In just a moment, the door of Xiao Mansion was opened. The familiar people were still familiar faces, but the years had left some traces. Duanmuqiu felt a little excited and said: "Brother Wu..."
The look of the person who opened the door was completely different from Duanmu's. His cold eyes were completely different from those of Zhang Hude when he was joking. He said coldly: "What are you going to do?"
Duanmu completely lost his attitude towards the nine guards just now, and said with a sincere expression: "I heard that Mr. Sir returned to Beijing, and the eldest and second brothers were with him, so I... I rushed over on horseback. I didn't dare to rest along the way. I was already riding to death. Got several good horses..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Wu Fen: "Why are you telling me these things? We Qiyun Seventh Son don't have people like you who are greedy for glory... It's getting late, Master Duanmu, please don't disturb Xiao." Take a rest, please come back."
After saying this, he was about to close the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Seeing this, Duanmu Qiu hurriedly pressed against the door and said, "Second Brother Wu, please wait a moment. Can you please say a few words to Third Brother? Just say a few words."
When it comes to charging, I'm afraid Duanmu is no match, but when it comes to martial arts, Wu Fen is not as good as Duanmuqiu. Duanmu had no choice but to hold the door with his hand. Seeing that he couldn't close the door, he had to give up and simply opened the door and stopped Duanmuqiu. He said in front of him: "Okay, if you have anything to say, just say it here."
Duanmuqiu saw Wu Fen's fierce words and resolute attitude, and even the second brother's temper was not easy to be tough, so he had to stand in front of the door and look in.
"Alas, if you have something to say, just say it. If you don't, I'll close the door." Seeing Duanmu's probing expression, Wu Fen quickly stopped him.
Seeing that there was still silence in the mansion, Duanmuqiu stopped and thought. He raised his eyes and saw Wu Fen looking at him with cold eyes. He sighed heavily, lifted up his robe, took three steps back, knelt in front of the Xiao Mansion, and shouted: "Mr. Mingjian, Duanmu is not a person who is greedy for power. Under the sky, is it the king's land, and on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers. Duanmu has always kept his teacher's teachings in mind, so..."
"The two sentences have arrived, Lord Duanmu, please come back now." Before Duanmuqiu could finish speaking, Wu Fen had already closed the door of Xiao Mansion, leaving only Duanmuqiu kneeling alone in the cold winter night... just about to After getting up and knocking on the door, a pair of hands pressed on Duanmuqiu's shoulders...
Duanmu Qiu's martial arts level is not weak. Even if there is something on his mind, his whole body's perception has not relaxed. This hand appears silently and rests on Duanmu Qiu's shoulder, making this one of Qi Yun's seven sons look back in shock and see the person coming. With a respectful expression on his face, he said: "It's you..."
...
Wu Fen closed the door and looked back at his husband's room. The lights were still dim, and the figure printed on the window lattice was just like the scene he saw when Qi Yun's seven sons were apprentices.
The same night, the same winter wind, even the position of the figure on the window lattice is exactly the same, but the figure of the national scholar has long lost his heroic appearance and turned into a beard-stroking state. As the lights in the house shine brightly and dimly, Wu Fen recalls those days .
"Why do you want to worship me as your teacher? Tell me why." Yi Yi, wearing a long gown, asked with a smile.
Seven young men of similar age knelt in front of the door, all looking solemnly at the middle-aged scholar who pushed the door open.
"Sir, I want to learn the method of marching and forming formations. After I complete my studies, I will become King Qi Yun's vanguard general and change the current troubled times." When a young man with a tough head and a tough head heard the scholar in front of him ask a question, he immediately spoke loudly. Replied.
"Sir, I want to learn the art of strategy. Marching and fighting are all about brute force. I don't like it. I want to be that strategist that will last forever. While talking and laughing, my guns and oars will be wiped out." Another young man replied calmly.
"Sir, I want to learn... divination. Everything in the world cannot escape the arrangement of numerology. If I can get a glimpse of it, maybe... I can avoid disaster in the future."
"Hahahaha." The remaining six children laughed loudly. Even the scholar could not hold back his smile and walked towards the young man kneeling in front of the door with his eyes full of love.
"Sir, I..."
...
The young man Wu Fen also expressed his wishes. At this point, the six young men in front had all finished their wishes in turn. The six of them all looked at the young man at the end of the row. He was the tallest among the seven young men. He is weak, but he has a determined look that none of the other six people have.
Seeing the six companions beside him looking at him, the weak child lowered his head, his voice a little timid, but extremely persistent: "I... don't know what I need to learn, as long as I can protect you Everyone, I am willing to learn anything and do anything.”
