Everyone loves Huo Qubing

"I don't want to go to school anymore!" I solemnly announced to my uncles one day during dinner.

"Why?" asked the uncle.

"The course is too difficult." I complained.

"How long has it been since you don't want to go to school? No way." The uncle denied my proposal, and added at the end, "It seems that Cao Shizi has persisted."

It’s okay not to mention it, but when Cao Xiang was mentioned, I immediately jumped up from the mat as if I had my tail between my legs: "Who is Shi Zi, and who is Qu Bing? Those courses are specially designed for nobles, and I am not those princes." The general's child."

The uncle was stunned for a moment and said, "You are the princess' cousin."

"Cousin?" I said angrily, "It's a pity that I'm just a 'princess' cousin, and a concubine princess."

"Where did I learn this word!" Uncle pointed at me with his chopsticks, his face turning blue.

"I don't cherish good opportunities," my uncle muttered while eating, "It's not easy for our family to enter the Imperial Academy. If you really don't want to go, why not let me replace you."

"Qubing, did something happen to you in school recently?" The second uncle stopped chopsticks and asked me.

"No, nothing." I moved back unconsciously.

Without waiting for the second uncle to ask again, the eldest uncle said: "It's okay to eat quickly, don't even think about dropping out of school."

After dinner, I was alone in my room.Hu Fu's cuff was knotted on his left wrist, and he couldn't untie it with one hand. I tried to bite it with my teeth to see if I could break it.

"Qubing, can I come in?" The second uncle knocked lightly on the door of my room.

"Uncle!" I threw myself into the arms of the person who opened the door.

The second uncle pushed me away and said seriously: "Is there really something you don't want to tell the second uncle?"

I shook my head: "It's actually nothing, it's just that I accidentally fell off my horse during the archery class."

"Where did you fall?" The second uncle showed an anxious look on his face.

I stretched out my arm and signaled my second uncle to help me untie the sleeve strap of the Hu suit, exposing my left wrist.It hurt a little when I opened it, and I took a "hissy" breath.The second uncle turned around and went out and told the servants to go to the ice cellar to fetch a basin of ice, wrapped it in a towel, and put it on my wrist that was red and swollen like a hill.

"No wonder you didn't change your coat just before dinner, and you couldn't hold the chopsticks well when eating, and you still grabbed the rice with your hands." The second uncle hugged me in his arms, feeling pity and self-blame at the same time, " Uncle was wrong. Uncle only thought you were a naughty child and blamed you. Unexpectedly, Qu Bing really grew up."

"Uncle, I'm really fine. It's just a small injury. I also want to practice holding chopsticks with my right hand." His self-blame made me unable to bear to listen any longer, so I found a great excuse for myself, "I want to wield a sword with my right hand and hold a pen with my right hand like everyone else."

"I learned to be brave at such a young age." The second uncle twisted my face, "The left hand also holds a pen and a sword, it doesn't get in the way."

"But the students of the Taixue laughed at me." I said, not without grievance, "The Taifu tried to let me practice calligraphy with my right hand, but I couldn't write well, and I didn't need the strength."

The second uncle laughed and said: "You can tell from Qubing, His Majesty also holds a sword in his left hand and writes with his left hand, so he is not the same as a wise lord."

"Really? His Majesty is also left-handed?" Hope ignited in my eyes.

"Hush," the second uncle put his finger on my lips, "Qingbing is the hope of our Wei family, so we can't underestimate ourselves. Don't mention the word 'left-handed' again."

"Okay, I see." I smiled back at him.

"If you get injured again in the future, you can't hide it from your uncles. If the injury is delayed, it will be troublesome to suffer a lifetime of pain."

"Thank you uncle for teaching me, Qubing will not hide it anymore." I touched my wrist, although the frozen part was still swollen, but I could no longer feel the pain.

The second uncle helped me take off the Hu clothes, changed into obscene clothes, wrapped me in a thick quilt, and said earnestly: "The Empress Dowager is very kind to our Wei family, and she also loves you. The matter of going to the Imperial Academy, Persevere and persevere, everything is difficult at the beginning.”

