The sky is blue-grey, the earth is deep and far away, the stars have sunk in the west and become blurred, dew is condensed on the tips of the grass blades, the chirping of the grass and insects is gradually sparse, the sky is about to dawn, and a faint white light has already appeared in the east.
Gu Jian pulled his horse to stand on the hill and waited quietly.
The ink color of the sky slowly receded, and the white streak in the east became wider and brighter, like more and more clear water seeping into the ink sea. The peacock blue was rubbed into the silk rose purple, and the ink faded faster, and even the sky in the west turned purple-gray.
The dew on the blades of grass was illuminated by the first ray of sunshine, like countless bright and clear crystal beads scattered in this boundless green field. The horse snorted, bowed its neck and bowed its head to curl up on the grass, and there were several grasshoppers jumping and flying in the grass. It is the best season in Hudi, the grass all over the mountains and plains are green, and the morning wind blows like green waves. Scattered wild flowers are mixed in this green sea, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance are like huge ice screens, which are reflected in golden outlines by the rising sun.
Gu Jian waited patiently, and a faint sound came from a distant place, like it was raining, or just like the sea of grass was blowing softly.
After a while, the sound was closer and heavier, vaguely like the distant dull thunder in summer, and after a while, it was already the sound of horse hooves.
Gu Jian narrowed his eyes, the sound of the hooves getting closer and clearer, the cavalry team galloped towards the rising sun, and gradually, Gu Jian could clearly see the saddle of the cavalry team's horse, and the person who was leading the way. A resolute face under the helmet.
Gu Jian got on the horse and drove the horse up to meet him. The horse rested for more than half an hour. The leader of the cavalry team was Pei Zhao. Gu Jian recognized it, but he didn't like this person. He asked, "Where's Wulang?"
People closest to him will use this nickname. Pei Zhao is a cautious person, and this is what Gu Jian finds boring. Sure enough, Pei Zhao replied in a normal manner: "His Royal Highness has entered the city."
Gu Jian was taken aback and asked, "Is he alone?"
Pei Zhao nodded. He was Li Chengyin's confidant. He was from a noble family. He was not the same as Gu Jianben, a wandering ranger. Although he knew each other well, he didn't have much to say.
Gu Jian's brows could not help wrinkling: "Why don't you stop him?"
Pei Zhao couldn't answer. Li Chengyin has always been a cautious person. No matter who he is, he is naturally extra cautious in his position in the East Palace. But in the army, Li Chengyin was a man who acted recklessly and even a little unscrupulously. It has always been the practice of the state that the East Palace is the leader of the army, and the emperor will grant the crown prince the post of governor as appropriate. When it came to Li Cheng Yin, there were some exceptions. Before the crown prince could be established, Li Chengyin was ordered to go to the Changzhou army, and changed his name and surname to become a small school under the banner of Wu Shu, the Jiedushi envoy of Changzhou. Coincidentally, he encountered Rong Di's surprise attack on the border. Li Chengyin led a scout to patrol the border. In a hurry, Zhang Huang did not escape. He even took advantage of the enemy's crossing the river to ambush him. Send an army to rescue. The more than 100 horsemen beside Li Cheng Yin were all killed and wounded early, and he himself was wounded by two arrows. Wu Shu couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly wrote an urgent letter of guilt - after all, he was the son of the emperor. If there are three longs and two shorts, how good is it.
Li Chengyin, however, had nothing to do with letting the doctor pull out the arrow, wrapped the wound and went to the military tent of Jiedu envoy. First, he stopped the emissary Wu Shu was about to send to Shangjing, and then took the self-incriminating emissary. Shuwen was placed in the brazier, and the white silk covered with ink was set on fire and turned to ashes.
"I'm fine. My father is thousands of miles away in Shangjing, so why bother making him worry."
Wu Shu was born in the Hu ethnic group, and because of his rude and outspoken temperament, court officials often teased him as a reckless man in private, but how could he really be a reckless man if he could achieve the position of Jiedushi? The two arrows were shot from behind, and although luckily they didn't hurt the vital point, they were also very dangerous. Wu Shu's heart was bright, even though the locusts were raining like rain on the battlefield, Li Chengyin was ambushing the enemy, and the army of Rong Di, who was crossing the river, was caught off guard. The two sides have been fighting head-to-head, and Li Chengyin's two arrows on his back were really odd.
Wu Shu couldn't help but sighed silently in his heart.
Li Chengyin fought with Wu Shu for two years. Everyone didn't know his exact origin, only that he was a son of honor and honor in Beijing, but he didn't have the air of honor. For example, in addition to horse manure, carrying grain bags, repairing ditches... Li Chengyin is no exception, and he has never been lazy.
At first, Wu Shu thought that His Majesty's son was a hot potato. After two years of being in office, he was really impressed. Wu Shu was very enthusiastic. , almost regarded him as a private disciple, and the two cherished each other quite a bit.
Li Chengyin stayed in Changzhou for two years, accumulated military exploits, and gradually revealed his edge. Finally, someone in Shangjing came to his senses and persuaded the emperor to recall him to the capital.
