Everyone loves Huo Qubing

Two cold lights flashed across the snow.

"If you don't concentrate, be careful not to hurt the spectators." The second uncle withdrew his sword, put on a serious face and taught.

"I can't concentrate." Even if my gaze is only a small distance away from the blade, all I see is the dazzling figure that makes me dizzy.Now I especially regret not being able to open up early and bravely confess my heart to my second uncle. I have lived so many years in vain, wasted so many romances spent with him, and missed so many sunsets and stars that I have seen with him.

But it’s all right now, we’ll have plenty of time to be together in the future.

"Watching you practice swords in the mansion is more enjoyable than going to a teahouse to listen to an opera, haha." Zhang Qian stuffed his cheeks with charcoal-stick meatloaf, and clapped his hands free while muttering, "I just finished listening to a folded opera yesterday. "The Marquis of Changping vs. the Aries King", I saw a real person starring today, it's not bad."

"Uncle Zhang is really good at fighting. Does my nephew need a pair of horns on his head so that he can play the role of Aries King?" I rolled my eyes, threw the sword in front of Zhang Qian, and plunged it obliquely into the mud. He was shocked.

"Stop practicing, let's play chess instead."

Zhang Qian lifted up the hem of his clothes to wipe off the oil stains on his hands, and smiled, "Forget it, I can't beat the two of you. When uncle finishes eating, let's go inside and tell stories."

The charcoal fire was crackling, and the hall was full of people.

"The king of Dawan gave me a Bactrian camel and two good horses, and then I continued to walk westward, over mountains and mountains, to a country called Kangju. The capital of this country was completely built on a Gobi, Surrounded by deserts, there is a very deep well in the center of the city, which leads to a large underground lake. It will not dry up for many years, because once it dries up, the people of this country will be finished. I went down to see this lake , gloomy and without light, the cold wind comes in from the cave that doesn't know where it leads. Local people say that this funnel-like underground lake actually leads to hell. King Kangju sent his diving masters down several times to find out the water of the lake. So far, no one has found out the source of it.”

"Wow!" Surrounded by star eyes, adored expressions.

"After I inquired in Kangju, I found out that the clansmen of the Dayuezhi Kingdom had been expelled by King Youxian of the Huns and had moved to the farther west. Then I continued to walk westward, and ended up at the place of the Dayuezhi. At that time, they had a new lady for their king. The queen was as white as wheat flour, with a head of golden hair curly like the waves of the sea, eyes as big as apricots, and a nose as high as a hill." Zhang Qian made gestures on himself while talking.

During the spare time between my graduation and my report to the Qimen Army, I happened to catch up with Zhang Qian holding a story meeting at the Changping Hou Mansion.As early as the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor thought that Zhang Qian, who had been away for six years, had been buried in the desert. When building the North Palace, the old house of the Zhang family was accidentally included in the scope of demolition, so the second uncle readily took in the homeless Zhang Qian. His line.

Every time Dr. Zhang gives a lecture, there must be a certain number of observers. Most of the audiences at the mansion today are young people.In the version I heard in Xuanshidian, Dr. Zhang also gestured at the big breasts and buttocks of Queen Da Yueshi.

"So this is the real reason why Ziwen didn't want to come back." The emperor joked half-jokingly after hearing this.

When they were discussing this period, I took a special look at Sima Qian who was frantically taking notes in the corner, and sure enough, the face of the bookworm suddenly turned red like a boiled shrimp.Alas, this person is really easy to tease, it's a bit boring.

"There are many delicious melon and fruit snacks in Da Yuezhi Kingdom. Raisins are my favorite, and melons are grown by my father in the Xiqiang field." Mr. Zhang spoke Chinese with a Hun accent, enthusiastically Distribute the snacks brought back to everyone.

"Mian'er, remember to save some for your uncle and aunt Wei." After Zhang Qian told his son, he continued, "There is a larger country in the southwest of the Da Yueshi, called Daxia. Unfortunately, the king of Daxia has already passed away. One step ahead of us big men, and gave the Queen a piece of fertile land with water and grass to live and work in peace, and those Dayue people no longer think about their homeland, and they don't want to seek revenge from the Huns for killing the king."

I have already heard Zhang Qian tell the following story. He stayed in Da Yueshi for a year, but he could not fulfill his mission satisfactorily, so he had to return to Dahan; Yi Zhixie usurped the throne, and the various tribes of the Xiongnu fell into melee, so he took advantage of the chaos and fled back to Dahan with his family.

