Tide beat empty city

Two months later, the imperial court issued a decree to grant the marriage, which seemed to be a deliberately protracted journey, which made people wonder whether the hand holding the pen also hesitated.Perhaps because of this, the handwriting on Huang Ling was particularly resolute and solemn; there was no need to reply to Zhan Zhao's request to return to Beijing alone.

In the early spring of Lingnan, the flowers are red and the willows are green.The four seasons blur the boundaries here, and the space makes it easy for time to throw away personnel, and it is a hundred years at the fingertips.

Passing through the courtyard one day, Zhan Zhao turned his head inadvertently, and saw the tall kapoks in the deep courtyard blooming in full bloom, and the flowers burned like flames, reflecting the day extremely brightly.After staring blankly for a while, he turned around and continued walking.Momentary mood, through winter and spring, blooming after withering, looking forward to hopelessness.

Going to the sorrow and joy are all settled, and finally don't ask the direction.

According to the table, the three monstera trees are growing vigorously.He transplanted them into the courtyard and watched them silently for a long time.How could I have never imagined that this is their home for the rest of their lives after traveling through thousands of rivers and mountains.Taking it back to Tokyo is like a tide in the past, whose obsession has no roots.

Yongnian walked in at this time, Zhan Zhao looked at him and smiled.He asked lightly: "Do you still want my flowerpot? If you want it, take it."

After a moment of silence, Yongnian said: "You don't care anymore, why should I care more."

Zhan Zhao smiled again, turned and went back to the room.It is indeed meaningless to be known, and there is nothing to love in my heart.

Yongnian followed to the door and stood far away from him.Zhan Zhao poured tea to drink by himself, and took out books to read.Did not look up at him.

After standing still for a while, Yongnian approached and said with a smile, "If Zhao doesn't say please, I almost dare not come in."

Zhan Zhao glanced up, but still said calmly: "This remark offends Zhan. The prince comes in and out of his own house, so why ask anyone."

Yongnian leaned down, squatted in front of him and looked up at him: "But you are not like this usually. Are you unhappy today? You don't want any good flowerpots anymore."

Zhan Zhao smiled, thought for a while and said, "I'm not happy, nor unhappy. The flower pot is empty, and Zhan won't plant any more. We should make the best use of it, the prince doesn't want it, and I will give it to the flower farmer another day. "

Yongnian stretched out his hand to caress his knee, and said softly for a while, "Zhao. It's your emperor who doesn't want you to go back. Why do you..."

Zhan Zhao brushed him away and stood up, walked to the window and looked out, without saying a word.

Yongnian's hands froze in the air, maintaining an embarrassing posture of losing his dependence, and continued: "Isn't it good to stay? Why do you have to embarrass yourself like this."

From the window facing north, you can't see far, and your eyes are broken in the cloud mountain.Xu Jiu Zhanzhao turned around and said, "I have many reasons for this. Whose fault is it that you are not happy?"

Yongnian sat back down, lowered his head and smiled lightly: "When I open my eyes every morning, the thought of being able to see you makes me feel extremely happy. How can Zhao say that I am not happy?"

If you don't study, you can learn the allusions of Zifeiyu without a teacher.Zhan Zhao couldn't help but laugh, it's a pity you didn't want to tell others.They can't reason with each other, so why bother talking.He sat down before returning to the case, and continued to read the opened page.

Yongnian still followed and sat by his feet.It seems to imitate the previous situation, but the past can't go back.Swimming in the dark night, if you want to see the dawn on the other side, you will advance but never retreat.

"Zhao." The young man buried his head in the folds of his clothes and closed his eyes: "What is your bliss, tell me. I can give it to you too."

The fish in the water say they will give the birds the whole ocean.Zhan Zhao put down the book and let out a long sigh.Long Jiu said: "If the prince is fine, please go back. I want to be quiet."

"I have something to do, something to do." Yongnian quickly got up, took out a bead from his sleeve, and wrapped it in a jade-colored silk sash and gave it to him together: "My sister gave it to you. She can't do it by herself, so I asked me to pass it to you. Said it was my father." You have to keep the ones left behind." Seeing that he hesitated to answer, he quickly stuffed it into his hands and held it: "If you want it, you can tell her yourself. I dare not take it back."

Zhan Zhao looked down, the body of the pearl was even and pure, soaked in brilliance, making his fingers soft and moist for a moment.Putting it in his arms, he said: "Your Majesty, don't worry. Zhan will definitely accept the gift from the princess."

When Yongnian saw it, he sighed, "It's also my father's relic, but you don't want the jade pendant I gave you. Presumably I'm too bad, so you don't like it."