Wu Shu brought his own guards and light cavalry, and sent Li Chengyin all the way to the Wuding River. Autumn is deep, and the reed flowers are blooming by the riverside, like a new snow. Wu Shu didn't dismount, but threw Li Chengyin a leather bag of spirits and said, "If you're not happy in Beijing, come back to Changzhou and let's drink!"
Li Cheng Yin took the bag of wine, opened it and took a sip. After tightening the silver button on the leather bag, tying the wine to the saddle, he bowed his hands to Wu Shu and rode his horse across the river. When he got to the shore and looked back, Wu Shu was still standing among the reeds. The reeds were like flying snow when the wind blew through them, and a few strands stuck to his beard.
When Wu Shu saw Li Chengyin go and return, and waded his horse back, he was surprised that Li Chengyin had already driven the horse closer, reached out and plucked the two reed flowers from his beard, and threw it away with a snap of his fingers. Wu Shu realized this, he couldn't help grinning, stretched out his arms, took Li Cheng Yin into his arms according to Hu Li, and patted his vest lightly. There are a thousand words, and there is no need to say.
After Li Chengyin crossed the river this time, he didn't look back. Wu Shu waited until he was far away and could no longer see. Then he turned his horse's head and went back.
The wine in the leather bag was brought back to Shangjing, and Li Cheng Yin was not willing to drink it again. It was brewed from Changzhou millet mixed with mare's milk. It was stronger than all the wines in Shangjing. If you were used to this kind of burning knife, the wines in Shangjing seemed too warm and thin.
It's just the difference with Wu Shu, who would have thought it would become Yongjue. Li Chengyin returned to the capital for less than a month, when Wu Shu was killed by his adopted son Qi Qi Ya. Qi Qi Ya seized the military power and supported the soldiers. government.
There was an uproar in the courtroom, Li Chengyin insisted on leading the army to quell the rebellion, but the battles in the Bohai counties were tight, the emperor considered it again and again, and ordered Qi Qiya to be given the post of military governor, while Yan Ran protected the mansion. , was led by King Li Chengyin of Jin from afar.
In the ninth year of Yuanqing, King Li Chengyin of Jin was established as the crown prince. The war in the Bohai Sea has been leveled, and Qi Qi Ya knows that he and Dong Gong have long had a rift and cannot tolerate it. As soon as he gritted his teeth, he raised his flag and rebelled. He established himself as a khan, split Changzhou and Yingzhou into a khanate, and incited chaos among Shiwei, Mohe and other tribes. Li Chengyin personally led the army to conquer, and Pei Zhao served as the long history with the army.
At that time, Pei Zhao only saw Li Cheng Yin's willful behavior in the army. He was the one who jumped into the river naked with a group of soldiers to take a bath, and he was the one who was not the one who was ordered by the emperor. The food supply was intermittent and difficult, and he was the one who gave up his horse to carry the wounded soldiers while he was eating buckwheat husks, but forced to march quickly in the heavy snow.
Under such a willful and reckless leadership, the army was victorious in successive battles. Qiqiya was on the verge of running away and fled in a hurry. After abandoning his weapons and surrendering, Li Chengyin said indifferently, "No."
These two words came out from his thin lips, almost ruthlessly relaxed, but the generals around him couldn't help but gasped. Even Pei Zhao had to speak out to dissuade him: "Captain, killing prisoners is ominous..."
Li Chengyin said: "They are not prisoners yet, they can fight again."
Qi Qi Ya had the courage of a chaotic minister and a thief. He really lined up his men and horses before charging. However, the army was surrounded, and this battle was no change. In the end, Qi Qi Ya took a horse and almost rushed to the front of the battle. fell half a stone's throw away.
The forward was cautious, and ordered everyone to pick up the corpse of Qi Qi Ya with long spears, and then threw it heavily on the ground. Under the guard of the Chinese army, Li Chengyin slowly rode his horse over, and suddenly felt a chill on his face, and it turned out that the snow began to fly again.
The snow fell silently, and there was a vast space between heaven and earth. He heard the neighing of war horses occasionally. Li Cheng Yin watched Qi Qi Ya's blood-stained face covered with snowflakes. He took off the leather bag from behind the saddle, unscrewed the silver button, and sprinkled the bag of wine on the vast snow field. The wine seeped into the snow, and immediately melted away, just like the warm embrace that once embraced him like a father.
After Li Cheng Yin had finished pouring the jug of wine, he threw the leather bag away and rode his horse away. Pei Zhao couldn't help but glance back, the leather bag had fallen into the snow, and it looked very old. He knew it because Li Chengyin often carried him around in recent years. Pei Zhao didn't know what he was thinking, but he only felt that Li Chengyin, the commander-in-chief who led the army soldier Ding's willful actions, seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, and in front of him was the prince Li Chengyin who went to Beijing. . Even among the ten thousand armies, they all seem so lonely.