The emperor was very happy after hearing Zhang Qian's report, and immediately pardoned Zhang Qian's wife and children, and appointed Zhang Qian as the doctor of the Taizhong, responsible for sorting out the materials of the Western Regions.In addition, the Son of Heaven remembered that the Xiongnu guide Tang Yifu had accompanied him all the way for 13 years, loyally protected the lord, and announced that Tang Yifu would be removed from slavery, enshrined as envoy king, and restored his real name Ganfu, so Ganfu is now living with Zhang Dafu in the Houfu inside.

The guest rooms in the East Wing were all occupied by guests, so I moved into the West Wing, next door to my second uncle's bedroom, as a matter of course.But to be honest, the new room has never been used except for stacking my miscellaneous luggage.

"Qubing, Uncle has something to discuss with you." The man lying on top of me hesitated before he spoke, "Can you control it a little bit, please keep your voice down, you are screaming too loudly."

"Huh? Did I just scream?" I quickly covered my mouth.

"Oh, forget it." The second uncle gently pushed my hand away, and showed me a helpless and doting smile, "You can bark if you want, I like to hear you bark."

The spring night is short.

The night sky in Shanglin Garden is quiet, with occasional snowflakes falling.The sound of the wind in the distant mountains reappears, and finally accompanies me to sleep.

In the dream, my second uncle rode the horse and whipped the whip, and I followed him closely, and he led me across the rolling Yin Mountains to the grasslands of the Western Regions.

***

The dawn clouds were glowing red, and there was a little snow on the treetops and the ground.When I opened my eyes suddenly, I saw a strange guy standing beside my couch.

"You're new here too? You live here too?" I jumped up and said happily, "That's great. I'm your roommate Huo Qubing."

Yesterday I led the Xueqi horse and carried the yew bow on my back. I couldn't wait to report to Jianzhang Palace. The logistics team brought me a basket of messy things, and then led me to live in this camp.According to my understanding, soldiers should live with their roommates. I was wondering why there was no one in the camp, so I came late.

Looking at the neatly dressed new roommate on the opposite side, he is quite tall, and you can see the long figure under the armor, but there is a stupid look on his face, and his thick eyebrows and big eyes are unblinking He stared at me with his mouth open in a circle.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" I stretched out my finger and shook it twice in front of his eyes.

"Ah, that." The other party hastily returned to his senses, lowered his head and cupped his hands at me, "Mr. Huo, this subordinate is not a recruit. This subordinate is your personal soldier assigned by General Gongsun."

"General Gongsun!" I poked my head out of the tent and stopped Gongsun Ao passing by the door.

"Hehe, so my nephew is here, and I was looking for you. How was your first day in the barracks?"

"It's not good." I said aggrievedly, "General Gongsun, there must be something wrong. The subordinate reported for the cavalry, not the cavalry."

I was assigned a banner embroidered with the word "Han" in official script, and stood in the cold wind of Jianzhang Square from morning to night, only then did I realize that I was in Jianzhang Camp, His Majesty's line of honor guards.

"Take a step to talk." Gongsun Ao patted me on the shoulder, pushed me back into the tent, and lowered the curtain.The candlelight reflected his awkward and unnatural expression.

"Nephew, don't worry, the knight is also a cavalry, it's the same."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Our Qimen army was originally His Majesty's personal guard - Jianzhangying started as a cavalry, and the infantry, cavalry, chariot and Huqi were all separated later. Besides, not everyone can be a cavalier, and you must pass the selection. Only a son of a good family with a suitable height, well-proportioned body shape, and generous appearance is qualified to serve as His Majesty's personal guard."

Looks tall, are you choosing an embroidered pillow, I thought.

"Then, what's the matter with assigning personal soldiers to the subordinates?" I pointed to the guy who had been standing with me for a whole day today, but now he was in my tent and refused to leave.

"Ahaha, this is a common practice. For the children of princes and generals, we will have a personal soldier. During the training, we will not only take care of daily life, but also ensure safety."

I searched in my mind, and when Gongsun Ao entered the tent just now, the guy behind him automatically stood guard at the door.The second uncle seems to have more than one soldier around him, and Cao Xiang also had soldiers accompanying him when he was in the barracks, but these people were automatically filtered out by me.

"However, this subordinate is not the child of a prince or general." I argued, "This subordinate did not enter the barracks to enjoy the special treatment of General Gongsun. This subordinate does not want to stay in the capital and go hunting with His Majesty. An ordinary cavalryman can go out of Shuofang with General Wei, step on the Yin Mountains, accept my Han land, and broaden my Han land."