It doesn't seem right to say you like it or don't like it.After thinking for a while, Zhan Zhao shook his head and said, "The princess and I will be husband and wife, people who will stay together for a lifetime; if the prince's jade pendant is to be given away, it should be given to his wife later in the day. Zhan thinks that the old prince's intention is probably in this way."

"A person who will stay with you forever?" Yongnian lowered his head and smiled: "He gave the jade pendant to my mother, because he wanted to stay with her forever? It can be seen that it is an ominous thing." He raised his head and said, "Zhao, I understand. It's actually very good for you to be my brother-in-law. It's just that I can't call you that anymore, sometimes I feel reluctant. "

Zhan Zhao didn't know what he understood, and was momentarily at a loss for words.

Yongnian climbed up with both arms, easily wrapped around his shoulders, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter what you call it. As long as you are still like before, you are willing to teach me. Are you willing?"

Like a sapling, he grows taller day by day.Zhan Zhao sighed, nodded and said, "If you're willing to learn, why not? I'm afraid I'm too ignorant to learn, and I'm powerless."

Yongnian leaned his head up and shook his head vigorously: "You are the best. You will never change."

Zhan Zhao pulled him away, stood with his hands fixed by his sides, and said calmly, "Then tell yourself, how long has it been since you went to school? No matter how good you are, sir, I think you'll be so mad at me."

Yongnian looked around and muttered in a low voice: "Who said I didn't read it, I read it secretly. I didn't let the Wangfei's people know. If you don't believe me, you take the exam."

Hearing this, Zhan Zhao glanced at him, then turned and walked towards the bookshelf.Yongnian hurriedly came over to block the way, and kept bowing to each other with a smile: "Zhao, Zhao, how about another day? My sister said that you are a soldier on the battlefield, and you were wronged by being confined in the palace; you are very right, a flowerpot is used to its full potential." Now, shouldn’t you give full play to your talents? Zhao, if you want to train soldiers, take me there. I promise not to be lazy, and I promise to study hard. Can you?”

Li Xian blocked the maid from notifying her, and walked lightly into her daughter's room.Yong Ning was half leaning on the side of the bed, twirling gold and silver thread with his hands, bowing his head and embroidering a red wedding dress stitch by stitch.The light of the skin reflects the joy, like the spring scenery by the window.It wasn't until her mother approached that she realized that she raised her head, and her smile suddenly brightened the room: "Mother, can I embroider well?"

Li Xian sat down next to her, held up the soft satin face and caressed it up and down, and said with emotion: "I've grown up. I haven't heard you call me 'mother' for a long time."

Yongning snuggled into her arms, and called again softly: "Mother."

"I'm going to be a daughter-in-law soon, and she's still acting like a baby." Li Xian stretched out her hand to rub her shoulders: "There are people in the house who can do these jobs, and they can do them better than you. At this time, it's time to practice some derongyan skills."

Yong Ning put his arms around his mother and smiled: "Aren't I the nun's red? Don't worry about you always saying that the girl's family can't even hold a needle correctly, who dares to ask for it."

Li Xian nodded her forehead and couldn't help laughing: "We have been talking about marriage for a few years, why didn't I see you before. Are you happy now?"

Yongning lowered his head, and whispered for a while, "Is mother not happy? Don't you hope that I will marry Xixia far away, and it would be best if I disappear from now on."

Li Xian shook her head and sighed: "If Zhan Zhao goes north one day, will you stay with your mother, or go with him without looking back? Don't be duplicity, girl."

Yongning sat up straight and asked in confusion, "Go north? Why?"

Li Xian smiled slightly, and said calmly: "He is not from the local area, he always has his hometown; he did not marry into my family, and married a wife, presumably to take him back to serve Weng Gu."

Yongning breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Isn't the imperial decree an order to marry on the spot? I asked my younger brother, his parents died early, and he has no relatives in his hometown; at most, he will return to Kaifeng in the future...you should go with him."

"You also know that women marry and follow their husbands." Li Xian sighed softly: "I married your father and king, and I will die as a ghost of Nanyue, and I will be buried with him in the same cave. Besides, your brother is not yet an adult, how can we leave him behind? all go."

Yongning bent down and hugged her gently, resting his head on his shoulder.After a moment of silence, he said softly, "I'm still worried that my mother doesn't like my brother. So you think about him so much."

Like it or not, they have become a family.Li Xian shook her head and said, "Mother is getting old. Looking back on the past, I always found that I was a bit more stubborn when I was young; I only know that I have a deep love with your father, and I can't tolerate the intervention of a third person, but I don't know my words and deeds." , already restrained him. If it wasn’t for this, maybe Yongnian would never have anything to do with his mother.”

