At the beginning of autumn, over the northern plain of Kyoto, Qingguo, there was a cloud shadow and sky light. The people working in the fields did not look up. They were not interested in enjoying the wonderful tricks that God played with the help of the shape of clouds and the refraction of sunlight. They just wanted to take back the golden crops in the fields before the rain clouds floated in the sky. The rain this year is a bit heavy. It's said that the big river in the south is rising sharply. But for these people living in the north of the territory, whether the river embankment is safe or not has nothing to do with them. They are more worried about whether the bloody rain will delay the harvest of a year.
Occasionally, a few fat voles bravely passed through the farmers' feet and grabbed the scattered grains in the field. The sickles in the hands of the farmers are too lazy to deal with these disasters, but they are just concentrating on harvesting the millet. In a large continuous rice field on both sides of the official road, the whirring sound of grain cutting gradually converges to form a beautiful sound that is neat and can make the listeners feel satisfied.
Those naked and thin farmers, facing the loess and facing the sky, showed the small cracks cut from the grain leaves on their bodies to the indifferent heaven, but did not notice that there was a long line of motorcades on the official road that seemed to be coming slowly.
Qingguo's mission to Beiqi finally fulfilled the promise of going back in spring and returning in autumn, and returned to the country in mid September.
However, the fleet at the time of return was more favored than that at the time of return. In addition to the return gifts from the Northern Qi Dynasty to show sincerity, there were many officials and guards of honor, which was enough to show that the Northern Qi Dynasty attached great importance to the marriage of the princess. After all, this was the first marriage between the two countries, No one knows what kind of turnaround this kind of women's diplomacy can bring to this continent, which has just been quiet for 20 years.
In addition to the beautiful carriage where the eldest princess of the Northern Qi Dynasty was, there was another carriage in the long motorcade that attracted attention because it was much shabby compared with the painted carriage for sending off relatives in the Northern Qi Dynasty or the black carriage of the Qing Dynasty. Although the horse pulling the carriage was also a fine horse, even the head of the horse swayed slightly.
The members of the mission knew that it was because the carriage was too heavy. On it were the books that Zhuang Mohan, a member of the Northern Qi Dynasty, gave to the mission leader Fan Xian before he died. Those books were inconspicuous, but unexpectedly they were much heavier than the dowry jewelry of the princess. When they saw the carriage, many members of the mission could not help but show some respect, not only for the brilliance of Lord Fan's face, but also for his academic style. Everyone knew that since passing several small countries in the north and entering the border outside Cangzhou, Lord Fan had been locked in the carriage, reading books day and night, Even eating and resting are not willing to come down.
"I can't live this day."
Fan Xian sighed and put the book of poems from the previous dynasty back into the box behind him. The curtain of the car was blown closed by the oncoming wind, leaving the car in a dark place. I can't see the expression on his face. But listening to this voice, we can also know that our Lord Fan is not willing to stay in the car and pretend to be a diligent contemporary literary master.
The journey to the south was extremely smooth and safe. After getting rid of the sad mood of Zhuang Mohan's death, the eldest princess of the Northern Qi Dynasty also returned to the reserved and self-respect of a noble person, without causing him any trouble. On the contrary, in the post station, in the city guard's mansion, Fan Xian can occasionally talk with this beautiful looking princess about some more ordinary things and relieve the loneliness of the journey. Although as a minister, he dares not to be rude, but facing a girl's house is better than facing those cold faced swordsmen and Yan Bingyun.
But this situation finally ended after passing Cangzhou. Not that Fan Xian dared not talk to the future daughter-in-law of the eldest prince when he returned to the land of Qingguo, but because there was suddenly another person in the mission, and that person's identity was somewhat special, his origin was somewhat strange, and he had some unclear connections with a brother in the mission, The man stayed in the carriage of the eldest princess all the time, and Fan Xian didn't want to see the sad look of her tears every day, so he had to hide in the carriage himself, leaving the problem to Yan Bingyun, the little prince Yan.
Along the way, some information will come from the Supervisory Court. Apart from the few odd homicides investigated in the south, there is no clue. There is nothing special. Nobody thought that the most shocking news to all people came from the north.
Shen Chong died. One rainy night, under the protection of 13 Royal Guards experts, he was killed in a sedan chair by a military general with a long gun on the street.
He was the commander of the imperial Royal Guards' town caretaker. The biggest spy leader in North Qi after Sean died like a coward! This seemingly ridiculous news has been proved to be extremely true. Fan Xian rubbed his temples and smiled bitterly. Thinking of Wang Qinian's description in that information, he was also a little surprised.
According to the intelligence, on that rainy night, Shangshan Tiger, covered in black armor and armed with a long gun, galloped along the long street, picked Shen Chong's head in the sedan chair with one shot, swept the long gun again, tore the bodyguard around Shen Chong's body, and when he pulled back the gun and rode back to the mansion, the rain on the long street seemed to dare to fall -- such a momentum was really frightening, a peerless strong man in the ninth grade, With this powerful means, we directly tore up all the plots and calculations, and began to challenge the authority of the entire court with pure force. This is not reckless, it should be called violent!
