Chapter 174 Chapter One

Part Six Forever and Ever "The spring bridge looks south at the water melting, and the clear mountain is facing the blue peak. The fallen flowers in the Qin garden are wet with zero dew, and the new wine in Baling is thickened. The green dragon and the yellow are double-queen, and the red and phoenix are separated by nine layers. It is unbearable for the ancients to part with each other. Sunset Clock." In Jiashen, the seventh year of Yonglong's prosperity, in the middle of spring, the spring is pleasant and the wind is beautiful. The post road leading to Chang'an is full of cars and horses, and there are more than ten million merchants. Southern Chu negotiated a peace, and the two sides rowed the river. Although the undercurrent was raging, the two sides did not relax because of the superficial peace. After all, seven years of peace have passed. In the past few years, Dayong has devoted himself to the development of commercial roads in the Western Regions, especially the construction of several post roads, which has facilitated business travelers from all over the world. Chang'an has become the commercial center of the world.

Among the endless stream of business travellers, there is an inconspicuous small caravan rushing on the road unhurriedly. This caravan was temporarily formed by some small business travellers. Soon, it is inevitable that there will be some bandits haunting, so go together and try to be safe.The leader of this caravan is Song Jian, a businessman surnamed Song. He is in his early forties and has been traveling the country for many years.Seeing the faint willow color on Ba'an, he raised his whip and pointed ahead excitedly: "Guys, Baqiao is ahead, let's catch up, and we can go to the inn to rest before sunset today." They were very excited, and they all followed suit. They all have a fixed cooperative storehouse in Chang'an. Once they arrive at the storehouse, someone will help them settle in. Seeing that the destination is approaching, even the most calm people can't help but feel a little excited .Among them, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy was the most excited, looking at the smoke and dust in front of him with bright eyes.

Song Jian couldn't help smiling when he saw this. This young man was called Yunlu. He was not a business traveler, but he met travelers on the road. They were greedy for the journey and met bandits on the way. Although there were bodyguards and thugs in the caravan, those bandits Relying on a bow and arrow to block the road, at a critical moment, the young man rode by to help them repel the bandits.Although this young man was young, his body was as strong as a breast tiger, and he could use a strong three-stone bow.After expelling the thief, everyone learned that the boy was going north to Chang'an to find relatives, so they took him with him at his request. Anyway, it didn't take much to bring an extra person, and the boy's archery skills could be used .Along the way, this young man was very diligent and smart, and his temperament was cheerful. Although he only had a month or so, he had already become the most popular person in the caravan.

But Song Jian is well-versed in the world after all, he has already seen that this young man is unusual, although this young man is quite smart and capable, and can bear hardships and stand hard work, but judging from the small mistakes he often made at the beginning, it is obvious that he has never done these things Yes, and although he has calluses on his hands and feet, it seems to be caused by martial arts training, and although he is young, he is proficient in words. In a few words, he understood, and he could even ask some detailed questions. If it wasn't for the young age of this young man, he would have suspected that this young man was a secret spy sent by Nanchu to Dayong.But looking at the young man's curious expression, Song Jian smiled. Even if there was no one in Nanchu, he would not send such a child to inquire about the military situation. It is likely that the children of some aristocratic family ran away from home, and seeing this young man Wenwu He has achieved something in both ways, and his family background must be extraordinary.But they don't need to worry about these things, as long as the boy is not a spy, it won't affect their business.

Looking at the scenery of Ba'an, Yun Lu was very happy in his heart, it was the joy of finally arriving at the destination after a long journey, but an indescribable emotion made him almost unable to restrain himself from sighing.Growing up in a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River since childhood, I am used to seeing the scenery of Wufeng, Chuyue, and the grass growing in the south of the Yangtze River. All the way to the north, I saw that the spring in the north is also beautiful and moving, and there is a kind of vitality to make progress. The spring scenery of the two places may not be the same. Comparable, but compared to the scholar who sighs three times in the spring rain in the south of the Yangtze River and sighs in the spring, he prefers those young heroes who gallop in the spring breeze in the north.There are countless towns and villages along the way, and Yunlu always feels that these Dayong people are heroic and brave. Maybe their life is not as comfortable as that of Jiangnan people, but there is strong confidence and arrogance in their expressions.No wonder my father sighed endlessly, every time he mentioned the strong enemy in the north, he sighed endlessly. Although he was only in his thirties, he was already full of hair.I used to wonder why my father, who had one of the most powerful positions in Southern Chu and prevented the Yong people from going south to herd horses by himself, was always frowning in private. If it is against Dayong who is fighting hard, it will definitely be a tough battle.Thinking of the Forbidden Army with rusted swords and guns in Jianye City, and thinking about the garrisons and township regiments training in Dayong along the way, these should only be second- and third-rate military forces in Dayong. part of the army.In comparison, probably only my father and the troops under the command of General Rong who guarded Jingxiang and General Yu who guarded Jiameng Pass could fight against Dayong. It is no wonder that although my father disagreed with that old fox, he was still negotiating peace with Dayong. Always agree.

