Everyone loves Huo Qubing

In the stable was my second uncle's bay red horse, which had already washed away the dust and was happily chewing millet.Dajin Niang was standing in front of the flower bed, fiddling with flowers and plants.With a virtuous Jinniang, the family has indeed become much more refined.

"Winter jasmine is a characteristic flower in our Guanzhong. Before they bloom, cut off the branches and insert them into the soil, so that the flowers will bloom more and more colorfully." Jin Niang cut off a budded flower as she said. Branches, bent into a ring and tied in a knot.I quickly dodged, but I couldn't beat my fist with both hands, and she wrapped the two buns on the top of my head.

"Little nephew is so cute," Jin Niang rubbed my face, "I'll make you a better one when it's flowering."

"It's better to give it to the guard's cousin." Who wants to wear that kind of thing.I covered my painfully rubbed face and plucked at the branches, "Where's uncle?"

"We're discussing things in your second uncle's room." Jin Niang carefully helped me remove the entangled branches, "Don't bother me."

What kind of mysterious thing can't be said at the dinner table?

"Nie Yi is indeed material for a dead man. But I can't trust Wang Hui." The uncle's voice came from inside the room.

"During my absence, has His Majesty changed his decision?" said the second uncle's voice.

"No, His Majesty has made up his mind, this time we must fight a turnaround, and we will be ashamed in vain."

"What did Prime Minister Tian say?"

Hearing the word "Prime Minister Tian", I couldn't help sneezing in the cold wind.

"Qubing, come in, it's cold outside." My second uncle greeted me.

Su Hexiang permeated the room. The second uncle had just finished taking a bath, changed into a light-colored coat, wrapped his long hair in a bath towel, and sat kneeling in front of the desk, writing vigorously.

The eldest uncle sat on the second uncle's couch with his hands folded, with one foot on the couch, frowning and said: "Children, don't just pry into the secrets of China and North Korea."

"Qu Bing is not young, let him listen to it." The second uncle stopped writing, raised his head and said with a smile, "Your Majesty has always attached great importance to this child."

Uncle raised his chin at me: "Huo Qubing, you swear, don't tell anyone what you heard."

"I swear." I sat down on the edge of the couch, pointed three fingers of my right hand to the sky, and kicked my uncle's foot off the couch.

The uncle gave me a blank look, and then said to the second uncle: "Tian Fu's place, naturally everything follows His Majesty, but Tian Fu's subordinate Han Anguo still doesn't let go, the old stubborn is not necessarily willing to cooperate because of his seniority. It's a pity that Jiangdu King Liu Fei's incident broke out, and China and North Korea lost their qualifications to choose generals, and this time they have to choose generals from their outer court and nine ministers."

Seeing my puzzled expression, my second uncle explained: "Han Anguo is the newly appointed Doctor Censor."

However, my concern is actually another matter.

"China and North Korea are not qualified to choose generals? Then uncles can't lead troops either?"

"Although we don't want to be generals, as captains of the guard, we still have to fight with Han Yushi." The second uncle said calmly, as if he had already accepted this fact.Looking at my uncle again, the look of disappointment in his brow and eyes told me that he was avoiding my question by keeping silent.

The candle flames were crackling and dancing, and I watched my second uncle write square official scripts on the bamboo slips.After a moment of silence, the second uncle stopped writing and asked, "Is the distribution of troops preliminarily determined?"

"It's fixed. For every [-] yuan, Wang Hui will add another [-] yuan. Li Xi and Zishu have gone to Mayi and Daijun respectively to deploy defenses." The uncle waited for the second uncle to write another paragraph before sighing, " The problem is, Wang Hui is only talking about military affairs on paper and lacks experience, so I gave him [-] yuan at a time, fearing that he would not be able to hold back." Seeing that the second uncle smiled and shook his head, he hastily added, "The Fujian and Yue voluntarily retreated in the Eastern Ou battle, it doesn't count."

"It's not easy for Wang Daxing to take the initiative to lead troops to fight, but it's not impossible to keep him in Daijun to intercept the defense. There are still a few months, and I will go to persuade His Majesty tomorrow." The second uncle put down his pen, dried the ink, thought about it and asked again Said: "Aside from Han Yushi, are there other people who have objections?"

The uncle thought for a while, and said, "Now there is only one person."

"Which one?"

"Lang Guan masters father Yan."

"Master Yan? The scholar who came to our house last year? He returned to Beijing...has become a Langguan?" When I first heard this name, I jumped up suddenly, which startled the two uncles.

"Yes what's the matter?"

"It suddenly occurred to me that I still have homework to complete, so I'm leaving first, you guys talk slowly." I fled my second uncle's room laughing.

