Living is a very tiring thing, especially in this country where martial arts are practiced and sects seek Taoism. This is especially true for Su Qing. It may even be a little harder. Maybe it will be better after today.
The place ruled by the Xiongmo was an endless desert with little vegetation and only one river. The Xiongmo Dynasty was established along the river, and one river ran through the entire dynasty. However, just on the eastern border of the Hungarian Desert stands a huge stone block with the three characters "Yumen Pass" written on it with dragons and phoenixes dancing on it. Beyond Yumen Pass, there is another scenery. The grassland vegetation begins to spread, the woods are lush, and the birds and flowers are fragrant, just like another world.
Just in front of the Yumen Pass stood a group of people and two carriages, each wearing linen clothes with sharp knives hanging on their waists and leading a horse. One of them walked up to the carriage and lowered his head slightly, looking into the carriage and said: "Prince, the Jade Gate has arrived."
The bead curtain opened, and a young man walked out of the carriage. He jumped off the carriage and looked at the scenery of Yumen Pass. He couldn't help but sigh: "When I was sent to the Ming Dynasty as a hostage when I was young, I couldn't help but marvel when I saw Yumen Pass. It is like a fairyland on earth. Even after living in the Ming Dynasty for so many years, I am still amazed when I see it again. It is hundreds of times richer than our Xiongmo people! What if we, the Xiongmo people, could live in such a place for generations. Happiness."
The bead curtain of another carriage was opened by someone with one hand, and a young man came out. He stepped out of the carriage and coughed lightly and said: "Tang Yazi, you can only think about it. Go back and wash yourself." Go to sleep, there will be everything in your dreams.”
The young man's face darkened when he heard this title, and he said with some displeasure: "I have returned to the Xiongmo desert now. My name is Ali Xiong! Also, when I was in the Ming Dynasty, my name was Tang Wei! It's not like I'm called Tang Bashan!"
The young man waved his hand slightly and said nonchalantly: "Okay, I understand, Tang Yazisan."
Ali Xiong snorted coldly and said: "Su Qing, since you can know my nickname in the Ming Dynasty from the depths of the Xiong Desert, then you can come out of our Xiong Desert and return to the Ming Dynasty. Don't you know why? Otherwise How long will it take for our Hungarian army to break through your Ming Dynasty palace? Then, for your father’s sake, we will definitely spare your life. It’s a pity that General Su Zhan never died on the battlefield during his entire military career. He died in your Ming Dynasty's struggle to seize the direct line, and it was an unreasonable disaster. It is really a pity and can't be discussed."
Ariel Xiong held Su Qing's face tightly and wanted to see a trace of movement on his face, but unfortunately there was no movement. Su Qing just looked at the scene inside Yumen Pass calmly.
For a long time, two black spots appeared in the distance inside Yumen Pass and gradually enlarged. A man rode a horse and led another horse in his hand and rushed towards Ariel Xiong and his party.
Seeing the visitor, Ariel Xiong said to Su Qing: "Perhaps we will be enemies next time we meet. Of course, the premise is that you can survive. You can live in our desert for so long. I hope you can meet us alive." Until the time when I step through the Ming Dynasty."
"The world is still uncertain. You and I are both dark horses. What's more, this is a contest between two countries. There is no final winner. No matter how harsh words you say, it will be meaningless and very boring."
Ariel Xiong did not refute, turned around, got on his horse and said to his men, "Let's go", then turned around and left Yumen Pass.
As the man on horseback in Yumen Pass got closer and closer, a smile gradually appeared on Su Qing's lips. He appeared to be an old man about fifty or sixty years old. He couldn't wait to dismount his horse before it completely stopped. He bowed his head and bowed, and said to Su Qing in a choked voice: "Su He of the Su family pays homage to His Royal Highness."
Su Qing stepped forward and helped him up, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Su. If my father knew you were doing this to me, he would probably whip me to death."
Su He wiped away his tears and said with a broken smile: "I am the steward of the Su family. You are the eldest son of the Su family. This is how it should be. Even if he is a general..."
Halfway through the conversation, he couldn't help but stop, and the two fell into a brief silence. Finally, Su Qing spoke first: "Get on the horse first, and we'll talk after we get back."
Su He responded, and quickly stepped forward to hold the reins and touched the horse's head, allowing Su Qing to mount the horse steadily. Su Qing smiled softly when seeing this scene but did not say anything, and took the reins from Su He's hand. Slowly turning the horse's head and riding forward slowly, Su He followed closely and kept pace.
Now that you're back, you don't have to be so anxious. You can take your time and do everything one by one.
As he walked further into the pass, the scenery became more and more full of spring. Su Qing took a deep breath, pursed his lips and said: "The gap between the inside and outside of the pass is so big, no wonder those young people always look down on our Ming Dynasty. Rumor has it that This difference is caused by the ancient immortal who casually split the rules of the world with his sword and isolated the inside and outside of the pass. I don’t know whether it is true or not."
