When Li Luo and Qin Yu left Jiangnan, Jiangnan was still a scene of grass growing and warblers flying, flowers blooming and willows green, but along the way, the closer to the north, the colder the weather became.
When they arrived at the largest city in Guanbei—Xirong City, there was even a little bit of snowflakes in the sky.
The mansion of Qin Yu's grandfather Nangongao is located in Xirong City.
Li Luo pulled the rein tightly, pinched the horse's belly again, and stopped the horse he was riding.
Ahead was the gate of Xirong City, Li Luo looked at the gate of two rows of soldiers standing in front of him, he let out a burst of white gas, and stepped off his horse.
Qin Yu also got off the horse and walked beside Li Luo, pulling the reins.
After being interrogated for a few words by the soldiers guarding the city, the two entered Xirong City smoothly.
At this time, the sky had already darkened, and there were fewer and fewer pedestrians walking outside, and there was basically no one to be seen. With sharp eyes, Li Luo grabbed a middle-aged man who hurried past him, "Uncle, do you know how to get to General Nangong's mansion?"
The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders, raised his head and looked at Li Luo, his mustache moved slightly on his thin face, his big eyes were gliding on Li Luo and Qin Yu, and the two sleek horses turned around. After a circle, his eyes suddenly lit up. Then stretched out a hand inserted in the sleeve, and rubbed the index finger and thumb in front of Li Luo's eyes.
"I want to know, yes, give me money."
Li Luo choked for a moment, what the fuck, he was just asking for directions, and he wanted money? Uncle, what about your character, is it already in arrears
"What? Seeing that you two are quite rich, can't you even afford this little money?" The middle-aged man with mustache looked at Li Luo with some disdain, and said.
Li Luo: ... What if he really wants to punch this person in front of him
Before Li Luo could do anything, a hand stretched out from beside him, and threw pieces of broken silver onto the middle-aged man's hand.
The middle-aged man with a mustache immediately brightened his eyes, picked up the piece of silver, bit it with his teeth, and put it in his arms carefully, "You two, if you want to find the mansion of General Nangong, just follow this road and go all the way. West, turn two more turns to the left and you will be there." After finishing speaking, the middle-aged man with mustache turned around happily and walked away.
"Qin Yu, why did you really give the money to this scoundrel? He didn't want to tell us, we can just turn around and ask the soldiers guarding the gate, what are you doing with so much money?" Li Luo looked at Qin Yu helplessly, The money has already been given, even if he has a lump in his heart, he can't get the money back from that shameless mustache.
"It's just a little money, Mu Cheng, let's go." Qin Yu took the rein and walked in the direction indicated by the middle-aged man with mustache.
Li Luo: ... Every time you book a room, you always say you don't have much money? Have you eaten them all!
Depressed Li Luo didn't notice that when Qin Yu was walking side by side with him, he turned his head and glanced in the direction the middle-aged man with the mustache left. His eyes were so dark that it made people feel cold.
***
"Tsk tsk, what a fool with a lot of money." The middle-aged man with a mustache walked to the alley where he usually went home, turned his head and squinted at Li Luo and Qin Yu who disappeared at the corner of the street. Up and down, a flash of pride flashed in his small eyes, and he took out the silver from his arms, put it in his mouth and took a bite, then turned around, hummed a little tune and walked into the alley inside.
Just as his figure stepped into the shadow of the alley, two pairs of arms that seemed to grow out of the shadow dragged him in at once.
Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of intensive kicking sounds and low-pitched questioning voices: "...is there only so many?"
Lying on the ground with a bruised nose and a swollen face, the character mustache replied, "Really... there are only so many... Oh, don't...don't hit me." He was defrauded of two or three months of wages, who knew that such a thing would happen, not only the one tael of silver was gone, but even a dozen or so copper coins on his body were also robbed.
Thinking of facing the questioning and scolding of the tigress at home after returning home, the expression on the mustache's face became even more miserable. Today is not his lucky day, this is clearly a disaster from heaven!
***
Following the instructions of the middle-aged man with the mustache, Li Luo and Qin Yu led the horse for a while, and saw a huge mansion.
Blue-gray walls enclose most of the street, and a plaque with gold letters on a black background is hung above the tall mansion gate that can accommodate two carriages. The word "Nangong" in the letter is so imposing that the vigorous strokes almost pierce the plaque.
On both sides of the gate of the mansion stood two soldiers in armor, which looked more heavily guarded than the gate of the city.
Noticing the approach of Li Luo and Qin Yu, the two rows of soldiers immediately looked over with defensive eyes.
"This is the important place of the General's Mansion. If there is nothing wrong, please leave quickly!"
Qin Yu raised his voice and said, "I'm here to visit old general Nangong."
The soldiers over there looked at each other, and one of them trotted up to Qin Yu and asked, "Do you have any tokens?"
Qin Yu nodded slightly, and said, "Of course there are." After speaking, he handed a kit to the soldier.
"Okay, you wait here for a while." The soldier glanced at the kit he had caught, put it carefully in his arms, and trotted into the gate of the mansion.
***
In the elegantly decorated side hall, there are two men and a woman sitting. The old man sitting in the main seat has gray hair and wrinkles on his face, but he looks energetic, with a straight back and a pair of sharp eyes shining. He is an old man in his sixties.
"Qin Yan has gone too far in the past few years, and our country of Qin is probably going to be destroyed by this thief! It's a pity my good grandson... my daughter..." At this point, the old man's voice choked up, and his eyes were even more serious. There was a layer of chill, and the palm that was holding on to the handrail directly pulled down a small piece of wood.
"Father, Sister Yue'er... It's been so many years, even though she's gone, she definitely doesn't want to see you hurt anymore." Liu Ruoyan The man sitting on the left of the old man also had his face sinking, It was hard to hide the grief in his eyes, and after taking a breath, he comforted him.
The girl sitting on the left has a delicate face, and the girl in a lavender dress frowns slightly, her almond eyes that seem to be hesitant to speak seem to contain a faint mist. Even though she is only fourteen years old now, she can already see that in a few more years Years, how shocking this face will be.
"That's right, Aunt Yue certainly wouldn't want to see you sad, Third Uncle."
Nangong Ao looked at Liu Ruoyan, who had a three-point resemblance to Nangongyue on his right hand, but with a more delicate appearance, and couldn't help but reach out and pat the back of her hand a few times, "If Yu'er is still here, I must let you Get to know each other well, Yu'er will definitely like you."
At this time, there was a knock on the door suddenly.
Nangong Ao's complexion changed immediately, all the mournful expression on his face was put away, his lips were tightly lined, and he looked sharply towards the door, "Come in."
"General, the guards outside the palace have come to report that someone wants to see you. This is a token. The subordinates have already checked it roughly, and there is no problem...just..." An old man with half-gray hair and wearing a blue Confucian shirt opened the door and entered , somehow those cloudy old eyes looked a little shining.
Seeing the old man, Nangong Ao's eyes suddenly softened, "Yifeng, it's you." After a pause, he looked at the old man's agitated expression, and looked at the old man with some doubts, "Yifeng, What’s wrong with you?"
"General..." The old man took a deep breath, turned around and looked around a few times, then walked into the room sideways, and looked at Liu Ruoyan who was sitting beside Nangong Ao, with hesitation in his eyes.
Nangong Ao followed the eyes of the old man to Liu Ruoyan, waved his hands and said, "It's okay, just tell me if you have anything to say, we are all here."