In December, a broken snow enveloped the capital. In the morning, it was a mess of jade chips. At noon, the wind stopped, and the snow turned into clumps of goose feathers, which fell heavily from the sky.
Fu Tingzhou came back when the snow was heaviest, and the housekeeper hurriedly ran out of Zhenyuan Hou's mansion when he heard the message. As soon as he came out, he saw a yard of horses, all big and tall, now shaking their manes impatiently and shaking the snow. The heavy snow swelled one after another, obstructing the line of sight, and it was impossible to see the figure behind the snow.
But the housekeeper still recognized Fu Tingzhou at a glance. He stood beside a black horse, and after explaining the matter of feeding the horse to the steward, he handed the reins to the servant.
The housekeeper saw that, ignoring the heavy snow outside, he quickly ran down the steps: "Master Hou, you're back! You arrived in Beijing today, why didn't you send a letter in advance, and the slaves can go to the city gate to meet you."
Fu Tingzhou, wearing a heavy cloak, strode up the porch. This black cloak is made of animal fur. It is shiny and smooth, and it is dense and tight. With Fu Tingzhou's movements, the falling snow on it falls down and almost merges with the wind and snow outside.
Fu Tingzhou walked through the tortuous and complicated corridors of the Zhenyuan Hou Mansion, thinking that the capital and the border are really two worlds. How could there be such a useless and wasteful building in Datong Mansion? No wonder my grandfather was not used to life in Beijing after he retired from the front line, always thinking about the years of war.
He has only been on the front line for a year, and his mentality is completely different. Xun Guizhong recognized that Fu Yue's upbringing of Fu Tingzhou was very strict, and Fu Tingzhou himself felt that he was very diligent in practicing martial arts and never let up. But after he really went to the field of life and death for a while, he realized that he was just a showman.
After fighting at the border for a year, this level of heavy snow was nothing to Fu Tingzhou. He said lightly, "I don't want to let them report the news."
The housekeeper had to trot to keep up with Fu Tingzhou. He folded his hands in his sleeves, murmured yes, and didn't dare to question the slightest bit. The housekeeper was secretly shocked. In the past, Lord Hou had a cold and serious temperament, but the butler still dared to say a few words to Lord Hou. Now that Fu Tingzhou was standing in front of him, the butler didn't dare to persuade him a word.
If the previous Hou Ye was a well-polished sword with gems and gold foil on it, although the sword was sharp, it was more like an extravagant ornament. Now, this sword has opened its edge, quenched the blood, and has truly become a murder weapon.
Including Hou Ye's behavior, is also very different from the past. Almost all the entourage around him have changed. These people seem to be silent, but they have sharp eyes and fierce expressions. At first glance, they are military bandits who have killed people.
The housekeeper couldn't help sighing in his heart, that place in Datong Mansion is really fierce in folk customs, and there is blood in his bones. The garrison in Datong looked like both an army and a bandit. The surrounding people were not afraid when they heard that the Mongols were coming, but when they heard the Datong army coming, they quickly packed up their furniture and ran away. Even Wang Yanqing, a seemingly weak daughter's family, learned martial arts with half the effort.
When the housekeeper thought of this, he quickly stopped, why did he think of her? A lot of things have happened in the capital recently, and he can't remind Hou Ye of that one.
Because of the unique geographical location and living environment of Datong Mansion, the average person in that place is fighting crazy demons, and the generals who airborne in the capital are incapable of subduing the soldiers below. It is precisely because of this that every military general who has successfully retired from Datong will have a smooth career and show off his skills. This is the case with Fu Yue. Fu Tingzhou has only been in Datong for a year, and now he is completely reborn.
Fu Tingzhou himself deeply felt the difference. He used to think that he was a marquis of super quality, and Lu Heng was the commander of Jin Yiwei. They were both born in the same family of officers and had similar upbringings. Except for Lu Heng's luck, there was no difference between the two. Now that he has really practiced in the Iron Horse Glacier, Fu Tingzhou understands how big the difference is between those who have real power and those who have no real power, who have people and who don't.
Lu Heng joined Jinyiwei at the age of 12 and began to cultivate his own personnel, while Fu Tingzhou did not really come into contact with grassroots soldiers until he was 22 years old. The deeper he went, the more he felt the gap between him and Lu Heng. He had to admit that Lu Heng was stronger than him, far more than luck.
But facing difficulties is the style of a soldier. Now that Fu Tingzhou is back, he just wants to try Lu Heng's knife again.
Fu Tingzhou received a transfer order from the capital in November, but Datong is an important border town, and the delivery of military power cannot be sloppy. Fu Tingzhou made arrangements for the handover before bringing his cronies back to Beijing. By the time he set foot on the border of Shuntian Prefecture again, it was already the cold winter and twelfth lunar month.
