Chapter 069: Su Muzhe (Part 2)
"You were about to join the government, why did you suddenly switch to the military?"
When Ni Su asked this question, she was suddenly shrouded in a strange feeling. There was a distance of sixteen years between her and this man. She was about to be born when he became famous at a young age and was full of vigor and vitality. In another one or two years, he would have been infamous and stuck in the mud. But today, she was talking to him, beyond life and death, beyond rumors.
"I lost my father when I was young, and my elder brother was busy with the affairs of the Dali Temple, so it was mostly my mother and sister-in-law who taught me. My mother was good at literature and painting, and she also accompanied my father in the army when he was alive. I don't have a deep impression of my father, and most of the stories I heard from my mother were from him. When I was thirteen years old, my mother died of illness. Before she died, she held my hand tightly, and besides calling my father's name, she kept repeating the word "what a pity."
Ever since Xu Hexue's teacher Zhang Jing was tortured to death, Ni Su had been trying to find clues about him on paper on his way to Yongzhou.
She knew that his mother's surname was Zhou and her name was Jin. She came from a prominent family and grew up surrounded by ink and paper. She studied under Xu Xian's uncle and was an extraordinary painter. She and Xu Xian were equals, and they knew and supported each other from peacetime to times of war. When she followed the army, she worked tirelessly, relying on her legs and eyes to see the mountains and rivers along the border and draw more accurate wartime maps.
Because of this, she almost died under the golden sword of the Hu people.
"After my mother passed away, I decided to send her ashes back to Qingya Prefecture to be buried with my father," Xu Hexue tried her best to search through her few memories and looked up at her. "That was my first time back to Qingya Prefecture since I was seven years old. The further north we went, the more bones were exposed in the wild, and there was no rooster crowing for thousands of miles. At that time, I was thinking about the 'pity' of my mother's death."
"My elder brother was weak and sickly, but he was fond of criminal law. After he became the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, he spent all his energy on compiling the Qi Code. When I was fourteen, Qingya Prefecture fell, and he became so upset that he fell ill and died on the eve of my official career. I remember that night, I stayed in front of my elder brother's coffin for a long time, and I asked myself, should these hands hold a pen or a sword?"
Xu Hexue stretched out his palms, the candle flames danced, and warm light and shadows spread in his hands. "I still can't let go of my mother's 'pity' in my heart. I want to personally take back the northern border and Qingyazhou from the Danqiu Hu people. I want to carry on my father's aspirations, pick up a pen in peaceful years, and hold a sword in wind and rain."
Pick up a pen in peaceful years and hold a sword in stormy times.
Ni Su was startled for a moment, and it was hard not to be shocked.
When the Great Qi was first established, culture was valued more than military affairs. Scholars all over the world aspired to become civil officials. They were like a rolling torrent, while Xu Hexue was a heretic who went against the current.
He gave up his bright future in Yunjing and joined the Guanhu Ning Army as a soldier. This went against the expectations of his teacher Zhang Jing. At the age of fourteen, he was alone, braving wind and rain.
"Fortunately, my sister-in-law did not stop me, and Mr. Meng also persuaded the teacher to let me go. I have never regretted my original choice, but I feel guilty towards the teacher."
When Xu Hexue talked about the past, his expression seemed to be more lively. "So Ni Su, don't be sad because you can't collect my things. Even if it's my body, it's actually not important. There are also frozen corpses in the countryside, and corpses on the battlefield. No one has ever collected them. I am among them, so I am not pitiful."
His words were calm, but he could not describe the feeling in his heart when he thought of how she fell asleep on horseback last night but still held his broken gun tightly. He could not help but say, "But you make me very happy."
Because she wanted to bury him.
Also because he had her trust.
This is more important than anything else.
"I always want to make you happy."
Her voice fell.
Xu Hexue raised her eyes slightly. She was wrapped in a thick quilt, with only half of her face exposed. Her eyes were clear and moving. He said nothing, but his calm eyebrows moved slightly.
"Aren't you sleepy yet?"
He said.
Ni Su shook her head, "Let's talk for a while."
