The turn of spring and summer, the boundary of Lingnan.
Shortly after the setting of the Changgeng star, the sky brightened up early. At Chenshi, the sun was already climbing high, the streets and roads were faintly steamed, and there were lush green shadows on the side of the road, and the tender green of the treetops gradually became sun-drenched. green. Seemingly feeling the heat wave outside, the horses in the stable snorted and drank the slightly muddy well water in the tank.
The southwestern frontier is a basin area. The climate is humid. In addition to the hot sun, it is like a steamer. The heat and humidity are unbearable, making people feel depressed.
Zhou Dawu got off his horse, handed the reins to the groom casually, wiped the sweat off his face, and let out a long breath.
This ghost weather!
He complained in a low voice. Counting the days, it has been more than seven years since he left the capital and came to this Lingnan land. Due to the climate, I don't know if there will be a chance to return to Beijing in the future.
Shaking his head and sighing, he didn't dare to delay, took out the documents from the rucksack on the horse, and hurried to Guang'an Palace.
Turning a corner, the lintel of Guang'an Palace came into view.
This is a palace that is not magnificent and gorgeous. The gate has a unique style in the south of the Five Ridges. It is completely different from the mansion of the nobles in the capital. The only similarity is the two stone lions standing beside them, baring their teeth and squatting majestically. Then, there stood two solemn soldiers behind him.
Zhou Dawu hurriedly stepped into the gate of the mansion, and ran into Zhang Long who was rushing out.
"Hey, you're here. If you're half a quarter late, that young master will have to peel off two layers of your skin!"
"Isn't this in a hurry?" Zhou Dawu wiped his face and asked again: "Where is he?"
Zhang Long mouthed: "Where else can it be? The training ground is waiting."
Zhou Dawu shrunk his neck, feeling worried. Although he was seven or eight years older than the other party, he was quite out of breath in front of that young master—who taught him that his skills were inferior to others, so that the other party won the command of the military commander? Location.
Thinking that although Zhou Dawu is not a top-notch expert, he is definitely not a person to be underestimated. I don’t think that the seventeen-year-old youth has left himself a lot in just a few years. Thinking of being picked off for the first time, He shook his head and sighed, squeezed the documents tightly, and hurried to the martial arts training ground behind the palace.
Before reaching the door, a burst of warm applause erupted from inside.
After a few quick steps, he saw Yan Lie's cold and hard side face like a knife. Nocking, drawing, drawing, and releasing the arrows were done in one go, and three arrows were shot in a row, one after another, and the arrow that hit the bull's-eye in front of it was split from the arrow feathers again and again. In just a breath-holding effort, several arrows on the bull's-eye had been split open, and the last arrow pierced through the bull's-eye, piercing the three-inch wide target, and the target trembled, making a buzzing sound.
The soldiers on the training ground burst into even bigger cheers.
Zhou Dawu was shocked, although he had seen a lot of masters in Beijing, but he had never seen such a person with natural power, he couldn't help but secretly stunned.
Taking advantage of this gap, he hurried forward and handed the document to Yan Lie. Yan Lie casually threw the big bow to him and read it. After a while, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth. He went to the front yard on his own.
Zhou Dawu certainly recognized the coldly glowing Dragon Tongue Bow in his hand, which was given to King Guang'an by the former Lingnan prefect not long ago when he left office, and was later passed on to Yan Lie by him. It is said that it is made of red sandalwood, which is three points harder than black iron.
Zhou Dawu weighed it, it was quite heavy, he saw Yan Lie's figure had disappeared at the door, his heart was itchy, and he wanted to try it, so he bowed his body and exerted some strength.
But the bowstring didn't move, Zhou Dawu didn't believe in evil, he was the three gifted people selected by Old General Li from more than a thousand children, how could he be inferior to that person. He only gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength, until his face was flushed and his veins were bursting, but he could only pull it half full.
After only persisting for a moment, he was instantly discouraged, panting heavily, and sweating profusely.
Thinking of Yan Lie's effortless appearance just now, he once again sadly realized a truth, there are inherent differences between people.
He then dejectedly wiped the dragon tongue bow with a soft cloth dipped in tung oil until it was as bright as new, and hung it in Yan Lie's resting ear chamber.
Passing around the long corridor, Yan Lie came to the backyard and was about to step into the main room in a hurry. Seeing that his body was covered with dust and sweat, he thought for a while, and went back to the side courtyard first, calling the servant to bring water to wash.
After taking a bath, Yan Lie changed into casual clothes and went to the backyard.
As soon as I stepped into the gate of the courtyard, I saw a girl pretending to be a girl came out with an empty bowl. The girl was fourteen or fifteen years old, and she looked quite similar to Yan Lie. Her eyebrows and eyes were very heroic, and she was a bit girlish Seeing Yan Lie approaching, her eyes lit up:
"Brother!"
This girl is Ni Ying, the sister of Yan Lie.
Six years ago, through the painstaking rescue of Li Mao and other officers and men, she was finally able to get out of the Jiaofang Division. Fortunately, she was young and was not abused. She only cleaned and washed in the Jiaofang Division. The Buddhist land of health preservation is also suffering day by day. When the little girl was first sent to Lingnan, she was so thin that only a handful of bones remained.
Fortunately, I have been raised in Guang'an Palace all these years.
Seeing his younger sister walking towards him pretty and lively, Yan Lie's indifferent brows and eyes eased a lot. He looked at the brown medicine dregs at the bottom of the bowl, and a trace of worry flashed across his eyes.
