Xiao Yi strode forward, took out something from his purse, squatted down in front of the boy, and smiled kindly: "Do you want sesame candy?"
There is a pearl-sized candy in his palm, exuding a rich sesame-sweet aroma. For young children, this sweet aroma has an inconceivable appeal.
The boy forgot to cry for a while, and looked at the old woman questioningly. The old woman nodded to him, and the boy took the candy.
"Thank you, Mr. Jun." The old woman hurriedly thanked Xiao Yi, a look of surprise flashed in her eyes, she didn't expect this little general to look like a fairy in the painting.
Xiao Yi smiled slightly, and said to the old woman: "He is very good."
The old woman with white beard and hair sighed faintly: "He is just a hard-fated one. His parents are gone, and the whole family is left with the two of us to depend on each other..." The old woman's eyes were a little sour as she spoke, and she also It was because of her grandson that she barely survived.
"Grandmother..." The boy seemed to feel the sadness of the old woman, and raised his little face stuffed with candy.
The old woman laughed immediately, and rubbed the soft top of the child's hair. Seeing this scene, the eyes of the big and three thick soldiers were sore, and they also thought of their own family...
These Nanliang people are simply unforgivable!
"Ma'am, give this bag of sesame candies to Heizi." Xiao Yi took out an oiled paper bag from the purse embroidered with Gray Eagle in his hand, and handed it to the old woman.
"Thank you, Mr. Jun, thank you, Mr. Jun." The old woman thanked repeatedly.
Xiao Yi smiled at her, and continued to walk forward surrounded by everyone.
"Li Shoubei," Xiao Yi turned his head and asked Li Shoubei while walking, "Did you bring the Urn City Map?"
"Bring it, my son." Li Shoubei hurriedly responded, and took a scroll from the accompanying soldiers, "Is my son planning to survey the terrain today?"
Grandpa? ! The old woman behind looked at Xiao Yi in disbelief, her eyes widened in surprise. This young and kind military master turned out to be the son of the world.
The old woman stared blankly at the back of Xiao Yi and his party leaving, a thin layer of tears appeared in her eyes, as if touched or revered.
"Grandmother..." The boy looked up at his grandmother suspiciously.
"Heizi." The old woman looked at her grandson with a smile, "When you grow up, you will follow the son to protect the safety of southern Xinjiang, okay?"
The boy looked at the old woman ignorantly, blinked his dark eyes, and the sweet taste in his mouth made him smile brightly.
Xiao Yi and his party walked out of the city gate all the way, surveying the terrain along the outer city wall.
Li Shoubei unfolded the scroll, pointed to the design drawing of the Wengcheng on the scroll, and said a little excitedly: "Master, when the Wengcheng is repaired, Yanding City will be able to stop even the siege vehicles." The last time Yanding The reason why the city fell was because the Nanliang army's siege vehicles smashed through the city gate, causing the enemy to drive straight in. Therefore, after recovering Yanding City, Xiao Yi and Li Shoubei considered building an urn to strengthen the city defense, so as to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.
Everyone walked slowly along the city wall, comparing the design drawing of the urn city from time to time, and putting forward their opinions.
At this time, there was a sound of wheels rolling in the woods ahead, and everyone followed the sound, only to see two familiar figures escorting a board-style carriage towards this side.
Fu Yunhe couldn't help blurting out: "Little Fanzi!"
It was Yu Xiufan and Chang Huaixi who came out of the woods in the boarded carriage. Three or four horrible corpses were randomly piled up on their carriage, and the familiar smell of corpses rushed over...
"Brother!" Yu Xiufan didn't look very good at first, but when he saw Xiao Yi, he lifted his spirits and strode forward to greet Xiao Yi and Fu Yunhe, "Little Hezi, you are here too!"
Fu Yunhe took three steps back holding his nose, and looked at Yu Xiufan with disgust, "Little Fan, stay away from me!... I'll treat you to a good meal after you take a bath and change!"
Although Fu Yunhe wanted to reminisce about the old days with Yu Xiufan, he was really powerless. Now Yu Xiufan seemed to have fallen into a cesspit and crawled out again. It was really too much to avoid.
"Does it smell that bad?" Yu Xiufan sniffed his sleeve, feeling that he had lost his sense of smell due to the smell.
Chang Huaixi also came over, his face was pale, there was a black shadow under his eyes, and his steps were a little frivolous. Last night, he was awakened from time to time by nightmares, and his dreams were full of rotting corpses and maggots, so that he hardly slept much that night. Early in the morning, he was woken up again to continue searching for the body.
Of course Chang Huaixi wanted to put down the burden, but the problem was that Yu Xiufan had already gone, if he didn't go, wouldn't it make people think that Chang Wuzi was as timid as a mouse, just like that useless Qiao Shenyu who was afraid of death? ! Everyone is going to die, what is there to be afraid of!
