“It’s possible to survive the waves in the courtyard, but how much more so in the vast expanse of the vast expanse of land.”
It has been snowing heavily for days, and the city inside and outside Xiliang is covered in silver, making it hard to describe the vastness. On the official road outside the east gate, a motorcade meandered. In the middle of the team was a heavily guarded carriage, with lacquered carvings and embroidered bead curtains. Although the carriage was quite dusty, as if it had traveled a long distance, it still couldn't hide the appearance of wealth.
The few pedestrians outside the city who were trudging through the wind and snow looked at him with curiosity and surprise.
However, in the queue slightly far away from the carriage, among the two riders who were inconspicuously surrounded by the guards, a voice as clear as an oriole suddenly came out. Gu Rouzhang, dressed in men's clothing and wearing a black scarf, controlled the reins with one hand. , put the riding crop on his mane, spread his hand to catch a snowflake, and said with emotion, "I'm not very good at learning. I can only remember these two lines when my predecessors recited poems about frontier fortress. At that time, I was curious about what the so-called vast expanse is. What about Cang Mang Fa? When I arrived at my grandfather's place in Youzhou, I thought that the ice and snow in Youzhou was already very lonely. But on this journey, I often didn't see anyone for several days or even half a month, so I didn't know what it was like to see the ice and snow on this road. Only then do you know what it means to be confused.”
Wei Changying, who was also dressed as a man and covered his face with a black scarf, sighed softly and said: "When I left Beijing earlier, I really couldn't bear to leave Guang'er. At first, I thought the road was not difficult to walk, anyway. With the carriage here, how much bumps can I endure while carrying him along? However, only after I left Gyeonggi did I realize how wise my mother-in-law was! Even I felt it was unbearable to take Guang'er along with me. , I really don’t know if I should send Guang’er back to the imperial capital, or should I take the risk and continue moving forward with him?”
After all, she has not yet married, but Gu Rouzhang is relaxed. Unlike Wei Changying, who was worried about her husband when she was in the imperial capital, and is about to meet her husband, and is worried about her son... Along the way, the first half of Wei Changying spent every day He was thinking that nothing would happen to Shen Zangfeng; in the second half, he was talking about how Shen Shuguang would do well in the imperial capital, which made everyone who was traveling with him get sick of hearing it.
Because they had gotten to know each other a lot along the way, Gu Rouzhang joked about her and said, "Sister Wei, you have been saying this for half the way. Now brother-in-law Wei is in Xiliang City ahead, so we can't distract him yet." What do you think? It's impossible for Mrs. Su to treat her direct grandson badly. If you like children so much, why not... have one in Xiliang with Brother Wei? "
"Sister Gu, you have such a mouth!" Although she was already a mother, she was teased by Gu Rouzhang in front of the guards around her. Even in the wind and snow, she could see several guards turning their faces slightly away from the corners of their eyes - obviously. Holding back a laugh, Wei Changying still blushed under the scarf and said angrily, "What are you talking about! I see that you were thinking about the frontier all the way. Could it be that you were just dropping by to visit the two Mr. Gu and wanted to pick a talent for yourself?" Is it true that a husband who is both good-looking and capable in both civil and military skills is decent?”
Gu Rouzhang actually nodded and said seriously: "If there is someone here who really catches my eye, why not get married? When the time comes, I will go into battle with him to kill the enemy. Even if I die on the battlefield, I will be willing to do so. Maybe there will be achievements." It’s possible to have a story that lasts forever!”
"Sister Gu, you are talking nonsense again! Maybe it is because you are too happy to meet the two young masters Gu soon." Wei Changying had to stop her - although she did not bring this master to Xiliang. But she escaped secretly, and she also has a biological brother and a clan brother in Xiliang. However, neither Gu Yiran nor Gu Xinian has seen her now. Wei Changying has to take some responsibility for her, otherwise she will become more and more open-minded after entering Xiliang territory and not afraid of the Gu family sending people to capture her. Miss Gu, who dared to say anything and do anything, lost her sense of control even more, spreading some uncontrollable rumors... It was hard to explain to the Gu family.
Just as Gu Rouzhang was about to speak, a guard leader rode in from the outer circle and reported: "Fourth Young Master, the city of Xiliang is already in front of us. The wind and snow are getting worse. Please ask the young lady and Miss Gu to get back on the carriage and prepare to enter the city." .”
