Su, supported his mother-in-law, Mrs. Su, all the way from the Su residence in the south of Chang'an City. Mrs. Su held the silk and wept on her husband's shoulder mournfully. It must be really uncomfortable to marry a daughter for the first time.

When Chinese and North Korean officials get married, the emperor ordered people to send boxes and boxes of congratulatory gifts. The uncle also sent a lot, and the dowry brought by the Su family was also generous. Not too big, piled up like hills of boxes, bottles, cans, silk flowers and plants, making it hard to find a place to stay.However, I still managed to find two names in this pile of congratulatory gifts - "brother-in-law Chen Zhang" and "sister Chen Weishi".

So many years have passed, these two names meet here now, unexpectedly so strange.I can only remember the outline of Chen Zhang's face, but my mother's face is always fixed in the memory of the moment when she secretly lifted her hijab while sitting in the sedan chair.

"Qubing, why are you in a daze here?" Someone patted his shoulder.Turning around, it was Lieutenant Su Jian who came.Uncle Su is in his forties this year, with a handsome appearance and a radiant complexion.Seeing the greeting card in my hand, he understood.

"You kids probably won't be used to this feast, why don't I introduce you to a new friend." He waved to a young man in blue.

"Daddy, do you have anything to do with me?" The blue-shirted boy skipped around those hill-like congratulatory gifts, and came to the two of us.

"Wu'er, Daddy introduces you to a friend." Uncle Su patted the boy on the head, turned around and said to me with a smile, "This is a dog, named with the word 'Wu', and he is nine years old this year. It's a family, let him call you cousin, you two are about the same age, you should be able to play together."

Looking at the young man in front of me, I couldn't help but think of another person.Nine years old, which means he is as old as my younger brother Chen Xuan in Taiyuan.The little crying bag Chen Xuan back then should have grown into Su Wu's height now.

"Cousin Huo Qubing, I've heard of you! You were the one who beat Master Yan—hmm—" As soon as he came back to his senses, he heard Su Wu talking about my embarrassment, and quickly covered his mouth with a slap.

"Okay, let's not talk anymore." Su Wu was dragged away from the place of right and wrong with my mouth covered, and while giggling, he tried to bite the palm of my hand.

"How do you know about Zhu Fuyan?" I tugged on his collar, pretending to be serious.I kept this matter from my uncles very well, and Grand Master Han did not go to the Wei Mansion or the Princess Mansion to complain.

"Zhang He, cousin, do you know each other?" Su Wu grinned, "We used to be classmates, and we studied together in a private school in Du County in the south of the city. When the master father Yan recruited guests to give lectures, Zhang He often took people to join in the fun. Brother, you are already a celebrity in our Duxian private school."

"Get out!" I turned around and wanted to shake off this carefree and foolish little lunatic.

As soon as I turned around, the scene in front of me made my breathing stagnate, my feet seemed to be filled with lead, and I could no longer walk.

The second uncle was sitting at the banquet, his cheeks were slightly drunk, and his eyes were slightly hazy with the smell of alcohol.Opposite sat an older sister whom I didn't know, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a high-quality silk skirt, waist-length black hair, and red dandelion on her lips.

Holding a glass of wine in her hand, she looked at her second uncle with a smile on her face, like a peach blossom.The two of them didn't speak a word, but every time their eyes met, it was as if there was a flash of light, back and forth in an instant.

"What is my cousin looking at?" Su Wu leaned over and followed my gaze, "Ah, that is my second sister, and her name is 'Jia'."

I don't know how long I stared at it, and when I looked away, Su Wu's aggrieved face was infinitely magnified in front of my eyes.

"Cousin, you hurt me." He frowned slightly.

"You go to the bar, don't follow me anymore." I let go of his hand, and I turned and left.

Su Jia, Su Jia——uncle is right, she is really Su's "family" younger sister.

***

My uncle and Da Jinniang are newlyweds. It is also a kind of enjoyment in life to taste the authentic Beijing food cooked by Su Jinniang every day. I actually forgot about the toothache.It's just that, every time during the banquet, I saw this newlyweds and couple, the scene when my second uncle and Su Jia met for the first time would come to mind and I couldn't get rid of it.

The second uncle was not at home recently, so he was sent to Mayi again to contact a merchant owner named "Nie Yi".I closed "Gongyang Chunqiu" in my hand, opened the window a crack, and stared out of the window blankly.The rain slapped on the ground, splashing small splashes.

It's a pity that Dong Zhongshu will leave after just over a year of teaching, and will take up the post of Prime Minister of Jiangdu.The original text of the emperor's oral edict: "Tell Dong Zhongshu to stay in Jiangdu Kingdom, and stay until Jiangdu King Liu Fei is obedient and then come back."It is said that Sima Taifu recommended Mei Gao as a substitute.Mei Gao claimed to be the son of Mei Cheng, a person who admired Huang Lao's learning, and Sima Xiangru had a similar taste.

Speaking of which, it's almost time for the music test!

"Huo Qubing, you're getting fat." In the archery class, Li Gan gave such an evaluation as soon as he saw me.

Cao Xiang reached out and pinched my face: "Qubing is not fat, he just wears more clothes."

"Go away." I waved his hand away.Li Gan is right, it's not because Jin Niang put me on a double jacket and cape, but because I ate too many fresh meat pies recently.

It's snowing outside, playing Cuju indoors with a charcoal fire, it's not fun enough.One of the glazed windows of Jianzhang Palace has been broken by us, and the cold wind is blowing in. Masons are climbing up the palace wall to repair it in the wind and snow.

To make matters worse, after a trip, I hit the ground again with my left palm.

The instigator, Zhang Hechu, stared at me in place until he was pushed to the ground by Li Gan and Cao Xiang who rushed up.Of course it's a bad thing for relatives to hurt enemies, but when it hurts so much that you curl up on the ground and tremble, you don't have the mood to take into account the surrounding situation at all.

"Those who dare to fight will be suspended from school for a week." Taishi Han came over, his voice not angry but pretentious.He ordered people to bring snow water, trying to help me relieve my injuries, but after a while, even though I was grinning in pain and sweating, I could only hear a helpless order: "Go and send the imperial physician's order."