Early tomorrow morning, Mei Yuanchen will go on a long trip. The situation in the capital was unpredictable, and Xia Chengxuan could not leave easily. He naturally took over the task of welcoming the coffin to the west.
Firstly, he has high martial arts skills and fast feet; secondly, he is Xia Muchao's adopted son, and there is no more suitable candidate than him.
"Are you leaving tomorrow morning?" Xia Chengyi leaned on the bedrail with his head and shoulders and asked softly. She had just woken up, her head was still a little groggy from dreaming, and her words showed a strong sense of weariness, like a tuberculosis patient who had been ill for a long time.
When I woke up from the dream, I realized that everything was so incomplete. If she could not wake up, she would not wake up.
Mei Yuanchen sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing the beauty so sad, he couldn't help but feel pain and pity in his heart. He stretched out his hand to hold her cold catkins and replied softly: "Well, according to the obituary of the Ministry of Rites, the coffin of the adoptive father came from Tianmen." Departing from the city, I should still be in Fuzhou now, and there are still ten days to travel from the capital. I will rush to Anxian at dawn tomorrow morning. I will meet the guards at Huanzhou in Fuyang County in three days. Then I will go to the capital. For one thousand four hundred miles, I carried the coffin in hope that my adoptive father's deceased soul would be at peace, and it was considered as my filial duty to Chengxuan."
Xia Chengyi lowered his head and said "Yes", tears falling down. Mei Yuanchen hurriedly leaned over, held her in his arms, caressed her back, and muttered, but could not say a word.
... ...
Xue Ning's study room is very empty. Behind the desk is a map of Jue Kingdom. In front of the desk is a sand table of Jue Country's terrain. There is nothing else.
Over the past few months, he spent a lot of money to hire porters from various places to travel to and from Jue Country. Huang Tian paid off and finally completed the sandbox yesterday. When he got up early today, he locked himself in the study room, carefully compared the map and sand table, shaking his head from time to time.
"I will spend my whole life to wipe out his Duanmu clan completely, so as to comfort the souls of my father, mother, and little brother in heaven!"
With this power of mind, his body seemed to become tireless. He, a frail and wealthy boy, was able to go through wind and rain, sleep in the open and have picnics, hang out with villagers, and walk with grass.
"There are many mountainous obstacles in the north of Jue Kingdom, with scattered ravines and scattered hills and valleys. There are few people who have personally participated in it, and none who are good at drawing. Relying on such a crude sand table to arrange troops is really harmful to no one!" Xue Ning thought more and more! His heart became heavier and heavier, and he took a deep breath, looking up to the sky and sighing, "Although I have all my strength and my mind is constantly slacking off, things will eventually be difficult and the road ahead is bleak."
The sadness came from it, and it was difficult to control the situation. After a "bang" sound, the sand table collapsed. It turned out that Xue Ning kicked the table leg in anger. The sand table could not bear the shock, and a piece as big as his face collapsed.
Looking at the collapsed sand table, Xue Ning felt regretful and painful, and he collapsed on the ground, his eyes dull.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
... ...
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
... ...
"Master, Mr. Mei is here!" The lame old housekeeper called loudly from outside. He had called four times before but received no reply. He was really worried that the young master had done something stupid. Just as he was about to break in, he saw Xue Ning opening the door.
"Uncle Xiang, why are you calling so loudly? But what happened?" Xue Ning stood at the door and asked curiously. Looking past Xue Xiang, he saw the man behind him, and he couldn't help but smile on his face, "Yuanchen, why are you here today? Come in!" After saying that, he came out and led Mei Yuanchen in.
Suddenly remembering something, he turned around and whispered to Xue Xiang: "Uncle Xiang, ask someone to bring a chair." After Xue Zhen died, although Xue Ning also had a title, he did not serve as an official in the court, and the Xue family was in decline.