Li Chengyin led the army back to Beijing. Before crossing the Weishui River, Li Chengyin suddenly became seriously ill. He vomited and diarrhoea at first, then developed a high fever and vomited blood two or three days later. The military doctor was helpless, and only said that he was attacked by miasma.
Pei Zhao hurriedly sent Pegasus back to Beijing to report to the Son of Heaven, and opened the tips that his father gave him before he left. That kit was originally told by his father that it could be opened in extreme danger. The army had won the battle. Pei Zhao thought that the kit would be useless again.
As a result, there was nothing else in the kit, only a black pill wrapped in oil paper, shiny and shiny, and it was impossible to see what it was.
Pei Zhao was stunned for a while, then pulled out his waist knife, shaved a little powder from the pill, put it to his lips hesitantly, and swallowed it resolutely.
He has always been prudent, and after waiting for a long time, he felt that he was no different. At that time, Li Cheng Yin had already vomited blood again and fell into a drowsiness. The doctor kept pouring medicine every hour, but he didn't get any better. Pei Zhao saw that no one was in the tent, so he quietly grabbed the pill, poured a cup of water with his own water bag, helped Li Cheng Yin, and fed him the pill.
Li Cheng Yin was so sick that he was in a trance. He only tried his best to open his eyes and glance at him, but he didn't ask anything, he just swallowed the water he fed.
After a few days, Li Cheng Yin finally regained consciousness and gradually got better. Pei Zhao was not at ease, and those who served Li Chengyin by mouth were ineffective, and they all rushed to the stables to be filthy errands. He replaced Li Chengyin's side with the Pei family's personal guards that he brought with him. That's the case. He must taste the food every day before offering it to Li Chengyin.
When he was alone, Li Cheng Yin said, "A Zhao saved my life again."
Pei Zhao said, "This minister was careless, I should have thought that someone in the capital would not want His Highness to win and return to court."
Li Chengyin smiled and said, "It's not the first time anyway. It's neither a direct descendant nor a long one. I'm sitting in this position in the East Palace, and I feel guilty."
Pei Zhao held back a word and didn't say a word. At first, he urged Li Chengyin not to lead the army in person. Losing this battle is not good, but winning is even more bad.
You are already the prince, and it is the right thing not to make mistakes, so why take risks.
At that time, Li Chengyin said lightly, "You don't understand, I must take Qi Qi Ya's life."
If someone else came, they would naturally capture Qi Qi Ya and present him as a prisoner to the Son of Heaven. The Son of Heaven will pardon Qi Xiya, and will imprison him in Shangjing, setting an example for the chaotic Shiwei and Mole tribes to surrender.
Even Pei Zhao didn't understand why the always wise and decisive prince had to be so willful in this kind of thing.
For example, this time to sneak into the Western Regions. Originally, Pei Zhao wanted to send someone to inquire about the truth of the king of Xiliang, but Li Chengyin planned to leave the army behind and sneak into the palace of Xiliang alone.
Pei Zhao naturally discouraged him, Li Chengyin said, "It's because I want to marry a bride, can't I take a look first?"
One sentence made Pei Zhao speechless. Even though he was mature and prudent, he couldn't stop the young man from being so righteous.
Therefore, Pei Zhao had no choice but to lead Yu Lin Lang and meet Gu Jian first. At this moment, Li Chengyin has successfully sneaked into the King City of Xiliang.
Xiliang is a country that must go through business in the west, but it is far less prosperous than the Central Plains. The so-called royal city is nothing but a wall of earth, with weeds in the middle, and it is smooth and clean with white mud. Many palaces are empty, not even a Hu bed, only a mat and sheep felt to sit and lie down.
Li Chengyin did not expect that the royal city was so rudimentary. It was his first time as a gentleman on the beam, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath, and shuttled the palace from one room to another, until dawn, and still found nothing.
Li Chengyin was not discouraged when he saw that he was going back and forth in vain. He was about to withdraw when he heard a noise, so he turned around and avoided the wall. I saw a few maids walking with hot water buckets, splashing all the way, constantly laughing at each other. Li Chengyin had sharp eyes and sharp ears. Hearing those maids jokingly talking about the Nine Princesses, he immediately adorned them.
Unexpectedly, the maids carried the water into a palace. These palaces were connected together, but there were no roof beams. Seeing that it was inconvenient to sneak in from the roof, Li Chengyin circled in a circle, came from the back room, and looked around. No one was there, so he jumped into the rear window. Seeing that the reed curtain was low, he gently opened the scabbard, and suddenly a cloud of red was thrown straight towards the curtain. Li Chengyin thought he had been discovered, so he was startled and drew his sword out of the scabbard and waved it. How sharp is the famous sword, cutting gold and breaking jade, the red cloud is about to be cut off in a flash of lightning, the red cloud was split into two sides by the sword's edge, and fell silently to the ground, Li Chengyin's line of sight, but it is a young girl. Like a jade-like back, the rising sun shone on her back through the reed curtain, coating her suet-like skin with a fluffy pale gold.