It seems that the guy I sent back to Jiaodong still insisted on crawling back to the capital. I don't know how he made up enough money this time.

A centipede, dead but not stiff, this person is very ambitious, he must find a way to seal his mouth, and at the same time get back the money he owes the Wei family with interest.However, the master father Yan let such a good opportunity to please the emperor, not following the rules, and blatantly opposed to the battle, which seemed to be a bit out of the ordinary. No wonder the second uncle would help this man with all his money.

Before closing the door, I casually glanced back at my two uncles.Although they are half-brothers of the same mother, their appearance is exactly the same, their height is about the same height, and their talents are even more equal. The two talents of our Wei family were the sons of the slave family seven years ago, and now they are both sitting in town In China and North Korea, everyone has become a dragon and a phoenix.It's just that the two uncles have very different personalities. The elder uncle is thunderous, violent, and a little reckless;Of course, my judgment is mostly because of the weight of my second uncle in my heart.

Having said that, it seems that it has been a long time since the two uncles sat together to discuss matters seriously like tonight.

It seems that this time it is really going to war.

At night, I was lying on the desk, feeling drowsy.The second uncle opened the door and came in, put three bundles of books on my desk, saw my bewildered look, smiled and said, "Go to sleep when you're tired."

I rubbed my eyes and shook my head: "I can hold on for a while longer."

Spread out on the book table is "Huainan Honglie" arranged by Mei Gao, which is a miscellaneous writing tributed by Liu Anxin, the vassal prince of Huainan. It happened to turn to the article "Binglue", and the second uncle held it up to the candlelight to read.

"Qu Bing really started to be interested in military matters." After a while, he nodded.So he pointed to one of the three bundles of books he brought, ""Sun Tzu's Art of War", an introductory course for the Han army, you read this book when you were young, do you remember?"

"Remember." I nodded.When I first came to Weifu, I admired the books borrowed in the name of my grandson, because I couldn't understand the new font of official script at that time, so I gave up halfway.

The second uncle pointed to the other two books: "This is "Wu Zi" and "Sima Rangju" Art of War, the two most respected military books by His Majesty. These three books are enough for you to see your uncles return in triumph."

"Well, thank you uncle." Immediately, I regained my spirits, pushed aside the "Strategy Strategy" in front of me, pulled out three bundles of military books, and laid them out in a row.

"Take a look slowly. If you are interested, I have other books here." The second uncle helped me tidy up the desktop, and held my left hand with the splint to look up and down, with two beautiful eyebrows knit together.

"Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt, and it can be removed in a few days."

I stretched out my good arm to wrap around my second uncle, buried my face deeply in his lapel, and let him kiss the tip of my forehead.Whenever I hold him like this, his brows will be relaxed soon.

"What a brash kid. Your majesty said in your letter that you were injured and your hand bones were broken. I wish I could fly back with wings." The second uncle rubbed my head.

"The imperial doctor wrapped me up tightly, with three layers inside and three layers outside. It looks scary, but it's actually not that serious." I complained with a pout.Horseback archery, bruises are commonplace, not a big deal, I don't want him to worry about me.

"Okay, it's not serious." The second uncle showed his face and smiled, "I brought back caramel snacks for you and Buguang, and I'll send someone to bring them over later. Since Buguang is not here, you can eat all his share. "

"Thank you, Uncle!" Hearing that there was something delicious, I raised my head and gave him a bright smile.

***

When the summer cicadas first sang, the northern land began to feel dry as expected.The three uncles all went to participate in the sacrifice before the war. According to etiquette, after the sacrifice, they had to stay in the barracks and were not allowed to return to the mansion, so only Dajiniang and I were left at home.

"Jin Niang, I have a Cuju appointment after school today, so I'll be back later." In the morning I rode on Huoyun and said goodbye to her.

Da Jinniang wrapped a few meatloaf in lotus paper and stuffed them into my bookcase, "How is your hand recovering? Can you play football?"

"The wrist has long been healed." I raised my hand and shook it for her to see.

Jin Niang waved at me: "Remember to come back early. I'll cook something delicious for you tonight."

"Okay." With a pinch of his legs, Huoyun flew out immediately.Looking back, Jin Niang's figure leaning against the door keeps shrinking and moving away.

Jin Niang may not know, the more kind she is to me, the more I try to avoid her - because her face always reminds me of Su Jia and all possibilities.These days, my mood is like riding a fire cloud non-stop in the mountains, sometimes standing on the top of the mountain, sometimes swinging to the bottom of the valley, without a chance to breathe.

