This incident naturally aroused laughter in the Daxia court, and the Daxia officials laughed at Yanbei for being poor and crazy, and even thought of doing business with Daxia. Although they also lack war horses and iron ore, they can still do business with Bian Tang and Huai Song. Unlike Yanbei, as long as Bian Tang blocks the pass, there is only one road like Daxia.
Naturally, Da Xia would not talk to Yan Bei, but it was the first time that Yushitai and Zhong Shuling joined forces and wrote a large article full of ridicule, scolding Yan Xun for his whimsy and ignorance.
For the two countries, this incident was not a big deal, but it clearly showed Yanbei's decadence and embarrassment. Although Daxia wasn't much better, but seeing his enemy look worse than himself, Xia officials became arrogant again. A group of scholastic madmen shouted wildly to destroy Yanbei all day long, as if Yanbei would disappear as long as they waved their hands. Even some royal relatives and nobles who were far away in the territory also wrote to Zhuge Yue, asking him to lead troops into Yanbei immediately and completely eradicate the beggars in Yanbei.
Zhuge Yue looked coldly at the crowd of demons dancing in the court and the public, couldn't help sneering, and taunted in private: "Yan Xun's method is not very clever, but he really prescribes the right medicine. Just a few words made Zhenhuang's court and the public collectively go mad. .”
When he said this, Chu Qiao only felt terrified. Zhuge Yue had already thought more deeply than ordinary people, knowing that this was Yan Xun's intentional show of weakness, and wanted to lure Xia's army out of the pass to fight. However, Chu Qiao and Yan Xun have lived together for many years, and they know his nature well. Even if he dies in battle, he will never show weakness to the enemy. It is really worth his effort to just paralyze the enemy and want to fight. Is it such a big sacrifice
Winter goes to spring, and it is another year of warm spring and flowers blooming, but the cold wind is still lingering. When you open the window, you can still see the unmelted ice.
This winter seems to be very long.
Chu Qiao subconsciously knew that something was not far away.
It has been half a month since Zhuge Yue went to Yecheng for business. Three days ago Chu Qiao received news that another battle broke out outside Yanming Pass, but it was just that more than 30 drunken soldiers rushed out of the pass to provoke Yanbei Longyin Pass and shot a round of arrows, and the Yanbei army died. Three injuries, but did not fight back.
When this news reached Zhenhuang City, it was already ten days ago. In the memorial, the gatekeeper asked the imperial court to issue a call to action against Yanbei. All kinds of military supplies have been exhausted, and there are still large-scale civil unrest in the country. It is the best time for the Northern Expedition. Once missed, the future confrontation with Yanbei will be extremely difficult.
Long before this, the voices of the main battle in the government and the opposition were already noisy, and now this memorial added fuel to the fire, mobilizing Daxia's fighting spirit in an instant. From the government and the public to the people, there is an upsurge of responding to the war everywhere. The subjects of the Great Xia originated from outside the pass, and they were originally a warlike nation. Now, under the instigation of someone with a heart, it is even more noisy. At night, every household in Zhenhuang City was full of sounds of sharpening knives, and the civil servants of Yushitai even set up a battle platform in Ziwei Square to accept ordinary people who voluntarily joined the army. A long list of names was densely written on the imperial list, and they were posted in front of Ziwei's door with such fanfare. Behind each name was a bloody fingerprint, which seemed to send chills down the spine.
The people's enthusiasm for fighting was unprecedentedly high, and the Shengjin Palace was still reluctant to give orders. The emperor's old illness has relapsed in the past few days, and he has not been able to go to court for seven or eight days. Under the deliberate connivance of the Presbyterian Church, various folk activities were carried out vigorously, and there were even guards organized spontaneously from all over the country, carrying swords all the way to the capital.
Chu Qiao sent four letters to Zhuge Yue in a row, but before he could reply, Zhuge Huai, who hadn't seen him for a long time, came to visit him, which made Chu Qiao quite at a loss for a while.