Xu Hexue placed his hands on his knees and massaged them quietly to relieve the pain. His face remained cold, but he asked, "What else do you want to hear?"
The candle flame flickered a few times, and Ni Su simply lifted the quilt a little, revealing her whole face, and moved closer to the bed. "Your princess sister-in-law must be a very good person, right?"
"Yes, my brother is twelve years older than me, and so is my sister-in-law. When my brother was busy, she helped mother discipline me, and she was the one who personally sent me to study under a teacher."
The moonlight is too bright tonight, and the window paper in Yongzhou is very thick, but even so, a faint moonlight can still fall through the lattice window. Xu Hexue thinks of the night in Yunjing when he and the girl in front of him fell from the eaves and landed in someone's yard. Although he couldn't see, he could smell the fragrance of roses.
My sister-in-law loved roses, so my brother personally took care of many roses in the princess's mansion. Xu Hexue had been accustomed to the smell since he was a child and has not forgotten it to this day.
“No wonder.”
Ni Su finally understood why a man like him, who was tortured and wronged during his lifetime and had no one to mourn him after his death, could still maintain a bright heart and tell her that he was not pitiful among the floating corpses and starving people in the world.
He grew up under the education of his mother Zhou Jin and sister-in-law Princess Wenduan, so he never looked down on women's ambitions, let alone their lives. Even if it meant offending the Yongzhou clan, he dared to use tough measures to break the bad customs against women here.
The world is like a torrent, but he is never afraid of going against the current. He puts down his pen and picks up his sword. From the splendid Yunjing to the bloody battlefield, he is a gentleman among scholars and a warrior among gentlemen.
When knowledge and action are consistent, there is ultimate brightness.
Ni Su's hand sneaked out from under the quilt and pinched the edge of his sleeve. "So when you were at the border, what did you do when you were not fighting?"
She didn't know why, but she always wanted to hold him like this.
Xu Hexue looked calm, but seemed to be thinking seriously. After a while, he said, "Drinking with others, maybe, and competing in martial arts, riding a horse and drawing a bow, and sometimes bathing my horse..."
His expression was obviously warmer, but he said to her, "It seems, there is nothing special."
"I feel very good,"
Ni Su said, "You must have loved to laugh a lot at that time."
Xu Hexue looked at her and said, "I don't remember this."
"So how did you celebrate your victory?"
"That's what I just said, but my deputy general is very good at playing tricks on people. He often orders his men to lift me up and throw me up when I'm drunk."
Ni Su couldn't help but smile, "Is it the adult named Xue Huai?"
"Um."
He looked a little more relaxed.
"We can go horseback riding, too."
Ni Su yawned as she spoke.
Xu Hexue saw a moist mist in her eyes, "Wait until you wake up."
He loved hearing her say "we".
"What are you going to do after I fall asleep?" Her voice became very small.
He was no longer a flesh and blood body, and he did not want to sleep like humans. The long nights and days were torture.
"Don't do anything, just stay here."
He would wait for her to wake up.
Letting her hold his sleeves satisfied the secret desire in his heart. He felt good just waiting for her like this.
His calm voice made Ni Su feel at ease. On the way from Yunjing to Yongzhou, she could only sleep peacefully after he came back.
Her eyes closed and her breathing gradually became steady.
Xu Hexue looked at her face. The pain in his knees almost made it difficult for him to walk. This was the price he paid for crossing the Water of Hate and returning to the world of the living. Tu Bo would not help him too much, and he would not be greedy.
He supported himself on the edge of the bed with one hand and struggled to get up. He took the medicine on the table, dipped it on his fingertips, and applied it to the wound on Ni Su's forehead with very light movements.
She lost some weight, but Qingqiong became much fatter under her care and was no longer as skinny as before.
Xu Hexue applied medicine to the scrape on her palm, then put the medicine bottle aside. She sat by the bed in the candlelight that filled the room for him, until his body could no longer hold on and turned into a bright white light and fell into the medicine basket in her arms.
