In early autumn, above the northern plains of Kyoto in the Qing Dynasty, there was a patch of cloud shadow and sky light. The people working in the fields did not look up, they were not interested in admiring the wonderful tricks played by God with the help of the shape of the clouds and the refraction of the sun, they just wanted to take back the golden crops in the field before the rain cloud came. . This year, there is a lot of rain. I heard that the big river in the south is swollen, but for these people living in the north of the border, whether the river embankment is safe or not has nothing to do with them. They are more worried about the damn rain. Will it delay a year's harvest.
Occasionally, a few fat field mice bravely passed under the feet of the farmers, snatching the scattered grains in the fields. The sickles in the hands of the farmers are too lazy to deal with these scourges, and they just concentrate on harvesting the millet. In a large stretch of continuous rice fields on both sides of the official road, the sounds of harvesting rice gradually merged into one place, forming a neat and beautiful sound that can make the listener feel a certain sense of satisfaction.
Those peasants with bare upper body and thin upper body, facing the loess and their backs to the sky, showed the small cracks cut out by the grain leaves on their bodies to the indifferent heaven to watch, but they didn't notice that there was a long row of seemingly invisible tails on the official road. The convoy was slowly approaching.
The Qing Kingdom's mission to Northern Qi finally fulfilled its promise to go in the spring and return in the autumn, and returned to the country in time for mid-September.
It's just that the motorcade back was a bit bigger than the one that went there. In addition to the return gifts from the Northern Qi side to show sincerity, there were also many officials and guards of honor who sent the relatives off, which was enough to show that the Northern Qi court attached great importance to the princess's marriage. After all, this is the first marriage between the two countries. No one knows what kind of turnaround this kind of female diplomacy can bring to this continent that has just been quiet for twenty years.
In addition to the gorgeous carriage that the princess of the Northern Qi was in, there was another carriage in the long convoy that was more eye-catching, because no matter it was compared with the painted carriages in Northern Qi to send relatives off, or compared with the black carriages of the Qing court, That carriage looked much more shabby. Although the horses pulling the carriage were also fine horses, even the ones that swayed their heads were a little weak.
The members of the mission knew that it was because the carriage was too heavy, and there were books on it that Zhuang Mohan, a great master of the Northern Qi Dynasty, had given to the mission envoy Fan Xian before his death. But it was actually much heavier than the princess's dowry jewels. Every time they saw this carriage, many members of the mission couldn't help showing a little respect, not only because of the brilliance on Mr. Fan's face, but also because of his admiration for Mr. Fan's academic style—everyone knew that since passing by the Northern Kingdom, several Xiaoguo, after entering the border from Cangzhou, Mr. Fan kept himself locked in that carriage, reading books day and night, and he was not even willing to come down to eat and rest.
※※※
"I can't live through this day."
Fan Xian sighed, and put the anthology of poems in his hand back into the box behind him. The curtains of the car were closed by the oncoming wind, and the cabin was plunged into darkness. I can't see the expression on his face clearly, but I can tell from the voice that our Lord Fan is not very willing to stay in the car and pretend to be a diligent contemporary literary master.
This journey to the south was extremely smooth and safe. After the princess of the Northern Qi Dynasty got rid of the sorrow of Zhuang Mohan's death, she also regained the restraint and self-respect that a nobleman should have, and it didn't cause him any trouble. On the contrary, in the post station, in the city guard's mansion, Fan Xian could occasionally have a few words with this beautiful princess, chatting about more ordinary things, so as to ease the loneliness during the journey. Although as a courtier he didn't dare to be overly polite, it was much better to face a girl's family than to face Gao Da's cold-faced swordsman and Yan Bingyun's piece of ice.
But this situation, after Cangzhou, finally ended. It wasn't that Fan Xian would not dare to talk to the future daughter-in-law of the eldest prince when he returned to the land of the Qing Kingdom, but because there was suddenly an extra person in the mission, and that person's identity was a bit special, and his background was a bit strange, unlike her. A man in the mission has some unclear connections. That person stayed in the eldest princess's carriage all the time, and Fan Xian didn't want to see her miserable appearance washed with tears every day, so he had to hide in the carriage by himself, leaving the problem to Yan Bingyun, young master Yan.
Along the way, the Overwatch Council would receive some information. Apart from the few strange murder cases investigated in the south, there were still no clues, and there was nothing special. No one thought that the news that shocked everyone the most came from the north.
He died heavily. On a rainy night, under the protection of thirteen Jinyiwei masters, he was sniped and killed in the sedan chair by the military general Uesugi Tiger holding a long gun in the street.
The dignified commander of Jinyiwei Town Fusi, the biggest spy in Northern Qi after Xiao En, died in such a useless way! This seemingly absurd news has been proven to be extremely true. Fan Xian rubbed his temples and smiled wryly. Thinking of Wang Qinian's description in the intelligence report, he couldn't help being a little startled.
