Everyone loves Huo Qubing

The spring snow falls, and the sun rises.

"My cousin is very strange recently." Su Wu, dressed in a light blue jacket and a small felt hat, galloped to my side, "It stands to reason that a family reunion is a good thing."

"You don't know about that," Cao Xiang, who was wearing a brown jacket and a silver hairpin in a bun, flicked his horsewhip, "When Qu Bing ran away from home, he sneaked all the way to the capital and never went back. Not kissing over there."

Although I didn't express it, I was very grateful to Cao Shizi for his understanding of my situation.

"Where are we going to play next?" I changed the subject.

"Let's go to the south of the city." Su Wu acted mysteriously, "I know that place well, and I know a good place. My cousin just went to relax."

I rode my horse and swung my whip behind them, and let Huoyun take me to the place Su Wu said.Listening to them talking about the Chen family, my thoughts can't help but drift back to that day.

"It's inhumane to actually mutilate a child's body." Before the coffin was built and buried, the emperor shook his head and sighed when he saw Chen Xuan's body.

"Your Majesty, since last year, military officials have repeatedly attacked military fortresses such as Yanmen and Daijun, and the Northern Army has suffered heavy losses." The uncle replied, "The loss of the Wei family is really great compared with the northern border where the people are struggling to survive. It's insignificant."

"Are the military officials crazy?" Hearing this, the Son of Heaven raised his head and looked towards the north, "Perhaps, it's time to send troops."

"Your Majesty, you must first settle down in order to fight against the outside world. Now that the great achievement is about to be completed, please hold on for a while longer, and when the time is right, you can defeat the Xiongnu in one fell swoop." The two uncles urged each other at the same time.

"Ai Qing is right, this time we must make all the preparations." The emperor looked towards the northern border with brilliance in his eyes, "The fishing net has been cast big enough, it's time to draw it in."

"Does my nephew think I'm too cold-blooded?" Before leaving the Wei mansion, the emperor suddenly asked me.After a brief pause, he added, "In dealing with Han Yan's matter."

The Son of Heaven asked at the beginning, but I knew what it meant, because I was also thinking about the same question, but what happened in the court over the past year, I already found the answer in my heart, and I just sighed that he didn't remember to ask until now. I.

"Return to Your Majesty, no." I cupped my hands and said, "Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" said, 'If you want to get rid of it, you must hold it; if you want to take it, you must give it.' People always make mistakes. At this time, His Majesty's decision has your own reasons."

I looked up and met the surprised gaze of the emperor.After a long time, the Son of Heaven patted my head with a smile, and said to the two uncles: "Young children can be taught."

I shrugged my shoulders at the compliment and gave them a helpless smile—I was just telling the truth.

"The Wei mansion is too small to house these many people, why not leave this house to Chen Zhang, and I will build a new house for you in Chang'an City."

"Either you go back to Weiyang Palace to live temporarily, and move back after the mansion in Maoling Town is finished."

In the winter, the second uncle has been busy with Zhan Shi's mansion when he has free time. Therefore, "Pingyanghou" frequents the Wei mansion and resorts to various schemes to instigate the second uncle to move into the palace, which disturbs the whole family.As for Chen Zhang, he was terribly frightened, and never mentioned that I was the son-in-law again.

During the time I lived in Weifu, I could see that my mother was a little worried.But whenever I asked her why she was worried, she just pulled me and sighed, kindly persuading me to recognize my father, Chen Zhang.Relying on the instinct of being a son, I faintly feel that whether I recognize my father or not is actually not the real reason for my mother's worries.

Now that they have all moved away, the Wei Mansion suddenly looks a little deserted again.

***

I don't know how far I ran, suddenly there was an overwhelming rose red in front of my eyes, reflecting the white snow, and the wind blew, and the falling flowers were colorful.

The three of them reined in their horses and walked slowly side by side.

"This is the famous scenery in Du County, the ten-mile plum forest." Su Wu's tone was particularly excited, "My sisters bring me here every year to walk in the snow and look for plum blossoms."

"I've been here before," Cao Xiang poured cold water on, "The scenery is indeed not bad, but I think the plum forest is only one mile away at most."

Hearing this, Su Wu frowned and said, "I just saw that my cousin was depressed, and wanted to cheer him up. Why don't you say something appropriate for the occasion?"