"Did mother know that I have a younger brother?" After thinking about it, Yongning couldn't help asking.

Li Xian sighed: "Silly girl. Even if I don't know the details, as a wife, I can't see if my husband has any ulterior motives. It's just that I control the world, but it's hard to control people's hearts. If I had the awareness I have today, Your father wouldn't keep his mouth shut for more than ten years, and suffer himself to death. Speaking of it, didn't I love him too much and hurt him instead..."

Said the corners of the eyes are slightly wet.Yong Ning raised his hand to dry her off, and said comfortingly: "Father didn't say anything, he just cared about Mother, and didn't want you to be angry. How could he complain? Now that my younger brother has returned, we should treat him well from now on. Mother, don't blame yourself too much. .”

Li Xian caressed her face and said with a smile: "Mother knows. Seeing that you are married, I will say something when I think of it. I hope you hear it and avoid detours in the future. Although Yongnian was not born by me, after all, he is with you and your father. I am a close relative of flesh and blood. I have made mistakes in the past, and I only hope that from now on, I can treat him with all I have. As a mother, I have been in a high position these years, and I hear flattery words in my ears. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, suddenly I felt the surroundings were empty and desolate, and only then did I think that the people in the world are nothing more than royal power and wealth, but I am not. If there are real things in the world that you can think of and feel at ease, in the end, they are nothing more than close relatives of flesh and blood."

Yong Ning was silent, nodded for a long time and said, "Mother, don't be discouraged. You still have me. And my future..."

Li Xian embraced her, and continued: "In the future, your child will definitely be very good."

In the evening, Zhan Zhao walked through the barracks, heard the sound of pain from the door, frowned and pulled the curtain to go in.Sure enough, he saw Yongnian lying on the couch with his shirt pulled up and his back exposed, and the soldier next to him was kneeling half-kneeling, awkwardly applying bruises to the bruised skin.Yongnian's lips were almost bitten, he wanted to swear but held back, tears welled up in his eyes.

Zhan Zhao took the medicine bottle, and told the soldiers to 'take it all away', sat down and dug out the ointment, stretched out his hand and rubbed it on gently.Yongnian's tightly arched back suddenly loosened, his chin rested submissively on the bend of his elbow, he closed his eyes and called softly: "Zhao..."

Zhan Zhao didn't respond, and said in a cold tone: "Go back if you can't stand it. Don't hold on."

Yongnian shook his head feebly, but his mouth was still stubborn: "I won't go back. Wherever you can be, I can be here."

Zhan Zhao pressed his fingers hard, and Yongnian screamed, his head and neck lifted, and he fell back on the pillow with his face sideways.His lips moved, and he said something in a low voice.

It is said that it is better to die than not to see you.

Zhan Zhao bowed his head and said nothing, rubbing the bruises away, the palm of his hand urged the medicine to travel with the breath, and slowly guide it into the tendons.The comfortable touch that permeates the texture is mixed with vague pain, which makes people extremely fragile.Yongnian turned sideways, trying to get close to his knees, with tears in his eyes: "Zhao, I want to regard you as my brother-in-law. But every time I think this way, I feel very sad, and I have nothing to do. Maybe someday in The training ground is exhausting, it’s better for me and you.”

What a sin.With a secret sigh, Zhan Zhao shook his head and said, "If the prince came here to seek death, Zhan would not dare to stay with you. I will send you back home tomorrow."

Yongnian's body collapsed, his face pressed against the bed and whispered, "I'm not looking for death. If I die, I will be separated from you. I can't even think about it."

Zhan Zhao was really speechless, covered the blanket and said "have a good rest", then turned and walked out of the tent.

The dusk is fading away, and there is a ray of residual red on the edge of the sunset, facing the dark blue sky and sea with the rising silver moon on the opposite side.After the hustle and bustle all day long, the camp was quiet, as if all the sounds from the world were absorbed into the gurgling stream at your feet.

Zhan Zhao stood silently in the wind for a long time, then smiled in a daze.Floating clouds and wandering minds, setting sun so human feelings.Thousands of years ago, whose melancholy was frozen; how will people after a thousand years be lucky enough to forget it.

On the same day Li Xian agreed, he and Yongnian led the troops out of the city.Yeyuan camped for half a month, got along very well with each other, and seemed to have no time to remember many unhappiness.The toil of the body, tossing and turning morning and evening, day and night, like this is the best.

