Everyone loves Huo Qubing

"Recruit the Huns?" I held a few grass leaves in my mouth, trying to weave a grasshopper based on my childhood memory.

"Yeah, you two are idle too, why don't you assign some tasks for you to do." Uncle Su Jian said with a smile.

In the distance is the faint shadow of Yinshan Mountain. Beside him, Su Wu sits cross-legged in front of the iron pot, enjoying butter tea. This kid seems to be addicted to drinking, and he is covered in goat milk all day long.

"Look, Dad, my cousin is teasing me again! This is not funny at all." Cousin Su stared at the "grasshopper tail" in the camellia dregs, and complained aggrievedly.Just now he thought he accidentally ate the other half, and almost poured out the camellia that he had already drunk.

"Here, I'll give you the half as well." With a flick of my index finger, the heads of grasshoppers woven with grass leaves flew into his bowl.

"Father, didn't your majesty say that one hundred thousand Han people were immigrated? Why do you need to recruit Xiongnu soldiers?" Su Wu poured out the dregs, scooped up a new bowl of tea, and asked curiously while drinking.

"Recruiting soldiers is only part of it," Uncle Su patiently explained, "This time we will take away the Heshuo Grassland in one pot. The Huns who surrendered to such a large area of ​​land need to be resettled properly. Those who have no money can go to build the city, and those who have money can do it." Donate money to build a city in exchange for officials and ranks; those who are knowledgeable can teach Xiongnu and Chinese, and those who have skills can develop craftsmanship; those who can raise livestock can then herd horses and sheep, and those who can ride and shoot can join the army. , the Huns have lived here for hundreds of years, and they know Shuofang's geographical environment, local customs and customs better than us Han people."

"Oh." Su Wu nodded half-understanding.

Uncle Su chuckled: "However, I have also considered that you two pampered boys in the capital can't do much except riding horses and archery. It just so happens that the Qimen Army needs people in the capital. You can help me to recruit some excellent riding skills, Looking pleasing to the eye and returning to Beijing."

"Sounds good, cousin, let's go now?" Su Wu looked excited.

I rubbed my throbbing temples.

"Is it still uncomfortable?" Uncle Su touched my forehead with the back of his hand, "I don't have a fever, I should be fine."

"Thank you uncle for the herbal medicine. My headache is much better than when I first came here, but I am a little out of breath from running so fast."

"Mount Yin has a high terrain, and people who come here for the first time will feel acclimatized to some extent. It will take ten and a half months to get used to the climate here."

"How come Cousin Su is alive and kicking, there is no problem at all?" I looked at Su Wu who was eagerly pouring down the whole bowl of hot tea.

"Wu'er?" Uncle Su laughed for a while before he continued, "He drinks a lot of milk tea and has diarrhea, he's not much better than you."

***

A Hun man in a fur coat came out of the tent cursing.

"What did he say?" Su Wu curiously asked the translator beside him.

"He said that the Han people sent two young princes to be in charge of conscription, and he wanted to go back to herd the herds." The translator replied solemnly.Obviously, during the translation process, he has automatically filtered out all dirty words for us.

"Don't bother with that person, let's continue." I urged Su Wu.

"Cousin, this looks good. He is tall and good at wielding a scimitar. He can ride horses and shoot arrows. He can also speak Xiongnu and Chinese."

Su Wu handed me the bamboo sheet for recruiting registration, turned around and shouted outside the tent:

"Next, Zhao Ponu!"

When the curtain was lifted, the sun was shining outside the tent, a tall figure stepped into the tent, and the afternoon sun condensed into a halo around him.When you get close, you can see its appearance clearly.The teenager wears the most common hairstyle of Hun youths, with small braids tied behind his head and tied into a ponytail. The bridge of his nose and mandible are sculpted by the wind and frost of the prairie. His lips are thin and slightly chapped, and his eyes are black. The cheekbones were embedded in the flushed cheekbones.The young man's skin was darkened and shiny by the sun, and he wore a one-shoulder coarse cloth jacket often worn by the Huns, revealing his strong chest muscles. He wore a bone chain on his chest, strung with rows of small bones like canine teeth, naked The feet are wrapped in a pair of coarse cloth shorts, exposing the thick calves formed by riding horses all the year round.

"Are you—Qubing?" Before I could react, someone hugged me joyfully, turned around in a circle, and said in Chinese with a strong Shuofang accent, "I didn't expect to be here Great to see you!"

"Zhao Puonu?" The name was so familiar, I searched in my mind several times, and finally remembered that I had known such a person.But the appearance of the other party has changed too much. I can't connect this handsome Hun boy in front of me with a full-body prairie outfit and a slow-moving Taiyuan boy from before.

"Hey, Xiao Gao is here too. Wait a minute, I'll call him." Before I could say hello, the figure in front of me quickly disappeared outside the tent.

After a while, Zhao Puonu led another Hun boy into the tent.