Yunlu's real identity is Lu Yun, the eldest son of Lu Can, the great general of Southern Chu. Although Lu Can was mischievous back then, he had no right to control marriage matters. He was ordered to get married at the age of eighteen, and gave birth to Lu Yun the next year. Within fourteen years, he had three sons and one daughter. Of course, Lu Can's favorite is the eldest son, Lu Yun. Lu Yun was born in the same mold as his father in terms of appearance and temperament. He loves bows, horses, swords and guns the most. He learned martial arts from his generals almost as soon as he learned to walk. He was able to shoot beasts with arrows and pick up bandits with his guns in his early ten years old. He is a famous general.

With his identity, he shouldn't have sneaked into Dayong, but this time he ran away from home and assassinated a person. Speaking of which, since the first year of Longsheng (the eleventh year of Tongtai), Lu Can took advantage of Dayong's entanglement with the Northern Han Dynasty to celebrate Wang's rebellion had just been quelled, and Dongchuan's people were in turmoil. After the attack on Jiameng Pass, Lu Can had become a military leader worthy of name and reality in Southern Chu.Seeing that Lu Can's status could not be shaken by the front, those villains in the Southern Chu Dynasty attacked Lu Can from the side in every possible way, and the fact that Lu Can was taught by Jiang Zhe became the best excuse.

Jiang Zhe used to be the Hanlin of Southern Chu, but surrendered to Dayong, and married Princess Changle, who was the queen of Southern Chu. Jiang Zhe, who was so unfaithful and unjust, had long been the target of criticism from the Southern Chu government and the opposition. Even after being drunk, he couldn't help scolding Jiang Suiyun, the traitor, and as Jiang Zhe's disciple, Lu Can, who never claimed to have cut off his robes with Jiang Zhe, couldn't help being caught in the same boat.Although no one dared to criticize Lu Can because of his contribution to defending the community and the military power in his hands, there were still slanders secretly, and there were even mad students who came to the door to write letters, admonishing Lu Can to "kill relatives with righteousness".This situation has lasted for a long time, even though Jiang Zhe is now an important minister of the Yong court, a majestic county lord, son-in-law and captain, who has won the trust of Emperor Yong and Li Zhi, it still cannot eliminate the turmoil of Southern Chu's criticism of him.However, Lu Yun couldn't understand why his father would rather be criticized by others than to cut off his robes with that man. Even until now, he still sends envoys to pay his respects every year, even though the man has a high position in Dayong, It shouldn't be so aggrieved.

Strong dissatisfaction had already settled in Lu Yun's heart. On the first day of the new year this year, Lu Yun followed his father into the palace to attend a banquet, but was surrounded by Shang Weijun's eldest grandson Shangwen in the garden and several wealthy children who had the same smell. In the face of insulting his father for adultery with Dayong, Lu Yun beat these dudes to the point of blood in a rage, which caused a catastrophe.When Lu Can questioned him, he just kept silent, and was punished by Lu Can with family law. He lay on the bed for half a month with his injuries, and was grounded to contemplate his mistakes behind closed doors.But Lu Yun was brave by nature, and thought that if he assassinated Jiang Zhe himself, then no one would be able to blame his father.So he ran away from home while his father was inspecting the defense of the Yangtze River.He was young, and Lu Can was very disciplined on weekdays, so not many people knew him, but he passed many checkpoints and went all the way north to Chang'an.Looking at the Chang'an City in the distance, he was both excited and flustered. How could he assassinate that treasonous traitor under heavy guards, clear his father's name, and absolutely not allow anyone to know his identity? No matter how ignorant he is, he also knows what kind of storms will be caused by assassinating the dignified son-in-law of Dayong, the important minister of Emperor Yong. He doesn't want to implicate his father, or follow the example of Nie Zheng in ancient times. Disappear without a trace.Clenching his fists fiercely, Lu Yun rode his horse and followed the caravan to Chang'an.