I nodded, I understand the empress dowager's kindness.

"If you are wronged in school, you must tell uncle, and uncle will help you." The second uncle kissed me on the forehead, blew out the candle, and gently closed the door.

It was the archery class again, and when I got on the horse, I hid behind the others.The other students used the pony they brought from home. I didn’t have my own mount, so I had to borrow a pony from the racecourse. Unexpectedly, the last time I ran into a horse that I knew was born, I couldn’t stand it because of my short legs, so I was thrown off , and still have lingering fears.

At that time, my left palm hit the ground first, and I didn’t feel any pain at first, but my wrist gradually swelled up, until my second uncle found out that my wrist was so swollen that I didn’t recognize it, so that the drawstring of the cuff of the Hu suit was embedded in it. In the meat, I am just sorry for the new clothes my aunt made for me. I saw blood when I wore them for the first time.

Facing the morning sun, I saw my second uncle walking towards us from a distance, holding a little white horse with a white mane and black nose in his hand.

The grand master of the archery class is a subordinate of General Cheng Bushi, the commander of the imperial army. His surname is Duan Minghong. The second uncle entered the racecourse and negotiated with Grand Master Duan, and then led the pony to me.

"This white colt understands human nature and has a gentle temper." The second uncle said, "Qu Bing, try touching its nose."

I stretched out my hand cautiously, Baiju really didn't resist me as a stranger, but rubbed his nose against my palm instead.

"Now it's yours." The second uncle tied the reins of the white horse to the hitch that belonged to me.

"It's mine?" I couldn't hide my joy.

The second uncle gave me an affirmative smile: "I just greeted the grand master and told him to pay attention to your injury. I still have something to do, go to the sick and be careful."

"Thank you uncle!" I said loudly, and waved him away.

I finally got my own mount. I touched the pony's white mane, which was soft. Its back was not high, and it was slightly thinner than other ponies, so it should be easy to climb up.

Cao Xiang patted the white horse on the back: "This horse has a nice color, and I want a white horse too. Let's switch rides?"

"You think I didn't fall hard enough last time? Don't change!" I firmly disagree.

The schoolchildren gathered around to look at my new horse. Such a small foal, still white, stood out among a group of sorrel ponies, and everyone talked about it.Looking up, I saw a few older schoolchildren gathered not far away, seeming to laugh at our rarity.Among them was Han Shuo, holding his brown colt, but he didn't speak, just looked at us quietly.

"Look, this white horse's neck is bleeding." One of the older schoolchildren suddenly said.I looked up and saw a figure in a black dress walking over.The speaker was the youngest son of General Li Guang, the commander of the imperial guards in Chang'an City, named Li Gan.General Li Guang is well-known in the capital for his perfect shooting skills. Li Gan also inherited his father's good eyesight, good head and hand speed, and is the best student in the archery class.

He lifted the white horse's mane and motioned the schoolchildren to take a closer look.There was indeed some redness around the mane, as if injured.

how so?I was immediately anxious.

"Do you want to invite the grand master to come and see?" Cao Xiang comforted me.

Grand Master Duan was checking the mounts one by one. Hearing our call, he came over and flipped the white horse's mane.

"It's okay," he explained with a smile, "This is a special kind of horse called a sweat-blood horse, which comes from the Dawan Kingdom in the Western Regions. This horse is born like this, so there is no need to worry."

The grand master opened the white horse's teeth and looked at it, and then looked at the white horse's hoof, and concluded: "This horse is more like the offspring of the Dawan sweat horse and the Xiongnu pony horse. Its limbs are thin and powerful. Don't look at it. It is still young, but if it is properly trained, it will definitely become an excellent war horse in the future."

The words made the students gasp in admiration.

"Quickly give the horse a name."

I looked at its peculiar mane neck and thought for a while: "Let's call it 'Fire Cloud'."

