In February in Daliang, Tokyo, new green willow branches sway in the wind, and the palaces and pavilions complement each other. The white paper money floating in the wind is like falling leaves, adding a bit of autumnal desolation to the spring.
Longjin Bridge connects the north-south central axis of Daliang City, overlooking the inner city's Zhuque Gate in the north and the outer city's handicraft business district in the east. At this bridgehead, three men and women who seem to have nothing in common meet by chance, and a quick glance at each other seems like a lifetime ago.
On the street next to Longjin Bridge, a banner with the Chinese character Guo was hung at the door of the half-open blacksmith shop under the memorial archway. The shop was facing Zhuque Avenue diagonally. The simple wooden board stall outside was filled with newly forged farm tools, knives and various ironwares. The bellows inside were puffing loudly. The red charcoal fire and the blue flames were much hotter inside than outside.
A ten-year-old tall and strong young man was swinging a hammer and sweating profusely. He was only wearing a torn short shirt with his chest open and his sleeves torn. The hammer swung up and made a sound of wind, and sweat was splashing with the trembling of muscles. The air was filled with the most primitive sense of power. This young man was called Shao Ge'er. He had a really good figure. The muscles on his two long arms were like strands, his chest muscles were prominent, and his abdomen was even more piecemeal. This figure was definitely not something that a hard-working craftsman could have trained, because the lines were too symmetrical. Shao Ge'er joined the army at the age of fourteen, and now he is a small leader of the imperial guards under the command of Zhang Yongde, the commander-in-chief of the palace. He has been practicing archery for many years.
The force of the hammer was suddenly so great that sparks flew, and a woman's soft cry was heard from behind.
The young woman who spoke glanced at the naked and sweaty Shao Ge'er, and quickly turned her head away, her eyes dropped, and a blush of embarrassment appeared on her face. She held the basket tightly in her arms, as if she was frightened by the violent beating.
She had a full forehead, big, bright eyes, and her shabby coarse cloth dress could not hide her graceful figure. Her hair was tied up and wrapped in a piece of gray cloth. Her dress and age looked like a married woman, but she was not Shao Ge'er's wife. She just washed clothes, cooked, and did odd jobs here.
At this moment, pedestrians on the Zhuque Avenue across the street hurriedly avoided the scene. People looked over curiously and saw a large group of guards escorting a gorgeous felt carriage. Not only were there cavalry guards riding tall horses and wearing brand new armor, but there were also many palace maids and eunuchs, flags, umbrellas, and plaques. This scene must be the nobles of the palace. As expected, when they saw the official sedan, they hurriedly avoided the roadside and bowed respectfully to look up.
Madam Weiguo. A voice said from the crowd that had retreated to the archway over here.
Shao Ge'er also stopped swinging his hammer and stood beside the anvil, squinting his eyes and watching from afar. It was already afternoon, and looking west from the handicraft business district on the east side of Zhuque Avenue, it was right in front of the setting sun, and the sunlight was so bright that people dared not open their eyes.
And isn't the procession of the noble lady just like the sun, making people fear and dare not look directly at it
Lady Fu of Weiguo was born into the Fu family, which had three generations of kings. Her father, Fu Yanqing, was the Prince of Wei in Hebei. After the fall of the Tang Empire, the Central Plains changed five dynasties and five surnames in more than forty years, but no matter who was the emperor, the power and wealth of the Fu family were basically unaffected. Now, Prince of Wei, Fu Yanqing, has both the emperor's favor and prestige, and has been promoted to the governor of the Tianxiong Army of Prince of Wei and the prefect of Daming Prefecture in Hebei.
The eldest daughter, Fu, first married the son of Li Shouzhen, a great general of the Later Han Dynasty. Li Shouzhen and his son failed in their rebellion and were killed. Fu then became Guo Wei's adopted daughter and then married Guo Wei's adopted son Chai Rong. Chai Rong inherited the throne in the first month of this year, and Fu is not far from becoming the empress.
It was this woman who had always been in heaven. When she passed by Shao Ge'er's blacksmith shop, she suddenly lifted the bead curtain on the side of the cart, revealing half of her face with bright eyes and white teeth. Her eyes were bright and seemed to have great penetrating power. Even across a wide road, she could still make people here feel moved.
The person she was looking at was Shao Ge'er, and after just a glance, she glanced at the young woman Yu Lian next to him.
There is such a huge gap between these three people that they should not have any relationship with each other. It is very strange that the scene just now happened to these three people.
After the curtains were drawn, Madam Weiguo sat in the magnificent carriage, gently closing her eyes, as if resting. A woman as white as jade and as beautiful as a fairy, she wore a white top with a light-colored pattern and a bare collar, which had a hint of Tang style, but was much more restrained than Tang palace dresses; she sat in a very upright posture, with a slender neck and shoulders, and she was born with a noble and dignified temperament, high above and not to be blasphemed.