When Fu Tingzhou went home, the first thing he did was to see his elders. When the female family members received the news, they all gathered in Mrs. Tai's house at the moment. Chen shi held hands nervously, and suddenly heard a salute from outside, Chen shi was surprised and stood up out of control: "Master Hou!"
With Chen's voice, the door curtain was lifted, and the cold wind and snow swept into the house, and a tall and murderous figure appeared at the door. The female relatives stood up one after another, holding the handkerchief to say hello, and even the madam, with tears in her eyes, said tremblingly, "Okay, okay, it's good when you come back."
Chen Shi couldn't help crying when he saw his son's changed temperament. Everyone was comforting and crying, and the women cried together, and it took a long while to settle down.
Fu Tingzhou waited for Mrs. Chen to be emotionally stable and seated again, before salute the elders in turn: "Unfilial sons, please give grandmother and mother peace."
Fu Tingzhou came back suddenly, and Fu Chang happened to be not in the mansion. Now there are only Mrs. Tai, the Chen family and a few concubines and concubines of the Fu family. Fu Tingzhou is a treasure in the eyes of Mrs. Tai and Mrs. Chen. They didn't want to let Fu Tingzhou salute, so they quickly greeted Fu Tingzhou to sit down.
The maids came forward to serve tea, and Mrs. Chen looked at her son carefully. For a year at the border, Fu Tingzhou turned a little darker and seemed to lose weight. The lines on his face were thin and deep, but he was more manly than before. Chen Shi looked at it with relief and sadness, and sighed: "You have suffered this year. Fortunately, you are not injured. You rest in the capital for a few days. After a few days, you are married. There are women around to take care of you. recovered."
Fu Tingzhou was about to drink tea, when he heard this, he frowned and immediately put the tea cup back on the table: "What marriage?"
Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Tai looked at each other and felt a little guilty: "Your marriage with Miss Hong San. The emperor gave you the marriage in person. This is a very respectable thing. Before you transfer back to the capital, hurry up and get the marriage done."
Fu Tingzhou understood, Chen Shi privately set a wedding date for him while he was away! Fu Tingzhou held back his anger and asked, "Didn't you say that you will wait until I come back and then decide? Why are you making up your own mind?"
"This..." Chen Shi was speechless, his eyes were looking around, "I'm also doing it for your own good, you are twenty-two this year, and ordinary people have even given birth to a son at this age. You are not married yet, what is this called? "
Fu Tingzhou scoffed lightly and said disdainfully, "Isn't Lu Heng also married?"
Lu Heng's non-marriage is a public case in the capital. Every time he mentions it, everyone has to speculate for a long time, but this time, after he finished speaking, no one answered for a long time in the room.
Fu Tingzhou felt that something was wrong, he frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
The housekeeper hesitated, and the Fu family's concubines and concubines looked down at their shoes, and finally Mrs. Tai slowly said, "Master Lu is going to marry, and the wedding will be next month. Your mother is envious of others getting married in the first month of the month. Hurry up and set a wedding date for you. Unfortunately, it's too late, and it can only be set in February at the earliest."
Fu Tingzhou suddenly felt that his throat was hard, he slowed down for a while, and then asked, "with whom?"
The room fell silent, and everyone bowed their heads tacitly, only the sound of burning coals could be heard. In the end, it was the butler who stepped forward and handed over a package of delicately framed invitations: "Master Hou, this is Lord Lu's wedding invitation."
Fu Tingzhou opened the wedding post and was immediately stinged by the words "Wang's" on it. Fu Tingzhou watched her and another man's name appear side by side. After a long time, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Who is Wang?"
The girl's boudoir name is a secret and cannot be easily announced as a foreigner. It is normal for Lu Heng to write his fiancee's name as Wang's. There are so many women surnamed Wang in the world, who is he going to marry
Everyone in the Fu family was silent, Fu Tingzhou was undoubtedly deceiving himself, but they knew the result, but no one dared to break it. In the suffocating silence, Mrs. Chen spoke up: "This woman is very mysterious. Lord Lu hides her tightly, and no one in Beijing has seen her true face. No matter how holy this woman is, it depends on Lord Lu's attitude. It's obvious that we care about her. As outsiders, can we pursue the woman that Mr. Lu likes? It's fine to go to a wedding banquet politely."
Miss Fu Jiadi was nervous when she heard her mother's words. She quietly went to see the second brother. The second brother looked calm, but his hands were constantly straining, and he had already crumpled the wedding invitation from the Lu residence.
She sighed secretly. In fact, when Lu Heng's invitation was first delivered to Zhenyuan Hou's Mansion, they also wondered who the Wang family was in it. Although it was not stated explicitly, the family members of the Fu family had a strong premonition that this woman surnamed Wang was Wang Yanqing.