Ni Su slept until dawn. The lights in the room burned out. When she opened her eyes, she saw a ball of white light floating in the medicine basket in her arms, sometimes like a cat, sometimes like a fox.
Ni Su touched its tail with her finger, and it came up to her and circled around her finger.
She couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
Ni Su felt much better today, so she got out of bed, combed her hair and got dressed. It was dry in Yongzhou, so she had to use some ointment after washing her face, otherwise her face would feel stinging.
If it were any other day, Qingqiong would have come early, but today something was strange. Ni Su felt uneasy when she saw that the father and son had not come yet. She immediately took the medicine basket, wrapped her face in a veil and went out.
The wind and sand made the whole street gray. Ni Su saw that almost everyone was running towards the city gate. She didn't know why, so she went to the dry well first. Seeing that the wooden board on it was locked, she knew that Qingqiong and his son were not at home.
"A Hu man died in Agate Lake! I heard he was a high-ranking official! The Hu prince led his army to seek justice in the poplar forest a hundred miles outside the city..."
"What do you mean? I heard that the military supervisor surnamed Song wanted to send money and women to settle the matter!"
"Why should we give it to them?"
Occasionally, passers-by who hurried past Ni Su would whisper a few words into her ears.
Agate Lake is just outside the gate of Yongzhou City, not far from Sangqiu, and the Yongzhou army is stationed hundreds of miles outside the city. How could a Hu person sneak past the military camp and die outside the gate of Yongzhou City?
Ni Su immediately realized that something was wrong, and she immediately followed the crowd towards the city gate.
At this time, the city gates were closed, and soldiers in armor stood on both sides in two groups. In the middle of the group stood a group of women with their hands and feet tied. They all had pale faces and were crying out the names of their loved ones.
The dark boxes piled up next to them made them look like cargo just like the money and silk in the boxes.
"General Song, regardless of how the barbarians crossed our barracks and drowned in the Agate Lake, I'm afraid that sending these women and money away today will not be able to appease Prince Suchile's anger."
Wei Dechang, the commander of the Wei family army, was dressed in military uniform. He took a quick look at the women and boxes, and his brows furrowed.
The supervisor surnamed Song had a gloomy face. "I haven't asked you about Commander Wei's crime yet. You were the one stationed in the poplar forest these two days. The Hu man was Aduorong, the leader of Danqiu's army stationed in Juhan Pass. He died in our territory. You must be aware of the consequences. If a war breaks out, can you bear the responsibility?!"
"If a war breaks out, just fight!" Wei Dechang's brows became even more anxious. "Now if we give them money, silk and women, what will become of us?"
After these words came out, Song Jianjun glared at him, "Just fight? Warrior! If you want to fight, you should also think about how hard it is to maintain peace nowadays!"
"I'm married and pregnant! Please let me go! I can't go!" A woman sobbed.
"Pregnant?"
Military Supervisor Song turned his head and glanced at the woman's flat belly, then he raised his chin towards his personal guards.
The guard immediately took a few steps forward. Before anyone could react, he struck the woman's lower abdomen with the scabbard in his hand. The woman let out a shrill scream. Supervisor Song said calmly, "Isn't that it? Men sacrifice their lives for the country, and you can also sacrifice for the country."
Ni Su was so shocked by this scene that her blood ran cold. She wanted to move forward but was blocked by the soldiers. She could not get close at all. She could only see the blood seeping from the woman's dress through the gap in the soldiers' arms.
"Commander Wei, it is hard to say whether this is Danqiu's trick or something went wrong in your army. I tell you, whoever dares to start a war at this time will be a sinner of Da Qi."
Military Supervisor Song looked at Wei Dechang again.
Wei Dechang tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife, and his expression turned extremely ugly. "If it is really someone from my army who is causing trouble, I will definitely deal with him without your telling me, but if we want our Yongzhou army to bow to the Hu people... I, Wei Dechang, don't want to."
"Wei Dechang! Do you know what the overall situation is? There is no perfect plan at the moment. It is not wise to start a war rashly!" Military Supervisor Song yelled at him angrily.
"Master Military Supervisor."