After Zhenwuguan separated from Mei Yuanchen, he led his servants to various places in the south in a few days to look for bodyguards and travelers who traveled to Jue country all year round. He only returned to his house at the beginning of the month.
In the past few months since he left the capital, there had been no visitors to the Xue Mansion. Unexpectedly, Mei Yuanchen came to the house and was led directly to the study by the old housekeeper.
When a friend came to visit, there was no tea chair to greet him. Xue Ning felt a little happy and a little ashamed, "Oh, my family has fallen into decline, and only Yuan Chen still remembers me."
Mei Yuanchen didn't think much about it. When he entered the study, he stood beside the sand table and looked at it carefully. "It took a month of hard work to make this ghost look." Xue Ning walked to his side and sighed with a wry smile.
"Xue Ning, have you been making maps of Jue Country for a long time?" Mei Yuanchen asked while looking at it. This sand table is one foot square, with fine mud laid as the foundation, hills built to represent the mountains, square logs used as the city, hemp ropes used as roads, and branches planted as campsites. Everything is meticulous, and it obviously took a lot of effort. It's just that the territory of Jue Country stretches thousands of miles across, so how can this small sandbox be covered?
The scholars met each other and treated each other honestly. Xue Ning replied seriously: "Well, I visited four counties and seventeen states, and found seven masters who have been traveling around Jue country all year round. I invited them to my house and spent a Yue Cai made this sandbox." He glanced at the sandbox that he had kicked down. He felt very unhappy. He sighed and said, "There will be a battle between Dahua and Jue, and I will live for this for the rest of my life! Know yourself and your enemy. , adapting measures to local conditions, I must first know the terrain of the enemy country before I can make other plans. Not to mention the contributions of my grandfather and father, who have learned military training from Duanfuzi for one and a half years, once the two countries go to war, I will ask A man of five hundred or a thousand men, if he wants to come to the court, he will still allow it."
When Emperor Yonghua first came to the throne, Xue Ning's grandfather was the internal affairs counselor of the second rank, and then died of illness in the position of bachelor counselor. Under the shadow of his father, Xue Zhen rose from the rank of a third-rank official, Wailang, at the age of 30, to the rank of Da Sikong of the first rank at the age of forty, and was considered a famous capable minister in the world. After Xue Zhen's death, Emperor Yonghua posthumously named him "Five Fanghou", and Xue Ning was able to inherit the non-hereditary earldom.
There are three types of titles in Dahua: hereditary, hereditary and non-hereditary.
The titles of the four kings with different surnames are all hereditary. As long as the great power lasts, the throne will always be inherited by the prince and will never be demoted. He is the supreme among the titles.
The titles of princes, county princes and other royal family members are hereditary titles that are reduced by one level every generation. However, princess, marquis, duke, etc. are not hereditary titles. However, usually after the death of the person who inherits the title, the emperor will grant separate titles to his heirs. However, it is impossible to say how many levels he will be demoted to, and even if he is not given a knighthood, it is nothing.
At that time, five first-rank ministers were killed in one night. Emperor Yonghua made such a big move to stabilize the court, and Xue Ning was able to inherit the earldom at a young age.
"Okay, once there is a war on the border, you and I will ride side by side and go to the battlefield together!" Mei Yuanchen patted Xue Ning's left shoulder heavily and said seriously. Xia Muchao died at the hands of the traitor general Zhao Qianming. He told himself countless times that he must kill his enemies and avenge his adoptive father.
"Okay, this is the best!" Xue Ning was overjoyed, stretched out his right hand, and slapped Mei Yuanchen's left shoulder heavily.
The two looked at each other and both thought: It is really a great blessing in life to have such a like-minded classmate and friend.
"Xue Ning, I'm here today, first to see you and then to say goodbye." Mei Yuanchen put down her hand and said to him softly.
Hearing what he said, Xue Ning was not surprised. After all, no one from the Mei family was in the capital. I was just thinking about getting together and leaving with my friends, and felt a little reluctant, so I asked, "Are you going to Anxian?"
