Chapter 191 Scene 26 Things are different and people are not the same
The third day of March is the Spring Festival.
At this time, people will go to the water in groups to bathe, which is called "exorcism". This festival originated from Mianzhou, a place with many river branches. It was originally a festival for farmers along the river to pray for the river after the arrival of spring. God does not want excessive sacrificial activities. Later, through the Wanzhou merchants who came to the Miazhong Plateau to resell copper and iron ore, it gradually spread throughout Dasheng.
Every time before and after the Spring Festival, everyone, rich or poor, would go to the waterside to bathe. As time went by, merchants and dignitaries from all over the country gradually used this day to go out for spring outings in the countryside, offer sacrifices and feasts, and literati took advantage of this opportunity to write poetry and drink wine. Singing was performed, music was flowing, and the wine was flowing. Wise kings from various countries would often go on tour in uniform to enjoy themselves with the people. They would open the treasury in public gathering places and cook porridge and give alms to help poor farmers survive the period of drought.
Yubei is located in a barren land at the junction of Chang and Shuo. In addition to the Pinjin River, there are only a handful of rivers that can provide drinking water. However, just on the Gobi sandbank, there is water almost 30% of the year. In Suiyao City, where the yellow sand flies to the sky, three canals of gold, silver, and copper are built around the city, which intersect end to end, following the pattern of the city south of Yanjiang River.
The reason for this is that the Zuoqiu clan of Yubei followed Bai Jiangxi to the north, opened up territory and made outstanding military achievements. Zuoqiu Wushang, the first ruler of the country, even asked the emperor to guard the northern border of the empire for generations after the world was peaceful. However, Zuoqiu's lineage was of southern origin after all, and he was uncomfortable living in the dry and cold desert for a long time. After moving, his wife even suffered several miscarriages due to the acclimatization. In desperation, Zuoqiu Wushang had no choice but to take another maid as his concubine. , only then can the branches and leaves spread, and the bloodline can be continued.
For thousands of years, the descendants of the Zuoqiu family kept silent about this matter, and even deliberately erased the existence of this concubine from the history books. Because they all understood that the maid actually came from the grassland. Shuodi people. But in fact, the blood of the so-called barbarians has been flowing in his body for a long time.
And it seems that in order to tell the world that he is still a noble descendant of the Zuoqiu family, all the lords of the Yubei Kingdom have spared no effort to recreate the misty and misty scenery of the south of the Yangtze River in this royal capital called Suiyao. Such a city with wonderful scenery that is incompatible with the Gobi Desert.
The Spring Bath Festival in Suiyao City is organized around three inland waterways. The water in the canals is directly drawn from the upper reaches of Jinhe River, the Silver and Copper Canals. Anyone can take a bath in the water as long as they take off their clothes. And finally The golden water channel in the inner circle is located within the palace wall of the royal city, and non-royal relatives are not allowed to enter without permission.
At the turn of spring and summer in Yubei, farmers planting alfalfa and highland barley would pick up their bows and arrows, mount their horses, and start hunting for several months. As time went by, the Spring Festival, which was no longer necessary to pray for farming, became It became a festival for the dignitaries in Suiyao City to enjoy themselves.
In the early spring of the second year of Zhaoxi's reign, in the golden water canal that had washed away evil spirits for his ancestors, the old Zuo Qiuque, with his bare feet, looked at the water flowing down from the Qingying Mountains in front of him. The clear blue canal water has stopped breathing forever.
A few years before his death, the old leader of Yubei Kingdom had already contracted a stubborn disease. This disease is like wind and fog, with no root or origin. When he was in good condition, Zuo Qiuque could chat and laugh with others, drink tea and play chess, or He stayed up late at night to read and review memorials. However, when the situation was bad, his eyes would be dull and his mouth would be drooling. Even seven years ago, when his youngest son Zuo Qiuzi was infected with smallpox and became terminally ill, he was unable to visit him in person. Take a look.
Some people say that this disease is caused by Zuoqiu Que's great joy, which caused his two sons to die on the battlefield one after another, and he was so frustrated that he went crazy. Others say that Zuoqiu's family killed too many innocent grassland people, and in this area, Too many military troops were stationed on land that did not belong to them, and they were punished by God.
But no one knew that when he was dying, the legitimate and final successor of the Zuoqiu family was chanting a name: Xiaoya - that was the nickname of the eldest princess Yueying, and she was also the one she loved most and the most. My pityful and well-behaved daughter.