"How do ordinary people like us know about the immortals? Even the general once practiced in the immortal sect and never mentioned a word to us. However, since there can be heroes like generals in the immortal sect, it must be good. "." Su He looked at the scenery in front of him and then looked back at the desert outside the pass. Unconsciously, he felt sad in his heart. He stared at Su Qing's thin body and whispered: "Your Highness, I have suffered all these years. This old slave is useless. , I can only bring two old horses to greet His Highness. There is a shortage of manpower in the city, and everyone has important duties. If..."
"Well...actually it's okay. These are nothing. Besides, am I not alive? In fact, all the people who have suffered are in my heart. You have worked hard these years." Su Qing said it lightly.
He has lived alone in the enemy's country for these years without any friends. In addition, he was seriously injured on horseback when he was a baby. His body is far weaker than ordinary people. He has a hidden illness that has not healed yet. Even he himself feels that his time is running out. The living environment in the Xiongmo was even worse than that in the Ming Dynasty. It was windy and sandy all year round, and the food they ate was extremely monotonous and even difficult to digest. Su Qing wondered more than once how the people in the Xiongmo survived on this land and how they still had the troops to go there. Attacking the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps it was this harsh environment that made them eager to invade the Ming Dynasty to obtain a better living environment.
Su He felt a pain in his heart and felt very relieved. The boy who was still a child seemed to have become an adult in the blink of an eye, but the price involved was not something that ordinary people could bear.
"Before I went out, I had arranged for the palace's servants to prepare a dinner at home. I will be back in time to eat."
"I want to meet my father later. My father liked to drink Chang'an wine from Suzhou the most during his lifetime. Can you please buy two more bottles for Subo later? There is no need to prepare other things. I guess he doesn't like it either."
After that, he galloped his horse, raised his whip, lifted the reins, and headed towards Suzhou City. Su He responded and followed closely. As we got closer to Suzhou City, we saw more and more people. Many hunters were walking along the official road carrying prey on their backs. There were very few people riding horses on the official road. After all, it was close to the border. Those who rode horses were either military personnel or dignitaries in the city, which attracted many people to stop and wait for them to pass by. Of course, there was also the enemy.
Yumen Pass is not far from Suzhou City, and the two of them arrived outside Suzhou City not long after. Outside the city of Suzhou, there are willows and warblers, and the grass is long and warblers are flying. There are many urchins flying kites on the grass together, and they don't look like they are guarding the border. After several battles in the past, it has been nearly ten years since the Hungarian desert invaded. After passing Suzhou City, of course the past ten years of stable life were the days when Su Qing stayed in Xiongmo.
The gates of Suzhou City were wide open, and the soldiers on the city wall were holding long guns, standing five steps abreast, guarding the outside of the city and looking at Su Qing. There were seven people standing in front of the city gate. The leader was dressed in white and stood with his hands behind his back, giving the impression that one man was in charge of everything. The remaining six people were divided into two teams and stood on both sides behind the man in white.
When Su Qing and the two men walked in, the man in white knelt down on one knee with his hands clasped and said to Su Qing: "Xu Yun, the deputy general of the Suzhou City Defense Army, led the three armies to pay homage to His Royal Highness." After that, the three people behind Xu Yun and the naked eyes of the city wall The soldiers who could see him knelt on one knee and shouted: "Greetings to His Royal Highness."
The children outside the city didn't know what was going on when they saw this scene, so they stared blankly at Su Qing and the two, wondering who this person was. How could General Xu and all the military uncles in the city kneel down together, and they did it spontaneously? Some adults understood something when they heard the words "His Royal Highness, Crown Prince." Their eyes turned red and they pulled the children around them to kneel down to Su Qing. Many of them covered their faces and cried, choking in low voices.
Su Qing took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Everyone, get up. How can I, Su Qing, deserve such treatment from you? You have sacrificed your life to protect the border for decades. You deserve to be worshiped by me." After saying that, he was about to dismount. Xu Yun quickly stepped forward and stood next to the horse and said, "This is absolutely impossible. The security of Suzhou City today depends entirely on the general and His Royal Highness."
Su Qing smiled helplessly and said, "Does Uncle Xu want to make fun of me like this? The general trend is that personal gains and losses are nothing. Besides, I'm back safely."
Xu Yun smiled and naturally took the reins from Su Qing's hand, leading the horse towards the city. Su Qing was about to stop but was interrupted by Xu Yun's words: "When I was a soldier, I was leading the general's horse. Don't look at the fact that I was just a horse leader at that time. I don't know how many people wanted to lead horses but didn't have the opportunity. . Every time the general comes back from a victorious battle, I lead the horse and follow the general into the city. It feels like I am coming back from a victorious battle. Now that the general is gone, please let me lead your horse for once."
Su Qing stopped talking and let Xu Yun lead the horse into the city. Looking at the people around him still kneeling on the ground, he had an unspeakable feeling in his heart, this is Suzhou City! The Su family’s Suzhou City!
"Everyone, please get up." Su Qing shouted again, and everyone slowly stood up, stood looking at Su Qing, and silently followed behind them into the city.