"I have met the son of the world, I am Chang Huaixi." Chang Huaixi supported the discomfort in his body, and went forward to greet Xiao Yi.
"Are you the Fifth Young Master of General Chang's Mansion?" Xiao Yi nodded slightly as a greeting to him.
Chang Huaixi was flattered, and hurriedly cupped his fists and said: "Exactly." At this time, Chang Huaixi was a little grateful to Qiao Shenyu. If it wasn't for him, how could their team come back early? face once. Unexpectedly, Shizi could recognize himself!
"Well… "
A faint groan suddenly came from the carriage behind, which startled several people: Why is this corpse alive again? Could it be a dead body
Before they could react, Yu Xiufan followed the sound and looked over, blurted out, "Brother Qiao, are you awake?"
For a moment, the expressions of all the people present were a little strange, and they looked at the carriage in unison, and saw three rotten corpses piled up on one side of the carriage behind the horses, while the other side was lying on their backs. Lying there was a young man in green robe. His robe was dirty with mud, residual leaves and vomit, and his face was so pale that there was no trace of blood. At first glance, it was really difficult to distinguish some human corpses.
Meeting Li Shoubei's questioning eyes, Chang Huaixi explained: "Brother Qiao just saw a corpse with a half-rotten face, so he vomited and fainted, so we came back early."
While speaking, there was a sound of "vomit," and Qiao Shenyu, who was lying on the cart, suddenly got up, grabbed the edge of the cart, and vomited to the side.
"vomit-"
In the sound of vomiting, Fu Yunhe touched his nose, only to realize that he didn't seem to see Qiao Shenyu just now.
That's right, if someone hadn't mentioned it, who would pay special attention to whether the person lying on the cart was a human or a corpse...
Qiao Shenyu didn't notice the other people around him at all, he vomited until he almost vomited bile, and then wiped the corner of his mouth with his cuff in embarrassment. He didn't know where he was for a moment, he looked around blankly, and what caught his eyes was a rotting corpse, thick white bones protruding from the big hole in the sleeve, and the yellow-green pus came from the rotting flesh gurgling out...
Qiao Shenyu moved his mouth and let out a hysterical scream, then his body went limp, and he fell back on the cart, obviously passed out again.
Yu Xiufan shook his head silently, thinking: Fainting seems to be able to escape the reality in front of him, but wouldn't it end up continuing to sleep with the corpse? ! He wouldn't do such a stupid thing!
Chang Huaixi's mouth also twitched.
"Brother," Yu Xiufan clasped his fists and said to Xiao Yi, "then we'll take our leave first." They had to take the corpses to the incineration site first.
Xiao Yi responded, and Yu Xiufan immediately swung the whip, the horse neighed, and continued to move forward with the cart.
It seemed that because of the jolt of the cart, Qiao Shenyu suddenly opened his eyes, and jumped off the cart, with an expression as if he had seen a ghost, and ran towards Xiao Yi in a panic, describing it as almost mad Shouted: "Cousin Yi, I want to go back! Order someone to take me back to Luoyue City!" He couldn't stay in such a ghostly place any longer!
Without Xiao Yi making a sound, two soldiers immediately strode forward, one left and one right stopped Qiao Shenyu to prevent him from approaching, and one of them rebuked solemnly: "Presumptuous!"
Xiao Yi squinted his pitch-black peach blossom eyes, glanced at Qiao Shenyu lightly, and said casually: "Brother Yu, is the army a place where you come and go whenever you say you want?" As he spoke, his tone He became fierce, his gaze was like a sharp sword, "Since you are here, it is up to you whether you can leave or not. In the army, you should obey the order of the army, and those who violate it will stick!"
Although Xiao Yi's words were addressed to Qiao Shenyu, Chang Huaixi felt that these words were also addressed to himself, his heart shivered, and he was glad that he did not act rashly. Yes, although Shi Ziye had a bad reputation in southern Xinjiang when he was young, they said that he was stubborn, he could not succeed in martial arts, and was extremely dandy, but now it seems that Shi Ziye can defeat Baiyue and defeat Nanliang in the first place. Finally, absolutely extraordinary! I am here to earn a future this time, and I must not give up halfway.
But Qiao Shenyu didn't take Xiao Yi's words to heart at all, thinking to himself: He wouldn't be so stupid as to stay here and suffer, he must find a way to escape! Yes, he's going to run back...
Xiao Yi saw Qiao Shenyu's thoughts at a glance, and said slowly with a half-smile: "Brother Yu, for the sake of relatives, let me remind you that according to the military law: Anyone who deserts will be killed without mercy!" The last sentence was powerful and cold, making people dare not doubt the authenticity of his words.