"An ordinary cavalryman? Tsk tsk, Qu Bing's stubborn temper really comes from your Wei family." After listening to my generous speech, Gongsun Ao laughed for a while, scratched his head and said, "To tell you the truth, whether you are a cavalier or a personal soldier, these are His Majesty's oral instructions, and I am only following them. Please bear with me and stay here. Next time you see Your Majesty, you will beg him in person. He can be transferred wherever he wants."

So, next, during the first month of the recruit training camp, not only did I not see His Majesty, nor did I see my second uncle, nor did I even see Gongsun Ao.

I can swear, Gongsun Ao is definitely avoiding me!If it wasn't for violating military regulations by leaving the camp without authorization, I wish I could go to Tianliang Palace to block him.

"Huo Qubing." The instructor flipped through the roster in his hand.

"arrive."

"It says in your resume that you can play football?" The instructor glanced back and forth at me, "The new recruits will compete in Cuju in three days, so hurry up and get ready."

"Huh?" Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the few recruits around me who were called out like me.three days?I don't even remember the names of these people.

"Ah what, I received an order from the officer to answer 'no'." The instructor pointed to the soldier following me, "If you answer wrong, you will be punished on his behalf. Go run around the camp ten times."

"Hey, of course I'll be punished for making mistakes, so what's the matter with him?" I stopped the guards behind me.

"Dare to talk back? You two go to run around the camp twenty times together." The instructor announced angrily.

I have never been so hungry before. Everything in front of me, not to mention the ordinary food that is as tasteless as in the palace, even wild vegetable seedlings can be used to satisfy my hunger.After running, I have to participate in the Cuju training at night.

"Mr. Huo, eat slowly, don't choke." The soldier patted my back and handed me a water bag.

"No, if you slow down, you won't be able to catch up with training."

"At worst, let's say I'm sick, so I won't play football today."

"You don't know, for me, it doesn't matter if I miss a meal, and losing to others will kill me." I pushed him aside and continued to eat.

***

The warm spring sun shines on the square in front of Jianzhang Palace.

Looking around, the familiar grassland is covered with just sprouting blue.The difference is that I used to stand here as a student who came to the archery class, and I was wearing a Hu Yi handmade by a famous craftsman; today, I am standing here for the first time as a sergeant of the Qimen Army. It's the same standard brown uniform as everyone else.Time has not changed, but the mood is very different.

When the game was about to start, there was a commotion among the onlookers.

All the soldiers looked at the Chang'an city wall in unison.From a distance, many guards could be seen sitting on the wall surrounded by a man in black in a palanquin.With the sky-reaching crown on his head, he waved his hand and gave his usual "don't worry about me, you continue" gesture.

"It's Your Majesty, Your Majesty is here to watch our game!"

"Everyone sit down and don't make any noise!" The referee sternly tried to stop the commotion, "Everyone, listen up, peace is the most important thing in military friendly matches, everything follows the rules, and those who dare to fight will be severely punished..."

A whistle sounded in his ear, and his eyes fell back to the yellow leather ball that was rolling under the players' feet in the field.

People have been fined, and no one has scored.I looked helplessly at the enemies and friends who were scuffling around me.The side effects of the arrival of the Son of Heaven are self-evident, and everyone around me suddenly ran around as if they had been injected with chicken blood. The cooperation of the first three days was completely in vain.

After what felt like a long time, the ball finally passed to me in the backcourt.After thinking about it for a while, I decided not to join forces with that group of people. I kept the ball firmly under my feet, and continued to run wildly across the midfield.

Suddenly he was pushed heavily from behind.The moment I fell to the ground, I hooked my foot with all my strength.

"Push someone from behind, foul." The referee's voice came, "One to zero, intermission."

Spit out the dry grass in your mouth and pat the mud on your elbows.Unexpectedly, as soon as I got up, I was dragged to the ground again.

"what are you doing?"

"Your Majesty is angry, bow your head." He met my furious eyes and explained in Chinese with an accent.

Kneeling next to him was a soldier with a Huns haircut. His thick straight black hair was casually tied into a knot on the top of his head. He had thick black eyebrows, sunken eye sockets, high roots, full lips, and a particularly conspicuous vertical groove in the middle of his jaw. There is a row of pierced ears left on the left earlobe, and the flesh of the whole body is hidden in the clothes. It must be a recruit from the Huqiying Battalion.

When the Son of Heaven was seated again, the Hun boy quickly got up and stretched out his hand to me.

"Thank you." This man has a lot of strength, but unfortunately, he is not a teammate.

"You're welcome." He let go of his hand, walked backwards towards the opposite rest area, and looked at me with a half-smile, "Dribbling the ball by yourself, you're good at running, it seems that we have to guard against you in the future .”