Miss Fu sighed. She didn't know what kind of charm Wang Yanqing had. All men who could hook up were fascinated by her, and even Lu Heng was willing to give her a name. When Wang Yanqing disappeared at first, they all thought that Lu Heng kidnapped people in order to respond to Fu Tingzhou and play with her.
After all, Wang Yanqing's appearance is indeed unique, and few men can bear it.
However, this invitation shattered the vague sense of superiority of the Fu family's daughter-in-law. Lu Heng was not just playing casually, but he really wanted to marry Wang Yanqing with the gift of three media and six engagements. The Fu family has never taken Wang Yanqing seriously, but it's just a sojourn in the Hou's Mansion. Who would really take Wang Yanqing as their own family
But now, Wang Yanqing has become Lu Heng's wife, not only on an equal footing with them, but they will even curry favor with Wang Yanqing in the future. Lu Heng's wife, who dares to show her face in the capital
Miss Fu's family and Mrs. Chen have been secretly awkward these days, but it's not over yet. What's worse is that Fu Tingzhou, the pillar of the Fu family, still misses Wang Yanqing. Just one post can easily make Fu Tingzhou lose his temper.
Fu Tingzhou has experienced life and death trials and has become much calmer than before. He squeezed his palm tightly, trying to maintain a calm state, and asked, "When did he deliver it?"
The Fu family looked at each other in dismay and dared not hide, and said, "It was delivered at the beginning of November. Not only in the Marquis of Zhenyuan, but also in the capital's famous family."
Even so early, Fu Tingzhou's last fluke was lost. The date of posting the invitation was before Fu Tingzhou received the transfer order, that is to say, Lu Heng did not deliberately marry Wang Yanqing to stimulate Fu Tingzhou, he really wanted to marry her.
Fu Tingzhou's heart seemed to be numb, and he couldn't feel the pain at all: "Why do you guys think of the engagement date for Hong Wanqing and me?"
Chen Shi was stunned by the question, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "The Holy One has given you a marriage, isn't it a logical thing to ask for an appointment?"
Fu Tingzhou's heart became clearer. It was Lu Heng who did a little trick to induce Chen's and Hong's family to set the wedding before he returned to Beijing. The Chen family and the Hong family didn't even realize that it was someone else who led them to do this.
It is in line with Lu Heng's style. It is better to strike first and not give the other party any chance to fight back. Fu Tingzhou was just surprised that Lu Heng could do this for her.
Fu Tingzhou thought, because Jin Yiwei is different from others, Jin Yiwei can't form a party, so Lu Heng needs to marry a powerless wife; Lu Heng has been alone for many years, maybe he is too lazy to choose, just find someone to act for him...
Fu Tingzhou thought about so many reasons, but he didn't want to admit that Lu Heng was more courageous than him. Lu Heng dared to abandon everything to marry her, and lead her to the front of the people generously, while Fu Tingzhou looked ahead and looked back, and he had too many last resorts in his heart.
Fu Tingzhou once believed that Lu Heng deliberately deceived Wang Yanqing in order to retaliate against him, and all Lu Heng's actions were meant to be exploited. That's why Fu Tingzhou dared to rob Wang Yanqing. He was sure that after Wang Yanqing learned the truth, he would come back with him.
But if Lu Heng also moved his heart, how would Wang Yanqing choose
Fu Tingzhou didn't dare to think about it.
Fu Tingzhou sat calmly in the eyes of many people. He seemed calm and composed, but he didn't hear what Chen's and the others were saying at all. Finally, Fu Tingzhou felt that it was enough time to greet the elders. He got up and said, "I just returned to Beijing, and there are still many things to take care of. I will retire first, grandmother and mother forgive me."
Mrs. Tai and Mrs. Chen nodded. They were talking about letting Fu Tingzhou do the right thing. In fact, they knew in their hearts that he was doing it for Wang Yanqing.
Chen sighed, not without regrets. If I knew today, why not let them get married in the first place? But it's too late to say anything now. Chen only hopes that after Hong Wanqing passes the door, Fu Tingzhou can come out slowly.
Fu Tingzhou was walking in Zhenyuan Hou's mansion, and the wind and snow swept behind him, without showing any affection. Fu Tingzhou walked aimlessly for a while, and helplessly realized that he was circling her former yard.
I can't see it, but I can't leave it.
Fu Tingzhou stood in the snow for a long time until a thick layer of snow accumulated on his shoulders. He finally convinced himself to try again.
Maybe the last time.
Even if she was going to go to another man, Fu Tingzhou hoped that at least it was the decision she made when she was fully awake.