Chapter 204 Chapter Five Hanging Sacrifice

The carriage walked slowly on the official road, passed through the bustling market, past the lively crowd, exited the Zhenhuang city gate, and walked slowly towards the southeast.The noisy sound gradually faded away, the green hills were covered with snow, the weeds swayed, and the sky was gray. Occasionally, a stray wild goose flew past, wailing sadly, and passing over the sky quietly. Yong'er leaned against Yushu's arms, drowsy, the carriage was warm and cozy, and the cotton curtains were thick, blocking the cold air outside.Yushu hugged the child, patted him on the back, subconsciously hummed the nursery rhymes he had heard in childhood, time passed very slowly, but the road under his feet was extraordinarily long.

"Princess, there is a tea shop in front, do you want to come down and have a rest?" Jiang Wu followed beside the carriage with the guards of King Xuan's Mansion, wearing a low-key gray mink fur jacket, rubbing his hands together, and leaned over to ask. The curtain moved slightly, and the cold wind rushed towards his face. Yushu frowned, looked up at the sky, and said, "Hurry up, I think it's going to snow today, don't be blocked on the road." "Yes," Jiang Wu agreed, and then said: "The place in Hongchuan is cold. If we were in Huai Song Dynasty, the lotus would not have bloomed at this time."

"Mother concubine?" Yong'er rubbed his eyes, his face was red, he was refreshed by the wind, he wrinkled his little nose and asked, "Are you here?" Yushu glanced outside, then nodded and said, "We'll be there soon." Yushu has not been to many places in his life. The first time he left home was from Huai Song Dynasty to Zhenhuang. Along the way, he followed tens of thousands of Huai Song royal family and nobles, leaving their hometowns and coming to this cold and beautiful land. strange land. The situation at that time, to put it nicely, was that Huai Song obeyed the destiny, surrendered to Dayan, and became a vassal of Dayan.However, everyone knows that apart from the eldest princess Nalan Hongye, the Nalan clan of Huaisong only has a few daughters left by the former emperor and a dying little emperor. It's just a decoration.A hundred years after the eldest princess, Huai Song would inevitably be named "Yan" after all.

However, it may be good to get such a result. Among the Three Kingdoms, the land area of ​​Huai Song Dynasty was the smallest among the Three Kingdoms, and it was not even one-tenth that of Daxia. Although it was close to the coast and had developed commerce, However, it lacks necessary military equipment such as iron ore and war horses, and its force has always been at the bottom of the Three Kingdoms.Because of the checks and balances between Bian Tang and Daxia, Huai Song was able to stand in the cracks for a hundred years. Once the regime of Da Xia or Bian Tang collapsed, the first thing the winner had to do was to take Huai Song to the knife.

In the troubled times of the year, the internal regime of the Huai Song Dynasty was unstable, the territory of the Bian and Tang Dynasties was divided into two, the state institutions collapsed, the Great Xia was torn apart, civil wars continued, and the Yanbei Iron Cavalry went out and swept the Central Plains.Huai Song had no ability to maintain the three kingdoms, no army to seize the opportunity to occupy the territory of other countries, and no stable local government. Under the circumstances at that time, there was basically no other way to go except to rely on Yanbei.Facts have also proved that the strategy of the eldest princess is indeed wise. Even though the country was reduced to a subsidiary, the people and officials of the Song State were hardly affected by the war, and the royal family and the court did not suffer any losses. The status is far lower than that of the survivors of Daxia, and it is located at the last level of the empire.

People don't care who is the emperor, as long as they have clothes to wear, food to eat, and land to grow, no one will care whether their heavenly king Lao Tzu is surnamed Yan or Nalan.However, there are still some people who can't accept it. Yushu still remembers that on the day when he left Huai Song Dynasty, many scholars ran to stop the imperial convoy. To this day, Yushu still clearly remembers that scene, the fire was burning, the man screamed and called the name of King Xuan, and the others also fell to the ground and cried, saying that if King Xuan was still there, Jiangshan would never be destroyed. Ignorant women and children give away.

In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, and now under the governance of Dayan, such voices have gradually subsided, and the man who was once regarded as the savior by the people of Song Dynasty is less and less mentioned.Even on the anniversary of his death, they are the only orphans and widows who leave the city early in the morning and travel dozens of miles to worship. After driving for half a day, I finally arrived at Yanxi Mountain. The mountain here is so steep that the carriage cannot go up.Wearing a white fur cape, Yushu pulled Yong'er out of the car, and the servants carried the soft sedan chair, she sat on it, the sedan chair wobbled, and climbed up the stone steps step by step.