"How is your Highness?"
Ni Ying said: "I just took a rest after drinking the medicine. Brother, please come back in the afternoon."
"It doesn't matter." Yan Lie didn't say much, only told her a few words, and then walked straight to the main courtyard.
Just opened the door and walked in, a burst of cool fragrance came to the nostrils.
The maid is changing the water for the water tank in the outer room, and the veil in the inner room hangs down, revealing the couch indistinctly.
When the maid saw the person coming, she quickly stood up. Yan Lie signaled her to keep silent, and waved her hand to order him to leave.
She blessed her body, and stepped out lightly.
Yi Lie lifted the veil and stepped into the inner room.
A faint aroma of herbs rushed towards us. Because the light was blocked, the inside was much cooler than the outside room, and the sultry heat brought by the outside instantly disappeared.
The person on the bed has fallen into a lethargic sleep, the eyelashes like crow feathers cast a faint gray shadow under the eyes, the skin is fat and snowy, and there is a soft light hidden in the dark, the black hair has fallen, falling on the pillow, more That face looks very beautiful.
Thinking of the more and more eyes of all kinds that fell on him over the years, Yan Lie's eyes darkened a little, darkly floating.
Walked forward slowly, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently held the wrist that fell on the edge of the bed.
Late spring in Lingnan is so sweltering, but the other party's body is still cool, and there is no sweat at all. After all the years of court service, has his foundation been damaged, and the hard work these days has made him sick. Lie was worried in his heart, he rubbed the jade white wrist slightly for a while, and put it under the thin quilt.
He just sat and looked at him like this, not feeling bored, just sat like this for nearly an hour.
In the middle of the day, Li Yuanmin heard the sound of cicadas outside, his eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. When he saw the person in front of him clearly, he couldn't help but smile:
"Ariel..."
Supporting his body to sit up, Yan Lie stretched out his hand to help him up, brushing his black hair, a trace of cold fragrance entered his nose, Yan Lie's Adam's apple moved, and he leaned on the pillow calmly.
"When did you come, why didn't you wake me up?"
"Not long." Yan Lie looked at him, "Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"
"much better."
Li Yuanmin looked at the taciturn child in front of him. Before he knew it, he was already seventeen years old. He thought that when he was rescued, he was just a down-and-out boy who was bullied wantonly. Now he has grown into a tall and handsome young man. Standing in front of him, barely reaching his chin... It really is too late.
Li Yuan felt relieved. Although he favored him selfishly, he did not blindly protect him. After all, he took the position of the commander-in-chief of the army by his own ability. The recruits are all convinced by him and have no second thoughts—all these years, thanks to him.
Thinking of the bitter days when we first came to Lingnan, we couldn't help but sigh.
Li Yuanmin thought, such a child just went astray in the desperate situation. How could he be the murderous bloodthirsty demon in his previous life in the first place
Fortunately, he rescued him.
He felt a little softer in his heart, "Have you had lunch yet?"
"No." Looking at those soft eyes like spring water, Yan Lie's heart seemed to be floating in warm water, and his face was calm and unwavering: "Is Your Highness hungry?"
Li Yuanmin had no appetite at all, so he smiled when he saw a hint of hope in those dark eyes: "Okay, let's call some food in, and you can use some with me."
Yi Lie immediately got up and went to give orders.
Lunch is always simple, japonica rice, a plate of shredded pheasant pheasant, a plate of sauced meat, a plate of stir-fried choy sum, and silky chicken soup with dangshen, nothing else.
Two people sit and eat.
Originally, Yan Lie was a subordinate, how could he eat at the same table with his master, but Li Yuanmin always loved him. Although he was somewhat reserved outside, he naturally never restrained him in private.
After drinking the last sip of soup, Li Yuanmin's face became more bloody. He took the fragrant tea at the side to rinse his mouth, and said casually:
"Have you sent Zhou Dawu to Yuan Xuntai?"
Yi Lie showed some surprise on his face, put down his chopsticks, and handed the document in his arms to Li Yuanmin.
Li Yuanmin opened it, glanced at it a few times, but was not angry, but only smiled: "This Yuan Chongsheng is so blatant, he said 20,000 hectares without saying a word."
To show the favor of the heavenly family, all the vassal kings of Bei'an have rewarded farmland, but in the Lingnan area, these farmlands have always been controlled by the Xuntai Mansion. Li Yuanmin sent people to find out the bottom line earlier. The original Futai was quite kind, except for the supply and demand of local soldiers and horses, the rest were allocated to the Guang'an Palace, and Yuan Chongsheng, who had just taken office, had three fires when he took office, the first one went to him first. This side came, and without saying a word, he chopped off a large part of it, leaving only 10% of the money left to the Guang'an Palace.
Not to mention the 32,000-year-old salary that must be paid to the capital every year, it is not enough to support the Bei'an Palace.
Li Yuanmin knew why. This Yuan Chongsheng was transferred from an official in the capital. He had heard about his life experience a long time ago, so he obviously didn't take him seriously. Otherwise, he had been in office for more than half a month, but he had never come to visit. It can be regarded as a blow to the Guang'an Palace in the open.
I heard Yan Lie's cold voice again: "In the afternoon, I will lead dozens of government soldiers to bring him here, and see if his bones are so hard."
"This matter has not yet reached the point where there is no turning point," Li Yuanmin smiled: "Let's eat first, and we will talk about it tomorrow."