For a moment, there was silence all around.
"..." Qiao Shenyu's lips trembled slightly, and he wanted to speak, but his words seemed to be blocked in his throat, and he couldn't say anything.
Xiao Yi glanced at Qiao Shenyu lightly again, and said, "My subordinates don't need trash."
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Yu Xiufan and Chang Huaixi hurriedly pulled Qiao Shenyu away, and Yu Xiufan calmed down the atmosphere casually: "Brother Qiao, let's go to the incineration site first, you must be hungry after vomiting so much. "
It was fine if Yu Xiufan didn't say anything, but when he said it, Qiao Shenyu's stomach felt sour, and he couldn't help but vomited again.
Xiao Yi ignored Qiao Shenyu, turned around and led the soldiers towards the city gate, and asked, "Li Shoubei, do you have enough wormwood in the army now?"
Li Shoubei pondered and said: "Master, I have spent a lot of wormwood in the fumigation house recently, but there is still some stock, so I will order someone to count it again."
Xiao Yi nodded and said, "If it's not enough, let Luo Yuecheng send it right away..."
As they drifted away, so did their voices...
Luoyue City hundreds of miles away is also the rising sun at this moment, and the gray pigeon released by the bamboo gallops hundreds of miles overnight into the sky above Bixiaotang...
For a certain gray eagle, from Bixiaotang and even the entire palace is its airspace, when it sees a gray pigeon flying towards it, the gray eagle that was originally perched on a tree spreads its wings and flies away, playing and chasing after it.
Thrush had been waiting for the dove to fly into her hand, but she was cut off by Xiao Hui. After that, the air was flying like chickens and dogs, with the gray dove fleeing and the gray eagle chasing, dropping a few fine gray feathers from time to time. I don't know who it is.
"Little Hui!" The thrush on the ground ran after them, and finally stomped their feet angrily.
The movement outside spread to the banquet room, Nangong Yue put down the half-made needlework, walked to the window, looked up, and saw the frightened appearance of the poor gray pigeon.
Nangong Yue was a little amused, and reprimanded with a slightly condensed expression: "Xiao Hui!" Although this scene looked amusing, if Xiao Hui had to chase every carrier pigeon in the future, it might be troublesome. It seems to be taught. Little Gray behaved.
Xiao Hui made another half turn, and stopped on the sweet-scented osmanthus tree not far away.
Seeing this, the poor gray pigeon couldn't wait to flap its wings and fly into Nangong Yue's hands, cooing a few times, which sounded pitiful.
Nangong Yue caressed the pigeon soothingly, and the next moment, she heard an eagle's cry. She looked for the sound, but met Xiao Hui's displeased eyes, as if she was condemning herself for liking the new and loathing the old. Little Hui twisted his head, flapped his wings and flew away...
Nangong Yue shook her head, it seems that she will have to give Xiaohui some venison later to appease her... Her attention was soon attracted by the small bamboo tube tied to the leg of the carrier pigeon, this must be a letter from A Yi !
She hastily untied the small bamboo tube, and took out two densely written silk papers inside.
Seeing the familiar handwriting, Nangong Yue couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth, her obsidian-like black pupils were as bright as stars in the night sky, shining brightly.
The maids on the side were doing needlework with Nangong Yue, but when they saw this, they all quietly retreated.
Nangong Yue leaned against the window, and read Xiao Yi's letter several times. Although it was the trivial things in daily life, it always reminded her of his expression and demeanor at that time, which aroused her understanding from time to time. smile.
In the morning, the warm but not scorching sun shone on her body, covering her snow-like skin with a golden halo on her face. The skin on her face was so delicate that almost no pores could be seen.
The room was silent, she held the letter paper in her hand, looked up at the sky outside the house, Xiao Hui flew back at some point, hovering in the yard...
Que'er picked up the curtain and looked around the room cautiously. Seeing Nangong Yue staring out the window in a daze, she entered the room and reported, "Shi Zifei, the people from the flower house have arrived and are waiting in the yard."
Now is the time when the seasons change and it's time to replace the house with seasonal flowers.
Only then did Nangong Yue come back to her senses, and her eyes became focused again.
She responded, walked to the dressing table, first carefully put Xiao Yi's letter into a small rosewood box, and then told Que'er to let someone in.
Que'er soon came in with two young maids from the greenhouse. The two young maids had no chance to talk to their master on weekdays.
After the two saluted Nangong Yue, they quickly replaced the jasmine and sweet-scented osmanthus with asters, roses, evergreens, etc., and the air was filled with a faint fragrance of flowers, which was refreshing.
After Nangong Yue approached an aster and smelled it, she asked the little girl who waited on the aster, "Are there any other chrysanthemums in the greenhouse?"