She had no idea how that young soldier appeared in the guard of Fu's palace a few years ago, and she had no intention of finding out. However, when she saw the young man again after she got married and moved to Li Shouzhen's house, she felt that he looked vaguely familiar. It was not until Li Shouzhen and his son rebelled and Guo Wei led his army to attack the palace that the young man left a deep impression on Fu.
At that time, the Li family's mansion was in chaos. People were killed, people were fleeing, and people were begging for mercy. But no one was still fighting to the death, because everything was hopeless and resistance was meaningless. Fu Shi did not want to be buried with the rebellious Li family, so she hurriedly retreated into the inner mansion. The sound of killing behind her was getting closer and closer. At this time, there was still an armored man at the door of the inner mansion who did not run away. He was the familiar man. He suddenly said beside him: Let me serve you for the last time.
She was already terrified and panicked, so she didn't care about the strange words. She hurriedly went in with the only remaining maid. But deep in her memory, there were still some sounds that could not be erased, the metal friction sound of the sword being unsheathed was so clear. The sword had no feeling, but the person holding the sword should have consciousness. Perhaps the sword also had a sense of dying sadness. The roar of the man and the brutal collision of the swords. He rushed into a large group of pursuers alone.
Let me serve my lady for the last time. Why did he do this
Fu frowned, and a vague impression reappeared in her mind. A morning with a drizzle. A ragged boy shivering with cold on the roadside. The guard cursed, "Father, father, he is so pitiful, please order someone to save him."
Madam, please move." A female official kneeled beside the carriage and said, interrupting Fu's thoughts.
She walked down slowly, supported by the maid's delicate arms. The eunuchs and maids immediately bent down and stood respectfully. No one dared to say a word. People were full of awe for the dignitary and the majestic aura of the towering palaces behind them. Only one official listened to the old man's whispers next to him, and their sneaky actions were very conspicuous.
Fu didn't care. She walked to a sedan chair, waved her hand to dismiss the attendants, and asked the eunuch to come over and talk.
The boy's name is Guo Shao, he is one of the ten generals in the imperial army, equivalent to a squad leader, and now serves under the command of Zhang Yongde, the commander of the palace, and is affiliated with the small army of the palace. The eunuch bowed and reported clearly that it is said that this man defected to Zhang, the commander of the palace, in Hezhong in the first year of Qianyou, and he is good at shooting and should have joined the army before that. I dare to guess that this man may be a remnant of the army under Li Shouzhen, the governor of Hezhong.
Fu said softly: So that's why, no wonder I remember seeing him somewhere before.
She wanted to forget it after she said it, but somehow a voice seemed to ring in her ears again, asking her to serve the lady for the last time. She was a little upset, so she blurted out: If you can see Zhang Yongde, ask him to take care of Guo Shao, who was helpful to me when we were in the river.
Yes. The eunuch replied respectfully.
After Fu said this, she felt relieved and asked: Has the emperor decided to lead the army in person
The eunuch lowered his voice and said: "I think it's true. Yesterday, Prime Minister Feng Dao dissuaded the emperor from leading the army in person and said rudely that the emperor was not as good as Emperor Taizong of Tang. He was dismissed today."
After hearing this, Fu said nothing and got into the sedan chair. She certainly didn't want her second husband, who had just married her not long ago, to take risks in battle; but because she had only been named Lady of Weiguo not long ago and had not yet been crowned empress, she didn't want to go against Chai Rong's will by giving him advice.
The new emperor Chai Rong was going to personally lead an expedition against the Northern Han-Khitan coalition. The Northern Han ruler who occupied Jinyang had always wanted to learn from Shi Jingtang and use the Khitan troops to march south to become the emperor of the Central Plains, and had fought many battles before; this time, Zhou Taizu Guo Wei had just passed away, and the new emperor Chai Rong had not yet sat on the throne, so the Northern Han ruler thought there was an opportunity, and once again joined forces with the Khitan army to march south with 100,000 troops, and had defeated Li Yun, the governor of Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou, with the intention of destroying the Zhou Dynasty.
Fu had experienced war and displacement, and she thought it was unlikely that the Northern Han leader would drive south to destroy the Zhou Dynasty, so the emperor did not need to lead the army in person. However, the emperor might not only want to protect the country, but also want to establish his own prestige and stabilize the domestic situation through a war. If he failed in the war, the consequences would be disastrous. But since the emperor had made up his mind, it would be useless to dissuade him.
With a sharp shout, Fu's sedan chair was carefully lifted up amidst the crowds of people. Ahead was the deep palace, a world that ordinary people could not imagine.