"General, all the bandits harassing nearby villages have been captured."
"General, there are rogues who want to sneak into the city and were caught by our people."
"General..."
It was late at night, and I put down the pen in my hand as I watched the deputy general exit the tent after reporting the military affairs.
I finally finished handling today's affairs and can feel a little calmer.
I'm not too busy on weekdays. This year is the eighteenth year of Jingyuan, the year when the second prince Zhao Yelin ascended the throne.
Winter is coming soon, and the first snow just fell in the border area a few days ago.
Compared with previous years, the border this year seemed to be much colder. I sat down and looked through the letters sent by my eldest father and my mother from the capital, and several letters sent by my mother from Yunzhou. Without exception, I still urged them to come.
Let me go back this year to celebrate the New Year.
Whether they are returning to the capital or Yunzhou, it always makes them feel more at ease.
"General, it's almost the third watch, why don't you take a break?"
A woman with a soft face and slim body came into the tent carrying a bowl of soup. I only looked up and said to the outside: "Here comes someone."
Hearing my cold voice, the smile on the woman's face fell instantly. She wanted to say something, but was immediately asked out by the soldiers standing guard outside.
I don't know what this woman is called and what kind of background she has, and I don't care.
I just know that they are all sent by the Xiao family, Qiu family and other relatives' families, and every few days there will be different women who want to get close to me.
I rejected the kindness of my elders many times. Later, they no longer asked me for my opinion and just sent it over.
Since it was sent by relatives, I didn't feel like blaming it, so I just ignored it.
There are fewer and fewer women coming these days, I guess they have no way to deal with my stubborn temper.
This year I am already twenty-six and I have not yet been able to marry a wife, so my parents are worried a lot.
But after all, I was at the border, and the mountains were high and the emperor was far away, so I was safe and sound.
After reading the letters one by one, I held the last one in my hand for a long time before opening it.
This is a letter from Yue'er from the southwest. She writes to me every once in a while. I always hate to read it. After reading it, I have to wait for a long time before I receive her letter.
I opened the letter and looked at it. It was still a painting as before. Yue'er still didn't like writing.
In the painting, she is giving free medical treatment to the people in the southwest. Next to her is her child, named Yue Chao.
When Yue Chao was born, I visited her and she looked very similar to Yue'er. She must be three years old now.
The little girl grows up very fast, and she looks almost exactly like Yue'er when she was a child in the painting.
I looked at this painting over and over for a long time, and then picked up one of the letters and read it. There were a few lines of crooked words written on it:
Second uncle, I am Yanyan. Yanyan always hears her mother mentioning second uncle. Yanyan wants to see second uncle very much.
Second uncle, when can you come and see Yanyan? I secretly tell you that I miss you very much too.
I smiled when I saw the words above. The little girl is actually easier to learn than Yue'er. At only three years old, the words are almost catching up with her.
I picked up the pen and thought about it, and finally wrote on the paper: Everything is fine, don’t think about it
I wrote these words in reply to everyone in my family. Looking at these six words, I felt a sense of sadness.
There are so many things I want to say to Yue'er. When I dream back at midnight, I can always dream of Yue'er. Despite the wind and sand blowing through the border for several years, my feelings for her have not diminished at all.
Whenever I think of her, I always feel happy unconsciously, and then feel a sense of sadness.
For half of my life, all my memories are about her. My heart is completely occupied by her, and there is no room left for her.
Knowing that everything is well with her in the southwest now, I feel better.
But in this vast desert, when I think of her, I can't help but feel lonely in my heart.
Finally, I added a few more words to my reply: I will visit you when I have time.
She didn't mention him by name, maybe Yanyan would be happy to hold the letter and say that her second uncle was moved by her, and he would look as proud as Yue'er did when he was a child.
In the past few years, I have traveled to and from the southwest countless times in the name of inspection, standing outside Baicao Valley.
But he didn't tell her even once.
Southwest Border Pass and Yunzhou Border Pass can be reached quickly by walking along the edge of the desert. They are both on the same line.
It was such an easy route, but I felt like we were separated by thousands of mountains and rivers.
In the past, she didn't reveal even a hint of her friendship. Now that she was married and had a child, she could only bury it in her heart and never say it out.