"The beautiful scenery on this good day is really pleasing to the eye." Cao Xiang picked off a plum blossom to cover up his embarrassment, and cleared his throat, "Xiaoya has a poem: 'Plucking Wei Wei, Wei also stops. The day returns every day, and the year does not stop .In the past, I went, Yangliu Yiyi. Now I come to think, rain and snow are falling.' Brother Su Xian, do you think it is suitable for the occasion?"

"The son only chanted flowers and snow, but didn't mention plum blossoms. My younger brother is not talented, so he thought of another song." Su Wu responded, "Zhao Nan has a cloud: 'There are plums, but they are actually seven. I beg you, a commoner, to give them auspiciousness. There are plum blossoms, but they are actually three. I beg you, my common man, to let them go now.’ Just like the falling plums in front of us, seven points are on top and three points are on bottom.”

"This poem of love has only plums but no snow." Cao Xiang laughed, "Why don't you just chant the Tang style directly: 'Tonight and this evening, see this encounter. Zi Xi Zi Xi, why do you meet like this!'"

"This has nothing to do with Mei Xue, the prince will lose if he continues to fight!" Su Wu teased him.

"You do what you want." Cao Xiang said angrily.

Su Wu spread his hands: "Didn't I give my cousin a chance?"

"I do have a poem about it, which comes from Qin Feng." I nodded and said, "'How can there be plums in Zhongnan? There are plums in the article. A gentleman is as good as he is, and he is dressed in brocade and fox fur." ​​This plum in Zhongnan probably refers to your Du County. Merlin."

"That's right, I just forgot this song." Su Wu scratched his head.

"Actually, I still have—" In the middle of speaking, I suddenly heard the sound of a golden arrow piercing through the air, and in the blink of an eye, it had arrived at my door.

I thought I was going to die, so I couldn't help but close my eyes.I just felt that someone suddenly jumped up from behind and pulled me by the back of my collar.I let out a cry of surprise, and was pulled backwards on the horseback, the arrow spun and flew past my forehead.

I looked gratefully at my bodyguard.He has been following us all the way like a transparent person, I almost forgot about him, if it weren't for his quick eyesight, I might have been poked in the face by the other party.

In the plum grove, a strange young man with expensive and gorgeous clothes and a golden hairpin rode out slowly.I do recognize the two teenagers behind him - Li Gan and Zhang He.

"You are Huo Qubing?" The golden hairpin boy sat on the horseback and spoke slowly, with an arrogant tone.

"Who are you?" I asked him back, "You and I have never met before, why did you put me to death?"

The boy on the horse didn't answer, just stared at me with dark eyes.

"Do you know him?" I turned sideways and asked Cao Xiang who was on guard.

"My cousin, Jin Zhong," Cao Xiang replied in a low voice, "a ruthless horn."

The wind kept blowing, the snow particles danced and collided with the plum petals, and the sunlight fell in the gaps of the endless red clouds, leaving the ground mottled.

Faintly felt warm liquid slowly running down his forehead, he stretched out his hand to wipe it, and his fingertips were covered with blood drops drawn by the arrow, which set off a strange color in the blooming plum grove.

Jin Zhong looked at me with great interest, and the initial haze was gradually replaced by a smug chuckle.He raised his eyebrows, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, glanced at the four of us with contemptuous eyes, and crossed his hands in front of his chest to form a cross.

"I heard that Huo Qubing's personal bodyguard is very skilled, so I want to try him out—now it seems that it's only mediocre." He raised his jaw and spoke slowly, the young man's crisp voice was full of arrogance that didn't match his age .

***

I opened my eyes and stared at the delicately carved golden dragon on the beam.When I close my eyelids, the overwhelming plum red appears again in the darkness.The plum trees and broken snow were blown by the wind, together with Su Wu's annoyance and Cao Xiang's persuasion, the sky was full of red and white behind them.

I looked back and saw the guards riding behind me.This soldier from the Xiaoqi Battalion was dressed in unremarkable civilian attire, his hair was tied up high with a thick cloth rope, most of his face was hidden in the shadow of the setting sun, only his sword eyebrows and sharp jawbones were exposed, like a Just lifeless stone sculptures.

Yet today I had to look this man in the eye.Just now, Su Wu yelled "I want to avenge my cousin", and when the thunder was too fast to cover his ears, he released the arrow that had left the string and flew towards Jin Zhong.At the very moment, the shadow guard drew his sword and flew into the air, and with a "clang", the arrow fell in response to the sound, and sank into a tree trunk not far from the opponent.