Accompanied by the sound of galloping horses, dust rose up on the road. Military Supervisor Song and Wei Dechang both turned their heads and saw the burly figure riding towards them.
He was followed by a group of personal soldiers.
The soldiers looked solemn, and the sound of armor colliding was cold and sharp.
Before the horse stopped, the man jumped off the horse swiftly, holding the sword at his waist with one hand, and walked towards General Song and Wei Dechang in three or two steps.
He was about thirty or forty years old, with a long dark beard, but he had a clear mind and bright eyes, regular features, and a cold and hard demeanor that seemed to have been washed in blood.
"Brother!"
As soon as Wei Dechang saw him, his frown relaxed a little.
"General Song, please excuse me for a moment."
Qin Jixun glanced at him, then nodded to the military supervisor named Song.
Song the military supervisor said nothing, but walked a few steps to a quiet place. Qin Jixun took off the sword from his waist and handed it to Wei Dechang, "Help me hold it first, don't follow me."
Then he walked towards Military Supervisor Song.
Wei Dechang stood there holding the precious sword, looking at Qin Jixun and the military supervisor Song standing in a pair not far away. He didn't know what Qin Jixun said, but the military supervisor Song frowned tightly, but after a while his expression relaxed a lot.
The two men exchanged a few more words. Wei Dechang became annoyed and was about to explode, but he saw Qin Jixun bowing to Military Supervisor Song, who then waved his sleeves to his personal guards and left with his men.
"Brother, what did you say to him?" Wei Dechang asked impatiently when he saw Qin Jixun coming back.
"Su Qile is the prince of the Danqiu royal court. I'm afraid he doesn't even care about these women and money." Qin Jixun took back the sword and ordered his guards, "Release them."
"So, brother, you were asking Military Supervisor Song for money just now?" Wei Dechang suddenly had an idea and laughed. "You have always known how much military pay Song has withheld over the years, but you never complained. Now that you asked him for money today, he naturally had nothing to say!"
Even though the imperial court never cut military spending, the military expenses were barely enough to sustain the army due to the layers of extortion along the way from Yunjing to the border.
"That Aduorong had always disagreed with Suchile's political views when he was in the royal court. This time Suchile received the king's order to garrison Juhan Pass, and he would definitely not tolerate Aduorong. This black pot has fallen on your head."
Qin Jixun narrowed his eyes slightly.
Wei Dechang still had no answer as to how Aduorong's body appeared in Agate Lake. He immediately clasped his fists and said, "Brother, I will go check it out right away!"
“No need.”
"Why? Don't you believe me?" Wei Dechang said in a rough voice, a little annoyed. "If he is really in my army, I will kill his whole family!"
"Is it me who doesn't believe you? It's the military supervisor who doesn't believe you."
Qin Jixun glanced at him calmly, "Although I command the three armies of Yongzhou, there is a military supervisor named Song above you and me. If you were to investigate, he would definitely write a memorial to Yunjing to impeach you."
Wei Dechang gritted his teeth in anger: "This pedantic civil servant! He only knows how to write a memorial to accuse me of something bad!"
Qin Jixun didn't want to say anything more to him. He turned around and was about to order his personal soldiers to lead the horse, but he saw a veiled woman among the crowd helping the woman with the bloodstained dress.
"Don't cry, I'll help you walk. You can't catch a cold here, you must take medicine." Ni Sucai helped the girl up, and the woman's husband approached with trembling legs.
The woman's face was covered with tears, and she cried together with her lover.
"Can you cure it?"
Qin Jixun strode forward, looking at Ni Su with a pair of sharp eyes.
"able."
Covered by the veil, Ni Su looked at this person and uttered only one word in a light voice. She did not want to talk much with this person, but she did not expect him to suddenly take off the purse from his waist and throw it into her hands.
"Then please heal her."
Qin Jixun raised his chin slightly, and the guards beside him immediately came forward and handed a bag of money to the woman's husband. The man took the money, knelt down, and cried: "Thank you, General Qin!"