The little maid was a little nervous, and bent her knees and replied: "Concubine Shizi, there are dozens of kinds of chrysanthemums in the flower room, such as Huang Shiba, Green Peony, Er Qiao, Da Ruyi, Ruyi Golden Hook, Golden Peony, Shuai Qi, Liuxian, Furongtuo Osmanthus, jade pantuo beads, red gold lions, warm jade, purple jade fragrant beads, ice pantuogui, ink lotus, etc. are all available, but most of them have just sprouted buds. If the concubine likes it, the servants will go and get it. Or in a few more days, when the buds are half-opened?" The little maid said with a suffocated breath.
Nangong Yue softened her tone and said with a smile, "Then go and choose two pots with buds."
"Yes, Shi Zifei." The little maid hurriedly responded after swallowing her saliva, and walked away through the curtain.
Nangong Yue looked around, and after putting in new flowers and plants, the room seemed to have a new atmosphere, feeling completely new.
She pointed to a pot of cannas that was originally placed in the corner and said, "Thrush, put this pot of cannas by the window." Cannas like sunny and hot environments.
Thrush agreed, and moved the pot of canna over to the sun, but seeing the canna's plump green leaves and red flowers that were as red as fire, he couldn't help but feel refreshed.
Thrush stared at the bright red flowers for a long time, then sighed: "Sure enough, this canna will be planted in the south, and it is much more beautiful than those in the capital!"
The maids commented on the flowers and plants for a while, and Ying'er came in through the curtain, and said: "Shizifei, the second son is here, and he wants to see you."
Xiao Luan was raised by Xiao Fang like a child who couldn't grow up, which was a bit unreasonable.
In the previous life, Nangong Yue didn't know the details of why the two brothers came to that step. At least in this life, or since she arrived in Southern Xinjiang, perhaps there was no Xiao Fang to encourage and make crooked moves. Didn't do anything annoying. Especially since she took the palm of the hand, Xiao Luan would come over from time to time to beg for some ice, some rare fruits and so on, smiling and calling "Sister-in-law", without any recognition of his identity.
Thinking of this, Nangong Yue couldn't help laughing, and said, "Please invite Second Young Master to the main room."
Nangong Yue straightened her clothes a little, and went to the main room to sit down.
Soon, Yinger led a young man in a smoky purple brocade robe into the hall. Xiao Luan's appearance was more like Xiao Fang's, far inferior to Xiao Yi's, but still much more refined than Zhennan Wang Junyi, but his facial features There is always a trace of tiredness in the room, as if there is never enough sleep.
"Sister-in-law!" Xiao Luan smiled and saluted Nangong Yue, then sat down beside her.
The maid served tea and fruit snacks, and Xiao Luan hesitantly explained the purpose of her visit: "Sister-in-law, father's birthday banquet is coming soon, can you let Pianpian come out too? Just let her stay with you, sister-in-law. This birthday banquet invites you The best theater troupe in Luoyue City came to sing, Pianpian is her favorite theater."
Pianpian... Nangong Yue's heart moved, she vaguely remembered that Pianpian was Xiao Luan's aunt, and she seemed to be an oiran in the past. Ever since she passed the residence, Pianpian has always been loved by Xiao Luan.
This was something in Xiao Luan's house, Nangong Yue heard something occasionally, but she just took it as a windfall, and didn't take it seriously.
this time...
Nangong Yue's eyes darkened, but she didn't show it on her face. She smiled at Xiao Luan and said, "Second brother, have you thought about it clearly? Father's birthday is no worse than a family banquet in our mansion. There are many distinguished guests on that day , as Pianpian, I am afraid that everyone needs to salute, and she is not even qualified to sit in a seat... Even if you are watching a play, you can only stand and watch with the maids."
Xiao Luan's face froze. Indeed, what my sister-in-law said was right. On the day of my father’s birthday, other than relatives, all the people who came to the famous mansions in southern Xinjiang. He also saw the faces of those women a lot. Look at people... his Pianpian is so delicate, if he meets some difficult female relatives, wouldn't he be humiliated to death!
The more Xiao Luan thought about it, the more he felt that it was inappropriate, so he quickly shook his head and said, "Fortunately, sister-in-law, you reminded me. Let's forget about it."
Xiao Luan looked at Nangong Yue gratefully. The elder sister-in-law was really kind and considerate. No wonder she got along well with his difficult sister and that terrifying elder brother.
The thrush at the side lowered her head halfway, feeling a little speechless. She didn't know whether to sigh that the second young master had one intestine, or whether it was easy to coax
Xiao Luan stood up, thanked Nangong Yue again, and left.
Looking at Xiao Luan's leaving back, a solemn look flashed in Nangong Yue's eyes.