Because of the thick snow, the servants walked very slowly.Yong'er regained his energy now, raised the car curtain and looked out curiously, from time to time. There is a temple on the mountainside, which looks very dilapidated. Yushu used to rest here before going up the mountain.I know there are only a dozen or so monks inside, and most of them are old. Because the location is remote and there are few pilgrims, it always looks deserted. The door is full of snow and no one cleans it. She looked out the window and saw the green pines and Linz, which were lush and green, and felt a little sad in her heart.

Another year passed. "Princess, we're here. The road ahead is narrow, and the sedan chair can't pass." Yushu nodded, took Yong'er out of the car, and told the other guards to wait here, and only brought Jiang Wu, carrying paper money and joss sticks, and pulled Yong'er up the mountain. The wind gets stronger as you go up the mountain, and it hurts your face. She protects Yong'er behind her and walks up step by step.Suddenly, a strong wind blew by my ear, and a black shadow sprang out from the nearby forest like lightning. Jiang Wu immediately drew his sword and stood in front of Yushu. There are two swords across his neck.

"who?" The other party shouted in a low voice, Yushu turned pale, and hurriedly covered Yong'er's eyes.But I didn't think that Yong'er was very bold, pulled out his mother's hand, and shouted confidently: "I am the eldest son of Xuanwang's mansion, this is my mother and concubine, we come to pay homage to my father, who are you? You are robbers." Are you not afraid of beheading?" The child's voice was as crisp as pearls falling from a jade plate, echoing in the forest with the whistling wind.Yushu was so frightened that she pulled Yong'er back and hugged her firmly in her arms.

