Back then, Xiao Jue took the Nanfu soldiers to Jingzhou. Although the world knew that the second son of Xiao was both talented in both civil and military affairs, he was still young and could not take on a heavy responsibility. Zhao Nuo was the military governor of Jingzhou. When Xiao Jue first arrived in Jingzhou, he did not take Xiao Jue seriously. Often lighthearted jokes, very rude. That's all, in the Battle of Jingzhou, Xiao Jue led his troops to the battlefield, Zhao Nuo was greedy for life and fear of death in the rear, misdirected, delayed the fighter, and caused many soldiers to die innocently. Seeing that he was so arrogant, Xiao Jue had him tied up and taken down.
Zhao Nuo's father was the Minister of War, and he himself stayed in Jingzhou for many years. Naturally, countless people interceded, and there were many high-ranking officials and nobles who came to coerce and lure him, but they were bullying Xiao Jue's youth and had no relatives.
"He is the Jiedu envoy of Jingzhou, and his father is the minister of the household. How many people in the court are friends with the Zhao family, you offend him, and it will be difficult to move in the future!"
Xiao Jue was unmoved, only smiled contemptuously and said: "But Shang Shu is so arrogant, even if he is official to the prime minister, this commander will still be right."
Three days later, Xiao Jue led troops to surround Zhao Nuo's mansion and pushed Zhao Nuo to beheaded under the monument of the fallen soldiers.
"The Zhao family is actually close to the Xiao family and the Cheng family," Cheng Lisu recalled: "That Zhao Nuo, logically speaking, is supposed to be related to us. My mother also wrote a letter herself at the time. Go and ask my uncle to open up and stay on the line."
"But uncle didn't listen." He smiled, a little helpless, but also a little proud.
"Dudu Xiao acts like this, isn't he afraid that someone will provoke him in front of His Majesty?" He Yan thought for a while, "Your Majesty will also be dissatisfied."
"As expected of my eldest brother, he asked the same question as me." Cheng Lisu said cheerfully, "I also think my uncle's move is too rash."
After a long time later, the young man had put aside his flirtatiousness, became restrained and calm, and became the commander-in-chief of the Right Army. Cheng Lisu asked, "Uncle, are you not afraid that Your Majesty will create a quarrel with you?"
The young man was reading a book. Hearing this, he just smiled and said indifferently, "He doesn't dare."
The emperor did not dare, not, the courtiers were not afraid.
In fact, this is indeed the case. Even if the officials above the court have spoken badly about him, the Minister of the Household has written a letter to the Jinluan Palace to ask for the punishment, but in the end it will not be settled. It was because Xiao Jue brought the Nanfu soldiers with a mighty force to defeat the Nanman attack.
At the time of hiring, a deceased Jiedu envoy, a talent chosen in a thousand miles, Emperor Xuanwen was not blind, so he naturally knew how to choose.
It's just that Emperor Wenxuan didn't dare to cure Xiao Jue's crime, which didn't mean that there were no rumors and rumors in Shuojing. The minister of households Zhao Tong and Xiao Jue's Liangzi formed a bond, and it is natural that Xiao Jue is not good with Zhao Tong's family. And people who had a good relationship with the Xiao family also alienated Xiao Jue.
First, his disposition is cold and harsh, and he can order beheadings against his relatives without showing mercy. Second, he is arrogant, and he doesn't even care about His Majesty, so it is inevitable that he will offend others in the future, and he may be implicated in the surrounding relatives and friends one day.
Since the Cheng family and the Xiao family are relatively close relatives, it is not necessary to cut off their exchanges, but they prefer to associate with Xiao Jing compared to Xiao Jue.
"My mother told me not to get too close to my uncle," Cheng Lisu said, "saying that he doesn't care about family affection."
He Yan thought for a while: "Dudu Xiao is not that kind of person, right?"
"I know." Cheng Lisu smiled, "I always knew."
The two sons of the Xiao family, the eldest son Qingfeng Langyue, humble and gentle, getting along with each other is like a spring breeze. More friendly and enthusiastic, everyone loves it. The second son's appearance and talent are outstanding, but probably for the sake of fairness, his temperament is not very pleasing.
What's more, after the angrily beheading Zhao Nuo, Xiao Jue's reputation as "the Jade-faced governor, the young killer of generals" spread, and others were even more afraid to look up. Of course, Zhao Tong contributed to this, but Xiao Jue himself also left a lot of rumors. For example, when his parents were buried, he didn't shed a single tear. He left without passing, leaving Young Master Xiao alone to clean up the mess.