After the death of Zuoqiu Que, the new queen who had just been established soon took charge of the affairs of the Northern Dynasty together with her brother. Sa Xueqi, who was away on an expedition, was recalled to Suiyao City by a transfer order. From then on, he stayed in the royal capital and never spoke lightly. fighting.
However, Yubei's surprise attack on Yanluoyuan still allowed the world to once again get a glimpse of the Muyun tribe that once dominated the northern border and then quickly declined. And Tiezhongshan, which had disappeared for more than 60 years, also returned to the Dasheng was in the sight of the princes from all walks of life, making them feel uneasy day and night.
On the ninth day of April in the second year of Zhaoxi's reign, the long-awaited spring sun finally revealed its true appearance after the continuous rain. The war-torn land of Ye State once again sprouted new greenery.
The paulownia trees in Guihong Garden once again sprouted dense branches and leaves, casting a mottled shadow under the trees. The early morning sunlight filtered through the densely woven branches and fell on the face of the young man who was sleeping soundly at the desk in the study.
Qi Ziyin has been dealing with junior high school affairs recently, and it has been a long time since he had the opportunity to go back to Zheliuxuan. The white gown on his body has not been changed for several days, and the cuffs are full of ink stained when he was sitting at his desk. And the edict he had not finished writing last night , was also stained by a thin purple hair pen that rolled down on the table, making it difficult to use.
A gust of breeze blew off a few leaves on the top of the tung tree. Shi Shiran floated down and landed on the long-dried inkstone. It also landed on the young man's forehead and nose, causing him to suddenly sneeze a few times and rub his hands. His sleepy eyes looked at the bright spring light outside the window, and he called out:
"Brother Shitou - Brother Shitou! It's almost noon, why didn't you wake me up? Have Ning Yue, Jiangyan and the others been here?"
After shouting several times but no one answered, Qi Ziyin finally realized that this was no longer the Guihongyuan in his memory. And the people who had been with him were either missing or separated from each other, and they were no longer there. Not by your side.
Countless times, he fell asleep in front of his desk like this to deal with the heavy schoolwork given by Master Gou, and therefore missed countless opportunities to go out with the girl he loved. The young man was always very upset about this, always looking forward to tomorrow. Come soon.
However, at the moment, he desperately hoped that he would not wake up so soon. At least, in that half-dream and half-awake moment, he once again returned to the carefree time a few years ago, and returned to the place that once haunted him. But Mulu City can only exist in memories.
"The king is awake, can you arrange to wash up and have some breakfast?"
A voice suddenly sounded outside the door. It was the chamberlain who was responsible for the young man's food and daily life. Qi Zi was startled for a moment, and then he groped around to find something. Finally, he picked up something from his feet that he had dropped at some point. The silver mask there was put on his face in a panic, and he breathed a sigh of relief:
"I don't have much appetite, so no need."
The man outside the door seemed to have figured out the temperament of the young king. He sang "Hey" and turned around to leave with the cook who brought the food. Since Qi Ziyin succeeded to the throne, he has not allowed anyone else to eat or drink in his daily life.
The reason was that he was worried that the unrecognizable face under the silver mask would make the Qi family's already precarious reputation in the Ye Kingdom even worse.
The young man in white clothes inside the door paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and then ordered: "Get your horses ready immediately, I want to leave the palace."
Today is the day that the young man in white made an appointment with Leng Jiayun. After learning about Jiang Yan's whereabouts from Mo Zeming's mouth, he was worried about him every day and thought about it often. However, he had wanted to get in touch with the other party as soon as possible to repair the book several times before.
, but the journey is too far, it is not feasible to send messages northward by boat or bird, and no one around me understands the vast grassland in Shuobei, so we can only give up temporarily.
However, the news of Yubei Saxueqi's large-scale march northward a month ago once again made Qi Ziyin's heart hang up. Now that the war was over and the people of Ye State were finally able to recuperate, he was thinking about whether he could send people
Go north and visit Yubei via land, hoping to find out something about the mysterious Muyun tribe and a few words about their Tianhehan.
The Zheliu Pavilion in Xiuye Square is still surrounded by ancient cypresses and gloomy trees. The only difference is that the smell of alcohol in the pavilion is much stronger than before. Although Qi Ziyin returned Jiayunzhai with an edict.
It is under the name of Leng Jiayun. However, this Dongli woman hopes to live longer in this courtyard where her lover once lived and which can evoke endless memories.
Now, she has picked up the art of making wine again in Xuanzhong. She still uses the recipe of Qinglishao, but with an extra taste of crabapple nectar. The woman calls this wine Zui Baili.