It never occurred to Fan Xian that Shang Shan Hu would be such a bully. Fan Xian knew that he still underestimated the iron willed nature of the army trained on the battlefield. He could not help but feel that his head was getting more painful. No matter how much he rubbed his fingers, it could not alleviate the pain. After all, many people knew that he played an ignoble role in Sean's escape from prison. Even before Tan Wu committed suicide, Without shouting "Fan Xian, the one who killed me", it is estimated that Shangshan Tiger will also count Sean's death and the betrayal of the Southern Dynasty people on his head.
Fan Xian had only hope that Nanqing and North Qi would continue to be friendly from generation to generation, never fight again, and never give Shangshan Tiger the chance to face him on the battlefield.
Of course, there are still many doubts about Shen Chong's death. After all, he is the leader of the powerful Royal Guards. Even if Shangshan Tiger is so violent, the military is so angry, and wants to kill him on the street, it is not easy. And the reaction of the Northern Qi court afterwards seems to confirm this. After a night of silence in the palace, the only thing was to seize the title in the Shangshan Tiger Circle Forbidden Mansion. Another purpose was to shock Shen Chong for many violations of laws and regulations over the years. Every stroke of the imperial edict was to throw the dead Shen Chong directly into the sewage tank, making it difficult for him to survive forever.
Shen's house was then copied, and the Royal Guards were cleaned up. The military was elated. Although the young emperor kept silent, he must be happy. Because through this, Shangshan Tiger should have less resentment towards the royal family. However, a tiger like Shangshan Tiger is really not a good character to control. Only the palace still banned Shangshan Tiger in Beijing, They knew that they still had a headache about how to deal with him. Of course, they could not kill him. No one was willing to bear the military's rebound. They could not let go. When the tiger returned to the mountain, who would know what would happen.
Fan Xian shook his head. He didn't expect that after Haitang listened to his words, he would attack Shen Chong so quickly and violently. But after weaving the picture of Shan Hu suddenly killing Shen Chong at night, he should have worried about his own safety, but he had no reason to feel happy and appreciate. He killed him fiercely, and felt happy. When Shang Shan Hu slowly raised his black long gun at once, ready to harvest Shen Chong's life, he was afraid that there would be no fear of this world in his eyes. The night rain on the long street, How to be arrogant?
He lifted the curtain of the car and jumped down without calling the coachman to stop. Standing on the official road, he waved away the oncoming yellow wind. Looking at the farmers working hard on both sides of the official road, his heart moved slightly, leaving all the things in the north behind. Those things could not affect him, and he could not affect them for the time being, so he had to throw them away.
Looking up at the light of the sky, he squinted, knowing that he should be able to reach Longquanyi within today. He was a little relieved. The princess married far away and should have been much slower along the way than now. But Fan Xian was worried, so he accelerated his journey with the help of no one in the mission who dared to say more. Seeing that he was about to enter Beijing, he finally stopped thinking about his family. Tomorrow, he should be able to see Wan'er. I don't know if she is better. As for her sister, if Uncle Wu Zhu is in Kyoto, he should be free for the time being.
When he got on the next carriage, he took a look at Yan Bingyun, who was pretending to be asleep, frowned and scolded: "What you have caused will eventually be solved by you. This will soon lead her to Beijing. Is it possible to let her follow the Princess all the time? If the Northern Qi side knows that we are covering up their serious crimes, how can you tell the Imperial Court?"
Yan Bingyun opens her eyes, but turns her head away from her boss. Looking at the golden paddy field outside the window, a struggle flashes in her eyes, but after all, she simply says, "Shen Chong's death is just a step for the Northern Qi emperor to seize power. As for her death, I believe the Northern Qi people will not care about her."
Fan Xian looked at him and suddenly said softly, "If you don't care about her life or death, let me handle it."
Yan Bingyun slowly turned back, and his eyes suddenly hid: "It's not good for us to kill her."
"To be reluctant is to be reluctant." Fan Xian shook his head: "I thought you were not an ordinary person, but I didn't expect you to deceive yourself like that."
Yan Bingyun did not answer. She turned her head in silence and looked out of the window at the farmers harvesting a heavy harvest.
……
……
In the gorgeous and expensive carriage in front of the motorcade, the eldest princess of the Northern Qi Dynasty sighed, looked at the window and said nothing to the sister who had loved her since she was young. Miss Shen, who escaped from the upper capital by chance, is lying on the window lattice, looking at the same scenery outside the window as Yan Bingyun, but does not know whether she is thinking about the heartless love of her lover, the tragedy of family destruction or the sorrow of leaving the country.
