On the day of the Lantern Festival.
Unexpectedly, before Song You left, General Chen came to say goodbye to him first.
"I originally wanted to say goodbye to you sir in person, but His Majesty ordered me to return to the north and guard the north of the Great Wall, so I had to come here to say goodbye and thank you first." General Chen said, clasping his fists and saluting solemnly, "Thank you sir for speaking for Chen in front of Your Majesty. , saved Chen’s life.”
"The general has already made arrangements. I just relayed the message for the general." Song You said, "Besides, your majesty has already made a decision, and it has little to do with me."
"But it must be sir."
General Chen still kept his fists clasped and looked solemn.
In fact, he was later summoned by the emperor to have a night talk in the palace. He heard the emperor talk about the conversation that night and knew that although Mr. Song did not directly ask His Majesty to let him go, he only truthfully stated the facts and pros and cons. But these facts and pros and cons But only he can say it. If it were anyone else, the emperor would neither believe it easily nor accept it calmly.
To be honest, I was trying to protect him.
What's more, the emperor's last question...
The gentleman obviously protected him.
If he hadn't heard from Mr. Song, Fulongguan wouldn't have easily seen the world facing a catastrophe because of a simple thing, and probably wouldn't have let him go back to the north so simply.
Even if you don't kill him, you still have to keep him in the court.
"General, there is no need to be polite." Song You said to him and poured two glasses of wine. "Since the general left the capital before me, I would like to toast the general with a glass of practice wine."
One cup was handed to him, and one cup was taken by myself.
Sanhua Empress was no longer interested in wine.
They bowed their hands to each other and drank.
"Good wine."
General Chen narrowed his eyes.
"I trust the general. I only hope that the general will not let me down." Song You took back the wine glass and said solemnly to him, "Peace is hard-won. The general is a hero of all ages and must ensure peace in the world."
"..."
When General Chen heard this, his expression suddenly condensed. He had just saved his life, and he came here to express his gratitude. What else could he say at this time? Without hesitation, he raised his empty glass and said to him: "Your Majesty, sir. Chen’s life was exchanged for a promise there, and Chen also made a promise to Mr.…”
Pause for a moment:
"My generation of military men has taken it as our duty to protect the country and the country, and Chen must do the same. As long as your majesty does not take Chen's life, we will do our best to protect Dayan's peace. If one day, Chen betrays his oath, he will give Dayan The common people have brought disaster, sir, please kill me with one sword, without any resentment. Not only Chen, but also Chen’s descendants and generations to come."
"General, your words are serious, I don't know how to use a sword." Song You said and paused, "By the way, how have you considered the appointment of the heir apparent?"
"this……"
General Chen frowned, not knowing what to say, and in the end he just said: "Your Majesty has not made a decision yet."
"That's it..."
Song You couldn't help but narrowed his eyes.
It seems that his words to persuade the old emperor to make an early decision had no effect at that time, and the old emperor still failed to make a decision. Either this decision was too difficult, or he had other considerations.
Song You shook his head.
I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse.
General Chen left soon.
I heard that I am leaving Beijing today.
There are five military towns in the north of the town. Now he has handed over the military power of three towns and only commands the military power of Yuanzhi and Shuofeng towns, in exchange for the serious title of Marquis of Wu'an. His Majesty ordered him to return to the north, go deep into the northern part of the Great Wall, and essentially bring most of the original territory in the northern part of the Great Wall under Dayan's rule. At this time, Dayan should be at the peak of history, in every sense.
Song You also turned around and started packing his luggage.
Just a few days after returning to Beijing, Song You took Sanhua Empress to the City God's Temple and retrieved two paintings. They hung them upstairs for three months. Now that they had packed their luggage, they sent them back to the City God's Temple. I also sealed the thick travel notes written by Song You in the past few years and took them with me. I asked the City God to help me preserve them. I made an appointment to come and pick them up next time I return to Beijing, so as not to suffer the pain of carrying them on my own horse.
Next time I return to the capital, I don’t know which prince will be the emperor, and I don’t know if there will be turmoil in Changjing. No one can say for sure what will happen next. At present, the position of the City God of Changjing is becoming more and more stable.
It would be good for both parties to store it with him.
Night falls slowly, and there are many rivers of lights on the street, just like the Mid-Autumn Festival that year.
Song You also called up the Sanhua Empress and took up her pony lantern, while he took up the lantern given by the little ghost from Dashan in Pingzhou, turning it into two lights and blending into the river.
…
In the morning on the sixteenth day of the first month of the eighth year of Mingde.
The streets of Changjing are full of dew.
The "Dao" flag and store sign outside the small building have been taken down and neatly packed in the store. A bay-red horse is standing at the door with a luggage on its back, and a calico cat is standing at the horse's feet. , which naturally looks small in comparison, is looking up at this small building, not knowing what it is thinking.
The Taoist stood at the door and locked the door.
After locking the door, he raised his head and took two steps back. He glanced at the building next door out of habit. In a daze, he seemed to feel that the window should be opened, and a figure poked out, looking at them with a smile.
It's just obviously impossible.
The next time I return to Changjing may be the last time, and I will never see such a scene even if I think about it.
"Let's go."
The Taoist put the key in his quilt bag and stepped forward.