It's a thousand miles from the imperial capital to Xiliang City. No matter how good the carriage is, the bones of the person who sits on it will almost fall apart after traveling through mountains and rivers. In particular, the season for their westward journey happened to be from autumn to winter - it is said that Hu Tian snows in August, and it was September when they set off. One can imagine the difficulties on the way, otherwise Wei Changying would not have been able to continue I was lucky that I didn't force Shen Shuguang to be taken with me.
Therefore, although Wei Changying and Gu Rouzhang were both ladies of the family, they couldn't stand it anymore in the middle of the journey. They relied on their martial arts skills and after practicing riding for a few days, they asked the maid to take the coins originally meant for Shen Zangfeng, Gu Xinian and others. Each of the robes he brought was changed into a set of men's clothes, and he would ride on a horse from time to time to adjust.
Today, because they knew they could reach Xiliang City early in the morning, the two of them were in a good mood. They had been riding horses since the morning to avoid being blocked by the crowd of people in the carriage and not being able to see Xiliang City immediately.
The meeting was in high spirits, when the guards suddenly heard Shen Zanghui's words of reminder, and they realized that the team was not far from the gate of Xiliang City. There may be someone waiting in front of the city gate... But don't lose your dignity. They all turned their horses' heads and arrived at the carriage. Since both of them were very agile, there was no need for the carriage to stop. One to the left and one to the right, the coachman gave a little space and jumped directly from the saddle onto the shaft of the carriage.
Gu Rouzhang stretched out her hand to lift the car curtain, but Wei Changying held her down first, buttoned the curtain first, and said in a loud voice: "Sister Deng, we are about to come in. Can you take shelter behind the screen to avoid the wind?"
I heard a girl's slightly hoarse voice coming from the car, saying: "Thank you two sisters for your consideration. I just asked someone to bring the fox fur. I will put it on now. You can come in."
As soon as the curtain was lifted, Wei Changying and Gu Rouzhang went in one after another. Although both of them moved very quickly, there was still a strong gust of wind carrying snow, blowing away every trace of the warm spring atmosphere from the charcoal pot inside. , it was freezing cold for a while.
Deng Wanwan, who was sitting in the back, narrowed her eyes slightly. The white fox fur she was wearing was like a pile of snow. She looked extremely warm, but she couldn't help but cough a few times when she was hit by the wind and snow. Guard Chief Ying hurriedly called to Zhu Lan who was guarding the door: "Hurry up and close the curtain."
Zhu Lan hurriedly said: "It's already pressed."
"Cough... cough... Thank you Sister Wei. My body is really useless. I stay in the carriage every day and I actually feel cold. On the other hand, the two sisters have to go out and ride horses for a while every day, which makes them even worse. You're healthy." Deng Wanwan covered her lips with a handkerchief, coughed a few times, and said with a smile.
Gu Rouzhang said straightforwardly: "Staying in this carriage all day long makes me sick from boredom. It would be easier to go out for a walk, but it's a pity that Wanwan is too timid to learn to ride a horse... Fortunately, you will soon. We’ve entered Xiliang City. I’ll show you around when I get back, I’ll make sure it’s done soon.”
Wei Changying said with a smile: "Is there still a need to walk around? Didn't you forget that there was someone lying behind the screen? Although we were surprised along the way, after getting off the car, Wanwan said to Xiao Fenghan Everything can be cured at your fingertips!”
All three of them laughed, for no other reason: lying behind the screen was Duanmu Xinmiao, the only disciple of the famous domestic doctor Ji Qubing. The eighth young lady of the Duanmu family was not just lying behind the screen now, she was actually lying on it after leaving the capital... The reason, no one expected, was that she got sick from the carriage.
At first, Duanmu Xinmiao relied on his status as a doctor and took medicine to suppress it in private so that others would not notice. But the further away from the imperial capital, the more difficult the road is and the bumpier the carriage becomes. Finally one day, Duanmu Xinmiao couldn't bear it any longer and vomited in the car. After vomiting, he was really breathless - so frightened that Wei Changying hurriedly sent someone to tell Shen Zanghui that he stopped traveling for a day. Let her rest.
Originally, Wei Changying was a little afraid to take her away, but Duanmu Xinmiao didn't know whether it was because of embarrassment or other reasons, but she was very insistent. After all, he was Ji Qubing's disciple. Although motion sickness was uncomfortable, Duanmu Xinmiao was not completely helpless. It's just that she refused to use this method before to cover up others' eyes. Now that everyone knew about it, she no longer worried about face... She just took a dose of calming decoction and fell asleep.