After handing the letter to my staff to mail, I began to look forward to what she would say when I saw her. I was preparing to bring her something to the southwest and some gifts for her two children.
I planned to go to the southwest to visit her after taking care of all the military affairs in hand. I didn't expect that we would meet so soon.
Two days later, urgent news came from the capital that the queen was seriously ill and on her deathbed.
When I heard the news, I stood up suddenly, then slowly sat down, feeling sad in my heart.
Sister Qingyu, her heart ailment is difficult to recover from.
I began to worry about Yue'er. She and her eldest sister are like mother and daughter. She would be so sad if her eldest sister left.
I immediately arranged the troops and handed over the border affairs to the deputy general. After everything was handled properly, I headed to the southwest overnight.
On the way, they met General Song Chuan's troops.
Song Chuan wanted to guard the southwest and could not stay long. He handed over all his people to me and returned to the southwest.
I watched Yue'er, whom I hadn't seen for three years, get out of the carriage. She was still the same as before, except that her face looked much better than before, and she hadn't changed at all.
At this time, her beautiful little face was full of tears.
She threw herself into my arms and sobbed: "Second brother, sister, sister, is she really..."
Seeing her sad look, I was heartbroken and could only pat her back to comfort her: "Sister, she will be fine, she will be fine."
In fact, we all know in our hearts that there is no cure for the eldest sister's illness. This is not because she suddenly became seriously ill, but because the root of the disease has been laid for a long time.
In order to rush back to the capital faster, we never stopped all the way.
Yue'er endured her physical discomfort and refused to stop no matter what.
The eldest sister still left. She held on to her last breath just to wait until Yue'er returned.
On the day the eldest sister left, she refused to see anyone except Yue'er, not even her own son Xiao Qilin.
After arranging the eldest sister's funeral arrangements, Yue'er fell seriously ill.
The disease was coming so violently that I couldn't worry about it and went to the southwest.
Everyone is taking care of her and her youngest child, Yue Xi. The sensible Yue Chao always sits alone in the yard.
I stood outside the courtyard and looked at Xiaoyue Chao, who was sitting on the swing playing by herself. I seemed to see Xiaoyue'er as a child. She often sat alone in the yard or stayed in the house, looking out the window in a daze.
.
I walked up to Yue Chao, touched her head and spoke to her softly: "Yanyan, why are you sitting here alone?"
Yue Chao shook her legs and said in a sweet voice, "My mother is sick, and I can't let my father and grandma take care of me anymore."
Yue Chao, who is just over three years old, is so sensible and heartwarming.
I think of Yue'er when she was a child, because she was afraid that her aunt would worry, so she would always drink the unpleasant medicine in one go.
But every time I drink while crying, sometimes I can hold it back, and then I hide and cry after drinking.
I took Yue Chao to the border town, taught her to ride a pony, and took her on camp tours.
After Yue'er recovered, I returned to the Border Desert and everything was as usual.
I always dare not meet her or say more than a few words to her. I am afraid that once I speak, the emotions in my heart will no longer be concealed.
Yue Chao wanted to hold my hand and go see Yue'er, but in the end I just stood outside the hospital and glanced at her from a distance.
She held one-year-old Yuexi and smiled so happily.
This picture often appears in my dreams, and she is my wife, holding our child.
For the next ten years, I stopped going to the southwest. After what happened to Sister Qingyu, my mother was afraid that I would follow the same path as Sister Qingyu, so she came to the border and cried to persuade me several times.
My mother is just a weak woman, and I can't bear to see her sad.
After much thought, I agreed to my mother's decision to go see the woman.
Seeing that I finally relented, the Xiao family and others breathed a sigh of relief. After that, countless portraits of women came into my tent one after another.
When I looked at the faces of these women, I just felt that they all looked the same. I couldn't remember them in my mind after seeing them.
If you look at it too much, the face in the portrait will turn into that of a moon.
"There are so many women, but none of them matches your heart?"
My eldest brother was called by my father and mother and wanted to know what I was thinking.
In fact, they didn't bother to ask me at all. The entire Xiao family, except Yue'er, knew who I had in my heart.