Zhuge Huai came here from Zhuge's family area on purpose. Although Zhuge Muqing had expelled this son from the family when Zhuge Yue was in trouble, but after he returned with glory, the Zhuge Clan collectively lost their memory and put this disharmonious past behind them. Zhuge Huai, the elder brother who had fought against Zhuge Yue many times, was also abandoned by the family and sent back to the territory far away. It has been three years since he left the imperial capital.
And he came back this time for the wedding of Chu Qiao and Zhuge Yue.
A month ago, Chu Qiao's dowry entered the gate of Zhenhuang city mightily, and the carriages and horses stretched all the way, beyond the horizon at a glance. According to a rough calculation of the Zhenhuang garrison, there were more than 400 vehicles and as many as 50,000 escorts. The ceremonial officials of Bian Tang were dressed in brocade robes, and they looked like royal guards of honor.
All the way is joyful and noisy, along the road is paved with red brocade, golden silk flowers are scattered all over the sky, red silk mantles, gold-plated treasure covers, 3,000 palace people in costumes are leading the way, 20,000 beautiful troops are in full armor, and 20,000 wolf troops are guarding , The momentum is prominent, even if the emperor marries a wife and the queen canonize, it is not so luxurious.
The people of Zhenhuang City were collectively dumbfounded, and even the officials of Daxia were dumbfounded. Li Ce has prepared a dowry for her for two years, doing everything extravagant, and giving her supreme honor and glory. Even though he is no longer there, he still supports her in this way, so that she will not be punished by others. Belittle.
Zhuge's family's status suddenly rose due to the in-law relationship with Bian Tang, and Zhuge Muqing, who had been ill for a long time, also returned to greet Bian Tang's wedding ceremony officer cordially. Zhuge Yue didn't know what method he used to summon all the relatives of the Jing family who couldn't get along. Although Chu Qiao had never met them before, these white-haired lords and wives still burst into tears when they saw her, deeply expressing their longing and longing for her after not seeing her for many years.
Some old ladies from the Jing family lived in the Sima Mansion. Although Chu Qiao didn't have a good impression of them, Zhuge Yue still seriously ordered his servants to treat them well. For the past few days, Chu Qiao didn't have to go anywhere, but just sat in the room every day, listening to them teach her the customs of new marriage, teach her the responsibilities of a woman, and teach her what to do and what not to do.
The wedding was approaching, but she became more and more nervous, as if all the eyes in the world were focused on her, only she couldn't feel at ease, always felt that under the sky full of luxury, there was hidden hidden edge, which made her restless.
Zhuge Yue comforted her, saying that she was so happy that she was foolish, and she had no choice but to comfort herself in this way, hoping it was just nervousness before marriage, and not some unlucky sixth sense.
However, after Zhuge Yue left, her uneasiness became more and more obvious. Immediately afterwards, Yanbei's strange battle report and the fierce warlike frenzy in the government and the public all made her feel more and more uncomfortable. However, she didn't know anything, so she could only be cautious and wait quietly for Zhuge Yue's return and their grand wedding.
Zhulan is carved and built, colorful tiles are clear and green, and the sun is falling from the gaps in the branches and leaves, with an old and simple light golden brilliance. The shadows of the flowers are sparse, and the spring day stops a little on the willow branches outside the bedroom, passes through the dark window lattice, and flows in and out of her eyes.
A piece of letter paper was pinched between the fingers, on which there was a faint smell of soldiers and beacon fire, the ink was dripping, piercing through the back of the paper, a few words, like a wave of lake water, flowing quietly in the bedroom in this warm spring and March.
Chu Qiao was wearing a moon-white gauze dress, leaning on the soft couch, a birdcage was hanging in front of the window, the door of the cage was open, a snow-white bird was sleeping lazily inside, with three red feathers drooping on its tail , I can't see a little prestige in the weekdays.