Every time relatives get together on New Year's and festivals, he doesn't like to talk to people, and he just leaves after seeing each other in a hurry.
Cheng Lisu still remembered that it was a summer day. Bai Rongwei, the eldest aunt, was entertaining relatives from the Cheng family in the mansion for a summer banquet. The Xiao family is now sparsely populated, and it is rare to have such a lively time.
Cheng Lisu also went with him. At that time, Xiao Jue had already been named General Fengyun and received a reward. He returned to Shuojing shortly after his eighteenth birthday.
The female relatives were eating snacks and drinking tea together in the main room, while the men were discussing current affairs with Xiao Jing. Cheng Lisu looked around, but did not see Xiao Jue.
He was particularly naughty when he was a child, hated gods and ghosts, and teenagers around his age didn't like to play with him. Cheng Lisu was looking for fun by himself. He ran to the backyard of Xiao's house and saw an orange cat with a colorful face at the entrance of the ancestral hall. He chased the cat and ran all the way to the back of the screen inside the ancestral hall.
It was summer, and the weather changed as soon as it was changed. In the evening, there were already dark clouds over the city, thunder bursts, and heavy rain suddenly poured.
He was holding an orange tabby cat in his arms and wanted to go out, but suddenly, he heard footsteps and someone came in.
Cheng Lisu sneaked his head out from behind the screen, and saw his little uncle who saw the head of the dragon but not the tail came in.
The young man was wearing a round-neck robe of crow green satin and a golden crown, and his appearance was as graceful as a pearl. When he was young, he liked to wear white robes, and he was beautiful, but now he only likes to wear dark clothes when he is older, and he looks more and more indifferent and unpredictable.
Xiao Jue walked into the ancestral hall, picked up three sticks of incense from the side, lit it, and slowly added the incense.
Cheng Lisu widened his eyes.
It's probably because outsiders have all kinds of rumors about Xiao Jue, Cheng Lisu has heard it, Xiao Jue never goes to give incense to his parents, and he is a ruthless person. But now it seems that the rumors are not entirely true.
He moved very slowly, but very carefully. First, he dusted off the dust next to the censer, wiped it with a cloth, and then lit the incense and inserted it into the censer. The blue smoke rose from the censer and spread out in mid-air. And he didn't leave, didn't speak, just stood with his eyes down, not knowing what he was thinking.
The summer is hot and humid, the water vapor comes in from the outside, sticky and greasy, the thunder is louder, the young man narrows his eyes, and his expression is calm. Cheng Lisu didn't understand what was going on, but inexplicably felt that the atmosphere was strange. He didn't dare to come out. He hugged the cat, sat behind the screen, and sat with his indifferent little uncle for more than half an hour.
After a long time, the rain stopped and Xiao Jue left the ancestral hall.
From the time he entered the ancestral hall to the time he left, there were only three sticks of incense sticks. He didn't say anything or do anything, he just stayed quietly. But it was these three sticks of incense that made Cheng Lisu realize that the uncle's stern appearance was completely different from softness.
He's not the heartless person that others say.
There are many people in the world whose sincerity is always hidden under a cold appearance, but it is not that they are not good at expressing it, and they are just an understatement.
Others always say that Cheng Lisu is still like a child, innocent and ignorant, but in the eyes of a child, he can actually distinguish between good and evil. He does not think this little uncle is as mean as his mother said. He likes this uncle, and even more. Even better than Young Master Xiao.
"My uncle is very good," Cheng Lisu said earnestly looking into her eyes, "if you have been with him for a long time, you will like him too."
He Yan laughed and couldn't help rubbing his head, "I know, I already knew it."
…
Thousands of miles away in Shuojing, today's Chunlai River is also full of sparks.
The water lantern reflected on the water and the water was full of lights, and it was impossible to distinguish between the sky and the sky. It was also drizzling today. Therefore, a small paper cover was made on the water lantern to save the rain.
In Xiao's ancestral hall, someone is offering incense.
Since the death of Xiao Zhongwu and his wife, there have been many fewer servants in the general's mansion. There were only two sons, and Xiao Jue was not in the mansion for many years. In the end, there were only Xiao Jing and his wife, and there was no need for so many people to serve. It is clean on weekdays, but only occasionally, it is a bit deserted.