***

The little princess cousin grew up day by day, and I finally got into the Tao in the courses at Taixue.As winter turns to spring, and when the willows grow on their branches, Weiyang Palace also welcomes the birthday party of the princess cousin.

For the birthday celebration of the royal daughter, the residents of Chang'an City have been busy for a while. On the one hand, the people are adding joy to the royal feast, celebrating with the whole world, decorating the lanterns and festoons; Avoid trouble.The second uncle has been running around all day long, and there is no one in sight.

In fact, there are not many opportunities to see my uncle recently.At dinner one day, I asked my uncle who was going back home to rest for a bath, and asked about the whereabouts of my second uncle.

"Qing'er? He has been running between the Sangong and the two courtyards recently, and he has to deal with the affairs of the Qimen Army at hand. He is as busy as a spinning top, and he doesn't even have time to catch his breath. You won't see him during this time." Yep." The uncle shook his head and said.

After the war between Fujian and Vietnam subsided and the situation in Dongou settled down, the emperor rewarded him for his meritorious deeds, and made his second uncle a doctor of the Taizhong with a rank of a thousand stones.An important task of the Taizhong doctor during the royal celebration is to cooperate with other doctors to be responsible for the preparation of travel, sacrifices, banquets, hunting and other affairs.These affairs are divided into different specifications and etiquette, such as the emperor's honor guard, the queen mother of the two palaces, the queen, the princes, ministers, common people, etc. It can be said that the entire Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace are busy recently.

Taixue's courses were also affected. Taifu Zhuang could not come to teach us for several days, so the Five Classics was replaced by a bachelor named Zhu Maichen, who had a stronger Chu accent than Taifu Zhuang.

"But the second brother didn't go to Dongou." The uncle questioned the uncle's statement.

My uncle's answer confirmed my guess: "This trip between China and North Korea to Dongou is a prudent deployment of troops. Even the East Palace and the Outer Court are keeping secrets. It's normal for idlers to be ignorant. Do you remember? At the beginning of last year, Qing'er disappeared for a month. It was said that he went back to Hedong to recruit soldiers and horses. In fact, he went to Dongou with Zhuang Zhu. He recruited Kuaiji soldiers, Kuaiji boats, and bought Kuaiji horses. Zhuang Zhu was a scholar. If you want to frighten the governor of Kuaiji who thinks the sky is high and the emperor is far away, you still have to rely on us soldiers."

No wonder that when I first met Mrs. Zhuang, his junior high school doctor was very polite to my second uncle and a small "servant".At this moment, my admiration for my second uncle is like a surging river, rushing down.

***

Finally looking forward to the second uncle's return home, as soon as the people entered the door, it was too late to take off the armor, so they called everyone into the main hall.

"You will definitely like this news." The exhaustion of the past few days could not hide the high spirits of the second uncle at the moment, "Your Majesty said, 'I have granted permission for the family members of the princess and mother to attend the banquet and sacrifice to the southern suburbs to show the emperor's favor.'"

"It's great!" My uncle and I were sitting upright, but we couldn't help jumping up to celebrate when we heard the news.

"What about spring hunting? Can we go too?" the uncle asked.

The second uncle nodded: "For Spring Hunting, it only needs to be a male family member."

Shanglinyuan spring hunting is a large-scale royal hunting activity.I heard that this year's spring hunting, several princes and kings from the feudal Han Dynasty will come to Beijing to celebrate with the emperor. These princes are all masters who can ride and shoot well. The spring hunting at that time will definitely be a very interesting event competition.

"Can Qubing also go spring hunting?" I asked.

The second uncle will not miss the hope in my eyes: "As long as Qubing obeys the rules and doesn't cause chaos, it is naturally possible. Moreover, those students from your Taixue should all be there."

"Then I'll take 'Fire Cloud' with me." I pointed at the little white horse in the stable, unable to hide my excitement.

"No problem." The second uncle replied with a smile.