One light move saves my life, and the second move saves the opponent's life and resolves an indiscriminate disaster. Such a guard with extraordinary skills should gallop on the battlefield and make contributions. Why is he willing to follow me, a powerless Huang, all day long? I have a small child, and I have been following for a year and a half.

"I must have found someone to fight again." I can't remember how many times my uncle commented on me when I just entered the house.Although the bloodstains had been cleaned on the way back, but the wound was too obvious to cover up.

"Qubing, who hurt you?" The second uncle brushed away the scattered hair on my forehead, frowning and staring at my wound.

I turned my head and glanced at the person sitting in the upper seat with a gloomy face.Today's rest, Wei's family members are all in the mansion, including the little uncle who sneaked in at some time.My uncle has often complained recently that His Majesty didn't stay in Weiyang Palace well, and ran home in low clothes without bringing a full body of guards, causing the whole family to panic.

Probably, he thought that under the whole world, could it be the king's land?

"Return to Your Majesty, two generals, Mr. Huo was injured by... Xiucheng Zizhong's assassination arrow in Meilin." The guard hesitated when he mentioned Jin Zhong, but still took out the feather arrow that he had secretly brought back from his sleeve, and handed it to the emperor. "This is evidence, a weapon used by the Xiucheng Palace."

Looking at the stunned look of a group of people, it feels good to have someone defending me.

"Why didn't Zhongqing accept my proposal sooner? It's easy to hide a spear, but it's hard to defend against it. If it weren't for Lu Aiqing's good skills, I might never see my nephew again." The emperor's angry face seemed to be mixed with more joy .

***

"Fang Pan takes Dao Zhang, and Zhang Pan takes Dao Fang. Haha, you lost again!" Chen Yan smiled happily, grabbed a handful of pastries in front of Chief Wei and put them into her bosom.

Tonight, the emperor held a small banquet, euphemistically called Mrs. Wei as the host, and invited all the Wei family members to the Qilin Hall.Because it was a family banquet, there was no restraint, so the emperor ordered people to bring out several jars of newly brewed sweet-scented osmanthus wine, and get drunk with everyone.

When he was slightly drunk, my uncle was already lying drunk on the long table.Zhu Yi, who was crawling all over the ground behind him, was carried by Jing Sheng and Yang Shi holding a small dirty hand, and swayed like a duck learning to walk.I sat next to my somewhat restrained mother, silently poking the vegetables with my chopsticks.

"Go and play with the princesses, you don't have to sit with mother all the time." Mother patted me on the shoulder.

"I don't want to go." Looking at Chen Zhang sitting next to Chen Yan, I shook my head.At this moment, I just want to be an invisible person like the second uncle who is working hard on the opposite side.

"Then how about toasting His Majesty?" Mother suggested.

"I don't drink, they know." I held my mother's hand and motioned her not to persuade me.

"Okay." My mother grabbed my hand back, and after a sigh, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and held me tightly in her arms.

"Your Wei family's house is full of pearls and jade, which is really pleasing to the eye." After drinking for three rounds, the Son of Heaven, dressed in black gauze and wearing a crown of heaven, looked around and praised.

My aunt offered a full glass of wine to the emperor: "Thank you for your praise, the concubine's family can be taken care of and supported by your majesty, it is the blessing of the concubine's three lives."

"My husband," the emperor drank his glass in one gulp, "I will entrust you and Zhongqing to take care of Qubing, what do you think, my husband?"

A look of surprise flashed across my aunt's face, but soon she replied with a voice like a silver bell: "The concubine thanked Your Majesty for Qubing."

"That's great Dad, brother will live with us from now on," Chief Wei said with a happy smile, "We can follow my newly learned drinking order with brother."

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry to speak bluntly," my uncle drank a little too much, cupped his hands in a drunken voice to remonstrate, "the position of attendant should be held by a virtuous person, Qu Bing is young, and he still lags behind in his studies, so I'm afraid it's not appropriate. "

Hearing this, the Son of Heaven let out a burst of hearty laughter, waved his hand to his uncle and said, "Uncle Zi is too worried, I just gave Qu Bing the status of going to and from China and North Korea with the eldest gentleman Zhongqing, learning the right tactics of war, Taixue still going Yes. Mr. Chang, do you think so?"

"Your Majesty said it." Although the uncle was a little reluctant, he still respectfully agreed to the emperor's words.

The uncle didn't ask any more questions, but raised her face in a respectful voice and asked, "Father, what is a servant?"