Xiao Jing was dressed in a jade-colored robe. He was as tall and warm as green bamboo. Standing with Bai Rongwei beside him, no one would like to praise the immortal companion. The incense curled up, the autumn rain outside, and the cool wind picked up. He took off his cloak and put it on Bai Rongwei, and said warmly, "It's cold, be careful of catching a cold."
"I'm not cold." Bai Rong smiled at him and said worriedly, "I don't know what the weather is like in Liangzhou."
"Tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival," Xiao Jing said, looking at the drizzle in the yard, "If Huai Jin was in the mansion, it would be fine."
"He won't come to the ancestral hall," Bai Rong shook his head slightly, "he won't enter the ancestral hall."
"He will come in." Xiao Jing answered with certainty.
Bai Rongwei looked at him in surprise, "But I've never seen him..."
"It's raining today and there's thunder," Xiao Jing smiled, "he will come in."
"Rubi, I don't understand." Bai Rong was slightly puzzled.
"When Huai Jin was very young, he was taken to the mountains by his father and taught by Gao Shi." Xiao Jing took her hand and whispered, "We rarely see him several times a year. He is arrogant and his mother doesn't like it. He dances with knives and sticks, but the relationship between Huai Jin and his mother has never been good."
Mrs. Xiao is the niece of the Empress Dowager. It was the Empress Dowager who conferred this marriage. Xiao Zhongwu was handsome and mighty, and Mrs. Xiao also liked him very much. But after getting married, the contradiction between the two gradually revealed. Mrs. Xiao is a delicate flower who has been raised in the house and can't bear any grievances. Xiao Zhongwu is a military commander, and he is not as careful and thoughtful as the son of an aristocratic family. Although he has never taken a wife and concubines, sometimes Mrs. Xiao must be dissatisfied.
In the years when the two of them quarreled the most, it was also because of Xiao Jue.
Mrs. Xiao didn't want her two sons to follow martial arts, and the swords and arrows had no eyes on the battlefield, and she herself did not like killing and bloody, and believed in Buddhism and kindness. At the beginning, Xiao Jing missed the best time to practice martial arts because of physical reasons, which was a last resort. As for Xiao Jue, Xiao Zhongwu has been regarded as his future successor since he was a child.
Mrs. Xiao did not want her son to follow Xiao Zhongwu's old path, but Xiao Zhongwu, who had always been obedient to Mrs. Xiao, did not listen to his wife's dissuasion for the first time.
The son has been separated from the mother for too long, and even though there is blood kinship, it is a little rusty in the end. Moreover, Xiao Jue was not as well-behaved and docile as Xiao Jing when he was a child, and occasionally showed a rebellious side. Facing this cold and arrogant son, Mrs. Xiao did not know how to get along with him.
Mrs. Xiao greeted Xiao Jue, and Xiao Jue's performance was also indifferent. Mrs. Xiao likes to drink tea and discuss poetry, but Xiao Jue likes to practice swordsmanship and horseback riding. Although Xiao Jue's poetry and prose are also very good, it was Xiao Jing who accompanied Mrs. Xiao in the end.
"My mother told me in private that she is actually a little afraid of Huai Jin." Xiao Jing said this, it seemed a little funny, "she simply didn't go to Huai Jin to talk to her later, and they were always very polite when they got along."
"Huai Jin is actually very pitiful." Xiao Jing's smile became sad.
"My father was cold and hard-hearted, and treated Huaijin with no tolerance. I later learned that he suffered a lot on the mountain. If he didn't say it, we all thought he had a good life. If it was me, I would probably support it. It didn't take long to escape." He laughed to himself.
Bai Rong patted his hand slightly soothingly, "Nonsense, you can do well too."
Xiao Jing remembered the year Xiao Jue just came down from the mountain, he asked the younger brother, "How is the mountain?"
The teenager stretched and smiled lightly, "Not bad."
The three words "not bad" hide all the hardships he has suffered, and what is left to the outside is just a high-spirited second son of Xiao.
"Others say that his father is strict with his mother. My father treats him harshly, but my mother is not always by his side. Later, she finally came back, but she was too polite because she was afraid of him. My mother thought he liked sweets, so she often made it for him. Osmanthus candy, Huaijin eats it clean every time, and even I was deceived. Later, a person around him said that Huaijin never eats candy."