Most of the soldiers are from peasants, they are simple and kind, but they have little knowledge of swordsmanship, so it takes a lot of effort to train them.Yongnian is far from the only one who has a bruised nose and a swollen face every day when the troops are withdrawn.Thinking of this, Zhan Zhao couldn't help smiling.Joining the army is to ask for hardship, no matter what the young man's motives are, this experience is always harmless to him.I work tirelessly, although I have nothing to ask for; but if I can guide others to return to the right path and benefit all people in the future, then I will double my hard work, so what a pity for this body.

With the breeze blowing the dust, Fang Sheng's distracting thoughts were swept away bit by bit.Turning around and waiting to return to the barracks, the soldiers on duty from afar looked over and reported that the grain guard had just arrived at the camp to deliver supplies, and asked Mr. Zhan if he needed to take an inventory.

Zhan Zhao asked Yu Yang who was the food security officer, so he went with the soldiers to meet him.

Let's say hello, why did Mr. Yu Yangliandao Zhan so much? Could it be that he worked so hard in the miasma and didn't know how to take care of it.No wonder the concubine ordered the delivery of food, and there was an extra reward...

After Zhan Zhao listened patiently, Xie said that joining the army was like this.He asked again: "Why did Master Yu come here in person? The journey was very hard."

Yu Yang shook his head and said: "My lord suffers too, so what can I say about my lowly position. This spring, the early rice harvest is abundant, and the princess is very happy. She said that it must be the blessing of Lord Zhan who came from the south. Therefore, I ordered my lowly position to come to visit and greet my lord and Mr. Zhan along the way." .”

When Zhan Zhao heard about it, he invited him to watch the performance at the barracks the next day. The Taoist prince had already rested, so he was afraid that it would be inconvenient to meet him at this time.Then he ordered the soldiers to prepare the lodgings, and he withdrew himself.

At midnight in the morning, Yongnian was among the soldiers. When he saw Yu Yanggao sitting in the stands, he didn't dare to approach him and make a sound.He practiced calmly until the noon break, and after taking leave, Fang ran to meet each other, grabbed the hem of his clothes and asked endlessly.Seeing his joyful face, Yu Yang was so excited that he almost shed tears: "My lord has suffered. He is dark and thin, and his face is injured..."

Yongnian rolled up his sleeves to show the muscles on his arms, and said with a smile, "Is it dark and thin? It's much stronger than before. After a while, it will kill a tiger."

After hearing about it and watching it again, I really feel that he is in good spirits.Yu Yang sighed and rejoiced: "The lowly position is superficial, and the prince should not listen to the words of the woman just now. There is no need to fight the tiger. In the future, he will inherit the ancestral tradition, and it is enough to go to battle and kill the enemy."

Yongnian straightened out his chest, his heart throbbing with arrogance.His eyes turned to Zhan Zhao habitually, and when he saw the other party looking back and smiling, he immediately lost his mind.After being stunned for a moment, the horn blew on the field, and the young man hurried to assemble without thinking about what to say.

In the direction of his departure, Yu Yang still looked around endlessly.Zhan Zhao asked with a smile: "From my lord's point of view, if the world sees the prince's appearance at this time, will they punish me for being harsh?"

Yu Yang was overwhelmed, and hurriedly cupped his hands: "The humble opinion of a humble official, a man should be like this. Brocade clothes and embroidered households are not expensive, and those who understand righteousness, how can you blame the adults. The humble official also has a son. When he reaches the age of fifteen, he will also be sent to the court. In the army, Master Zhan please teach me..." At this moment, I suddenly felt that I had said something wrong, looked at Zhan Zhao, and said in a dumb voice, "If Master Zhan wait..."

Zhan Zhao smiled and said, "Don't worry, my lord. If there is a destiny, Zhan will dare not try his best." After pondering for a moment, he said: "There is a last resort, and I also want everything to be perfect, so this trip is worthwhile."

Hearing this, Yu Yang bowed solemnly and said, "Lord Zhan is open-minded and respectable. If the dog is taught in the future, he must be taught to do the same and never leave his attendant."

How could he understand what he said unintentionally.Zhan Zhao smiled, feeling unspeakable in his heart.Looking up, the distant mountains are long and the country is far away; for a moment, my mind is in a trance, but I feel that all these things are really just strong words to cheer up, what can be called interesting.

He was speechless, and Yu Yang also lowered his head and thought: The princess before leaving once said that the Holy Majesty has given her permission to marry the princess when she has fulfilled her filial piety in October;The situation is unknown to outsiders, and they cannot be persuaded.But for such a good person, I wish him well, but I sincerely wish him well.After thinking about it, I can only sigh: "Master Zhan, please take care. According to the lowly position, the soldiers in the army love you very much. It can be seen that the so-called human feelings do not distinguish between foreign lands and hometowns. If the adults don't dislike it, the lowly position is a little older. Calling you 'Brother' brazenly, I don't know how to gain a higher reputation?"