As soon as he said this, the laughter stopped, and the other six teenagers all looked sideways at this inconspicuous and thin boy. No one laughed at him anymore.
"Old Wu, what are you thinking about?" A loud voice interrupted Wu Fen's thoughts.
No need to look, just look at the snow on the ground that was shaken from the roof by the loud sound, and you would know who it was. A strong arm hugged Wu Fen's shoulder, and Zhang Hude said: "Old Wu, you have been frowning all day long. , what are you unhappy about...don't tell me, let me guess..."
As he spoke, Zhang Hude showed a lewd smile and pointed his finger: "Have you fallen in love with a girl from a certain family? As everyone says, a brother is like a father. Who made me your eldest brother? Just tell me, as long as she is a girl from a good family... No, as long as it’s a girl, Lao Zhang, I will definitely get it for you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Fen frowned and said, "He's here."
Zhang Hude was puzzled. He released his hand from Wu Fen's shoulders and looked around to look for him: "He? Which him? Who else?"
"Duanmuqiu." Wu Fen replied with a frown.
"What!" Zhang Hude's eyebrows stood up, his eyes widened, and anger was about to burst out of his eyes. Zhang Hude had a forthright temper and never held grudges, but he only cared about one thing in his life, and that was the love he had for brothers back then. Duanmuqiu, one of Yun's seven sons, carried the remaining three sons on his back and accepted the reward from Qi Shao, the current sage.
Zhang Hude instantly became pale, grabbed Wu Fen's clothes and shouted angrily: "Where is the traitor, Old Wu, tell me quickly."
Others were afraid of Zhang Hude's reckless temper, but Wu Fen was not afraid, and he knew Zhang Hude's temper well. At this time, when Xiao Xiang returned to Beijing, countless pairs of eyes were staring at Xiao Xiang, fearing that Zhang Hude would act recklessly and ruin Xiao Xiang's important affairs. Wu Fen He blocked Zhang Hude from grabbing his hand, straightened his clothes, ignored it, and turned around.
Zhang Hude recalled that he had just seen Wu Fen holding the door open, and suddenly remembered that he reached out and opened the door, stretched his head and looked out, but there was only a cold blue brick street outside the door, and there was no traitor Duan Muqiu.
Angrily closing the door of the house, Zhang Hude turned around quickly, took three steps at a time to catch up with Wu Fen and shouted: "Old Wu, it's not like you don't know my temper, Old Zhang. It's not enough for me to apologize to you. Tell me, that traitor." No matter which direction you go, I will catch up with Lao Zhang and teach that traitor a lesson."
Wu Fen was not angry, Zhang Hude threw all his anger at him, and said calmly: "Why bother, we don't agree with each other. What he pursues is nothing but power. He is different from you and me, so what reason do you have to blame and teach him? "
Zhang Hude glared angrily and said: "Fart, fart, fart, we Qiyun Seventh Son made an oath back then..."
"There is no Qi Yun Qizi left, they are just like passing clouds." The Qi Yun Qi Zi mentioned by Zhang Hude seemed to have touched Wu Fen's anger point, and Wu Fen, who had always been calm, rarely got angry.
Maybe seeing the good-tempered Old Wu getting angry, Zhang Hude immediately withered, put on a smile and said: "I said Old Wu, why are you so impatient? It's not like you don't know my temper, forget it, don't mention that." You guys, why don’t we go have a drink and Lao Zhang apologize to you?”
Looking at Zhang Hude's smiling face, Wu Fen said, "Old Zhang, you are too hasty and will do bad things sooner or later. Remember, when we come back this time, our first priority is to protect Xiao Xiang. As for other things, , you and I don’t have to worry.”
"Yes, yes, everything is up to you, okay? What's the matter? Now that the anger has subsided, let's have a couple of drinks?" Zhang Hude said with cupped hands.
"It's okay to have two drinks, but one thing is, don't be greedy. Starting today, we will take turns keeping vigil..."
"Okay, I said it, everything is up to you, let's go, let's go."
Before Wu Fen could finish speaking, Zhang Hude couldn't wait to drag Wu Fen back to his room to drink.
——
In Yunshu Hall, Qi Shao finally finished reviewing the last memorial. He rubbed his forehead lightly, took the hot brocade handkerchief presented by the young eunuch, applied it on his face full of sleepiness, and looked outside the hall, where the bright moon was in the sky. There is no obstruction.
When I returned to the palace in the morning, Fan Mou's strategy on the jade chariot still echoed in my ears.