"Sister Jia, the eyes and ears I asked you to send to Yubei, have you ever sent back any news?"
As soon as he entered the door, the young man in white took off his mask and hurriedly pulled the woman who was making wine koji and asked.
The woman in purple did not reply immediately, but wiped the sticky tillers off her fingers, and then tapped the other person's eyebrows heavily with her index finger:
"You are already the king of the country, but you still can't hide your worries. Look at those two eyebrows of yours. If I continue to ignore you, I'm afraid it will be difficult to separate them in the future."
"Sister Jia, please stop scolding me. There will be plenty of time in the future. Tell me first, is there any news?" Qi Ziyin said, and he wiped the little wine-stained tiller between his eyebrows with his fingertips.
, but did not send it to the mouth as usual.
This time he went north to look for General Yan, and he did not send anyone to do it in his capacity as the king. First, it was because he had to pass through the territory of Weiliang, and the king of the country, Lu Qiu Borong, expressed his truce and reconciliation to Qi Ziyin as he repeatedly revised the book.
Turned a deaf ear. Secondly, it was because of the Shuodi people. As the leader of Ye State, the young man now did not hope that the confrontation between Tie Chongshan and Sa Xueqi would bring any new consequences to his country and his subjects.
trouble.
"It's not that there's no news, it's just that-" Leng Jiayun also corrected herself and stopped joking.
"Is it possible that no one in Yubei knows about it? It's impossible. They just fought a few months ago. Brother Fan Zhen has already sent scouts from Baisha Camp to confirm this matter."
The young man seemed a little surprised, but saw the woman opposite shook her head and continued:
"It's not what you think. In fact, the people sent have never been to Yubei at all, and even failed to pass through Lian Yang Pass."
"Why? I specially prepared a fast horse for this trip, but why am I still walking so slowly? Could it be because Wei Liang——"
"It's because of Yujing." Before he could finish speaking, Leng Jiayun added, "The emperor in the capital had ordered the closure of Suoyang Pass ten days ago, and blocked all merchants and letters from the north and south."
"It's so good, why did you do this?"
"We don't know yet. Now, we can only wait for the person who shuts down to find a way to pass it as soon as possible."
Facing the boy's question, the woman in purple kept shaking her head. In fact, she also couldn't figure out what kind of major event would happen that would cause Cynomorium Pass, which had not been closed for a long time since the Shuodi Rebellion, to be closed again.
.
Just as they were talking, they heard a crisp bird call suddenly coming from above their heads. Qi Ziyin was stunned for a moment, and then looked up happily. He saw a bird falling on a branch of a tall pine tree that reached into the clouds.
Red-necked and green-backed parrot.
The young man immediately raised his beak and blew softly. The bird recognized its master's whistle and immediately fell down and rested on his wrist.
"Brother Parrot has a letter on his feet!"
Qi Ziyin's eyes suddenly lit up. He reached out and took out the silk with words written on it from the bamboo tube on the bird's leg. He held it in his palm and read it carefully.
However, the letter was not sent by Jiangyan to Brother Miao. The silk on which the letter was written seemed to be a small piece torn from clothes, with jagged edges. The words on it were also burned on the fire.
It was written on old charcoal, crooked and blurry. However, the young man still managed to make out a few vague paragraphs:
Jiang Yan, I don’t know if you have received the previous letter. If so, why did you take the letter out without replying...
Right now, I am still in Yujing, but I don’t know how long it will take before I can escape from here. Now the Bai Jiang clan’s empire has fallen into the hands of Gao Li, who has sole power...
A few days ago, he had ordered all roads going north through Suoyang Pass to be blocked. The reason for this is that he is probably still afraid that his actions will cause dissatisfaction from Wei Liang and other southern countries...
Gao Li is a cautious person. If you write to me in the future, be sure not to reveal our names. But I hope to get your reply as soon as possible, at least before the wedding day comes...
"I have heard of this Gao Li before. He is a popular figure around Emperor Bai Jiang. It turns out that he ordered the pass to be closed! But what does the wedding in Ning Yue's letter mean? Listening to what she said, it seems that she is being imprisoned at the moment.
In the Yujing Palace, and in the hands of Gao Li...could it be that the eunuch who planned to marry Ning Yue was actually the eunuch who killed a thousand swords?!"
Qi Ziyin couldn't believe his own inference, and read the contents of the letter carefully, but his hands and feet became increasingly numb, and everything became chaotic.
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