According to the information, on that rainy night, Uesugi Tiger was covered in black armor and held a long gun. He galloped on the long street and picked up the head of the heavy man in the sedan chair with one shot. Well, when the guns were collected and the horses rode back to the house, the rain on the long street seemed to dare to fall—this kind of momentum is really frightening. A peerless powerhouse on the ninth rank directly tore apart all the plots and calculations with such a powerful method, and began to challenge the authority of the entire imperial court with pure force. This is not reckless, it should be called violent !
Unexpectedly, Uesugi Tiger would be such a tyrannical character. Fan Xian knew that he still underestimated the iron-blooded character cultivated by the army on the battlefield. He couldn't help but feel his head hurt more and more. two. After all, many people know about the disgraceful role he played in Sean's escape from prison. Even if Tan Wu didn't yell "Kill me, Fan Xian" before committing suicide, Uesugi Tiger probably would have made Sean's death Well, the Southern Dynasty people's betrayal before the battle, these two accounts are all on his head.
Fan Xian can only hope that Nanqing and Beiqi will continue to be friendly for generations, never to fight again, never to give Uesugi Tiger a chance to confront him on the battlefield.
Of course, there are still many doubts about the heavy death. After all, he is the leader of Jinyiwei with great power. No matter how violent Uesugi Tiger is and how angry the military is, it is not easy to kill him in the street. The responses seem to confirm this as well. After a night of silence in the palace, they just imprisoned Uesugi Tiger in the mansion and seized all the titles. The other decree was shockingly directed at many illegal and prohibited things in the past few years. Throwing the newly dead Shen Shen directly into the sewage tank, making it impossible for him to be resurrected forever.
Then Shen's mansion was raided, Jinyiwei's interior was cleaned up, and the military was elated. Although the young emperor remained silent, he must be happy in his heart, because through this matter, Uesugi Tiger's resentment towards the royal family should be less. However, a fierce tiger like Uesugi Tiger is really not an easy character to control. Just looking at the fact that the palace still imprisoned Uesugi Tiger in Beijing, they are still having a headache as to how to place him. Kill, of course, cannot be killed, no one is willing to bear the backlash from the military;
Fan Xian shook his head, he didn't expect that after Haitang listened to his words, he would strike at him so quickly and so violently. But after constructing the heavy picture of Uesugi Tiger's sudden murder in the rainy night in his mind, he, who should have been worried about his own safety, felt a little pleasure and appreciation for no reason. When Uesugi Torano immediately raised his black spear slowly, ready to reap heavy lives, there was no trace of awe for the world in his eyes anymore. How did the night rain on the long street fall so arrogantly
He lifted the curtain of the car and jumped down without calling the driver to stop. Standing on the official road, he waved his hand to fan the oncoming yellow wind. Looking at the hard-working farmers on both sides of the official road, his heart moved slightly. Forget about all those things up north. Those things can no longer affect him, and he can't affect them for the time being, so he has no choice but to throw them away.
He raised his head and glanced at the bright and dark sky, he squinted his eyes, knowing that he should be able to arrive at Longquanyi within today, he was a little relieved. The princess is getting married far away, the journey should be much slower than the current speed, but Fan Xian has a hidden worry in his heart, so relying on the fact that no one in the mission dared to speak out, he speeded up the journey a lot. Seeing that he was about to enter Beijing soon, he finally stopped thinking about his relatives at home. He should be able to see Wan'er tomorrow. I don't know if her body is better. As for the younger sister, if Uncle Wuzhu is in the capital, he should temporarily It's okay.
When he got into the last carriage, he glanced at Yan Bingyun who was pretending to be asleep, frowned, and reprimanded: "The matter you provoked will eventually be resolved by you, and you will be going to Beijing soon. Follow Her Royal Highness? If the Northern Qi know that we are protecting their felon, how will you ask the court to explain it?"
Yan Bingyun opened his eyes, but turned his head away from his boss, looking at the golden rice fields outside the car window, a trace of struggle flashed in his eyes, but he just said indifferently: "Heavy death is just a step for the Northern Qi emperor to seize power. , as for her life or death, I believe Bei Qi will not care."
Fan Xian looked at him, and suddenly softened his tone: "If you don't care about her life, then leave it to me."
Yan Bingyun turned his head slowly, the sternness in his eyes faded after a flash: "Killing her won't do us any good."
"Reluctance is reluctance." Fan Xian shook his head: "I thought you were not an ordinary person, but I didn't expect you to be so self-deceiving."
Yan Bingyun didn't answer, and turned his head in silence, looking out the window at the farmers harvesting a heavy harvest.
…
…
In the gorgeous and expensive carriage in front of the motorcade, Princess Beiqi sighed, looked at the sister by the window who had been in love with her since she was a child, and didn't say anything. Miss Shen, who had escaped from Shangjing by chance, was lying on the window sill in a daze, looking at the same scenery as Yan Bingyun, but she didn't know that she was thinking about the heartlessness of her lover, the tragedy of family ruin and death , or the sorrow of leaving the country.