"Leave Wang Yuer and Wang Tian will no longer be constrained without such hostages. At that time, as long as the Holy One offers a little favor, Wang Tian will naturally accept it happily."
It is easy to keep Wang Yue'er, but since the left prime minister dares to bring Wang Yue'er back to the capital, he is naturally confident. He has stayed in Weizhou for eighteen years. No matter how he rewards him or orders him to return to the capital, he always finds various excuses. Shit, why did you suddenly change your mind and return to Linjing?
What kind of medicine is Wang Tian selling in his gourd? He wants to show his kindness, but he also doesn’t want to offend the Left Prime Minister. There is no such thing as the best of both worlds. Thinking of this, the Holy Emperor couldn’t help but twist his jade handle and shake his head secretly.
While Emperor Qi Yun was thinking about it, the sound of slight footsteps sounded outside the door of Yunshu Palace, and then the sharp sound of Zhongqi came into the palace.
"Your Majesty, the Commander-in-Chief of the Xishan Camp, Duanmu Qiu has been ordered to pay an audience..."
The Holy One retracted his thoughts and raised his hand to indicate. The young eunuch behind him understood and said outside Yunshu Palace: "The Holy One has an edict to announce that Duanmu will come to the palace in autumn."
The palace door opened slowly, Zhong Qi hunched in front, Duan Muqiu followed respectfully, and stepped into the palace.
"Your Majesty, Duanmuqiu, please see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live the emperor." Duanmuqiu saw the Nine-Five Emperor looking up at the sky with his hands behind his back. He quickly stepped forward, knelt down and shouted.
Upon hearing this, the Holy Master turned around, looked at Duanmu Qiu who was kneeling at his feet, and said softly: "Have you gone to see Prime Minister Xiao?"
Duanmuqiu, who was kneeling on the ground, was startled when he heard this and lowered his body lower: "Sir, he still doesn't want to see me."
A smile appeared on the corner of the Holy Master's lips, and he said in a gentle tone: "Since I don't want to see you, why do you do this? If I hadn't sent Zhongqi to call you into the palace, would you have knelt outside his door all night? If you had waited until dawn , when all the officials and royal relatives in the inner city were about to go out, they saw you, a dignified commander of an army, kneeling in front of Prime Minister Xiao’s gate, how could you look so dignified?"
Duanmuqiu didn't know how to answer, so he just lowered his body.
"Come on, come all the way. I heard that you killed several good horses by riding them. I will take this money from your salary." The Holy Master stopped holding the jade in his hand and spoke softly.
"Yes." Duanmuqiu got the order, stood up and stood aside with his hands down.
The Holy One looked at Duanmu Qiu's mess, shook his head and said, "It's been a hard journey, I'm afraid I haven't even had a bite of food, and I'm hungry too. Eat some with me. Please be loyal and pass on the meal..."
——
"Grandpa Xiao, does my grandpa really... think that way?" Wang Yue'er leaned on the table with her elbows and asked with her chin in her hand.
"As a granddaughter, you should know better than me what your grandpa thinks." Xiao Xiangxiang didn't care about Wang Yue'er's question at all.
"If the Holy One makes me princess and rewards me with gold, silver and jade articles like this, it is for the 80,000 elites in my grandfather's hands, then... that means..." Wang Yue'er is smart as ice and snow, if grandpa did this to show his good will Your Majesty, it is impossible for Grandpa Xiao not to know, but if Grandpa really has such thoughts, what will happen if Grandpa Xiao has no one to rely on? The girl's heart is in a mess...
Flipping the pages of the book in his hand, Xiao Xiang caught a glimpse of the girl frowning in thought. He knew that she was thinking wildly. If he didn't tell her, he might not be able to sleep well at night, so he closed the book in his hand, stroked the girl's head and said, "I want to Trust your grandpa."
Hearing Grandpa Xiao's words, the girl's heart suddenly opened, and a bright smile appeared: "I knew that my grandpa would not ignore Grandpa Xiao... By the way, Uncle Wuming, he was not with us when we were outside the city. Has it been a while? Grandpa Xiao, what did you ask the unknown uncle to do again? At this time, the city gate is closed and it’s freezing outside..."
Xiao Xiang turned to look out the window at the night and smiled: "Don't worry, I'll let him do some things. As for Jianglin City, I can't stop him..."
Wang Yue'er said curiously: "Grandpa Xiao always talks halfway. He doesn't tell the purpose of returning to Beijing. He doesn't tell where the unknown uncle has gone at this moment."
Xiao Xiang looked at the bright moon outside the window and stroked his beard and said: "When I come back, everyone can focus on me and buy more time for him..."
Some people died, but not completely...