Yue Qi said that this is Zhuge Yue's snowy owl, the most ferocious bird in Qinghai, extremely fast, with sharp claws and sharp teeth, and intelligent.
Chu Qiao picked up a piece of sauced meat with chopsticks, and the bird almost didn't even open her eyes, so she snatched it in one gulp, chewed it twice and swallowed it, then continued to sleep with her head tilted.
What a lazy bird, it doesn't cry all day long.
Chu Qiao looked up at it, rubbing the letter with her fingers, feeling a little warm joy in her heart.
Although lazy, it is still very useful.
This letter used to be called a letter, but now it is called a letter from home.
The wedding date is approaching, and he will be back in two days.
After that, she will put on the phoenix coronet and Xiapei, sit in the eight-carried sedan chair, and marry into his family amidst the joy of drumming and playing the sheng. From then on, she became his legitimate wife, and the square gold-plated Geng post is still placed under her pillow, with gold powder paintings on it of mandarin ducks playing in the water, flying birds winging each other, and blooming flowers that are in love with each other. the names of both of them.
Chu Qiao thought, maybe she was that Qinghai Snowy Owl, who had lost her fierceness and slaughtered, and lived in a house made of gold with peace of mind, even though the cage door was wide open, she was unwilling to go out again.
There are tens of thousands of doors in this world, and the ones that can really block people's footsteps are always invisible.
He is the Sima of Daxia, but he is also a feudal lord with a title, and she is also going to marry according to the ceremony of a princess. The dowry and dowry are all piled up in a courtyard, and all kinds of jewels and treasures form mountains and seas. The Imperial Clothing Bureau cut out the wedding gown for her, and the rewards from the royal family also came down. The gift lists of the rich and powerful families were so long that the whole palace was full.
She was also a little more interested, and occasionally took Jingjing, Mei Xiang and Huan'er to look through the gifts together. Occasionally seeing some rare treasures, these women who have not seen much of the world will exclaim exaggeratedly, like a group of bumpkins from the countryside entering the city.
She is going to live in Zhuge's main house tonight, and the mistress of Zhuge's family will prepare the pre-wedding etiquette for her. She didn't have a natal family, so she could only live in Zhuge Mansion before marriage, and then married into this splendid Sima Mansion from the courtyard where she lived when she was young.
Dawn and dusk, time is like ripples in the water, fainting round and round.
After living in Zhuge's house, she didn't see the headmistress, but was accompanied by the Jing family. Chu Qiao took the girl named Yu Xiaohe by her side. Occasionally, when she was lost in thought, this girl from a small family would quietly light up a handful of soho incense. This fragrance is very familiar, and it seems to be the method of mixing that she learned in the imperial pharmacy many years ago when she was young.
One qian of perilla, one qian of lily, one qian of Fanggui, one qian of gold powder, two qian of lotus pistil, two qian of rose powder, two qian of plantain oil, two qian of...
None of them are precious medicinal materials, but the flavors they concoct are calming and nourishing, and can best help those who are haunted by nightmares to have a good night's sleep.
Two days later, a servant came in and said that Zhuge Yue had returned to the city and went to the Changfang to visit his parents, but Yili could not come to see her. She was taking a bath when she heard the news, and the heat climbed up her smooth shoulders, bringing hot warmth. A maid handed her a letter from home, her fingers were still wet, dripping water continuously, the water soaked the letter paper, and a smear of ink smeared, in the mist of water vapor, there was only one line of words, the pen was clear and elegant, and the handwriting was elegant.
"I'm back, I'll pick you up in five days."
Five days later, it was their wedding day.
At night, Chu Qiao stretched out her hand and took a vine that had been dried up by the sun during the day. There was a faint trace of white salt powder on her fingers, and the water stains flowed down. Some hidden emotions climbed up the layers of the vine. horned green vine.
A basin of salt water shone with a pale golden light, and the letter paper was swimming at the bottom, with shallow handwriting floating up vaguely, densely packed small regular script, each written with a stroke in the belly of the gully.