"Qu Bing, it's really you!" The person came striding over to hug me, and kissed me on the cheek, "After so many years, Qu Bing is still as cute as when he was a child."

The guy in front of him has bronze skin, and the most conspicuous thing about his whole body is his white teeth when he smiles; he has a high nose bridge and big eyes, with brown hair messed up by the hot wind in the prairie, and he wears the same outfit as Zhao Puonu next to him. The two are also of equal stature, both tall, with broad shoulders and narrow waist.

"Long time no see, you two have changed so much that I can't recognize you at all." I poked at the two feathers stuck on Gao Bushi's head, "Why, you're still an official?"

"Not only him, I also got an official job." Zhao Puonu said proudly, "Xiao Gao's father is the nephew of King Aries, and King Aries appointed Xiaogao as the head of a thousand households, and I was also honored as a hundred-year-old. Madam's seat."

"Aren't you in Taiyuan? When did you come to Shuofang?" I asked curiously.

"When the military officials invaded Taiyuan, we were grazing in the north. We didn't have time to escape. We came in exile with my mother." Gao Buzhi rubbed his hands, "Come on, there are many people here, let's not talk here, I will show you Look at our home in Shuofang."

"Now?" I looked up at the row of Hun youths outside the tent waiting for the interview.

"Of course now!"

The kindness is hard to give up, Gao Bushi easily picked it up, lifted it to Zhao Puonu's shoulder and sat there, I was condescending, and waved to Su Wu who was stupefied.

"Leave the rest of the recruiting task to Cousin Su, I'll go first!"

Under the setting sun, there are groups of gray and white huddled together in front of me. According to visual estimation, there are thousands of them, stretching to the top of the mountain, as if connecting with the clouds in the sky.

Not far away, Gao Bushi was riding on horseback, driving the sheep back to the pen, humming a little song.

"Warrior with horses, you are mighty and majestic,

Galloping horses like the wind—”

A gray lamb passed me and stopped, paused for a moment, then suddenly picked up a strand of hair hanging from my forehead, and began to chew it.

"This one is the most mischievous and the least afraid of life." Zhao Puonu picked up the sheep and handed it to me.The baby sheep cupped my palm with its two shallow horns. The layer of fur on its body was not only thick, but also rough in texture, like a thick layer of quilt, covering the entire round body.

"These sheep have passed the time for shaving," Zhao Puonu explained while waving his hand to drive away the flies on the sheep's tail, "the shaving master heard that the salary in Shuofang City is high, so he went there to find work. We were curious. I went to join in the fun and saw that the recruitment revelation met our conditions, so I applied with the mentality of giving it a try, and I didn't expect to meet you there."

"Are you here to conscript? Then you won't be officials from thousands of households?"

"The Huns in the Shuofang area are all surrendered captives now, and their former titles have long since been abolished. Everyone has to find another way out."

"Speaking of recruiting, I am helping to recruit recruits from the headquarters of the Qimen Army in the capital this time. Are you willing to go back to Beijing with me?"

"Follow you, eat and drink, I don't worry, Xiao Gao is fine." Zhao Puonu replied firmly.

"My son is back." The door curtain of the yurt was lifted, and the woman in a coarse cloth skirt poked her head out, "Dinner is ready, come in quickly."

Gao Buzhi patted my shoulder and pushed me in front of his mother.

"Mother, let me introduce you to my friend, Chen Qubing, the son of Taiyuan Taishou Chen."

After a brief daze, I finally couldn't hold back a burst of laughter.Growing up so big, it was the first time I heard someone introduce me like this.

"Auntie, I am General Wei's nephew, Huo Qubing."

"Are you from General Wei's family? Great, please come inside and have dinner together." The woman enthusiastically pulled me into the door curtain, "Then those sheep outside are returned to our family by General Wei's subordinates. , A lot of people ran away during the war, and they helped us find them all. General Wei is so kind, he reassured us that after returning to Han, how we lived in the past will only be better than before. "

"Yes, my uncle, my uncle is humble and kind-hearted. He is a good man. He promises to keep what he says. If you don't believe me, my nephew can guarantee him." I patted my chest heartily.

***

The wind in the prairie is already mixed with coldness, but the climate in the capital is quite suitable, and the leaves of the grass and trees have just turned slightly yellow.

"Young Lord, Mr. Huo is back." The servant led Huoyun and shouted into the courtyard.

Not far away, there was a sound of "clanking", and the majestic Pingyang Hou was fighting with a solid man in civilian clothes with a sword, swinging flowers and leaves all over the ground.

"Sure enough, there will be a meeting later, nephew, we meet again." The man in civilian clothes held his hand firmly, turned around with a smile, and it turned out to be the swordsman that Xiaoshan had seen that day.

"Qubing, I heard that you will return home in two days and have been waiting for you—"

Hearing the servant's report, Cao Xiang hastily withdrew his sword and ran towards me a few steps. The happy smile at first disappeared instantly after seeing a group of people at the door.