So, even in the emperor's eyes, he was so powerful that no one dared to offend his master, and even Empress Gu smiled when she saw him. He was the only successor of the miracle doctor, so he slept all the way to Xiliang.
On the contrary, Deng Wanwan, who looked timid and timid and had a delicate body and was either suffering from cold or coughing along the way, persisted. Although he did not dare to learn horse riding with Wei Changying and Gu Rouzhang, he relied on the car Through the window, you can also watch thousands of rivers and mountains trudging past your feet.
… It’s also a long story to talk about why Wei Changying took these three people with him on his westward journey:
After the news of the great victory in Xiliang and the almost death of Yu Muxiuer in Qiudi reached the imperial capital, the Holy Emperor was indeed overjoyed. But... Following the emperor, he asked the person who reported the victory: "There were originally four imperial guards who went to Xiliang. Why are there only one person, Shen Zangfeng and Xiliang guard Shen Youjia, in the report of victory now?"
The person who reported the victory explained: "Because this great victory was achieved because Colonel Shen did not hesitate to use his body as bait and worked with Captain Shen Du to coordinate the response. The two Captains Gu and Captain Deng were stationed elsewhere and did not participate."
After hearing these words, the Holy One said slowly: "That's good... all the guards who went to Donghu earlier were seriously injured. My heart aches. Unexpectedly, there is really good news from Xiliang." Next, the Holy One He didn't say anything, just rewarded according to the rules... But when these words spread, rumors began to spread in the imperial capital. It was said that in order to let Shen Zangfeng take the credit, the Shen family not only killed Gu Yiran and Gu in the victory. The credit of Xi Nian and Deng Zongqi even concealed the news of their injuries...
The news spread, and the attitudes of each family were ambiguous. The Gu family in the imperial capital remained calm, and the Deng family in Rongcheng didn't care much about Deng Zongqi's life, so the people in charge of both families refuted the rumors - but the Deng family, who had always been dependent on his brother, Deng Wanwan was worried and went to Concubine Deng to ask.
The imperial concubine didn't know whether the news was true or not, so she asked her Majesty privately what he meant, and took Yao Tao to the Shen family to discuss with the Shen family. She wanted Deng Wanwan to go to Xiliang with Wei Changying, on the grounds of visiting her brother.
The Shen family knew that this was probably because the Holy One was worried and wanted Wei Changying to bring an informant. However, a daughter of an aristocratic family who is not valued by the family has gone to the ancestral home of the Shen family. If they can't hold her back, the Shen family shouldn't mess around with her. So I agreed very readily... As a result, Concubine Deng made another "kind-hearted" suggestion: Since Shen Zangfeng was seriously injured and Ji Qubing went to Fengzhou again, why not invite Duanmu Xinmiao to go to Xiliang with him
Duanmu Xinmiao is not only the legitimate daughter of the family, but also the sole descendant of Ji Qubing, the number one doctor in the country. The Shen family allows Deng Wanwan to downplay the incident in Xiliang, but the master cannot do it casually... Not to mention being afraid of the revenge of the people behind her, just saying that her personal relationship with Wei Changying will not be destroyed easily. mouth. Duanmu Xinmiao's most valued sister, the Queen Mother Cai, and her nephew, Prince Cai, are both in the imperial capital, so they are not afraid of her disobedience.
The Shen family sent Shen Zanghui to escort his cousin's sister-in-law to the west to visit her husband, and took these two companions along with them. But before the carriage left the capital, Gu Rouzhang, who had long been impatient to stay in the house and learn the rules, managed to secretly catch up with her disguised as a man. -She is not worried about her brothers, but she is simply bored and wants to go to Xiliang to join in the fun.
Wei Changying sent people to send her back several times, but she rode a thousand-mile horse given to her by her grandfather, which was not even as good as Shen Zanghui's horse. If you chase her, she will run away; if you stop chasing her, she will catch up again. Anyway, there were so many carriages and horses in the group led by the guard commander Ying that it was impossible to leave the road without fear of not being able to find any traces.
Several times like this, Wei Changying and his entourage were concerned about the injuries of their relatives in Xiliang and did not dare to delay Chen Guang. He thought that since he could not send her back, he asked her to hang behind. If something happened... it would be better to simply invite her into the carriage. Woolen cloth!
So, such a team of people was formed. (To be continued)