Qin Jixun ignored him and rode away with his personal soldiers. Wei Dechang also quickly took away the soldiers blocking the city gate. Ni Su and the young man helped the person back to their home, first took her pulse and then looked at her bleeding condition.
The baby, who was less than three months old, could not be saved after suffering such a severe blow.
Ni Su wrote the prescription, and the man went out to buy the medicine and boil it. She waited for the girl to drink it, and stayed for a while, giving her some instructions on things to pay attention to after a miscarriage, and then went back alone.
The wooden board on the dry well was still locked. Ni Su went back to the original house of Qingqiong and his son, his back covered in cold sweat. He pushed the door open, only to see the father and son sitting in the corner, each holding a clay jar.
"Miss Ni." Qingqiong was drowsy. When he heard the door creak, he looked up and saw Ni Su coming in.
"Where have you been ?"
Ni Su discovered that the new clothes she bought for them were covered in mud.
"My father heard my mother talking last night, saying that there was a large patch of reeds beside the Youdu Hate Water, and that the dew on the reeds in the human world was transformed from the Youdu Hate Water. Taking it can calm your soul. My father and I went out to collect the dew as soon as the city gate opened before dawn."
"You went to Agate Lake?"
Ni Su reacted immediately.
"Yes, I didn't expect to see a dead body in the lake..." Fan Jiang was not too scared, as he was a man who had married a ghost. "I could tell at a glance that it was a Hu man, so I brought Qingqiong back to find the military officer at the city gate. Then they went to salvage the body, and took my father and me to General Qin's mansion for questioning, and then they let us go."
"At least the dew is still there."
Qingqiong raised the earthen jar.
Ni Su approached and found that the father and son both had earthenware jars full of dew. How long had they been collecting dew in the Agate River?
Ni Su bowed to them and said, "Thank you very much."
"Miss Ni, you can't do that!" Fan Jiang waved his hand.
Ni Su thought for a moment, and stuffed the money bag that General Qin had thrown to her into Qing Qiong's hands, "Take these, don't refuse me, let's eat pot together tonight."
pot?
Qingqiong and Fan Jiang looked at each other, and both father and son could see the greed in each other's eyes.
The father and son lived in poverty and had never bought so much beef and mutton. They were preparing a pot together, but saw Ni Su making a dough.
"Miss Ni, what are you doing?" Qingqiong cut the meat, wiped his hands and looked at her.
Ni Su's cheeks were a little itchy from the light hair. She scratched it and immediately got flour on her face. She didn't notice anything and replied to Qing Qiong, "I want to make sugar cakes."
There was no such thing as sugar cake in Yongzhou. Qing Qiong said "Oh" and watched her make it. However, he found that she seemed a little flustered. He couldn't help asking: "Miss Ni, do you know how to make it?"
"Don't make noise."
Ni Su was also a little anxious.
Night fell, candles were lit in the house, and the pot was bubbling, but neither Qingqiong nor Fan Jiang moved until Qingqiong saw a ball of bright white light emanating from the medicine basket on Ni Su's body.
"General Xu!"
Qingqiong saw his figure gathering in the fog.
Ni Su immediately turned around and found someone standing behind her.
She met his eyes, picked up a plate of sugar cakes from the stove, and put it in front of him, "Xu Ziling, I can make it."
The sugar cakes are fried until golden brown, and each piece is plump and round.
It is exactly the same as those food stalls in Yunjing.
But Xu Hexue's gaze fell on the back of her hand, which had a few red spots. He didn't say anything, but his fingers suddenly touched the back of her hand.
The burning sensation from the burn was almost immediately relieved by his touch. He was always so cold, like a pile of ice and snow. Ni Su picked up a cake and handed it to him, "Try it now."
Xu Hexue did not answer. His glass-like eyes were cold, but when he saw the flour on her face that had not been wiped off, the curvature of his eyes changed slightly.
“It’s dirty.”
He said.
Ni Su looked confused.
Xu Hexue smelled the fragrance of the sugar cake mixed with the taste of brown sugar. He had long forgotten what sweetness tasted like. He put his fingers together in his sleeves and gently wiped away the marks on her cheek.