The setting sun illuminated the sky extraordinarily bright red, and the lights outside the north gate of Weiyang Palace gradually lit up, and the friends who played Cuju together dispersed one after another.I squatted in a shady corner out of the reach of the light, staring at the white catkins dancing and dancing with the red glow.

"Let's go, get sick and go home." Cao Xiang came over and tapped me twice with her feet, who was sitting dazed under the shade of a tree.

Recently, Cao Xiang often goes back to Pingyang Mansion in Hedong by herself. Princess Pingyang seldom travels with her son. The fear that she might become my second daughter at any time constantly invaded me.

Now, new worries are sweeping in like sea waves, tugging at my heart.The four members of the Wei family, my uncle and three uncles went to the front at the same time, leaving me alone in the capital.Not only the loneliness, but I'm afraid of losing any of them—especially my second uncle who I love so much and who has taken care of me like a father for several years.

Beads of salty sweat slipped into my eyes, and I was a little bit stung. I kicked too hard today, and when I stood up, I was top-heavy.To put it bluntly, Cuju is not only satisfied with the freedom and relief during the game, but also lies in the long-term emptiness during running. You don’t have to think about anything other than the goal, all external worries are eliminated, and all the gaps in your heart are filled.

The setting sun gradually sank to the ground, and the sky became gray.In the twilight, a fiery red figure rushed out from the North Sima Gate of Weiyang Palace.

The riding boots left a series of rattling footsteps on the ground, and the man in red was full of anger, struggling to grab a boy's arm.The boy staggered all the way, tripped over the hem of the goose-yellow skirt, and dragged him to the ground.

"Let's go, let's go back to the Huns." While speaking, the man in red had already led a horse, dragged the crying boy onto the horse's back, beat the horse to the north, and quickly ran to his eyes.

"Stop for me!" A black figure galloped towards the front hall, with a sky-high crown showing his identity.The black Dawan horse roared and stopped in front of the two of them. The man on the horse pulled the reins, and said in a majestic and cold voice, "No one is allowed to leave!"

"Hmph." The man in red snorted loudly, "I can leave as I want, why do you stop me?"

"Just because you are my senior doctor, and he is my servant." The emperor rode on horseback, looked at Han Yan with contempt, and uttered cold words arrogantly, "Officials from China and North Korea eloped to join the enemy, and the crime is aggravated. Let's see if you two can get out of Chang'an City!"

"I don't need your favor, and I'm not afraid of your threats." The beautiful phoenix eyes glared at the emperor angrily, as if about to spew out fire. He stretched out his hand to caress the scar on his collarbone, but chuckled softly, "I People who have already died once don't care about dying again!"

I looked at the person in front of me in surprise.Five years ago, the rebellious and slightly crazy Han Yan in my memory came back again.

"Li Danghu is dead, do you still want to seek revenge from him?" The emperor frowned, staring at the scar on the neck of the man in red, showing an impatient expression, "Jiangdu King Liu Fei, I have already punished him, and it is not enough. Is it? How do you want me to save you?"

"Recovery? Is this what you call recovery?" The man in red closed his eyelids in disappointment, and took a deep breath.When he opened his eyes again, the whip in his hand pointed directly at the young man on the horseback, "Maybe I was young and frivolous in the past, caring about my own life, my qualifications to fight, and the world of big men. But now, I only care about one people."

Han said that he raised his head and looked at his brother in surprise.

"You have ruined me." The man in red looked at the emperor, and his beautiful thin lips continued to spit out decisive words, "But my brother, he is so good, and he still has a bright future waiting for him, I can't let you ruin me." killed him!"

The emperor looked at Han Yan silently.

In the distance, the imperial guards holding torches are on their way here. By the light of the fire, I can even see the stretched veins on the emperor's forehead.

"Brother, stop talking!" Han said anxiously.

"I'll take you back to the Huns, and we can start over." Han Yan gave the young man a bleak smile, and said every word, "We are not someone else's appendage. I am not—and you will not be."

The sound of horseshoes gradually became clear, and the torches of the Imperial Guard were within easy reach in a blink of an eye.

"No, bro, it's not what you think." Han said gritted his teeth, turned over and jumped off the horse, staggered to the black-maned horse, and looked into the emperor's eyes.

"I did it voluntarily," he turned around and said softly to Han Yan, "Brother, I love him."

A moment of astonishment.After that came overwhelming despair.

The Son of Heaven showed a triumphant smile, stretched out his hand, and pulled Han Yue onto his horse, took the rein with one hand, and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind the young man with the other.

The black-maned horse carried the two of them and disappeared under the high gate of Weiyang Palace. Han Shuo's voice came from the wind:

"Brother, I'm sorry."