"Yeah." Mei Yuanchen replied.
"It's better than anything else to go to Anxian and stay with your parents to fulfill your filial piety." Xue Ning said with a bitter smile. He is already a loner without a father and a mother, and he can understand the importance of blood relatives most of all. Xue Ning was happy for Mei Yuanchen to return to his parents' knees.
"I'm not going here to accompany my parents." Mei Yuanchen's face darkened, and the sadness in his eyes grew, "You don't ask about foreign affairs, maybe you don't know that my adoptive father... passed away."
Xue Ning's eyes widened and he couldn't believe his ears. He said after a while: "What...what? His Majesty the King of Jaw, he..."
... ...
After coming out of Xue Mansion, Mei Yuanchen went straight to Nanguo Restaurant, where he made an appointment with Gongyang Songme.
"Mr. Mei, Prince Gongyang is waiting at Zhaixing Pavilion. Please come with me." Xu Sugong was waiting outside the building and greeted him from a distance. He smiled and held hands in greeting after being only ten feet away.
After the two of them were walking further, he comforted him softly: "Mr. Mei, I have only just heard about His Royal Highness King Jaw. Please forgive me and acquiesce!" His expression was sincere and his voice was low, as if he was just a little bit hypocritical. nor.
The Xu family is the number one family in the martial arts world today, and they are unwilling to stay in Ruozhou. Xu Xigong finally climbed up to Prince Jia's Mansion and wanted to open up a situation in the capital. Unexpectedly, this happened to Xia Muchao. He is not sad, but regret is real.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Xu." Mei Yuanchen was not very interested and forced a smile.
Xu Sugong didn't say much, and went ahead to lead him upstairs.
The corridors of the restaurant are exquisitely carved, and the window stickers are all colorful, but Mei Yuanchen has no time to look at them and goes straight to the Star Picking Pavilion.
... ...
In the northern suburbs of Yin Yang City, the two cavalry were stationary. The two horses, one black and one gray, are both strong and vigorous, showing that they are good horses for thousands of miles.
Riding on the black rider was a man with a dark face and thick eyebrows in a black robe. He raised his hand to the middle-aged man in plain clothes and said to the gray rider: "Mr. Yu, next I want to take the Yinshui Road to Beiye City. You go to Dahuatan." The Koujun needs to take the Hanbiankou road from Xianma Kingdom, and the fastest way is to take the Yinhan Road. Why don't we part ways here."
"Well, Duanmu Chong, farewell here and wish you a safe journey!" Yu Lingyi returned the greeting with her hand in hand.
The people riding on them were none other than Yu Lingyi and Duanmu Yu's confidant Duanmu Chong. They were ordered to do something and came out of Yinyang City Pass together. The old man in Qingyi had not yet been brought to justice, and Duanmuyu did not dare to go out of the city to see him off, so he summoned the two of them to the palace early in the morning and gave them a farewell wine.
"Haha, thank you. Mr. Yu, I also wish you to return to the palace as soon as possible!" Duanmu Chong said with a loud smile.
Beiye City was slaughtered by Xia Chengcan, and the corpses piled up like mountains. Mu Danqing had already led the garrison from Baishan County to take care of them.
Mu Danqing's father and grandfather were both generals of the Jue Kingdom, and his family tradition was strong, which cultivated his warlike and brave temperament. Seeing the tragic situation in Beiye, Duanmuyu was worried that he could not control himself, so he sent Duanmuchong to patrol the Beiye camp. Duanmu Chong went there with Jin Ling, so he could capture Mu Danqing first at the critical moment.
Knowing that there were still two descendants of the royal family hiding in Dahua in the Jue Kingdom, Duanmu Yu made up his mind to let them return to the Duanmu clan and serve the Jue Kingdom. Yu Lingyi went to Dahua with Duanmuyu's token to find her relatives.
The two of them said goodbye, each riding fast, and disappeared around the corner of the mountain road.