Unexpectedly, those robbers looked at each other, and they all drew back their swords. The leader took a step forward, bowed his head very politely and said: "So it's Princess Xuan and His Royal Highness, I'm sorry, please wait here for a while .” After all, a few ups and downs will go far. After a while, the man came back and said, "Princess, please." Yushu looked at them suspiciously, but Jiang Wu seemed to have understood something, so he didn't dare to say more, but nodded to Yushu, signaling her not to be afraid. The floor paved with white marble is very flat. From a distance, it looks like a huge and clean mirror. The sky is so close that it seems that you can reach the clouds with your hand. The heavy snow was whistling and spinning, and at a glance, it looked like a thick fog like milk. Yushu half-closed his eyes and looked forward, and saw a figure standing in the wind and snow, wearing a black cloak, the hood was erected, covering his head and face, the mountain wind blew past, making a humming sound, Heavy snow hovered beside him, isolating him from the whole world, and he saw a lonely figure, like a towering pine tree, so tall and straight that it seemed to be able to prop up the whole world. Even though she couldn't see her face clearly, Yushu still knelt down immediately, pulled Yong'er beside her, and called in her low voice: "See Your Majesty." Yan Xun turned his head, his ice-like gaze loosened slightly after seeing her, he smiled lightly, his smile was a little stiff, he didn't know if it was because the weather was too cold, or because he had forgotten how to smile for too long, he He nodded quietly and said, "You are here." Yan Xun didn't get up, Yushu didn't dare to move, his heart was pounding, he replied nervously: "Yes." "Get up, in front of Xuan Mo, don't let him think that I am bullying his wife." What he said was very casual, but Yushu's legs felt weak when she heard it, she nodded and stood up.Pulling Yong'er forward, standing ten steps behind Yan Xun, I saw Xuan Mo's spirit candle burning brightly, spirit incense hovering, black paper money dancing with the wind, like a string of dark Butterfly. Yan Xun didn't speak, just retreated casually, leaving the open space in front of the mausoleum.Yushu walked forward tremblingly with the child, lit incense, tree streamers, and burned paper. The white paper was engulfed by the flames little by little, turning into pitch-black ashes. His fingers were slowly warmed, but still maintained a rigid posture, and little by little, he poured all the paper money into the raging fire. "Father, Yong'er has come to see you." Yong'er knelt on the ground obediently, kowtowed three times upright, and then said with a serious face: "This year, my homework is very good. Mr. Lu has praised me three times. I know a lot of words, and I have learned a lot. After I learned how to ride a horse, Uncle Jiang gave me a black pony with a tuft of white hair on its nose, which is really pretty." The child babbled, with the innocence unique to children in his words, and his voice was soft, but he pretended to be serious like an adult, frowning a pair of small eyebrows, very cute. "Father, it's cold, you have to remember to wear more clothes, remember to wear the cotton padded clothes my concubine and I burned for you, you are here alone, learn to take care of yourself, don't get sick, I will take care of your mother for you Concubine, you can rest assured." The mountain wind suddenly picked up, Yushu turned her head away, her eyes were a little wet. "Mother Concubine? What's wrong with you?" Yushu forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, I was blinded by the wind." As I was talking, I suddenly felt that the wind was much weaker.Yushu raised his head in doubt, but saw a tall and straight figure standing in the wind, just in front of their mother and son.There was a cliff in front of him, the man stood facing the wind, the corners of his clothes were blown up by the wind, and the pure white snowflakes hovered around him. Although he stood so close, he seemed to be thousands of miles away, and no one would ever be able to get close. "Mother Concubine? Mother Concubine? What's wrong with you?" Seeing her in a daze, Yong'er yelled anxiously, Yushu knew he had lost his composure, and quickly turned his head and said: "It's okay, Yong'er, quickly kowtow to the father." The child stared: "It has already been knocked." Yushu nodded, put in the last string of paper money, bowed three times, and stood up. "Ok?" A deep voice sounded in front, Yushu nodded obediently with low eyebrows, Yan Xun said: "Then let's go together." Where did Yushu dare to object, she still nodded in agreement honestly. Yan Xun stepped forward, held Yong'er's hand, and said with a smile, "You know how to ride a horse now?" More than a dozen guards ran forward, some were packing up the sacrificial vessels behind, and some were guarding the left and right sides. Yong'er often goes in and out of the palace on weekdays, and Yan Xun has always been kind to him, so he is not afraid of strangers.Holding the hand of the most powerful person in the world today, he raised his head and said with a bright smile: "Yes, Uncle Jiang taught me, but I am still too young to ride a big horse, only a pony." Yan Xun smiled and said, "Your father didn't know how to ride a horse when he was your age, you are better than him." "Huh? Really?" Yong'er was taken aback for a moment, opened his eyes stupidly, and asked: "Father is so stupid?" Yan Xun smiled happily when he heard the words: "Your father can do anything else. He is proficient in poetry and has read a lot of books, but he can't ride a horse. His equestrian skills are still learned from me." "Wow, isn't the emperor my father's teacher? Can the emperor teach me? I want to ride a big horse, not a pony. The pony Uncle Jiang gave me is too lazy to run Yes, only small steps." "You are too young to teach you how to ride a horse, but I can teach you something else." "What else can the emperor do? Can he fight crickets?" Yan Xun smiled calmly: "I've met a lot." "Your Majesty, brag, the red-headed general I raised is invincible all over the palace, and even the mighty green-headed king of the second prince was bitten off a thigh." On the narrow stone steps, two people, one tall and one short, walked in the front, chatting while walking, having fun.Fengxue was right around, but it seemed that they couldn't intervene between them. Yushu followed behind, staring at their backs in a daze, thinking in a daze, if the prince was still there, maybe it would be like this.Maybe he will take Yong'er out for outings in his spare time, talk about other friends' embarrassing things when they were young, and then brag about how smart and powerful he was when he was young, maybe, that's what it looks like. She suddenly felt a little sad. Although she was a simple woman who only knew how to take care of her husband and raise children, she was not completely ignorant of external affairs. In these years, especially in the past two years, the princes in the palace were born one after another, but it was never heard that the emperor loved any son so much.Subconsciously, Yushu also understands that the Yan State was first established, the regimes of all parties are still unstable, and there are still small-scale wars in the north, and Dayan has promised before the queen married into Yan State, the emperor of Dayan must be The son of the queen, so even if the queen has no children yet, the emperor cannot get too close to other sons, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the government and the public.After all, in the court today, the old ministers of Huai Song Dynasty still have certain influence. The emperor spoke with such a gentle expression, probably no one has even seen his own son. His biological son is in front of his eyes but he can't get close to him, the emperor's heart may be very sad. Yushu sighed foolishly, a flock of birds flew over from the forest, their wings fluttered, she raised her head, the wind blowing on her face was icy cold. A burst of laughter came from the front, the sound was so pleasant. In the deep palace far away, Nalan threw a piece of white silk into the fire and watched it gradually being engulfed by the flames and turning into black ashes.Vaguely, it seems to hear the wind blowing from the southeast, with an unfamiliar sound, lingering between the eardrums. In the cold and silent palace, she was wearing gorgeous palace attire, with layers of brocade covering her whole body, and even her emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy became a kind of rigid symbol in the resplendent and resplendent silk and satin.Her back is straight, her face is painted with exquisite makeup, all the maids stand far away, no one dares to look up at her, she is still the noble woman, the real power queen of Huai Song Dynasty, Dayan's The true queen, the last princess of the Nalan clan, however, her shoulders were slightly tired. The sun shone on her body, and under the beam, there were fine dust flying up and down. Everything is changing, only her shadow, for many years, lonely, stretched by the pulse of time for a long time. "Another year." Silently, she smiled slightly, but her smile was like mist, gently dissipating in the cold snow at the end of autumn.