***

Apricot blossoms rain all over the city, dandelions are everywhere, and the land of Chang'an is full of spring.All the way from Nan'an Gate in Chang'an City to the Ming Hall in the southern suburbs of the city, there was a dense line of imperial guards along the way.This road was also bustling with people early in the morning, and the people came shoulder to shoulder, vying to see the grandeur of the emperor and the coming of the four kings.

Uncle and Uncle left the Wei Mansion before dawn, leaving us a document to enter and exit the Ming Hall.The Mingtang was built in the first year of the emperor's accession to the throne. It was the holy place for royal sacrifices. The emperor decided to hold a sacrifice ceremony here, offering sacrifices to the gods of the world in order.The Son of Heaven, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress had already arrived at the Ming Hall, presumably the aunt and cousin had also arrived, and now it was just waiting for the court congratulators to enter.

I followed my brother-in-law and walked slowly southward. Today, there is also a dense mass of imperial guards outside the Ming Hall. There is a long queue at the entrance of the outer city. If it is not a prince, the imperial guards will not only read everyone’s papers, but also search them. Therefore, it took a lot of time, and it took about half an hour to enter the Ming Hall. From a distance, I heard the eunuchs singing promises in the direction of the North Hall, and King Xuandai, King Changsha, King Zhongshan and King Luochuan had an audience.

The North Hall is called "Pantheon Hall", which is built on the hillside, overlooking Chang'an City in the west and the Wei River in the north, which is magnificent.The eunuch led us to the Pantheon, where we saw hundreds of officials lined up in formal attire, looking towards the altar. There were many familiar faces on the left and right sides of the altar. Among the ones I could recognize were the uncle, the grand tutor, the uncle, and the second son. Uncle, all dressed in formal attire, standing majestically.

The eunuch led me and my brother-in-law to the end of the line of royal family members. As soon as we stood still, the eunuch from a high place sang: "Your Majesty is here."

Everyone knelt down in unison: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty!"

The emperor is grand, with twelve crowns, heavy ceremonies and costumes, majestic and solemn, and the scene is very spectacular.I raised my head curiously, wanting to take a peek at the Emperor Long Yan, but my uncle pinned my head and told me not to stretch my neck to look around.

"The empress dowager is here, the empress is here." As soon as the eunuchs sang, the palace people cleared the way, and the graceful and luxurious empress dowager walked into the altar with empress Chen, who was present in her best attire.Empress Dowager Dou has always disliked these Confucian ceremonies, and she will not show up for such suburban ceremonies.

Alchemists practice Zen, doctors practice wine, Confucians sing scriptures, and witches play music.The Son of Heaven sacrifices to the heavens first, and everyone worships the heavens and the earth with them.I listened to the voice of the Son of Heaven praying down from the altar, solemn and clear but somewhat familiar, as if I had heard this voice somewhere a long time ago, but couldn't remember it clearly.

The emperor sacrificed to the eight gods again, and the queen accompanied him; the emperor sacrificed to the ghosts and gods again, accompanied by the queen and prince.The aunt I was looking forward to did not appear, but Empress Chen hugged the little princess to salute.

The last item of the Son of Heaven Sacrifice is the Son of Prayer Sacrifice, which is the sacrifice of the Son of Heaven and the Empress together, hoping to regenerate an heir.After listening to the alchemist's long prayer, I gradually felt a little sad for Empress Chen.The children in Chang'an City secretly joked that Empress Chen was a "hen that doesn't lay eggs".Even us children know that now that my aunt has an heir and is favored, Empress Chen may not have a few years to live in peace.

Having said that, sadness is sadness, I don't want the gods to sympathize with Empress Chen because of this, if she really gave birth to an emperor's heir, I'm afraid my aunt will be the one who has no peaceful life.So during the civilian sacrifice later, I made a wish.

The descendants of kings to King Zhongshan each sacrificed to the mountains and rivers of Fengguo, and the doctors, my teachers, and relatives took turns to sacrifice to the five elements.By the time the officials finally began to salute and congratulate me, my legs were numb.However, I am still looking forward to the upcoming royal banquet and spring hunting in Shanglinyuan.