Just after crossing Baqiao, just as Lu Yun, who was full of killing intent, was intoxicated in the bright spring, suddenly there was a sound of horseshoes from behind. Lu Yun used to watch his father train cavalry, and he knew it was training. Well-trained cavalry is galloping, and it can be heard from the orderly and powerful hooves that this is a very elite cavalry, even the most elite cavalry under my father's command, so I can't help but look back.Seeing a cavalry with messy armor galloping in the distance, Lu Yun couldn't help taking a breath. This time the cavalry was aggressive, like a wolf and a tiger. Although the armor was different, they were all high-quality iron fighters. Armor, just seeing their postures, you can tell that this is a well-trained cavalry.Lu Yun looked intently, and saw that the frontmost man of the cavalry was holding on to the Fengxing flag. There was a distinctive "Lin" character on the flame-like flag.

Lu Yun and everyone in the caravan retreated to the side of the road. Almost instantly, the cavalry galloped by. Lu Yun could see clearly that surrounded by the crowd was a pair of young men and women. Wearing blue casual clothes, she is about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with a handsome appearance, with a bit of weathered color on her face, but there is a refined atmosphere between her brows, and the woman is about twenty-five or sixteen years old, with a fiery red body Wearing a long bow and white feather arrows, she is as delicate and beautiful as a flower, with a fiery momentum, bright and charming with a sassy and heroic spirit.When the two sides passed each other, the young man seemed to turn his eyes unintentionally and landed on Lu Yun. He seemed to be slightly startled, and Lu Yun was shocked. There was an indescribable majesty in the gentle eyes of the man. There is a hidden murderous look all over his body, which is the temperament of an outstanding general.As if sensing the man's distraction, the woman also glanced at him. Lu Yun was shocked again. The woman's aura was even more domineering. It was the majesty of commanding thousands of troops. In a blink of an eye, the cavalry had gone away, but Lu Yun was deeply shocked. Could it be that Dayong's generals are all so handsome? No wonder his father is so frowning because of this. At this time, the voices of his companions were heard in his ears. "It turns out that Princess Hongxia has also arrived in Chang'an. She must have come to celebrate her birthday. It has been several years since the Supreme Emperor passed away. This time it is the emperor's forty-fifth birthday. The news from Chang'an said that there will be a big celebration. No wonder Daizhou also sent An envoy came to celebrate his birthday." Lu Yun thought about who this Princess Hongxia was, but he couldn't remember for a while, so he couldn't help asking Song Jian, "Uncle Song, who is this Princess Hongxia, why does he look so majestic? " Song Jian smiled and said: "Xiaolu, you have never been to Dayong, I don't know, this Dayong court is different from our Southern Chu, women can also go to battle to kill the enemy, the one who just passed by is Daizhou General Lin Tong, she originally She was Princess Hongxia of the Northern Han Dynasty. After Daizhou returned to Dayong, Emperor Yong treated the Lin family very courteously and still retained her title of princess. This princess is not simple. Back then, he led the Daizhou army to defend Yanmen. At the end of the battle, every single soldier died and never retreated. After the death of General Lin, she obeyed her father's order and voted for Dayong. Although the head of the Lin family is Lin Chengyi, Marquis of Daijun, the army and people of Daizhou only follow the orders of Princess Hongxia. Order. The person next to her must be General Wang Ji, the county horse. General Wang was originally from Southern Chu. He was a disciple of Chu County Marquis. Each is their own master, but the mandarin ducks can only break their wings. Later, when Dayong fought with the Northern Han Dynasty, the barbarians took the opportunity to invade Yanmen. When the general Wang learned that his sweetheart was fighting to the death at Yanmen, he abandoned everything and went to Daizhou to live with the princess. They died together. Later, Old Master Lin married them before the battle. Originally, General Wang was going to die with Princess Hongxia. Fortunately, Emperor Yong was magnanimous and sent reinforcements in time. Otherwise, they might have died. Died at Yanmen Gate." Lu Yun listened fascinatedly, and said: "No wonder you have such a magnanimity. It turns out that he is a famous general who defends against the barbarians. I heard that Dayong has sent troops to fight and hunt on the barbarian grassland every year. It must be Princess Hongxia and Wang Ji. The general presides over it, no wonder they carry such strong domineering and murderous intent." Song Jian nodded and said: "Speaking of which, there are quite a few female generals in Dayong. Not to mention others, the eldest sister of Princess Hongxia, Princess Jiaping, is a heroine among women who is as famous as Princess Changle of Ningguo. They are all figures who can shake the government and the opposition with one hand. At the beginning, Princess Jiaping cooperated with General Long in the battle against Dayong, and defeated many famous generals who were capable of fighting in Dayong. Out of the siege. Everyone in Dayong said that when the emperor decided to recruit the Lin family, and treated the