Zhan Zhao was stunned, chewing on his words over and over again, and gradually smiled from the bottom of his eyes: "Everyone in the world is brothers. Unexpectedly, Zhan Zhao went to Qianshan and found a good elder brother. So please be respected by brothers."

Seeing that he really wanted to worship, Yu Yang hurriedly knelt first, saying 'I dare not do it'.I also thought that the princess would become a younger brother and sister in this way, which is really abrupt.

There is fear, but there is more joy.Yu Yang didn't know what was aroused in his heart, and his eye sockets suddenly became wet.

Zhan Zhao helped him stand up together, said "Thank you, brother", then bowed his head and remained silent.

This is really like a little brother.Yu Yang couldn't help but feel distressed: "Brother, if you are unhappy, you might as well talk to your elder brother from now on; if you can't untie it, it's better to have someone discuss it with you than to take care of everything yourself. Don't you think so?"

Zhan Zhao took a breath to calm down.He raised his dark eyes to look at him, and smiled slowly: "It's good to know that there is a big brother. Brother, there is no other embarrassment."

Seeing such gentle eyes, Yu Yang feels inexplicably sad.Reaching out hesitantly, he stroked his shoulder.

At this moment in the world, there are a few distant thoughts.Evening lovesickness.

In the evening, Yongnian returned to the camp, and when he asked, Yu Yang had already left.Hastily unpacking the presents that had been moved into the house, saw loquat paste, quickly picked out all of them first, filled the box with two of the others, and hugged them to find Zhan Zhao.

Walking to the door, he hesitated again.Peeping secretly through the crack of the curtain, Zhan Zhao is taking off his armor and taking off his clothes, the candlelight is shining on the desk, casting a long and thin shadow on the ground, swaying as if about to fly away.At this time, he turned half sideways, lowered his head and unbuttoned his belt, his quiet eyelashes drooped, making people feel a little lonely for no reason.

Zhan Zhao had already noticed that there was someone outside the door.He hesitated, so he calmly hung up his sword and sat down and said: "The door is open, why don't you come in."

Yongnian was so frightened that he almost let go, he quickly hugged the bottles and cans, piled them on the table in a clatter, and swung his arms to exhale.

Zhan Zhao secretly shook his head.Glancing at the table, he stood up and opened the gift box given to him, took out half of it and wrapped it separately, and said: "The gift is reciprocal, I will send it to the prince."

Yongnian put his arms around one of his sleeves and nodded happily: "Very good. I haven't eaten anyway, so I'll ask someone to bring it to the room and let's eat together."

Although Zhan Zhao didn't want to, he felt that arguing over such matters would be even more pointless.So he put on his outer robe and went out with him.

During the meal, Yongnian stopped his chopsticks early and looked straight at each other with his chin in his hand.Zhan Zhao took care of picking up the food, and asked him without raising his head, "Do you have something on your mind if you eat so little?"

Yongnian lowered his eyes.Half a day whispered: "It's nothing. I'm a little tired." He didn't dare to say that he wanted to kiss him, so he simply stopped looking at him, dragged himself to the bedside, threw himself down, and lay down motionless.

Zhan Zhao took a look at the past, then turned back and continued eating.For a long time, I thought he was asleep, but I heard a voice on the bed: "You can give away everything else. You can keep the loquat paste to cure your cough. Remember to take a spoonful with warm water every morning and evening."

Suddenly there is no taste in the mouth.Zhan Zhao's chopsticks slowed down and gradually stopped.Staring at most of the food left on the table, he sighed for a long time and asked the soldiers to come in and take it away.

Yongnian is still lying on his stomach.After saying that sentence, my eyelids became too heavy to lift, and I really fell asleep.I vaguely felt the coolness coming from my back, and the burning pain that had accumulated for days gradually faded away, like applying ice in summer, and it was hard to leave after relying on it for a while.He groped with his backhand and tightened his grip.He said vaguely, "Zhao. If there is a real war, I will follow. Protect you."

Zhan Zhao smiled silently, but didn't answer.

Yongnian continued to rave: "In my fief, I will protect you. Live or die together, don't want you to go alone."

Zhan Zhao took his hand away, patted his entire back, and said lightly, "You are well protected, so someone will massage you? I'm afraid there will be a real war, and Zhan won't have time."

Yongnian turned over and sat up, looked at him sleepily, and said: "You trust me." Suddenly fell on him, hugging with both hands: "I can protect you."

Zhan Zhao propped him up under his armpit, the boy drooped his head and eyes, and fell asleep.