"Because this is the mother's way of expressing love for him, so he ate it. Even if he didn't like it, no one asked him what he liked to eat."
Bai Rong sighed slightly, but did not speak.
"Although I am his eldest brother, it seems that I have never helped him. Others always say that he is ruthless and unrighteous, not as good as me, but I don't know, the reason why I can be the glorious son of Xiao today is precisely because He has done a lot for me. I understand this principle, and so does he." He smiled wryly, "I now regret very much that my father didn't let me join the military. If I hadn't been a civil servant, I would have carried the burden of the Xiao family today. Yes, that's me. Huai Jin doesn't have to be misunderstood by outsiders."
"We all know that Huai Jin has worked hard." Bai Rong whispered softly, "My parents will also know."
Xiao Jing looked at the tablet on the ancestral hall and said, "Huaijin was not very close to his mother when he was young, and ran out every three days. In fact, he took his mother to heart."
"My mother is timid and easily frightened. She is most afraid of thunder. Every time there is a thunder, if Huai Jin is in the house, she will find a reason to sit in her room. Every time she sees Huai Jin, she thinks about her How to get along with Jin, forget about the thunder. When the rain stops, Huai Jin will leave."
"I didn't understand at first. Once there was thunder and rain, I was outside with him, but he suddenly said that he had to go back to the house because of something important. After returning to the house, he said he wanted to eat sweet-scented osmanthus, and his mother was busy for him. After cooking, I suddenly realized that this guy Huai Jin was just trying to find an excuse to come back because he was afraid that his mother would be frightened by the thunder."
When Bai Rongwei heard this, she also laughed, shook her head and said, "Huaijin is really..."
"It's a pity that my mother didn't know Huai Jin's feelings for her until she died." Xiao Jing said abruptly, "If you knew, maybe this result would not be the same today."
Bai Rongwei held his hand tightly: "Mother will understand in the spirit of heaven."
"He accompanied my mother before she was alive, and after her death. As long as he was in the house, whenever there was thunder and rain, he would come to the ancestral hall to accompany his mother." Xiao Jing smiled slightly, "This is a secret, I didn't tell anyone, I think Huaijin doesn't want others to know about him."
Xiao Jue is too proud, he does these things like spring rain, moisturizing things silently, but he is not demanding what the result is. But in the end, after thinking about it seriously, he felt that he was the one who was owed the most.
"That's why you said that if he was in Shuojing today, he would also come to the ancestral hall to accompany his mother." Bai Rongwei was stunned.
"He is such a person." Xiao Jing smiled.
The smoke from the incense burner floated into the air and slowly dissipated, leaving no trace. The people of the past have become the past, and those unspoken care and companionship have never had the opportunity to explain.
"Rubi, you have to know," Bai Rongwei took Xiao Jing's hand and said gently, "Huaijin did these things to protect the Xiao family. Now Huaijin is far away in Liangzhou, and Xu Xiang's party still regards the Xiao family as if It's a thorn in your side, you have to cheer up and don't let Huai Jin's efforts go to waste."
Xiao Jing was stunned for a moment, then smiled, and said, "Of course I know."
"I know you feel sorry for Huaijin," Bai Rongwei softened her voice, "but I also feel sorry for you. Huaijin has taken on a lot, why don't you? Xu Xiangming secretly suppressed the Xiao family, and searched for your faults. How can it be easy to be cautious step by step?"
"You don't have to worry," Xiao Jing said with a smile, "the hardest time has passed."
Bai Rong was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "You're right."
The rain continued, and the yard in Shuojing soaked a piece of land. In Liangzhou, thousands of miles away, there were also people leaning against the window in a trance. His blue silk hangs on his shoulders, smooth and cold like satin, and his expression is also indifferent. There is a faint sound in the distance, and I don't know who is playing the minor tune of his hometown. He listened and smiled softly.
This smile was a bit self-deprecating and a bit lonely. After a while, he closed the window to cut off the night outside the window.
The lights in the room danced slowly, reflecting his star-like pupils. There was a long wooden plate on the table, and some rice grains were scattered in it. flag.
Shen Han, Liang Ping and the other instructors were all in the room, gathered around the table, staring at Xiao Jue's movements.
"Captain, these are the places where flags are planted? Are there too many?"
"Not much." The young man was like a jade, holding a chess piece, and lighting the red flag at the top, "Seven days later, the flag will be fought on Baiyue Mountain."
- off topic -
Uncle is so miserable.