"Who are they?" Marquis Pingyang stopped and pointed to the two young men dressed as Huns who were following me.On the way back to Beijing, the two guys' eye-catching foreign costumes and tall Hun mounts did attract the attention of many passers-by.

"They are—" I rolled my eyes, and decided to introduce them tactfully, "Junhou, do you still remember that after my mother married Chen Zhang, I went to live in Taiyuan for a while, and I met them in Taiyuan? Friend, brother and you are also fellow villagers."

"No, Qu Bing, you may not remember that we knew each other before your mother married Chen Taishou." Zhao Puonu corrected me.

"I seem to have a little impression of what he said." I scratched my head and continued, "In short, the two of them will report to the Qimen Army after a while, and I hope the Lord will take care of them in the barracks."

As soon as the words fell, Marquis Pingyang's complexion was as gloomy as a storm on a summer grassland.

The clothed man folded his hands on his chest, looked at me, and then at Cao Xiang, with an expression of watching the show.

"Come here." After a moment of awkward silence, Cao Xiang grabbed my forearm and pulled me into the wing room, leaving the two of them holding the horse and carrying the luggage at the door to look at each other.

"what are you doing!"

"Take off your clothes." He pressed my shoulder and stretched out his hand to pull my coat. With all his strength, the belt was actually torn into two pieces by him.This cloak was given to me by my second uncle before I left, the embroiderer of Ye Ting Palace.

"What the hell is Junhou looking for? Hey, can you stop biting me, it hurts." I gave up struggling and only hoped that the other party would let go as soon as possible.

Ping Yanghou finally gave up biting, his warm palm landed on my back, and his thumb lightly rubbed the place he had just bitten.

"The two at the door, you can't let them live in your house." The other party's voice was full of grievances.

"Hey, apart from me, they have no relatives or friends in the capital. They come from afar and they are guests. Where can they live if they don't live here?" I tried to reason with the people who oppressed me.

"They're going to the inn."

"The Hou Mansion is so big, it would be a waste to stay in an inn."

"Let them find a place to live by themselves, and they can't live with you anyway." The other party was firm.

"This is my home, I have the final say." Not wanting to look at the other party's gloomy face, I lay down on the couch and listened to the boy's heavy breathing and my gradually amplifying heartbeat in a long silence.

I haven't seen each other for several months, but when I meet again, I only hear the other person's words repeated over and over again. I can't help feeling restless.The other party always ordered me in a strong tone, trying to make decisions for me, but I might not want to stick to my own opinion.

"Okay, if they don't go, I'll go!"

The weight on me was suddenly removed, Cao Xiang seemed to have made up his mind, he slammed the door of the room with a "bang", and left without looking back, leaving me in a daze.

***

"Why are these things in my house?" Before dinner, I put the house deed and a bunch of keys of the Weifu under the eyes of my second uncle.

"Oh, when the Marquis of Pingyang came here, he brought some documents and said they were for you." The second uncle was busy calling the servants to serve food, and replied casually.

"Why did he give me the house deed of Weifu?" I was a little confused.

"Young brother, your nephew is as attractive as you. He was given a mansion as a gift at a young age. That kid from the Cao family really likes him." Guo Xie walked over, took a tea bowl, poured it drink.

I rested my forehead and sighed, silently put the valuables back into the house and put them away.Cao Xiang did this, is she trying to find a reason to ask me to go to the princess mansion?

"The dishes in the capital are delicious. This one almost made me cry. You must try it."

"Don't forget that I said the phrase 'follow Qubing and you will get delicious food'."

Gao Bushi and Zhao Ponu were feasting on one side, and I listened to the conversation between my second uncle and Guo Xie with pricked ears.

"The matter of moving to the mausoleum—?" Guo Xie asked cautiously.

The second uncle shook the wine glass in his hand and shook his head lightly: "It was rejected by His Majesty."

Guo Xie smiled awkwardly and dejectedly.

"It seems that the emperor has made up his mind. He wants to arrest me and sit in this rich prison in Chang'an City. All people talk about money and accumulate money. I can only blame me for being young and full of old grievances. After all, I can't escape this situation." robbery."

The second uncle took a sip of wine and frowned: "The hero drew his sword to help the minister when he saw injustice, and now he has saved the minister's nephew. The kindness of saving life should be repaid by the spring. It is the minister who is incompetent and has taken the position in vain. , but can’t help the hero.”

"Don't say that, I know you've done your best, young brother, and you don't need to say such things because of the relationship you have with me in the past. Everything is left to fate." Guo Xie lamented for a while, seeing the desolate expression of the person opposite, he patted The second uncle's shoulder jokingly said, "It's just raising money to build a new house in Maoling Town, and it's not really about my life. If your brother and I knew that there would be such a day, I should have saved some of the gold and silver that I robbed the rich and helped the poor. Buying a big house in Luoyang City, and hiding your golden house as pride, will definitely have nothing to do with the emperor."