Northern Han royal family with such courtesy, it was probably because of the princess. Did you know that before General Long committed suicide? , entrusted the funeral to His Royal Highness Qi Wang, and later the matter was widely spread. His Royal Highness Qi also admired Princess Jiaping very much, but His Royal Highness refused to agree. It was this Prince Qi who pursued hard for two or three years. Finally, Her Royal Highness was moved, and she nodded and agreed to the marriage. Four years ago, when Princess Jiaping and His Royal Highness King Qi got married, Emperor Yong bestowed the marriage, and the Supreme Emperor and Prince Yongding, the original Northern Han Lord, personally officiated the marriage. It was a sensation. It was a grand event in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Not to mention that all the important officials of the Dayong royal family and the court participated, it turned out that many important officials and generals of the Northern Han Dynasty also came to the wedding banquet. The folk customs of the Northern Han Dynasty are so strong. After the Northern Han Dynasty destroyed the country, these People were either disarmed and returned to the fields, or abandoned their officials and retired, and they were unwilling to bow their knees to serve the enemy, but after that wedding banquet, these people all joined the army again." Lu Yun's face was a little heavy, but he knew about this matter. When his father heard about it, he sighed. He didn't understand that day, but now he heard Song Jian say that, so he figured it out. The relationship between King Qi and Princess Jiaping Marriage represented the integration of Dayong and the upper class of the Northern Han Dynasty. Dayong's state affairs were at their peak, which naturally made things worse for Southern Chu. No wonder my father was worried.Moreover, His Royal Highness King Qi is already a strong enemy of his father, and with the addition of Princess Jiaping, it will be even more difficult for his father, not to mention the general Pei Yunpei who has been confronting his father across the river for many years.Lu Yun didn't doubt Princess Jiaping's ability at all, not to mention all kinds of rumors, but seeing her young sister Hongxia Princess so heroic, she knew that Princess Jiaping must be even better. At this time, Song Jian said again: "Yunlu, if you go to Chang'an, you may meet another legendary figure, that is, Chenghou Su Qing. This General Su was originally from the Northern Han Dynasty, but she took refuge in the Dalai Lama in order to avenge her family." Yong, worked as a spy in the Northern Han Dynasty for many years, it is said that she made countless outstanding achievements, but later her identity was leaked, it turned out to be after the rebellion of Fengyimen. After the news spread, many people said that no matter how magnanimous Emperor Yong was, this General Su would have to be deposed as a civilian. Who knew that the emperor was as big as the sea, and Emperor Yong not only did not add any crimes, but also gave her a Marquis Now this General Su is the deputy commander of the Tiger Guards. He is in charge of the internal guards, and he is trusted by the emperor and empress. Look, this Northern Han woman is really unusual. It can turn the world upside down, but they all voted for Dayong. From this point of view, Dayong's civil servants and generals are even more remarkable. If it weren't for us in Southern Chu and General Lu, I am afraid that Yong's army would have crossed the south of the Yangtze River long ago." Hearing this, Lu Yun could only sigh deeply. He had a deeper understanding of how heavy the burden was on his father's shoulders. However, there were still people who secretly slandered and accused him. Zhe, no matter how high and powerful he is. Just when Lu Yun swore to himself, the swift sound of horseshoes came from behind his ears again, and the clear laughter like a silver bell drifted in the wind. Lu Yun couldn't help but follow the laughter and saw another fork in the road. Coming galloping on a fine horse, Lu Yun saw the knight above, resisting the urge to rub his eyes, he widened his eyes and looked carefully. These seven steeds are all famous steeds, the first three riders are teenage boys and children, and the last four riders are warriors who are guards. They are obviously young men from Chang'an wealthy families who have returned from their spring outing. Riding a white horse in the middle is a very handsome young man with willow eyebrows and almond eyes, his skin is as radiant as snow, and he is wearing light yellow clothes.And the knight riding on the left side of the young man is a handsome young man of sixteen or seventeen years old. Although he is wearing a riding outfit, he is elegant and refined.The black-clothed boy on the other side of the yellow-clothed boy is quite different. Although he looks only in his teens, his complexion is cold, stern and serious, and there is even a trace of murderous look between his brows, which is very eye-catching. He was terrified. Lu Yun's gaze was fixed on the boy in yellow, and he couldn't take it back no matter what. This boy was as dazzling as the brightest sunshine in spring. Seeing him, I feel that the world is so wide and life is so beautiful.It was so bright and dazzling that Lu Yun couldn't help feeling a little jealous. He came here with a grudge, and nine times out of ten he would bury his life here, but under the same sky, there was a boy who was about the same age as him. happy and free.