Maybe I was too tired from the lantern festival the night before. There is a custom in Changjing not to open for business on the second day of the Lantern Festival. Almost all shops in Changjing are closed. There are not many vendors selling vegetables on the street. The whole willow tree The street showed a rare purity in the early morning, with only the sound of horse hooves echoing, and it was leisurely, walking forward in the morning dew.
Fortunately, someone came to see Song You off.
There are quite a few people coming.
More than the last time I left Beijing, and more than the last time I left Yidu.
Song You thanked them one by one and left the city.
At this time, Changjing has a bit of an early spring scene. The spring scenery is bright and the weather is warm. It is not too hot to wear thin clothes and drive in the sun. There are many peach blossoms on the roadside.
This road was the one I took when I first entered Beijing, and it was also the road Song You took to send bay red horses to the mountains twice. Outside the city, there were village and town markets along the way, and wine flags were waving. People outside the city were not as sophisticated as those in the city. Several shops selling morning tea buns were open. Song You bought some steamed buns to take with him to make dry food, and also bought a candy stick for his children to eat.
Slowly walking out of the village market outside the city, the flags of the restaurants and bars in the back were all gone. The Taoist found a hillside, sat on a big rock, rested in the sun, and read "Yu Di Ji Sheng" 》.
On this way south, there are probably hundreds of miles of roads in Angzhou that have been traveled before.
It seemed like spring started not long ago last time.
Just coming back and forth, the direction is different, and the scenery in your eyes is naturally different.
After walking a few hundred miles, we will reach Fengzhou.
It's just that Zijun is still in the southernmost corner of Fengzhou.
This map is simple and abstract. According to Song You's experience over the years, the proportions of the map in "Yu Di Ji Sheng" are unbelievable, so he can't tell whether it is far or near.
The Taoist looked through it and thought.
Sanhua Empress sat next to her, holding two small bamboo sticks with reddish-brown sticky sugar in her hands. She held a bamboo stick in one hand and stirred it quickly, making the sugar wrap around the bamboo sticks, stretching out from time to time. He took out his tongue and licked it lightly, then narrowed his eyes and enjoyed it very much. He didn't care at all about the behavior and thoughts of the Taoist priests around him.
Just as she was eating, she suddenly turned her head and looked towards the way she and the Taoist priest had come.
There is a loess road below with many cars and people.
Sanhua Empress sniffed and handed the bamboo stick from her left hand to her right hand, holding them together. She kept staring at the way she came from, but stretched her hand to the side, grabbed the Taoist priest's clothes and tugged at them.
"What's wrong?"
The Taoist turned to her and asked.
"fox……"
The little girl stared straight ahead.
The Taoist followed her gaze and looked over.
On the loess road, most of the carriages and pedestrians were heading towards Changjing, but there was a carriage heading towards me. The driver was a restaurant waiter I had seen before, a man who was like a frog.
Before the carriage arrived, the curtain was lifted.
It was the maid's body that leaned out and looked at them.
"Xu..."
The carriage swayed and came to a halt on the road below them.
The maid jumped down first, opened the curtain, and welcomed her master down.
Song You was already waiting for them on the roadside.
"We clearly promised that if the time was right, we would go out to Changjing together for a while. Why did the Taoist Master leave without saying goodbye?" Miss Wanjiang asked, her tone was very calm, and it could not be heard as an accusation.
"The Taoist Master is so merciless."
Song You almost knew their temperament.
It seemed that only the maid had something wrong, but in fact both of them had something wrong, one was just bigger and the other was smaller, or one was hiding it deeply and the other was not. Moreover, he loved to play both roles, so he did not respond to their questions. , just asked: "How do you two know that we will leave Beijing today?"
"The Taoist Master said that he will leave Beijing after the spring begins. The weather has become warm recently, which is suitable for travel. The literati in Changjing are going out for an outing. I guess the Taoist Master will also leave Beijing in the next few days." Miss Wanjiang smiled slightly. He said, "Yesterday's Shangyuan Lantern Festival was to celebrate the prosperous times. It was the most lively lantern festival in recent years. I guess the Taoist priest will leave Beijing after enjoying the lantern festival."
"It happens that we think so too." The maid said with a smile, "After sending the princess off, I saw that the New Year was about to come, so I wanted to wait for the New Year. After the New Year, I wanted to wait for the weather to clear up. It will be fine in a few days. The Yuan Lantern Festival is here, and I want to finish enjoying the lantern festival. Fortunately, nothing will happen after that, otherwise, we might have to delay it for a few more days and miss the Taoist priest."
"I see."
Song You nodded and said.
Sanhua Empress stood beside him, still playing with the candy and staring at the two people in front of her.
"The Taoist priest is going south, and we are going south too. The Taoist priest is traveling to Fengzhou, and we have to pass through Fengzhou to go to Yangzhou. I wonder if we can go together for a while?" Miss Wanjiang said, "I have gin and wine to accompany my old friends."
"It just so happens that we plan to follow the example of the Taoist Master in the future, to express our love for the heaven, earth, lakes and seas, to explore the mountains and rivers, and learn how the Taoist Master travels," the maid said.
"You two..."
Song You looked at them with a smile: "I'm going to Yinnan, Zi County, to visit the Yeshan Ghost Town. You two are not going there too, are you?"
(End of chapter)
